Search results for: historical architectural elements

Authors: Kathryn Ewing

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Safe and accessible public spaces are vital elements of our South African cities. Public spaces hold the potential to act as important, vibrant places for learning, exchange, and practice. Public walkways, however, are some of the most neglected and extremely dangerous public spaces experienced in the local neighborhood of Gugulethu in Cape Town. Walkways feel insignificant, being recognized as informal and undetermined or retain complex fragments of formal erven. They are generally out of sight connecting minor streets and informal settlements. Community residents refer to the walkways as unsafe and dirty spaces. Local authorities allocate minimal to no municipal budgets nor maintenance plans resulting in a lack of basic services, particularly lighting and green infrastructure. ‘The Walkway Project’ presents a series of urban stories collected from co-design workshops, emotional mapping exercises, and fieldwork, including urban walks and urban talks. The narrative interprets the socio-spatial practice and complexity of informal public space in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The Walkway Project research, interrelated to the Master of Urban Design teaching and design-research studio, has a strong focus on participatory and engaged learning and action research methodology within a deliberate pedagogy. A consolidated urban design implementation plan exposes the impact and challenges of waste and water, opening the debate on relevant local solutions for resilience and safety in Cape Town. A small and neglected passage connecting two streets, commonly referred to as iThemba Walkway, is presented as a case study to show-case strategic urban design intervention strategies for urban upgrading. The iThemba walkway is a community-driven project that demonstrates active and responsible co-design and participatory development opportunities. In March 2021, when visited on an urban walk, the public space was covered by rubble and solid waste. By April 2021, the community cleaned the walkway and created an accessible passage for the school children to pass. Numerous co-design workshops have taken place over the past year. The walkway has emerged as a public space upgrading project facilitated, motivated, and implemented by multiple local partners and residents. Social maps from urban walks and talks illustrate the transformation of iThemba Walkway into an inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable urban space, linked to Sustainable Development Goal number 11, sustainable cities and communities. The outcomes of the upgrading project facilitate a deeper understanding of co-design methods, urban upgrading processes, and monitoring of public space and informal urbanism.

Keywords: informal, public space, resilience, safety, upgrade, walkways

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Authors: Jessica Peart, Sarim Al Zubaidy

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This paper examines the main dialogic and reformative aspects that have constituted the developing implementation of an English language module in a common pre-sessional program in Oman, the General Foundation Program (GFP), at the new Military Technological College (MTC), in Oman’s capital, muscat. The MTC is the first of its kind in the country to merge military with academic training and has been running programs since September 2013 over five trimesters to date, receiving external validation and accreditation from the University of Portsmouth (UoP), UK. From this starting point, We will provide context on the parameters that necessitated delivery of this common but specially tailored pre-sessional program at the MTC and outline in detail how the English module with integrated key study skills and personal tutoring support was initially conceived before operations commenced and cooperation between all stakeholders took practical shape. This enquiry traces how stakeholders from students to faculty, college boards and collaborative university partners have considered and redefined the in part static and dynamic boundaries of their larger and smaller scale stakes. With regard to the widely held recognition that pre-sessional students require training in transferable study skills in order to succeed at university, we will chart the subsequent and ongoing adjustments made to the generic, pastoral and integrated elements of that program. Driving this concerted effort has been at base the need for a GFP concerned with three criteria for incoming MTC students cadets, namely to develop candidate’s rounded capacity for intellectual, technical and physical skill as both students and cadets, to generate linguistic proficiency and discerning use of appropriate language registers and to allow personal and collective time for adjustment to a multilayered, brand new environment, while also working within a regulated timeline for academic progression to the MTC diploma or degree levels. The English Department teaching staff’s facilitation of the initial program’s methodologies and timeframe for the GFP English module has garnered a keen and diverse sense of the holistic student cadet experience, which a range of alterations to the program demonstrate. These include alterations to the class types and overall program duration as well as greater multiplicity of exposure within learning environments. In surveying the impact of these composite maneuvers and challenges within a proactive and evolving context of teaching and learning, it is finally demonstrated how student cadet levels of productivity and self-reliance on the one hand and retention issues on the other are being gainfully steered towards progression within a framework for inclusive reciprocal dialogue, gathering thereby civilian and military backgrounds toward uniquely united ends.

Keywords: English module transferable skills, faculty dialogue, governance structure, overarching regulatory agencies

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Authors: Julien Monnier, Isabelle Mouton, Francois Buy, Adrien Michel, Sylvain Ringeval, Joel Malaplate, Caroline Toffolon, Bernard Marini, Audrey Lechartier

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Chosen to design and assemble massive components for nuclear industry, the 316 Nb austenitic stainless steel (also called 316 Nb) suits well this function thanks to its mechanical, heat and corrosion handling properties. However, these properties might change during steel’s life due to thermal ageing causing changes within its microstructure. Our main purpose is to determine if the 316 Nb will keep its mechanical properties after an exposition to industrial temperatures (around 300 °C) during a long period of time (< 10 years). The 316 Nb is composed by different phases, which are austenite as main phase, niobium-carbides, and ferrite remaining from the ferrite to austenite transformation during the process. Our purpose is to understand thermal ageing effects on the material microstructure and properties and to submit a model predicting the evolution of 316 Nb properties as a function of temperature and time. To do so, based on Fe-Cr and 316 Nb phase diagrams, we studied the thermal ageing of 316 Nb steel alloys (1%v of ferrite) and welds (10%v of ferrite) for various temperatures (350, 400, and 450 °C) and ageing time (from 1 to 10.000 hours). Higher temperatures have been chosen to reduce thermal treatment time by exploiting a kinetic effect of temperature on 316 Nb ageing without modifying reaction mechanisms. Our results from early times of ageing show no effect on steel’s global properties linked to austenite stability, but an increase of ferrite hardness during thermal ageing has been observed. It has been shown that austenite’s crystalline structure (cfc) grants it a thermal stability, however, ferrite crystalline structure (bcc) favours iron-chromium demixion and formation of iron-rich and chromium-rich phases within ferrite. Observations of thermal ageing effects on ferrite’s microstructure were necessary to understand the changes caused by the thermal treatment. Analyses have been performed by using different techniques like Atomic Probe Tomography (APT) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). A demixion of alloy’s elements leading to formation of iron-rich (α phase, bcc structure), chromium-rich (α’ phase, bcc structure), and nickel-rich (fcc structure) phases within the ferrite have been observed and associated to the increase of ferrite’s hardness. APT results grant information about phases’ volume fraction and composition, allowing to associate hardness measurements to the volume fractions of the different phases and to set up a way to calculate α’ and nickel-rich particles’ growth rate depending on temperature. The same methodology has been applied to DSC results, which allowed us to measure the enthalpy of α’ phase dissolution between 500 and 600_°C. To resume, we started from mechanical and macroscopic measurements and explained the results through microstructural study. The data obtained has been match to CALPHAD models’ prediction and used to improve these calculations and employ them to predict 316 Nb properties’ change during the industrial process.

Keywords: stainless steel characterization, atom probe tomography APT, vickers hardness, differential scanning calorimetry DSC, thermal ageing

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Authors: Amanullah Lagharil, Majid Ali Laghari, M. Qasim, Jan. M., Asif Khan, M. Hassan Agheem

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The Nagar Parkar area in southeastern Sindh is a part of the Thar Desert adjacent to the Runn of Kutchh, and covers 480 km2. It contains exposures of a variety of igneous rocks referred to as the Nagar Parkar Igneous Complex. The complex comprises rocks belonging to at least six phases of magmatism, from oldest to youngest: 1) amphibolitic basement rocks, 2) riebeckite-aegirine grey granite, 3) biotite-hornblende pink granite, 4) acid dykes, 5) rhyolite “plugs”, and basic dykes (Jan et al., 1997). The last three of these are not significant in volume. Radiometric dates are lacking but the grey and pink granites are petrographically comparable to the Siwana and Jalore plutons, respectively, emplaced in the Malani volcanic series. Based on these similarities and proximity, the phase 2 to 6 bodies in the Nagar Parkar may belong to the Late Proterozoic (720–745 Ma) Malani magmatism that covers large areas in western Rajasthan. Khan et al. (2007) have reported a 745 ±30 – 755 ±22 Ma U-Th-Pb age on monazite from the pink granite. The grey granite is essentially composed of perthitic feldspar (microperthite, mesoperthite), quartz, small amount of plagioclase and, characteristically, sodic minerals such as riebeckite and aegirine. A few samples lack aegirine. Fe-Ti oxide and minute, well-developed crystals of zircon occur in almost all the studied samples. Tourmaline, fluorite, apatite and rutile occur in only some samples and astrophyllite is rare. Allanite, sphene and leucoxene occur as minor accessories along with local epidote. The pink granite is mostly leucocratic, but locally rich in biotite (up to 7 %). It is essentially made up of microperthite and quartz, with local microcline, and minor plagioclase (albite-oligoclase). Some rocks contain sufficient oligoclase and can be called adamellite or quartz mozonite. Biotite and hornblende are main accessory minerals along with iron oxide, but in a few samples are without hornblende. Fayalitic olivine, zircon, sphene, apatite, tourmaline, fluorite, allanite and cassiterite occur as sporadic accessory minerals. Epidote, carbonate, sericite and muscovite are produced due to the alteration of feldspar. This work concerns the major element geochemistry and comparison of the principal granitic rocks of Nagar Parkar. According to the scheme of De La Roche et al. (1980), majority of the grey and pink granites classify as alkali granite, 20 % as granite and 10 % as granodiorite. When evaluated on the basis of Shand's indices (after Maniar and Piccoli, 1989), the grey and pink granites span all three fields (peralkaline, metaluminous and peraluminous). Of the analysed grey granites, 67 % classify as peralkaline, 20 % as peraluminous and 10 % as metaluminous, while 50 % of pink granites classify as peralkaline, 30 % metaluminous and 20 % peraluminous.

Keywords: petrography, nagar parker, granites, geological sciences

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Authors: Lakshmi N. Reddi, Akanksha Varma Sagi

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Studies on biomimetics are largely developed, deriving inspiration from natural processes in our objective world to develop novel technologies. Recent studies are diverse in nature, making their categorization quite challenging. Based on an exhaustive survey, we developed categorizations based on either the essential elements of nature - air, water, land, fire, and space, or on form/shape, functionality, and process. Such diverse studies as aircraft wings inspired by bird wings, a self-cleaning coating inspired by a lotus petal, wetsuits inspired by beaver fur, and search algorithms inspired by arboreal ant path networks lend themselves to these categorizations. Our categorizations of biomimetic studies allowed us to define a different dimension of biomimetics. This new dimension is not restricted to inspiration from the objective world. It is based on the premise that the biological processes observed in the objective world find their reflections in our human bodies in a variety of ways. For example, the lungs provide the most efficient example for liquid-gas phase exchange, the heart exemplifies a very efficient pumping and circulatory system, and the kidneys epitomize the most effective cleaning system. The main focus of this paper is to bring out the magnificence of the cerebro-spinal system (CSS) insofar as it relates to our current computer architecture. In particular, the paper uses four key measures to analyze the differences between CSS and human- engineered computational systems. These are adaptability, sustainability, energy efficiency, and resilience. We found that the cerebrospinal system reveals some important challenges in the development and evolution of our current computer architectures. In particular, the myriad ways in which the CSS is integrated with other systems/processes (circulatory, respiration, etc) offer useful insights on how the human-engineered computational systems could be made more sustainable, energy-efficient, resilient, and adaptable. In our paper, we highlight the energy consumption differences between CSS and our current computational designs. Apart from the obvious differences in materials used between the two, the systemic nature of how CSS functions provides clues to enhance life-cycles of our current computational systems. The rapid formation and changes in the physiology of dendritic spines and their synaptic plasticity causing memory changes (ex., long-term potentiation and long-term depression) allowed us to formulate differences in the adaptability and resilience of CSS. In addition, the CSS is sustained by integrative functions of various organs, and its robustness comes from its interdependence with the circulatory system. The paper documents and analyzes quantifiable differences between the two in terms of the four measures. Our analyses point out the possibilities in the development of computational systems that are more adaptable, sustainable, energy efficient, and resilient. It concludes with the potential approaches for technological advancement through creation of more interconnected and interdependent systems to replicate the effective operation of cerebro-spinal system.

Keywords: cerebrospinal system, computer architecture, adaptability, sustainability, resilience, energy efficiency

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Authors: Mona Mihailescu, Rebeca Tudor, Irina A. Paun, Cristian Kusko, Eugen I. Scarlat, Mihai Kusko

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Specific intensity distributions in the laser beams are required in many fields: optical communications, material processing, microscopy, optical tweezers. In optical communications, the information embedded in specific beams and the superposition of multiple beams can be used to increase the capacity of the communication channels, employing spatial modulation as an additional degree of freedom, besides already available polarization and wavelength multiplexing. In this regard, optical vortices present interest due to their potential to carry independent data which can be multiplexed at the transmitter and demultiplexed at the receiver. Also, in the literature were studied their combinations: 1) axial or perpendicular superposition of multiple optical vortices or 2) with other laser beam types: Bessel, Airy. Optical vortices, characterized by stationary ring-shape intensity and rotating phase, are achieved using computer generated holograms (CGH) obtained by simulating the interference between a tilted plane wave and a wave passing through a helical phase object. Here, we propose a method to combine information through the reunion of two CGHs. One is obtained using the helical phase distribution, characterized by its topological charge, m. The other is obtained using conical phase distribution, characterized by its radial factor, r0. Each CGH is obtained using plane wave with different tilts: km and kr for CGH generated from helical phase object and from conical phase object, respectively. These reunions of two CGHs are calculated to be phase optical elements, addressed on the liquid crystal display of a spatial light modulator, to optically process the incident beam for investigations of the diffracted intensity pattern in far field. For parallel reunion of two CGHs and high values of the ratio between km and kr, the bright ring from the first diffraction order, specific for optical vortices, is changed in an asymmetric intensity pattern: a number of circle arcs. Both diffraction orders (+1 and -1) are asymmetrical relative to each other. In different planes along the optical axis, it is observed that this asymmetric intensity pattern rotates around its centre: in the +1 diffraction order the rotation is anticlockwise and in the -1 diffraction order, the rotation is clockwise. The relation between m and r0 controls the diameter of the circle arcs and the ratio between km and kr controls the number of arcs. For perpendicular reunion of the two CGHs and low values of the ratio between km and kr, the optical vortices are multiplied and focalized in different planes, depending on the radial parameter. The first diffraction order contains information about both phase objects. It is incident on the phase masks placed at the receiver, computed using the opposite values for topological charge or for the radial parameter and displayed successively. In all, the proposed method is exploited in terms of constructive parameters, for the possibility offered by the combination of different types of beams which can be used in robust optical communications.

Keywords: asymmetrical diffraction orders, computer generated holograms, conical phase distribution, optical vortices, spatial light modulator

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Authors: Jelena Filipovic, Marija Bodroza-Solarov, Milenko Kosutic, Nebojsa Novkovic, Vladimir Filipovic, Vesna Vucurovic

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Spelt wheat is suitable raw material for extruded products such as pasta, special types of bread and other products of altered nutritional characteristics compared to conventional wheat products. During the process of extrusion, spelt is exposed to high temperature and high pressure, during which raw material is also mechanically treated by shear forces. Spelt wheat is growing without the use of pesticides in harsh ecological conditions and in marginal areas of cultivation. So it can be used for organic and health safe food. Pasta is the most popular foodstuff; its consumption has been observed to rise. Pasta quality depends mainly on the properties of flour raw materials, especially protein content and its quality but starch properties are of a lesser importance. Pasta is characterized by significant amounts of complex carbohydrates, low sodium, total fat fiber, minerals, and essential fatty acids and its nutritional value can be improved with additional functional component. Over the past few decades, wheat pasta has been successfully formulated using different ingredients in pasta to cater health-conscious consumers who prefer having a product rich in protein, healthy lipids and other health benefits. Flaxseed flour is used in the production of bakery and pasta products that have properties of functional foods. However, it should be taken into account that food products retain the technological and sensory quality despite the added flax seed. Flaxseed contains important substances in its composition such as vitamins and minerals elements, and it is also an excellent source of fiber and one of the best sources of ω-3 fatty acids and lignin. In this paper, the quality and identification of spelt extruded product with the addition of flax seed, which is positively contributing to the nutritive and technology changes of the product, is investigated. ω-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated essential fatty acids, and they must be taken with food to satisfy the recommended daily intake. Flaxseed flour is added in the quantity of 10/100 g of sample and 20/100 g of sample on farina. It is shown that the presence of ω-3 fatty acids in pasta can be clearly distinguished from other fatty acids by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Addition of flax seed flour influence chemical content of pasta. The addition of flax seed flour in spelt pasta in the quantities of 20g/100 g significantly increases the share of ω-3 fatty acids, which results in improved ratio of ω-6/ω-3 1:2.4 and completely satisfies minimum daily needs of ω-3 essential fatty acids (3.8 g/100 g) recommended by FDA. Flex flour influenced the pasta quality by increasing of hardness (2377.8 ± 13.3; 2874.5 ± 7.4; 3076.3 ± 5.9) and work of shear (102.6 ± 11.4; 150.8 ± 11.3; 165.0 ± 18.9) and increasing of adhesiveness (11.8 ± 20.6; 9.,98 ± 0.12; 7.1 ± 12.5) of the final product. Presented data point at good indicators of technological quality of spelt pasta with flax seed and that GC-MS analysis can be used in the quality control for flax seed identification. Acknowledgment: The research was financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Project No. III 46005).

Keywords: GC-MS analysis, ω-3 fatty acids, flex seed, spelt wheat, daily needs

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Authors: Natalia Lukasik, Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka

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Development of selective, fast-responsive, and economical sensors for diverse ions detection and determination is one of the most extensively studied areas due to its importance in the field of clinical, environmental and industrial analysis. Among chemical sensors, vast popularity has gained ionophore-based optical sensors, where the generated analytical signal is a consequence of the molecular recognition of ion by the ionophore. Change of color occurring during host-guest interactions allows for quantitative analysis and for 'naked-eye' detection without the need of using sophisticated equipment. An example of application of such sensors is colorimetric detection of iron(III) cations. Iron as one of the most significant trace elements plays roles in many biochemical processes. For these reasons, the development of reliable, fast, and selective methods of iron ions determination is highly demanded. Taking all mentioned above into account a chromogenic amide derivative of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid was synthesized, and its ability to iron(III) recognition was tested. To the best of authors knowledge (according to chemical abstracts) the obtained ligand has not been described in the literature so far. The catechol moiety was introduced to the ligand structure in order to mimic the action of naturally occurring siderophores-iron(III)-selective receptors. The ligand–ion interactions were studied using spectroscopic methods: UV-Vis spectrophotometry and infrared spectroscopy. The spectrophotometric measurements revealed that the amide exhibits affinity to iron(III) in dimethyl sulfoxide and fully aqueous solution, what is manifested by the change of color from yellow to green. Incorporation of the tested amide into a polymeric matrix (cellulose triacetate) ensured effective recognition of iron(III) at pH 3 with the detection limit 1.58×10⁻⁵ M. For the obtained sensor material parameters like linear response range, response time, selectivity, and possibility of regeneration were determined. In order to evaluate the effect of the size of the sensing material on iron(III) detection nanospheres (in the form of nanoemulsion) containing the tested amide were also prepared. According to DLS (dynamic light scattering) measurements, the size of the nanospheres is 308.02 ± 0.67 nm. Work parameters of the nanospheres were determined and compared with cellulose triacetate-based material. Additionally, for fast, qualitative experiments the test strips were prepared by adsorption of the amide solution on a glass microfiber material. Visual limit of detection of iron(III) at pH 3 by the test strips was estimated at the level 10⁻⁴ M. In conclusion, reported here amide derived from 3,4- dihydroxybenzoic acid proved to be an effective candidate for optical sensing of iron(III) in fully aqueous solutions. N. L. kindly acknowledges financial support from National Science Centre Poland the grant no. 2017/01/X/ST4/01680. Authors thank for financial support from Gdansk University of Technology grant no. 032406.

Keywords: ion-selective optode, iron(III) recognition, nanospheres, optical sensor

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Authors: Sumedha Weerasekara, Morgan Miles, Mark Morrison, Branka Krivokapic-Skoko

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This paper is aimed at exploring the interrelationships among entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and entrepreneurial cognition in regional and metropolitan ecosystems. Entrepreneurial ecosystem factors examined include: culture, infrastructure, access to finance, informal networks, support services, access to universities, and the depth and breadth of the talent pool. Using a multivariate approach we explore the impact of these ecosystem factors or elements on entrepreneurial cognition. In doing so, the existing body of knowledge from the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystem and cognition have been blended to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and cognition in a way not hitherto investigated. The concept of the entrepreneurial ecosystem has received increased attention as governments, universities and communities have started to recognize the potential of integrated policies, structures, programs and processes that foster entrepreneurship activities by supporting innovation, productivity and employment growth. The notion of entrepreneurial ecosystems has evolved and grown with the advancement of theoretical research and empirical studies. Importance of incorporating external factors like culture, political environment, and the economic environment within a single framework will enhance the capacity of examining the whole systems functionality to better understand the interaction of the entrepreneurial actors and factors within a single framework. The literature on clusters underplays the role of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial management in creating and co-creating organizations, markets, and supporting ecosystems. Entrepreneurs are only one actor following a limited set of roles and dependent upon many other factors to thrive. As a consequence, entrepreneurs and relevant authorities should be aware of the other actors and factors with which they engage and rely, and make strategic choices to achieve both self and also collective objectives. The study uses stratified random sampling method to collect survey data from 12 different regions in regional and metropolitan regions of NSW, Australia. A questionnaire was administered online among 512 Small and medium enterprise owners operating their business in selected 12 regions in NSW, Australia. Data were analyzed using descriptive analyzing techniques and partial least squares - structural equation modeling. The findings show that even though there is a significant relationship between each and every entrepreneurial ecosystem factors, there is a weak relationship between most entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and entrepreneurial cognition. In the metropolitan context, the availability of finance and informal networks have the largest impact on entrepreneurial cognition while culture, infrastructure, and support services having the smallest impact and the talent pool and universities having a moderate impact on entrepreneurial cognition. Interestingly, in a regional context, culture, availability of finance, and the talent pool have the highest impact on entrepreneurial cognition, while informal networks having the smallest impact and the remaining factors – infrastructure, universities, and support services have a moderate impact on entrepreneurial cognition. These findings suggest the need for a location-specific strategy for supporting the development of entrepreneurial cognition.

Keywords: academic achievement, colour response card, feedback

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Authors: Isaiah Ifeanyichukwu Agbo

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Human speech is capable of serving many purposes. Power and control are not always exercised overtly by linguistic acts, but maybe enacted and exercised in the myriad of taken-for-granted actions of everyday life. Domination, power control, discrimination and mind control exist in human speech and may lead to asymmetrical power relations. In discourse, there are persuasive and manipulative linguistic acts that serve to establish solidarity and identification with the 'we group' and polarize with the 'they group'. Political discourse is crafted to defend and promote the problematic narrative of outright controversial events in a nation’s history thereby sustaining domination, marginalization, manipulation, inequalities and injustices, often without the dominated and marginalized group being aware of them. They are designed and positioned to serve the political and social needs of the producers. Political crisis speeches in Nigeria, just like in other countries concentrate on positive self-image, de-legitimization of political opponents, reframing accusation to one’s advantage, redefining problematic terms and adopting reversal strategy. In most cases, the people are ignorant of the hidden ideological positions encoded in the text. Few researches have been conducted adopting the frameworks of critical discourse analysis and systemic functional linguistics to investigate this situation in the political crisis speeches in Nigeria. In this paper, we focus attention on the analyses of the linguistic, semantic, and ideological elements in selected political crisis speeches in Nigeria to investigate if they create and sustain unequal power relations and manipulative tendencies from the perspectives of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Critical Discourse Analysis unpacks both opaque and transparent structural relationships of power dominance, power relations and control as manifested in language. Critical discourse analysis emerged from a critical theory of language study which sees the use of language as a form of social practice where social relations are reproduced or contested and different interests are served. Systemic function linguistics relates the structure of texts to their function. Fairclough’s model of CDA and Halliday’s systemic functional approach to language study are adopted in this paper. This paper probes into language use that perpetuates inequalities. This study demystifies the hidden implicature of the selected political crisis speeches and reveals the existence of information that is not made explicit in what the political actors actually say. The analysis further reveals the ideological configurations present in the texts. These ideological standpoints are the basis for naturalizing implicit ideologies and hegemonic influence in the texts. The analyses of the texts further uncovered the linguistic and discursive strategies deployed by text producers to manipulate the unsuspecting members of the public both mentally and conceptually in order to enact, sustain and maintain unhealthy power relations at crisis times in the Nigerian political history.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, language, political crisis, power relations, systemic functional linguistics

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Authors: Probuddha Mukhopadhyay

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The infiltration of key elements to the civil structure is foraying its way to reclaim, what is its own. The reclamation of lives and spaces, once challenged, becomes a consistent process of ingress, disguised as parallels to the moving city, disperses into discourses often unheard of and conveniently forgotten. In this age of 'hyper'-urbanization, there are solutions suggested to a plethora of issues faced by citizens, in improving their standards of living. Problems are ancillary to proposals that emerge out of the underlying disorders of the townscape. These interventions result in the formulation of urban policies, to consolidate and optimize, to regularize and to streamline resources. Policy and practice are processes where the politics in policies define the way in which urban solutions are prescribed. Social constraints, that formulate the various cycles of order and disorders within the urban realm, are the stigmas for such interventions. There is often a direct relation of policy to place, no matter how people-centric it may seem to be projected. How we live our lives depends on where we live our lives - a relative statement for urban problems, varies from city to city. Communal compositions, welfare, crisis, socio-economic balance, need for management are the generic roots for urban policy formulation. However, in reality, the gentry administering its environmentalism is the criterion, that shapes and defines the values and expanse of such policies. In relation to the psycho-spatial characteristic of urban spheres with respect to the other side of this game, there have been instances, where the associational values have been reshaped by interests. The public domain reclaimed for exclusivity, thus creating fortified neighborhoods. Here, the citizen cumulative is often drifted by proposals that would over time deplete such landscapes of the city. It is the organized rebellion that in turn formulates further inward looking enclaves of latent aggression. In recent times, it has been observed that the unbalanced division of power and the implied processes of regulating the weak, stem the rebellion who respond in kits and parts. This is a phenomenon that mimics the guerilla warfare tactics, in order to have systems straightened out, either by manipulations or by force. This is the form of the city determined by the various forms insinuated by the state of city wide decisions. This study is an attempt at understanding the way in which development is interpreted by the state and the civil society and the role that community driven processes undertake to reinstate their claims to the city. This is a charter of consolidated patterns of negotiations that tend to counter policies. The research encompasses a study of various contested settlements in two cities of India- Mumbai and Kolkata, tackling dissent through spatial order. The study has been carried out to identify systems - formal and informal, catering to the most challenged interests of the people with respect to their habitat, a model to counter the top-down authoritative framework challenging the legitimacy of such settlements.

Keywords: urban design, insurgence, tactical urbanism, urban governance, civil society, state

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Authors: Muhammad Karim Ahmadzai

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Floods are natural phenomena and are an integral part of the water cycle. The majority of them are the result of climatic conditions, but are also affected by the geology and geomorphology of the area, topography and hydrology, the water permeability of the soil and the vegetation cover, as well as by all kinds of human activities and structures. However, from the moment that human lives are at risk and significant economic impact is recorded, this natural phenomenon becomes a natural disaster. Flood management is now a key issue at regional and local levels around the world, affecting human lives and activities. The majority of floods are unlikely to be fully predicted, but it is feasible to reduce their risks through appropriate management plans and constructions. The aim of this Case Study is to identify, and map areas of flood risk in the Khinch District of Panjshir Province, Afghanistan specifically in the area of Peshghore, causing numerous damages. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of remote sensing technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in assessing the susceptibility of this region to flood events. Panjsher is facing Seasonal floods and human interventions on streams caused floods. The beds of which have been trampled to build houses and hotels or have been converted into roads, are causing flooding after every heavy rainfall. The streams crossing settlements and areas with high touristic development have been intensively modified by humans, as the pressure for real estate development land is growing. In particular, several areas in Khinch are facing a high risk of extensive flood occurrence. This study concentrates on the construction of a flood susceptibility map, of the study area, by combining vulnerability elements, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process/ AHP. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, normally called AHP, is a powerful yet simple method for making decisions. It is commonly used for project prioritization and selection. AHP lets you capture your strategic goals as a set of weighted criteria that you then use to score projects. This method is used to provide weights for each criterion which Contributes to the Flood Event. After processing of a digital elevation model (DEM), important secondary data were extracted, such as the slope map, the flow direction and the flow accumulation. Together with additional thematic information (Landuse and Landcover, topographic wetness index, precipitation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Elevation, River Density, Distance from River, Distance to Road, Slope), these led to the final Flood Risk Map. Finally, according to this map, the Priority Protection Areas and Villages and the structural and nonstructural measures were demonstrated to Minimize the Impacts of Floods on residential and Agricultural areas.

Keywords: flood hazard, flood risk map, flood mitigation measures, AHP analysis

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Authors: K. Mohon Singh

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Cambro-Ordovician (512.5 ± 8.7 Ma) felsic magmatism in the Kyrdem region of Meghalaya plateau, herewith referred to as Kyrdem granitoids (KG), intrudes the low-grade Shillong Group of metasediments and Precambrian Basement Gneissic complex forming an oval-shaped plutonic body with longer axis almost trending N-S. Thermal aureole is poorly developed or covered under the alluvium. KG exhibit very coarse grained porphyritic texture with abundant K-feldspar megacrysts (up to 9cm long) and subordinate amount of amphibole, biotite, plagioclase, and quartz. The size of K-feldspar megacrysts increases from margin (Dwarksuid) to the interior (Kyrdem) of the KG pluton. Late felsic pulses as fine grained granite, leucocratic (aplite), and pegmatite veins intrude the KG at several places. Grey and pink varieties of KG can be recognized, but pink colour of KG is the result of post-magmatic fluids, which have not affected the magnetic properties of KG. Modal composition of KG corresponds to quartz monzonite, monzogranite, and granodiorite. KG has been geochemically characterized as metaluminous (I-type) to peraluminous (S-type) granitoids. The KG is characterized by development of variable attitude of primary foliations mostly marked along the margin of the pluton and is located at the proximity of Tyrsad-Barapani lineament. The KG contains country rock xenoliths (amphibolite, gneiss, schist, etc.) which are mostly confined to the margin of the pluton, and microgranular enclaves (ME) are hosted in the porphyritic variety of KG. Microgranular Enclaves (ME) in Kyrdem Granitoids are fine- to medium grained, mesocratic to melanocratic, phenocryst bearing or phenocryst-free, rounded to ellipsoidal showing typical magmatic textures. Mafic-felsic phenocrysts in ME are partially corroded and dissolved because of their involvement in magma-mixing event, and thus represent xenocrysts. Sharp to diffused contacts of ME with host Kyrdem Granitoids, fine grained nature and presence of acicular apatite in ME suggest comingling and undercooling of coeval, semi-solidified ME magma within partly crystalline felsic host magma. Geochemical features recognize the nature of ME (molar A/CNK=0.76-1.42) and KG (molar A/CNK =0.41-1.75) similar to hybrid-type formed by mixing of mantle-derived mafic and crustal-derived felsic magmas. Major and trace including rare earth elements variations of ME suggest the involvement of combined processes such as magma mixing, mingling and crystallization differentiation in the evolution of ME but KG variations appear primarily controlled by fractionation of plagioclase, hornblende biotite, and accessory phases. Most ME are partially to nearly re-equilibrate chemically with felsic host KG during magma mixing and mingling processes.

Keywords: geochemistry, Kyrdem Granitoids, microgranular enclaves, Northeast India

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Authors: Ashima Sharma

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Human Serum Albumin (HSA)- one of the most demanded therapeutic proteins with immense biotechnological applications- is a large multidomain protein containing 17 disulfide bonds. The current source of HSA is human blood plasma which is a limited and unsafe source. Thus, there exists an indispensable need to promote non-animal derived recombinant HSA (rHSA) production. Escherichia coli is one of the most convenient hosts which had contributed to the production of more than 30% of the FDA approved recombinant pharmaceuticals. It grows rapidly and reaches high cell density using inexpensive and simple substrates. E. coli derived recombinant products have more economic potential as fermentation processes are cheaper compared to the other expression hosts. The major bottleneck in exploiting E. coli as a host for a disulfide-rich multidomain protein is the formation of aggregates of overexpressed protein. The majority of the expressed HSA forms inclusion bodies (more than 90% of the total expressed rHSA) in the E. coli cytosol. Recovery of functional rHSA from inclusion bodies is not preferred because it is difficult to obtain a large multidomain disulfide bond rich protein like rHSA in its functional native form. Purification is tedious, time-consuming, laborious and expensive. Because of such limitations, the E. coli host system was neglected for rHSA production for the past few decades despite its numerous advantages. In the present work, we have exploited the capabilities of E. coli as a host for the enhanced functional production of rHSA (~60% of the total expressed rHSA in the soluble fraction). Parameters like intracellular environment, temperature, induction type, duration of induction, cell lysis conditions etc. which play an important role in enhancing the level of production of the desired protein in its native form in vivo have been optimized. We have studied the effect of assistance of different types of exogenously employed chaperone systems on the functional expression of rHSA in the E. coli host system. Different aspects of cell growth parameters during the production of rHSA in presence and absence of molecular chaperones in E. coli have also been studied. Upon overcoming the difficulties to produce functional rHSA in E. coli, it has been possible to produce significant levels of functional protein through engineering the biological system of protein folding in the cell, the E. coli-derived rHSA has been purified to homogeneity. Its detailed physicochemical characterization has been performed by monitoring its conformational properties, secondary and tertiary structure elements, surface properties, ligand binding properties, stability issues etc. These parameters of the recombinant protein have been compared with the naturally occurring protein from the human source. The outcome of the comparison reveals that the recombinant protein resembles exactly the same as the natural one. Hence, we propose that the E. coli-derived rHSA is an ideal biosimilar for human blood plasma-derived serum albumin. Therefore, in the present study, we have introduced and promoted the E. coli- derived rHSA as an alternative to the preparation from a human source, pHSA.

Keywords: recombinant human serum albumin, Escherichia coli, biosimilar, chaperone assisted protein folding

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi, Maisa Ciampi Guillardi, Flávia Rodrigues Patrício, Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho

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Certified agricultural products are important components of the food industry. However, certifiers have been expanding the list of restricted or prohibited pesticides, limiting the options of products for phytosanitary control of plant diseases, but without offering alternatives to the farmers. Soybean and coffee leaf rust, brown eye spots, and Phoma leaf spots are the main fungal diseases that pose a serious threat to soybean and coffee cultivation worldwide. In conventional farming systems, these diseases are controlled by using synthetic fungicides, which, in addition to intensifying the occurrence of fungal resistance, are highly toxic to the environment, farmers, and consumers. In organic, agroecological, or regenerative farming systems, product options for plant protection are limited, being available only copper-based compounds, and biodefensivesornon-standard homemade products. Therefore, there is a growing demand for effective bioprotectors with low environmental impact for adoption in more sustainable agricultural systems. Then, to contribute to covering such a gap, we have developed a compound based on plant extracts and metallic elements for foliar application. This product has both biostimulant and bioprotective action, which promotes sustainable disease control, increases productivity as well as reduces damage to the environment. The product's components have complementary mechanisms that promote protection against the disease by directly acting on the pathogens and activating the plant's natural defense system. The protective ability of the product against three coffee diseases (coffee leaf rust, brown eye spot, and Phoma leaf spot) and against soybean rust disease was evaluated, in addition to its ability to promote plant growth. Our goal is to offer an effective alternative to control the main coffee fungal diseases and soybean fungal diseases, with a biostimulant effect and low toxicity. The proposed product can also be part of the integrated management of coffee and soybean diseases in conventional farming associated with chemical and biological pesticides, offering the market a sustainable coffee and soybean with high added value and low residue content. Experiments were carried out under controlled conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the product in controlling rust, phoma, and cercosporiosis in comparison to control-inoculated plants that did not receive the product. The in vitro and in vivo effects of the product on the pathogen were evaluated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The fungistatic action of the product was demonstrated by a reduction of 85% and 95% in spore germination and disease symptoms severity on the leaves of coffee plants, respectively. The formulation had both a protective effect, acting to prevent infection by coffee leaf rust, and a curative effect, reducing the rust symptoms after its establishment.

Keywords: plant disease, natural fungicide, plant health, sustainability, alternative disease management

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Z. Yousefniayejahr, S. Bolognini, A. Bonini, C. Campobasso, N. Poma, F. Vivaldi, M. Di Luca, A. Tavanti, F. Di Francesco

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Pathogenic bacteria represent a threat to healthcare systems and the food industry because their rapid detection remains challenging. Electrochemical biosensors are gaining prominence as a novel technology for the detection of pathogens due to intrinsic features such as low cost, rapid response time, and portability, which make them a valuable alternative to traditional methodologies. These sensors use biorecognition elements that are crucial for the identification of specific bacteria. In this context, bacteriophages are promising tools for their inherent high selectivity towards bacterial hosts, which is of fundamental importance when detecting bacterial pathogens in complex biological samples. In this study, we present the development of a low-cost and portable sensor based on the Zeno phage for the rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus. Screen-printed gold electrodes functionalized with the Zeno phage were used, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was applied to evaluate the change of the charge transfer resistance (Rct) as a result of the interaction with S. aureus MRSA ATCC 43300. The phage-based biosensor showed a linear range from 101 to 104 CFU/mL with a 20-minute response time and a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.2 CFU/mL under physiological conditions. The biosensor’s ability to recognize various strains of staphylococci was also successfully demonstrated in the presence of clinical isolates collected from different geographic areas. Assays using S. epidermidis were also carried out to verify the species-specificity of the phage sensor. We only observed a remarkable change of the Rct in the presence of the target S. aureus bacteria, while no substantial binding to S. epidermidis occurred. This confirmed that the Zeno phage sensor only targets S. aureus species within the genus Staphylococcus. In addition, the biosensor's specificity with respect to other bacterial species, including gram-positive bacteria like Enterococcus faecium and the gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was evaluated, and a non-significant impedimetric signal was observed. Notably, the biosensor successfully identified S. aureus bacterial cells in a complex matrix such as a nasal swab, opening the possibility of its use in a real-case scenario. We diluted different concentrations of S. aureus from 108 to 100 CFU/mL with a ratio of 1:10 in the nasal swap matrices collected from healthy donors. Three different sensors were applied to measure various concentrations of bacteria. Our sensor indicated high selectivity to detect S. aureus in biological matrices compared to time-consuming traditional methods, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and radioimmunoassay (RIA), etc. With the aim to study the possibility to use this biosensor to address the challenge associated to pathogen detection, ongoing research is focused on the assessment of the biosensor’s analytical performances in different biological samples and the discovery of new phage bioreceptors.

Keywords: electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, bacteriophage, biosensor, Staphylococcus aureus

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: C. Treadgold, S. Sivaraman

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The Starlight Children's Foundation (Starlight) is an Australian non-profit organisation that delivers programs, in partnership with health professionals, to support children, adolescents, and their families who are living with a serious illness. While supporting children and adolescents with life-limiting conditions has always been a feature of Starlight's work, providing a dedicated program, specifically targeting and meeting the needs of the paediatric palliative population, is a recent area of focus. Recognising the challenges in providing children’s palliative services, Starlight initiated a research and development project to better understand and meet the needs of this group. The aim was to create a program which enhances the wellbeing of children, adolescents, and their families receiving paediatric palliative care in their community through the provision of on-going, tailored, positive experiences or 'moments'. This paper will present the results of the formative evaluation of this unique program, highlighting the development processes and outcomes of the pilot. The pilot was designed using an innovation methodology, which included a number of research components. There was a strong belief that it needed to be delivered in partnership with a dedicated palliative care team, helping to ensure the best interests of the family were always represented. This resulted in Starlight collaborating with both the Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program (VPPCP) at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and the Sydney Children's Hospital Network (SCHN) to pilot the 'Moments' program. As experts in 'positive disruption', with a long history of collaborating with health professionals, Starlight was well placed to deliver a program which helps children, adolescents, and their families to experience moments of joy, connection and achieve their own sense of accomplishment. Building on Starlight’s evidence-based approach and experience in creative service delivery, the program aims to use the power of 'positive disruption' to brighten the lives of this group and create important memories. The clinical and Starlight team members collaborate to ensure that the child and family are at the centre of the program. The design of each experience is specific to their needs and ensures the creation of positive memories and family connection. It aims for each moment to enhance quality of life. The partnership with the VPPCP and SCHN has allowed the program to reach families across metropolitan and regional locations. In late 2019 a formative evaluation of the pilot was conducted utilising both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to document both the delivery and outcomes of the program. Central to the evaluation was the interviews conducted with both clinical teams and families in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of and satisfaction with the program. The findings, which will be shared in this presentation, provide practical insight into the delivery of the program, the key elements for its success with families, and areas which could benefit from additional research and focus. It will use stories and case studies from the pilot to highlight the impact of the program and discuss what opportunities, challenges, and learnings emerged.

Keywords: children, families, memory making, pediatric palliative care, support

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Rachel Jones

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Systemic Family therapy in the Queensland Foster Care System is the implementation of Integrative Practice as a purposeful intervention implemented with complex ‘family’ systems (by expanding the traditional concept of family to include all relevant stakeholders for a child) and is shown to improve the overall wellbeing of children (with developmental delays and trauma) in Queensland out of home care contexts. The importance of purposeful integrative practice in the field of systemic family therapy has been highlighted in achieving change in complex family systems. Essentially, it is the purposeful use of multiple interventions designed to meet the myriad of competing needs apparent for a child (with developmental delays resulting from early traumatic experiences - both in utero and in their early years) and their family. In the out-of-home care context, integrative practice is particularly useful to promote positive change for the child and what is an extended concept of whom constitutes their family. Traditionally, a child’s family may have included biological and foster care family members, but when this concept is extended to include all their relevant stakeholders (including biological family, foster carers, residential care workers, child safety, school representatives, Health and Allied Health staff, police and youth justice staff), the use of integrative family therapy can produce positive change for the child in their overall wellbeing, development, risk profile, social and emotional functioning, mental health symptoms and relationships across domains. By tailoring therapeutic interventions that draw on systemic family therapies from the first and second-order schools of family therapy, neurobiology, solution focussed, trauma-informed, play and art therapy, and narrative interventions, disability/behavioural interventions, clinicians can promote change by mixing therapeutic modalities with the individual and their stakeholders. This presentation will unpack the implementation of systemic family therapy using this integrative approach to formulation and treatment for a child in out-of-home care in Queensland (experiencing developmental delays resulting from trauma). It considers the need for intervention for the individual and in the context of the environment and relationships. By reviewing a case example, this study aims to highlight the simultaneous and successful use of pharmacological interventions, psychoeducational programs for carers and school staff, parenting programs, cognitive-behavioural and trauma-informed interventions, traditional disability approaches, play therapy, mapping genograms and meaning-making, and using family and dyadic sessions for the system associated with the foster child. These elements of integrative systemic family practice have seen success in the reduction of symptoms and improved overall well-being of foster children and their stakeholders. Accordingly, a model for best practice using this integrative systemic approach is presented for this population group and preliminary findings for this approach over four years of local data have been reviewed.

Keywords: systemic family therapy, treating families of children with delays, trauma and attachment in families systems, improving practice and functioning of children and families

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Authors: Vangelis Papadimitropoulos

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This paper is part of the research program “Techno-Social Innovation in the Collaborative Economy”, funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) for the years 2022-2024. The paper showcases the Open Food Network (OFN) as an open-sourced digital platform supporting short food supply chains in local agricultural production and consumption. The paper outlines the research hypothesis, the theoretical framework, and the methodology of research as well as the findings and conclusions. Research hypothesis: The model of open cooperativism as a vehicle for systemic change in the agricultural sector. Theoretical framework: The research reviews the OFN as an illustrative case study of the three-zoned model of open cooperativism. The OFN is considered a paradigmatic case of the model of open cooperativism inasmuch as it produces commons, it consists of multiple stakeholders including ethical market entities, and it is variously supported by local authorities across the globe, the latter prefiguring the mini role of a partner state. Methodology: Research employs Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse analysis -elements, floating signifiers, nodal points, discourses, logics of equivalence and difference- to analyse the breadth of empirical data gathered through literature review, digital ethnography, a survey, and in-depth interviews with core OFN members. Discourse analysis classifies OFN floating signifiers, nodal points, and discourses into four themes: value proposition, governance, economic policy, and legal policy. Findings: OFN floating signifiers align around the following nodal points and discourses: “digital commons”, “short food supply chains”, “sustainability”, “local”, “the elimination of intermediaries” and “systemic change”. The current research identifies a lack of common ground of what the discourse of “systemic change” signifies on the premises of the OFN’s value proposition. The lack of a common mission may be detrimental to the formation of a common strategy that would be perhaps deemed necessary to bring about systemic change in agriculture. Conclusions: Drawing on Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory of hegemony, research introduces a chain of equivalence by aligning discourses such as “agro-ecology”, “commons-based peer production”, “partner state” and “ethical market entities” under the model of open cooperativism, juxtaposed against the current hegemony of neoliberalism, which articulates discourses such as “market fundamentalism”, “privatization”, “green growth” and “the capitalist state” to promote corporatism and entrepreneurship. Research makes the case that for OFN to further agroecology and challenge the current hegemony of industrial agriculture, it is vital that it opens up its supply chains into equivalent sectors of the economy, civil society, and politics to form a chain of equivalence linking together ethical market entities, the commons and a partner state around the model of open cooperativism.

Keywords: sustainability, the digital commons, open cooperativism, innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Andreas Stollwitzer, Lara Bettinelli, Josef Fink

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The expansion of the high-speed rail network over the past decades has resulted in new challenges for engineers, including traffic-induced resonance vibrations of railway bridges. Excessive resonance-induced speed-dependent accelerations of railway bridges during high-speed traffic can lead to negative consequences such as fatigue symptoms, distortion of the track, destabilisation of the ballast bed, and potentially even derailment. A realistic prognosis of bridge vibrations during high-speed traffic must not only rely on the right choice of an adequate calculation model for both bridge and train but first and foremost on the use of dynamic model parameters which reflect reality appropriately. However, comparisons between measured and calculated bridge vibrations are often characterised by considerable discrepancies, whereas dynamic calculations overestimate the actual responses and therefore lead to uneconomical results. This gap between measurement and calculation constitutes a complex research issue and can be traced to several causes. One major cause is found in the dynamic properties of the ballasted track, more specifically in the persisting, substantial uncertainties regarding the consideration of the ballasted track (mechanical model and input parameters) in dynamic calculations. Furthermore, the discrepancy is particularly pronounced concerning the damping values of the bridge, as conservative values have to be used in the calculations due to normative specifications and lack of knowledge. By using a large-scale test facility, the analysis of the dynamic behaviour of ballasted track has been a major research topic at the Institute of Structural Engineering/Steel Construction at TU Wien in recent years. This highly specialised test facility is designed for isolated research of the ballasted track's dynamic stiffness and damping properties – independent of the bearing structure. Several mechanical models for the ballasted track consisting of one or more continuous spring-damper elements were developed based on the knowledge gained. These mechanical models can subsequently be integrated into bridge models for dynamic calculations. Furthermore, based on measurements at the test facility, model-dependent stiffness and damping parameters were determined for these mechanical models. As a result, realistic mechanical models of the railway bridge with different levels of detail and sufficiently precise characteristic values are available for bridge engineers. Besides that, this contribution also presents another practical application of such a bridge model: Based on the bridge model, determination equations for the damping factor (as Lehr's damping factor) can be derived. This approach constitutes a first-time method that makes the damping factor of a railway bridge calculable. A comparison of this mathematical approach with measured dynamic parameters of existing railway bridges illustrates, on the one hand, the apparent deviation between normatively prescribed and in-situ measured damping factors. On the other hand, it is also shown that a new approach, which makes it possible to calculate the damping factor, provides results that are close to reality and thus raises potentials for minimising the discrepancy between measurement and calculation.

Keywords: ballasted track, bridge dynamics, damping, model design, railway bridges

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Sarah Lister, Pauline Palmer

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Research findings presented within this paper form part of a larger scale collaboration between academics at Manchester Metropolitan University and a technology company. The overarching aims of this project focus on developing a series of game-based resources to promote the teaching of aspects of mathematics through a second language (L2) in primary schools. This study explores the potential of game-based learning (GBL) as a dynamic way to engage and motivate learners, making learning fun and purposeful. The research examines the capacity of GBL resources to provide a meaningful and purposeful context for CLIL. GBL is a powerful learning environment and acts as an effective vehicle to promote the learning of mathematics through an L2. The fun element of GBL can minimise stress and anxiety associated with mathematics and L2 learning that can create barriers. GBL provides one of the few safe domains where it is acceptable for learners to fail. Games can provide a life-enhancing experience for learners, revolutionizing the routinized ways of learning through fusing learning and play. This study argues that playing games requires learners to think creatively to solve mathematical problems, using the L2 in order to progress, which can be associated with the development of higher-order thinking skills and independent learning. GBL requires learners to engage appropriate cognitive processes with increased speed of processing, sensitivity to environmental inputs, or flexibility in allocating cognitive and perceptual resources. At surface level, GBL resources provide opportunities for learners to learn to do things. Games that fuse subject content and appropriate learning objectives have the potential to make learning academic subjects more learner-centered, promote learner autonomy, easier, more enjoyable, more stimulating and engaging and therefore, more effective. Data includes observations of the children playing the games and follow up group interviews. Given that learning as a cognitive event cannot be directly observed or measured. A Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDF) construct was used to frame the research, to map the development of learners’ conceptual understanding in an L2 context and as a framework to observe the discursive interactions that occur learner to learner and between learner and teacher. Cognitively, the children were required to engage with mathematical content, concepts and language to make decisions quickly, to engage with the gameplay to reason, solve and overcome problems and learn through experimentation. The visual elements of the games supported the learning of new concepts. Children recognised the value of the games to consolidate their mathematical thinking and develop their understanding of new ideas. The games afforded them time to think and reflect. The teachers affirmed that the games provided meaningful opportunities for the learners to practise the language. The findings of this research support the view that using the game-based resources supported children’s grasp of mathematical ideas and their confidence and ability to use the L2. Engaging with the content and language through the games led to deeper learning.

Keywords: CLIL, gaming, language, mathematics

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Authors: Justyna P. Majewska, Szymon M. Truskolaski

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The growing importance of digitalized services in the so-called new economy, including the e-sports industry, can be observed recently. Various demographic or technological changes lead consumers to modify their needs, not regarding the services themselves but the method of their application (attracting customers, forms of payment, new content, etc.). In the case of leisure-related to competitive spectating activities, there is a growing need to participate in events whose content is not sports competitions but computer games challenge – e-sport. The literature in this area so far focuses on determining the number of e-sport fans with elements of a simple statistical description (mainly concerning demographic characteristics such as age, gender, place of residence). Meanwhile, the development of the industry is influenced by a combination of many different, intertwined demographic, personality and psychosocial characteristics of customers, as well as the characteristics of their environment. Therefore, there is a need for a deeper recognition of the determinants of the behavioral patterns upon selecting digitalized services by customers, which, in the absence of available large data sets, can be achieved by using econometric simulations – multi-agent modeling. The cognitive aim of the study is to reveal internal and external determinants of behavioral patterns of customers taking into account various variants of economic development (the pace of digitization and technological development, socio-demographic changes, etc.). In the paper, an agent-based model with heterogeneous agents (characteristics of customers themselves and their environment) was developed, which allowed identifying a three-stage development scenario: i) initial interest, ii) standardization, and iii) full professionalization. The probabilities regarding the transition process were estimated using the Method of Simulated Moments. The estimation of the agent-based model parameters and sensitivity analysis reveals crucial factors that have driven a rising trend in e-sport spectating and, in a wider perspective, the development of digitalized services. Among the psychosocial characteristics of customers, they are the level of familiarization with the rules of games as well as sports disciplines, active and passive participation history and individual perception of challenging activities. Environmental factors include general reception of games, number and level of recognition of community builders and the level of technological development of streaming as well as community building platforms. However, the crucial factor underlying the good predictive power of the model is the level of professionalization. While in the initial interest phase, the entry barriers for new customers are high. They decrease during the phase of standardization and increase again in the phase of full professionalization when new customers perceive participation history inaccessible. In this case, they are prone to switch to new methods of service application – in the case of e-sport vs. sports to new content and more modern methods of its delivery. In a wider context, the findings in the paper support the idea of a life cycle of services regarding methods of their application from “traditional” to digitalized.

Keywords: agent-based modeling, digitalized services, e-sport, spectators motives

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Authors: Cristobal García

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The visual inspection of bolted joints in wind turbines is dangerous, expensive, and impractical due to the non-possibility to access the platform by workboat in certain sea state conditions, as well as the high costs derived from the transportation of maintenance technicians to offshore platforms located far away from the coast, especially if helicopters are involved. Consequently, the wind turbine operators have the need for simpler and less demanding techniques for the analysis of the bolts tightening. Vibration-based structural health monitoring is one of the oldest and most widely-used means for monitoring the health of onshore and offshore wind turbines. The core of this work is to find out if the modal parameters can be efficiently used as a key performance indicator (KPIs) for the assessment of joint bolts in a 1:50 scale tower of a floating offshore wind turbine (12 MW). A non-destructive vibration test is used to extract the vibration signals of the towers with different damage statuses. The procedure can be summarized in three consecutive steps. First, an artificial excitation is introduced by means of a commercial shaker mounted on the top of the tower. Second, the vibration signals of the towers are recorded for 8 s at a sampling rate of 20 kHz using an array of commercial accelerometers (Endevco, 44A16-1032). Third, the natural frequencies, damping, and overall vibration mode shapes are calculated using the software Siemens LMS 16A. Experiments show that the natural frequencies, damping, and mode shapes of the tower are directly dependent on the fixing conditions of the towers, and therefore, the variations of both parameters are a good indicator for the estimation of the static axial force acting in the bolt. Thus, this vibration-based structural method proposed can be potentially used as a diagnostic tool to evaluate the tightening torques of the bolted joints with the advantages of being an economical, straightforward, and multidisciplinary approach that can be applied for different typologies of connections by operation and maintenance technicians. In conclusion, TSI, in collaboration with the consortium of the FIBREGY project, is conducting innovative research where vibrations are utilized for the estimation of the tightening torque of a 1:50 scale steel-based tower prototype. The findings of this research carried out in the context of FIBREGY possess multiple implications for the assessment of the bolted joint integrity in multiple types of connections such as tower-to-nacelle, modular, tower-to-column, tube-to-tube, etc. This research is contextualized in the framework of the FIBREGY project. The EU-funded FIBREGY project (H2020, grant number 952966) will evaluate the feasibility of the design and construction of a new generation of marine renewable energy platforms using lightweight FRP materials in certain structural elements (e.g., tower, floating platform). The FIBREGY consortium is composed of 11 partners specialized in the offshore renewable energy sector and funded partially by the H2020 program of the European Commission with an overall budget of 8 million Euros.

Keywords: SHM, vibrations, connections, floating offshore platform

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Lolwa Alansari, Abdelhamid Azhaghdani, Sufia Athar, Hanen Mrabet, Annaliza Cruz, Tamara Alshadafat, Almunzer Zakaria

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Introduction: Improving the patient experience is a fundamental pillar of healthcare's quadruple aims. Recognizing the importance of patient experiences and perceptions in healthcare interactions is pivotal for driving quality improvement. This abstract centers around the Patient Experience Program, an endeavor crafted with the purpose of comprehending and elevating the experiences of patients in the Obstetrics & Gynecology Emergency Department (OB/GYN ED). Methodology: This comprehensive endeavor unfolded through a structured sequence of phases following Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model, spanning over 12 months, focused on enhancing patient experiences in the Obstetrics & Gynecology Emergency Department (OB/GYN ED). The study meticulously examined the journeys of patients with acute obstetrics and gynecological conditions, collecting data from over 100 participants monthly. The inclusive approach covered patients of different priority levels (1-5) admitted for acute conditions, with no exclusions. Historical data from March and April 2022 serves as a benchmark for comparison, strengthening causality claims by providing a baseline understanding of OB/GYN ED performance before interventions. Additionally, the methodology includes the incorporation of staff engagement surveys to comprehensively understand the experiences of healthcare professionals with the implemented improvements. Data extraction involved administering open-ended questions and comment sections to gather rich qualitative insights. The survey covered various aspects of the patient journey, including communication, emotional support, timely access to care, care coordination, and patient-centered decision-making. The project's data analysis utilized a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative techniques to identify recurring themes and extract actionable insights and quantitative methods to assess patient satisfaction scores and relevant metrics over time, facilitating the measurement of intervention impact and longitudinal tracking of changes. From the themes we discovered in both the online and in-person patient experience surveys, several key findings emerged that guided us in initiating improvements, including effective communication and information sharing, providing emotional support and empathy, ensuring timely access to care, fostering care coordination and continuity, and promoting patient-centered decision-making. Results: The project yielded substantial positive outcomes, significantly improving patient experiences in the OB/GYN ED. Patient satisfaction levels rose from 62% to a consistent 98%, with notable improvements in satisfaction with care plan information and physician care. Waiting time satisfaction increased from 68% to a steady 97%. The project positively impacted nurses' and midwives' job satisfaction, increasing from 64% to an impressive 94%. Operational metrics displayed positive trends, including a decrease in the "left without being seen" rate from 3% to 1%, the discharge against medical advice rate dropping from 8% to 1%, and the absconded rate reducing from 3% to 0%. These outcomes underscore the project's effectiveness in enhancing both patient and staff experiences in the healthcare setting. Conclusion: The use of a patient experience questionnaire has been substantiated by evidence-based research as an effective tool for improving the patient experience, guiding interventions, and enhancing overall healthcare quality in the OB/GYN ED. The project's interventions have resulted in a more efficient allocation of resources, reduced hospital stays, and minimized unnecessary resource utilization. This, in turn, contributes to cost savings for the healthcare facility.

Keywords: patient experience, patient survey, person centered care, quality initiatives

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Nilufer Turksoy

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Social media tools successfully connect people from different milieu to each other. This easy access allows politicians with populist attitude to circulate any kind of political opinion or message, which will hardly appear in conventional media. Populism is a relevant concept, especially, in political communication research. In the last decade, populism in social media has been researched extensively. The present study focuses on how social media is used as a playground by Turkish Cypriot politicians to perform populism in Northern Cyprus. It aims to determine and understand the relationship between politicians and social media, and how they employ social media in their political lives. Northern Cyprus’s multi-faced character provides politicians with many possible frames and topics they can make demagogy about ongoing political deadlock, international isolation, economic instability or social and cultural life in the north part of the island. Thus, Northern Cyprus, bizarrely branded as a 'no man's land', is a case par excellence to show how politically and economically unstable geographies are inclined to perform populism. Northern Cyprus is legally invalid territory recognized by no member of the international community other than Turkey and a phantom state, just like Abkhazia and South Ossetia or Nagorno-Karabakh. Five ideological key elements of populism are employed in the theoretical framework of this study: (1) highlighting the sovereignty of the people, (2) attacking the elites, (3) advocacy for the people, (4) excluding others, and (5) invoking the heartland. A qualitative text analysis of typical Facebook posts was conducted. Profiles of popular political leaders who occupy top positions (e.g. member of parliament, minister, chairman, party secretary), who have different political views, and who use their profiles for political expression on daily bases are selected. All official Facebook pages of the selected politicians are examined during a period of five months (1 September 2017-31 January 2018). This period is selected since it was prior to the parliamentary elections. Finding revealed that majority of the Turkish Cypriot politicians use their social media profile to propagate their political ideology in a populist fashion. Populist statements are found across parties. Facebook give especially the left-wing political actors the freedom to spread their messages in manipulative ways, mostly by using a satiric, ironic and slandering jargon that refers to the pseudo-state, the phantom state, the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus state. While most of the political leaders advocate for the people, invoking the heartland are preferred by right-wing politicians. A broad range of left-wing politicians predominantly conducted attack on the economic elites and ostracism of others. The finding concluded that different politicians use social media differently according to their political standpoint. Overall, the study offers a thorough analysis of populism on social media. Considering the large role social media plays in the daily life today, the finding will shed some light on the political influence of social media and the social media usage among politicians.

Keywords: Northern Cyprus, populism, politics, qualitative text analysis, social media

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Authors: Justine A. Lloyd

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Since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the ancient city of Dura-Europos has faced widespread destruction and looting. The site is one of many places in the country the terrorist group ISIS has specifically targeted, allegedly due to its particular representations of Syrian history and culture. However, looted art and artifacts are the extremist group’s second largest source of income, only after oil. The protection of this site is important to both academics and the millions who have called Syria a home, as it aids in the nation’s sense of identity, reveals developments in the arts, and contributes to humanity’s collective history. At a time when Syria’s culture is being flattened, this sense of cultural expression is especially important to maintain. Creating an awareness of the magnitude of the issue at hand begins with an examination of the rich history of the ancient fortress city. Located on the western bank of the Euphrates River, Dura-Europos contains artifacts dating back to the Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman periods. Though a great deal of the art and artifacts have remained safe in institutions such as the National Museum of Damascus and the Yale University Art Gallery, hundreds of looting pits and use of heavy machinery on the site has severely set back the investigative progress made by archaeologists over the last century, as well as the prospect of future excavation. Further research draws on the current destruction of the site by both ISIS and opportunists involved with the black market. Because Dura-Europos is located in a war stricken region, the acquisition of data and possibility of immediate action is particularly challenging. Resources gained from local reports, in addition to technology such as satellite imagery, however, have provided a firm starting point for the evaluation of the state of the site. The Syrian Ministry of Culture, UNESCO, and numerous Syrian and global organizations provide insight into the historic city’s past, present issues, and future plans to ensure that the cultural integrity of the site is upheld. Though over seventy percent of Dura-Europos has been completely decimated, this research challenges the notion that physically destroyed sites are lost forever. This paper assesses preventative measures that can take place to ensure the preservation of the site’s art and architecture, including examining possible solutions to the damage, such as digital reconstruction, replication, and distribution of information through exhibitions and other forms of publically accessible information. In order to investigate any possible retribution, research also includes the necessary information pertaining the global laws and regulations dealing with cultural heritage, as it directly affects the ways in which this situation can be dealt with. With the countless experts and citizens dedicated to the importance of cultural heritage, the prospect of honoring and valuing elements of Dura-Europos is possible—whether physically preserved or otherwise.

Keywords: antiquities law, archaeological sites, restitution, Syrian Civil War

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Authors: Cristina Opris, Bogdan Cojocaru, Madalina Tudorache, Simona M. Coman, Vasile I. Parvulescu, Camelia Bala, Bahir Duraki, Jeroen A. Van Bokhoven

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The tremendous achievements in the development of the society concretized by more sophisticated materials and systems are merely based on non-renewable resources. Consequently, after more than two centuries of intensive development, among others, we are faced with the decrease of the fossil fuel reserves, an increased impact of the greenhouse gases on the environment, and economic effects caused by the fluctuations in oil and mineral resource prices. The use of biomass may solve part of these problems, and recent analyses demonstrated that from the perspective of the reduction of the emissions of carbon dioxide, its valorization may bring important advantages conditioned by the usage of genetic modified fast growing trees or wastes, as primary sources. In this context, the abundance and complex structure of lignin may offer various possibilities of exploitation. However, its transformation in fuels or chemicals supposes a complex chemistry involving the cleavage of C-O and C-C bonds and altering of the functional groups. Chemistry offered various solutions in this sense. However, despite the intense work, there are still many drawbacks limiting the industrial application. Thus, the proposed technologies considered mainly homogeneous catalysts meaning expensive noble metals based systems that are hard to be recovered at the end of the reaction. Also, the reactions were carried out in organic solvents that are not acceptable today from the environmental point of view. To avoid these problems, the concept of this work was to investigate the synthesis of superparamagnetic core shell catalysts for the fragmentation of lignin directly in the aqueous phase. The magnetic nanoparticles were covered with a nanoshell of an oxide (niobia) with a double role: to protect the magnetic nanoparticles and to generate a proper (acidic) catalytic function and, on this composite, cobalt nanoparticles were deposed in order to catalyze the C-C bond splitting. With this purpose, we developed a protocol to prepare multifunctional and magnetic separable nano-composite Co@Nb2O5@Fe3O4 catalysts. We have also established an analytic protocol for the identification and quantification of the fragments resulted from lignin depolymerization in both liquid and solid phase. The fragmentation of various lignins occurred on the prepared materials in high yields and with very good selectivity in the desired fragments. The optimization of the catalyst composition indicated a cobalt loading of 4wt% as optimal. Working at 180 oC and 10 atm H2 this catalyst allowed a conversion of lignin up to 60% leading to a mixture containing over 96% in C20-C28 and C29-C37 fragments that were then completely fragmented to C12-C16 in a second stage. The investigated catalysts were completely recyclable, and no leaching of the elements included in the composition was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).

Keywords: superparamagnetic core-shell catalysts, environmental production of fuels, renewable lignin, recyclable catalysts

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Authors: Tamar Trop

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Bike sharing systems can be important elements of smart cities as they have the potential for impact on multiple levels. These systems can add a significant alternative to other modes of mass transit in cities that are continuously looking for measures to become more livable and maintain their attractiveness for citizens, businesses and tourism. Bike-sharing began in Europe in 1965, and a viable format emerged in the mid-2000s thanks to the introduction of information technology. The rate of growth in bike-sharing schemes and fleets has been very rapid since 2008 and has probably outstripped growth in every other form of urban transport. Today, public bike-sharing systems are available on five continents, including over 700 cities, operating more than 800,000 bicycles at approximately 40,000 docking stations. Since modern bike sharing systems have become prevalent only in the last decade, the existing literature analyzing these systems and their sustainability is relatively new. The purpose of the presented study is to assess the sustainability of these newly emerging transportation systems, by using the Envision™ rating system as a methodological framework and the Israeli 'Tel -O-Fun' – bike sharing project as a case study. The assessment was conducted by project team members. Envision™ is a new guidance and rating system used to assess and improve the sustainability of all types and sizes of infrastructure projects. This tool provides a holistic framework for evaluating and rating the community, environmental, and economic benefits of infrastructure projects over the course of their life cycle. This evaluation method has 60 sustainability criteria divided into five categories: Quality of life, leadership, resource allocation, natural world, and climate and risk. 'Tel -O-Fun' project was launched in Tel Aviv-Yafo on 2011 and today provides about 1,800 bikes for rent, at 180 rental stations across the city. The system is based on a complex computer terminal that is located in the docking stations. The highest-rated sustainable features that the project scored include: (a) Improving quality of life by: offering a low cost and efficient form of public transit, improving community mobility and access, enabling the flexibility of travel within a multimodal transportation system, saving commuters time and money, enhancing public health and reducing air and noise pollution; (b) improving resource allocation by: offering inexpensive and flexible last-mile connectivity, reducing space, materials and energy consumption, reducing wear and tear on public roads, and maximizing the utility of existing infrastructure, and (c) reducing of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Overall, 'Tel -O-Fun' project was highly scored as an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable infrastructure. The use of this practical framework for evaluation also yielded various interesting insights on the shortcoming of the system and the characteristics of good solutions. This can contribute to the improvement of the project and may assist planners and operators of bike sharing systems to develop a sustainable, efficient and reliable transportation infrastructure within smart cities.

Keywords: bike sharing, Envision™, sustainability rating system, sustainable infrastructure

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Authors: James Forren

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This research paper details a recent demonstrator project in which digital form found textile structures were built by human craftspersons wearing augmented reality (AR) head-worn displays (HWDs). The project utilized a wet-state natural fiber / cementitious matrix composite to generate minimal bending shapes in tension which, when cured and rotated, performed as minimal-bending compression members. The significance of the project is that it synthesizes computational structural simulations with visually guided handcraft production. Computational and physical form-finding methods with textiles are well characterized in the development of architectural form. One difficulty, however, is physically building computer simulations: often requiring complicated digital fabrication workflows. However, AR HWDs have been used to build a complex digital form from bricks, wood, plastic, and steel without digital fabrication devices. These projects utilize, instead, the tacit knowledge motor schema of the human craftsperson. Computational simulations offer unprecedented speed and performance in solving complex structural problems. Human craftspersons possess highly efficient complex spatial reasoning motor schemas. And textiles offer efficient form-generating possibilities for individual structural members and overall structural forms. This project proposes that the synthesis of these three modalities of structural problem-solving – computational, human, and material - may not only develop efficient structural form but offer further creative potentialities when the respective intelligence of each modality is productively leveraged. The project methodology pertains to its three modalities of production: 1) computational, 2) human, and 3) material. A proprietary three-dimensional graphic statics simulator generated a three-legged arch as a wireframe model. This wireframe was discretized into nine modules, three modules per leg. Each module was modeled as a woven matrix of one-inch diameter chords. And each woven matrix was transmitted to a holographic engine running on HWDs. Craftspersons wearing the HWDs then wove wet cementitious chords within a simple falsework frame to match the minimal bending form displayed in front of them. Once the woven components cured, they were demounted from the frame. The components were then assembled into a full structure using the holographically displayed computational model as a guide. The assembled structure was approximately eighteen feet in diameter and ten feet in height and matched the holographic model to under an inch of tolerance. The construction validated the computational simulation of the minimal bending form as it was dimensionally stable for a ten-day period, after which it was disassembled. The demonstrator illustrated the facility with which computationally derived, a structurally stable form could be achieved by the holographically guided, complex three-dimensional motor schema of the human craftsperson. However, the workflow traveled unidirectionally from computer to human to material: failing to fully leverage the intelligence of each modality. Subsequent research – a workshop testing human interaction with a physics engine simulation of string networks; and research on the use of HWDs to capture hand gestures in weaving seeks to develop further interactivity with rope and chord towards a bi-directional workflow within full-scale building environments.

Keywords: augmented reality, cementitious composites, computational form finding, textile structures

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Authors: Fadwa Al Bawardi

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In March 2021, the Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers issued a decision to form a committee called the "Higher Committee for Research, Development and Innovation," a committee linked to the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, chaired by the Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, and concerned with the development of the research, development and innovation sector in the Kingdom. In order to talk about the dimensions of this wonderful step, let us first try to answer the following questions. Is there a difference between creativity and innovation..? What are the factors of creativity in the individual. Are they mental genetic factors or are they factors that an individual acquires through learning..? The methodology included surveys that have been conducted on more than 500 individuals, males and females, between the ages of 18 till 60. And the answer is. "Creativity" is the creation of a new idea, while "Innovation" is the development of an already existing idea in a new, successful way. They are two sides of the same coin, as the "creative idea" needs to be developed and transformed into an "innovation" in order to achieve either strategic achievements at the level of countries and institutions to enhance organizational intelligence, or achievements at the level of individuals. For example, the beginning of smart phones was just a creative idea from IBM in 1994, but the actual successful innovation for the manufacture, development and marketing of these phones was through Apple later. Nor does creativity have to be hereditary. There are three basic factors for creativity: The first factor is "the presence of a challenge or an obstacle" that the individual faces and seeks thinking to find solutions to overcome, even if thinking requires a long time. The second factor is the "environment surrounding" of the individual, which includes science, training, experience gained, the ability to use techniques, as well as the ability to assess whether the idea is feasible or otherwise. To achieve this factor, the individual must be aware of own skills, strengths, hobbies, and aspects in which one can be creative, and the individual must also be self-confident and courageous enough to suggest those new ideas. The third factor is "Experience and the Ability to Accept Risk and Lack of Initial Success," and then learn from mistakes and try again tirelessly. There are some tools and techniques that help the individual to reach creative and innovative ideas, such as: Mind Maps tool, through which the available information is drawn by writing a short word for each piece of information and arranging all other relevant information through clear lines, which helps in logical thinking and correct vision. There is also a tool called "Flow Charts", which are graphics that show the sequence of data and expected results according to an ordered scenario of events and workflow steps, giving clarity to the ideas, their sequence, and what is expected of them. There are also other great tools such as the Six Hats tool, a useful tool to be applied by a group of people for effective planning and detailed logical thinking, and the Snowball tool. And all of them are tools that greatly help in organizing and arranging mental thoughts, and making the right decisions. It is also easy to learn, apply and use all those tools and techniques to reach creative and innovative solutions. The detailed figures and results of the conducted surveys are available upon request, with charts showing the %s based on gender, age groups, and job categories.

Keywords: innovation, creativity, factors, tools

Procedia PDF Downloads 55