Search results for: empirical dietary inflammatory pattern

Authors: Nilda Tri Putri, Muhammad Taufik

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Tools and agricultural machinery (Alsintan) is a tool used in agribusiness activities. Alsintan used to change the traditional farming systems generally use manual equipment into modern agriculture with mechanization. CV Nugraha Chakti Consultant make an action plan for industrial development Alsintan West Sumatra in 2012 to develop medium industries of Alsintan become a major industry of Alsintan, one of efforts made is increase the production capacity of the industry Alsintan. Production capacity for superior products as hydrotiller and threshers set each for 2.000 units per year. CV Citra Dragon as one of the medium industry alsintan in West Sumatra has a plan to relocate the existing plant to meet growing consumer demand each year. Increased production capacity and plant relocation plan has led to a change in the layout; therefore need to design the layout of the plant facility CV Citra Dragon. First step the to design of plant layout is design the layout of the production floor. The design of the production floor layout is done by applying group technology layout. The initial step is to do a machine grouping and part family using the Average Linkage Clustering (ALC) and Rank Order Clustering (ROC). Furthermore done independent work station design and layout design using the Modified Spanning Tree (MST). Alternative selection layout is done to select the best production floor layout between ALC and ROC cell grouping. Furthermore, to design the layout of warehouses, offices and other production support facilities. Activity Relationship Chart methods used to organize the placement of factory facilities has been designed. After structuring plan facilities, calculated cost manufacturing facility plant establishment. Type of layout is used on the production floor layout technology group. The production floor is composed of four cell machinery, assembly area and painting area. The total distance of the displacement of material in a single production amounted to 1120.16 m which means need 18,7minutes of transportation time for one time production. Alsintan Factory has designed a circular flow pattern with 11 facilities. The facilities were designed consisting of 10 rooms and 1 parking space. The measure of factory building is 84 m x 52 m.

Keywords: Average Linkage Clustering (ALC), Rank Order Clustering (ROC), Modified Spanning Tree (MST), Activity Relationship Chart (ARC)

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Authors: Aba-Carina Pârlog

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On translating, reading against the grain results in a wrong effect in the TL. Quine’s ocular irradiation plays an important part in the process of understanding and translating a text. The various types of textual radiation must be rendered by the translator by paying close attention to the types of field that produce it. The literary work must be seen as an indirect cause of an expressive effect in the TL that is supposed to be similar to the effect it has in the SL. If the adaptive transformative codes are so flexible that they encourage the translator to repeatedly leave out parts of the original work, then a subversive pattern emerges which changes the entire book. In this case, the translator is a writer per se who decides what goes in and out of the book, how the style is to be ciphered and what elements of ideology are to be highlighted. Figurative language must not be flattened for the sake of clarity or naturalness. The missing figurative elements make the translated text less interesting, less challenging and less vivid which reflects poorly on the writer. There is a close connection between style and the writer’s person. If the writer’s style is very much changed in a translation, the translation is useless as the original writer and his / her imaginative world can no longer be discovered. Then, a different writer appears and his / her creation surfaces. Changing meaning considered as a “negative shift” in translation defines one of the faulty transformative codes used by some translators. It is a dangerous tool which leads to adaptations that sometimes reflect the original less than the reader would wish to. It contradicts the very essence of the process of translation which is that of making a work available in a foreign language. Employing speculative aesthetics at the level of a text indicates the wish to create manipulative or subversive effects in the translated work. This is generally achieved by adding new words or connotations, creating new figures of speech or using explicitations. The irradiation patterns of the original work are neglected and the translator creates new meanings, implications, emphases and contexts. Again s/he turns into a new author who enjoys the freedom of expressing his / her ideas without the constraints of the original text. The stimulus meaning of a text is very important for a translator which is why reading against the grain is unadvisable during the process of translation. By paying attention to the waves of the SL input, a faithful literary work is produced which does not contradict general knowledge about foreign cultures and civilizations. Following personal common sense is essential in the field of translation as well as everywhere else.

Keywords: stimulus meaning, substance of expression, transformative code, translation

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Authors: M. S. Sarkar, J. A. Johnson, S. Sen, G. K. Saha, K. Ramesh

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There is growing recognition of several important roles played by tigers for maintaining sustainable biodiversity at diverse ecosystems in South and South-East Asia. Only <3200 individuals are left in the wild because of poaching and habitat loss. Thus, restoring wild population is an emerging as well as important conservation initiative, but such efforts still remain challenging due to their elusive and solitary behavior. After careful translocation of few individuals, how reintroduced individuals colonize into suitable habitat and achieve stable stage population through reproduction is vital information for forest managers and policy makers of its 13 distribution range countries. Four wild and two captive radio collared tigers were reintroduced at Panna Tiger Reserve, Madhya-pradesh, India during 2009-2014. We critically examined their settlement behavior and population growth over the period. Results from long term telemetry data showed that male explored larger areas rapidly in short time span, while females explored small area in long time period and with significant high rate of movement in both sexes during exploratory period. Significant difference in home range sizes of tigers were observed in exploratory and settlement period. Though all reintroduced tigers preferred densely vegetated undisturbed forest patches within the core area of tiger reserve, a niche based k select analysis showed that individual variation in habitat selection was prominent among reintroduced tigers. Total 18 litter of >42 known cubs were born with low mortality rate, high maternity rate, high observed growth rate and short generation time in both the sexes. The population achieved its carrying capacity in a very short time span, marking success of this current tiger conservation programme. Our study information could provide significant insights on the tiger biology of translocated tigers with implication for future conservation strategies that consider translocation based recovery in their range countries.

Keywords: reintroduction, tiger, home range, demography

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Authors: Ying Jia Teoh

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The Canning Basin is located between the Kimberley and Pilbara Precambrian cratonic blocks. It is a large but relatively poorly explored Paleozoic basin in remote Western Australia. During the early Ordovician period, the Australian continent was located near the equator. Middle Ordovician age Nita and Goldwyer Formations in Canning Basin are therefore warm water carbonates. The Nita Formation carbonates are a regressive sequence which conformably overlies the Goldwyer Formation. It contains numerous progradational cycles of limestone, vuggy dolomitized carbonate beds and shale deposited in subtidal to supratidal environments. The Goldwyer Formation contains transgressive shale sequences and regressive carbonates deposited in shallow subtidal conditions. The shales contain oil-prone Gloeocapsormorpha prisca-bearing source rocks. Llanvirnian relative sea-level fluctuations were reconstructed by using Fischer plots methodology for three key wells (wells McLarty 1, Looma 1 and Robert 1) in Broome Platform and compared with INPEFA data. The Goldwyer lower shale (interval Or1000P) shows increasing relative sea-level and this matches with a transgressive systems tract. Goldwyer middle carbonate (interval Or2000) shows relative sea-level drop and this matches with a regressive systems tract. Goldwyer upper shale (interval Or2000P) shows relative sea-level drop and this matches with a transgressive systems tract. Nita Formation Leo Member (interval Or3000) shows a relative sea level drop and this matches with a regressive systems tract. The Nita Formation Cudalgarra Member (intervals Or3000P and Or4000) with transgressive systems tract then this is followed by a regressive systems tract. This pattern matches with the relative sea-level curves in wells McLarty 1 and Robert 1. The correlation is weak for parts of well Looma 1. This is probably influenced by the fact that the thickness of this section is quite small. As a conclusion, Fischer plots for the Llanvirnian Goldwyer and Nita Formations show good agreement with the third order global sea level cycles of Haq and others. Fischer plots are generally correlated well with trend and cyclicity determined by INPEFA curves and as a method of cross-checking INPEFA data and sea-level change.

Keywords: canning basin, Fischer plots, Llanvirnian, middle Ordovician, sea-level fluctuations, stratigraphy

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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: Thavananthan Sivananthawerl

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Shifting cultivation (Chena, Slash & Burn) is a cultivation method of raising, primarily, food crops (mainly annual) where an area of land is cleared off for its vegetation and cultivated for a period, and the abandoned (fallow) for its fertility to be naturally restored. Although this is the oldest (more than 5000 years) farming system, it is still practiced by indigenous communities of several countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, West & Central Africa, and Amazon rainforest area. In Sri Lanka, shifting cultivation is mainly practiced during the North-East monsoon (called as Maha season, from Sept. to Dec.) with no irrigation. The traditional system allows farmers to cultivate for a short period of cultivation and a long period fallow period. This was facilitated mainly by the availability of land with less population. In addition, in the old system, cultivation practices were mostly related to religious and spiritual practices (Astrology, dynamic farming, etc.). At present, the majority of the shifting cultivators (SC’s) are cultivating in government lands, and most of them are adopting new technology (seeds, agrochemicals, machineries). Due to the local demand, almost 70% of the SC’s growing maize is mono-crop, and the rest with mixed-crop, such as groundnut, cowpea, millet, and vegetables. To ensure continuous cultivation and reduce moisture stress, they established ‘dug wells’ and used pumps to lift water from nearby sources. Due to this, the fallow period has been reduced drastically to 1- 2 years. To have the future prosperous of system, farmers should be educated so that they can understand the harmful effects of shifting cultivation and require new policies and a framework for converting the land use pattern towards high economic returns (new crop varieties, maintaining soil fertility, reducing soil erosion) while protecting the natural forests. The practice of agroforestry should be encouraged in which both the crops and the tall trees are cared for by farmers simultaneously. To facilitate the continuous cultivation, the system needs to develop water harvesting, water-conserving technologies, and scientific water management for the limited rainy season. Even though several options are available, all the solutions vary from region to region. Therefore, it is only the government and cultivators together who can find solutions to the problems of the specific areas.

Keywords: shifting cultivation, agroforestry, fallow, economic returns, government, Sri Lanka

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Authors: A. F. Momin, D. V. Khakhar

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Granular materials consist of particulate particles found in nature and various industries that, due to gravity flow, behave macroscopically like liquids. A fundamental industrial unit operation is a hopper with inclined walls or a converging channel in which material flows downward under gravity and exits the storage bin through the bottom outlet. The simplest form of the flow corresponds to a wedge-shaped, quasi-two-dimensional geometry with smooth walls and radially directed gravitational force toward the apex of the wedge. These flows were examined using the Mohr-Coulomb criterion in the classic work of Savage (1965), while Ravi Prakash and Rao used the critical state theory (1988). The smooth-wall radial gravity (SWRG) wedge-shaped hopper is simulated using the discrete element method (DEM) to test existing theories. DEM simulations involve the solution of Newton's equations, taking particle-particle interactions into account to compute stress and velocity fields for the flow in the SWRG system. Our computational results are consistent with the predictions of Savage (1965) and Ravi Prakash and Rao (1988), except for the region near the exit, where both viscous and frictional effects are present. To further comprehend this behaviour, a parametric analysis is carried out to analyze the rheology of wedge-shaped hoppers by varying the orifice diameter, wedge angle, friction coefficient, and stiffness. The conclusion is that velocity increases as the flow rate increases but decreases as the wedge angle and friction coefficient increase. We observed no substantial changes in velocity due to varying stiffness. It is anticipated that stresses at the exit result from the transfer of momentum during particle collisions; for this reason, relationships between viscosity and shear rate are shown, and all data are collapsed into a single curve. In addition, it is demonstrated that viscosity and volume fraction exhibit power law correlations with the inertial number and that all the data collapse into a single curve. A continuum model for determining granular flows is presented using empirical correlations.

Keywords: discrete element method, gravity flow, smooth-wall, wedge-shaped hoppers

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Authors: Betul Altinok

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The aim of this study is researching servant leadership behaviors of sports managers. For this purpose, Servant Leadership behaviors of Sport Managers (N=69) working as Dean, School Principal and Head of Department in Sport Sciences Faculties, Physical Education and Sport Schools and Departments educating Physical Education and Sport investigated via questionnaires applied to academicians (N=1185) working in these institutions. Servant Leadership Questionnaire sent via e-mail to all Academicians working in Physical Education and Sport educating Faculties, Schools of Universities and Departments in Turkey. 406 survey which is responded and accurately completed by Academicians were evaluated. In this study, Servant Leadership Questionnaire developed and conducted validity and reliability analysis by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) used to investigate sports managers servant leadership behaviors. Scale translated into Turkish then validity and reliability analysis were conducted. After measurement model of servant leadership questionnaire verified, Shapiro Wilk normality test was applied to obtained data to determine whether has got a normal distribution or not, depending on gender, job title, profession time, department and evaluated manager. Results of practiced normality test showed that data has not got a normal distribution (nonparametric). After normality test, Mann Whitney-U test applied at 0.05 value for determining whether there is a difference between servant leadership scores according to gender and Kruskal Wallis Test applied at 0.05 value for determining whether there is a difference between servant leadership scores according to job title, profession time, department and evaluated manager. Test results showed that there were not differences between Altruistic Calling (p>0.05), Emotional Healing (p>0.05), Wisdom (p>0.05), Persuasive Mapping (p>0.05) and (p>0.05), Organizational Stewardship sub-dimensions according to gender. Test results showed that there were not differences between Altruistic Calling (p>0.05), Emotional Healing (p>0.05), Wisdom (p>0.05), Persuasive Mapping (p>0.05) and (p>0.05), Organizational Stewardship sub-dimensions according to job title, profession time, department and evaluated manager. In the light of study results, it can be said that applied survey is objective and unfurls evaluated managers servant leadership behaviors. Empirical and practical contribution of this study is to test sports managers servant leadership behaviors in Turkey for the very first time.

Keywords: academicians, management, servant leadership, sport

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Authors: Byeongcheol Kang, Junyi Kim, Hyungsik Jung, Hyungjun Yang, Jaewoo An, Jonggeun Choe

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It is important to figure out reservoir properties for better production management. Due to the limited information, there are geological uncertainties on very heterogeneous or channel reservoir. One of the solutions is to generate multiple equi-probable realizations using geostatistical methods. However, some models have wrong properties, which need to be excluded for simulation efficiency and reliability. We propose a novel method of model selection scheme, based on distance-based clustering for reliable application of production optimization algorithm. Distance is defined as a degree of dissimilarity between the data. We calculate Hausdorff distance to classify the models based on their similarity. Hausdorff distance is useful for shape matching of the reservoir models. We use multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) to describe the models on two dimensional space and group them by K-means clustering. Rather than simulating all models, we choose one representative model from each cluster and find out the best model, which has the similar production rates with the true values. From the process, we can select good reservoir models near the best model with high confidence. We make 100 channel reservoir models using single normal equation simulation (SNESIM). Since oil and gas prefer to flow through the sand facies, it is critical to characterize pattern and connectivity of the channels in the reservoir. After calculating Hausdorff distances and projecting the models by MDS, we can see that the models assemble depending on their channel patterns. These channel distributions affect operation controls of each production well so that the model selection scheme improves management optimization process. We use one of useful global search algorithms, particle swarm optimization (PSO), for our production optimization. PSO is good to find global optimum of objective function, but it takes too much time due to its usage of many particles and iterations. In addition, if we use multiple reservoir models, the simulation time for PSO will be soared. By using the proposed method, we can select good and reliable models that already matches production data. Considering geological uncertainty of the reservoir, we can get well-optimized production controls for maximum net present value. The proposed method shows one of novel solutions to select good cases among the various probabilities. The model selection schemes can be applied to not only production optimization but also history matching or other ensemble-based methods for efficient simulations.

Keywords: distance-based clustering, geological uncertainty, particle swarm optimization (PSO), production optimization

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Authors: Yegnanew A. Shiferaw

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Background: commodity price volatility originating from excessive commodity price fluctuation has been a global problem especially after the recent financial crises. Volatility is a measure of risk or uncertainty in financial analysis. It plays a vital role in risk management, portfolio management, and pricing equity. Objectives: the core objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between the prices of agricultural commodities with oil price, gas price, coal price and exchange rate (USD/Rand). In addition, the paper tries to fit an appropriate model that best describes the log return price volatility and estimate Value-at-Risk and expected shortfall. Data and methods: the data used in this study are the daily returns of agricultural commodity prices from 02 January 2007 to 31st October 2016. The data sets consists of the daily returns of agricultural commodity prices namely: white maize, yellow maize, wheat, sunflower, soya, corn, and sorghum. The paper applies the three-state Markov-switching (MS) regression, the standard single-regime GARCH and the two regime Markov-switching GARCH (MS-GARCH) models. Results: to choose the best fit model, the log-likelihood function, Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and deviance information criterion (DIC) are employed under three distributions for innovations. The results indicate that: (i) the price of agricultural commodities was found to be significantly associated with the price of coal, price of natural gas, price of oil and exchange rate, (ii) for all agricultural commodities except sunflower, k=3 had higher log-likelihood values and lower AIC and BIC values. Thus, the three-state MS regression model outperformed the two-state MS regression model (iii) MS-GARCH(1,1) with generalized error distribution (ged) innovation performs best for white maize and yellow maize; MS-GARCH(1,1) with student-t distribution (std) innovation performs better for sorghum; MS-gjrGARCH(1,1) with ged innovation performs better for wheat, sunflower and soya and MS-GARCH(1,1) with std innovation performs better for corn. In conclusion, this paper provided a practical guide for modelling agricultural commodity prices by MS regression and MS-GARCH processes. This paper can be good as a reference when facing modelling agricultural commodity price problems.

Keywords: commodity prices, MS-GARCH model, MS regression model, South Africa, volatility

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Authors: Nji Queenta Ngum, Mwanza Mulunda

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Introduction Most African research reports on the frequent aflatoxin contamination of various foodstuffs, with researchers rarely specifying which of the Aspergillus species are present in these commodities. Numerous research works provide evidence of the ability of fungi to grow, thrive, and interact with other crop species and focus on the fact that these processes are largely affected by climatic variables. South Africa is a water-stressed country with high spatio-temporal rainfall variability; moreover, temperatures have been projected to rise at a rate twice the global rate. This weather pattern change may lead to crop stress encouraging mold contamination with subsequent mycotoxin production. In this study, the biodiversity and distribution of Aspergillus species with their corresponding toxins in maize from six distinct maize producing regions with different weather patterns in South Africa were investigated. Materials And Methods By applying cultural and molecular methods, a total of 1028 maize samples from six distinct agro-climatic regions were examined for contamination by the Aspergillus species while the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was applied to analyse the level of contamination by aflatoxins. Results About 30% of the overall maize samples were contaminated by at least one Aspergillus species. Less than 30% (28.95%) of the 228 isolates subjected to the aflatoxigenic test was found to possess at least one of the aflatoxin biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, almost 20% were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins, with mean total aflatoxin concentration levels of 64.17 ppb. Amongst the contaminated samples, 59.02% had mean total aflatoxin concentration levels above the SA regulatory limit of 20ppb for animals and 10 for human consumption. Conclusion In this study, climate variables (rainfall reduction) were found to significantly (p<0.001) influence the occurrence of the Aspergillus species (especially Aspergillus fumigatus) and the production of aflatoxin in South Africa commercial maize by maize variety, year of cultivation as well as the agro-climatic region in which the maize is cultivated. This included, amongst others, a reduction in the average annual rainfall of the preceding year to about 21.27 mm, and, as opposed to other regions whose average maximum rainfall ranged between 37.24 – 44.1 mm, resulted in a significant increase in the aflatoxin contamination of maize.

Keywords: aspergillus species, aflatoxins, diversity, drought, food safety, HPLC and PCR techniques

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Authors: Emine Zeytinli

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Ottoman carpets were depicted in Renaissance painting while they were exported commercially. The carpets were highly demanded and used by the middle and upper classes of Western European countries. The motifs, designs, patterns, and ornamentation of these carpets were decorative objects of luxury for Western European residences as well as paintings. Oriental carpets found their way into European market already from the medieval times to the present century. They were considered as luxury items first, however, demanded by middle classes in Europe and North America within the nineteenth century. This century brought unprecedented changes in production and consumption in the world. Expanding industries created quick urbanization, changed the city life and new types of goods dominated the entire century. Increases in income allowed Europeans to spend on luxury items, consumers taste changed in number of ways including furniture and decoration. Use of a carpet in the orient lifestyle often considered as an art object with Western aesthetic sensibility. A carpet with an oriental character, an essential part of home decoration, was highly appreciated for floor, table covering and wall hanging. Turkish carpets with distinctive classical style, patterns, and colours were changed for the tastes of European consumers. This paper attempts to analyse how the taste and preferences of European and American consumers increased their buying of oriental objects namely carpets. The production of local hand woven carpet industry developed, carpet factories were set up and special weaving schools were opened in some major waving centres, and carpet weaving became one of the main manufacturing and export commodity of the empire. All of these attempts increased the reputation and market share in international market. The industry flourished, commercially operated carpet looms, sales revenues and export increased unprecedentedly. British and Ottoman archival documents, parliamentary papers and travel notes were used to analysed above mention effect on how the foreign demand changed designs of carpets and the business itself, how the production in households moved to the commercial premises and a flourished the industry.

Keywords: consumption patterns, carpet weaving, ottoman oriental carpets, commercialisation

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Authors: Asrat Agalu Abejew

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Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a silent tsunami and one of the top global threats to health care and public health. It is one of the common agendas globally and in Ethiopia. Emerging AMR will be a double burden to Ethiopia, which is facing a series of problems from infectious disease morbidity and mortality. In Ethiopia, although there are attempts to document AMR in healthcare institutions, comprehensive and all-inclusive analysis is still lacking. Thus, this study is aimed to determine trends in AMR from 2016-2021. Methods: A retrospective analysis of secondary data recorded in the Amhara Public Health Institute (APHI) from 2016 to 2021 G.C was conducted. Blood, Urine, Stool, Swabs, Discharge, body effusions, and other Microbiological specimens were collected from each study participants, and Bacteria identification and Resistance tests were done using the standard microbiologic procedure. Data was extracted from excel in August 2022, Trends in AMR were analyzed, and the results were described. In addition, the chi-square (X2) test and binary logistic regression were used, and a P. value < 0.05 was used to determine a significant association. Results: During 6 years period, there were 25143 culture and susceptibility tests. Overall, 265 (46.2%) bacteria were resistant to 2-4 antibiotics, 253 (44.2%) to 5-7 antibiotics, and 56 (9.7%) to >=8 antibiotics. The gram-negative bacteria were 166 (43.9%), 155 (41.5%), and 55 (14.6%) resistant to 2-4, 5-7, and ≥8 antibiotics, respectively, whereas 99(50.8%), 96(49.2% and 1 (0.5%) of gram-positive bacteria were resistant to 2-4, 5-7 and ≥8 antibiotics respectively. K. pneumonia 3783 (15.67%) and E. coli 3199 (13.25%) were the most commonly isolated bacteria, and the overall prevalence of AMR was 2605 (59.9%), where K. pneumonia 743 (80.24%), E. cloacae 196 (74.81%), A. baumannii 213 (66.56%) being the most common resistant bacteria for antibiotics tested. Except for a slight decline during 2020 (6469 (25.4%)), the overall trend of AMR is rising from year to year, with a peak in 2019 (8480 (33.7%)) and in 2021 (7508 (29.9%). If left un-intervened, the trend in AMR will increase by 78% of variation from the study period, as explained by the differences in years (R2=0.7799). Ampicillin, Augmentin, ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline, and Tobramycin were almost resistant to common bacteria they were tested. Conclusion: AMR is linearly increasing during the last 6 years. If left as it is without appropriate intervention after 15 years (2030 E.C), AMR will increase by 338.7%. A growing number of multi-drug resistant bacteria is an alarm to awake policymakers and those who do have the concern to intervene before it is too late. This calls for a periodic, integrated, and continuous system to determine the prevalence of AMR in commonly used antibiotics.

Keywords: AMR, trend, pattern, MDR

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Authors: Ravi Inder Singh

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Due to high heat transfer rate, high carbon utilizing efficiency, fuel flexibilities and other advantages numerous circulating fluidized bed boilers have grown up in India in last decade. Many companies like BHEL, ISGEC, Thermax, Cethar Limited, Enmas GB Power Systems Projects Limited are making CFBC and installing the units throughout the India. Due to complexity many problems exists in CFBC units and only few have been reported. Agglomeration i.e clinker formation in riser, loop seal leg and stripper ash coolers is one of problem industry is facing. Proper documentation is rarely found in the literature. Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler bottom ash contains large amounts of physical heat. While the boiler combusts the low-calorie fuel, the ash content is normally more than 40% and the physical heat loss is approximately 3% if the bottom ash is discharged without cooling. In addition, the red-hot bottom ash is bad for mechanized handling and transportation, as the upper limit temperature of the ash handling machinery is 200 °C. Therefore, a bottom ash cooler (BAC) is often used to treat the high temperature bottom ash to reclaim heat, and to have the ash easily handled and transported. As a key auxiliary device of CFB boilers, the BAC has a direct influence on the secure and economic operation of the boiler. There are many kinds of BACs equipped for large-scale CFB boilers with the continuous development and improvement of the CFB boiler. These ash coolers are water cooled ash cooling screw, rolling-cylinder ash cooler (RAC), fluidized bed ash cooler (FBAC).In this study prototype of a novel stripper ash cooler is studied. The Circulating Fluidized bed Ash Coolers (CFBAC) combined the major technical features of spouted bed and bubbling bed, and could achieve the selective discharge on the bottom ash. The novel stripper ash cooler is bubbling bed and it is visible cold test rig. The reason for choosing cold test is that high temperature is difficult to maintain and create in laboratory level. The aim of study to know the flow pattern inside the stripper ash cooler. The cold rig prototype is similar to stripper ash cooler used industry and it was made after scaling down to some parameter. The performance of a fluidized bed ash cooler is studied using a cold experiment bench. The air flow rate, particle size of the solids and air distributor type are considered to be the key parameters of the operation of a fluidized bed ash cooler (FBAC) are studied in this.

Keywords: CFD, Eulerian-Eulerian, Eulerian-Lagraingian model, parallel simulations

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Authors: Mehdi Damaliamiri

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Undoubtedly, the power of language is hardly a new topic; indeed, the persuasive power of language accompanied by ideology has long been recognized in different aspects of life. The two and a half thousand-year-old Bisitun inscriptions in Iran, proclaiming the victories of the Persian King, Darius, are considered by some historians to have been an early example of the use of propaganda. Added to this, the modern age is the true cradle of fully-fledged ideologies and the ongoing process of centrifugal ideologization. The most visible work on ideology today within the field of linguistics is “Critical Discourse Analysis” (CDA). The focus of CDA is on “uncovering injustice, inequality, taking sides with the powerless and suppressed” and making “mechanisms of manipulation, discrimination, demagogy, and propaganda explicit and transparent.” possible way of relating language to ideology is to propose that ideology and language are inextricably intertwined. From this perspective, language is always ideological, and ideology depends on the language. All language use involves ideology, and so ideology is ubiquitous – in our everyday encounters, as much as in the business of the struggle for power within and between the nation-states and social statuses. At the same time, ideology requires language. Its key characteristics – its power and pervasiveness, its mechanisms for continuity and for change – all come out of the inner organization of language. The two phenomena are homologous: they share the same evolutionary trajectory. To get a more robust portrait of the power and ideology, we need to examine its potential place in the structure, and consider how such structures pattern in terms of the functional elements which organize meanings in the clause. This is based on the belief that all grammatical, including syntactic, knowledge is stored mentally as constructions have become immensely popular. When the structure of the clause is taken into account, the power and ideology have a preference for Complement over Subject and Adjunct. The subject is a central interpersonal element in discourse: it is one of two elements that form the central interactive nub of a proposition. Conceptually, there are countless ways of construing a given event and linguistically, a variety of grammatical devices that are usually available as alternate means of coding a given conception, such as political crime and corruption. In the theory of construal, then, which, like transitivity in Halliday, makes options available, Cognitive Linguistics can offer a cognitive account of ideology in language, where ideology is made possible by the choices a language allows for representing the same material situation in different ways. The possibility of promoting alternative construals of the same reality means that any particular choice in representation is always ideologically constrained or motivated and indicates the perspective and interests of the text-producer.

Keywords: power, ideology, court, discourse

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Authors: Yu-Chen Wei

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The relationship between organizational human capital and organizational effectiveness have been a common topic of interest to organization researchers. Much of this research has concluded that higher human capital can predict greater organizational outcomes. Whereas human capital research has traditionally focused on organizations, the current study turns to the team level human capital. In addition, there are no known empirical studies assessing the effect of human capital divergence on team performance. Team human capital refers to the sum of knowledge, ability, and experience embedded in team members. Team human capital divergence is defined as the variation of human capital within a team. This study is among the first to assess the role of human capital divergence as a moderator of the effect of team human capital on team performance. From the traditional perspective, team human capital represents the collective ability to solve problems and reducing operational risk of all team members. Hence, the higher team human capital, the higher the team performance. This study further employs social learning theory to explain the relationship between team human capital and team performance. According to this theory, the individuals will look for progress by way of learning from teammates in their teams. They expect to have upper human capital, in turn, to achieve high productivity, obtain great rewards and career success eventually. Therefore, the individual can have more chances to improve his or her capability by learning from peers of the team if the team members have higher average human capital. As a consequence, all team members can develop a quick and effective learning path in their work environment, and in turn enhance their knowledge, skill, and experience, leads to higher team performance. This is the first argument of this study. Furthermore, the current study argues that human capital divergence is negative to a team development. For the individuals with lower human capital in the team, they always feel the pressure from their outstanding colleagues. Under the pressure, they cannot give full play to their own jobs and lose more and more confidence. For the smart guys in the team, they are reluctant to be colleagues with the teammates who are not as intelligent as them. Besides, they may have lower motivation to move forward because they are prominent enough compared with their teammates. Therefore, human capital divergence will moderate the relationship between team human capital and team performance. These two arguments were tested in 510 team-seasons drawn from major league baseball (1998–2014). Results demonstrate that there is a positive relationship between team human capital and team performance which is consistent with previous research. In addition, the variation of human capital within a team weakens the above relationships. That is to say, an individual working with teammates who are comparable to them can produce better performance than working with people who are either too smart or too stupid to them.

Keywords: human capital divergence, team human capital, team performance, team level research

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Authors: Hoda Rahmani, Gary Weckman

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The body of research examining the integration of drones into various industries is expanding rapidly. Despite progress made in addressing the cybersecurity concerns for commercial drones, knowledge deficits remain in determining potential occupational hazards and risks of drone use to employees’ well-being and health in the workplace. This creates difficulty in identifying key approaches to risk mitigation strategies and thus reflects the need for raising awareness among employers, safety professionals, and policymakers about workplace drone-related accidents. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of and possible risk factors for drone-related mishaps by comparing the application of drones in construction with manufacturing industries. The chief reason for considering these specific sectors is to ascertain whether there exists any significant difference between indoor and outdoor flights since most construction sites use drones outside and vice versa. Therefore, the current research seeks to examine the causes and patterns of workplace drone-related mishaps and suggest possible ergonomic interventions through data collection. Potential ergonomic practices to mitigate hazards associated with flying drones could include providing operators with professional pieces of training, conducting a risk analysis, and promoting the use of personal protective equipment. For the purpose of data analysis, two data mining techniques, the random forest and association rule mining algorithms, will be performed to find meaningful associations and trends in data as well as influential features that have an impact on the occurrence of drone-related accidents in construction and manufacturing sectors. In addition, Spearman’s correlation and chi-square tests will be used to measure the possible correlation between different variables. Indeed, by recognizing risks and hazards, occupational safety stakeholders will be able to pursue data-driven and evidence-based policy change with the aim of reducing drone mishaps, increasing productivity, creating a safer work environment, and extending human performance in safe and fulfilling ways. This research study was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health through the Pilot Research Project Training Program of the University of Cincinnati Education and Research Center Grant #T42OH008432.

Keywords: commercial drones, ergonomic interventions, occupational safety, pattern recognition

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Authors: H. Minor-Pérez, A. M. Mota-Silva, S. Ortiz-Barrios

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Substances of vegetable origin with antioxidant capacity have a high potential for application on the conservation of some foods, can prevent or reduce for example oxidation of lipids. However a food is a complex system whose wide variety of components wich can reduce or eliminate this antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant activity can be determined with the ABTS technique. The radical ABTS+ is generated from the acid 2, 2´ - Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS). This radical is a composite color bluish-green, stable and with a spectrum of absorption into the UV-visible. The addition of antioxidants causes discoloration, value that can be reported as a percentage of inhibition of the cation radical ABTS+. The objective of this study was evaluated the effect of the combination of the pH and the essential oil of cinnamon (EOC) on inhibition of the radical ABTS+, using statistical design of central point (Design Expert) to obtain mathematical models that describe this phenomenon. Were evaluated 17 treatments with combinations of pH 5, 6 and 7 (citrate-phosphate buffer) and the concentration of essential oil of cinnamon (C): 0 µg/mL, 100 µg/mL and 200 µg/mL. The samples were analyzed using the ABTS technique. The reagent was dissolved in methanol 80% to standardized the absorbance to 0.7 +/- 0.1 at 754 nm. Then samples were mixed with reagent standardized ABTS and after 1 min and 7 min absorbance was read for each treatment at 754 nm. Was used a curve pattern with vitamin C and reported the values as inhibition (%) of radical ABTS+. The statistical analysis shows the experimental results were adjusted to a quadratic model, to the times of 1 min and 7 min. This model describes the influence of the factors investigated independently: pH and cinnamon essential oil (µg/mL) and the effect of the interaction between pH*C, as well as the square of the pH2 and C2. The model obtained was Y = 10.33684 - 3.98118*pH + 1.17031*C + 0.62745*pH2 - 3.26675*10-3*C2 - 0.013112*pH*C, where Y is the response variable. The coefficient of determination was 0.9949 for 1 min. The equation was obtained at 7 min and = - 10.89710 + 1.52341*pH + 1.32892*C + 0.47953*pH2 - 3.56605*10- *C2 - 0.034687*pH*C. The coefficient of determination was 0.9970. This means that only 1% of the total variation is not explained by the developed models. At 100 µg/mL of EOC was obtained an inhibition percentage of 80%, 84% and 97% for the pH values of 5,6 and 7 respectively, while a value of 200 µg/mL the inhibition (%) was very similar for the treatments. In these values of pH was obtained an inhibition close 97%. In conclusion the pH does not have a significant effect on the antioxidant capacity, while the concentration of EOC was decisive for the antioxidant capacity. The authors acknowledge the funding provided by the CONACYT for the project 131998.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, ABTS technique, essential oil of cinnamon, mathematical models

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Authors: Siti Hajar Muhamad Rosli, Xin Yi Lim, Terence Yew Chin Tan, Muhammad nor Farhan Sa’At, Syazwani Sirdar Ali, Ami Fazlin Syed Mohamed

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A growing interest on therapeutic benefits of hemp (Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa) is evident in the pharmaceutical market, attributed to its lower levels of psychoactive constituent delta-9-tetrahydronannabidiol (THC). Deemed as a legal and safer alternative to its counterpart marijuana, the use of medicinal hemp is highly debatable as current scientific evidence on the efficacy for clinical use is yet to be established This study was aimed to provide an overview of the current landscape of hemp research, through recent clinical findings specific to the pharmacological properties of the hemp plant and its derived compounds. A systematic search was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis-ScR (PRISMA) checklist on electronic databases (MEDLINE, OVID, Cochrane Library Central, and Clinicaltrials.gov) for articles published from 2009 to 2019. With predetermined inclusion criteria, all human trials with hemp intervention were included. A total of 18 human trials were identified, investigating therapeutic effects on the neuronal, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and immune system, with sample sizes ranging from one to 194 subjects. Three randomised controlled trials showed hempseed pills (in Traditional Chinese Medicine formulation MaZiRenWan) consumption significantly improved spontaneous bowel movement in functional constipation. The use of commercial cannabidiol (CBD) sourced from hemp suggested benefits in cannabis dependence, epilepsy, and anxiety disorders. However, there was insufficient evidence to suggest analgesic or anxiolytics effects of hemp being equivalent to marijuana. All clinical trials reviewed varied in terms of test item formulation and standardisation, which made it challenging to confirm overall efficacy for a specific disease or condition. Published efficacy data on hemp are still at a preliminary level, with limited high quality clinical evidence for any specific therapeutic indication. With multiple variants of this plant having different phytochemical and bioactive compounds, future empirical research should focus on uniformity in experimental designs to further strengthen the notion of using medicinal hemp.

Keywords: cannabis, complementary medicine, hemp, herbal medicine.

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Stefan Ninković

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The main purpose of this paper is to examine the different theoretical approaches and relevant empirical evidence and thus, recognize some of the most pressing challenges faced by school leaders. This paper starts from the fact that the new mission of the school is characterized by the need for stronger coordination among students' academic, social and emotional learning. In this sense, school leaders need to focus their commitment, vision and leadership on the issues of students' attitudes, language, cultural and social background, and sexual orientation. More specifically, they should know what a good teaching is for student’s at-risk, students whose first language is not dominant in school, those who’s learning styles are not in accordance with usual teaching styles, or who are stigmatized. There is a rather wide consensus around the fact that the traditionally popular concept of instructional leadership of the school principal is no longer sufficient. However, in a number of "pro-leadership" circles, including certain groups of academic researchers, consultants and practitioners, there is an established tendency of attributing school principal an extraordinary influence towards school achievements. On the other hand, the situation in which all employees in the school are leaders is a utopia par excellence. Although leadership obviously can be efficiently distributed across the school, there are few findings that speak about sources of this distribution and factors making it sustainable. Another idea that is not particularly new, but has only recently gained in importance is related to the fact that the collective capacity of the school is an important resource that often remains under-cultivated. To understand the nature and power of collaborative school cultures, it is necessary to know that these operate in a way that they make their all collective members' tacit knowledge explicit. In this sense, the question is how leaders in schools can shape collaborative culture and create social capital in the school. Pressure exerted on schools to systematically collect and use the data has been accompanied by the need for school leaders to develop new competencies. The role of school leaders is critical in the process of assessing what data are needed and for what purpose. Different types of data are important: test results, data on student’s absenteeism, satisfaction with school, teacher motivation, etc. One of the most important tasks of school leaders are data-driven decision making as well as ensuring transparency of the decision-making process. Finally, the question arises whether the existing models of school leadership are compatible with the current social and economic trends. It is necessary to examine whether and under what conditions schools are in need for forms of leadership that are different from those that currently prevail. Closely related to this issue is also to analyze the adequacy of different approaches to leadership development in the school.

Keywords: educational changes, leaders, leadership, school

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Authors: Kulin Dave, Kapil Mohan

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Earthquakes are considered to be the most destructive rapid-onset disasters human beings are exposed to. The amount of loss it brings in is sufficient to take careful considerations for designing of structures and facilities. Seismic Hazard Analysis is one such tool which can be used for earthquake resistant design. Ground Response Analysis is one of the most crucial and decisive steps for seismic hazard analysis. Rapar district of Kutch, Gujarat falls in Zone 5 of earthquake zone map of India and thus has high seismicity because of which it is selected for analysis. In total 8 bore-log data were studied at different locations in and around Rapar district. Different soil engineering properties were analyzed and relevant empirical correlations were used to calculate maximum shear modulus (Gmax) and shear wave velocity (Vs) for the soil layers. The soil was modeled using Pressure-Dependent Modified Kodner Zelasko (MKZ) model and the reference curve used for fitting was Seed and Idriss (1970) for sand and Darendeli (2001) for clay. Both Equivalent linear (EL), as well as Non-linear (NL) ground response analysis, has been carried out with Masing Hysteretic Re/Unloading formulation for comparison. Commercially available DEEPSOIL v. 7.0 software is used for this analysis. In this study an attempt is made to quantify ground response regarding generated acceleration time-history at top of the soil column, Response spectra calculation at 5 % damping and Fourier amplitude spectrum calculation. Moreover, the variation of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), Maximum Displacement, Maximum Strain (in %), Maximum Stress Ratio, Mobilized Shear Stress with depth is also calculated. From the study, PGA values estimated in rocky strata are nearly same as bedrock motion and marginal amplification is observed in sandy silt and silty clays by both analyses. The NL analysis gives conservative results of maximum displacement as compared to EL analysis. Maximum strain predicted by both studies is very close to each other. And overall NL analysis is more efficient and realistic because it follows the actual hyperbolic stress-strain relationship, considers stiffness degradation and mobilizes stresses generated due to pore water pressure.

Keywords: DEEPSOIL v 7.0, ground response analysis, pressure-dependent modified Kodner Zelasko model, MKZ model, response spectra, shear wave velocity

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Authors: A. Shaygani, R. Saifi, M. S. Saidi, M. Sani

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Particle size distribution, the most important characteristics of aerosols, is obtained through electrical characterization techniques. The dynamics of charged nano-particles under the influence of electric field in electrical mobility spectrometer (EMS) reveals the size distribution of these particles. The accuracy of this measurement is influenced by flow conditions, geometry, electric field and particle charging process, therefore by the transfer function (transfer matrix) of the instrument. In this work, a wire-cylinder corona charger was designed and the combined field-diffusion charging process of injected poly-disperse aerosol particles was numerically simulated as a prerequisite for the study of a multi-channel EMS. The result, a cloud of particles with non-uniform charge distribution, was introduced to the EMS. The flow pattern and electric field in the EMS were simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to obtain particle trajectories in the device and therefore to calculate the reported signal by each electrometer. According to the output signals (resulted from bombardment of particles and transferring their charges as currents), we proposed a modification to the size of detecting rings (which are connected to electrometers) in order to evaluate particle size distributions more accurately. Based on the capability of the system to transfer information contents about size distribution of the injected particles, we proposed a benchmark for the assessment of optimality of the design. This method applies the concept of Von Neumann entropy and borrows the definition of entropy from information theory (Shannon entropy) to measure optimality. Entropy, according to the Shannon entropy, is the ''average amount of information contained in an event, sample or character extracted from a data stream''. Evaluating the responses (signals) which were obtained via various configurations of detecting rings, the best configuration which gave the best predictions about the size distributions of injected particles, was the modified configuration. It was also the one that had the maximum amount of entropy. A reasonable consistency was also observed between the accuracy of the predictions and the entropy content of each configuration. In this method, entropy is extracted from the transfer matrix of the instrument for each configuration. Ultimately, various clouds of particles were introduced to the simulations and predicted size distributions were compared to the exact size distributions.

Keywords: aerosol nano-particle, CFD, electrical mobility spectrometer, von neumann entropy

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Authors: Wissal Ben Arfi, Jean-Michel Sahut

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The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of the succession process from a knowledge management perspective. By doing that, succession process in family businesses, as an environment for creating and sharing knowledge, was explored. Design/Methodology/Approach: To support our reasoning, we collected qualitative data through 16 in-depth interviews conducted with all decision makers involved in the family businesses succession process in France. These open-ended responses were subsequently exposed to thematic discourse analysis. Findings: Central to this exhibit is the nature and magnitude of knowledge creation and sharing among the actors within the family succession context and how can tacit knowledge sharing facilitate the succession process. We also identified factors that inhibit down the knowledge creation and sharing processes. The sharing and creation of knowledge among members of a family business appear to be a complex process that must be part of a strategy for change. This implies that it requests trust and takes a certain amount of time because it requires organizational change and a clear and coherent strategic vision that is accepted and assimilated by all the members. Professional and leadership skills are of particular importance in knowledge sharing and creation processes. In most cases, tacit knowledge is crucial when it is shared and accumulated collectively. Our findings reveal that managers should find ways of implementing knowledge sharing and creation processes while acknowledging the succession process within family firms. This study highlights the importance of generating knowledge strategies in order to enhance the performance and the success of intergenerational succession. The empirical outcomes contribute to enrich the field of succession management process and enhance the role of knowledge in shaping family performance and longevity. To a large extent, the lessons learned from the study of succession processes in family-owned businesses are that when there is a deliberate effort to introduce a knowledge-based approach, this action becomes a seminal event in the life of the organization. Originality/Value: The paper contributes to the deep understanding of interactions among actors by examining the knowledge creation and sharing processes since current researches in family succession focused on aspects such as personal development of potential, intra-family succession intention, decision-making processes in family businesses. Besides, as succession is one of the key factors that determine the longevity and the performance of family businesses, it also contributes to literature by examining how tacit knowledge is transferred, shared and created in family businesses and how this can facilitate the intergenerational succession process.

Keywords: family-owned businesses, succession process, knowledge, performance

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Authors: Mariamawit T. Belete

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Cereal production and marketing are the means of livelihood for millions of households in Ethiopia. However, cereal production is constrained by technical and socio-economic factors. Among the technical factors, cereal crop diseases are the major contributing factors to the low yield. The aim of this research is to develop an integration of data mining and knowledge based system for sorghum anthracnose disease diagnosis that assists agriculture experts and development agents to make timely decisions. Anthracnose diagnosing systems gather information from Melkassa agricultural research center and attempt to score anthracnose severity scale. Empirical research is designed for data exploration, modeling, and confirmatory procedures for testing hypothesis and prediction to draw a sound conclusion. WEKA (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) was employed for the modeling. Knowledge based system has come across a variety of approaches based on the knowledge representation method; case-based reasoning (CBR) is one of the popular approaches used in knowledge-based system. CBR is a problem solving strategy that uses previous cases to solve new problems. The system utilizes hidden knowledge extracted by employing clustering algorithms, specifically K-means clustering from sampled anthracnose dataset. Clustered cases with centroid value are mapped to jCOLIBRI, and then the integrator application is created using NetBeans with JDK 8.0.2. The important part of a case based reasoning model includes case retrieval; the similarity measuring stage, reuse; which allows domain expert to transfer retrieval case solution to suit for the current case, revise; to test the solution, and retain to store the confirmed solution to the case base for future use. Evaluation of the system was done for both system performance and user acceptance. For testing the prototype, seven test cases were used. Experimental result shows that the system achieves an average precision and recall values of 70% and 83%, respectively. User acceptance testing also performed by involving five domain experts, and an average of 83% acceptance is achieved. Although the result of this study is promising, however, further study should be done an investigation on hybrid approach such as rule based reasoning, and pictorial retrieval process are recommended.

Keywords: sorghum anthracnose, data mining, case based reasoning, integration

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Authors: Tatjana Kochetkova

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This paper explores the pivotal role of environmental education, specifically outdoor education, in facilitating a psychological connection to nature among young adults. This research aims to contribute to building an empirical and conceptual basis of ecopsychology by providing a picture of psyche-nature interaction. It presents the results of the four-day connection-to-nature workshop. It intends to find out the effects of the awareness of nature on subjective well-being and perception of the meaning of life. This led to finding a battery-recharging effect of nature and the influence of nature at four levels of awareness: external physical perception, internal (bodily) sensation, emotions, and existential meaning. The research on the psychological bond of humans with the natural environment, the subject of ecopsychology, is still in its infancy. However, despite several courageous and fruitful attempts, there are still no direct answers to the fundamental questions about the way in which the natural environment influences humans and the specific role of nature in the human psyche. The urge to address this question was the primary reason for the current experiment. The methodology of this study was taken from the study of Patterson, and from White and Hendee. The methodology included a series of assignments on the perception of nature (the exercises are described in the attachment). Experiences were noted in a personal diary, which we used later for analysis. There are many trustworthy claims that contact with nature has positive effects on human subjective well-being and that it is of essential psychological and spiritual value. But, there is a need for more support and theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. As a contribution to filling these gaps, this qualitative study was conducted. The aim of this study is to explore the psychological effects of short-term awareness of wilderness on one’s subjective well-being and on one’s sense of the meaning of life. This specific study is based on the more general hypothesis that there are positive relationships between the experience of wilderness and the development of the self, feelings of community, and spiritual development. It restricted the study of the psychological effects of short term stay in nature to two variables (subjective well-being and the sense of meaning of life). The study aimed at (i) testing the hypothesis that there are positive effects of the awareness of wilderness on the subjective sense of well-being and meaning in life, (ii) understanding the nature of the psychological need for wilderness. Although there is a substantial amount of data on the psychological benefits of nature, we still lack a theory that explains the findings. The present research aims to contribute to such a theory. This is an experiment aimed specifically at the effects of nature on the sense of well-being and meaning in life.

Keywords: environmental education, psychological connection to nature, subjective well-being, symbolic meaning of nature, emotional reaction to nature, meaning of life

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Authors: Timothy Adam Boleratzky

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The goal of this transformative endeavour lies in the repurposing of textile scraps, heralding a renaissance in the creation of wearable art. Through a judicious fusion of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies and cutting-edge techniques, this research embarks upon a voyage of exploration, unraveling the intricate tapestry of environmental implications woven into the fabric of textile waste. Delving deep into the annals of empirical evidence and scholarly discourse, the study not only elucidates the urgent imperative for waste reduction strategies but also unveils the transformative potential inherent in embracing circular economy principles within the hallowed halls of fashion. As the research unfurls its sails, guided by the compass of sustainability, it traverses uncharted territories, charting a course toward a more enlightened and responsible fashion ecosystem. The canvas upon which this journey unfolds is richly adorned with insights gleaned from the crucible of experimentation, laying bare the myriad pathways toward waste minimisation and resource optimisation. From the adoption of recycling strategies to the cultivation of eco-friendly production techniques, the research endeavours to sculpt a blueprint for a more sustainable future, one stitch at a time. In this unfolding narrative, the role of wearable art emerges as a potent catalyst for change, transcending the boundaries of conventional fashion to embrace a more holistic ethos of sustainability. Through the alchemy of creativity and craftsmanship, discarded textile scraps are imbued with new life, morphing into exquisite creations that serve as both a testament to human ingenuity and a rallying cry for environmental preservation. Each thread, each stitch, becomes a silent harbinger of change, weaving together a tapestry of hope in a world besieged by ecological uncertainty. As the research journey culminates, its echoes resonate far beyond the confines of academia, reverberating through the corridors of industry and beyond. In its wake, it leaves a legacy of empowerment and enlightenment, inspiring a generation of designers, entrepreneurs, and consumers to embrace a more sustainable vision of fashion. For in the intricate interplay of threads and textiles lies the promise of a brighter, more resilient future, where beauty coexists harmoniously with responsibility and where fashion becomes not merely an expression of style but a celebration of sustainability.

Keywords: fabric-manipulation, sustainability, textiles, waste, wearable-art

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Authors: Armana Huq, Wahidur Rahman, Sanwar Kader

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Inland waterways in Bangladesh play an important role in providing comfortable and low-cost transportation. However, a maritime accident takes away many lives and creates unwanted hazards every year. This article deals with a comprehensive review of inland waterway accidents in Bangladesh. Additionally, it includes a comparative study between international and local inland research studies based on maritime accidents. Articles from inland waterway areas are analyzed in-depth to make a comprehensive overview of the nature of the academic work, accident and risk management process and different statistical analyses. It is found that empirical analysis based on the available statistical data dominates the research domain. For this study, major maritime accident-related works in the last four decades in Bangladesh (1981-2020) are being analyzed for preparing a bibliometric analysis. A study of maritime accidents of passenger's vessels during (1995-2005) indicates that the predominant causes of accidents in the inland waterways of Bangladesh are collision and adverse weather (77%), out of which collision due to human error alone stands (56%) of all accidents. Another study refers that the major causes of waterway accidents are the collision (60.3%) during 2005-2015. About 92% of this collision occurs due to direct contact with another vessel during this period. Rest 8% of the collision occurs by contact with permanent obstruction on waterway roots. The overall analysis of another study from the last 25 years (1995-2019) shows that one of the main types of accidents is collisions, with about 50.3% of accidents being caused by collisions. The other accident types are cyclone or storm (17%), overload (11.3%), physical failure (10.3%), excessive waves (5.1%), and others (6%). Very few notable works are available in testing or comparing the methods, proposing new methods for risk management, modeling, uncertainty treatment. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of marine accident-related research domain regarding inland waterway of Bangladesh and attempts to introduce new ideas and methods to abridge the gap between international and national inland maritime-related work domain which can be a catalyst for a safer and sustainable water transportation system in Bangladesh. Another fundamental objective of this paper is to navigate various national maritime authorities and international organizations to implement risk management processes for shipping accident prevention in waterway areas.

Keywords: inland waterways, safety, bibliometric analysis, risk management, accidents

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Jiancheng Zheng

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When metals are released into water from mining activities, they undergo changes chemically, physically and biologically and then may become more mobile and transportable along the waterway from their original sites. Natural colloids, including both organic and inorganic entities, are naturally occurring in any aquatic environment with sizes in the nanometer range. Natural colloids in a water system play an important role, quite often a key role, in binding and transporting compounds. When assessing and evaluating metals in natural waters, their sources, mobility, fate, and distribution patterns in the system are the major concerns from the point of view of assessing environmental contamination and pollution during resource development. There are a few ways to quantify colloids and accordingly study how metals distribute on different sizes of colloids. Current research results show that the presence of colloids can enhance the transport of some heavy metals in water, while heavy metals may also have an influence on the transport of colloids when cations in the water system change colloids and/or the ion strength of the water system changes. Therefore, studies into the relationship between different sizes of colloids and different metals in a water system are necessary and needed as natural colloids in water systems are complex mixtures of both organic and inorganic as well as biological materials. Their stability could be sensitive to changes in their shapes, phases, hardness and functionalities due to coagulation and deposition et al. and chemical, physical, and biological reactions. Because metal contaminants’ adsorption on surfaces of colloids is closely related to colloid properties, it is desired to fraction water samples as soon as possible after a sample is taken in the natural environment in order to avoid changes to water samples during transportation and storage. For this reason, this study carried out groundwater sample processing in the field, using Prep/Scale tangential flow filtration systems with 3-level cartridges (1 kDa, 10 kDa and 100 kDa). Groundwater samples from seven sites at Fort MacMurray, Alberta, Canada, were fractionated during the 2015 field sampling season. All samples were processed within 3 hours after samples were taken. Preliminary results show that although the distribution pattern of metals on colloids may vary with different samples taken from different sites, some elements often tend to larger colloids (such as Fe and Re), some to finer colloids (such as Sb and Zn), while some of them mainly in the dissolved form (such as Mo and Be). This information is useful to evaluate and project the fate and mobility of different metals in the groundwaters and possibly in environmental water systems.

Keywords: metal, colloid, groundwater, mobility, fractionation, sorption

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Authors: Natalia Sypion-Dutkowska

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Abstract — The main research objective of the paper is to discover the relationship between the age groups of residents and crime in particular districts of a large city. The basic analytical tool is specific crime rates, calculated not in relation to the total population, but for age groups in a different social situation - property, housing, work, and representing different generations with different behavior patterns. They are the communities from which criminals and victims of crimes come. The analysis of literature and national police reports gives rise to hypotheses about the ability of a given age group to generate crime as a source of offenders and as a group of victims. These specific indicators are spatially differentiated, which makes it possible to detect socio-demographic determinants of spatial patterns of urban crime. A multi-feature classification of districts was also carried out, in which specific crime rates are the diagnostic features. In this way, areas with a similar structure of socio-demographic determinants of spatial patterns on urban crime were designated. The case study is the city of Szczecin in Poland. It has about 400,000 inhabitants and its area is about 300 sq km. Szczecin is located in the immediate vicinity of Germany and is the economic, academic and cultural capital of the region. It also has a seaport and an airport. Moreover, according to ESPON 2007, Szczecin is the Transnational and National Functional Urban Area. Szczecin is divided into 37 districts - auxiliary administrative units of the municipal government. The population of each of them in 2015-17 was divided into 8 age groups: babes (0-2 yrs.), children (3-11 yrs.), teens (12-17 yrs.), younger adults (18-30 yrs.), middle-age adults (31-45 yrs.), older adults (46-65 yrs.), early older (66-80) and late older (from 81 yrs.). The crimes reported in 2015-17 in each of the districts were divided into 10 groups: fights and beatings, other theft, car theft, robbery offenses, burglary into an apartment, break-in into a commercial facility, car break-in, break-in into other facilities, drug offenses, property damage. In total, 80 specific crime rates have been calculated for each of the districts. The analysis was carried out on an intra-city scale, this is a novel approach as this type of analysis is usually carried out at the national or regional level. Another innovative research approach is the use of specific crime rates in relation to age groups instead of standard crime rates. Acknowledgments: This research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, registration number 2019/35/D/HS4/02942.

Keywords: age groups, determinants of crime, spatial crime pattern, urban crime

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Authors: Rui Teixeira, Alan O’Connor, Maria Nogal

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The statistical theory of extreme events is progressively a topic of growing interest in all the fields of science and engineering. The changes currently experienced by the world, economic and environmental, emphasized the importance of dealing with extreme occurrences with improved accuracy. When it comes to the design of offshore structures, particularly offshore wind turbines, the importance of efficiently characterizing extreme events is of major relevance. Extreme events are commonly characterized by extreme values theory. As an alternative, the accurate modeling of the tails of statistical distributions and the characterization of the low occurrence events can be achieved with the application of the Peak-Over-Threshold (POT) methodology. The POT methodology allows for a more refined fit of the statistical distribution by truncating the data with a minimum value of a predefined threshold u. For mathematically approximating the tail of the empirical statistical distribution the Generalised Pareto is widely used. Although, in the case of the exceedances of significant wave data (H_s) the 2 parameters Weibull and the Exponential distribution, which is a specific case of the Generalised Pareto distribution, are frequently used as an alternative. The Generalized Pareto, despite the existence of practical cases where it is applied, is not completely recognized as the adequate solution to model exceedances over a certain threshold u. References that set the Generalised Pareto distribution as a secondary solution in the case of significant wave data can be identified in the literature. In this framework, the current study intends to tackle the discussion of the application of statistical models to characterize exceedances of wave data. Comparison of the application of the Generalised Pareto, the 2 parameters Weibull and the Exponential distribution are presented for different values of the threshold u. Real wave data obtained in four buoys along the Irish coast was used in the comparative analysis. Results show that the application of the statistical distributions to characterize significant wave data needs to be addressed carefully and in each particular case one of the statistical models mentioned fits better the data than the others. Depending on the value of the threshold u different results are obtained. Other variables of the fit, as the number of points and the estimation of the model parameters, are analyzed and the respective conclusions were drawn. Some guidelines on the application of the POT method are presented. Modeling the tail of the distributions shows to be, for the present case, a highly non-linear task and, due to its growing importance, should be addressed carefully for an efficient estimation of very low occurrence events.

Keywords: extreme events, offshore structures, peak-over-threshold, significant wave data

Procedia PDF Downloads 274