Search results for: home market advantages

Authors: Charles Amoatey, Ebenezer Kumah

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of implementation of Distributor Management Solution (DMS) on supply chain performance in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry in Ghana. Methodology: A purposive sampling approach was used in selecting the respondents for the study. Data was collected from senior management and field supervisors from sales, distribution and customer service units of the case study firm and its channel members. This study made use of systematic literature review and results of survey data analysis to assess how information system has been used to improve supply chain performance. Findings: Results from the study showed that the critical effect factors from implementation of a DMS include (1) Obtain prompt and reliable feedback from the market; (2) Building the capacity and skills levels of employees as well as 3rd Party Agents; (3) Motivated top management to invest in MIS; and (4) Performance improvement in sales route management. The most critical challenges to an effective and sustainable MIS implementation are lack of enough trained IT employees and high barriers to cultural change especially with distributors. The paper recommends consistent investment in IS infrastructure and development of IT skills. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the literature by exploring the effects of distribution management solution implementation and supply chain performance in a developing country context. Considering the fact that this study is based on data from only one case study firm and its channel members, generalization of the results should be treated with caution. Practical implications: The findings have confirmed the benefits of implementing a Management Information System. The result should encourage channel members to allocate adequate resources for building MIS capacity to enhance their supply chain performance. Originality/Value: In this paper, the relationship between DMS/MIS implementation and improvement in supply chain performance, in the Ghanaian context, has been established.

Keywords: distributor management solution, fast-moving consumer goods, supply chain management, information systems, Ghana

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Authors: Pauline Calleja, Brooke Alexander

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In 2010 the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA) undertook sole administration of the Trauma Nursing Program (TNP) across Australia. The original TNP was developed from recommendations by the Review of Trauma and Emergency Services-Victoria. While participant and faculty feedback about the program was positive, issues were identified that were common for industry training programs in Australia. These issues included didactic approaches, with many lectures and little interaction/activity for participants. Participants were not necessarily encouraged to undertake deep learning due to the teaching and learning principles underpinning the course, and thus participants described having to learn by rote, and only gain a surface understanding of principles that were not always applied to their working context. In Australia, a trauma or emergency nurse may work in variable contexts that impact on practice, especially where resources influence scope and capacity of hospitals to provide trauma care. In 2011, a program review was undertaken resulting in major changes to the curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment approaches. The aim was to improve learning including a greater emphasis on pre-program preparation for participants, the learning environment and clinically applicable contextualized outcomes participants experienced. Previously if participants wished to undertake assessment, they were given a take home examination. The assessment had poor uptake and return, and provided no rigor since assessment was not invigilated. A new assessment structure was enacted with an invigilated examination during course hours. These changes were implemented in early 2012 with great improvement in both faculty and participant satisfaction. This presentation reports on a comparison of participant evaluations collected from courses post implementation in 2012 and in 2015 to evaluate if positive changes were sustained. Methods: Descriptive statistics were applied in analyzing evaluations. Since all questions had more than 20% of cells with a count of <5, Fisher’s Exact Test was used to identify significance (p = <0.05) between groups. Results: A total of fourteen group evaluations were included in this analysis, seven CENA TNP groups from 2012 and seven from 2015 (randomly chosen). A total of 173 participant evaluations were collated (n = 81 from 2012 and 92 from 2015). All course evaluations were anonymous, and nine of the original 14 questions were applicable for this evaluation. All questions were rated by participants on a five-point Likert scale. While all items showed improvement from 2012 to 2015, significant improvement was noted in two items. These were in regard to the content being delivered in a way that met participant learning needs and satisfaction with the length and pace of the program. Evaluation of written comments supports these results. Discussion: The aim of redeveloping the CENA TNP was to improve learning and satisfaction for participants. These results demonstrate that initial improvements in 2012 were able to be maintained and in two essential areas significantly improved. Changes that increased participant engagement, support and contextualization of course materials were essential for CENA TNP evolution.

Keywords: emergency nursing education, industry training programs, teaching and learning, trauma education

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Authors: Swati Tomar, Sunil Kumar Gupta

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Anammox is a novel and promising technology that has changed the traditional concept of biological nitrogen removal. The process facilitates direct oxidation of ammonical nitrogen under anaerobic conditions with nitrite as an electron acceptor without the addition of external carbon sources. The present study investigated the feasibility of anammox hybrid reactor (AHR) combining the dual advantages of suspended and attached growth media for biodegradation of ammonical nitrogen in wastewater. The experimental unit consisted of 4 nos. of 5L capacity AHR inoculated with mixed seed culture containing anoxic and activated sludge (1:1). The process was established by feeding the reactors with synthetic wastewater containing NH4-H and NO2-N in the ratio 1:1 at HRT (hydraulic retention time) of 1 day. The reactors were gradually acclimated to higher ammonium concentration till it attained pseudo steady state removal at a total nitrogen concentration of 1200 mg/l. During this period, the performance of the AHR was monitored at twelve different HRTs varying from 0.25-3.0 d with increasing NLR from 0.4 to 4.8 kg N/m3d. AHR demonstrated significantly higher nitrogen removal (95.1%) at optimal HRT of 1 day. Filter media in AHR contributed an additional 27.2% ammonium removal in addition to 72% reduction in the sludge washout rate. This may be attributed to the functional mechanism of filter media which acts as a mechanical sieve and reduces the sludge washout rate many folds. This enhances the biomass retention capacity of the reactor by 25%, which is the key parameter for successful operation of high rate bioreactors. The effluent nitrate concentration, which is one of the bottlenecks of anammox process was also minimised significantly (42.3-52.3 mg/L). Process kinetics was evaluated using first order and Grau-second order models. The first-order substrate removal rate constant was found as 13.0 d-1. Model validation revealed that Grau second order model was more precise and predicted effluent nitrogen concentration with least error (1.84±10%). A new mathematical model based on mass balance was developed to predict N2 gas in AHR. The mass balance model derived from total nitrogen dictated significantly higher correlation (R2=0.986) and predicted N2 gas with least error of precision (0.12±8.49%). SEM study of biomass indicated the presence of the heterogeneous population of cocci and rod shaped bacteria of average diameter varying from 1.2-1.5 mm. Owing to enhanced NRE coupled with meagre production of effluent nitrate and its ability to retain high biomass, AHR proved to be the most competitive reactor configuration for dealing with nitrogen laden wastewater.

Keywords: anammox, filter media, kinetics, nitrogen removal

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Authors: Willem J. A. Louw

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The wave of new advanced computing technology that has been developed during the recent past has significantly changed the way we communicate, collaborate and collect information. It has created a new technology environment and paradigm in which our children and students grow-up and this impacts on their learning. Research confirmed that Generation Y students have a preference for learning in the new technology environment. The challenge or question is: How do we adjust our teaching and learning to make the most of these changes. The complexity of effective and efficient teaching and learning must not be underestimated and changes must be preceded by proper objective research to prevent any haphazard developments that could do more harm than benefit. A blended learning approach has been used in the Forestry department for a few numbers of years including the use of electronic-peer assisted learning (e-pal) in a fixed-computer set-up within a learning management system environment. It was decided to extend the investigation and do some exploratory research by using a range of different Tablet devices. For this purpose, learning activities or assignments were designed to cover aspects of communication, collaboration and collection of information. The Moodle learning management system was used to present normal module information, to communicate with students and for feedback and data collection. Student feedback was collected by using an online questionnaire and informal discussions. The research project was implemented in 2013, 2014 and 2015 amongst first and third-year students doing a forestry three-year technical tertiary qualification in commercial plantation management. In general, more than 80% of the students alluded to that the device was very useful in their learning environment while the rest indicated that the devices were not very useful. More than ninety percent of the students acknowledged that they would like to continue using the devices for all of their modules whilst the rest alluded to functioning efficiently without the devices. Results indicated that information collection (access to resources) was rated the highest advantageous factor followed by communication and collaboration. The main general advantages of using Tablets were listed by the students as being mobility (portability), 24/7 access to learning material and information of any kind on a user friendly device in a Wi-Fi environment, fast computing process speeds, saving time, effort and airtime through skyping and e-mail, and use of various applications. Ownership of the device is a critical factor while the risk was identified as a major potential constraint. Significant differences were reported between the different types and quality of Tablets. The preferred types are those with a bigger screen and the ones with overall better functionality and quality features. Tablets significantly increase the collaboration, communication and information collection needs of the students. It does, however, not replace the need of a computer/laptop because of limited storage and computation capacity, small screen size and inefficient typing.

Keywords: tablets, teaching, blended learning, tablet quality

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Authors: Zuhal Mohammed, Khalid Siddig, Harald Grethe

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Vocational training (VT) has been identified as a potential engine for achieving economic and social development, particularly in developing countries, while during the last two decades it is deemed as an essential determinant of human capital accumulation. Furthermore, it has a crucial role in reducing inequality, wage gaps and unemployment and in promoting skill decomposition. Government plays an important role in the human capital formulation by providing finance for education. In some countries, a large portion of the public educational investment is devoted to academic education (primary, secondary and tertiary). This is reflected in disproportionately increasing investment in various education sectors other than vocational education and VT. Nevertheless, the finance of VT system is not likely to increase or even remain at its existing level. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis to quantify the impacts of various options for expanding the public expenditure on education as well as vocational training in the Sudan. The study uses a recursive dynamic CGE modelling framework that accommodates VT and allows depicting the impact of various policies targeting the vocational training system with special focus on the agricultural sector. This allows for depicting the potential effects of various resource allocation policies not only among education versus non-education sectors, but also between the various types of education and training. Moreover, the study assesses the role of VT system in the economy through its influence on workers’ skill improvement and their movement across sectors. The results show that an increase in the public educational investment will lead to decrease the supply of low and high educated workers as results of increasing the school participation of the students in the short run. While in the medium to long run, this measure guides to increase the productivity of the labour and thus the growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore, the findings of the study provide Sudanese policymakers with needed information to help to adopt measures to reduce unemployment, enhance workers’ skill and ultimately improve livelihoods.

Keywords: vocational training, recursive dynamic CGE, skill level, labour market, economic growth, Sudan

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Authors: Gilda Santos, Rita Marques, Francisca Marques, João Ribeiro, André Fonseca, João M. Miranda, João B. L. M. Campos, Soraia F. Neves

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Every year, an unacceptable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually losing their life. Although thermal protective clothing research and development has been searching solutions to minimize firefighters heat load and skin burns, currently commercially available solutions focus in solving isolated problems, for example, radiant heat or water-vapor resistance. Therefore, episodes of severe burns and heat strokes are still frequent. Taking this into account, a consortium composed by Portuguese entities has joined synergies to develop an innovative protective clothing system by following a procedure based on the application of numerical models to optimize the design and using a combinationof protective clothing components disposed in different layers. Recently, it has been shown that Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can contribute to the reduction of potential heat hazards in fire extinguish operations, and consequently, their incorporation into firefighting protective clothing has advantages. The greatest challenge is to integrate these materials without compromising garments ergonomics and, at the same time, accomplishing the International Standard of protective clothing for firefighters – laboratory test methods and performance requirements for wildland firefighting clothing. The incorporation of PCMs into the firefighter's protective jacket will result in the absorption of heat from the fire and consequently increase the time that the firefighter can be exposed to it. According to the project studies and developments, to favor a higher use of the PCM storage capacityand to take advantage of its high thermal inertia more efficiently, the PCM layer should be closer to the external heat source. Therefore, in this stage, to integrate PCMs in firefighting clothing, a mock-up of a vest specially designed to protect the torso (back, chest and abdomen) and to be worn over a fire-resistant jacketwas envisaged. Different configurations of PCMs, as well as multilayer approaches, were studied using suitable joining technologies such as bonding, ultrasound, and radiofrequency. Concerning firefighter’s protective clothing, it is important to balance heat protection and flame resistance with comfort parameters, namely, thermaland water-vapor resistances. The impact of the most promising solutions regarding thermal comfort was evaluated to refine the performance of the global solutions. Results obtained with experimental bench scale model and numerical simulation regarding the integration of PCMs in a vest designed as protective clothing for firefighters will be presented.

Keywords: firefighters, multilayer system, phase change material, thermal protective clothing

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Authors: Tamar Bikashvili, Tamar Lordkipanidze, Ilia Lazrishvili

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Heavy metals remain one of serious environmental problems due to their toxic effects. The effect of arsenic and manganese compounds on rat behavior and neuromorphology was studied. Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: rats in control group were given regular water, while rats in other groups drank water with final manganese concentration of 10 mg/L (group A), 20 mg/L (group B) and final arsenic concentration 68 mg/L (group C), respectively, for a month. To study exploratory and anxiety behavior and also to evaluate aggressive performance in “home cage” rats were tested in “Open Field” and to estimate learning and memory status multi-branched maze was used. Statistically significant increase of motor and oriental-searching activity in experimental groups was revealed by an open field test, which was expressed in increase of number of lines crossed, rearing and hole reflexes. Obtained results indicated the suppression of fear in rats exposed to manganese. Specifically, this was estimated by the frequency of getting to the central part of the open field. Experiments revealed that 30-day exposure to 10 mg/ml manganese did not stimulate aggressive behavior in rats, while exposure to the higher dose (20 mg/ml), 37% of initially non-aggressive animals manifested aggressive behavior. Furthermore, 25% of rats were extremely aggressive. Obtained data support the hypothesis that excess manganese in the body is one of the immediate causes of enhancement of interspecific predatory aggressive and violent behavior in rats. It was also discovered that manganese intoxication produces non-reversible severe learning disability and insignificant, reversible memory disturbances. Studies of rodents exposed to arsenic also revealed changes in the learning process. As it is known, the distribution of metal ions differs in various brain regions. The principle manganese accumulation was observed in the hippocampus and in the neocortex, while arsenic was predominantly accumulated in nucleus accumbens, striatum, and cortex. These brain regions play an important role in the regulation of emotional state and motor activity. Histopathological analyzes of brain sections illustrated two morphologically distinct altered phenotypes of neurons: (1) shrunk cells with indications of apoptosis - nucleus and cytoplasm were very difficult to be distinguished, the integrity of neuronal cytoplasm was not disturbed; and (2) swollen cells - with indications of necrosis. Pyknotic nucleus, plasma membrane disruption and cytoplasmic vacuoles were observed in swollen neurons and they were surrounded by activated gliocytes. It’s worth to mention that in the cortex the majority of damaged neurons were apoptotic while in subcortical nuclei –neurons were mainly necrotic. Ultrastructural analyses demonstrated that all cell types in the cortex and the nucleus caudatus represent destructed mitochondria, widened neurons’ vacuolar system profiles, increased number of lysosomes and degeneration of axonal endings.

Keywords: arsenic, manganese, behavior, learning, neuron

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Authors: Tran Thi Thuy Oanh, Nguyen Ngoc Bao Tran

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In the view of Cognitive Linguistics (CL), knowledge and experience of things and events are used by human beings in expressing concepts, especially in their daily life. The human conceptual system is considered to be fundamentally metaphorical in nature. It is also said that the way we think, what we experience, and what we do everyday is very much a matter of language. In fact, language is an integral factor of cognition in that CL is a family of broadly compatible theoretical approaches sharing the fundamental assumption. The relationship between language and thought, of course, has been addressed by many scholars. CL, however, strongly emphasizes specific features of this relation. By experiencing, we receive knowledge of lives. The partial things are ideal domains, we make use of all aspects of this domain in metaphorically understanding abstract targets. The paper refered to applying this theory on pragmatics lessons for major English students at University of Foreign Language Studies - The University of Da Nang, Viet Nam. We conducted the study with two third – year students groups studying English pragmatics lessons. To clarify this study, the data from these two classes were collected for analyzing linguistic perspectives in the view of CL and traditional concepts. Descriptive, analytic, synthetic, comparative, and contrastive methods were employed to analyze data from 50 students undergoing English pragmatics lessons. The two groups were taught how to transfer the meanings of expressions in daily life with the view of CL and one group used the traditional view for that. The research indicated that both ways had a significant influence on students' English translating and interpreting abilities. However, the traditional way had little effect on students' understanding, but the CL view had a considerable impact. The study compared CL and traditional teaching approaches to identify benefits and challenges associated with incorporating CL into the curriculum. It seeks to extend CL concepts by analyzing metaphorical expressions in daily conversations, offering insights into how CL can enhance language learning. The findings shed light on the effectiveness of applying CL in teaching and learning English pragmatics. They highlight the advantages of using metaphorical expressions from daily life to facilitate understanding and explore how CL can enhance cognitive processes in language learning in general and teaching English pragmatics to third-year students at the UFLS - UDN, Vietnam in personal. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the relationship between language, cognition, and learning. By emphasizing the metaphorical nature of human conceptual systems, it offers insights into how CL can enrich language teaching practices and enhance students' comprehension of abstract concepts.

Keywords: cognitive linguisitcs, lakoff and johnson, pragmatics, UFLS

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Authors: George Zhou, Yunchan Chen, Candace Chien

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Kidney replacement therapy is the current standard of care for end-stage renal diseases. In-center or home hemodialysis remains an integral component of the therapeutic regimen. Arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) make up the vascular circuit through which blood is filtered and returned. Naturally, AVF patency determines whether adequate clearance and filtration can be achieved and directly influences clinical outcomes. Our aim was to build a deep learning model for automated AVF stenosis screening based on the sound of blood flow through the AVF. A total of 311 patients with AVF were enrolled in this study. Blood flow sounds were collected using a digital stethoscope. For each patient, blood flow sounds were collected at 6 different locations along the patient’s AVF. The 6 locations are artery, anastomosis, distal vein, middle vein, proximal vein, and venous arch. A total of 1866 sounds were collected. The blood flow sounds are labeled as “patent” (normal) or “stenotic” (abnormal). The labels are validated from concurrent ultrasound. Our dataset included 1527 “patent” and 339 “stenotic” sounds. We show that blood flow sounds vary significantly along the AVF. For example, the blood flow sound is loudest at the anastomosis site and softest at the cephalic arch. Contextualizing the sound with location metadata significantly improves classification performance. How to encode and incorporate categorical metadata is an active area of research1. Herein, we study ordinal (i.e., integer) encoding schemes. The numerical representation is concatenated to the flattened feature vector. We train a vision transformer (ViT) on spectrogram image representations of the sound and demonstrate that using scalar multiples of our integer encodings improves classification performance. Models are evaluated using a 10-fold cross-validation procedure. The baseline performance of our ViT without any location metadata achieves an AuROC and AuPRC of 0.68 ± 0.05 and 0.28 ± 0.09, respectively. Using the following encodings of Artery:0; Arch: 1; Proximal: 2; Middle: 3; Distal 4: Anastomosis: 5, the ViT achieves an AuROC and AuPRC of 0.69 ± 0.06 and 0.30 ± 0.10, respectively. Using the following encodings of Artery:0; Arch: 10; Proximal: 20; Middle: 30; Distal 40: Anastomosis: 50, the ViT achieves an AuROC and AuPRC of 0.74 ± 0.06 and 0.38 ± 0.10, respectively. Using the following encodings of Artery:0; Arch: 100; Proximal: 200; Middle: 300; Distal 400: Anastomosis: 500, the ViT achieves an AuROC and AuPRC of 0.78 ± 0.06 and 0.43 ± 0.11. respectively. Interestingly, we see that using increasing scalar multiples of our integer encoding scheme (i.e., encoding “venous arch” as 1,10,100) results in progressively improved performance. In theory, the integer values do not matter since we are optimizing the same loss function; the model can learn to increase or decrease the weights associated with location encodings and converge on the same solution. However, in the setting of limited data and computation resources, increasing the importance at initialization either leads to faster convergence or helps the model escape a local minimum.

Keywords: arteriovenous fistula, blood flow sounds, metadata encoding, deep learning

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Authors: Mirjana Petronijević, Sanja Panić, Aleksandra Cvetanović, Branko Kordić, Nenad Grba

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Enzyme peroxidases are biological catalysts and play a major role in phenolic wastewater treatments and other environmental applications. The most studied species from the peroxidases family is horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In environmental processes, HRP could be used in its free or immobilized form. Enzyme immobilization onto solid support is performed to improve the enzyme properties, prolong its lifespan and operational stability and allow its reuse in industrial applications. One of the enzyme supports of a newer generation is magnetic particles (MPs). Fe₃O₄ MPs are the most widely pursued immobilization of enzymes owing to their remarkable advantages of biocompatibility and non-toxicity. Also, MPs can be easily separated and recovered from the water by applying an external magnetic field. On the other hand, metals and metal oxides are not suitable for the covalent binding of enzymes, so it is necessary to perform their surface modification. Fe₃O₄ MPs functionalization could be performed during the process of their synthesis if it takes place in the presence of plant extracts. Extracts of plant material, such as wild plants, herbs, even waste materials of the food and agricultural industry (bark, shell, leaves, peel), are rich in various bioactive components such as polyphenols, flavonoids, sugars, etc. When the synthesis of magnetite is performed in the presence of plant extracts, bioactive components are incorporated into the surface of the magnetite, thereby affecting its functionalization. In this paper, the suitability of bio-magnetite as solid support for covalent immobilization of HRP across glutaraldehyde was examined. The activity of immobilized HRP at different pH values (4-9) and temperatures (20-80°C) and reusability were examined. Bio-MP was synthesized by co-precipitation method from Fe(II) and Fe(III) sulfate salts in the presence of water extract of the Allium cepa peel. The water extract showed 81% of antiradical potential (according to DPPH assay), which is connected with the high content of polyphenols. According to the FTIR analysis, the bio-magnetite contains oxygen functional groups (-OH, -COOH, C=O) suitable for binding to glutaraldehyde, after which the enzyme is covalently immobilized. The immobilized enzyme showed high activity at ambient temperature and pH 7 (30 U/g) and retained ≥ 80% of its activity at a wide range of pH (5-8) and temperature (20-50°C). The HRP immobilized onto bio-MPs showed remarkable stability towards temperature and pH variations compared to the free enzyme form. On the other hand, immobilized HRP showed low reusability after the first washing cycle enzyme retains 50% of its activity, while after the third washing cycle retains only 22%.

Keywords: bio-magnetite, enzyme immobilization, water extracts, environmental protection

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Authors: Vhahangwele Belemu, Isaac Busayo Oluwatayo

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Post-harvest losses pose a serious challenge to smallholder fruit crop farmers, especially in the rural communities of South Africa, affecting their economic livelihoods and food security. This study investigated the post-harvest handling practices and technologies harnessed by smallholder fruit crop farmers in the Vhembe district of Limpopo province, South Africa. Data were collected on a random sample of 224 smallholder fruit crop farmers selected from the four municipalities of the district using a multistage sampling technique. Analytical tools employed include descriptive statistics and the tobit regression model. A descriptive analysis of farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics showed that a sizeable number of these farmers are still in their active working age (mean = 52 years) with more males (63.8%) than their female (36.2%) counterparts. Respondents’ distribution by educational status revealed that only a few of these had no formal education (2.2%), with the majority having secondary education (48.7%). Results of data analysis further revealed that the prominent post-harvest technologies and handling practices harnessed by these farmers include using appropriate harvesting techniques (20.5%), selling at a reduced price (19.6%), transportation consideration (18.3%), cleaning and disinfecting (17.9%), sorting and grading (16.5%), manual cleaning (15.6%) and packaging technique (11.6%) among others. The result of the Tobit regression analysis conducted to examine the determinants of post-harvest technologies and handling practices harnessed showed that age, educational status of respondents, awareness of technology/handling practices, farm size, access to credit, extension contact, and membership of association were the significant factors. The study suggests enhanced awareness creation, access to credit facility and improved access to market as important factors to consider by relevant stakeholders to assist smallholder fruit crop farmers in the study area.

Keywords: fruit crop farmers, handling practices, post harvest losses, smallholder, Vhembe District, South Africa

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Authors: Cao Bin, Yuan Yi, Wang Qiang, Amor Abdelkader, Ali Reza Kamali, Diogo Montalvão

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The study of the electrodynamic behavior of non-ferrous particles in time-varying magnetic fields is a promising area of research with wide applications, including recycling of non-ferrous metals, mechanical transmission, and space debris. The key technology for recovering non-ferrous metals is eddy current separation (ECS), which utilizes the eddy current force and torque to separate non-ferrous metals. ECS has several advantages, such as low energy consumption, large processing capacity, and no secondary pollution, making it suitable for processing various mixtures like electronic scrap, auto shredder residue, aluminum scrap, and incineration bottom ash. Improving the separation efficiency of mixtures with different particle sizes in ECS can create significant social and economic benefits. Our previous study investigated the influence of particle size on separation efficiency by combining numerical simulations and separation experiments. Pearson correlation analysis found a strong correlation between the eddy current force in simulations and the repulsion distance in experiments, which confirmed the effectiveness of our simulation model. The interaction effects between particle size and material type, rotational speed, and magnetic pole arrangement were examined. It offer valuable insights for the design and optimization of eddy current separators. The underlying mechanism behind the effect of particle size on separation efficiency was discovered by analyzing eddy current and field gradient. The results showed that the magnitude and distribution heterogeneity of eddy current and magnetic field gradient increased with particle size in eddy current separation. Based on this, we further found that increasing the curvature of magnetic field lines within particles could also increase the eddy current force, providing a optimized method to improving the separation efficiency of fine particles. By combining the results of the studies, a more systematic and comprehensive set of optimization guidelines can be proposed for mixtures with different particle size ranges. The separation efficiency of fine particles could be improved by increasing the rotational speed, curvature of magnetic field lines, and electrical conductivity/density of materials, as well as utilizing the eddy current torque. When designing an ECS, the particle size range of the target mixture should be investigated in advance, and the suitable parameters for separating the mixture can be fixed accordingly. In summary, these results can guide the design and optimization of ECS, and also expand the application areas for ECS.

Keywords: eddy current separation, particle size, numerical simulation, metal recovery

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Authors: Mohamed Fairooz Abdul Khir

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The linkage between liability for risk and legitimacy of reward is a governing principle that must be fully observed in financial transactions. It is the cornerstone of any Islamic business or financial deal. The absence of risk taking principle may give rise to numerous prohibited elements such as ribā, gharar and gambling that violate the objectives of financial transactions. However, fiqhī domains from which it emanates have not been clearly spelled out by the scholars. In addition, the concept of risk taking in relation to contemporary risks associated with financial contracts, such as credit risk, liquidity risk, reputational risk and market risk, needs further scrutiny as regard their Sharīʿah bases. Hence, this study is imperatively significant to prove that absence of risk taking concept in Islamic financial instruments give rise to prohibited elements particularly ribā. This study is primarily intended to clarify the concept of risk in Islamic financial transactions from the fiqhī perspective and evaluate analytically the selected issues involving risk taking based on the established concept of risk taking from fiqhī viewpoint. The selected issues are amongst others charging cost of fund on defaulting customers, holding the lessee liable for total loss of leased asset under ijārah thumma al-bayʿ and capital guarantee under mushārakah based instruments. This is a library research in which data has been collected from various materials such as classical fiqh books, regulators’ policy guidelines and journal articles. This study employed deductive and inductive methods to analyze the data critically in search for conclusive findings. It suggests that business risks have to be evaluated based on their subjects namely (i) property (māl) and (ii) work (ʿamal) to ensure that Islamic financial instruments structured based on certain Sharīʿah principles are not diverted from the risk taking concept embedded in them. Analysis of the above selected cases substantiates that when risk taking principle is breached, the prohibited elements such as ribā, gharar and maysir do arise and that they impede the realization of the maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah intended from Islamic financial contracts.

Keywords: Islamic finance, ownership risk, ribā, risk taking

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Authors: Vlad Andrei Raducanu, Mariana Lucia Angelescu, Ion Cinca, Vasile Danut Cojocaru, Doina Raducanu

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By using smart digital tools, such as generative design (GD) and digital fabrication (DF), problems of high actuality concerning resources optimization (materials, energy, time) can be solved and applications or products of free-form type can be created. In the new digital technology materials are active, designed in response to a set of performance requirements, which impose a total rethinking of old material practices. The article presents the design procedure key steps of a free-form architectural object - a column type one with connections to get an adaptive 3D surface, by using the parametric design methodology and by exploiting the properties of conventional metallic materials. In parametric design the form of the created object or space is shaped by varying the parameters values and relationships between the forms are described by mathematical equations. Digital parametric design is based on specific procedures, as shape grammars, Lindenmayer - systems, cellular automata, genetic algorithms or swarm intelligence, each of these procedures having limitations which make them applicable only in certain cases. In the paper the design process stages and the shape grammar type algorithm are presented. The generative design process relies on two basic principles: the modeling principle and the generative principle. The generative method is based on a form finding process, by creating many 3D spatial forms, using an algorithm conceived in order to apply its generating logic onto different input geometry. Once the algorithm is realized, it can be applied repeatedly to generate the geometry for a number of different input surfaces. The generated configurations are then analyzed through a technical or aesthetic selection criterion and finally the optimal solution is selected. Endless range of generative capacity of codes and algorithms used in digital design offers various conceptual possibilities and optimal solutions for both technical and environmental increasing demands of building industry and architecture. Constructions or spaces generated by parametric design can be specifically tuned, in order to meet certain technical or aesthetical requirements. The proposed approach has direct applicability in sustainable architecture, offering important potential economic advantages, a flexible design (which can be changed until the end of the design process) and unique geometric models of high performance.

Keywords: parametric design, algorithmic procedures, free-form architectural object, sustainable architecture

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Authors: Duishon Shamatov

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This presentation is about Kazakhstan’s PhD students’ experiences with impact-factor publication requirement. Since the break-up of the USSR, Kazakhstan has been attempting to improve its higher education system at undergraduate and graduate levels. From March, 2010 Kazakhstan joined Bologna process and entered European space of higher education. To align with the European system of higher education, three level of preparation of specialists (undergraduate, master and PhD) was adopted to replace the Soviet system. The changes were aimed at promoting high quality higher education that meets the demands of labor market and growing needs of the industrial-innovative development of the country, and meeting the international standards. The shift to the European system has brought many benefits, but there are also some serious challenges. One of those challenges is related to the requirements for the PhD candidates to publish in national and international journals. Thus, a PhD candidate should have 7 publications in total, out of which one has to be in an international impact factor journal. A qualitative research was conducted to explore the PhD students’ views of their experiences with impact-factor publications. With the help of purposeful sampling, 30 PhD students from seven universities across Kazakhstan were selected for individual and focus group interviews. The key findings of the study are as follows. While the Kazakh PhD students have no difficulties in publishing in local journals, they face great challenges in attempting to publish in impact-factor journals for a range of reasons. They include but not limited to lack of research and publication skills, poorer knowledge of academic English, not familiarity with the peer review publication processes and expectations, and very short time to get published due to their PhD programme requirements. This situation is pushing some these young scholars explore alternative ways to get published in impact factor journals and they seek to publish by any means and often by any costs (which means even paying large sum of money for a publication). This in turn, creates a myth in the scholars’ circles in Kazakhstan, that to get published in impact factor journals, one should necessarily pay much money. This paper offers some policy recommendations on how to improve preparation of future PhD candidates in Kazakhstan.

Keywords: Bologna process, impact-factor publications, post-graduate education, Kazakhstan

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Authors: Hanna Kroczak

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In Poland, the system of social and professional reintegration of people at risk of social exclusion is, in fact, based on the activity of social economy enterprises. Playing this significant role these entities have to cope with various problems, related to the necessity of being successful on the open market, location on the peripheral (especially rural) areas or the “socialist heritage” in social and economic relations, which is certainly not favorable for implementing the idea of activation policy. One of the main objectives of the project entitled “Innovation among people. The analysis of the innovations creation and implementation in companies and social economy enterprises operating in Poland”, was to investigate the innovativeness of Polish social economy entities as a possible way for them to be prosperous (the project was funded by the Polish National Science Centre grant on the decision DEC-2013/11/B/HS4/00691). The ethnographic research in this matter was conducted in 2015 in two parts: six three-day studies using participant observation and individual in-depth interview (IDI) techniques (in three social cooperatives and three social integration centres) and two one-month shadowings (in one social cooperative and one social integration centre). Enterprises were selected from various provinces in Poland on the basis of data from previous computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) research, where they declared that innovation management is a central element of their strategy. The ethnographic study revealed that they, indeed, create innovations and the main types of them are social and organisational innovations – but not always and not all the employees are aware of that. Moreover, it turned out that wherever the research was conducted, researchers found some similar opportunities of innovations creating process, like a “charismatic leader”, true passion and commitment not depended on the earned money or building local institutional networks, and similar threats, e.g. under-staffed offices or the great bureaucracy of some institutions. The primary conclusion for the studied entities is that being innovative is not only their challenge and opportunity for well-being at the same time, but even a necessity, something deeply rooted in their specific organisational structures. Explanations and illustrations for the statements above will be presented in the proposed paper.

Keywords: ethnographic research, innovation, Polish social economy, professional reintegration, social economy enterprises, social reintegration

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Authors: Sharon Millen, Sarah Miller, Laura Dunne, Clare McGeady, Laura Neeson

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This paper presents the findings from a randomised controlled trial (RCT) and process evaluation of the Lifestart parenting programme. Lifestart is a structured child-centred programme of information and practical activity for parents of children aged from birth to five years of age. It is delivered to parents in their own homes by trained, paid family visitors and it is offered to parents regardless of their social, economic or other circumstances. The RCT evaluated the effectiveness of the programme and the process evaluation documented programme delivery and included a qualitative exploration of parent and child outcomes. 424 parents and children participated in the RCT: 216 in the intervention group and 208 in the control group across the island of Ireland. Parent outcomes included: parental knowledge of child development, parental efficacy, stress, social support, parenting skills and embeddedness in the community. Child outcomes included cognitive, language and motor development and social-emotional and behavioural development. Both groups were tested at baseline (when children were less than 1 year old), mid-point (aged 3) and at post-test (aged 5). Data were collected during a home visit, which took two hours. The process evaluation consisted of interviews with parents (n=16 at baseline and end-point), and focus groups with Lifestart Coordinators (n=9) and Family Visitors (n=24). Quantitative findings from the RCT indicated that, compared to the control group, parents who received the Lifestart programme reported reduced parenting-related stress, increased knowledge of their child’s development, and improved confidence in their parenting role. These changes were statistically significant and consistent with the hypothesised pathway of change depicted in the logic model. There was no evidence of any change in parents’ embeddedness in the community. Although four of the five child outcomes showed small positive change for children who took part in the programme, these were not statistically significant and there is no evidence that the programme improves child cognitive and non-cognitive skills by immediate post-test. The qualitative process evaluation highlighted important challenges related to conducting trials of this magnitude and design in the general population. Parents reported that a key incentive to take part in study was receiving feedback from the developmental assessment, which formed part of the data collection. This highlights the potential importance of appropriate incentives in relation to recruitment and retention of participants. The interviews with intervention parents indicated that one of the first changes they experienced as a result of the Lifestart programme was increased knowledge and confidence in their parenting ability. The outcomes and pathways perceived by parents and described in the interviews are also consistent with the findings of the RCT and the theory of change underpinning the programme. This hypothesises that improvement in parental outcomes, arising as a consequence of the programme, mediate the change in child outcomes. Parents receiving the Lifestart programme reported great satisfaction with and commitment to the programme, with the role of the Family Visitor being identified as one of the key components of the programme.

Keywords: parent-child relationship, parental self-efficacy, parental stress, school readiness

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Authors: Sarif Ullah Patwary, Matthew Heinrich, Brandon Payne

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The ubiquity of web 2.0 platforms, in the form of wikis, social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and online review portals (e.g., Yelp), helps shape today’s apparel consumers’ purchasing decision. Online reviews play important role towards consumers’ apparel purchase decision. Each of the consumer reviews carries a sentiment (positive, negative or neutral) towards products. Commercially, apparel brands and retailers analyze sentiment of this massive amount of consumer review data to update their inventory and bring new products in the market. The purpose of this study is to analyze consumer reviews of selected apparel stores with a view to understand, 1) the difference of sentiment expressed through men’s and woman’s text reviews, 2) the difference of sentiment expressed through men’s and woman’s star-based reviews, and 3) the difference of sentiment between star-based reviews and text-based reviews. A total of 9,363 reviews (1,713 men and 7,650 women) were collected using Yelp Dataset Challenge. Sentiment analysis of collected reviews was carried out in two dimensions: star-based reviews and text-based reviews. Sentiment towards apparel stores expressed through star-based reviews was deemed: 1) positive for 3 or 4 stars 2) negative for 1 or 2 stars and 3) neutral for 3 stars. Sentiment analysis of text-based reviews was carried out using Bing Liu dictionary. The analysis was conducted in IPyhton 5.0. Space. The sentiment analysis results revealed the percentage of positive text reviews by men (80%) and women (80%) were identical. Women reviewers (12%) provided more neutral (e.g., 3 out of 5 stars) star reviews than men (6%). Star-based reviews were more negative than the text-based reviews. In other words, while 80% men and women wrote positive reviews for the stores, less than 70% ended up giving 4 or 5 stars in those reviews. One of the key takeaways of the study is that star reviews provide slightly negative sentiment of the consumer reviews. Therefore, in order to understand sentiment towards apparel products, one might need to combine both star and text aspects of consumer reviews. This study used a specific dataset consisting of selected apparel stores from particular geographical locations (the information was not given for privacy concern). Future studies need to include more data from more stores and locations to generalize the findings of the study.

Keywords: apparel, consumer review, sentiment analysis, gender

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Authors: Shelley Jones

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Assumptions abound that education for girls will, as a matter of course, lead to their economic empowerment as women; yet. little is known about the ways in which schooling for girls, who traditionally/historically would not have had opportunities for post-primary, or perhaps even primary education – such as the participants in this study based in rural Uganda - in reality, impacts their economic situations. There is a need forlongitudinal studies in which women share experiences, understandings, and reflections of their lives that can inform our knowledge of this. In response, this paper reports on stage four of a longitudinal case study (2004-2018) focused on education and empowerment for girls and women in rural Uganda, in which 13 of the 15 participants from the original study participated. This paper understands empowerment as not simply increased opportunities (e.g., employment) but also real gains in power, freedoms that enable agentive action, and authentic and viable choices/alternatives that offer ‘exit options’ from unsatisfactory situations. As with the other stages, this study used a critical, postmodernist, global feminist ethnographic methodology, multimodal and qualitative data collection. Participants participated in interviews, focus group discussions, and a two-day workshop, which explored their understandings of how/if they understood post-primary education to have contributed to their economic empowerment. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used for data analysis to capture major themes. Findings indicate that although all participants believe that post-primary education provided them with economic opportunities they would not have had otherwise, the parameters of their economic empowerment were severely constrained by historic and extant sociocultural, economic, political, and institutional structures that continue to disempower girls and women, as well as additional financial responsibilities that they assumed to support others. Even though the participants had post-primary education, and they were able to obtain employment or operate their own businesses that they would not likely have been able to do without post-primary education, the majority of the participants’ incomes were not sufficient to elevate them financially above the extreme poverty level, especially as many were single mothers and the sole income earners in their households. Furthermore, most deemed their working conditions unsatisfactory and their positions precarious; they also experienced sexual harassment and abuse in the labour force. Additionally, employment for the participants resulted in a double work burden: long days at work, surrounded by many hours of domestic work at home (which, even if they had spousal partners, still fell almost exclusively to women). In conclusion, although the participants seem to have experienced some increase in economic empowerment, largely due to skills, knowledge, and qualifications gained at the post-primary level, numerous barriers prevented them from maximizing their capabilities and making significant gains in empowerment. There is need, in addition to providing education (primary, secondary, and tertiary) to girls, to address systemic gender inequalities that mitigate against women’s empowerment, as well as opportunities and freedom for women to come together and demand fair pay, reasonable working conditions, and benefits, freedom from gender-based harassment and assault in the workplace, as well as advocate for equal distribution of domestic work as a cultural change.

Keywords: girls' post-primary education, women's empowerment, uganda, employment

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Authors: Isomar Lima da Silva, Alcilene Batalha Pontes, Aristeu Jonatas Leite de Oliveira, Roberto Maia Augusto

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Context: Mechanical ventilators are medical devices that help provide oxygen and ventilation to patients with respiratory difficulties. This equipment consists of a manual breathing unit that can be operated by a doctor or nurse and a mechanical ventilator that controls the airflow and pressure in the patient's respiratory system. This type of ventilator is commonly used in emergencies and intensive care units where it is necessary to provide breathing support to critically ill or injured patients. Objective: In this context, this work aims to develop a reliable and low-cost mechanical ventilator to meet the demand of hospitals in treating people affected by Covid-19 and other severe respiratory diseases, offering a chance of treatment as an alternative to mechanical ventilators currently available in the market. Method: The project presents the development of a low-cost auxiliary ventilator with a controlled ventilatory system assisted by integrated hardware and firmware for respiratory cycle control in non-invasive mechanical ventilation treatments using a manual artificial respiration unit. The hardware includes pressure sensors capable of identifying positive expiratory pressure, peak inspiratory flow, and injected air volume. The embedded system controls the data sent by the sensors. It ensures efficient patient breathing through the operation of the sensors, microcontroller, and actuator, providing patient data information to the healthcare professional (system operator) through the graphical interface and enabling clinical parameter adjustments as needed. Results: The test data of the developed mechanical ventilator presented satisfactory results in terms of performance and reliability, showing that the equipment developed can be a viable alternative to commercial mechanical ventilators currently available, offering a low-cost solution to meet the increasing demand for respiratory support equipment.

Keywords: mechanical fans, breathing, medical equipment, COVID-19, intensive care units

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Authors: Keshav Raj Acharya, Prabina Sharma

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Sugandhakokila (Cinnamomum glaucescens Nees. Dury) is a large evergreen native tree species; mostly confined naturally in mid-hills of Rapti Zone of Nepal. The species is identified as prioritized for agro-technology development as well as for research and development by a department of plant resources. This species is band for export outside the country without processing by the government of Nepal to encourage the value addition within the country. The present study was carried out in Chillikot village of Dang district to find out the economic contribution of C. glaucescens in the local economy and to document the major conservation threats for this species. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools such as Household survey, key informants interviews and focus group discussions were carried out to collect the data. The present study reveals that about 1.7 million Nepalese rupees (NPR) have been contributed annually in the local economy of 29 households from the collection of C. glaucescens berries in the study area. The average annual income of each family was around NPR 67,165.38 (US$ 569.19) from the sale of the berries which contributes about 53% of the total household income. Six different value chain actors are involved in C. glaucescens business. Maximum profit margin was taken by collector followed by producer, exporter and processor. The profit margin was found minimum to regional and village traders. The total profit margin for producers was NPR 138.86/kg, and regional traders have gained NPR 17/kg. However, there is a possibility to increase the profit of producers by NPR 8.00 more for each kg of berries through the initiation of community forest user group and village cooperatives in the area. Open access resource, infestation by an insect to over matured trees and browsing by goats were identified as major conservation threats for this species. Handing over the national forest as a community forest, linking the producers with the processor through organized market channel and replacing the old tree through new plantation has been recommended for future.

Keywords: community forest, conservation threats, C. glaucescens, value chain analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Su Yin Chiam, Zhipeng Ding, Guang Yang, Danny Jian Hang Tng, Peiyi Song, Geok Ing Ng, Ken-Tye Yong, Qing Xin Zhang

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Brain-machine interfaces (BMI) is a ground rich of exploration opportunities where manipulation of neural activity are used for interconnect with myriad form of external devices. These research and intensive development were evolved into various areas from medical field, gaming and entertainment industry till safety and security field. The technology were extended for neurological disorders therapy such as obsessive compulsive disorder and Parkinson’s disease by introducing current pulses to specific region of the brain. Nonetheless, the work to develop a real-time observing, recording and altering of neural signal brain-machine interfaces system will require a significant amount of effort to overcome the obstacles in improving this system without delay in response. To date, feature size of interface devices and the density of the electrode population remain as a limitation in achieving seamless performance on BMI. Currently, the size of the BMI devices is ranging from 10 to 100 microns in terms of electrodes’ diameters. Henceforth, to accommodate the single cell level precise monitoring, smaller and denser Nano-scaled nanowire electrode arrays are vital in fabrication. In this paper, we would like to showcase the fabrication of high aspect ratio of vertical silicon nanowire electrodes arrays using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) method. Nanofabrication of the nanowire electrodes involves in deep reactive ion etching, thermal oxide thinning, electron-beam lithography patterning, sputtering of metal targets and bottom anti-reflection coating (BARC) etch. Metallization on the nanowire electrode tip is a prominent process to optimize the nanowire electrical conductivity and this step remains a challenge during fabrication. Metal electrodes were lithographically defined and yet these metal contacts outline a size scale that is larger than nanometer-scale building blocks hence further limiting potential advantages. Therefore, we present an integrated contact solution that overcomes this size constraint through self-aligned Nickel silicidation process on the tip of vertical silicon nanowire electrodes. A 4 x 4 array of vertical silicon nanowires electrodes with the diameter of 290nm and height of 3µm has been successfully fabricated.

Keywords: brain-machine interfaces, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), nanowire, nickel silicide

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Authors: Khaled Al-Badani, Andrew Norbury, Essam Elmshawet, Glynn Rotwell, Ian Jenkinson , James Ren

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Micro welding procedures are widely used for joining materials, developing duplex components or functional surfaces, through various methods such as Micro Discharge Welding or Spot Welding process, which can be found in the engineering, aerospace, automotive, biochemical, biomedical and numerous other industries. The relationship between the material properties, structure and processing is very important to improve the structural integrity and the final performance of the welded joints. This includes controlling the shape and the size of the welding nugget, state of the heat affected zone, residual stress, etc. Nowadays, modern high volume productions require the welding of much versatile shapes/sizes and material systems that are suitable for various applications. Hence, an improved understanding of the micro welding process and the digital tools, which are based on computational numerical modelling linking key welding parameters, dimensional attributes and functional performance of the weldment, would directly benefit the industry in developing products that meet current and future market demands. This paper will introduce recent work on developing an integrated experimental and numerical modelling code for micro welding techniques. This includes similar and dissimilar materials for both ferrous and non-ferrous metals, at different scales. The paper will also produce a comparative study, concerning the differences between the micro discharge welding process and the spot welding technique, in regards to the size effect of the welding zone and the changes in the material structure. Numerical modelling method for the micro welding processes and its effects on the material properties, during melting and cooling progression at different scales, will also be presented. Finally, the applications of the integrated numerical modelling and the material development for the digital manufacturing of welding, is discussed with references to typical application cases such as sensors (thermocouples), energy (heat exchanger) and automotive structures (duplex steel structures).

Keywords: computer modelling, droplet formation, material distortion, materials forming, welding

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Authors: T. Kuchukhidze, N. Jalagonia, T. Archuadze, G. Bokuchava

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The growing scientific-technological progress in modern civilization causes actuality of producing construction materials which can successfully work in conditions of high temperature, radiation, pressure, speed, and chemically aggressive environment. Such extreme conditions can withstand very few types of materials and among them, ceramic materials are in the first place. Corundum ceramics is the most useful material for creation of constructive nodes and products of various purposes for its low cost, easy accessibility to raw materials and good combination of physical-chemical properties. However, ceramic composite materials have one disadvantage; they are less plastics and have lower toughness. In order to increase the plasticity, the ceramics are reinforced by various dopants, that reduces the growth of the cracks. It is shown, that adding of even small amount of carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes (CNT) as reinforcing material significantly improves mechanical properties of the products, keeping at the same time advantages of alundum ceramics. Graphene in composite material acts in the same way as inorganic dopants (MgO, ZrO2, SiC and others) and performs the role of aluminum oxide inhibitor, as it creates shell, that gives possibility to reduce sintering temperature and at the same time it acts as damper, because scattering of a shock wave takes place on carbon structures. Application of different structural modification of carbon (graphene, nanotube and others) as reinforced material, gives possibility to create multi-purpose highly requested composite materials based on alundum ceramics. In the present work offers simplified technology for obtaining of aluminum oxide ceramics, reinforced with carbon nanostructures, during which chemical modification with doping carbon nanostructures will be implemented in the process of synthesis of final powdery composite – Alumina. In charge doping carbon nanostructures connected to matrix substance with C-O-Al bonds, that provide their homogeneous spatial distribution. In ceramic obtained as a result of consolidation of such powders carbon fragments equally distributed in the entire matrix of aluminum oxide, that cause increase of bending strength and crack-resistance. The proposed way to prepare the charge simplifies the technological process, decreases energy consumption, synthesis duration and therefore requires less financial expenses. In the implementation of this work, modern instrumental methods were used: electronic and optical microscopy, X-ray structural and granulometric analysis, UV, IR, and Raman spectroscopy.

Keywords: ceramic materials, α-Al₂O₃, carbon nanostructures, composites, characterization, hot-pressing

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Authors: Nanadcha Sinjindawong

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This article discusses the design process of a community mall called Castle of The Mall-dern. The concept behind this mall is to combine elements of a medieval castle with modern architecture. The author aims to create a building that fits into the surroundings while also providing users with the vibes of the ancient era. The total area used for the mall is 4,000 square meters, with three floors. The first floor is 1,500 square meters, the second floor is 1,750 square meters, and the third floor is 750 square meters. Research Aim: The aim of this research is to design a community mall that sells ancient clothes and accessories, and to combine sustainable architectural design with the ideas of ancient architecture in an urban area with convenient transportation. Methodology: The research utilizes qualitative research methods in architectural design. The process begins with calculating the given area and dividing it into different zones. The author then sketches and draws the plan of each floor, adding the necessary rooms based on the floor areas mentioned earlier. The program "SketchUp" is used to create an online 3D model of the community mall, and a physical model is built for presentation purposes on A1 paper, explaining all the details. Findings: The result of this research is a community mall with various amenities. The first floor includes retail shops, clothing stores, a food center, and a service zone. Additionally, there is an indoor garden with a fountain and a tree for relaxation. The second and third floors feature a void in the middle, with a few stores, cafes, restaurants, and studios on the second floor. The third floor is home to the administration and security control room, as well as a community gathering area designed as a public library with a café inside. Theoretical Importance: This research contributes to the field of sustainable architectural design by combining ancient architectural ideas with modern elements. It showcases the potential for creating buildings that blend historical aesthetics with contemporary functionality. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The data for this research is collected through a combination of area calculation, sketching, and building a 3D model. The analysis involves evaluating the design based on the allocated area, zoning, and functional requirements for a community mall. Question Addressed: The research addresses the question of how to design a community mall with a theme of ancient Medieval and Victorian eras. It explores how to combine sustainable architectural design principles with historical aesthetics to create a functional and visually appealing space. Conclusion: In conclusion, this research successfully designs a community mall called “Castle of The Mall-dern” that incorporates elements of Medieval and Victorian architecture. The building encompasses various zones, including retail shops, restaurants, community gathering areas, and service zones. It also features an interior garden and a public library within the mall. The research contributes to the field of sustainable architectural design by showcasing the potential for combining ancient architectural ideas with modern elements in an urban setting.

Keywords: 3D model, community mall, modern architecture, medieval architecture

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Authors: A. Kourou, A. Ioakeimidou, S. Hadjiefthymiades, V. Abramea

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During the last decades, the task of engaging governments, communities and citizens to reduce risk and vulnerability of the populations has made variable progress. Experience has demonstrated that lack of awareness, education and preparedness may result in significant material and other losses both on the onset of the disaster. Schools play a vital role in the community and are important elements of values and culture of the society. A proper school education not only teaches children, but also is a key factor in the promotion of a safety culture into the wider community. In Greece School Earthquake Safety Initiative has been undertaken by Earthquake Planning and Protection Ogranization with specific actions (seminars, lectures, guidelines, educational material, campaigns, national or EU projects, drills etc.). The objective of this initiative is to develop disaster-resilient school communities through awareness, self-help, cooperation and education. School preparedness requires the participation of Principals, teachers, students, parents, and competent authorities. Preparation and earthquake readiness involves: a) learning what should be done before, during, and after earthquake; b) doing or preparing to do these things now, before the next earthquake; and c) developing teachers’ and students’ skills to cope efficiently in case of an earthquake. In the above given framework this paper presents the results of a survey aimed to identify the level of education and preparedness of school community in Greece. More specifically, the survey questionnaire investigates issues regarding earthquake protection actions, appropriate attitudes and behaviors during an earthquake and existence of contingency plans at elementary and secondary schools. The questionnaires were administered to Principals and teachers from different regions of the country that attend the EPPO national training project 'Earthquake Safety at Schools'. A closed-form questionnaire was developed for the survey, which contained questions regarding the following: a) knowledge of self protective actions b) existence of emergency planning at home and c) existence of emergency planning at school (hazard mitigation actions, evacuation plan, and performance of drills). Survey results revealed that a high percentage of teachers have taken the appropriate preparedness measures concerning non-structural hazards at schools, emergency school plan and simulation drills every year. In order to improve the action-planning for ongoing school disaster risk reduction, the implementation of earthquake drills, the involvement of students with disabilities and the evaluation of school emergency plans, EPPO participates in E-PreS project. The main objective of this project is to create smart tools which define, simulate and evaluate all hazards emergency steps customized to the unique district and school. The project comes up with a holistic methodology using real-time evaluation involving different categories of actors, districts, steps and metrics. The project is supported by EU Civil Protection Financial Instrument with a duration of two years. Coordinator is the Kapodistrian University of Athens and partners are from four countries; Greece, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria.

Keywords: drills, earthquake, emergency plans, E-PreS project

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Authors: O. R. Adeniyi, A. Ayandiji

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Losses are common in most vegetables because the fruit ripens rapidly and most plantain products can only be stored for a few days thereby limiting their utilization. Plantain (and banana) is highly perishable at the ambient temperature prevalent in the tropics. The specific objective of this study is to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of banana/plantain dealers and determine the perceived effect of the losses incurred in the process of marketing banana/plantain. The study was carried out in Ondo and Lagos states of south-western Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to collect information from “Kolawole plantain depot”, the point of purchase in Ondo State and “Alamutu plantain market” in Mushin the point of sales in Lagos state. Preliminary study was conducted with the use of primary data collected through well-structured questionnaires administered on 60 respondents and 55 fully completed ones analysed. Budgeting, gross margin and multiple linear regression were used for analyses. Most merchants were found to be in the middle age class (30-50 years), majority of whom were female and completed their secondary school education, with eighty percent having more than 5 years’ experience of in banana/plantain marketing. The highest losses were incurred during transportation and these losses constitute about 5.62 percent of the potential total revenue. On the average, loss in gross margin is about ₦6,000.00 per merchant. The impacts of these losses are reflected in the continuously reducing level of their income. Age of the respondents played a major role in determining the level of care in the handling of the fruits. The middle age class tends to be more favoured. In conclusion, the merchants need adequate and sustainable transportation and storage facilities as a matter of utmost urgency. There is the need for government to encourage producers of the product (farmers) by giving them motivating incentives and ensuring that the environment is made conducive also for dealers by providing adequate storage facilities and ready markets locally and possibly for export.

Keywords: post-harvest, losses, plantain, banana, simple regression

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Authors: Menna Brown, Tania Domun

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Digital health interventions are effective across a wide array of health conditions spanning physical health, lifestyle behaviour change, and mental health and wellbeing; furthermore, they are rapidly increasing in volume within both the academic literature and society as commercial apps continue to proliferate the digital health market. However, adherence and engagement to digital health interventions remains problematic. Technology-based personalised and tailored reminder strategies can support engagement to digital health interventions. Interventions which support individuals’ mental health and wellbeing are of critical importance in the wake if the COVID-19 pandemic. Student and young person’s mental health has been negatively affected and digital resources continue to offer cost effective means to address wellbeing at a population level. Develop a databank of digital co-produced tailored messages to support engagement to a range of digital health interventions including those focused on mental health and wellbeing, and lifestyle behaviour change. Qualitative research design. Participants discussed their views of health and wellbeing, engagement and adherence to digital health interventions focused around a 12-week wellbeing intervention via a series of focus group discussions. They worked together to co-create content following a participatory design approach. Three focus group discussions were facilitated with (n=15) undergraduate students at one Welsh university to provide an empirically derived, co-produced, databank of (n=145) tailored messages. Messages were explored and categorised thematically, and the following ten themes emerged: Autonomy, Recognition, Guidance, Community, Acceptance, Responsibility, Encouragement, Compassion, Impact and Ease. The findings provide empirically derived, co-produced tailored messages. These have been made available for use, via ‘ACTivate your wellbeing’ a digital, automated, 12-week health and wellbeing intervention programme, based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The purpose of which is to support future research to evaluate the impact of thematically categorised tailored messages on engagement and adherence to digital health interventions.

Keywords: digital health, engagement, wellbeing, participatory design, positive psychology, co-production

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Indra Bahadur Chand

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This paper will focus on the need for development and application of global protocols and policy in planning, designing, development, and management of systems of eco-towns and eco-villages so that sustainable development will be assured from the perspective of environmental, economical, peace, and harmonized social dynamics. This perspective is essential for the development of civilized and eco-friendly human settlements in the town and rural areas of the nation that will be a milestone for developing a happy and sustainable lifestyle of rural and urban communities of the nation. The urban population of most of the town of developing economies has been tremendously increasing, whereas rural people have been tremendously migrating for the past three decades. Consequently, the urban lifestyle in most towns has stressed in terms of environmental pollution, water crisis, congested traffic, energy crisis, food crisis, and unemployment. Eco-towns and villages should be developed where lifestyle of all residents is sustainable and happy. Built up environment of settlement should reduce and minimize the problems of non ecological CO2 emissions, unbalanced utilization of natural resources, environmental degradation, natural calamities, ecological imbalance, energy crisis, water scarcity, waste management, food crisis, unemployment, deterioration of cultural heritage, social, the ratio among the public and private land ownership, ratio of land covered with vegetation and area of settlement, the ratio of people in the vehicles and foot, the ratio of people employed outside of town and village, ratio of resources recycling of waste materials, water consumption level, the ratio of people and vehicles, ratio of the length of the road network and area of town/villages, a ratio of renewable energy consumption with total energy, a ratio of religious/recreational area out of the total built-up area, the ratio of annual suicide case out of total people, a ratio of annual injured and death out of total people from a traffic accident, a ratio of production of agro foods within town out of total food consumption will be used to assist in designing and monitoring of each eco-towns and villages. An eco-town and villages should be planned and developed to offer sustainable infrastructure and utilities that maintain CO2 level in individual homes and settlements, home energy use, transport, food and consumer goods, water supply, waste management, conservation of historical heritages, healthy neighborhood, conservation of natural landscape, conserving bio-diversity and developing green infrastructures. Eco-towns and villages should be developed on the basis of master planning and architecture that affect and define the settlement and its form. Master planning and engineering should focus in delivering the sustainability criteria of eco towns and eco village. This will involve working with specific landscape and natural resources of locality.

Keywords: eco-town, ecological habitation, master plan, sustainable development

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Authors: Claudia Aguilar, Amen Farooq

Abstract:

Among other cities in the United States, the city of Atlanta is experiencing levels of growth that surpass anything we have witnessed in the last century. With the surge of population influx, the available housing is practically bursting at the seams. Supply is low, and demand is high. In effect, the average one-bedroom apartment runs for 1,800 dollars per month. The city is desperately seeking new opportunities to provide affordable housing at an expeditious rate. This has been made evident by the recent updates to the city’s zoning. With the recent influx in the housing market, young professionals, in particular millennials, are desperately looking for alternatives to stay within the city. To remedy Atlanta’s affordable housing crisis, the city of Atlanta is planning to introduce 40 thousand of new affordable housing units by 2026. To achieve the urgent need for more affordable housing, the architectural response needs to adapt to overcome this goal. A method that has proven successful in modern housing is to practice modular means of development. A method that has been constrained to the dimensions of the max load for an eighteen-wheeler. This approach has diluted the architect’s ability to produce site-specific, informed design and rather contributes to the “cookie cutter” stigma that the method has been labeled with. This thesis explores the design methodology for modular housing by revisiting its constructability and adaptability. This research focuses on a modular housing type that could break away from the constraints of transport and deliver adaptive reconfigurable assemblies. The adaptive assemblies represent an integrated design strategy for assembling the future of affordable dwelling units. The goal is to take advantage of a component-based system and explore a scalable solution to modular housing. This proposal aims specifically to design a kit of parts that are made to be easily transported and assembled but also gives the ability to customize the use of components to benefit all unique conditions. The benefits of this concept could include decreased construction time, cost, on-site labor, and disruption while providing quality housing with affordable and flexible options.

Keywords: adaptive assemblies, modular architecture, adaptability, constructibility, kit of parts

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