Search results for: flash flood guidance

Authors: Ting-Chia Lien, Tzu-Yin Yen, Szu-Fan Chen, Tai-chun Kuo, Hung-Tse Lin, Yi-Chen Chung, Hock-Sen Gwee

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The purpose of this study was to explore the result of the survey by developing “Self-Concept Scale for Elders”, which could provide community counseling and guidance institution for practical application. The sample of this study consisted of 332 elders in Taiwan (male: 33.4%; female: 66.6%). The mean age of participants was 65-98 years. The measurements applied in this study is “Self-Concept Scale for Elders”. After item and factor analyses, the preliminary version of the Self-Concept Scale for Elders was revised to the final version. The results were summarized as follows: 1) There were 10 items in Self-Concept Scale for Elders. 2) The variance explained for the scale accounted for 77.15%, with corrected item-total correlations Cronbach’s alpha=0.87. 3) The content validity, criterion validity and construct validity have been found to be satisfactory. Based on the findings, the implication and suggestions are offered for reference regarding counselor education and future research.

Keywords: self-concept, elder, development scale, applied psychology

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Authors: Andrew White, Abigail Lowe, Kory Watkins, Hamed Akhlaghi, Nicole Winter

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The timing and appropriateness of diagnostic imaging are critical to the evaluation and management of traumatic injuries. Within the subclass of trauma patients, the prevalence of c-spine injury is less than 4%. However, the incidence of delayed diagnosis within this cohort has been documented as up to 20%, with inadequate radiological examination most cited issue. In order to assess those in which c-spine injury cannot be fully excluded based on clinical examination alone and, therefore, should undergo diagnostic imaging, a set of criteria is used to provide clinical guidance. The NEXUS (National Emergency X-Radiography Utilisation Study) criteria is a validated clinical decision-making tool used to facilitate selective c-spine radiography. The criteria allow clinicians to determine whether cervical spine imaging can be safely avoided in appropriate patients. The NEXUS criteria are widely used within the Emergency Department setting given their ease of use and relatively straightforward application and are used in the Victorian State Trauma System’s guidelines. This audit utilized retrospective data collection to examine the concordance of c-spine imaging in trauma patients to that of the NEXUS criteria and assess compliance with state guidance on diagnostic imaging in trauma. Of the 183 patients that presented with trauma to the head, neck, or face (244 excluded due to incorrect triage), 98 did not undergo imaging of the c-spine. Out of those 98, 44% fulfilled at least one of the NEXUS criteria, meaning the c-spine could not be clinically cleared as per the current guidelines. The criterion most met was intoxication, comprising 42% (18 of 43), with midline spinal tenderness (or absence of documentation of this) the second most common with 23% (10 of 43). Intoxication being the most met criteria is significant but not unexpected given the cohort of patients seen at St Vincent’s and within many emergency departments in general. Given these patients will always meet NEXUS criteria, an element of clinical judgment is likely needed, or concurrent use of the Canadian C-Spine Rules to exclude the need for imaging. Midline tenderness as a met criterion was often in the context of poor or absent documentation relating to this, emphasizing the importance of clear and accurate assessments. The distracting injury was identified in 7 out of the 43 patients; however, only one of these patients exhibited a thoracic injury (T11 compression fracture), with the remainder comprising injuries to the extremities – some studies suggest that C-spine imaging may not be required in the evaluable blunt trauma patient despite distracting injuries in any body regions that do not involve the upper chest. This emphasises the need for standardised definitions for distracting injury, at least at a departmental/regional level. The data highlights the currently poor application of the NEXUS guidelines, with likely common themes throughout emergency departments, highlighting the need for further education regarding implementation and potential refinement/clarification of criteria. Of note, there appeared to be no significant differences between levels of experience with respect to inappropriately clearing the c-spine clinically with respect to the guidelines.

Keywords: imaging, guidelines, emergency medicine, audit

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Authors: Mohammad Ayobi

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Afghans have been immigrating to Iran for many years; The re-establishment of the Taliban in Afghanistan caused a flood of Afghan immigrants to Iran. One of the important issues related to the arrival of Afghan immigrants is the view that Afghan immigrants have toward Iranians. In this research, we seek to identify the schema of Afghan immigrants living in Iran about Iranians. A schema is a set of data or generalized knowledge that is formed in connection with a particular group or a particular person, or even a particular nationality to identify a person with pre-determined judgments about certain matters. The schemata between certain nationalities have a direct impact on the formation of interactions between them and can be effective in establishing or not establishing proper communication between the Afghan immigrant nationality and Iranians. For the scientific understanding of research, we use the theory of “schemata.” The method of this study is qualitative, and its data will be collected through semi-structured deep interviews, and data will be analyzed by thematic analysis. The expected findings in this study are that the schemata of Afghan immigrants are more negative than Iranians because Iranians are self-centered and fanatical about Afghans, and Afghans are only workers to them.

Keywords: schema study, Afghan immigrants, Iranians, in-depth interview

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Authors: W. Badla

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A significant portion of the buildings constructed in Algeria is structural frames with infill panels which are usually considered as non structural components and are neglected in the analysis. However, these masonry panels tend to influence the structural response. Thus, these structures can be regarded as seismic risk buildings, although in the Algerian seismic code there is little guidance on the seismic evaluation of infilled frame buildings. In this study, three RC frames with 2, 4, and 8 story and subjected to three recorded Algerian accelerograms are studied. The diagonal strut approach is adopted for modeling the infill panels and a fiber model is used to model RC members. This paper reports on the seismic evaluation of RC frames with brick infill panels. The results obtained show that the masonry panels enhance the load lateral capacity of the buildings and the infill panel configuration influences the response of the structures.

Keywords: seismic design, RC frames, infill panels, non linear dynamic analysis

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Authors: Elin Julianti, Marlia Singgih, Masayoshi Arai, Jianyu Lin, Masteria Yunovilsa Putra, Muhammad Azhari, Agnia S. Muharam

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The search for a source of new medicinal compounds with anticancer activity from natural products has become important to resolve the ineffectiveness problem of pancreatic cancer therapy. Fungal marine microorganisms are prolific sources of bioactive natural products. In this present study, the ethyl acetate extract of cultured broth of Trichoderma longibrachiatum marine sponge-derived fungi exhibited selective cytotoxicity against human pancreatic carcinoma PANC-1 cells cultured under glucose-deficient conditions (IC50 = 98,4 µg/mL). The T. longibrachiatum was fermented by the static method at room temperature for 60 days. The culture broth was extracted using ethyl acetate by liquid-liquid extraction method. The liquid-liquid extraction was conducted toward the ethyl extract by using 90% MeOH-H₂O and n-|Hexane as a solvent. The extract of 90% MeOH-H₂O was fractionated by liquid extraction using by C₁₈ reversed-phase vacuum flash chromatography using mixtures of MeOH-H₂O, from 50:50 to 100:0, and 1% TFA MeOH as the eluents to yield six fractions. The fraction 2 (MeOH-H2O, 70:30) and fraction 3 (MeOH-H2O, 80:20) showed moderate cytotoxicity with IC50 value of 119.3 and 274.7 µg/mL, respectively. Fraction 4 (MeOH-H₂O, 90:10) showed the highest cytotoxicity activity with IC₅₀value of < 10 µg/mL. The chemical compounds of the fractions that are responsible for cytotoxic activity are potent for further investigation.

Keywords: cytotoxic activity, trichoderma longibrachiatum, marine-derived fungi, PANC-1 cell line

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Authors: Sello Mokwena, Monyepao Thabang

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In this study, we propose a comprehensive approach to address the challenges in person re-identification models. By combining a centroid tracking algorithm with a Siamese convolutional neural network model, our method excels in detecting, tracking, and capturing robust person features across non-overlapping camera views. The algorithm efficiently identifies individuals in the camera network, while the neural network extracts fine-grained global features for precise cross-image comparisons. The approach's effectiveness is further accentuated by leveraging the camera network topology for guidance. Our empirical analysis on benchmark datasets highlights its competitive performance, particularly evident when background subtraction techniques are selectively applied, underscoring its potential in advancing person re-identification techniques.

Keywords: camera network, convolutional neural network topology, person tracking, person re-identification, siamese

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Authors: Najeebah Almahmeed

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Risk Management is an evolving subject among organizations that include corporations, governments, non-governmental organizations, and not-for-profit corporations. In order to enhance awareness around the importance of Risk Management and make sure everyone is using it in their day-to-day job, the Risk Culture topic has emerged and gained importance not only in the Finance Sector but also in the National Oil Companies in Kuwait. Risk Culture can be defined as the shared beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors within a company that guide its approach to managing risks. It acts as a connecting force that links policies, procedures, and individuals, influencing how risks are understood and tackled through activities. In this research, benefits of Risk Culture are shared, guidelines are presented to promote a risk aware culture, and fully embed and enforce Risk-based processes and procedures. Moreover, this research demonstrates methodologies of measuring the Risk Culture using specific dimensions and clusters.

Keywords: clusters, dimensions, national oil companies, risk culture, risk management

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Authors: Alondra Balbuena Medina, Carlos Diaz Delgado, Aleida Yadira Vilchis Fránces

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In Mexico, each year news is disseminated about the ravages of floods, such as the total loss of housing, damage to the fields; the increase of the costs of the food, derived from the losses of the harvests, coupled with health problems such as skin infection, etc. In addition to social problems such as delinquency, damage in education institutions and the population in general. The flooding is a consequence of heavy rains, tropical storms and or hurricanes that generate excess water in drainage systems that exceed its capacity. In urban areas, heavy rains can be one of the main factors in causing flooding, in addition to excessive precipitation, dam breakage, and human activities, for example, excessive garbage in the strainers. In agricultural areas, these can hardly achieve large areas of cultivation. It should be mentioned that for both areas, one of the significant impacts of floods is that they can permanently affect the livelihoods of many families, cause damage, for example in their workplaces such as farmlands, commercial or industry areas and where services are provided. In recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have had an accelerated development, being reflected in the growth and the exponential evolution of the innovation giving; as a result, the daily generation of new technologies, updates, and applications. Innovation in the development of Information Technology applications has impacted on all areas of human activity. They influence all the orders of life of individuals, reconfiguring the way of perceiving and analyzing the world such as, for instance, interrelating with people as individuals and as a society, in the economic, political, social, cultural, educational, environmental, etc. Therefore the present work describes the creation of a system of calculation of flood costs for housing areas, retail establishments and agricultural areas from the Mexican Republic, based on the use and application of geotechnical tools being able to be useful for the benefit of the sectors of public, education and private. To generate analysis of hydrometereologic affections and with the obtained results to realize the Geoinformatics tool was constructed from two different points of view: the geoinformatic (design and development of GIS software) and the methodology of flood damage validation in order to integrate a tool that provides the user the monetary estimate of the effects caused by the floods. With information from the period 2000-2014, the functionality of the application was corroborated. For the years 2000 to 2009 only the analysis of the agricultural and housing areas was carried out, incorporating for the commercial establishment's information of the period 2010 - 2014. The method proposed for the resolution of this research project is a fundamental contribution to society, in addition to the tool itself. Therefore, it can be summarized that the problems that are in the physical-geographical environment, conceiving them from the point of view of the spatial analysis, allow to offer different alternatives of solution and also to open up slopes towards academia and research.

Keywords: floods, technological innovation, monetary estimation, spatial analysis

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Authors: Zhang Yu

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Shanxi Province is a province with a long history in China. The historical characteristics of Jinzhong Prefecture in Shaanxi Province are very prominent. This research has done a lot of field research and analysis, and has analyzed a large number of documents. The formation and characteristics of villages in Jinzhong Prefecture are summarized. But the remains of many areas have not been systematically discovered and analyzed. This study found that the reasons for the formation of villages are natural, cultural, traffic and economic reasons. It mainly includes water, mountain, and developed business culture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. By analyzing the evolution characteristics of each period, the characteristics and remains of the existing villages are explained in detail. These types of relics mainly include courtyards, fortresses, and Exchange shops. This study can provide systematic guidance on the protection of future village remains.

Keywords: Jinzhong Prefecture, village, features, remains

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Authors: José Manuel Palma, Paula Pereira, Margarida Tomás

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Foreseen the future: Human factors integration in European Horizon Projects The development of new technology as artificial intelligence, smart sensing, robotics, cobotics or intelligent machinery must integrate human factors to address the need to optimize systems and processes, thereby contributing to the creation of a safe and accident-free work environment. Human Factors Integration (HFI) consistently pose a challenge for organizations when applied to daily operations. AGILEHAND and FORTIS projects are grounded in the development of cutting-edge technology - industry 4.0 and 5.0. AGILEHAND aims to create advanced technologies for autonomously sort, handle, and package soft and deformable products, whereas FORTIS focuses on developing a comprehensive Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) solution. Both projects employ different approaches to explore HFI. AGILEHAND is mainly empirical, involving a comparison between the current and future work conditions reality, coupled with an understanding of best practices and the enhancement of safety aspects, primarily through management. FORTIS applies HFI throughout the project, developing a human-centric approach that includes understanding human behavior, perceiving activities, and facilitating contextual human-robot information exchange. it intervention is holistic, merging technology with the physical and social contexts, based on a total safety culture model. In AGILEHAND we will identify safety emergent risks, challenges, their causes and how to overcome them by resorting to interviews, questionnaires, literature review and case studies. Findings and results will be presented in “Strategies for Workers’ Skills Development, Health and Safety, Communication and Engagement” Handbook. The FORTIS project will implement continuous monitoring and guidance of activities, with a critical focus on early detection and elimination (or mitigation) of risks associated with the new technology, as well as guidance to adhere correctly with European Union safety and privacy regulations, ensuring HFI, thereby contributing to an optimized safe work environment. To achieve this, we will embed safety by design, and apply questionnaires, perform site visits, provide risk assessments, and closely track progress while suggesting and recommending best practices. The outcomes of these measures will be compiled in the project deliverable titled “Human Safety and Privacy Measures”. These projects received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No101092043 (AGILEHAND) and No 101135707 (FORTIS).

Keywords: human factors integration, automation, digitalization, human robot interaction, industry 4.0 and 5.0

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Authors: Adedayo Jeremiah Adeyekun, Samuel Oluwagbemiga Ishola

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This research paper focuses on the study of the master plan of rural Farrukhnagar, a town in Gurugram with an aim to proffer solutions to the problems associated with the planning of the town. The commercial zone has been selected for the case study. The findings from the case studies will reveal problems that will require a proposed design of a new ultra-modern market to position traders selling along the road in well-deserved stalls, waste disposal/incinerator system for proper management of waste and cleanliness within the market square, design of stormwater drainage to avoid flood during the rainy season and the design of car/auto – tricycle parks to create more space in the existing market cycle and thereby avoiding congestion. The research proposes urban and architectural solutions to improve the rural commercial service settings in Farrukhnagar which is a study area in Gurugram, Haryana, India.

Keywords: management, commercial, service, planning, congestion

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Authors: R. Tariq, R. Lee

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Background: Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale Urgent Community Care Team (UCCT)1 is a great example of using a multidisciplinary team to cope with demand. The service reduces unnecessary admissions to hospitals and ensures that patients can leave the hospital quicker by making care more readily available within the community and patient’s homes. The team comprises nurses, community practitioners, and allied health professions, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and GPs. The main challenge for a team with a range of experiences and skill sets is to maintain consistency of care, which technology can help address. Allied healthcare professionals (HCPs) are often used in expanded roles with duties mainly involving patient consultations and decision making to ease pressure on doctors. The Clinical Reasoning Platform (CRP) Dem Dx is used to support new as well as experienced professionals in the decision making process. By guiding HCPs through diagnosing patients from an expansive directory of differential diagnoses, patients can receive quality care in the community. Actions on the platform are determined using NICE guidelines along with local guidance influencing the assessment and management of a patient. Objective: To compare the clinical assessment, decisions, and actions taken by the UCCT multidisciplinary team in the community and Dem Dx, using retrospective clinical cases. Methodology: Dem Dx was used to analyse 192 anonymised cases provided by the HMR UCCT. The team’s performance was compared with Dem Dx regarding the quality of the documentation of the clinical assessment and the next steps on the patient’s journey, including the initial management, actions, and any onward referrals made. The cases were audited by two medical doctors. Results: The study found that the actions outlined by the Dem Dx platform were appropriate in almost 87% of cases. When in a direct comparison between DemDX and the actions taken by the clinical team, it was found that the platform was suitable 83% (p<0.001) of the time and could lead to a potential improvement of 66% in the assessment and management of cases. Dem Dx also served to highlight the importance of comprehensive and high quality clinical documentation. The quality of documentation of cases by UCCT can be improved to provide a detailed account of the assessment and management process. By providing step-by-step guidance and documentation at every stage, Dem Dx may ensure that legal accountability has been fulfilled. Conclusion: With the ever expanding workforce in the NHS, technology has become a key component in driving healthcare outcomes. To improve healthcare provision and clinical reasoning, a decision support platform can be integrated into HCPs’ clinical practice. Potential assistance with clinical assessments, the most appropriate next step and actions in a patient’s care, and improvements in the documentation was highlighted by this retrospective study. A further study has been planned to ascertain the effectiveness of improving outcomes using the clinical reasoning platform within the clinical setting by clinicians.

Keywords: allied health professional, assessment, clinical reasoning, clinical records, clinical decision-making, ocumentation

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Authors: Magdalena Suárez-Ortega, M. Fe. Sánchez-García

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This paper focuses on the analysis of the motivations that lead people to undertake and consolidate their business. It is addressed from the framework of planned behavior theory, which recognizes the importance of the social environment and cultural values, both in the decision to undertake business and in business consolidation. Similarly, it is also based on theories of career development, which emphasize the importance of career management competencies and their connections to other vital aspects of people, including their roles within their families and other personal activities. This connects directly with the impact of entrepreneurship on the career and the professional-personal project of each individual. This study is part of the project titled Career Design and Talent Management (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain, State Plan 2013-2016 Excellence Ref. EDU2013-45704-P). The aim of the study is to identify and describe entrepreneurial competencies and motivational profiles in a sample of 248 Spanish entrepreneurs, considering the consolidated profile and the profile in transition (n = 248).In order to obtain the information, the Questionnaire of Motivation and conditioners of the entrepreneurial career (MCEC) has been applied. This consists of 67 items and includes four scales (E1-Conflicts in conciliation, E2-Satisfaction in the career path, E3-Motivations to undertake, E4-Guidance Needs). Cluster analysis (mixed method, combining k-means clustering with a hierarchical method) was carried out, characterizing the groups profiles according to the categorical variables (chi square, p = 0.05), and the quantitative variables (ANOVA). The results have allowed us to characterize three motivational profiles relevant to the motivation, the degree of conciliation between personal and professional life, and the degree of conflict in conciliation, levels of career satisfaction and orientation needs (in the entrepreneurial project and life-career). The first profile is formed by extrinsically motivated entrepreneurs, professionally satisfied and without conflict of vital roles. The second profile acts with intrinsic motivation and also associated with family models, and although it shows satisfaction with their professional career, it finds a high conflict in their family and professional life. The third is composed of entrepreneurs with high extrinsic motivation, professional dissatisfaction and at the same time, feel the conflict in their professional life by the effect of personal roles. Ultimately, the analysis has allowed us to line the kinds of entrepreneurs to different levels of motivation, satisfaction, needs and articulation in professional and personal life, showing characterizations associated with the use of time for leisure, and the care of the family. Associations related to gender, age, activity sector, environment (rural, urban, virtual), and the use of time for domestic tasks are not identified. The model obtained and its implications for the design of training actions and orientation to entrepreneurs is also discussed.

Keywords: motivation, entrepreneurial career, guidance needs, life-work balance, job satisfaction, assessment

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Authors: Oh Hyeon Jeon, WooYoung Jung

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In this study, seepage analysis was performed by the level difference between upstream and downstream of weir structure for safety evaluation of weir structure against flooding. Monte Carlo Simulation method was employed by considering the probability distribution of the adjacent ground parameter, i.e., permeability coefficient of weir structure. Moreover, by using a commercially available finite element program (ABAQUS), modeling of the weir structure is carried out. Based on this model, the characteristic of water seepage during flooding was determined at each water level with consideration of the uncertainty of their corresponding permeability coefficient. Subsequently, fragility function could be constructed based on this response from numerical analysis; this fragility function results could be used to determine the weakness of weir structure subjected to flooding disaster. They can also be used as a reference data that can comprehensively predict the probability of failur,e and the degree of damage of a weir structure.

Keywords: weir structure, seepage, flood disaster fragility, probabilistic risk assessment, Monte-Carlo simulation, permeability coefficient

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Authors: Michael Mederle, Heinz Bernhardt

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The Management of machine fleets or autonomous vehicle control will considerably increase efficiency in future agricultural production. Especially entire process chains, e.g. harvesting complexes with several interacting combine harvesters, grain carts, and removal trucks, provide lots of optimization potential. Organization and pre-planning ensure to get these efficiency reserves accessible. One way to achieve this is to optimize infield path planning. Particularly autonomous machinery requires precise specifications about infield logistics to be navigated effectively and process optimized in the fields individually or in machine complexes. In the past, a lot of theoretical optimization has been done regarding infield logistics, mainly based on field geometry. However, there are reasons why farmers often do not apply the infield strategy suggested by mathematical route planning tools. To make the computational optimization more useful for farmers this study focuses on these influencing factors by expert interviews. As a result practice-oriented navigation not only to the field but also within the field will be possible. The survey study is intended to cover the entire range of German agriculture. Rural mixed farms with simple technology equipment are considered as well as large agricultural cooperatives which farm thousands of hectares using track guidance and various other electronic assistance systems. First results show that farm managers using guidance systems increasingly attune their infield-logistics on direction giving obstacles such as power lines. In consequence, they can avoid inefficient boom flippings while doing plant protection with the sprayer. Livestock farmers rather focus on the application of organic manure with its specific requirements concerning road conditions, landscape terrain or field access points. Cultivation of sugar beets makes great demands on infield patterns because of its particularities such as the row crop system or high logistics demands. Furthermore, several machines working in the same field simultaneously influence each other, regardless whether or not they are of the equal type. Specific infield strategies always are based on interactions of several different influences and decision criteria. Single working steps like tillage, seeding, plant protection or harvest mostly cannot be considered each individually. The entire production process has to be taken into consideration to detect the right infield logistics. One long-term objective of this examination is to integrate the obtained influences on infield strategies as decision criteria into an infield navigation tool. In this way, path planning will become more practical for farmers which is a basic requirement for automatic vehicle control and increasing process efficiency.

Keywords: autonomous vehicle control, infield logistics, path planning, process optimizing

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Authors: B. Lee, B. H. Choi

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The loss of safety for reservoirs brought about by climate change and facility aging leads to reservoir failures, which results in the loss of lives and property damage in downstream areas. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a reservoir failure alert system for downstream residents to detect the early signs of failure (with sensors) in real-time and perform safety management to prevent and minimize possible damage. 10 case studies were carried out to verify the water level management criteria of four levels (attention, caution, alert, serious). Peak changes in water level data were analysed. The results showed that ‘Caution’ and ‘Alert’ were closed to 33% and 66% of difference in level between flood water level and full water level. Therefore, it is adequate to use initial water level management criteria of reservoir failure alert system for the first year. Acknowledgment: This research was supported by a grant (2017-MPSS31-002) from 'Supporting Technology Development Program for Disaster Management' funded by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety(MOIS)

Keywords: alert system, management criteria, reservoir failure, sensor

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Authors: Jayden R. Hunter, Alexander J. MacQuarrie, Samantha C. Sheridan, Richard High, Carolyn Waite

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Workplace exercise programs have been recommended to improve the musculoskeletal fitness of paramedics with the aim of reducing injury rates, and while they have shown efficacy in other occupations, they have not been delivered and evaluated in Australian paramedics to our best knowledge. This study investigated the effectiveness of a 6-month workplace exercise program (MedicFit; MF) to improve paramedic fitness with or without health coach (HC) support. A group of regional Australian paramedics (n=76; 43 male; mean ± SD 36.5 ± 9.1 years; BMI 28.0 ± 5.4 kg/m²) were randomised at the station level to either exercise with remote health coach support (MFHC; n=30), exercise without health coach support (MF; n=23), or no-exercise control (CON; n=23) groups. MFHC and MF participants received a 6-month, low-moderate intensity resistance and flexibility exercise program to be performed ƒ on station without direct supervision. Available exercise equipment included dumbbells, resistance bands, Swiss balls, medicine balls, kettlebells, BOSU balls, yoga mats, and foam rollers. MFHC and MF participants were also provided with a comprehensive exercise manual including sample exercise sessions aimed at improving musculoskeletal strength and flexibility which included exercise prescription (i.e. sets, reps, duration, load). Changes to upper-body (push-ups), lower-body (wall squat) and core (plank hold) strength and flexibility (back scratch and sit-reach tests) after the 6-month intervention were analysed using repeated measures ANOVA to compare changes between groups and over time. Upper-body (+20.6%; p < 0.01; partial eta squared = 0.34 [large effect]) and lower-body (+40.8%; p < 0.05; partial eta squared = 0.08 (moderate effect)) strength increased significantly with no interaction or group effects. Changes to core strength (+1.4%; p=0.17) and both upper-body (+19.5%; p=0.56) and lower-body (+3.3%; p=0.15) flexibility were non-significant with no interaction or group effects observed. While upper- and lower-body strength improved over the course of the intervention, providing a 6-month workplace exercise program with or without health coach support did not confer any greater strength or flexibility benefits than exercise testing alone (CON). Although exercise adherence was not measured, it is possible that participants require additional methods of support such as face-to-face exercise instruction and guidance and individually-tailored exercise programs to achieve adequate participation and improvements in musculoskeletal fitness. This presents challenges for more remote paramedic stations without regular face-to-face access to suitably qualified exercise professionals, and future research should investigate the effectiveness of other forms of exercise delivery and guidance for these paramedic officers such as remotely-facilitated digital exercise prescription and monitoring.

Keywords: workplace exercise, paramedic health, strength training, flexibility training

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Authors: Felix U. Asoiro, Daniel I. Eleazar, Peter O. Offor

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As a result of increasing energy demands, research in bioethanol has increased in recent years all through the world, in abide to partially or totally replace renewable energy supplies. The first and third generation feedstocks used for biofuel production have fundamental drawbacks. Waste rice straw and cake from second generation feedstock like Jatropha curcas l. kernel (JC) is seen as non-food feedstock and promising candidates for the industrial production of bioethanol. In this study, JC and rice husk (RH) wastes were characterized for proximate composition. Bioethanol was produced from the residual polysaccharides present in rice husk (RH) and Jatropha seed cake by sequential hydrolytic and fermentative processes at varying mixing proportions (50 g JC/50 g RH, 100 g JC/10 g RH, 100 g JC/20 g RH, 100 g JC/50 g RH, 100 g JC/100 g RH, 100 g JC/200 g RH and 200 g JC/100 g RH) and particle sizes (0.25, 0.5 and 1.00 mm). Mixing proportions and particle size significantly affected both bioethanol yield and some bioethanol properties. Bioethanol yield (%) increased with an increase in particle size. The highest bioethanol (8.67%) was produced at a mixing proportion of 100 g JC/50g RH at 0.25 mm particle size. The bioethanol had the lowest values of specific gravity and density of 1.25 and 0.92 g cm-3 and the highest values of 1.57 and 0.97 g cm-3 respectively. The highest values of viscosity (4.64 cSt) were obtained with 200 g JC/100 g RH, at 1.00 mm particle size. The maximum flash point and cloud point values were 139.9 oC and 23.7oC (100 g JC/200 g RH) at 1 mm and 0.5 mm particle sizes respectively. The maximum pour point value recorded was 3.85oC (100 g JC/50 g RH) at 1 mm particle size. The paper concludes that bioethanol can be recovered from JC and RH wastes. JC and RH blending proportions as well as particle sizes are important factors in bioethanol production.

Keywords: bioethanol, hydrolysis, Jatropha curcas l. kernel, rice husk, fermentation, proximate composition

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Authors: Deepa S N, Srinivasan a D, Veeramanju K T

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The power transformer is a critical equipment in the transmission and distribution network that must be managed to ensure uninterrupted power service. The liquid insulation is essential for the proper functioning of the transformer, as it serves as both coolant and insulating medium, which influences the transformer’s durability. Further, the insulating state of a power transformer has a significant impact on its reliability. Mineral oil derived from petroleum crude oil has been employed as liquid dielectrics for decades due to its superior functional characteristics, however as a resource for the same are getting depleted over the years. Research is undertaken across the globe to identify a viable substitute for mineral oil. Further, alternate insulating oils are being investigated for better environmental impact, biodegradability and economics. Several combinations of vegetable oil derived natural esters are being inspected by researchers across the globe in these domains. In this work, mineral oil is blended with soyabean oil with various proportions and dielectric properties such as dielectric breakdown voltage, relative permittivity, dissipation factor, viscosity, flash and fire point have been investigated according to international standards. A quantitative comparison is made among various samples and is observed that the blended oil sample of equal proportion of mineral oil and soyabean oil, MO50+SO50 exhibits superior dielectric properties such as breakdown voltage of 65kV, dissipation factor of 0.0044, relative permittivity of 3.1680 that are closer to the range of values recommended for power transformer applications. Also, Breakdown voltage values of all the investigated oil samples obeyed the Weibull and Normal probability distribution.

Keywords: blended oil, dielectric breakdown, liquid insulation, power transformer

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Authors: Shinji Kawakura, Ryosuke Shibasaki

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We have been grouping and developing various kinds of practical, promising sensing applied systems concerning agricultural advancement and technical tradition (guidance). These include advanced devices to secure real-time data related to worker motion, and we analyze by methods of various advanced statistics and human dynamics (e.g. primary component analysis, Ward system based cluster analysis, and mapping). What is more, we have been considering worker daily health and safety issues. Targeted fields are mainly common farms, meadows, and gardens. After then, we observed and discussed time-line style, changing data. And, we made some suggestions. The entire plan makes it possible to improve both the aforementioned applied systems and farms.

Keywords: advanced statistical analysis, wearable sensing system, tradition of skill, supporting for workers, detecting crisis

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Authors: Negin Binesh, Mohammad Hossein Niksokhan, Amin Sarang

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Best Management Practices (BMPs) are considered as one of the most important structural adaptive measures to climate change and urban development challenges in recent decades. However, not every location is appropriate for applying BMPs in the watersheds. In this paper, location prioritization of two kinds of BMPs was done: Pourous pavement and Detention pond. West Flood-Diversion (WFD) catchment in northern parts of Tehran, Iran, was considered as the case study. The methodology includes integrating the results of Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) into Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method using Geographic Information System (GIS). The results indicate that mostly suburban areas of the watershed in northern parts are appropriate for applying detention basin, and downstream high-density urban areas are more suitable for using permeable pavement.

Keywords: adaptive measures, BMPs, location prioritization, urban flooding

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Daniel Dahis, Haim Azhari

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Noninvasive image-guided intracranial treatments using high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) are on the course of translation into clinical applications. They include, among others, tumor ablation, hyperthermia, and blood-brain-barrier (BBB) penetration. Since many of these procedures are associated with local temperature elevation, thermal monitoring is essential. MRI constitutes an imaging method with high spatial resolution and thermal mapping capacity. It is the currently leading modality for temperature guidance, commonly under the name MRgHIFU (magnetic-resonance guided HIFU). Nevertheless, MRI is a very expensive non-portable modality which jeopardizes its accessibility. Ultrasonic thermal monitoring, on the other hand, could provide a modular, cost-effective alternative with higher temporal resolution and accessibility. In order to assess the feasibility of ultrasonic brain thermal monitoring, this study investigated the usage of brain tissue attenuation coefficient (AC) temporal changes as potential estimators of thermal changes. Newton's law of cooling describes a temporal exponential decay behavior for the temperature of a heated object immersed in a relatively cold surrounding. Similarly, in the case of cerebral HIFU treatments, the temperature in the region of interest, i.e., focal zone, is suggested to follow the same law. Thus, it was hypothesized that the AC of the irradiated tissue may follow a temporal exponential behavior during cool down regime. Three ex-vivo bovine brain tissue specimens were inserted into plastic containers along with four thermocouple probes in each sample. The containers were placed inside a specially built ultrasonic tomograph and scanned at room temperature. The corresponding pixel-averaged AC was acquired for each specimen and used as a reference. Subsequently, the containers were placed in a beaker containing hot water and gradually heated to about 45ᵒC. They were then repeatedly rescanned during cool down using ultrasonic through-transmission raster trajectory until reaching about 30ᵒC. From the obtained images, the normalized AC and its temporal derivative as a function of temperature and time were registered. The results have demonstrated high correlation (R² > 0.92) between both the brain AC and its temporal derivative to temperature. This indicates the validity of the hypothesis and the possibility of obtaining brain tissue temperature estimation from the temporal AC thermal changes. It is important to note that each brain yielded different AC values and slopes. This implies that a calibration step is required for each specimen. Thus, for a practical acoustic monitoring of the brain, two steps are suggested. The first step consists of simply measuring the AC at normal body temperature. The second step entails measuring the AC after small temperature elevation. In face of the urging need for a more accessible thermal monitoring technique for brain treatments, the proposed methodology enables a cost-effective high temporal resolution acoustical temperature estimation during HIFU treatments.

Keywords: attenuation coefficient, brain, HIFU, image-guidance, temperature

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Authors: Samane Sharifi Monfared, Lavdie Rada

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Nowadays, autonomous vehicles are developing rapidly toward facilitating human car driving. One of the main issues is road lane detection for a suitable guidance direction and car accident prevention. This paper aims to improve and optimize road line detection based on a combination of camera calibration, the Hough transform, and Canny edge detection. The video processing is implemented using the Open CV library with the novelty of having a scale able region masking. The aim of the study is to introduce automatic road lane detection techniques with the user’s minimum manual intervention.

Keywords: hough transform, canny edge detection, optimisation, scaleable masking, camera calibration, improving the quality of image, image processing, video processing

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Authors: Bright Msukwa

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Background: Malawi suffered economic instability, bad weather and massive flooding in the year 2015. A massive flood in the country, mainly in the southern region lead to damage of agriculture products. As a result, one of the heavily affected was Zingwangwa, Blantyre. Methods: We interviewed a selected number of houses residing in donor constructed temporal shelters and those still residing close to the floods prone areas in Zingwangwa, Blantyre. Results: About 67% of the population insisted that they resided on the land, which was prone to the floods as it belonged to their ancestors and their staying was part of preserving ancestral values. The remaining 23% of the population demonstrated economic challenges due to floods that contributed to the damage of their food crops, property and houses. Conclusion: Beliefs can negatively affect economic life improvement if mindsets are not changed among people in the rural area. Recommendation: Improving natural resource management, climate and disaster resilience.

Keywords: economic, belief, walfare, poverty

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Authors: Denis Özdemir, Max Senges

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There are many examples of AI-supported apps for better health and wellbeing. Generally, these applications help people to achieve their goals based on scientific research and input data. Still, they do not always explain how those three are related, e.g. by making implicit assumptions about goals that hold for many but not for all. We present a seven-step method for designing health and wellbeing AIs considering goal setting, measurable results, real-time indicators, analytics, visual representations, communication, and feedback. It can help engineers as guidance in developing apps, recommendation algorithms, and interfaces that support humans in their decision-making without patronization. To illustrate the method, we create a recommender AI for tiny wellbeing habits and run a small case study, including a survey. From the results, we infer how people perceive the relationship between them and the AI and to what extent it helps them to achieve their goals. We review our seven-step engineering method and suggest modifications for the next iteration.

Keywords: recommender systems, natural language processing, health apps, engineering methods

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Authors: Prince, Amoako

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This article provides an overview of academic research on urban future planning, with a focus on sustainable cities. The goal of the article is to provide a global update on the issues and viewpoints that are now surrounding urban planning, sustainability, and development. Based on scholarly and scientific research, the review presents potential avenues of investigation and development for ensuring a sustainable urban future. Recent scholarly research in the context of sustainable cities has focused on the conceptualization and knowledge generation involved in building sustainable cities. The goal of the study is to describe the present state of research on concepts and terminologies related to sustainable cities, planning, and techniques for developing and evaluating urban sustainability, even though its breadth may not be all-inclusive. The objective is to offer local governments, urban and development practitioners and other stakeholders some perspective and guidance in striving towards urban sustainability in the future.

Keywords: urban sustainability, sustainable urban development, sustainability assessment, sustainable development, sustainable cities

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Authors: Yuan Xu, Xun Liang, Meina Zhang

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The rise and attenuation of the public opinion broadcast of an emergent accident, in the social network, has a close relationship with the dynamic development of its subevents cluster. In this article, we take Tianjin Port explosion's subevents as an example to research the dynamic propagation discipline of Internet public opinion in a sudden accident, and analyze the overall structure of dynamic propagation to propose four different routes for subevents clusters propagation. We also generate network diagrams for the dynamic public opinion propagation, analyze each propagation type specifically. Based on this, suggestions on the supervision and guidance of Internet public opinion broadcast can be made.

Keywords: network dynamic transmission modes, emergent subevents clusters, Tianjin Port explosion, public opinion supervision

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Ahsan Ali Khan

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During past few years, researchers are emphasizing more on the need of safety in construction industry. This need of safety is an important issue in developing countries. As due to development they are facing huge construction growth. This research is done to evaluate labor safety condition in construction industry of Pakistan. The research carried out through questionnaire survey at different construction sites. Useful data are gathered from these sites which then factor analyzed resulting in five factors. These factors reflect that most of the workers are aware of the safety need, but they divert this responsibility towards management and claim that the work is more essential for management instead of safety. Moreover, those work force which is unaware of safety state that there is lack of any training and guidance from upper management which lead to many unfavorable events on construction sites. There is need of implementation safety activities by management like training, formulation of rules and policies. This research will be helpful to divert management attention towards safety need so they will make efforts for safety of their manpower—the workers.

Keywords: labor's safety, management role, Pakistan, safety factors

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Authors: K. Sangeeth, P. Rekha, P. Preeja, P. Divya, R. Arya, R. Maneesha

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Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are small or tiny devices that consists of different sensors to sense physical parameters like air pressure, temperature, vibrations, movement etc., process these data and sends it to the central data center to take decisions. The WSN domain, has wide range of applications such as monitoring and detecting natural hazards like landslides, forest fire, avalanche, flood monitoring and also in healthcare applications. With such different applications, it is being taught in undergraduate/post graduate level in many universities under department of computer science. But the cost and infrastructure required to purchase WSN nodes for having the students getting hands on expertise on these devices is expensive. This paper gives overview about the remote triggered lab that consists of more than 100 WSN nodes that helps the students to remotely login from anywhere in the world using the World Wide Web, configure the nodes and learn the WSN concepts in intuitive way. It proposes new way called over the air programming (OTAP) and its internals that program the 100 nodes simultaneously and view the results without the nodes being physical connected to the computer system, thereby allowing for sparse deployment.

Keywords: WSN, over the air programming, virtual lab, AT45DB

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Authors: Antonio D. Lee, Steven X. Jiang

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A variety of techniques and methods are available to evaluate cognitive performance in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) applications. However, traditional cognitive performance evaluation techniques typically incorporate either the conscious or systematic aspect, failing to take into consideration the subconscious or intuitive aspect. This leads to incomplete measures and produces ineffective designs. In order to fill the gaps in past research, this study developed a theoretical framework to facilitate the integration of situation awareness (SA) and intuitive pattern recognition (IPR) to enhance the cognitive performance representation in USAR applications. This framework provides guidance to integrate both SA and IPR in order to evaluate the cognitive performance of the USAR responders. The application of this framework will help improve the system design.

Keywords: cognitive performance, intuitive pattern recognition, situation awareness, urban search and rescue

Procedia PDF Downloads 307