Search results for: mixed mode operation

Authors: Ashraf Nawaz Khan, R. Alagirusamy, Apurba Das, Puneet Mahajan

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The thermoplastic-based fibre composites are acquiring a market sector of conventional as well as thermoset composites. However, replacing the thermoset with a thermoplastic composite has never been an easy task. The inherent high viscosity of thermoplastic resin reveals poor interface properties. In this work, a homo-polymer towpreg is produced through an electrostatic powder spray coating methodology. The produced flexible towpreg offers a low melt-flow distance during the consolidation of the laminate. The reduced melt-flow distance demonstrates a homogeneous fibre/matrix distribution (and low void content) on consolidation. The composite laminate has been fabricated with two manufacturing techniques such as conventional film stack (FS) and powder-coated (PC) technique. This helps in understanding the distinct response of produced laminates on applying load since the laminates produced through the two techniques are comprised of the same constituent fibre and matrix (constant fibre volume fraction). The changed behaviour is observed mainly due to the different fibre/matrix configurations within the laminate. The interface adhesion influences the load transfer between the fibre and matrix. Therefore, it influences the elastic, plastic, and failure patterns of the laminates. Moreover, the effect of preform geometries (plain weave and satin weave structure) are also studied for corresponding composite laminates in terms of various mechanical properties. The fracture analysis is carried out to study the effect of resin at the interlacement points through micro-CT analysis. The PC laminate reveals a considerably small matrix-rich and deficient zone in comparison to the FS laminate. The different load tensile, shear, fracture toughness, and drop weight impact test) is applied to the laminates, and corresponding damage behaviour is analysed in the successive stage of failure. The PC composite has shown superior mechanical properties in comparison to the FS composite. The damage that occurs in the laminate is captured through the SEM analysis to identify the prominent mode of failure, such as matrix cracking, fibre breakage, delamination, debonding, and other phenomena.

Keywords: composite, damage, fibre, manufacturing

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Authors: Oxana Lukoshus

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The methods of corpus linguistics, a well-established field of research, are being increasingly applied in cognitive linguistics. Corpora data are especially useful for different quantitative studies of grammatical and other aspects of language. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate how present-day corpora can be applied in semantic studies in general and in semantic studies of adjectives in particular. Polysemantic adjectives have been the subject of numerous studies. But most of them have been carried out on dictionaries. Undoubtedly, dictionaries are viewed as one of the basic data sources, but only at the initial steps of a research. The author usually starts with the analysis of the lexicographic data after which s/he comes up with a hypothesis. In the research conducted three polysemantic synonyms true, loyal, faithful have been analyzed in terms of differences and similarities in their semantic structure. A corpus-based approach in the study of the above-mentioned adjectives involves the following. After the analysis of the dictionary data there was the reference to the following corpora to study the distributional patterns of the words under study – the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). These corpora are continually updated and contain thousands of examples of the words under research which make them a useful and convenient data source. For the purpose of this study there were no special needs regarding genre, mode or time of the texts included in the corpora. Out of the range of possibilities offered by corpus-analysis software (e.g. word lists, statistics of word frequencies, etc.), the most useful tool for the semantic analysis was the extracting a list of co-occurrence for the given search words. Searching by lemmas, e.g. true, true to, and grouping the results by lemmas have proved to be the most efficient corpora feature for the adjectives under the study. Following the search process, the corpora provided a list of co-occurrences, which were then to be analyzed and classified. Not every co-occurrence was relevant for the analysis. For example, the phrases like An enormous sense of responsibility to protect the minds and hearts of the faithful from incursions by the state was perceived to be the basic duty of the church leaders or ‘True,’ said Phoebe, ‘but I'd probably get to be a Union Official immediately were left out as in the first example the faithful is a substantivized adjective and in the second example true is used alone with no other parts of speech. The subsequent analysis of the corpora data gave the grounds for the distribution groups of the adjectives under the study which were then investigated with the help of a semantic experiment. To sum it up, the corpora-based approach has proved to be a powerful, reliable and convenient tool to get the data for the further semantic study.

Keywords: corpora, corpus-based approach, polysemantic adjectives, semantic studies

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Authors: Eimar Yadir Quintero Tapias

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Background: Science is not generally self-correcting; many clinical studies end with the same conclusion "more research is needed." This study hypothesizes that first, we need a better appraisal of the available (and unavailable) evidence instead of creating more of the same false inquiries. Methods: Systematic review of ClinicalTrials.gov study records using the following Boolean operators: (food OR nut OR milk OR egg OR shellfish OR wheat OR peanuts) AND (allergy OR allergies OR hypersensitivity OR hypersensitivities). Variables included the status of the study (e g., active and completed), availability of results, sponsor type, sample size, among others. To determine the rates of non-publication in journals indexed by PubMed, an advanced search query using the specific Number of Clinical Trials (e.g., NCT000001 OR NCT000002 OR...) was performed. As a prophylactic measure to prevent P-hacking, data analyses only included descriptive statistics and not inferential approaches. Results: A total of 2092 study records matched the search query described above (date: September 13, 2019). Most studies were interventional (n = 1770; 84.6%) and the remainder observational (n = 322; 15.4%). Universities, hospitals, and research centers sponsored over half of these investigations (n = 1208; 57.7%), 308 studies (14.7%) were industry-funded, and 147 received NIH grants; the remaining studies got mixed sponsorship. Regarding completed studies (n = 1156; 55.2%), 248 (21.5%) have results available at the registry site, and 417 (36.1%) matched NCT numbers of journal papers indexed by PubMed. Conclusions: The internal and external validity of human research is critical for the appraisal of medical evidence. It is imperative to analyze the entire dataset of clinical studies, preferably at a patient-level anonymized raw data, before rushing to conclusions with insufficient and inadequate information. Publication bias and non-registration of clinical trials limit the evaluation of the evidence concerning therapeutic interventions for food allergy, such as oral and sublingual immunotherapy, as well as any other medical condition. Over half of the food allergy human research remains unpublished.

Keywords: allergy, clinical trials, immunology, systematic reviews

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Authors: Linyao Qiu, Zhiqiang Du

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As the rapid development of urbanization, economic developments, and steady population growth in China, the widespread devastation, economic damages, and loss of human lives caused by numerous forms of natural disasters are becoming increasingly serious every year. Disaster management requires available and effective cooperation of different roles and organizations in whole process including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Due to the imbalance of regional development in China, the disaster management capabilities of national and provincial disaster reduction centers are uneven. When an undeveloped area suffers from disaster, neither local reduction department could get first-hand information like high-resolution remote sensing images from satellites and aircrafts independently, nor sharing mechanism is provided for the department to access to data resources deployed in other place directly. Most existing disaster management systems operate in a typical passive data-centric mode and work for single department, where resources cannot be fully shared. The impediment blocks local department and group from quick emergency response and decision-making. In this paper, we introduce a collaborative platform for distributed disaster reduction. To address the issues of imbalance of sharing data sources and technology in the process of disaster reduction, we propose a multi-role oriented collaboration business mechanism, which is capable of scheduling and allocating for optimum utilization of multiple resources, to link various roles for collaborative reduction business in different place. The platform fully considers the difference of equipment conditions in different provinces and provide several service modes to satisfy technology need in disaster reduction. An integrated collaboration system based on focusing services mechanism is designed and implemented for resource scheduling, functional integration, data processing, task management, collaborative mapping, and visualization. Actual applications illustrate that the platform can well support data sharing and business collaboration between national and provincial department. It could significantly improve the capability of disaster reduction in China.

Keywords: business collaboration, data sharing, distributed disaster reduction, focusing service

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Authors: Wenquan Gan, Peiyu Zhao, Xinyu Zhao

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Under the background of the rapid development of China’s ageing population, ageing-in-place has become a primary strategy to cope with this problem promoted by the Chinese government. However, most older adults currently living in old residential communities are insufficient to support their ageing-in-place. Therefore, exploring how to retrofit existing communities towards ageing-friendly standards to support older adults is essential for healthy ageing. To better cope with this issue, this study aims to shed light on the inter-relationship among the built environment, daily activities, and well-being of older adults in urban China. Using mixed research methods including GPS tracking, structured observation, and in-depth interview to examine: (a) what specific places or facilities are most commonly used by the elderly in the ageing-in-place process; (b) what specific built environment characteristics attract older adults in these frequently used places; (c) how has the use of these spaces impacted the well-being of older adults. Specifically, structured observation and GPS are used to record and map the older residents’ behaviour and movement in Suzhou, China, a city with a highly aged population and suitable as a research case. Subsequently, a follow-up interview is conducted to explore what impact of activities and the built environment on their well-being. Results showed that for the elderly with good functional ability, the facilities promoted by the Chinese government to support ageing-in-place, such as community nursing homes for the aged, day-care centre, and activity centres for the aged, are rarely used by older adults. Additionally, older adults have their preferred activities and built environment characteristics that contribute to their well-being. Our findings indicate that a complex interrelationship between the built environment and activities can influence the well-being of the elderly. Further investigations are needed to understand how to support healthy ageing-in-place, especially in addition to providing permanent elder-ly-care facilities, but to attend to the design interventions that can enhance these particularly built environment characteristics to facilitate a healthy lifestyle in later life.

Keywords: older adults, built environment, spatial behavior, community activity, healthy ageing

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Authors: Anthony I. Otuonye, Juliet N. Odii, Perpetual N. Ibe

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The obvious challenges faced by most commercial bank customers while using the services of ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) across developing countries have triggered the need for an improved system with better security features. Current ATM systems are password-based, and research has proved the vulnerabilities of these systems to heinous attacks and manipulations. We have discovered by research that the security of current ATM-assisted banking services in most developing countries of the world is easily broken and maneuvered by fraudsters, majorly because it is quite difficult for these systems to identify an impostor with privileged access as against the authentic bank account owner. Again, PIN (Personal Identification Number) code passwords are easily guessed, just to mention a few of such obvious limitations of traditional ATM operations. In this research work also, we have developed a system of fingerprint biometrics with PIN code Authentication that seeks to improve the security features of traditional ATM installations as well as other Banking Services. The aim is to ensure better security at all ATM installations and raise the confidence of bank customers. It is hoped that our system will overcome most of the challenges of the current password-based ATM operation if properly applied. The researchers made use of the OOADM (Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology), a software development methodology that assures proper system design using modern design diagrams. Implementation and coding were carried out using Visual Studio 2010 together with other software tools. Results obtained show a working system that provides two levels of security at the client’s side using a fingerprint biometric scheme combined with the existing 4-digit PIN code to guarantee the confidence of bank customers across developing countries.

Keywords: fingerprint biometrics, banking operations, verification, ATMs, PIN code

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Authors: Akalework Mengesha

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The adoption of improved agricultural technologies has been connected with higher earnings and lower poverty, enhanced nutritional status, lower staple food prices, and increased employment opportunities for landless laborers. The adoption and extension of the technologies are vastly crucial in that it enables the countries to achieve the millennium development goals (MDG) of reducing extreme poverty and hunger. There are efforts which directed to the enlargement and provision of modern crop varieties in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 30 years. Nevertheless, by and large, the adoption and expansion of rates for improved technologies have insulated behind other regions. This research aims to assess social and economic barriers in the adoption and expansion of agricultural technologies by local communities living around a private agricultural farm in Woliatta Zone, Southern Ethiopia. The study has been carried out among rural households which are located in the three localities selected for the study in the Woliatta zone. Across sectional mixed method, the design was used to address the study objective. The qualitative method was employed (in-depth interview, key informant, and focus group discussion) involving a total of 42 in-depth informants, 17 key-informant interviews, 2 focus group discussions comprising of 10 individuals in each group through purposive sampling techniques. The survey method was mainly used in the study to examine the impact of attitudinal, demographic, and socioeconomic variables on farmers’ adoption of agricultural technologies for quantitative data. The finding of the study revealed that Amibara commercial farm has not made a resolute and well-organized effort to extend agricultural technology to the surrounding local community. A comprehensive agricultural technology transfer scheme hasn’t been put in place by the commercial farm ever since it commenced operating in the study area. Besides, there is an ongoing conflict of interest between the farm and the community, which has kept on widening through time, bounds to be irreversible.

Keywords: adoption, technology transfer, agriculture, barriers

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Melake Kuflom

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European power networks involve the use of multiple overhead transmission lines to construct a highly duplicated system that delivers reliable and stable electrical energy to the distribution level. The transmission line protection applied in the existing GB transmission network are normally independent unit differential and time stepped distance protection schemes, referred to as main-1 & main-2 respectively, with overcurrent protection as a backup. The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources, commonly referred as “weak sources,” into the power network resulted in the decline of fault level. Traditionally, the fault level of the GB transmission network has been strong; hence the fault current contribution is more than sufficient to ensure the correct operation of the protection schemes. However, numerous conventional coal and nuclear generators have been or about to shut down due to the societal requirement for CO2 emission reduction, and this has resulted in a reduction in the fault level on some transmission lines, and therefore an adaptive transmission line protection is required. Generally, greater utilization of renewable energy sources generated from wind or direct solar energy results in a reduction of CO2 carbon emission and can increase the system security and reliability but reduces the fault level, which has an adverse effect on protection. Consequently, the effectiveness of conventional protection schemes under low fault levels needs to be reviewed, particularly for future GB transmission network operating scenarios. The proposed paper will evaluate the transmission line challenges under high penetration of renewable energy sources andprovides alternative viable protection solutions based on the problem observed. The paper will consider the assessment ofrenewable energy sources (RES) based on a fully rated converter technology. The DIgSILENT Power Factory software tool will be used to model the network.

Keywords: fault level, protection schemes, relay settings, relay coordination, renewable energy sources

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Authors: Shangqing Song, Bin Xu, Yajun Cheng, Zhong Wang

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miRNAs derived from exosomes exist in a body fluid such as urine were regarded as potential biomarkers for various human cancers diagnosis and prognosis, as mature miRNAs can be steadily preserved by exosomes. However, its potential value in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) diagnosis and prognosis remains unclear. In the present study, differentially expressed miRNAs from urinal exosomes were identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The 16 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified between ccRCC patients and healthy donors. To explore the specific diagnosis biomarker of ccRCC, we validated these urinary exosomes from 70 early-stage renal cancer patients, 30 healthy people and other urinary system cancers, including 30 early-stage prostate cancer patients and 30 early-stage bladder cancer patients by qRT-PCR. The results showed that urinary exosome miR-30c-5p could be stably amplified and meanwhile the expression of miR-30c-5p has no significant difference between other urinary system cancers and healthy control, however, expression level of miR-30c-5p in urinary exosomal of ccRCC patients was lower than healthy people and receiver operation characterization (ROC) curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) values was 0.8192 (95% confidence interval was 0.7388-0.8996, P= 0.0000). In addition, up-regulating miR-30c-5p expression could inhibit renal cell carcinoma cells growth. Lastly, HSP5A was found as a direct target gene of miR-30c-5p. HSP5A depletion reversed the promoting effect of ccRCC growth casued by miR-30c-5p inhibitor, respectively. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that urinary exosomal miR-30c-5p is readily accessible as diagnosis biomarker of early-stage ccRCC, and miR-30c-5p might modulate the expression of HSPA5, which correlated with the progression of ccRCC.

Keywords: clear cell renal cell carcinoma, exosome, HSP5A, miR-30c-5p

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Authors: Maryam Ehsanpour, Maryam Malekpour, Rastin Afkhami

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Today, industry is one of the indices of growth and development of countries and is a suitable applicable criterion to compare the countries. Bandar Abbas has a high industrial centralization in term of geographical redundancy of industries in comparison with other rural and urban places of Hormozgan province. Most important and major industries of the province are located in Bandar abbas eighth refinery, power plant, zinc melting company, Almahdi Aluminium, Hormozgan steel, south steel, which are the most important of these industries. So, it is necessary to study pollution from these industries and their destructive effects on environment of region. In respect of these things, general purpose of this research is codling and presenting managing solution of Almahdi Aluminium factory in them of measuring of air (atmosphere) parameters. For gaining this purpose it is necessary to determine measure of heavy metals suspension in the air (atmosphere) in the neighborhood of industries and also in residential regions close to them as partial purposes. So, for achieving the purposes above, operation of sampling from the air in two hot and cold seasons of the year (2010-2011) was performed, after field reviews to recognize the sources of effluence and to choose place of sampling stations. Sampling and preparation way to read was based on EPA and NIOSH. Also, decreasing process was included Fe>Al>Cd>Pb>Ni respectively, in term of results gaining from sampling of ingredients existing in the air (atmosphere). Also Ni and Fe elements in samples of air were higher than permissive measure in both of cold and hot season. Average of these two metals was 34% and 33% in cold season and 44% and 34% micrograms/m3 in hot season. Finally, suitable managing solutions to improve existing situation is presented in term for all results.

Keywords: Almahdi aluminium factory, Bandar Abbas, scarce metals, atmosphere

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Authors: Syed A. Bukhari, Ankur Goswmai, Dale Hume, Thomas Thundat

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Here we demonstrate mechanical detection of photo-induced Insulator to metal transition (MIT) in ultra-thin vanadium dioxide (VO₂) micro strings by using < 100 µW of optical power. Highly focused laser beam heated the string locally resulting in through plane and along axial heat diffusion. Localized temperature increase can cause temperature rise > 60 ºC. The heated region of VO₂ can transform from insulating (monoclinic) to conducting (rutile) phase leading to lattice compressions and stiffness increase in the resonator. The mechanical frequency of the resonator can be tuned by changing optical power and wavelength. The first mode resonance frequency was tuned in three different ways. A decrease in frequency below a critical optical power, a large increase between 50-120 µW followed by a large decrease in frequency for optical powers greater than 120 µW. The dynamic mechanical response was studied as a function of incident optical power and gas pressure. The resonance frequency and amplitude of vibration were found to be decreased with increasing laser power from 25-38 µW and increased by1-2 % when the laser power was further increased to 52 µW. The transition in films was induced and detected by a single pump and probe source and by employing external optical sources of different wavelengths. This trend in dynamic parameters of the strings can be co-related with reversible Insulator to metal transition in VO₂ films which creates change in density of the material and hence the overall stiffness of the strings leading to changes in string dynamics. The increase in frequency at a particular optical power manifests a transition to a more ordered metallic phase which tensile stress onto the string. The decrease in frequency at higher optical powers can be correlated with poor phonon thermal conductivity of VO₂ in conducting phase. Poor thermal conductivity of VO₂ can force in-plane penetration of heat causing the underneath SiN supporting VO₂ which can result as a decrease in resonance frequency. This noninvasive, non-contact laser-based excitation and detection of Insulator to metal transition using micro strings resonators at room temperature and with laser power in few µWs is important for low power electronics, and optical switching applications.

Keywords: thermal conductivity, vanadium dioxide, MEMS, frequency tuning

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Authors: Sachin Pawar, Suman Patra, Goutam Mukhopadhyay

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The primary function of a shaft is to transfer power. The shaft can be cast or forged and then machined to the final shape. Manufacturing of ~5 m length and 0.6 m diameter shaft is very critical. More difficult is to maintain its straightness during heat treatment and machining operations, which involve thermal and mechanical loads, respectively. During the machining operation of a such forged mandrel shaft, a deflection of 3-4mm was observed. To remove this deflection shaft was pressed at both ends which led to the development of cracks in it. To investigate the root cause of the deflection and cracking, the sample was cut from the failed shaft. Possible causes were identified with the help of a cause and effect diagram. Chemical composition analysis, microstructural analysis, and hardness measurement were done to confirm whether the shaft meets the required specifications or not. Chemical composition analysis confirmed that the material grade was 42CrMo4. Microstructural analysis revealed the presence of untempered martensite, indicating improper heat treatment. Due to this, ductility and impact toughness values were considerably lower than the specification of the mentioned grade. Residual stress measurement of one more bent shaft manufactured by a similar route was done by portable X-ray diffraction(XRD) technique. For better understanding, measurements were done at twelve different locations along the length of the shaft. The occurrence of a high amount of undesirable tensile residual stresses close to the Ultimate Tensile Strength(UTS) of the material was observed. Untempered martensitic structure, lower ductility, lower impact strength, and presence of a high amount of residual stresses all confirmed the improper tempering heat treatment of the shaft. Tempering relieves the residual stresses. Based on the findings of this study, stress-relieving heat treatment was done to remove the residual stresses and deflection in the shaft successfully.

Keywords: residual stress, mandrel shaft, untempered martensite, portable XRD

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Authors: Bantie Getnet Yirsaw, Muluken Chanie Agimas, Gebrie Getu Alemu, Tigabu Kidie Tesfie, Nebiyu Mekonnen Derseh, Habtamu Wagnew Abuhay, Meron Asmamaw Alemayehu, Getaneh Awoke Yismaw

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Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major public health problems globally and needs an urgent response. It is one of the most responsible causes of mortality among the five hepatitis viruses, and it affects almost every class of individuals. Thus, the main objective of this study was to determine the pooled prevalence and its determinants among pregnant women in East Africa. Methods: We searched studies using PubMed, Scopus, Embase, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and grey literature that were published between January 01/2020 to January 30/2024. The studies were assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) quality assessment scale. The random-effect (DerSimonian) model was used to determine the pooled prevalence and associated factors of HBV among pregnant women. Heterogeneity was assessed by I² statistic, sub-group analysis, and sensitivity analysis. Publication bias was assessed by the Egger test, and the analysis was done using STATA version 17. Result: A total of 45 studies with 35639 pregnant women were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of HBV among pregnant women in East Africa was 6.0% (95% CI: 6.0%−7.0%, I² = 89.7%). The highest prevalence of 8% ((95% CI: 6%, 10%), I² = 91.08%) was seen in 2021, and the lowest prevalence of 5% ((95% CI: 4%, 6%) I² = 52.52%) was observed in 2022. A pooled meta-analysis showed that history of surgical procedure (OR = 2.14 (95% CI: 1.27, 3.61)), having multiple sexual partners (OR = 3.87 (95% CI: 2.52, 5.95), history of body tattooing (OR = 2.55 (95% CI: 1.62, 4.01)), history of tooth extraction (OR = 2.09 (95% CI: 1.29, 3.39)), abortion history(OR = 2.20(95% CI: 1.38, 3.50)), history of sharing sharp material (OR = 1.88 (95% CI: 1.07, 3.31)), blood transfusion (OR = 2.41 (95% CI: 1.62, 3.57)), family history of HBV (OR = 4.87 (95% CI: 2.95, 8.05)) and history needle injury (OR = 2.62 (95% CI: 1.20, 5.72)) were significant risk factors associated with HBV infection among pregnant women. Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women in East Africa was at an intermediate level and different across countries, ranging from 1.5% to 22.2%. The result of this pooled prevalence was an indication of the need for screening, prevention, and control of HBV infection among pregnant women in the region. Therefore, early identification of risk factors, awareness creation of the mode of transmission of HBV, and implementation of preventive measures are essential in reducing the burden of HBV infection among pregnant women.

Keywords: hepatitis B virus, prevalence, determinants, pregnant women, meta-analysis, East Africa

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Authors: Ghadeer Mohammad Said El-Sheikh, Samer Mohamad Shalhoob

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Medical equipment operation state is a valid reflection of health care organizations' performance, where such equipment highly contributes to the quality of healthcare services on several levels in which quality improvement has become an intrinsic part of the discourse and activities of health care services. In healthcare organizations, clinical and biomedical engineering departments play an essential role in maintaining the safety and efficiency of such equipment. One of the most challenging topics when it comes to such sophisticated equipment is the lifespan of medical equipment, where many factors will impact such characteristics of medical equipment through its life cycle. So far, many attempts have been made in order to address this issue where most of the approaches are kind of arbitrary approaches and one of the criticisms of existing approaches trying to estimate and understand the lifetime of a medical equipment lies under the inquiry of what are the environmental factors that can play into such a critical characteristic of a medical equipment. In an attempt to address this shortcoming, the purpose of our study rises where in addition to the standard technical factors taken into consideration through the decision-making process by a clinical engineer in case of medical equipment failure, the dimension of environmental factors shall be added. The investigations, researches and studies applied for the purpose of supporting the decision making process by a clinical engineers and assessing the lifespan of healthcare equipment’s in the Lebanese society was highly dependent on the identification of technical criteria’s that impacts the lifespan of a medical equipment where the affecting environmental factors didn’t receive the proper attention. The objective of our study is based on the need for introducing a new well-designed plan for evaluating medical equipment depending on two dimensions. According to this approach, the equipment that should be replaced or repaired will be classified based on a systematic method taking into account two essential criteria; the standard identified technical criteria and the added environmental criteria.

Keywords: technical, environmental, healthcare, characteristic of medical equipment

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Authors: F. Abdelhamid

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Algeria is a multilingual speech community where individuals constantly mix between codes in spoken discourse. Code is used as a cover term to refer to the existing languages and language varieties which include, among others, the mother tongue of the majority Algerian Arabic, the official language Modern Standard Arabic and the foreign languages French and English. The present study explores whether Algerians mix between these codes in online communication as well. Facebook is the selected platform from which data is collected because it is the preferred social media site for most Algerians and it is the most used one. Adopting the notion of translanguaging, this study attempts explaining how users of Facebook use multilingual messages to communicate meaning. Accordingly, multilingual interactions are not approached from a pejorative perspective but rather as a creative linguistic behavior that multilingual utilize to achieve intended meanings. The study is intended as a contribution to the research on multilingualism online because although an extensive literature has investigated multilingualism in spoken discourse, limited research investigated it in the online one. Its aim is two-fold. First, it aims at ensuring that the selected platform for analysis, namely Facebook, could be a source for multilingual data to enable the qualitative analysis. This is done by measuring frequency rates of multilingual instances. Second, when enough multilingual instances are encountered, it aims at describing and interpreting some selected ones. 120 posts and 16335 comments were collected from two Facebook pages. Analysis revealed that third of the collected data are multilingual messages. Users of Facebook mixed between the four mentioned codes in writing their messages. The most frequent cases are mixing between Algerian Arabic and French and between Algerian Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. A focused qualitative analysis followed where some examples are interpreted and explained. It seems that Algerians mix between codes when communicating online despite the fact that it is a conscious type of communication. This suggests that such behavior is not a random and corrupted way of communicating but rather an intentional and natural one.

Keywords: Algerian speech community, computer mediated communication, languages in contact, multilingualism, translanguaging

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Authors: Giles Balbinotti, Lucas Balbinotti, Paula Hembecker

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The management of the productive process project activities, for the conception of future work and for the financial health of the companies, is an important condition in an organizational model that corroborates the management of the human aspects and their variabilities existing in the work. It is important to seek, at all levels of the organization, understanding and consequent cultural change, and so that factors associated with human aspects are considered and prioritized in the projects. In this scenario, the central question of research for this study is placed from the context of the work, in which the managers and project coordinators are inserted, as follows: How is the top management convinced, in the design stages, to take The ‘Ergonomics’ as strategy for the performance and sustainability of the business? In this perspective, this research has as general objective to analyze how the application of the management of the human aspects in a real project of productive process in the automotive industry, including the activity of the manager and coordinator of the project beyond the strategies of convincing to act in the ergonomics of design. For this, the socio-technical and ergonomic approach is adopted, given its anthropocentric premise in the sense of acting on the social system simultaneously to the technical system, besides the support of the Modapts system that measures the non-value-added times and the correlation with the Critical positions. The methodological approach adopted in this study is based on a review of the literature and the analysis of the activity of the project coordinators of an industry, including the management of human aspects in the context of work variability and the strategies applied in project activities. It was observed in the study that the loss of performance of the serial production lines reaches the important number of the order of 30%, which can make the operation with not value-added, and this loss has as one of the causes, the ergonomic problems present in the professional activity.

Keywords: human aspects in production process project, ergonomics in design, sociotechnical project management, sociotechnical, ergonomic principles, sustainability

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Authors: Hakan Akgul

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Purpose: The use of firecrackers (i.e., Ramadan Cannon) during the month of Ramadan is a traditional way of indicating that the fasting period is over in Muslim countries. Here, we report the rehabilitation of a case of hand injury with pluridigital fractures due to premature explosion of a Ramadan cannon. Materials and Methods: A 48-year old man admitted to the Emergency Department due to left hand injury as a result of a premature explosion of a Ramadan cannon. The patient was immediately taken to operation room because of the multiple fractures, tendon loss, and soft tissue loss in the left hand. Range of motion (ROM) of joints was measured with goniometer, pain and oedema were measured and splinting was performed. Results: Rehabilitation team took over the patient at postoperative 9th week. During the 3 month rehabilitation, range of motion increased, oedema was taken under control, pain was reduced, the colour of the skin turned to the normal tone. According to the visual analog scale (VAS), pain decreased from 9 to 4. Oedema, around the metacarpofalangeal (MCP) joints, decreased from 27,5 cm to 23,5 cm. Total active range of motion of the wrist increased from 5 degrees to 50 degrees.Total active range of motion of supination and pronation increased from 55 degrees to 70 degrees. Discussion: The rehabilitation of multiple hand injury is quite difficult. Different aspects of trauma should be taken into consideration when rehabilitation is planned. Factors such as waiting for the bone union, wound healing, and use of external fixators may delay rehabilitation process. Joint mobilization, massage for reducing oedema and preventing scar tissue, exercise within the range of motion are efficient measures. Poor patient compliance to treatment may lead to poor outcome. First of all, oedema and scar formation must be taken under control. Removing fixators should not be delayed depending on the bone union, and exercise within the range of motion should be started.

Keywords: explosion, fracture, hand, injury

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Authors: Parul Kapoor, Dheeraj Bhardwaj

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Delhi and other Indian cities accommodate thousands of Central Government employees in housing complexes called ‘General Pool Residential Accommodation’ (GPRA), located in prime parcels of the city. These residential colonies are now undergoing redevelopment at a massive scale, significantly impacting the ecology of the surrounding areas. Essentially, these colonies were low-rise, low-density planned developments with a dense tree cover and minimal parking requirements. But with increasing urbanisation and spike in parking demand, the proposed built form is an aggregate of high-rise gated complexes, redefining the skyline of the city which is a huge departure from the mediocre setup of Low-rise Walk-up apartments. The complexity of these developments is further aggravated by the need for parking which necessitates cutting huge number of trees to accommodate multiple layers of parking beneath the structures thus sidelining the authentic character of these areas which is laden with a dense tree cover. The aftermath of this whole process is the generation of a huge carbon footprint on the surrounding areas, which is unaccounted for, in the planning and design practice. These developments are currently planned as mix-use compounds with large commercial built-up spaces which have additional parking requirements over and above the residential parking. Also, they are perceived as gated complexes and not as neighborhood units, thus project isolated images of high-rise, dense systems with little context to the surroundings. The paper would analyze case studies of GPRA Redevelopment projects in Delhi, and the lack of relevant development control regulations which have led to abnormalities and complications in the entire redevelopment process. It would also suggest policy guidelines which can establish comprehensive codes for effective planning of these settlements.

Keywords: gated complexes, GPRA Redevelopment projects, increased densities, huge carbon footprint, mixed-use development

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Authors: Stephen Grant Atkins

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Radical use of project-based learning (PBL) in a small New Zealand business school provides an opportunity to longitudinally examine its effects over a decade of pre-Covid data. Prior to this business school’s implementation of PBL, starting in 2012, the business pedagogy literature presented just one example of PBL replacing an entire core-set of courses. In that instance, a British business school merged four of its ‘degree Year 3’ accounting courses into one PBL semester. As radical as that would have seemed, to students aged 20-to-22, the PBL experiment conducted in a New Zealand business school was notably more extreme: 41 nationally-approved Learning Outcomes (L.O.s), these deriving from 8 separate core courses, were aggregated into one grand set of L.O.s, and then treated as a ‘full-year’/‘full-time’ single course. The 8 courses in question were all components of this business school’s compulsory ‘degree Year 1’ curriculum. Thus, the students involved were notably younger (…ages 17-to-19…), and no ‘part-time’ enrolments were allowed. Of interest are this PBL experiment’s effects on subsequent performance outcomes in ‘degree Years 2 & 3’ (….which continued to operate in their traditional ways). Of special interest is the quality of ‘group project’ outcomes. This is because traditionally, ‘degree Year 1’ course assessments are only minimally based on group work. This PBL experiment altered that practice radically, such that PBL ‘degree Year 1’ alumni entered their remaining two years of business coursework with far more ‘project group’ experience. Timeline-wise, thus of interest here, firstly, is ‘degree Year 2’ performance outcomes data from years 2010-2012 + 2016-2018, and likewise ‘degree Year 3’ data for years 2011-2013 + 2017-2019. Those years provide a pre-&-post comparative baseline for performance outcomes in students never exposed to this school’s radical PBL experiment. That baseline is then compared to PBL alumni outcomes (2013-2016….including’Student Evaluation of Course Quality’ outcomes…) to clarify ‘radical PBL’ effects.

Keywords: project-based learning, longitudinal mixed-methods, students criticism, effects-on-learning

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Authors: Rui Wu

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In the volatile modern manufacturing environment, new orders randomly occur at any time, while the pre-emptive methods are infeasible. This leads to a real-time scheduling method that can produce a reasonably good schedule quickly. The dynamic Flexible Job Shop problem is an NP-hard scheduling problem that hybrid the dynamic Job Shop problem with the Parallel Machine problem. A Flexible Job Shop contains different work centres. Each work centre contains parallel machines that can process certain operations. Many algorithms, such as genetic algorithms or simulated annealing, have been proposed to solve the static Flexible Job Shop problems. However, the time efficiency of these methods is low, and these methods are not feasible in a dynamic scheduling problem. Therefore, a dynamic rule selection scheduling system based on the reinforcement learning method is proposed in this research, in which the dynamic Flexible Job Shop problem is divided into several parallel machine problems to decrease the complexity of the dynamic Flexible Job Shop problem. Firstly, the features of jobs, machines, work centres, and flexible job shops are selected to describe the status of the dynamic Flexible Job Shop problem at each decision point in each work centre. Secondly, a framework of reinforcement learning algorithm using a double-layer deep Q-learning network is applied to select proper composite dispatching rules based on the status of each work centre. Then, based on the selected composite dispatching rule, an available operation is selected from the waiting buffer and assigned to an available machine in each work centre. Finally, the proposed algorithm will be compared with well-known dispatching rules on objectives of mean tardiness, mean flow time, mean waiting time, or mean percentage of waiting time in the real-time Flexible Job Shop problem. The result of the simulations proved that the proposed framework has reasonable performance and time efficiency.

Keywords: dynamic scheduling problem, flexible job shop, dispatching rules, deep reinforcement learning

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Authors: Richard O’Riordan, Saritha Unnikrishnan

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Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are incorporating an increasing number of ADAS features, including automated lane-keeping systems. In recent years, many research papers into lane detection algorithms have been published, varying from computer vision techniques to deep learning methods. The transition from lower levels of autonomy defined in the SAE framework and the progression to higher autonomy levels requires increasingly complex models and algorithms that must be highly reliable in their operation and functionality capacities. Furthermore, these algorithms have no room for error when operating at high levels of autonomy. Although the current research details existing computer vision and deep learning algorithms and their methodologies and individual results, the research also details challenges faced by the algorithms and the resources needed to operate, along with shortcomings experienced during their detection of lanes in certain weather and lighting conditions. This paper will explore these shortcomings and attempt to implement a lane detection algorithm that could be used to achieve improvements in AV lane detection systems. This paper uses a pre-trained LaneNet model to detect lane or non-lane pixels using binary segmentation as the base detection method using an existing dataset BDD100k followed by a custom dataset generated locally. The selected roads will be modern well-laid roads with up-to-date infrastructure and lane markings, while the second road network will be an older road with infrastructure and lane markings reflecting the road network's age. The performance of the proposed method will be evaluated on the custom dataset to compare its performance to the BDD100k dataset. In summary, this paper will use Transfer Learning to provide a fast and robust lane detection algorithm that can handle various road conditions and provide accurate lane detection.

Keywords: ADAS, autonomous vehicles, deep learning, LaneNet, lane detection

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Authors: Rona Lee Suelo-Calanao, Mahmoud Loubani

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Objective: Sternal wound infection (SWI) following cardiac operation has a significant impact on patient morbidity and mortality. It also contributes to longer hospital stays and increased treatment costs. SWI management is mainly focused on treatment rather than prevention. This study looks at the effect of closed incision negative pressure therapy (ciNPT) dressing to help reduce the incidence of superficial SWI in high-risk patients after cardiac surgery. The ciNPT dressing was evaluated at 3 cardiac hospitals in the United Kingdom". Methods: All patients who had cardiac surgery from 2013 to 2021 were included in the study. The patients were classed as high risk if they have two or more of the recognised risk factors: obesity, age above 80 years old, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Patients receiving standard dressing (SD) and patients using ciNPT were propensity matched, and the Fisher’s exact test (two-tailed) and unpaired T-test were used to analyse categorical and continuous data, respectively. Results: There were 766 matched cases in each group. Total SWI incidences are lower in the ciNPT group compared to the SD group (43 (5.6%) vs 119 (15.5%), P=0.0001). There are fewer deep sternal wound infections (14(1.8%) vs. 31(4.04%), p=0.0149) and fewer superficial infections (29(3.7%) vs. 88 (11.4%), p=0.0001) in the ciNPT group compared to the SD group. However, the ciNPT group showed a longer average length of stay (11.23 ± 13 days versus 9.66 ± 10 days; p=0.0083) and higher mean logistic EuroSCORE (11.143 ± 13 versus 8.094 ± 11; p=0.0001). Conclusion: Utilization of ciNPT as an approach to help reduce the incidence of superficial and deep SWI may be effective in high-risk patients requiring cardiac surgery.

Keywords: closed incision negative pressure therapy, surgical wound infection, cardiac surgery complication, high risk cardiac patients

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Authors: Graziella Ziino, Filippo Giarratana, Stefania Maria Marotta, Alessandro Giuffrida, Antonio Panebianco

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In Europe, North America and Japan, campylobacteriosis is one of the leading food-borne bacterial illnesses, often related to the consumption of poultry meats and/or by-products. The aim of this study was the evaluation of Campylobacter contamination of poultry meats marketed in Sicily (Italy) using both traditional methods and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). MALDI-TOF MS is considered a promising rapid (less than 1 hour) identification method for food borne pathogens bacteria. One hundred chicken and turkey meat preparations (no. 68 hamburgers, no. 21 raw sausages, no. 4 meatballs and no. 7 meat rolls) were taken from different butcher’s shops and large scale retailers and submitted to detection/enumeration of Campylobacter spp. according to EN ISO 10272-1:2006 and EN ISO 10272-2:2006. Campylobacter spp. was detected with general low counts in 44 samples (44%), of which 30 from large scale retailers and 14 from butcher’s shops. Chicken meats were significantly more contaminated than turkey meats. Among the preparations, Campylobacter spp. was found in 85.71% of meat rolls, 50% of meatballs, 44.12% of hamburgers and 28.57% of raw sausages. A total of 100 strains, 2-3 from each positive samples, were isolated for the identification by phenotypic, biomolecular and MALDI-TOF MS methods. C. jejuni was the predominant strains (63%), followed by C. coli (33%) and C. lari (4%). MALDI-TOF MS correctly identified 98% of the strains at the species level, only 1% of the tested strains were not identified. In the last 1%, a mixture of two different species was mixed in the same sample and MALDI-TOF MS correctly identified at least one of the strains. Considering the importance of rapid identification of pathogens in the food matrix, this method is highly recommended for the identification of suspected colonies of Campylobacteria.

Keywords: campylobacter spp., Food Microbiology, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, rapid microbial identification

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Authors: Ayse Pekrioglu Balkis, Sawash Mecid

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Due to continued growth and rapid development of road construction in worldwide, road sub-layers consist of soil layers, therefore, identification and recognition of type of soil and soil behavior in different condition help to us to select soil according to specification and engineering characteristic, also if necessary sometimes stabilize the soil and treat undesirable properties of soils by adding materials such as bitumen, lime, cement, etc. If the soil beneath the road is not done according to the standards and construction will need more construction time. In this case, a large part of soil should be removed, transported and sometimes deposited. Then purchased sand and gravel is transported to the site and full depth filled and compacted. Stabilization by cement or other treats gives an opportunity to use the existing soil as a base material instead of removing it and purchasing and transporting better fill materials. Classification of soil according to AASHTOO system and USCS help engineers to anticipate soil behavior and select best treatment method. In this study soil classification and the relation between soil classification and stabilization method is discussed, cement stabilization with different percentages have been selected for soil treatment based on NCHRP. There are different parameters to define the strength of soil. In this study, CBR will be used to define the strength of soil. Cement by percentages, 0%, 3%, 7% and 10% added to soil for evaluation effect of added cement to CBR of treated soil. Implementation of stabilization process by different cement content help engineers to select an economic cement amount for the stabilization process according to project specification and characteristics. Stabilization process in optimum moisture content (OMC) and mixing rate effect on the strength of soil in the laboratory and field construction operation have been performed to see the improvement rate in strength and plasticity. Cement stabilization is quicker than a universal method such as removing and changing field soils. Cement addition increases CBR values of different soil types by the range of 22-69%.

Keywords: California Bearing Ratio, cement stabilization, clayey soil, mechanical properties

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Authors: Maryam Farzaneh, Seyyedeh Nafiseh Hassani, Hossein Baharvand

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Objective: Chicken gonadal tissue has a two population such primordial germ cells (PGCs) and stromal cells (somatic cells). PGCs and embryonic germ cells (EGCs) that is a pluripotent type of PGCs in long-term culture are suitable sources for the production of chicken pluripotent stem cell lines, transgenic birds, vaccine and recombinant protein production. In general, the effect of growth factors such bFGF and mouse LIF on derivation of PGCs in vitro are important and in this study we could see the unique effect of small molecules such PD032 and SB43 as a chemical, in comparison to growth factors. Materials and Methods: After incubation of fertilized chicken egg up to 6 days and isolation of primary gonadal tissues and culture of mixed cells like PGCs and stromal cells. PGCs proliferate in the present of fetal calf serum (FCS) and small molecules and in another group bFGF, that these factors are important for PGCs culture and derivation. Somatic cells produce a multilayer feeder under the PGCs in primary culture and PGCs make a small cluster under these cells. Results: In present of small molecules and high volume of FCS (15%), the present of EGCs as a pluripotent stem cells were clear four weeks, that they had a positive immune-staining and periodic acid-Schiff staining (PAS), but in present of growth factors like bFGF without any chemicals, the present of PGCs were clear but after 7 until 10 days, there were disappear. Conclusion: Until now we have seen many researches about derivation and maintenance of chicken PGCs, in the hope of understanding the mechanisms that occur during germline development and production of a therapeutic product by transgenic birds. There are still many unknowns in this area and this project will try to have efficient conditions for identification of suitable culture medium for long-term culture of PGCs in vitro without serum and feeder cells.

Keywords: chicken gonadal primordial germ cells, pluripotent stem cells, growth factors, small molecules, transgenic birds

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Umit Cali

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The integration of intermittent energy sources like wind farms into the electricity grid has become an important challenge for the utilization and control of electric power systems, because of the fluctuating behaviour of wind power generation. Wind power predictions improve the economic and technical integration of large amounts of wind energy into the existing electricity grid. Trading, balancing, grid operation, controllability and safety issues increase the importance of predicting power output from wind power operators. Therefore, wind power forecasting systems have to be integrated into the monitoring and control systems of the transmission system operator (TSO) and wind farm operators/traders. The wind forecasts are relatively precise for the time period of only a few hours, and, therefore, relevant with regard to Spot and Intraday markets. In this work predictive data mining techniques are applied to identify a statistical and neural network model or set of models that can be used to predict wind power output of large onshore and offshore wind farms. These advanced data analytic methods helps us to amalgamate the information in very large meteorological, oceanographic and SCADA data sets into useful information and manageable systems. Accurate wind power forecasts are beneficial for wind plant operators, utility operators, and utility customers. An accurate forecast allows grid operators to schedule economically efficient generation to meet the demand of electrical customers. This study is also dedicated to an in-depth consideration of issues such as the comparison of day ahead and the short-term wind power forecasting results, determination of the accuracy of the wind power prediction and the evaluation of the energy economic and technical benefits of wind power forecasting.

Keywords: renewable energy sources, wind power, forecasting, data mining, big data, artificial intelligence, energy economics, power trading, power grids

Procedia PDF Downloads 505

Authors: Kamilia Mebarki

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The promotion of intercultural competence plays an important role in foreign language education. The outcome of intercultural educationalists‟ studies was the adoption of intercultural language learning and a modified version of the Communicative Competence that encompasses an intercultural component enabling language learners to communicate successfully interculturally. Intercultural Competencehas an even more central role in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) since efforts are critical to preparing learners for intercultural communisation in our global world. In these efforts, EFL learning materials are a crucial stimulus for developing learners’ intercultural competence. There has been a continuous interest in the analysis of EFL textbooks by researcher all over the world. One specific area that has received prominent attention in recent years is a focus on how the cultural content of EFL materials promote intercultural competence. In the Algerian context, research on the locally produced EFL textbooks tend to focus on investigating the linguistic and communicative competence. The cultural content of the materials has not yet been systematically researched. Therefore, this study contributes to filling this gap by evaluating the locally published EFL textbook ‘New Prospects’ used at the high school level as well as investigating teachers’ views and attitudes on the cultural content of ‘New Prospects’ alongside two others locally produced EFL textbooks ‘Getting Through’ and ‘At the Crossroad’ used at high school level. To estimate the textbook’s potential of developing intercultural competence, mixed methods, a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection, was used in the material evaluation analysed via content analysis and in the survey questionnaire and interview with teachers.Data collection and analysis were supported by the frameworks developed by the researcher for analysing the textbook, questionnaire, and interview. Indeed, based on the literature, three frameworks/ models are developed in this study to analyse, on one hand, the cultural contexts and themes discussed in the material that play an important role in fostering learners’ intercultural awareness. On the other hand, to evaluate the promotion of developing intercultural competence.

Keywords: intercultural communication, intercultural communicative competence, intercultural competence, EFL materials

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Authors: Clémence Royer, Stéphane Mazouffre

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Nowadays, electric propulsion systems play a crucial role in space exploration missions due to their high specific impulse and long operational life. The Hall thrusters are one of the most mature EP technologies. It is a gridless ion thruster that has proved reliable and high-performance for decades in various space missions. Operation of HT relies on electron emissions through a cathode placed outside a hollow dielectric channel that includes an anode at the back. Negatively charged particles are trapped in a magnetic field and efficiently slow down. By collisions, the electron cloud ionizes xenon atoms. A large electric field is generated in the axial direction due to the low electron transverse mobility in the region of a strong magnetic field. Positive particles are pulled out of the chamber at high velocity and are neutralized directly at the exhaust area. This phenomenon leads to the acceleration of the spacecraft system at a high specific impulse. While HT’s architecture and operating principle are relatively simple, the physics behind thrust is complex and still partly unknown. Current and voltage oscillations, as well as electron properties, have been captured over a 30 mn time period after ignition. The observed low-frequency oscillations exhibited specific frequency ranges, amplitudes, and stability patterns. Correlations between the oscillations and plasma characteristics we analyzed. The impact of these instabilities on thruster performance, including thrust efficiency, has been evaluated as well. Moreover, strategies for mitigating and controlling these instabilities have been developed, such as filtering. In this contribution, in addition to presenting a summary of the results obtained in the transient regime, we will present and discuss recent advances in Hall thruster plasma discharge filtering and control.

Keywords: electric propulsion, Hall Thruster, plasma diagnostics, low-frequency oscillations

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Aita Bishowkarma

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Ensuring quality education in primary level in multi-ethnic, multi- religious, multi-cultural and multilingual country Nepal which accommodates 123 ethnic languages (CBS 2011) has come across a big challenge. The discourse on the policies and practices to take advantage of the rich heritage of cultural and linguistic diversity in the pursuit of quality primary education to ethnic/linguistic minority children in Nepal gives in a critical observation of Nepalese perspective in the global academia. Situating the linguistic diversity of Nepal, primary education to children is better through mother tongue. Nepali as official or national language is another important language to be taught to the children. Similarly, craze for English has been inevitable for international communication and job opportunity in the global markets. This paper critically examines the current use of trilingual policy in mother tongue based multilingual education (MT-MLE) in Nepal from the perspective of exploiting linguistic diversity in classroom pedagogy. The researcher adopted mixed method research design applying descriptive measure and explanatory research methods. 24 teachers and 48 students from 6 multilingual schools were selected purposively to dig out their language use, language attitude and language preferences to reveal their preference and attitude towards mother tongue, Nepali and English through questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. The study shows, in a true multilingual system, all languages (mother tongue, languages of region, nation and wider communication) can have their legitimate place; bridging from the mother tongue to the regional language and national to international language; further leading to meaningful participation in the wider democratic global context. Trilingual policy of mother tongue, national language and international language seemed pertinent however, not sufficient. The finding of the study shows that for quality education in primary education mother tongue based critical multilingual pedagogy through language coexistence approach with contextual variation seems enviable.

Keywords: critical pedagogy, language co-existence, linguistic diversity, quality education

Procedia PDF Downloads 351

Authors: P. Pérez-Martín, G. Pedrós, P. Martínez-Jiménez, M. Varo-Martínez

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In recent decades, family habits related to children’s displacements to school have changed, increasing motorized travels against active modes. This entails a major negative impact on the urban environment, road safety in cities and the physical and psychological development of children. One of the more common actions used to reverse this trend is Walking School Bus (WSB), which consists of a predefined adult-scorted pedestrian route to school with several stops along the path where schoolchildren are collected. At Tirso de Molina School in Cordoba (Spain), a new ICT-based methodology to deploy WSB has been tested. A mobile app that allows the geoposition of the group, the notification of the arrival and real-time communication between the WSB participants have been presented to the families in order to organize and register the daily participation. After an initial survey to know the travel mode and the spatial distribution of the interested families, three WSB routes have been established and the families have been trained in the app usage. During nine weeks, 33 children have joined the WSB and their parents have accompanied the groups in turns. A high recurrence in the attendance has been registered. Through a final survey, participants have valued highly the tool and the methodology designed, emphasizing as most useful features of the mobile app: notifications system, chat and real-time monitoring. It has also been found that the tool has had a major impact on the degree of confidence of parents regarding the autonomous on foot displacement of their children to school. Moreover, 37,9% of the participant families have reported a total or partial modal shift from car to walking, and the benefits more reported are an increment of the parents available time and less problems in the travel to school daily organization. As a consequence, It has been proved the effectiveness of this user-centric innovative ICT-based methodology to reduce the levels of private car drop offs, minimize barriers of time constraints, volunteer recruitment, and parents’ safety concerns, while, at the same time, increase convenience and time savings for families. This pilot study can offer guidance for community coordinated actions and local authority interventions to support sustainable school travel outcomes.

Keywords: active travel, mobile app, sustainable mobility, urban transportation planning, walking school bus

Procedia PDF Downloads 327