Search results for: teaching approaches

Authors: Felipe Riveros, Ricardo Alvarez, Claudia Rahmann, Rodrigo Moreno

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Around the world, many countries have committed to a decarbonization of their electricity system. Under this global drive, converter-interfaced generators (CIG) such as wind and photovoltaic generation appear as cornerstones to achieve these energy targets. Despite its benefits, an increasing use of CIG brings several technical challenges in power systems, especially from a stability viewpoint. Among the key differences are limited short circuit current capacity, inertia-less characteristic of CIG, and response times within the electromagnetic timescale. Along with the integration of CIG into the power system, one enabling technology for the energy transition towards low-carbon power systems is battery energy storage systems (BESS). Because of the flexibility that BESS provides in power system operation, its integration allows for mitigating the variability and uncertainty of renewable energies, thus optimizing the use of existing assets and reducing operational costs. Another characteristic of BESS is that they can also support power system stability by injecting reactive power during the fault, providing short circuit currents, and delivering fast frequency response. However, most methodologies for sizing and allocating BESS in power systems are based on economic aspects and do not exploit the benefits that BESSs can offer to system stability. In this context, this paper presents a methodology for determining the optimal allocation of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in weak power systems with high levels of CIG. Unlike traditional economic approaches, this methodology incorporates stability constraints to allocate BESS, aiming to mitigate instability issues arising from weak grid conditions with low short-circuit levels. The proposed methodology offers valuable insights for power system engineers and planners seeking to maintain grid stability while harnessing the benefits of renewable energy integration. The methodology is validated in the reduced Chilean electrical system. The results show that integrating BESS into a power system with high levels of CIG with stability criteria contributes to decarbonizing and strengthening the network in a cost-effective way while sustaining system stability. This paper potentially lays the foundation for understanding the benefits of integrating BESS in electrical power systems and coordinating their placements in future converter-dominated power systems.

Keywords: battery energy storage, power system stability, system strength, weak power system

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Authors: Valentina Marutyan

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Healthcare data mining is a rapidly developing field at the intersection of technology and medicine that has the potential to change our understanding and approach to providing healthcare. Healthcare and data mining is the process of examining huge amounts of data to extract useful information that can be applied in order to improve patient care, treatment effectiveness, and overall healthcare delivery. This field looks for patterns, trends, and correlations in a variety of healthcare datasets, such as electronic health records (EHRs), medical imaging, patient demographics, and treatment histories. To accomplish this, it uses advanced analytical approaches. Predictive analysis using historical patient data is a major area of interest in healthcare data mining. This enables doctors to get involved early to prevent problems or improve results for patients. It also assists in early disease detection and customized treatment planning for every person. Doctors can customize a patient's care by looking at their medical history, genetic profile, current and previous therapies. In this way, treatments can be more effective and have fewer negative consequences. Moreover, helping patients, it improves the efficiency of hospitals. It helps them determine the number of beds or doctors they require in regard to the number of patients they expect. In this project are used models like logistic regression, random forests, and neural networks for predicting diseases and analyzing medical images. Patients were helped by algorithms such as k-means, and connections between treatments and patient responses were identified by association rule mining. Time series techniques helped in resource management by predicting patient admissions. These methods improved healthcare decision-making and personalized treatment. Also, healthcare data mining must deal with difficulties such as bad data quality, privacy challenges, managing large and complicated datasets, ensuring the reliability of models, managing biases, limited data sharing, and regulatory compliance. Finally, secret code of data mining in healthcare helps medical professionals and hospitals make better decisions, treat patients more efficiently, and work more efficiently. It ultimately comes down to using data to improve treatment, make better choices, and simplify hospital operations for all patients.

Keywords: data mining, healthcare, big data, large amounts of data

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Authors: Aspasia Koutsokosta, Stefanos Katsavounis

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This paper reviews the model-based qualitative and quantitative Operations Management research in the context of Construction Supply Chain Management (CSCM). Construction industry has been traditionally blamed for low productivity, cost and time overruns, waste, high fragmentation and adversarial relationships. The construction industry has been slower than other industries to employ the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concept and develop models that support the decision-making and planning. However the last decade there is a distinct shift from a project-based to a supply-based approach of construction management. CSCM comes up as a new promising management tool of construction operations and improves the performance of construction projects in terms of cost, time and quality. Modeling the Construction Supply Chain (CSC) offers the means to reap the benefits of SCM, make informed decisions and gain competitive advantage. Different modeling approaches and methodologies have been applied in the multi-disciplinary and heterogeneous research field of CSCM. The literature review reveals that a considerable percentage of CSC modeling accommodates conceptual or process models which discuss general management frameworks and do not relate to acknowledged soft OR methods. We particularly focus on the model-based quantitative research and categorize the CSCM models depending on their scope, mathematical formulation, structure, objectives, solution approach, software used and decision level. Although over the last few years there has been clearly an increase of research papers on quantitative CSC models, we identify that the relevant literature is very fragmented with limited applications of simulation, mathematical programming and simulation-based optimization. Most applications are project-specific or study only parts of the supply system. Thus, some complex interdependencies within construction are neglected and the implementation of the integrated supply chain management is hindered. We conclude this paper by giving future research directions and emphasizing the need to develop robust mathematical optimization models for the CSC. We stress that CSC modeling needs a multi-dimensional, system-wide and long-term perspective. Finally, prior applications of SCM to other industries have to be taken into account in order to model CSCs, but not without the consequential reform of generic concepts to match the unique characteristics of the construction industry.

Keywords: construction supply chain management, modeling, operations research, optimization, simulation

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Authors: Abhishek Ranka

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Rock-cut Architecture is a manifestation of human endurance in constructing magnificent structures by sculpting and cutting entire hills. Cave Architecture in India form an important part of rock-cut development and is among the most prolific examples of rock-cut architecture in the world. There are more than 1500 rock-cut caves in various regions of India. Among them mostly are located in western India, more particularly in the state of Maharashtra. Some of the rock-cut caves are located in the central region of India, which is presently known as Malawa (Madhya Pradesh). The region is dominated by the vidhyachal hill ranges toward the west, dotted with the coarse laterite rock. Dhamnar Caves have been excavated in the central region of Mandsaur Dist. With a combination of shared sacred faiths. The earliest rock-cut activity began in the north, in Bihar, where caves were excavated in the Barabar and the Nagarjuni hills during the Mauryan period (3rd century BCE). The rock-cut activity then shifts to the central part of India in Madhya Pradesh, where the caves at Dhamnar, Bagh, Udayagiri, Poldungar, etc. excavated between 3rdto 9ᵗʰ CE. The rock-cut excavation continued to flourish in Madhya Pradesh till 10ᵗʰ century CE, simultaneously with monolithic Hindu temples. Dhamnar caves fall into four architectural typologies: the Lena caves, Chaitya caves, Viharas & Lena-Chaityagriha caves. The Buddhist rock-cutting activity in central India is divisible into two phases. In the first phase (2ndBCE-3rd CE), the Buddha image is conspicuously absent. After a lapse of about three centuries, activity begins again, and the Buddha images this time are carved. The former group belongs to the Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) phase and the latter to the Mahayana (Greater Vehicle). Dhamnar caves has an elaborate facades, pillar capitals, and many more creative sculptures in various postures. These caves were excavated against the background of invigorating trade activities and varied socio-religious or Socio Cultural contexts. These caves also highlights the wealthy and varied patronage provided by the dynasties of the past. This paper speaks about the appraisal of the rock cut mechanisms, design strategies, and approaches while promoting a scope for further research in conservation practices. Rock-cut sites, with their physical setting and various functional spaces as a sustainable habitat for centuries, has a heritage footprint with a researchquotient.

Keywords: rock-cut architecture, buddhism, hinduism, Iconography, and architectural typologies, Jainism

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Authors: M. J. Ponnambalam

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Physics Outreach in Jamaica has nearly tripled the number of students doing Introductory Calculus-based Physics at the University of the West Indies (UWI, Mona) within 5 years, and thus has shown the importance of Physics Teaching & Learning in Informal Settings. In 1899, the first president of the American Physical Society called Physics, “the science above all sciences.” Sure enough, exactly one hundred years later, Time magazine proclaims Albert Einstein, “Person of the Century.” Unfortunately, Physics seems to be losing that glow in this century. Many countries, big and small, are finding it difficult to attract bright young minds to pursue Physics. At UWI, Mona, the number of students in first year Physics dropped to an all-time low of 81 in 2006, from more than 200 in the nineteen eighties, spelling disaster for the Physics Department! The author of this paper launched an aggressive Physics Outreach that same year, aimed at conveying to the students and the general public the following messages: i) Physics is an exciting intellectual enterprise, full of fun and delight. ii) Physics is very helpful in understanding how things like TV, CD player, car, computer, X-ray, CT scan, MRI, etc. work. iii) The critical and analytical thinking developed in the study of Physics is of inestimable value in almost any field. iv) Physics is the core subject for Science and Technology, and hence of national development. Science Literacy is a ‘must’ for any nation in the 21st century. Hence, the Physics Outreach aims at reaching out to every person, through every possible means. The Outreach work is split into the following target groups: i) Universities, ii) High Schools iii) Middle Schools, iv) Primary Schools, v) General Public, and vi) Physics teachers in High Schools. The programmes, tools and best practices are adjusted to suit each target group. The feedback from each group is highly positive. e.g. In February 2014, the author conducted in 3 Primary Schools the Interactive Show on ‘Science Is Fun’ to stimulate 290 students’ interest in Science – with lively and interesting demonstrations and experiments in a highly interactive way, using dramatization, story-telling and dancing. The feedback: 47% found the Show ‘Exciting’ and 51% found it ‘Interesting’ – totaling an impressive 98%. When asked to describe the Show in their own words, the leading 4 responses were: ‘Fun’ (26%), ‘Interesting’ (20%), ‘Exciting’ (14%) and ‘Educational’ (10%) – confirming that ‘fun’ & ‘education’ can go together. The success of Physics Outreach in Jamaica verifies the following words of Chodos, Associate Executive Officer of the American Physical Society: “If we could get members to go to K-12 schools and levitate a magnet or something, we really think these efforts would bring great rewards.”

Keywords: physics education, physics popularization, UWI, Jamaica

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Authors: Zahra Jandaghian, Mehdi Ghobadi, Michal Bartko, Alex Hayes, Marianne Armstrong, Alexandra Thompson, Michael Lacasse

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stated the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the adverse impacts of climatic changes. The United Nations has forecasted that nearly 70 percent of people will live in urban areas by 2050 resulting in a doubling of the global building stock. Given that buildings are currently recognised as emitting 40 percent of global carbon emissions, there is thus an urgent incentive to decarbonize existing buildings and to build net-zero carbon buildings. To attain net zero carbon emissions in communities in the future requires action in two directions: I) reduction of emissions; and II) removal of on-going emissions from the atmosphere once de-carbonization measures have been implemented. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have a significant role to play in achieving net zero carbon communities, spanning both emission reductions and removal of on-going emissions. NBS for the decarbonisation of buildings can be achieved by using green roofs and green walls – increasing vertical and horizontal vegetation on the building envelopes – and using nature-based materials that either emit less heat to the atmosphere thus decreasing photochemical reaction rates, or store substantial amount of carbon during the whole building service life within their structure. The NBS approach can also mitigate urban flooding and overheating, improve urban climate and air quality, and provide better living conditions for the urban population. For existing buildings, de-carbonization mostly requires retrofitting existing envelopes efficiently to use NBS techniques whereas for future construction, de-carbonization involves designing new buildings with low carbon materials as well as having the integrity and system capacity to effectively employ NBS. This paper presents the opportunities and challenges in respect to the de-carbonization of buildings using NBS for both building retrofits and new construction. This review documents the effectiveness of NBS to de-carbonize Canadian buildings, identifies the missing links to implement these techniques in cold climatic conditions, and determine a road map and immediate approaches to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change such as urban heat islanding. Recommendations are drafted for possible inclusion in the Canadian building and energy codes.

Keywords: decarbonization, nature-based solutions, GHG emissions, greenery enhancement, buildings

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Authors: Saleh Alumaran, Giampaolo Bella, Feng Chen

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The study of organisations’ information security cultures has attracted scholars as well as healthcare services industry to research the topic and find appropriate tools and approaches to develop a positive culture. The vast majority of studies in Saudi national health services are on the use of technology to protect and secure health services information. On the other hand, there is a lack of research on the role and impact of an organisation’s cultural dimensions on information security. This research investigated and analysed the role and impact of cultural dimensions on information security in Saudi Arabia health service. Hypotheses were tested and two surveys were carried out in order to collect data and information from three major hospitals in Saudi Arabia (SA). The first survey identified the main cultural-dimension problems in SA health services and developed an initial information security culture framework model. The second survey evaluated and tested the developed framework model to test its usefulness, reliability and applicability. The model is based on human behaviour theory, where the individual’s attitude is the key element of the individual’s intention to behave as well as of his or her actual behaviour. The research identified six cultural dimensions: Saudi national culture, Saudi health service leadership, employees’ trust, technology, multicultural interactions and employees’ job roles. The research also identified a set of cultural sub-dimensions. These include working values and norms, tribe values and norms, attitudes towards women, power sharing, vision, social interaction, respect and understanding, hospital intra-net, hospital employees’ language(s) used, multi-national culture, communication system, employees’ job satisfaction and job security. The research identified that (a) the human behaviour towards medical information in SA is one of the main threats to information security and one of the main challenges to SA health authority, (b) The current situation of SA hospitals’ IS cultures is falling short in protecting medical information due to the current value and norms towards information security, (c) Saudi national culture and employees’ job role are the main dimensions playing major roles in the employees’ attitude, and technology is the least important dimension playing a role in the employees’ attitudes.

Keywords: cultural dimension, electronic health record, information security, privacy

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Authors: Paola Causin, Andrea Aspri, Alessandro Benfenati

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Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) is an emergent medical imaging technique which employs NIR light to estimate the spatial distribution of optical coefficients in biological tissues for diagnostic purposes, in a noninvasive and non-ionizing manner. DOT reconstruction is a severely ill-conditioned problem due to prevalent scattering of light in the tissue. In this contribution, we present our research in adopting hybrid knowledgedriven/data-driven approaches which exploit the existence of well assessed physical models and build upon them neural networks integrating the availability of data. Namely, since in this context regularization procedures are mandatory to obtain a reasonable reconstruction [1], we explore the use of neural networks as tools to include prior information on the solution. 2. Materials and Methods The idea underlying our approach is to leverage neural networks to solve PDE-constrained inverse problems of the form 𝒒 ∗ = 𝒂𝒓𝒈 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒒 𝐃(𝒚, 𝒚̃), (1) where D is a loss function which typically contains a discrepancy measure (or data fidelity) term plus other possible ad-hoc designed terms enforcing specific constraints. In the context of inverse problems like (1), one seeks the optimal set of physical parameters q, given the set of observations y. Moreover, 𝑦̃ is the computable approximation of y, which may be as well obtained from a neural network but also in a classic way via the resolution of a PDE with given input coefficients (forward problem, Fig.1 box ). Due to the severe ill conditioning of the reconstruction problem, we adopt a two-fold approach: i) we restrict the solutions (optical coefficients) to lie in a lower-dimensional subspace generated by auto-decoder type networks. This procedure forms priors of the solution (Fig.1 box ); ii) we use regularization procedures of type 𝒒̂ ∗ = 𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒒 𝐃(𝒚, 𝒚̃)+ 𝑹(𝒒), where 𝑹(𝒒) is a regularization functional depending on regularization parameters which can be fixed a-priori or learned via a neural network in a data-driven modality. To further improve the generalizability of the proposed framework, we also infuse physics knowledge via soft penalty constraints (Fig.1 box ) in the overall optimization procedure (Fig.1 box ). 3. Discussion and Conclusion DOT reconstruction is severely hindered by ill-conditioning. The combined use of data-driven and knowledgedriven elements is beneficial and allows to obtain improved results, especially with a restricted dataset and in presence of variable sources of noise.

Keywords: inverse problem in tomography, deep learning, diffuse optical tomography, regularization

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Authors: Darshana Sharma

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Distance Education has emerged as a viable alternative to serve the higher educational needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged people of the remote, rural areas of Jammu region. The University of Jammu is a National Accreditation, and Assessment Council accredited, A+ university and has been accorded graded autonomy by the University Grants Commission. It is a dual mode university offering academic programmes through the regular departments and through the Directorate of Distance Education. The Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu still uses printed study material as a mode of instructional delivery. The development of technologies has assured increased interaction and communication for distance learners throughout the distance open learning institutions. Though it is tempting and convenient to adopt technology already being used by others, it may not prove effective for the simple reason that two institutions may be unlike in some respect. The use of technology must be conceived in view of the needs of the learners; geographical socio-economic-cultural and technological contexts and financial, administrative and academic resources of the institution. Mobile learning (m-learning) is a novel approach to knowledge acquisition and dissemination and is gaining global attention. It has evolved as one of the useful channels of distance learning promoting interaction between learners and teachers. It is felt that the Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu also needs to adopt new technologies to provide more effective academic and information support to distance learners in order to keep them motivated and also to develop self-learning skills. The chief objective of the research on which this paper is based was to measure the opinion of the distance learners of the DDE, the University of Jammu about the merits of mobile learning. It also explores their preferences for implementing mobile learning. The survey research design of descriptive research has been used. The data was collected from 400 distance learners enrolled with undergraduate and post-graduate programmes using self-constructed questionnaire containing five-point Likert scale items arranging from strongly agree, agree, indifferent, disagree and strongly disagree. Percentages were used to analyze the data. The findings lead to conclude that mobile learning has a great potential for the DDE for reaching out to the rural, remotely located distance learners of the Jammu region and also to improve the teaching-learning environment. The paper also finds out the challenges in the implementation of mobile learning in the region and further makes suggestions for effective implementation of mobile learning in DDE, University of Jammu.

Keywords: directorate of distance education, mobile learning, national accreditation and assessment council, university of Jammu

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Gileade P. Freitas, Helena B. Lopes, Alann T. P. Souza, Paula G. F. P. Oliveira, Adriana L. G. Almeida, Paulo G. Coelho, Marcio M. Beloti, Adalberto L. Rosa

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Bone tissue presents great capacity to regenerate when injured by trauma, infectious processes, or neoplasia. However, the extent of injury may exceed the inherent tissue regeneration capability demanding some kind of additional intervention. In this scenario, cell therapy has emerged as a promising alternative to treat challenging bone defects. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of local injection of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) on bone regeneration of rat calvaria defects. BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs were isolated and characterized by expression of surface markers; cell viability was evaluated after injection through a 21G needle. Defects of 5 mm in diameter were created in calvaria and after two weeks a single injection of BM-MSCs, AT-MSCs or vehicle-PBS without cells (Control) was carried out. Cells were tracked by bioluminescence and at 4 weeks post-injection bone formation was evaluated by micro-computed tomography (μCT) and histology, nanoindentation, and through gene expression of bone remodeling markers. The data were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance (p≤0.05). BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs presented characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells, kept viability after passing through a 21G needle and remained in the defects until day 14. In general, injection of both BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs resulted in higher bone formation compared to Control. Additionally, this bone tissue displayed elastic modulus and hardness similar to the pristine calvaria bone. The expression of all evaluated genes involved in bone formation was upregulated in bone tissue formed by BM-MSCs compared to AT-MSCs while genes involved in bone resorption were upregulated in AT-MSCs-formed bone. We show that cell therapy based on the local injection of BM-MSCs or AT-MSCs is effective in delivering viable cells that displayed local engraftment and induced a significant improvement in bone healing. Despite differences in the molecular cues observed between BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs, both cells were capable of forming bone tissue at comparable amounts and properties. These findings may drive cell therapy approaches toward the complete bone regeneration of challenging sites.

Keywords: cell therapy, mesenchymal stem cells, bone repair, cell culture

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Authors: Anne-Marie Dionne

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Teacher reading aloud to students is a practice that is well established in preschool and primary classrooms. Many benefits of this pedagogical activity have been highlighted in multiple studies. However, it has also been shown that teachers are not keen on choosing informational texts for their read aloud, as their selections for this venue are mainly fictional stories, mostly written in a unique narrative story-like structure. Considering that students soon have to read complex informational texts by themselves as they go from one grade to another, there is cause for concern because those who do not benefit from an early exposure to informational texts could be lacking knowledge of informational text structures that they will encounter regularly in their reading. Exposing students to informational texts could be done in different ways in classrooms. However, since read aloud appears to be such a common and efficient practice in preschool and primary grades, it is important to examine more deeply the factors taken into account by teachers when they are selecting their readings for this important teaching activity. Moreover, it seems critical to know why teachers are not inclined to choose more often informational texts when they are reading aloud to their pupils. A group of 22 preschool or primary grade teachers participated in this study. The data collection was done by a survey and an individual semi-structured interview. The survey was conducted in order to get quantitative data on the read-aloud practices of teachers. As for the interviews, they were organized around three categories of questions (exploratory, analytical, opinion) regarding the process of selecting the texts for the read-aloud sessions. A statistical analysis was conducted on the data obtained by the survey. As for the interviews, they were subjected to a content analysis aiming to classify the information collected in predetermined categories such as the reasons given to favor fictional texts over informative texts, the reasons given for avoiding informative texts for reading aloud, the perceptions of the challenges that the informative texts could bring when they are read aloud to students, and the perceived advantages that they would present if they were chosen more often for this activity. Results are showing variable factors that are guiding the teachers when they are making their selection of the texts to be read aloud. As for example, some of them are choosing solely fictional texts because of their convictions that these are more interesting for their students. They also perceive that the informational texts are not good choices because they are not suitable for pleasure reading. In that matter, results are pointing to some interesting elements. Many teachers perceive that read aloud of fictional or informational texts have different goals: fictional texts are read for pleasure and informational texts are read mostly for academic purposes. These results bring out the urgency for teachers to become aware of the numerous benefits that the reading aloud of each type of texts could bring to their students, especially the informational texts. The possible consequences of teachers’ perceptions will be discussed further in our presentation.

Keywords: fictional texts, informational texts, preschool or primary grade teachers, reading aloud

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Authors: Biruk Wolde Eremacho

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The Kombolcha to Desse road, linking Addis Ababa with Northern Ethiopia towns traverses through one of the most difficult mountainous ranges in Ethiopia. The presence of loose unconsolidated materials (colluvium materials), highly weathered and fractured basalt rocks high relief, steep natural slopes, nature of geologic formations exposed along the road section, poor drainage conditions, occurrence of high seasonal rains, and seismically active nature of the region created favorable condition for slope instability in the area. Thus, keeping in mind all above points the present study was conceived to study in detail the slope stability condition of the area. It was realized that detailed slope stability studies along this road section are very necessary to identify critical slopes and to provide the best remedial measures to minimize the slope instability problems which frequently disrupt and endanger the traffic movement on this important road. For the present study based on the field manifestation of instability two most critical slope sections were identified for detailed slope stability analysis. The deterministic slope stability analysis approach was followed to perform the detailed slope stability analysis of the selected slope sections. Factor of safety for the selected slope sections was determined for the different anticipated conditions (i.e., static and dynamic with varied water saturations) using Slope/W and Slide software. Both static and seismic slope stability analysis were carried out and factor of safety was deduced for each anticipated conditions. In general, detailed slope stability analysis of the two critical slope sections reveals that for only static dry condition both the slopes sections would be stable. However, for the rest anticipated conditions defined by static and dynamic situations with varied water saturations both critical slope sections would be unstable. Moreover, the causes of slope instability in the study area are governed by different factors; therefore integrated approaches of remedial measures are more appropriate to mitigate the possible slope instability in the study area. Depending on site condition and slope stability analysis result four types of suitable preventive and remedial measures are recommended namely; proper managements of drainages, retaining structures, gabions, and managing steeply cut slopes.

Keywords: factor of safety, remedial measures, slope stability analysis, static and dynamic condition

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Authors: Mikhail V. Khachaturyan, Inga A. Koryagina, Eugenia V. Klicheva

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In modern conditions, scientific judgment of problems in developing mechanisms of value creation and risk management acquires special relevance. Formation of economic knowledge has resulted in the constant analysis of consumer behavior for all players from national and world markets. Effective mechanisms development of the demand analysis, crucial for consumer's characteristics of future production, and the risks connected with the development of this production are the main objectives of control systems in modern conditions. The modern period of economic development is characterized by a high level of globalization of business and rigidity of competition. At the same time, the considerable share of new products and services costs has a non-material intellectual nature. The most successful in Russia is the contemporary development of small innovative firms. Such firms, through their unique technologies and new approaches to process management, which form the basis of their intellectual capital, can show flexibility and succeed in the market. As a rule, such enterprises should have very variable structure excluding the tough scheme of submission and demanding essentially new incentives for inclusion of personnel in innovative activity. Realization of similar structures, as well as a new approach to management, can be constructed based on value-oriented management which is directed to gradual change of consciousness of personnel and formation from groups of adherents included in the solution of the general innovative tasks. At the same time, valuable changes can gradually capture not only innovative firm staff, but also the structure of its corporate partners. Introduction of new technologies is the significant factor contributing to the development of new valuable imperatives and acceleration of the changing values systems of the organization. It relates to the fact that new technologies change the internal environment of the organization in a way that the old system of values becomes inefficient in new conditions. Introduction of new technologies often demands change in the structure of employee’s interaction and training in their new principles of work. During the introduction of new technologies and the accompanying change in the value system, the structure of the management of the values of the organization is changing. This is due to the need to attract more staff to justify and consolidate the new value system and bring their view into the motivational potential of the new value system of the organization.

Keywords: value, risk, creation, problems, organization

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Authors: Lottie Lane

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It is habitually assumed and stated that the World Bank should engage and comply with international human rights standards. However, the basis for holding the Bank to such standards is unclear. Most advocates of the idea invoke aspects of international law to argue that the Bank has existing obligations to act in compliance with human rights standards. The Bank itself, however, does not appear to accept such arguments, despite having endorsed the importance of human rights for a considerable length of time. A substantial challenge is that under the current international human rights law framework, the World Bank is considered a non-state actor, and as such, has no direct human rights obligations. In the absence of clear legal duties for the Bank, it is necessary to look at the tools available beyond the international human rights framework to encourage the Bank to comply with human rights standards. This article critically examines several bases for arguing that the Bank should comply and engage with human rights through its policies and practices. Drawing on the Bank’s own ‘good governance’ approach as well as the United Nations’ ‘human rights-based-approach’ to development, a new basis is suggested. First, the relationship between the World Bank and human rights is examined. Three perspectives are considered: (1) the legal position – what the status of the World Bank is under international human rights law, and whether it can be said to have existing legal human rights obligations; (2) the Bank’s own official position – how the Bank envisages its relationship with and role in the protection of human rights; and (3) the relationship between the Bank’s policies and practices and human rights (including how its attitudes are reflected in its policies and how the Bank’s operations impact human rights enjoyment in practice). Here, the article focuses on two examples – the (revised) 2016 Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies and the 2012 case-study regarding Gambella, Ethiopia. Both examples are widely considered missed opportunities for the Bank to actively engage with human rights. The analysis shows that however much pressure is placed on the Bank to improve its human rights footprint, it is extremely reluctant to do so explicitly, and the legal bases available are insufficient for requiring concrete, ex ante action by the Bank. Instead, the Bank’s own ‘good governance’ approach to development – which it has been advocating since the 1990s – can be relied upon. ‘Good governance’ has been used and applied by many actors in many contexts, receiving numerous different definitions. This article argues that human rights protection can now be considered a crucial component of good governance, at least in the context of development. In doing so, the article explains the relationship and interdependence between the two concepts, and provides three rationales for the Bank to take a ‘human rights-based approach’ to good governance. Ultimately, this article seeks to look beyond international human rights law and take a governance approach to provide a convincing basis upon which to argue that the World Bank should comply with human rights standards.

Keywords: World Bank, international human rights law, good governance, human rights-based approach

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Authors: Ryoma Tokonami, Teruya Goto, Tatsuhiro Takahashi,

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For enhancing the mechanical property ofcarbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), the surface modification of carbon fiber (CF) by multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) has received considerable attention using direct MWCNT growth on CF with a catalysis, MWCNT electrophoresis, and layer-by-layer of MWCNT with reactive polymers, etc. Among above approaches, the layer-by-layer method is the simplest process, however, the amount of MWCNTs on CF is very little, resulting in the small amount of improvement of the mechanical property of the composite. The remaining amount of MWCNT on CF after melt mixing of CF (short fiber) with thermoplastic matrix polymer was not examined clearly in the former studies. The present research aims to propose an effective layer-by-layer chemical grafting of a highly reactive oxazoline polymer, which has not been used before, and MWCNTs onto CF using the highly reactivity of oxazoline and COOH on the surface of CF and MWCNTs.With layer-by-layer method, the first uniform chemically bonded mono molecular layer on carbon fiber was formed by chemical surface reaction of carbon fiber, a reactive oxazoline polymer solution between COOH of carbon fiber and oxazoline. The second chemically bonded uniform layer of MWCNTs on the first layer was prepared through the first layer coated carbon fiber in MWCNT dispersion solution by chemical reaction between oxazoline and COOH of MWCNTs. The quantitative analysis of MWCNTs on carbon fiber was performed, showing 0.44 wt.% of MWCNTs based on carbon fiber, which is much larger amount compared with the former studies in layer-by-layer method. In addition, MWCNTs were also observed uniform coating on carbon fiber by scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Carbon fiber composites were prepared by melting mixing using polystyrene (PS) as a thermoplastic matrix because of easy removal of PS by solvent for additional analysis, resulting the 20% of enhancement of tensile strength and modulus by tensile strength test. It was confirmed bySEM the layer-by-layer structure on carbon fibers were remained after the melt mixing by removing PS with a solvent. As a conclusion, the effectiveness for the enhancement of the mechanical properties of CF(short fiber)/PS composite using the highly reactive oxazoline polymer for the first layer and MWCNT for the second layer, which act as the physical anchor, was demonstrated.

Keywords: interface, layer-by-layer, multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), oxazoline

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Authors: Hamed Hedayatnia, Nathan Van Den Bossche

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Understanding the ways in which climate change accelerates or slows down the process of material deterioration is the first step towards assessing adaptive approaches for the conservation of historical heritage. Analysis of the climate change effects on the degradation risk assessment parameters like freeze-thaw cycles and wind erosion is also a key parameter when considering mitigating actions. Due to the vulnerability of cultural heritage to climate change, the impact of this phenomenon on material degradation criteria with the focus on brick masonry walls in Timurid heritage, located in Iran, was studied. The Timurids were the final great dynasty to emerge from the Central Asian steppe. Through their patronage, the eastern Islamic world in northwestern of Iran, especially in Mashhad and Herat, became a prominent cultural center. Goharshad Mosque is a mosque in Mashhad of the Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. It was built by order of Empress Goharshad, the wife of Shah Rukh of the Timurid dynasty in 1418 CE. Choosing an appropriate regional climate model was the first step. The outputs of two different climate model: the 'ALARO-0' and 'REMO,' were analyzed to find out which model is more adopted to the area. For validating the quality of the models, a comparison between model data and observations was done in 4 different climate zones in Iran for a period of 30 years. The impacts of the projected climate change were evaluated until 2100. To determine the material specification of Timurid bricks, standard brick samples from a Timurid mosque were studied. Determination of water absorption coefficient, defining the diffusion properties and determination of real density, and total porosity tests were performed to characterize the specifications of brick masonry walls, which is needed for running HAM-simulations. Results from the analysis showed that the threatening factors in each climate zone are almost different, but the most effective factor around Iran is the extreme temperature increase and erosion. In the north-western region of Iran, one of the key factors is wind erosion. In the north, rainfall erosion and mold growth risk are the key factors. In the north-eastern part, in which our case study is located, the important parameter is wind erosion.

Keywords: brick, climate change, degradation criteria, heritage, Timurid period

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Authors: Opemiposi Adegbulu

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Conflicts of interest is an elusive, diverse and engaging subject, a cross-cutting problem of governance; all levels of governance, ranging from local to global, public to corporate or financial sectors. In all these areas, its mismanagement could lead to the distortion of decision-making processes, corrosion of trust and the weakening of administration. According to Professor Peters, an expert in the area, conflict of interest, a problem at the root of many scandals has “become a pervasive ethical concern in our professional, organisational, and political life”. Conflicts of interest corrode trust, and like in the public sector, trust is mandatory for the market, consumers/clients, shareholders and other stakeholders in the private sector. However, conflicts of interest in the private sector are distinct and must be treated in like manner when regulatory efforts are made to address them. The research looks at identifying conflicts of interest in the private sector and differentiating them from those in the public sector. The public interest is submitted as a criterion which allows for such differentiation. This is significant because it would for the use of tailor-made or sector-specific approaches to addressing this complex issue. This is conducted through extensive review of literature and theories on the definition of conflicts of interest. This study will employ theoretical, doctrinal and comparative methods. The nature of conflicts of interest in the private sector will be explored, through an analysis of the public sector where the notion of conflicts of interest appears more clearly identified, reasons, why they are of business ethics concern, will be advanced, and then, once again, looking at public sector solutions and other solutions, the study will identify ways of mitigating and managing conflicts in the private sector. An exploration of public sector conflicts of interest and solutions will be carried out because the typologies of conflicts of interest in both sectors appear very similar at the core and thus, lessons can be learnt with regards to the management of these issues in the private sector. Conflicts of interest corrode trust, and like in the public sector, trust is mandatory for the market, consumers/clients, shareholders and other stakeholders in the private sector. This research will then focus on some specific challenges to understanding and identifying conflicts of interest in the private sector; origin, diverging theories, the psychological barrier to the definition, similarities with public sector conflicts of interest due to the notions of corrosion of trust, ‘being in a particular kind of situation,’ etc. The notion of public interest will be submitted as a key element at the heart of the distinction between public sector and private sector conflicts of interests. It will then be proposed that the appreciation of the notion of conflicts of interest differ according to sector, country to country, based on the public interest test, using the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (US), France and the Philippines as illustrations.

Keywords: conflicts of interest, corporate governance, global governance, public interest

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Authors: Dana Cassandra Winkler, Delia Leiding, Rene Bergs, Franziska Kaiser, Ramona Kirchhart, Ute Habel

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Background: Violence is a multidimensional phenomenon, affecting people of every age, socio-economic status and gender. Nevertheless, most studies primarily focus on men perpetrating women. Aim of the present study is to identify the likelihood of mental and somatic disorders and risk-taking behavior in male violence affected. In addition, the relationship between age of violence experience and the risk for health-related problems was analyzed. Method: On the basis of current evidence, a questionnaire was developed focusing on demographic background, health status, risk-taking behavior, and active and passive violence exposure. In total, 5221 males (Mean: 56,1 years, SD: 17,6) were consulted. To account for the time of violence experience in an efficient way, age clusters ‘0-12 years’, ‘13-20 years’, ‘21-35 years’, ‘36-65 years’ and ‘over 65 years’ were defined. A binary logistic regression was calculated to reveal differences in violence-affected and non-violence affected males regarding health and risk-taking factors. Males who experienced violence on a daily/ almost daily basis vs. males who reported violence occurrence once/ several times a month/ year were compared with respect to health factors and risk-taking behavior. Data of males, who indicated active and passive violence exposure, were analyzed by a chi²-analysis, to investigate a possible relation between the age of victimization and violence perpetration. Findings: Results imply that general violence experience, independent of active and passive violence exposure increases the likelihood in favor of somatic-, psychosomatic- and mental disorders as well as risk-taking behavior in males. Experiencing violence on a daily or almost daily basis in childhood and adolescence may serve as a predictor for increased health problems and risk-taking behavior. Furthermore, the violence experience and perpetration occur significantly within the same age cluster. This underlines the importance of a near-term intervention to minimize the risk, that victims become perpetrators later. Conclusion: The present study reveals predictors concerning health risk factors as well as risk-taking behavior in males with violence exposure. The results of this study may underscore the benefit of intervention and regular health care approaches in violence-affected males and underline the importance of acknowledging the overlap of violence experience and perpetration for further research.

Keywords: health disease, male, mental health, prevalence, risk-taking behavior, violence

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Authors: Javed Mohammed

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Right now, bio-medical infrastructure lags well behind the curve. Our healthcare system is dispersed and disjointed; medical records are a bit of a mess; and we do not yet have the capacity to store and process the crazy amounts of data coming our way from widespread whole-genome sequencing. And then there are privacy issues. Despite these infrastructure challenges, some researchers are plunging into bio medical Big Data now, in hopes of extracting new and actionable knowledge. They are doing delving into molecular-level data to discover bio markers that help classify patients based on their response to existing treatments; and pushing their results out to physicians in novel and creative ways. Computer scientists and bio medical researchers are able to transform data into models and simulations that will enable scientists for the first time to gain a profound under-standing of the deepest biological functions. Solving biological problems may require High-Performance Computing HPC due either to the massive parallel computation required to solve a particular problem or to algorithmic complexity that may range from difficult to intractable. Many problems involve seemingly well-behaved polynomial time algorithms (such as all-to-all comparisons) but have massive computational requirements due to the large data sets that must be analyzed. High-throughput techniques for DNA sequencing and analysis of gene expression have led to exponential growth in the amount of publicly available genomic data. With the increased availability of genomic data traditional database approaches are no longer sufficient for rapidly performing life science queries involving the fusion of data types. Computing systems are now so powerful it is possible for researchers to consider modeling the folding of a protein or even the simulation of an entire human body. This research paper emphasizes the computational biology's growing need for high-performance computing and Big Data. It illustrates this article’s indispensability in meeting the scientific and engineering challenges of the twenty-first century, and how Protein Folding (the structure and function of proteins) and Phylogeny Reconstruction (evolutionary history of a group of genes) can use HPC that provides sufficient capability for evaluating or solving more limited but meaningful instances. This article also indicates solutions to optimization problems, and benefits Big Data and Computational Biology. The article illustrates the Current State-of-the-Art and Future-Generation Biology of HPC Computing with Big Data.

Keywords: high performance, big data, parallel computation, molecular data, computational biology

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Authors: Fatemeh Moosavi, Tumelo Franck Nkoshwane

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Peter Drucker the renowned management guru once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Mr. Drucker is also the man who placed human capital as the most vital resource of any institution. As such any institution bent on creating a better future, requires a competent human capital, one that is able to execute with efficiency and effectiveness the objective a society aspires to. Technology today is accelerating the rate at which many societies transition to knowledge based societies. In this accelerated paradigm, it is imperative that those in leadership establish a platform capable of sustaining the planned future; intellectual capital. The capitalist economy going into the future will not just be sustained by dollars and cents, but by individuals who possess the creativity to enterprise, innovate and create wealth from ideas. This calls for cities of the future, to have this premise at the heart of their future plan, if the objective of designing sustainable and liveable future cities will be realised. The knowledge economy, now transitioning to the creative economy, requires cities of the future to be ‘gardens’ of inspiration, to be places where knowledge, creativity, and innovation can thrive as these instruments are becoming critical assets for creating wealth in the new economic system. Developing nations must accept that learning is a lifelong process that requires keeping abreast with change and should invest in teaching people how to keep learning. The need to continuously update one’s knowledge, turn these cities into vibrant societies, where new ideas create knowledge and in turn enriches the quality of life of the residents. Cities of the future must have as one of their objectives, the ability to motivate their citizens to learn, share knowledge, evaluate the knowledge and use it to create wealth for a just society. The five functional factors suggested by Kevin Lynch;-vitality, meaning/sense, adaptability, access, control, and monitoring should form the basis on which policy makers and urban designers base their plans for future cities. The authors of this paper believe that developing nations “creative economy clusters”, cities where creative industries drive the need for constant new knowledge creating sustainable learning creative cities. Obviously the form, shape and size of these districts should be cognisant of the environmental, cultural and economic characteristics of each locale. Gaborone city in the republic of Botswana is presented as the case study for this paper.

Keywords: learning city, sustainable creative city, creative industry, good city form

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Authors: Lorato Itumeleng Kenosi

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Background: Negative attitudes towards the mentally ill are widespread and a course for concern as they have a detrimental impact on individuals affected by mental illness. A possible avenue for changing attitudes towards mental illness is through mental health literacy. In a college or university setting, an abnormal psychology course may be introduced in an attempt to change student’s attitudes towards the mentally ill. Objective: To determine if and how students’ attitudes towards the mentally ill change as a result of taking a course in abnormal psychology. Methods: Twenty nine (29) students were recruited from an abnormal psychology class at the University of Botswana. Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) questionnaire was administered to participants at the beginning and end of the semester. SPSS was employed to analyze data. Pooled means were used to determine whether the student’s attitudes towards mental illness were negative or positive. A mean of 2.5 translated to negative attitude for both total attitude and attitudes in different domains of the scale. Paired sample t-test was then used to assess whether any changes noted in attitudes were statistically significant or not. Statistical significance was assumed at p < 0.05. Results: Students’ general attitude towards mental illness remained positive although the pooled mean value increased from 2.08 to 2.24. The change was not statistically significant. In relation to different sub scales, the values of the pooled means for all the sub scales showed an increase although the changes were not statistically significant except for the Stereotyping sub scale (p = 0.031). The stereotyping domain reflected a statistically significant change in student’s attitude from positive attitude to negative (X² = 2.06 to X² = 2.55). For the pessimistic prediction domain, students consistently showed a negative attitude (X² = 3.34 to X² = 3.55). The other 4 domains indicated that students had positive attitude toward mentally ill throughout. Discussion: Abnormal psychology students have a positive attitude towards the mentally ill generally. This could be attributed to the fact that all students in the abnormal psychology course are majoring in psychology and research has shown that interest in psychology can affect one’s attitude towards mental illness. The students continuously held the view that people with mental illness are unlikely to improve as evidenced by a high score for Pessimistic prediction domain for both pre and post-test. Students initially had no stereotyping attitude towards the mentally ill, but at the end of the course, they were of the opinion that people with mental illness can be defined in a certain behavioural pattern and mental ability. This results could be an indication that students have learnt well how to differentiate abnormal from normal behaviour not necessarily that students had developed a negative attitude. Conclusion: A course in abnormal psychology does have an impact on the students’ attitudes towards the mentally ill. The impact does not solely depend on knowledge of mental illness but also on several other factors such as contact with the mentally ill, interest in psychology, and teaching methods. However, it should be noted that sometimes improved knowledge in mental illness can be misunderstood for a negative attitude. For example, stereotyping attitudes may be a reflection of the ability to differentiate between abnormal and normal behaviour.

Keywords: attitudes, mental illness, psychopathology, students

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Authors: Merertu Wakuma Rundassa

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Global competition and rapidly changing customer requirements are forcing major changes in the production styles and configuration of manufacturing organizations. Increasingly, traditional centralized and sequential manufacturing planning, scheduling, and control mechanisms are being found insufficiently flexible to respond to changing production styles and highly dynamic variations in product requirements. The traditional approaches limit the expandability and reconfiguration capabilities of the manufacturing systems. Thus many business houses face increasing pressure to lower production cost, improve production quality and increase responsiveness to customers. In a textile and apparel manufacturing, globalization has led to increase in competition and quality awareness and these industries have changed tremendously in the last few years. So, to sustain competitive advantage, companies must re-examine and fine-tune their business processes to deliver high quality goods at very low costs and it has become very important for the textile and apparel industries to integrate themselves with information technology to survive. IT can create competitive advantages for companies to improve coordination and communication among trading partners, increase the availability of information for intermediaries and customers and provide added value at various stages along the entire chain. Ethiopia is in the process of realizing its potential as the future sourcing location for the global textile and garments industry. With a population of over 90 million people and the fastest growing non-oil economy in Africa, Ethiopia today represents limitless opportunities for international investors. For the textile and garments industry Ethiopia promises a low cost production location with natural resources such as cotton to enable the setup of vertically integrated textile and garment operation. However; due to lack of integration of their business activities textile and apparel industry of Ethiopia faced a problem in that it can‘t be competent in the global market. On the other hand the textile and apparel industries of other countries have changed tremendously in the last few years and globalization has led to increase in competition and quality awareness. So the aim of this paper is to study the trend of Ethiopian Textile and Apparel Industry on the application of different IT system to integrate them in the global market.

Keywords: information technology, business integrity, textile and apparel industries, Ethiopia

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Authors: Emilie Vandevelde, Ellen Claes

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This study aims to develop a comprehensive model for the civic socialization process of teachers. Citizenship has become one of the main objectives for the European education systems. It is expected that teachers are well prepared and equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to also engage students in democratic citizenship. While a lot is known about young peoples’ civic competence development and how schools and teachers (don’t) support this process, less is known about how teachers themselves engage with (the teaching of) civics. Other than the civic socialization process of young adolescents that focuses on personal competence development, the civic socialization process of teachers includes the development of professional, civic competences. These professional competences make that they are able to prepare pupils to carry out their civic responsibilities in thoughtful ways. Existing models for the civic socialization process of young adolescents do not take this dual purpose into account. Based on these observations, this paper will investigate (1)What personal and professional civic competences teachers need to effectively teach civic education and (2) how teachers acquire these personal and professional civic competences. To answer the first research question, a systematic review of literature of existing civic education frameworks was carried out and linked to literature on teacher training. The second research question was addressed by adapting the Octagon model, developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), to the context of teachers. This was done by carrying out a systematic review of the recent literature linking three theoretical topics involved in teachers’ civic competence development: theories about the civic socialization process of young adolescents, Schulmans (1987) theoretical assumptions on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and Nogueira & Moreira’s (2012) framework for civic education teachers’ knowledge and literature on teachers’ professional development. This resulted in a comprehensive conceptual framework describing the personal and professional civic competences of civic education teachers. In addition, this framework is linked to the OctagonT model: a model that describes the processes through which teachers acquire these personal and professional civic competences. This model recognizes that teachers’ civic socialization process is influenced by interconnected variables located at different levels in a multi-level structure (the individual teacher (e.g., civic beliefs), everyday contacts (e.g., teacher educators, the intended, informal and hidden curriculum of the teacher training program, internship contacts, participation opportunities in teacher training, etc.) and the influence of the national educational context (e.g., vision on civic education)). Furthermore, implications for teacher education programs are described.

Keywords: civic education, civic competences, civic socialization, octagon model, teacher training

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Authors: Agnieszka A. Malinowska, R. Hejmanowski

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A number of European cities are strongly affected by ground movements caused by anthropogenic activities or post-anthropogenic metamorphosis. Those are mainly water pumping, current mining operation, the collapse of post-mining underground voids or mining-induced earthquakes. These activities lead to large and small-scale ground displacements and a ground ruptures. The ground movements occurring in urban areas could considerably affect stability and safety of structures and infrastructures. The complexity of the ground deformation phenomenon in relation to the structures and infrastructures vulnerability leads to considerable constraints in assessing the threat of those objects. However, the increase of access to the free software and satellite data could pave the way for developing new methods and strategies for environmental risk mitigation and management. Open source geographical information systems (OS GIS), may support data integration, management, and risk analysis. Lately, developed methods based on fuzzy logic and experts methods for buildings and infrastructure damage risk assessment could be integrated into OS GIS. Those methods were verified base on back analysis proving their accuracy. Moreover, those methods could be supported by ground displacement observation. Based on freely available data from European Space Agency and free software, ground deformation could be estimated. The main innovation presented in the paper is the application of open source software (OS GIS) for integration developed models and assessment of the threat of urban areas. Those approaches will be reinforced by analysis of ground movement based on free satellite data. Those data would support the verification of ground movement prediction models. Moreover, satellite data will enable our mapping of ground deformation in urbanized areas. Developed models and methods have been implemented in one of the urban areas hazarded by underground mining activity. Vulnerability maps supported by satellite ground movement observation would mitigate the hazards of land displacements in urban areas close to mines.

Keywords: fuzzy logic, open source geographic information science (OS GIS), risk assessment on urbanized areas, satellite interferometry (InSAR)

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Authors: Bing Zhang, Jingyi Zhang, Mudan Chen

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Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been extensively utilised in various industries due to their high specific strength, e.g., aerospace, renewable energy, automotive, and marine. However, they have relatively low electrical conductivity than metals, especially in the out-of-plane direction. Conductive metal strips or meshes are typically employed to protect composites when designing lightweight structures that may be subjected to lightning strikes, such as composite wings. Unfortunately, this approach downplays the lightweight advantages of FRP composites, thereby limiting their potential applications. Extensive studies have been undertaken to improve the electrical conductivity of FRP composites. The authors are amongst the pioneers who use through-thickness reinforcement (TTR) to tailor the electrical conductivity of composites. Compared to the conventional approaches using conductive fillers, the through-thickness reinforcement approach has been proven to be able to offer a much larger improvement to the through-thickness conductivity of composites. In this study, an advanced high-fidelity numerical modelling strategy is presented to investigate the effects of through-thickness reinforcement on both the in-plane and out-of-plane electrical conductivities of FRP composites. The critical micro-structural features of through-thickness reinforced composites incorporated in the modelling framework are 1) the fibre waviness formed due to TTR insertion; 2) the resin-rich pockets formed due to resin flow in the curing process following TTR insertion; 3) the fibre crimp, i.e., fibre distortion in the thickness direction of composites caused by TTR insertion forces. In addition, each interlaminar interface is described separately. An IMA/M21 composite laminate with a quasi-isotropic stacking sequence is employed to calibrate and verify the modelling framework. The modelling results agree well with experimental measurements for bothering in-plane and out-plane conductivities. It has been found that the presence of conductive TTR can increase the out-of-plane conductivity by around one order, but there is less improvement in the in-plane conductivity, even at the TTR areal density of 0.1%. This numerical tool provides valuable references as a design tool for through-thickness reinforced composites when exploring their electrical applications. Parametric studies are undertaken using the numerical tool to investigate critical parameters that affect the electrical conductivities of composites, including TTR material, TTR areal density, stacking sequence, and interlaminar conductivity. Suggestions regarding the design of electrical through-thickness reinforced composites are derived from the numerical modelling campaign.

Keywords: composite structures, design, electrical conductivity, numerical modelling, through-thickness reinforcement

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Authors: Nicolò Vaiana, Filip C. Filippou, Giorgio Serino

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In order to reduce numerical computations in the nonlinear dynamic analysis of seismically base-isolated structures, a Mixed Explicit-Implicit time integration Method (MEIM) has been proposed. Adopting the explicit conditionally stable central difference method to compute the nonlinear response of the base isolation system, and the implicit unconditionally stable Newmark’s constant average acceleration method to determine the superstructure linear response, the proposed MEIM, which is conditionally stable due to the use of the central difference method, allows to avoid the iterative procedure generally required by conventional monolithic solution approaches within each time step of the analysis. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the stability and computational efficiency of the MEIM when employed to perform the nonlinear time history analysis of base-isolated structures with sliding bearings. Indeed, in this case, the critical time step could become smaller than the one used to define accurately the earthquake excitation due to the very high initial stiffness values of such devices. The numerical results obtained from nonlinear dynamic analyses of a base-isolated structure with a friction pendulum bearing system, performed by using the proposed MEIM, are compared to those obtained adopting a conventional monolithic solution approach, i.e. the implicit unconditionally stable Newmark’s constant acceleration method employed in conjunction with the iterative pseudo-force procedure. According to the numerical results, in the presented numerical application, the MEIM does not have stability problems being the critical time step larger than the ground acceleration one despite of the high initial stiffness of the friction pendulum bearings. In addition, compared to the conventional monolithic solution approach, the proposed algorithm preserves its computational efficiency even when it is adopted to perform the nonlinear dynamic analysis using a smaller time step.

Keywords: base isolation, computational efficiency, mixed explicit-implicit method, partitioned solution approach, stability

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Authors: Janaina Pereira, Barbara Gonzalez, Valentina Chitas, Teresa Molina

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Intro: The positive impact of opioid maintenance programs on the health of heroin addicts, and on public health in general, has been widely recognized, namely on the prevalence reduction of infectious diseases as HIV, and on the social reintegration of this population. Nevertheless, a part of patients in these programs cannot remain heroin abstinent, or has relapses, during the treatment. Method: Thus, this cross-sectional research aims at analyzing the relation between a set of psychological and psychosocial variables, which have been associated with the onset of heroin use, and assess if they are also associated with absence of abstinence in participants in an opioid maintenance program. A total of 62 patients, aged between 26 and 58 years old (M= 40.87, DP= 7.39) with a time in opioid maintenance program between 1 and 10 years (M= 5.42, DP= 3.05), 77.4% male and 22.6% female, participated in this research. To assess the criterion variable (heroin use) we used the mean value of positive results in urine tests during the participation in the program, weighted according to the number of months in program. The predictor variables were the coping strategies, the dispositional sensation seeking, and the existence of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results: The results showed that only 33.87% of the patients were totally abstinent of heroin use since the beginning of the program, and the absence of abstinence, as the number of positive heroin tests, was primarily predicted by less proactive coping, and secondarily by a higher level of sensation seeking. 16.13% of the sample fulfilled diagnosis criteria for PTSD, and 67.74 % had at least one traumatic experience throughout their lives. The total of PTSD symptoms had a positive correlation with the number of physical health problems, and with the lack of professional occupation. These results have several implications for the clinical practice in this field, and we suggest the promotion of proactive coping strategies should integrate these opioid maintenance programs, as they represent the tendency to face future events as challenges and opportunities, being positively related to positive results on several fields. The early identification of PTSD in the participants, before entering the opioid maintenance programs, would be important as it is related to negative features that hinder social reintegration, Finally, to identify individuals with a sensation seeking profile would be relevant, not only because they face a higher risk of relapse, but also because the therapeutical approaches should not ignore this dispositional feature in the alternatives they propose to the patients.

Keywords: opioid maintenance programs, proactive coping, PTSD, sensation seeking

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Authors: Sagir M. Yusuf, Chris Baber

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In this paper, we describe how to achieve knowledge understanding and prediction (Situation Awareness (SA)) for multiple-agents conducting searching activity using Bayesian inferential reasoning and learning. Bayesian Belief Network was used to monitor agents' knowledge about their environment, and cases are recorded for the network training using expectation-maximisation or gradient descent algorithm. The well trained network will be used for decision making and environmental situation prediction. Forest fire searching by multiple UAVs was the use case. UAVs are tasked to explore a forest and find a fire for urgent actions by the fire wardens. The paper focused on two problems: (i) effective agents’ path planning strategy and (ii) knowledge understanding and prediction (SA). The path planning problem by inspiring animal mode of foraging using Lévy distribution augmented with Bayesian reasoning was fully described in this paper. Results proof that the Lévy flight strategy performs better than the previous fixed-pattern (e.g., parallel sweeps) approaches in terms of energy and time utilisation. We also introduced a waypoint assessment strategy called k-previous waypoints assessment. It improves the performance of the ordinary levy flight by saving agent’s resources and mission time through redundant search avoidance. The agents (UAVs) are to report their mission knowledge at the central server for interpretation and prediction purposes. Bayesian reasoning and learning were used for the SA and results proof effectiveness in different environments scenario in terms of prediction and effective knowledge representation. The prediction accuracy was measured using learning error rate, logarithm loss, and Brier score and the result proves that little agents mission that can be used for prediction within the same or different environment. Finally, we described a situation-based knowledge visualization and prediction technique for heterogeneous multi-UAV mission. While this paper proves linkage of Bayesian reasoning and learning with SA and effective searching strategy, future works is focusing on simplifying the architecture.

Keywords: Levy flight, distributed constraint optimization problem, multi-agent system, multi-robot coordination, autonomous system, swarm intelligence

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Authors: Juan Cuesta

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Satellite observation is a fundamental component of air pollution monitoring systems, such as the large-scale Copernicus Programme. Next-generation satellite sensors, in orbit or programmed in the future, offer great potential to observe major air pollutants, such as tropospheric ozone, with unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage. However, satellite approaches developed for remote sensing of tropospheric ozone are based solely on measurements from a single instrument in a specific spectral range, either thermal infrared or ultraviolet. These methods offer sensitivity to tropospheric ozone located at the lowest at 3 or 4 km altitude above the surface, thus limiting their applications for ozone pollution analysis. Indeed, no current observation of a single spectral domain provides enough information to accurately measure ozone in the atmospheric boundary layer. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a multispectral synergism approach, called "IASI+GOME2", at the Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA) laboratory. This method is based on the synergy of thermal infrared and ultraviolet observations of respectively the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) sensors embedded in MetOp satellites that have been in orbit since 2007. IASI+GOME2 allowed the first satellite observation of ozone plumes located between the surface and 3 km of altitude (what we call the lowermost troposphere), as it offers significant sensitivity in this layer. This represents a major advance for the observation of ozone in the lowermost troposphere and its application to air quality analysis. The ozone abundance derived by IASI+GOME2 shows a good agreement with respect to independent observations of ozone based on ozone sondes (a low mean bias, a linear correlation larger than 0.8 and a mean precision of about 16 %) around the world during all seasons. Using IASI+GOME2, lowermost tropospheric ozone pollution plumes are quantified both in terms of concentrations and also in the amounts of ozone photo-chemically produced along transport and also enabling the characterization of the ozone pollution, such as what occurred during the lockdowns linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current paper will show the IASI+GOME2 multispectral approach to observe the lowermost tropospheric ozone from space and an overview of several applications on different continents and at a global scale.

Keywords: ozone pollution, multispectral synergism, satellite, air quality

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Authors: Inkeri Jaaskelainen

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The aim of this study is to shed light on what is it like to study in apprenticeship training using intermediate (or even lower level) Finnish. The aim is to find out and describe these students' experiences and feelings while acquiring a profession in Finnish as it is important to understand how immigrant background adult learners learn and how their needs could be better taken into account. Many students choose apprenticeships and start vocational training while their language skills in Finnish are still very weak. At work, students should be able to simultaneously learn Finnish and do vocational studies in a noisy, demanding, and stressful environment. Learning and understanding new things is very challenging under these circumstances, and sometimes students get exhausted and experience a lot of stress - which makes learning even more difficult. Students are different from each other, and so are their ways to learn. Both duties at work and school assignments require reasonably good general language skills, and, especially at work, language skills are also a safety issue. The empirical target of this study is a group of students with an immigrant background who studied in various fields with intensive L2 support in 2016–2018 and who by now have completed a vocational upper secondary qualification. The interview material for this narrative study was collected from those who completed apprenticeship training in 2019–2020. The data collection methods used are a structured thematic interview, a questionnaire, and observational data. Interviewees with an immigrant background have an inconsistent cultural and educational background - some have completed an academic degree in their country of origin while others have learned to read and write only in Finland. The analysis of the material utilizes thematic analysis, which is used to examine learning and related experiences. Learning a language at work is very different from traditional classroom teaching. With evolving language skills, at an intermediate level at best, rushing and stressing makes it even more difficult to understand and increases the fear of failure. Constant noise, rapidly changing situations, and uncertainty undermine the learning and well-being of apprentices. According to preliminary results, apprenticeship training is well suited to the needs of an adult immigrant student. In apprenticeship training, students need a lot of support for learning and understanding a new communication and working culture. Stress can result in, e.g., fatigue, frustration, and difficulties in remembering and understanding. Apprenticeship training can be seen as a good path to working life. However, L2 support is a very important part of apprenticeship training, and it indeed helps students to believe that one day they will graduate and even get employed in their new country.

Keywords: apprenticeship training, vocational basic degree, Finnish learning, wee-being

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