Search results for: security program

Authors: M. Patterson, R. Bond, K. Cowan, M. Mulvenna, C. Reid, F. McMahon, P. McGowan, H. Cormican

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This paper outlines the design of a simulator to allow for the optimisation of clinical workflows through a pathology laboratory and to improve the laboratory’s efficiency in the processing, testing, and analysis of specimens. Often pathologists have difficulty in pinpointing and anticipating issues in the clinical workflow until tests are running late or in error. It can be difficult to pinpoint the cause and even more difficult to predict any issues which may arise. For example, they often have no indication of how many samples are going to be delivered to the laboratory that day or at a given hour. If we could model scenarios using past information and known variables, it would be possible for pathology laboratories to initiate resource preparations, e.g. the printing of specimen labels or to activate a sufficient number of technicians. This would expedite the clinical workload, clinical processes and improve the overall efficiency of the laboratory. The simulator design visualises the workflow of the laboratory, i.e. the clinical tests being ordered, the specimens arriving, current tests being performed, results being validated and reports being issued. The simulator depicts the movement of specimens through this process, as well as the number of specimens at each stage. This movement is visualised using an animated flow diagram that is updated in real time. A traffic light colour-coding system will be used to indicate the level of flow through each stage (green for normal flow, orange for slow flow, and red for critical flow). This would allow pathologists to clearly see where there are issues and bottlenecks in the process. Graphs would also be used to indicate the status of specimens at each stage of the process. For example, a graph could show the percentage of specimen tests that are on time, potentially late, running late and in error. Clicking on potentially late samples will display more detailed information about those samples, the tests that still need to be performed on them and their urgency level. This would allow any issues to be resolved quickly. In the case of potentially late samples, this could help to ensure that critically needed results are delivered on time. The simulator will be created as a single-page web application. Various web technologies will be used to create the flow diagram showing the workflow of the laboratory. JavaScript will be used to program the logic, animate the movement of samples through each of the stages and to generate the status graphs in real time. This live information will be extracted from an Oracle database. As well as being used in a real laboratory situation, the simulator could also be used for training purposes. ‘Bots’ would be used to control the flow of specimens through each step of the process. Like existing software agents technology, these bots would be configurable in order to simulate different situations, which may arise in a laboratory such as an emerging epidemic. The bots could then be turned on and off to allow trainees to complete the tasks required at that step of the process, for example validating test results.

Keywords: laboratory-process, optimization, pathology, computer simulation, workflow

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Ella Abaev, Shany Segal, Miri Gabay

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Background: Choking is a blockage of airways that prevents efficient breathing and air flow to the lungs. Choking may be partial or full and is an emergency situation. Complete or prolonged choking leads to apnea, lack of oxygen in the tissues of the body and brain, and can cause death. There are three mechanisms of choking: obstruction of internal respiratory tracts by food or object aspiration, any material that blocks or covers external air passages, external pressure on the neck or trapping between objects. Children's airways are narrower than that of adults and therefore the risk of choking is greater, due to the aspiration of food and other foreign bodies into the lungs. In the Child Development Center at Safra Children’s Hospital, Tel Hashomer in Israel are treated infants, toddlers, and children aged 0-18 years with various developmental disabilities. Due to the increase in reports of ‘almost an event’ of choking in the past year and the serious consequences of choking event, it was decided to give an emphasis to the issue. Incidence and methods: The number of reports of ‘almost an event’ or a choking event was examined at the center during the years 2013-2018 and a thorough research work was conducted on the subject in order to build a prevention program. Findings: Between 2013 and 2018 the center reported about ten cases of ‘almost choking events’. In the middle of 2018 alone three cases of ‘almost an event’ were reported. Objective: Providing knowledge leads to awareness raise, change of perception, change in behavior and prevention. The center employs more than 130 staff members from various sectors so that it is the work of multi-professional teams to promote the quality and safety of the treatment. The familiarity of the staff with risk factors, prevention guidelines, identification of choking signs, and treatment are most important and significant in determining the outcome of a choking event. Conclusions and recommendations: After in-depth research work was carried out in cooperation with the Risk Management Unit on the subject of choking, which include a description of the definitions, mechanisms, risk factors, treatment methods and extensive recommendations for prevention (e.g. using treatment and stimulation accessories with standards association stamps and adjustment of the type of food and the way it is served to match to the child's age and the ability to swallow). The expected stages of development and emphasis on the population of children with special needs were taken into account. The research findings will be published by the staff and parents of the patients, professional publications, and lectures and there is an expectation to decrease the number of choking events in the next years.

Keywords: children with special needs, choking, educational system, prevention guidelines

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Gautier Girard, Marion Martiny, Sebastien Mercier, Mohamad Jrad, Mohamed-Slim Bahi, Laurent Bodin, Francois Lechleiter, David Nevo, Sophie Dareys

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Reliability of electronic devices has always been of highest interest for Aero-MIL and space applications. In any electronic device, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), providing interconnection between components, is a key for reliability. During the last decades, PCB technologies evolved to sustain and/or fulfill increased original equipment manufacturers requirements and specifications, higher densities and better performances, faster time to market and longer lifetime, newer material and mixed buildups. From the very beginning of the PCB industry up to recently, qualification, experiments and trials, and errors were the most popular methods to assess system (PCB) reliability. Nowadays OEM, PCB manufacturers and scientists are working together in a close relationship in order to develop predictive models for PCB reliability and lifetime. To achieve that goal, it is fundamental to characterize precisely base materials (laminates, electrolytic copper, …), in order to understand failure mechanisms and simulate PCB aging under environmental constraints by means of finite element method for example. The laminates are woven composites and have thus an orthotropic behaviour. The in-plane properties can be measured by combining classical uniaxial testing and digital image correlation. Nevertheless, the out-of-plane properties cannot be evaluated due to the thickness of the laminate (a few hundred of microns). It has to be noted that the knowledge of the out-of-plane properties is fundamental to investigate the lifetime of high density printed circuit boards. A homogenization method combining analytical and numerical approaches has been developed in order to obtain the complete elastic orthotropic behaviour of a woven composite from its precise 3D internal structure and its experimentally measured in-plane elastic properties. Since the mechanical properties of the resin surrounding the fibres are unknown, an inverse method is proposed to estimate it. The methodology has been applied to one laminate used in hyperfrequency spatial applications in order to get its elastic orthotropic behaviour at different temperatures in the range [-55°C; +125°C]. Next; numerical simulations of a plated through hole in a double sided PCB are performed. Results show the major importance of the out-of-plane properties and the temperature dependency of these properties on the lifetime of a printed circuit board. Acknowledgements—The support of the French ANR agency through the Labcom program ANR-14-LAB7-0003-01, support of CNES, Thales Alenia Space and Cimulec is acknowledged.

Keywords: homogenization, orthotropic behaviour, printed circuit board, woven composites

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Micheale Yifter Weldemichael, Hailay Mehari Gebremedhn, Teklehaimanot Hailesslasie Teklu

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Recent developments in targeted genome editing accelerated genetic research and opened new potentials to improve crops for better yields and quality. Given the significance of cereal crops as a primary source of food for the global population, the utilization of contemporary genome editing techniques like CRISPR/Cas9 is timely and crucial. CRISPR/Cas technology has enabled targeted genomic modifications, revolutionizing genetic research and exploration. Application of gene editing through CRISPR/Cas9 in enhancing sorghum is particularly vital given the current ecological, environmental, and agricultural challenges exacerbated by climate change. As sorghum is one of the main staple foods of our region and is known to be a resilient crop with a high potential to overcome the above challenges, the application of genome editing technology will enhance the investigation of gene functionality. CRISPR/Cas9 enables the improvement of desirable sorghum traits, including nutritional value, yield, resistance to pests and diseases, and tolerance to various abiotic stresses. Furthermore, CRISPR/Cas9 has the potential to perform intricate editing and reshape the existing elite sorghum varieties, and introduce new genetic variations. However, current research primarily focuses on improving the efficacy of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in successfully editing endogenous sorghum genes, making it a feasible and successful undertaking in sorghum improvement. Recent advancements and developments in CRISPR/Cas9 techniques have further empowered researchers to modify additional genes in sorghum with greater efficiency. Successful application and advancement of CRISPR techniques in sorghum will aid not only in gene discovery and the creation of novel traits that regulate gene expression and functional genomics but also in facilitating site-specific integration events. The purpose of this review is, therefore, to elucidate the current advances in sorghum genome editing and highlight its potential in addressing food security issues. It also assesses the efficiency of CRISPR-mediated improvement and its long-term effects on crop improvement and host resistance against parasites, including tissue-specific activity and the ability to induce resistance. This review ends by emphasizing the challenges and opportunities of CRISPR technology in combating parasitic plants and proposing directions for future research to safeguard global agricultural productivity.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9, genome editing, quality, sorghum, stress, yield

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Authors: Haleema Sadia

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The study is aimed at exploring the identity construction of female British born Pakistani postgraduate student who shifted to Pakistan at the age of 12, stayed there for 8 years and re-shifted to UK for Higher Education. Research questions are: 1. What is the academic and socio-cultural background of the participant prior to joining the UoM as a postgrad student? 2. How the participant talk, see herself and act in relation to cultural and social norms and practices? Participant’ identity is explored through positioning theory of Holland et al. (1998), referring to the ways people understand and enact their social positions in the figured world. The research is a case study based on narrative interview of Shabana, a British-born Pakistani female postgraduate student, who has recently joined the university of Manchester. Shabana received her primary education in UK during the first twelve years of her life. She is the youngest among the three sisters, with only one brother younger to her. Her father, although not well educated is a successful entrepreneur, maintaining offices in UK and Pakistan. Her mother is a housewife with no formal education. Shabana’s elder sister got involved in a relationship with a Pakistani boy against cultural norms of arranged marriage. Resultantly the three sisters were shifted to Pakistan to be equated with socio-religious norms. Shabana termed her first year in Pakistan as disgusting and she hated her father for the decision. However after a year’s time and shifting from an orthodox city to the provincial capital Lahore, she developed liking for the Pakistani culture. She gradually developed a new socio-religious identity during her stay, which she expressed as a turning point in her life. After completing O level Shabana returned back to UK and joined the University of Hull as undergraduate Student. At Hull she remained isolated, missed the religious environment and relished the memories of Lahore. She would visit Pakistan almost three times a year. After obtaining her BSc degree from Hull she went back to Pakistan. Soon after she decided to improve her academic qualification. She came to UK to join her parents and got admission in the MSc chemistry program at UoM. Presently Shabana talks about the dominant role of male members in the family culture in decision-making. She strongly feels to struggle hard and attain equal status with males in education, employment, earning, authority and freedom. She sees herself in a position to share the authority with her (would be) husband in important family and other matters. Shabana has developed a new identity of a mix of both Pakistani and UK culture. She is appreciative of the socio-cultural values of UK while still regarding the cultural and religious values of Pakistan in high esteem.

Keywords: postgraduate students, identity construction, cultural shifts, female british pakistani student

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Authors: Vilas Warudkar, Dinkar Janghel, Siraj Ahmed

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Rapid development experienced by India requires huge amount of energy. Actual supply capacity additions have been consistently lower than the targets set by the government. According to World Bank 40% of residences are without electricity. In 12th five year plan 30 GW grid interactive renewable capacity is planned in which 17 GW is Wind, 10 GW is from solar and 2.1 GW from small hydro project, and rest is compensated by bio gas. Renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) meet not only the environmental and energy security objectives, but also can play a crucial role in reducing chronic power shortages. In remote areas or areas with a weak grid, wind energy can be used for charging batteries or can be combined with a diesel engine to save fuel whenever wind is available. India according to IEC 61400-1 belongs to class IV Wind Condition; it is not possible to set up wind turbine in large scale at every place. So, the best choice is to go for small scale wind turbine at lower height which will have good annual energy production (AEP). Based on the wind characteristic available at MANIT Bhopal, rotor for small scale wind turbine is designed. Various Aero foil data is reviewed for selection of airfoil in the Blade Profile. Airfoil suited of Low wind conditions i.e. at low Reynold’s number is selected based on Coefficient of Lift, Drag and angle of attack. For designing of the rotor blade, standard Blade Element Momentum (BEM) Theory is implanted. Performance of the Blade is estimated using BEM theory in which axial induction factor and angular induction factor is optimized using iterative technique. Rotor performance is estimated for particular designed blade specifically for low wind Conditions. Power production of rotor is determined at different wind speeds for particular pitch angle of the blade. At pitch 15o and velocity 5 m/sec gives good cut in speed of 2 m/sec and power produced is around 350 Watts. Tip speed of the Blade is considered as 6.5 for which Coefficient of Performance of the rotor is calculated 0.35, which is good acceptable value for Small scale Wind turbine. Simple Load Model (SLM, IEC 61400-2) is also discussed to improve the structural strength of the rotor. In SLM, Edge wise Moment and Flap Wise moment is considered which cause bending stress at the root of the blade. Various Load case mentioned in the IEC 61400-2 is calculated and checked for the partial safety factor of the wind turbine blade.

Keywords: annual energy production, Blade Element Momentum Theory, low wind Conditions, selection of airfoil

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Authors: Dina C. Castro, Rossana Boyd, Eugenia Papadaki

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Immigration within and across continents is currently a global reality. The number of people leaving their communities in search for a better life for them and their families has increased dramatically during the last twenty years. Therefore, young children of the 21st century around the World are growing up in diverse communities, exposed to many languages and cultures. One consequence of these migration movements is the increased linguistic diversity in school settings. Depending on the linguistic history and the status of languages in the communities (i.e., minority-majority; majority-majority) the instructional approaches will differ. This session will discuss how bilingualism is addressed in early education programs in both minority-majority and majority-majority language communities, analyzing experiences in three countries with very distinct societal and demographic characteristics: Peru (South America), the United States (North America), and Italy (European Union). The ultimate goal is to identify commonalities and differences across the three experiences that could lead to a discussion of bilingualism in early education from a global perspective. From Peru, we will discuss current national language and educational policies that have lead to the design and implementation of bilingual and intercultural education for children in indigenous communities. We will also discuss how those practices are being implemented in preschool programs, the progress made and challenges encountered. From the United States, we will discuss the early education of Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers, including the national policy environment, as well as variations in language of instruction approaches currently being used with these children. From Italy, we will describe early education practices in the Bilingual School of Monza, in northern Italy, a school that has 20 years promoting bilingualism and multilingualism in education. While the presentations from Peru and the United States will discuss bilingualism in a majority-minority language environment, this presentation will lead to a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of promoting bilingualism in a majority-majority language environment. It is evident that innovative models and policies are necessary to prevent inequality of opportunities for bilingual children beginning in their earliest years. The cross-cultural examination of bilingual education experiences for young children in three part of the World will allow us to learn from our success and challenges. The session will end with a discussion of the following question: To what extent are early care and education programs being effective in promoting positive development and learning among all children, including those from diverse language, ethnic and cultural backgrounds? We expect to identify, with participants to our session, a set of recommendations for policy and program development that could ensure access to high quality early education for all bilingual children.

Keywords: early education for bilingual children, global perspectives in early education, cross-cultural, language policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: M. Szechynska-Hebda, M. Sobczak, E. Rozanska, J. Troczynska, Z. Banaszak, N. Hordyńska, M. Dyda, M. Wedzony

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Chloroplasts, as essential organelles for photosynthesis, play a critical role in plant development. However, disturbances in the proper functioning of chloroplasts, in the extreme case manifesting as albinism of tissues and whole plants, are a phenomenon often occurring in conditions deviating from natural (e.g., in vitro cultures applied in breeding programs). Using whole-transcriptome analysis (RNA-Seq) together with light, fluorescent and electron microscopy, it was shown, that development of chloroplasts and formation of green or albino plants in the androgenesis process are genotype-dependent; however, they could be modulated by sub-optimal temperature treatment. The reprogramming of the microspore development from gametophytic to sporophytic, and then regeneration of green plant can be positively regulated by cold stress (4 ⁰C). A high temperature stress (32 ⁰C) can induce androgenesis, but it is a factor negatively influencing green plant regeneration (promoting albinism). A similar effect on microspores, androgenesis, and subsequent chloroplast formation, is elicited as a result of postponing the date of spike collection from spring to summer in field conditions (natural temperature rise). It is determined in both environmental or genotypic manner. The delay of the sowing date (environmental effect) or growing of late genotypes (genotypic effect) result in spike maturation at higher temperatures and significantly enhance albino plant formation in androgenesis process. Such a temperature system (4 ⁰C vs. 32 ⁰C) was used to study the chloroplast biogenesis process in wheat and triticale. It was shown, that efficiency of physiological processes differentiates microspore development during cold reprograming in genotypes susceptible and resistant to androgenesis. Moreover, a great variation in developmental stages of the microspores in one anther is observed for susceptible genotypes. Microspores that are more physiologically active under cold conditions can activate signaling pathways and processes, which provide an appropriate supply of metabolites to cell compartments. This, in turn, fully correlates with the genotype-dependent efficiency of chloroplast formation (or different types of plastid) at particular steps of androgenesis. The effect obtained after applying a high temperature stress is different. High temperature causes a significant acceleration of microspore development and less variation in developmental stages at the end of the treatment. Therefore, the developmental diversity of the microspores in one anther seems to be a critical factor for subsequent cell and chloroplast differentiation. The work was financed by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development within Program: 'Biological Progress in Plant Production', project no HOR.hn.802.15.2018

Keywords: androgenesis, chloroplast biogenesis, temperature stress, wheat

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: E. V. Fakhrutdinova, Y. S. Kolesnikova, E. A. Karasik, V. M. Zagidullina

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Poverty as the social and economic phenomenon exists in any society and represents a many-sided problem. In this sense it is universal and for many centuries serves as a research objects for scientists. Special attention to a problem of poverty in Russia is caused, first of all, by the critical growth of inequality and by scales of expansion of poverty, considerable decrease in the level and quality of life of the population, decrease in availability of education during the period of reforming. The expansion of poverty on the working members of society, youth, which has to provide reproduction of the population is alarming. As poverty is the reason of weakening of national security of the country, degradation of the population, decline in the quality of the human capital, complication of a demographic situation, strengthening of social contradictions in society, so far as the reduction of poverty, so, the increase in production. Poverty: the characteristic of an economic situation of the individual or social group at which they can't satisfy certain minimum requirements necessary for life, preservations of working capacity and reproduction. Poverty became one of the critical factors expelling people from the system of the institutional interactions reducing social space in which their relations were building breaking their social identity. Complication of the problem of poverty in modern society happened due to penetration of the related relations into many spheres of life. It is known that negative consequences of poverty display not only at the personal level of the poor person, but also at the level of interpersonal social interactions, decline in the quality and level of development of the human capital, and also at social and economic system in general. We conducted a research on the influence of education on the change of poverty level of the population. We consider education as a resource for an increase of the income and social mobility. Dependence of the income of the population on the level of education, availability of education (level of education and quality of education) on the level of income of families is found. Differentiation of quality and number of educational services for children depending on the level of the income of families is revealed. Influence of a factor of poverty on the availability of education is also studied. We consider expenses on education as the limiter of access to education. We consider education as a factor of fixation and aggravation of a property inequality. In the solution of problems of poverty the defining condition is the state regulation of social and economic development by means of creation of the effective institutional environment. The state has to develop measures for an increase of availability of various services to all categories of citizens, in particular services of health care and education, especially for poor citizens enters. The special attention regarding an increase of availability of education services has to be paid to creation of system of social elevators.

Keywords: poverty, education, human capital, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Tamar Arieli

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Cross-border cooperation has long been hailed as a means for stabilizing and normalizing relations between former enemies. Cooperation in problem-solving and realizing of local interests in post-conflict environments can indeed serve as a basis for developing dialogue and meaningful relations between neighbors across borders. Hence the potential for formerly sealed borders to serve as a basis for generating local and national perceptions of interdependence and as a buffer against the resume of conflict. Central questions which arise for policy-makers and third parties are how to facilitate cross-border cooperation and which areas of cooperation best serve to normalize post-conflict border regions. The Israel-Jordan border functions as a post-conflict border, in that it is a peaceful border since the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty yet cross-border relations are defined but the highly securitized nature of the border region and the ongoing Arab-Israel regional conflict. This case study is based on long term qualitative research carried out in the border regions of both Israel and Jordan, which mapped and analyzed cross-border in a wide range of activities – social interactions sponsored by peace-facilitating NGOs, government sponsored agricultural cooperation, municipal initiated emergency planning in cross-border continuous urban settings, private cross-border business ventures and various environmental cooperative initiatives. These cooperative initiatives are evaluated through multiple interviews carried out with initiators and partners in cross-border cooperation as well as analysis of documentation, funding and media. These cooperative interactions are compared based on levels of cross-border local and official awareness and involvement as well as sustainability over time. This research identifies environmental cooperation as the most sustainable area of cross- border cooperation and as most conducive to generating perceptions of regional interdependence. This is a variation to the ‘New Middle East’ vision of business-based cooperation leading to conflict amelioration and regional stability. Environmental cooperation serving the public good rather than personal profit enjoys social legitimization even in the face of widespread anti-normalization sentiments common in the post-conflict environment. This insight is examined in light of philosophical and social aspects of the natural environment and its social perceptions. This research has theoretical implications for better understanding dynamics of cooperation and conflict, as well as practical ramifications for practitioners in border region policy and management.

Keywords: borders, cooperation, post-conflict, security

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Authors: Luciana S. Almeida

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Nanotechnology has revolutionized the world of science and technology bringing great expectations due to its great potential of application in the most varied industrial sectors. The same characteristics that make nanoparticles interesting from the point of view of the technological application, these may be undesirable when released into the environment. The small size of nanoparticles facilitates their diffusion and transport in the atmosphere, water, and soil and facilitates the entry and accumulation of nanoparticles in living cells. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the environmental regulatory process of nanomaterials in the Brazilian scenario. Three specific objectives were outlined. The first is to carry out a global scientometric study, in a research platform, with the purpose of identifying the main lines of study of nanomaterials in the environmental area. The second is to verify how environmental agencies in other countries have been working on this issue by means of a bibliographic review. And the third is to carry out an assessment of the Brazilian Nanotechnology Draft Law 6741/2013 with the state environmental agencies. This last one has the aim of identifying the knowledge of the subject by the environmental agencies and necessary resources available in the country for the implementation of the Policy. A questionnaire will be used as a tool for this evaluation to identify the operational elements and build indicators through the Environment of Evaluation Application, a computational application developed for the development of questionnaires. At the end will be verified the need to propose changes in the Draft Law of the National Nanotechnology Policy. Initial studies, in relation to the first specific objective, have already identified that Brazil stands out in the production of scientific publications in the area of nanotechnology, although the minority is in studies focused on environmental impact studies. Regarding the general panorama of other countries, some findings have also been raised. The United States has included the nanoform of the substances in an existing program in the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act). The European Union issued a draft of a document amending Regulation 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and Council to cover the nanoform of substances. Both programs are based on the study and identification of environmental risks associated with nanomaterials taking into consideration the product life cycle. In relation to Brazil, regarding the third specific objective, it is notable that the country does not have any regulations applicable to nanostructures, although there is a Draft Law in progress. In this document, it is possible to identify some requirements related to the environment, such as environmental inspection and licensing; industrial waste management; notification of accidents and application of sanctions. However, it is not known if these requirements are sufficient for the prevention of environmental impacts and if national environmental agencies will know how to apply them correctly. This study intends to serve as a basis for future actions regarding environmental management applied to the use of nanotechnology in Brazil.

Keywords: environment; management; nanotecnology; politics

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Authors: Charles Mazhazhate

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This study interrogates and analyses the intricate kin- and- kith network patterns of corruption and mismanagement of resources prevalent in public sector supply chains bedeviling the developing economies of Sub-Saharan Africa with particular reference to Zimbabwe. This is forcing governments to resort to harsh fiscal policies that see their citizens paying high taxes against a backdrop of incomes below the poverty datum line, and this negatively affects their quality of life. The corporate world is also affected by the various tax-regime instituted. Mismanagement of resources and corrupt practices are rampant in state-owned enterprises to the extent that institutional policies, procedures, and practices are often flouted for the benefit of a clique of individuals. This interwoven in kith and kin blood human relations in organizations where appointments to critical positions are based on ascribed status. People no longer place value in their systems to make them work thereby violating corporate governance principles. Greediness and ‘unholy friendship connections’ are instrumental in fueling the employment of people who know each other from their discrete backgrounds. Such employments or socio-metric unions are meant to protect those at the top by giving them intelligent information through spying on what other subordinates are doing inside and outside the organization. This practice has led to the underperforming of organizations as those employees with connections and their upper echelons favorites connive to abuse resources for their own benefit. Even if culprits are known, no draconian measures are employed as a deterrence measure. Public value along public sector supply chains is lost. The study used a descriptive case study research design on fifty organizations in Zimbabwe mainly state-owned enterprises. Both qualitative and quantitative instrumentations were used. Both Snowball and random sampling techniques were used. The study found out that in all the fifty SOEs, there were employees in key positions related to top management, with tentacles feeding into the law enforcement agents, judiciary, security systems, and the executive. Such employees in public seem not to know each other with but would be involved in dirty scams and then share the proceeds with top people behind the scenes. The study also established that the same employees do not have the necessary competencies, qualifications, abilities, and capabilities to be in those positions. This culture is now strong that it is difficult to bust. The study recommends recruitment of all employees through an independent employment bureau to ensure strategic fit.

Keywords: corruption, state owned enterprises, strategic fit, public sector supply chains, efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Ben Levenger

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Social life revolves around a central meeting place or gathering space. It is where the community integrates, earns social skills, and ultimately becomes part of the community. Following this premise, public spaces are one of the most important spaces that downtowns offer, providing locations for people to be witnessed, heard, and most importantly, seamlessly integrate into the downtown as part of the community. To facilitate this, these local spaces must be envisioned and designed to meet the changing needs of a downtown, offering a space and purpose for everyone. This paper will dive deep into analyzing, designing, and implementing public space design for small plazas or gathering spaces. These spaces often require a detailed level of study, followed by a broad stroke of design implementation, allowing for adaptability. This paper will highlight how to assess needs, define needed types of spaces, outline a program for spaces, detail elements of design to meet the needs, assess your new space, and plan for change. This study will provide participants with the necessary framework for conducting a grass-roots-level assessment of public space and programming, including short-term and long-term improvements. Participants will also receive assessment tools, sheets, and visual representation diagrams. Urbanism, for the sake of urbanism, is an exercise in aesthetic beauty. An economic improvement or benefit must be attained to solidify these efforts' purpose further and justify the infrastructure or construction costs. We will deep dive into case studies highlighting economic impacts to ground this work in quantitative impacts. These case studies will highlight the financial impact on an area, measuring the following metrics: rental rates (per sq meter), tax revenue generation (sales and property), foot traffic generation, increased property valuations, currency expenditure by tenure, clustered development improvements, cost/valuation benefits of increased density in housing. The economic impact results will be targeted by community size, measuring in three tiers: Sub 10,000 in population, 10,001 to 75,000 in population, and 75,000+ in population. Through this classification breakdown, the participants can gauge the impact in communities similar to their work or for which they are responsible. Finally, a detailed analysis of specific urbanism enhancements, such as plazas, on-street dining, pedestrian malls, etc., will be discussed. Metrics that document the economic impact of each enhancement will be presented, aiding in the prioritization of improvements for each community. All materials, documents, and information will be available to participants via Google Drive. They are welcome to download the data and use it for their purposes.

Keywords: downtown, economic development, planning, strategic

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Sidika Di̇lşad Kaya, Ahmet Seli̇m Kaya, Ibrahi̇m Eri̇k, Havva Yaldiz, Yalçin Kaya

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The aim of this study was to reveal the effects of right brain development on reading, comprehension, learning and concentration levels and rapid processing skills in students with low vision and students with standard development, and to explore the effects of right and left brain integration on students' academic success and the permanence of the learned knowledge. A total of 68 students with a mean age of 10.01±0.12 were included in the study, 58 of them with standard development, 9 partially visually impaired and 1 totally visually disabled student. The student with a total visual impairment could not participate in the reading speed test due to her total visual impairment. The following data were measured in the participant students before the project; Reading speed measurement in 1 minute, Reading comprehension questions, Burdon attention test, 50 questions of math quiz timed with a stopwatch. Participants were trained for 3 weeks, 5 days a week, for a total of two hours a day. In this study, right-brain developing exercises were carried out with the use of an abacus, and it was aimed to develop both mathematical and attention of students with questions prepared with numerical data taken from fairy tale activities. Among these problems, the study was supported with multiple-choice, 5W (what, where, who, why, when?), 1H (how?) questions along with true-false and fill-in-the-blank activities. By using memory cards, students' short-term memories were strengthened, photographic memory studies were conducted and their visual intelligence was supported. Auditory intelligence was supported by aiming to make calculations by using the abacus in the minds of the students with the numbers given aurally. When calculating the numbers by touching the real abacus, the development of students' tactile intelligence is enhanced. Research findings were analyzed in SPSS program, Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used for normality analysis. Since the variables did not show normal distribution, Wilcoxon test, one of the non-parametric tests, was used to compare the dependent groups. Statistical significance level was accepted as 0.05. The reading speed of the participants was 83.54±33.03 in the pre-test and 116.25±38.49 in the post-test. Narration pre-test 69.71±25.04 post-test 97.06±6.70; BURDON pretest 84.46±14.35 posttest 95.75±5.67; rapid math processing skills pretest 90.65±10.93, posttest 98.18±2.63 (P<0.05). It was determined that the pre-test and post-test averages of students with typical development and students with low vision were also significant for all four values (p<0.05). As a result of the data obtained from the participants, it is seen that the study was effective in terms of measurement parameters, and the findings were statistically significant. Therefore, it is recommended to use the method widely.

Keywords: Abacus, reading speed, multiple intelligences, right brain training, visually impaired

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Authors: Vicki R. Voskuil, Jorgie M. Watson

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Despite the well-established health benefits of physical activity (PA), most adolescents do not meet guidelines recommending 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) each day. Adolescent girls engage in less PA than boys, a difference that increases with age. By the 9th grade, only 20% of girls report meeting recommendations for PA with lower percentages for black and Hispanic girls compared to white girls. The purpose of the study was to explore the physical activity (PA) behavior and needs of adolescent girls. Study aims included assessment of adolescent girls’ PA behavior; facilitators of and barriers to PA, PA needs, and acceptability of the Fitbit-Flex 2 activity tracker. This exploratory study used a qualitative and quantitative approach. The qualitative approach involved a focus group using a semi-structured interview technique. PA was measured using the Fitbit-Flex 2 activity tracker. Steps, distance, and active minutes were recorded for one week. A Fitbit survey was also administered to assess acceptability. SPSS Version 22.0 and ATLAS.ti Version 8 were used to analyze data. Girls in the ninth grade were recruited from a high school in the Midwest (n=11). Girls were excluded if they were involved in sports or other organized PA ≥ 3 days per week, had a health condition that prevented or limited PA, or could not read and write English. Participants received a Fitbit-Flex 2 activity tracker to wear for one week. At the end of the week, girls returned the Fitbit and participated in a focus group. Girls responded to open-ended questions regarding their PA behavior and shared their ideas for future intervention efforts aimed at increasing PA among adolescents. Girls completed a survey assessing their perceptions of the Fitbit. Mean age of the girls was 15.3 years (SD=0.44). On average girls took 6,520 steps and walked 2.73 miles each day. Girls stated their favorite types of PA were walking, riding bike, and running. Most girls stated they did PA for 30 minutes or more at a time once a day or every other day. The top 3 facilitators of PA reported by girls were friends, family, and transportation. The top 3 barriers included health issues, lack of motivation, and weather. Top intervention ideas were community service projects, camps, and using a Fitbit activity tracker. Girls felt the best timing of a PA program would be in the summer. Fitbit survey results showed 100% of girls would use a Fitbit on most days if they had one. Ten (91%) girls wore the Fitbit on all days. Seven (64%) girls used the Fitbit app and all reported they liked it. Findings indicate that PA participation for this sample is consistent with previous studies. Adolescent girls are not meeting recommended daily guidelines for PA. Fitbit activity trackers were positively received by all participants and could be used in future interventions aimed at increasing PA for adolescent girls. PA interventions that take place in the summer with friends and include community service projects may increase PA and be well received by this population.

Keywords: adolescents, girls, interventions, physical activity

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Authors: Xinyue Jiao, Yu-Ren Lin

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Argumentation is an essential aspect of scientific thinking which has been widely concerned in recent reform of science education. The purpose of the present studies was to explore the influences of two variables termed ‘the argumentation strategy’ and ‘the kind of science concept’ on student’s web-based argumentation. The first variable was divided into either monological (which refers to individual’s internal discourse and inner chain reasoning) or dialectical (which refers to dialogue interaction between/among people). The other one was also divided into either descriptive (i.e., macro-level concept, such as phenomenon can be observed and tested directly) or theoretical (i.e., micro-level concept which is abstract, and cannot be tested directly in nature). The present study applied the quasi-experimental design in which 138 7th grade students were invited and then assigned to either monological group (N=70) or dialectical group (N=68) randomly. An argumentation learning program called ‘the PWAL’ was developed to improve their scientific argumentation abilities, such as arguing from multiple perspectives and based on scientific evidence. There were two versions of PWAL created. For the individual version, students can propose argument only through knowledge recall and self-reflecting process. On the other hand, the students were allowed to construct arguments through peers’ communication in the collaborative version. The PWAL involved three descriptive science concept-based topics (unit 1, 3 and 5) and three theoretical concept-based topics (unit 2, 4 and 6). Three kinds of scaffoldings were embedded into the PWAL: a) argument template, which was used for constructing evidence-based argument; b) the model of the Toulmin’s TAP, which shows the structure and elements of a sound argument; c) the discussion block, which enabled the students to review what had been proposed during the argumentation. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. An analytical framework for coding students’ arguments proposed in the PWAL was constructed. The results showed that the argumentation approach has a significant effect on argumentation only in theoretical topics (f(1, 136)=48.2, p < .001, η2=2.62). The post-hoc analysis showed the students in the collaborative group perform significantly better than the students in the individual group (mean difference=2.27). However, there is no significant difference between the two groups regarding their argumentation in descriptive topics. Secondly, the students made significant progress in the PWAL from the earlier descriptive or theoretical topic to the later one. The results enabled us to conclude that the PWAL was effective for students’ argumentation. And the students’ peers’ interaction was essential for students to argue scientifically especially for the theoretical topic. The follow-up qualitative analysis showed student tended to generate arguments through critical dialogue interactions in the theoretical topic which promoted them to use more critiques and to evaluate and co-construct each other’s arguments. More explanations regarding the students’ web-based argumentation and the suggestions for the development of web-based science learning were proposed in our discussions.

Keywords: argumentation, collaborative learning, scientific concepts, web-based learning

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Authors: Lubna Naz, Munir Ahmad, G. M. Arif

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This study analyzes static and dynamic welfare impacts of food price changes for various landholding groups in Pakistan. The study uses three classifications of land ownership, landless, small landowners and large landowners, for analysis. The study uses Panel Survey, Pakistan Rural Household Survey (PRHS) of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Islamabad, of rural households from two largest provinces (Sindh and Punjab) of Pakistan. The study uses all three waves (2001, 2004 and 2010) of PRHS. This research work makes three important contributions in literature. First, this study uses Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) to estimate demand functions for eight food groups-cereals, meat, milk and milk products, vegetables, cooking oil, pulses and other food. The study estimates food demand functions with Nonlinear Seemingly Unrelated (NLSUR), and employs Lagrange Multiplier and test on the coefficient of squared expenditure term to determine inclusion of squared expenditure term. Test results support the inclusion of squared expenditure term in the food demand model for each of landholding groups (landless, small landowners and large landowners). This study tests for endogeneity and uses control function for its correction. The problem of observed zero expenditure is dealt with a two-step procedure. Second, it creates low price and high price periods, based on literature review. It uses elasticity coefficients from QUAIDS to analyze static and dynamic welfare effects (first and second order Tylor approximation of expenditure function is used) of food price changes across periods. The study estimates compensation variation (CV), money metric loss from food price changes, for landless, small and large landowners. Third, this study compares the findings on welfare implications of food price changes based on QUAIDS with the earlier research in Pakistan, which used other specification of the demand system. The findings indicate that dynamic welfare impacts of food price changes are lower as compared to static welfare impacts for all landholding groups. The static and dynamic welfare impacts of food price changes are highest for landless. The study suggests that government should extend social security nets to landless poor and categorically to vulnerable landless (without livestock) to redress the short-term impact of food price increase. In addition, the government should stabilize food prices and particularly cereal prices in the long- run.

Keywords: QUAIDS, Lagrange multiplier, NLSUR, and Tylor approximation

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Authors: K. Mellou, G. Anastopoulos, T. Zakinthinos, C. Botsi, A. Terzidis

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‘PHILOS – Emergency health response to refugee crisis’ is a programme of the Greek Ministry of Health, implemented by the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP). The programme is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of EU’s DG Migration and Home Affairs. With the EU Member States accepting, the last period, accelerating migration flows, Greece inevitably occupies a prominent position in the migratory map due to this geographical location. The main objectives of the programme are a) reinforcement of the capacity of the public health system and enhancement of the epidemiological surveillance in order to cover refugees/migrant population, b) provision of on-site primary health care and psychological support services, and c) strengthening of national health care system task-force. The basic methods for achieving the aforementioned goals are: a) implementation of syndromic surveillance system at camps and enhancement of public health response with the use of mobile medical units (Sub-action A), b) enhancement of health care services inside the camps via increasing human resources and implementing standard operating procedures (Sub-action B), and c) reinforcement of the national health care system (primary healthcare units, hospitals, and emergency care spots) of affected regions with personnel (Sub-action C). As a result, 58 health professionals were recruited under sub-action 2 and 10 mobile unit teams (one or two at each health region) were formed. The main actions taken so far by the mobile units are the evaluation, of syndromic surveillance, of living conditions at camps and medical services. Also, vaccination coverage of children population was assessed, and more than 600 catch-up vaccinations were performed by the end of June 2017. Mobile units supported transportation of refugees/migrants from camps to medical services reducing the load of the National Center for Emergency Care (more than 350 transportations performed). The total number of health professionals (MD, nurses, etc.) placed at camps was 104. Common practices were implemented in the recording and collection of psychological and medical history forms at the camps. Protocols regarding maternity care, gender based violence and handling of violent incidents were produced and distributed at personnel working at camps. Finally, 290 health care professionals were placed at primary healthcare units, public hospitals and the National Center for Emergency Care at affected regions. The program has, also, supported training activities inside the camps and resulted to better coordination of offered services on site.

Keywords: migrants, refugees, public health, syndromic surveillance, national health care system, primary care, emergency health response

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Authors: Norsuhana Omar, Amilia Aminuddina Zaiton Zakaria, Raifana Rosa Mohamad Sattar, Kalaivani Chellappan, Mohd Alauddin Mohd Ali, Norizam Salamt, Zanariyah Asmawi, Norliza Saari, Aini Farzana Zulkefli, Nor Anita Megat Mohd. Nordin

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Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of vascular dysfunction leading to arterial stiffness. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AS), as tools for the assessment of vascular damages are widely used and have been shown to predict cardiovascular disease (CVD). C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker of inflammation. Several studies noted that regular exercise is associated with reduced arterial stiffness. The lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing CVD morbidity and mortality among young men are of concern. In Malaysia data on the workplace exercise intervention is scarce. A programme was designed to enable subjects to increase their level of walking as part of their daily work routine and self-monitored by using pedometers. The aim of this study to evaluate the reducing of inflammation by measuring CRP and improvement arterial stiffness measured by carotid femoral PWV (PWVCF) and AI. A total of 70 young men (20 - 40 years) who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited in Institute of Vocational Skills for Youth (IKBN Hulu Langat). Subjects were randomly assigned to a control (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). The CRP was measured by using immunological method while PWVCF and AI were measured using Vicorder. All parameters were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. Data for analysis was conducted using Statistical Package of Social Sciences Version 22 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). At post intervention, the CG step counts were similar (4983 ± 366vs 5697 ± 407steps/day). The PG increased step count from 4996 ± 805 to 10,128 ±511 steps/day (P<0.001). The PG showed significant improvement in anthropometric variables and lipid (time and group effect p<0.001). For vascular assessment, the PG showed significantly decreased for time and effect (p<0.001) for PWV (7.21± 0.83 to 6.42 ± 0.89) m/s; AI (11.88± 6.25 to 8.83 ± 3.7) % and CRP (pre= 2.28 ± 3.09, post=1.08± 1.37mg/L). However, no changes were seen in CG. As a conclusion, a pedometer-based walking programme may be an effective strategy for promoting increased daily physical activity which reduces cardiovascular risk markers and thus improve cardiovascular health in terms of inflammation and arterial stiffness. The community intervention for health maintenance has potential to adopt walking as an exercise and adopting vascular fitness index as the performance measuring tools.

Keywords: arterial stiffness, exercise, inflammation, pedometer

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Authors: Syed Asif Hassan, Tabrej Khan

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Tuberculosis (TB) caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) continues to take a disturbing toll on human life and healthcare facility worldwide. The global burden of TB remains enormous. The alarming rise of multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis calls for an increase in research efforts towards the development of new target specific therapeutics against diverse strains of M. tuberculosis. Therefore, the discovery of new molecular scaffolds targeting new drug sites should be a priority for a workable plan for fighting resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Mtb non-acylated lipoprotein LprG (Rv1411c) has a Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonist actions that depend on its association with triacylated glycolipids binding specifically with the hydrophobic pocket of Mtb LprG lipoprotein. The detection of a glycolipid carrier function has important implications for the role of LprG in Mycobacterial physiology and virulence. Therefore, considering the pivotal role of glycolipids in mycobacterial physiology and host-pathogen interactions, designing competitive antagonist (chemotherapeutics) ligands that competitively bind to glycolipid binding domain in LprG lipoprotein, will lead to inhibition of tuberculosis infection in humans. In this study, a unified approach involving ligand-based virtual screening protocol USRCAT (Ultra Shape Recognition) software and molecular docking studies using Auto Dock Vina 1.1.2 using the X-ray crystal structure of Mtb LprG protein was implemented. The docking results were further confirmed by DSX (DrugScore eXtented), a robust program to evaluate the binding energy of ligands bound to the Ligand binding domain of the Mtb LprG lipoprotein. The ligand, which has the higher hypothetical affinity, also has greater negative value. Based on the USRCAT, Lipinski’s values and molecular docking results, [(2R)-2,3-di(hexadecanoyl oxy)propyl][(2S,3S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-2,6-bis[[(2R,3S,4S,5R,6S)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6 (hydroxymethyl)tetrahydropyran-2-yl]oxy]cyclohexyl] phosphate (XPX) was confirmed as a promising drug-like lead compound (antagonist) binding specifically to the hydrophobic domain of LprG protein with affinity greater than that of PIM2 (agonist of LprG protein) with a free binding energy of -9.98e+006 Kcal/mol and binding affinity of -132 Kcal/mol, respectively. A further, in vitro assay of this compound is required to establish its potency in inhibiting molecular evasion mechanism of MTB within the infected host macrophages. These results will certainly be helpful in future anti-TB drug discovery efforts against Multidrug-Resistance Tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Keywords: antagonist, agonist, binding affinity, chemotherapeutics, drug-like, multi drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB), RV1411c protein, toll-like receptor (TLR2)

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Authors: Szymon Kuczynski, Krystian Liszka, Mariusz Laciak, Andrii Oliinyk, Adam Szurlej

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The history of gaseous fuel use in the motive power of vehicles dates back to the second half of the nineteenth century, and thus the beginnings of the automotive industry. The engines were powered by coal gas and became the prototype for internal combustion engines built so far. It can thus be considered that this construction gave rise to the automotive industry. As the socio-economic development advances, so does the number of motor vehicles. Although, due to technological progress in recent decades, the emissions generated by internal combustion engines of cars have been reduced, a sharp increase in the number of cars and the rapidly growing traffic are an important source of air pollution and a major cause of acoustic threat, in particular in large urban agglomerations. One of the solutions, in terms of reducing exhaust emissions and improving air quality, is a more extensive use of alternative fuels: CNG, LNG, electricity and hydrogen. In the case of electricity use for transport, it should be noted that the environmental outcome depends on the structure of electricity generation. The paper shows selected regulations affecting the use of alternative fuels for transport (including Directive 2014/94/EU) and its dynamics between 2000 and 2015 in Poland and selected EU countries. The paper also gives a focus on the impact of alternative fuels on the environment by comparing the volume of individual emissions (compared to the emissions from conventional fuels: petrol and diesel oil). Bearing in mind that the extent of various alternative fuel use is determined in first place by economic conditions, the article describes the price relationships between alternative and conventional fuels in Poland and selected EU countries. It is pointed out that although Poland has a wealth of experience in using methane alternative fuels for transport, one of the main barriers to their development in Poland is the extensive use of LPG. In addition, a poorly developed network of CNG stations in Poland, which does not allow easy transport, especially in the northern part of the country, is a serious problem to a further development of CNG use as fuel for transport. An interesting solution to this problem seems to be the use of home CNG filling stations: Home Refuelling Appliance (HRA, refuelling time 8-10 hours) and Home Refuelling Station (HRS, refuelling time 8-10 minutes). The team is working on HRA and HRS technologies. The article also highlights the impact of alternative fuel use on energy security by reducing reliance on imports of crude oil and petroleum products.

Keywords: alternative fuels, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), CNG stations, LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), NGVs (Natural Gas Vehicles), pollutant emissions

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Authors: Sophie Oakes-Rogers, Di Bailey, Karen Slade

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Female offenders are a uniquely vulnerable group, who are at high risk of suicide. Whilst the prevention of self-harm and suicide remains a key global priority, we need to better understand the relationship between these challenging behaviours that constitute a pressing problem, particularly in environments designed to prioritise safety and security. Method choice is unlikely to be random, and is instead influenced by a range of cultural, social, psychological and environmental factors, which change over time and between countries. A key aspect of self-harm and suicide in women receiving forensic care is the lack of free access to methods. At a time where self-harm and suicide rates continue to rise internationally, understanding the role of these influencing factors and the impact of current suicide prevention strategies on the use of near-lethal methods is crucial. This poster presentation will present findings from 25 interviews and 3 focus groups, which enlisted a Participatory Action Research approach to explore the differences between self-harming and suicidal behavior. A key element of this research was using the lived experiences of women receiving forensic care from one forensic pathway in the UK, and the staffs who care for them, to discuss the role of near-lethal self-harm (NLSH). The findings and suggestions from the lived accounts of the women and staff will inform a draft assessment tool, which better assesses the risk of suicide based on the lethality of methods. This tool will be the first of its kind, which specifically captures the needs of women receiving forensic services. Preliminary findings indicate women engage in NLSH for two key reasons and is determined by their history of self-harm. Women who have a history of superficial non-life threatening self-harm appear to engage in NLSH in response to a significant life event such as family bereavement or sentencing. For these women, suicide appears to be a realistic option to overcome their distress. This, however, differs from women who appear to have a lifetime history of NLSH, who engage in such behavior in a bid to overcome the grief and shame associated with historical abuse. NLSH in these women reflects a lifetime of suicidality and indicates they pose the greatest risk of completed suicide. Findings also indicate differences in method selection between forensic provisions. Restriction of means appears to play a role in method selection, and findings suggest it causes method substitution. Implications will be discussed relating to the screening of female forensic patients and improvements to the current suicide prevention strategies.

Keywords: forensic mental health, method substitution, restriction of means, suicide

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Authors: Vivek Hokam, Vishrut Landge

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An ideal maintenance program for an industrial road network is one that would maintain all sections at a sufficiently high level of functional and structural conditions. However, due to various constraints such as budget, manpower and equipment, it is not possible to carry out maintenance on all the needy industrial road sections within a given planning period. A rational and systematic priority scheme needs to be employed to select and schedule industrial road sections for maintenance. Priority analysis is a multi-criteria process that determines the best ranking list of sections for maintenance based on several factors. In priority setting, difficult decisions are required to be made for selection of sections for maintenance. It is more important to repair a section with poor functional conditions which includes uncomfortable ride etc. or poor structural conditions i.e. sections those are in danger of becoming structurally unsound. It would seem therefore that any rational priority setting approach must consider the relative importance of functional and structural condition of the section. The maintenance priority index and pavement performance models tend to focus mainly on the pavement condition, traffic criteria etc. There is a need to develop the model which is suitably used with respect to limited budget provisions for maintenance of pavement. Linear programming is one of the most popular and widely used quantitative techniques. A linear programming model provides an efficient method for determining an optimal decision chosen from a large number of possible decisions. The optimum decision is one that meets a specified objective of management, subject to various constraints and restrictions. The objective is mainly minimization of maintenance cost of roads in industrial area. In order to determine the objective function for analysis of distress model it is necessary to fix the realistic data into a formulation. Each type of repair is to be quantified in a number of stretches by considering 1000 m as one stretch. A stretch considered under study is having 3750 m length. The quantity has to be put into an objective function for maximizing the number of repairs in a stretch related to quantity. The distress observed in this stretch are potholes, surface cracks, rutting and ravelling. The distress data is measured manually by observing each distress level on a stretch of 1000 m. The maintenance and rehabilitation measured that are followed currently are based on subjective judgments. Hence, there is a need to adopt a scientific approach in order to effectively use the limited resources. It is also necessary to determine the pavement performance and deterioration prediction relationship with more accurate and economic benefits of road networks with respect to vehicle operating cost. The infrastructure of road network should have best results expected from available funds. In this paper objective function for distress model is determined by linear programming and deterioration model considering overloading is discussed.

Keywords: budget, maintenance, deterioration, priority

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Authors: Fentie Bishaw Wagayie

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This study was carried out with the objective of studying the response of Farta sheep in feed intake and live weight change when fed on hay supplemented with noug seed cake (NSC), wheat bran (WB), and their mixtures. The digestibility trial of 7 days and 90 days of feeding trial was conducted using 25 intact male Farta sheep with a mean initial live weight of 16.83 ± 0.169 kg. The experimental animals were arranged randomly into five blocks based on the initial live weight, and the five treatments were assigned randomly to each animal in a block. Five dietary treatments used in the experiment comprised of grass hay fed ad libitum (T1), grass hay ad libitum + 300 g DM WB (T2), grass hay ad libitum + 300 g DM (67% WB: 33% NSC mixture) (T3), grass hay ad libitum + 300 g DM (67% NSC: 33% WB) (T4) and 300 g DM/ head/day NSC (T5). Common salt and water were offered ad libitum. The supplements were offered twice daily at 0800 and 1600 hours. The experimental sheep were kept in individual pens. Supplementation of NSC, WB, and their mixtures significantly increased (p < 0.01) the total dry matter (DM) (665.84-788 g/head/day) and (p < 0.001) crude protein (CP) intake. Unsupplemented sheep consumed significantly higher (p < 0.01) grass hay DM (540.5g/head/day) as compared to the supplemented treatments (365.8-488 g/h/d), except T2. Among supplemented sheep, T5 had significantly higher (p < 0.001) CP intake (99.98 g/head/day) than the others (85.52-90.2 g/head/day). Supplementation significantly improved (p < 0.001) the digestibility of CP (66.61-78.9%), but there was no significant effect (p > 0.05) on DM, OM, NDF, and ADF digestibility between supplemented and control treatments. Very low CP digestibility (11.55%) observed in the basal diet (grass hay) used in this study indicated that feeding sole grass hay could not provide nutrients even for the maintenance requirement of growing sheep. Significant final and daily live weight gain (p < 0.001) in the range of 70.11-82.44 g/head/day was observed in supplemented Farta sheep, but unsupplemented sheep lost weight by 9.11g/head/day. Numerically, among the supplemented treatments, sheep supplemented with a higher proportion of NSC in T4 (201 NSC + 99 g WB) gained more weight than the rest, though not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The absence of statistical difference in daily body weight gain between all supplemented sheep indicated that the supplementation of NSC, WB, and their mixtures had similar potential to provide nutrients. Generally, supplementation of NSC, WB, and their mixtures to the basal grass hay diet improved feed conversion ratio, total DM intake, CP intake, and CP digestibility, and it also improved the growth performance with a similar trend for all supplemented Farta sheep over the control group. Therefore, from a biological point of view, to attain the required level of slaughter body weight within a short period of the growing program, sheep producer can use all the supplement types depending upon their local availability, but in the order of priority, T4, T5, T3, and T2, respectively. However, based on partial budget analysis, supplementation of 300 g DM/head /day NSC (T5) could be recommended as profitable for producers with no capital limitation, whereas T4 supplementation (201 g NSC + 99 WB DM/day) is recommended when there is capital scarcity.

Keywords: weight gain, supplement, Farta sheep, hay as basal diet

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Authors: Julio Jesus Salazar, Manuel Andres Jesus De Lama

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There are very few models that serve to analyze the use of water in the socio-economic process. On the supply side, the joint use of groundwater has been considered in addition to the simple limits on the availability of surface water. In addition, we have worked on waterlogging and the effects on water quality (mainly salinity). In this paper, a 'complex' water economy is examined; one in which demands grow differentially not only within but also between sectors, and one in which there are limited opportunities to increase consumptive use. In particular, high-value growth, the growth of the production of irrigated crops of high value within the basins of the case study, together with the rapidly growing urban areas, provides a rich context to examine the general problem of water management at the basin level. At the same time, the long-term aridity of nature has made the eco-environment in the basins located on the coast of Peru very vulnerable, and the exploitation and immediate use of water resources have further deteriorated the situation. The presented methodology is the optimization with embedded simulation. The wide basin simulation of flow and water balances and crop growth are embedded with the optimization of water allocation, reservoir operation, and irrigation scheduling. The modeling framework is developed from a network of river basins that includes multiple nodes of origin (reservoirs, aquifers, water courses, etc.) and multiple demand sites along the river, including places of consumptive use for agricultural, municipal and industrial, and uses of running water on the coast of Peru. The economic benefits associated with water use are evaluated for different demand management instruments, including water rights, based on the production and benefit functions of water use in the urban agricultural and industrial sectors. This work represents a new effort to analyze the use of water at the regional level and to evaluate the modernization of the integrated management of water resources and socio-economic territorial development in Peru. It will also allow the establishment of policies to improve the process of implementation of the integrated management and development of water resources. The input-output analysis is essential to present a theory about the production process, which is based on a particular type of production function. Also, this work presents the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) version of the economic model for water resource policy analysis, which was specifically designed for analyzing large-scale water management. As to the platform for CGE simulation, GEMPACK, a flexible system for solving CGE models, is used for formulating and solving CGE model through the percentage-change approach. GEMPACK automates the process of translating the model specification into a model solution program.

Keywords: water economy, simulation, modeling, integration

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Authors: Venkata Buddharaju, Irene Mccarron, Hazel Alba

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Introduction: Male external catheters (MECs) are commonly used to collect and drain urine. MECs are increasingly used in acute care, long-term acute care hospitals, and nursing facilities, and in other patients as an alternative to invasive urinary catheters to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).MECs are also used to avoid the need for incontinence pads and diapers. Most of the Male External Catheters are held in place by skin adhesive, with the exception of a few, which uses a foam strap clamp around the penile shaft. The adhesive condom catheters typically stay for 24 hours or less. It is also a common practice that extra skin adhesive tape is wrapped around the condom catheter for additional security of the device. The fixed nature of the adhesive will not allow the normal skin expansion of penile size over time. The adhesive can cause skin irritation, redness, erosion, and skin damage. Acanthus condom catheter (ACC) is a patented, specially designed, stretchable silicone catheter without adhesive, adapts to the size and contour of the penis. It is held in place with a single elastic strap that wraps around the lower back and tied to the opposite catheter ring holescriss cross. It can be reused for up to 5 days on the same patient after daily cleaning and washingpotentially reducing cost. Methods: The study was conducted from September 17th to October 8th, 2020. The nursing staff was educated and trained on how to use and reuse the catheter. After identifying five (5) appropriate patients, the catheter was placed and maintained by nursing staff. The data on the ease of use, leak, and skin damage were collected and reported by nurses to the nursing education department of the hospital for analysis. Setting: RML Chicago, long-term acute care hospital, an affiliate of Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL USA. Results: The data showed that the catheter was easy to apply, remove, wash and reuse, without skin problems or urine infections. One patient had used for 16 days after wash, reuse, and replacement without any urine leak or skin issues. A minimal leak was observed on two patients. Conclusion: Acanthus condom catheter was easy to use, functioned well with minimal or no leak during use and reuse. The skin was intact in all patients studied. There were no urinary tract infections in any of the studied patients.

Keywords: CAUTI, male external catheter, reusable, skin adhesive

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Authors: Sajana Suwal, Ganesh R. Nhemafuki

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Evaluation of ground response under earthquake shaking is crucial in geotechnical earthquake engineering. Damage due to seismic excitation is mainly correlated to local geological and geotechnical conditions. It is evident from the past earthquakes (e.g. 1906 San Francisco, USA, 1923 Kanto, Japan) that the local geology has strong influence on amplitude and duration of ground motions. Since then significant studies has been conducted on ground motion amplification revealing the importance of influence of local geology on ground. Observations from the damaging earthquakes (e.g. Nigata and San Francisco, 1964; Irpinia, 1980; Mexico, 1985; Kobe, 1995; L’Aquila, 2009) divulged that non-uniform damage pattern, particularly in soft fluvio-lacustrine deposit is due to the local amplification of seismic ground motion. Non-uniform damage patterns are also observed in Kathmandu Valley during 1934 Bihar Nepal earthquake and recent 2015 Gorkha earthquake seemingly due to the modification of earthquake ground motion parameters. In this study, site effects resulting from amplification of soft soil in Kathmandu are presented. A large amount of subsoil data was collected and used for defining the appropriate subsoil model for the Kathamandu valley. A comparative study of one-dimensional total-stress equivalent linear and non-linear site response is performed using four strong ground motions for six sites of Kathmandu valley. In general, one-dimensional (1D) site-response analysis involves the excitation of a soil profile using the horizontal component and calculating the response at individual soil layers. In the present study, both equivalent linear and non-linear site response analyses were conducted using the computer program DEEPSOIL. The results show that there is no significant deviation between equivalent linear and non-linear site response models until the maximum strain reaches to 0.06-0.1%. Overall, it is clearly observed from the results that non-linear site response model perform better as compared to equivalent linear model. However, the significant deviation between two models is resulted from other influencing factors such as assumptions made in 1D site response, lack of accurate values of shear wave velocity and nonlinear properties of the soil deposit. The results are also presented in terms of amplification factors which are predicted to be around four times more in case of non-linear analysis as compared to equivalent linear analysis. Hence, the nonlinear behavior of soil prevails the urgent need of study of dynamic characteristics of the soft soil deposit that can specifically represent the site-specific design spectra for the Kathmandu valley for building resilient structures from future damaging earthquakes.

Keywords: deep soil, equivalent linear analysis, non-linear analysis, site response

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Authors: Minna Pikkarainen, Yueqiang Xu

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The integration of digital technology with existing healthcare processes has been painfully slow, a huge gap exists between the fields of strictly regulated official medical care and the quickly moving field of health and wellness technology. We claim that the promises of preventive healthcare can only be fulfilled when this gap is closed – health care and self-care becomes seamless continuum “correct information, in the correct hands, at the correct time allowing individuals and professionals to make better decisions” what we call connected health approach. Currently, the issues related to security, privacy, consumer consent and data sharing are hindering the implementation of this new paradigm of healthcare. This could be solved by following MyData principles stating that: Individuals should have the right and practical means to manage their data and privacy. MyData infrastructure enables decentralized management of personal data, improves interoperability, makes it easier for companies to comply with tightening data protection regulations, and allows individuals to change service providers without proprietary data lock-ins. This paper tackles today’s unprecedented challenges of enabling and stimulating multiple healthcare data providers and stakeholders to have more active participation in the digital health ecosystem. First, the paper systematically proposes the MyData approach for healthcare and preventive health data ecosystem. In this research, the work is targeted for health and wellness ecosystems. Each ecosystem consists of key actors, such as 1) individual (citizen or professional controlling/using the services) i.e. data subject, 2) services providing personal data (e.g. startups providing data collection apps or data collection devices), 3) health and wellness services utilizing aforementioned data and 4) services authorizing the access to this data under individual’s provided explicit consent. Second, the research extends the existing four archetypes of orchestrator-driven healthcare data business models for the healthcare industry and proposes the fifth type of healthcare data model, the MyData Blockchain Platform. This new architecture is developed by the Action Design Research approach, which is a prominent research methodology in the information system domain. The key novelty of the paper is to expand the health data value chain architecture and design from centralization and pseudo-decentralization to full decentralization, enabled by blockchain, thus the MyData blockchain platform. The study not only broadens the healthcare informatics literature but also contributes to the theoretical development of digital healthcare and blockchain research domains with a systemic approach.

Keywords: blockchain, health data, platform, action design

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Tjipta Lesmana

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Terrorist attacks quickly penetrated Indonesia following the downfall of Soeharto regime in May 1998. Reform era was officially proclaimed. Indonesia turned to 'heaven state' from 'authoritarian state'. For the first time since 1966, the country experienced a full-scale freedom of expression, including freedom of the press, and heavy acknowledgement of human rights practice. Some religious extremists previously run away to neighbor countries to escape from security apparatus secretly backed home. Quickly they consolidated the power to continue their long aspiration and dream to establish 'Shariah Indonesia', Indonesia based on Khilafah ideology. Bali bombings I which shocked world community occurred on 12 October 2002 in the famous tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, and people from more than 20 other nationalities). In the capital, Jakarta, successive bombings were blasted in Marriott hotel, Australian Embassy, residence of the Philippine Ambassador and stock exchange office. A 'drunken Indonesia' is far from ready to combat nationwide sudden and massive terrorist attacks. Police Detachment 88 (Densus 88) Indonesian counter-terrorism squad, was quickly formed following 2002 Bali Bombing. Anti-terrorism Provisional Act was immediately erected, as well, due to urgent need to fight terrorism. Some Bali bombings criminals were deadly executed after sentenced by the court. But a series of terrorist suicide attacks and another Bali bombings (the second one) in Bali, again, shocked world community. Terrorism network is undoubtedly spreading nationwide. Suspicion is high that they had close connection with Al Qaeda’s groups. Even 'Afghanistan alumni' and 'Syria alumni' returned to Indonesia to back up the local mujahidins in their fights to topple Indonesia constitutional government and set up Islamic state (Khilafah). Supported by massive aids from friendly nations, especially Australia and United States, Indonesia launched large scale operations to crush terrorism consisted of various radical groups such as JAD, JAS, and JAADI. Huge energy, money, and souls were dedicated. Terrorism is, however, persistently entrenched. High ranking officials from Detachment 88 squad and military intelligence believe that terrorism is still one the most deadly enemy of Indonesia.

Keywords: counter-radicalization, de-radicalization, Khalifah, Union State, Al Qaedah, ISIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Ana Julia C. Kfouri

Abstract:

A prerequisite of any building design is to provide security to the users, taking the climate and its physical and physical-geometrical variables into account. It is also important to highlight the relevance of the right material elements, which arise between the person and the agent, and must provide improved thermal comfort conditions and low environmental impact. Furthermore, technology is constantly advancing, as well as computational simulations for projects, and they should be used to develop sustainable building and to provide higher quality of life for its users. In relation to comfort, the more satisfied the building users are, the better their intellectual performance will be. Based on that, the study of thermal comfort in educational buildings is of relative relevance, since the thermal characteristics in these environments are of vital importance to all users. Moreover, educational buildings are large constructions and when they are poorly planned and executed they have negative impacts to the surrounding environment, as well as to the user satisfaction, throughout its whole life cycle. In this line of thought, to evaluate university classroom conditions, it was accomplished a detailed case study on the thermal comfort situation at Federal University of Parana (UFPR). The main goal of the study is to perform a thermal analysis in three classrooms at UFPR, in order to address the subjective and physical variables that influence thermal comfort inside the classroom. For the assessment of the subjective components, a questionnaire was applied in order to evaluate the reference for the local thermal conditions. Regarding the physical variables, it was carried out on-site measurements, which consist of performing measurements of air temperature and air humidity, both inside and outside the building, as well as meteorological variables, such as wind speed and direction, solar radiation and rainfall, collected from a weather station. Then, a computer simulation based on results from the EnergyPlus software to reproduce air temperature and air humidity values of the three classrooms studied was conducted. The EnergyPlus outputs were analyzed and compared with the on-site measurement results to be possible to come out with a conclusion related to the local thermal conditions. The methodological approach included in the study allowed a distinct perspective in an educational building to better understand the classroom thermal performance, as well as the reason of such behavior. Finally, the study induces a reflection about the importance of thermal comfort for educational buildings and propose thermal alternatives for future projects, as well as a discussion about the significant impact of using computer simulation on engineering solutions, in order to improve the thermal performance of UFPR’s buildings.

Keywords: computer simulation, educational buildings, EnergyPlus, humidity, temperature, thermal comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 378