Search results for: model-specific factors

Authors: Ilirian Laçi, Alketa Spahiu

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Ageing causes an increase in the number of patients with spinal canal stenosis. Most of the patients have back pain, leg pain, numbness of the legs, as well as urinary incontinence as a very common symptoms. Urinary incontinence impairs the quality of life. Correction of the symptom of urinary incontinence is possible in the early and adequate treatment of spinal stenosis. Methods: This study observed patients with urinary incontinence and spinal canal stenosis. These patients underwent mechanical decompression of the spinal stenosis through surgery. At the same time, these patients were observed clinically with clinical consultations. Cystoscopy and urodynamic tests were conducted at intervals of 2 and 6 months. As a result of treatment, 60% of patients did recover. The patients in this group who benefit from treatment were the patients who were early diagnosed and treated. Conclusions: An important factor in the prognosis of this pathology is the early diagnosis and treatment. The proper treatment of this pathology makes it curable in most cases. An important role in this pathology is played by the neurosurgeon. Surgery accompanied by laminotomy and mechanical decompression is the best way of treatment. Other factors that played a role in this pathology are also a large number of childbirths for women, obesity, etc.

Keywords: urinary incontinence, quality of life, spinal canal stenosis, early diagnosis, treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: A. Brahma

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Drying is a phenomenon that accompanies the hardening of hydraulic materials. It can, if it is not prevented, lead to significant spontaneous dimensional variations, which the cracking is one of events. In this context, cracking promotes the transport of aggressive agents in the material, which can affect the durability of concrete structures. Drying shrinkage develops over a long period almost 30 years although most occurred during the first three years. Drying shrinkage stabilizes when the material is water balance with the external environment. The drying shrinkage of cementitious materials is due to the formation of capillary tensions in the pores of the material, which has the consequences of bringing the solid walls of each other. Knowledge of the shrinkage characteristics of concrete is a necessary starting point in the design of structures for crack control. Such knowledge will enable the designer to estimate the probable shrinkage movement in reinforced or prestressed concrete and the appropriate steps can be taken in design to accommodate this movement. This study is concerned the modelling of drying shrinkage of the hydraulic materials and the prediction of the rate of spontaneous deformations of hydraulic materials during hardening. The model developed takes in consideration the main factors affecting drying shrinkage. There was agreement between drying shrinkage predicted by the developed model and experimental results. In last we show that developed model describe the evolution of the drying shrinkage of high performances concretes correctly.

Keywords: drying, hydraulic concretes, shrinkage, modeling, prediction

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Authors: Raweyah Al-Sedairawi

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While high-rise housing detained massive negative connotations on several societies and well-being, this typology did deliver housing demand efficiently. Despite its adverse reference due to declining precedents, high-rise housing is still in global demand. Yet the suitability of this typology is still questioned. In this research, the suitability of high-rise housing as a socio-culturally sustainable solution to meet housing demands will be examined. By questioning what is the potential of high-rise housing as a socio-culturally sustainable solution for housing demands, the research will examine some high-rise housing practices. Through reviewing the literature on the origins of high-rise housing, how and why they were developed, some unsuccessful cases, and some successful cases, with the identification of factors for successful high-rise living. Thus, the research groundings will materialize from existing patterns of housing demands. Whilst most of the literature covers the housing market from an economic, real estate, and political perspective, there is less amount that discloses occupants’ reactions towards this typology and its appropriateness for the reason that income controls individuals’ choices. To bridge the gap, the prospect of implementing the study would be effective. This will be applied through a mixture of a qualitative and a quantitative methodology by conducting questionnaires and focus groups on existing cases of high-net-worth residential towers.

Keywords: architecture, behaviors, high-rise, socio-cultural, sustainability

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Authors: Dorota Kobus-Ostrowska

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Work for everyone, especially for person with disability is a condition in independence; it secures basic needs and develops manual and intellectual capabilities. The work is a source of income, and it builds and strengthens of self-esteem and competence. The purpose of this article is to identify work as an important factor in everyone’s life, despite Polish disabled persons rarely having the chance to undertake a job. In order to achieve this purpose, two methods were used: comparative and qualitative. The theoretical part of this article is based on studies of a wide range of Polish and foreign literature devoted to the issue of the occupational development of people with disabilities. The article was also enriched with the institutional and legal analysis types of support for people with disabilities in Poland. Currently, a Polish person with disability who wants to enter or return to the labor market is under a special protection. Those entities employing workers with disabilities may obtain a subsidy for the salary of a person with disabilities. Unfortunately, people with disability in Poland rarely participate in the workforce. The factors that contribute to this include the difficulty in obtaining work, the uncertainty of keeping it, and the low salary offered. Despite that domestic and foreign literature highlight the important role of disabled people as a workforce, very few people with disability in Poland are economically active.

Keywords: disabled person, employer, rehabilitation, work

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Authors: L. Oufni, M. Amrane, R. Rabi

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Radon (and thoron) is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas, having variable distribution in the geological environment. The exposure of human beings to ionizing radiation from natural sources is a continuing and inescapable feature of life on earth. Radon, thoron and their short-lived decay products in the atmosphere are the most important contributors to human exposure from natural sources. The aim of this study is to determine alpha-and beta-activities per unit volume of air due to radon (222Rn), thoron (220Rn) and their progenies in the air of ancient mine of Aouli in which there is no working activity is situated at approximately 25 km north of the city of Midelt (Morocco), by using LR-115 type II and CR-39 solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs). Equilibrium factors between radon and its daughters and between thoron and its progeny were evaluated in the studied atmospheres. The committed equivalent doses due to the 218Po and 214Po radon short-lived progeny were evaluated in different tissues of the respiratory tract of the visitors of the considered ancient mine. The visitors in these mines spent a good amount of time. It was essential to let the staff know about these values and take the needed steps to prevent any health complications.

Keywords: radon, thoron, concentration, exposure dose, SSNTD, mine

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Authors: Loreta Axhami

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Media literacy in the digital age emerges not only as a set of skills to generate true knowledge and information but also as a pedagogy methodology, as a kind of educational philosophy. In addition to such innovations as information integration and communication technologies, media infrastructures, and web usage in the educational system, media literacy enables the change in the learning methods, pedagogy, teaching programs, and school curriculum itself. In this framework, this study focuses on ICT's impact on teaching and learning methods and the degree they are reflected in the Albanian education system. The study is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of scientific research. Referring to the study findings, it results that student’s limited access to the internet in school, focus on the hardcopy textbooks and the role of the teacher as the only or main source of knowledge and information are some of the main factors contributing to the implementation of authoritarian pedagogical methods in the Albanian education system. In these circumstances, the implementation of media literacy is recommended as an apt educational process for the 21st century, which requires a reconceptualization of textbooks as well as the application of modern teaching and learning methods by integrating information and communication technologies.

Keywords: authoritarian pedagogic model, education system, ICT, media literacy

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Authors: Nihaya Daoud, Adi Finkelstein

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Depression is a major public health concern and it is estimated to be the second leading cause of morbidity in 2020. One of the most consistent findings in mental health in the Western societies is inequalities in depression between men and women. Studies on differences in depression between Arab men and women are scarce. In this paper, we use data of a countrywide study on the Arab minority in Israel to compare the prevalence of depressive symptoms between men and women and examine factors that contribute to this gender inequality in the context of Arab society. The study was conducted in 2005-2006. It included a sample of Palestinian citizens of Israel, aged 30–70. The final sample included 902 respondents (381 women and 521 men) who were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire in Arabic, before which they each signed an informed consent form. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Hadassah – Hebrew University Medical Center. Results show that women had significantly higher depressive symptoms (DS) than men. In addition, while Arab women had steady rates of depressive symptoms between the ages of 40-54 and a peak at the age group of 55-59, among Arab men there was a peak almost every 10 years (more results will show in the full presentation). We assume that our findings might be attributed to the specific structural changes in the Arab society in Israel in the last decades.

Keywords: Arab men, Arab women, depression, gender inequality

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Authors: Farina Yasmin

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Motivation is an important issue in an EFL setting where very little exposure to English in everyday life is clearly evident. In Bangladesh, English is taught as a foreign language. Language teachers cannot effectively teach a language if they do not understand the relationship between motivation and its effect on foreign language learning. The main purpose of this research is to explore the fact why HSC students are less motivated towards English language learning, what factors are affecting motivation, how to motivate them and the role of motivation in their success. The research questions were (a) what are the reasons of lack of motivation? and (b) what are the impacts of motivation on English language learning? The study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The data was collected via pretest - posttest, interviews, and a questionnaire on the five point Likert scale. Triangulation of the data was made for the validity of the research. The population of this research consisted of 50 HSC level students from Jatir Janak Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Government College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The data was analyzed with means, comparison and t-test. The results showed that there is a strong relation between motivation and success in foreign language learning. Finally, some pedagogical implications and suggestions were presented to arouse the students’ motivation to learn English.

Keywords: EFL, HSC, motivation, success

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Authors: Rylle Evan Gabriel Zamora, Micah Dennise Malia, Abygail Deniese Villabona

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The primary motivators of altruism are usually viewed as mutually exclusive. In this study, we wanted to know if the two primary motivators, reciprocity and empathy, can work together in motivating altruism. Therefore, we wanted to find out if there is a significant interaction of effects between reciprocity and empathy. To show how this may occur, we devised the combined altruism model, which is based on Batson’s empathy altruism hypothesis. A sample of 120, 6th-grade students were randomly selected and then randomly assigned to four treatment groups. A 2x2 between subjects’ design was used, which had empathy and reciprocity as independent variables, and altruism as the dependent variable. The study made use of materials that were effort based, where subjects were required to complete a task or a puzzle to help a person in a given scenario, two videos, one to prime empathy were also used. This along with Witt & Boleman’s adapted Self-Reported Altruism Scale was used to determine an individual’s altruism. It was found that both variables were significant in motivating altruism, with empathy being the greater of the two. However, there was no significant interaction of effects between the two variables. To explain why this occurred, we turned to the combined altruism model, where it was found that when empathically primed, we tend to not think of ourselves when helping others. Future studies could focus on other variables, especially age which is said to be one of the greatest factors that influenced the results of the experiment.

Keywords: reciprocity, empathy, altruism, experimental psychology, social psychology

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Authors: C. Iraklis, G. Evmiridis, A. Iraklis

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Renewable energy sources and distributed power generation units already have an important role in electrical power generation. A mixture of different technologies penetrating the electrical grid, adds complexity in the management of distribution networks. High penetration of distributed power generation units creates node over-voltages, huge power losses, unreliable power management, reverse power flow and congestion. This paper presents an optimization algorithm capable of reducing congestion and power losses, both described as a function of weighted sum. Two factors that describe congestion are being proposed. An upgraded selective particle swarm optimization algorithm (SPSO) is used as a solution tool focusing on the technique of network reconfiguration. The upgraded SPSO algorithm is achieved with the addition of a heuristic algorithm specializing in reduction of power losses, with several scenarios being tested. Results show significant improvement in minimization of losses and congestion while achieving very small calculation times.

Keywords: congestion, distribution networks, loss reduction, particle swarm optimization, smart grid

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Authors: Clifford Irikefe Gbeyonron

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Applied linguists concur that there is low-level achievement in English language use among Nigerian secondary school students. One of the factors that exacerbate this is classroom feature of which large class size is obvious. This study investigated the impact of large classes on learning English as a second language (ESL) at junior secondary school (JSS) in Yobe State. To achieve this, Solomon four-group experimental design was used. 382 subjects were divided into four groups and taught ESL for thirteen weeks. 356 subjects wrote the post-test. Data from the systematic observation and post-test were analyzed via chi square and ANOVA. Results indicated that learners in large classes (LLC) attain lower linguistic progress than learners in small classes (LSC). Furthermore, LSC have more chances to access teacher evaluation and participate actively in classroom discourse than LLC. In consequence, large classes have adverse effects on learning ESL in Yobe State. This is inimical to English language education given that each learner of ESL has their individual peculiarity within each class. It is recommended that strategies that prioritize individualization, grouping, use of language teaching aides, and theorization of innovative models in respect of large classes be considered.

Keywords: large classes, achievement, classroom discourse

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Authors: Ester B. Onag, Manuel Morga, Belen Tangco

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Evidence-based research attested that Climate Change is a global phenomenon that has a massive impact on the economy, the government and the people. To minimize its impact, the national government must undertake social orders to ensure the needs of the people by implementing developmental policies that provide adequate social service to improve the quality of life for all. This research attempts to evaluate the political accountability of the Sangguniang Barangay of Malabon on its readiness for climate change. Which, the theory of decentralization takes an active participation, where the the national policies for climate change are adopted by local ordinances and it is enforced, monitored, and reported through the Barangay ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Barangay. This paper also analyzes certain factors anchored on the political accountability of the Sangguniang Barangay which determines the state of their readiness in climate change, such as the gravity of their accountability which extends beyond the lines of their responsibility as stated in the local government code. It also evaluated the degree of their capabilities in actual legislation, the nature of their prioritization through their enacted ordinances and the extent of participation from different stakeholders of barangay such as the sectoral representatives and the citizens in which their participation is a means that leads to community awareness.

Keywords: climate change, local government, Sangguniang Barangay, government

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Authors: Park Sung-Min, Chan Kwon Park, Kim Chae-Bogk

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This study aims to analyze the relationship between nonverbal communication, perceived expertise, service quality, and trust. The study was conducted with clients using cosmetic stores in the Daegu area of Korea. Based on the prior study, the measurement questions are correctly amended and organized in this study. The exploration factor analysis was performed using SPSS 22 for the configured measurement questions. And PLS 2.0 was used to perform a confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. As a result of the analysis, nonverbal communication has been categorized as physical appearance, kinesics, vocal behavior and proxemics. It has been shown that all of the factors in nonverbal communication have a (+) significant effect on perceived expertise. The degree of impact has been analyzed to influence the perceived expertise in the order in which physical appearance, vocal behavior, kinesics and proxemics. The perceived expertise was analyzed to have a (+) significant effect on the service quality. It has been shown that the service quality has a (+) significant effect on trust.

Keywords: nonverbal communication, perceived expertise, service quality, trust

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Authors: Akeel Noori Al-Mulla Hwaish

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The environmental impact, economics, social and cultural factors, and the processes by which people define history and meaning had influenced the dynamic shape and character of the traditional Islamic Arabic city. Therefore, in regard to the period when Islam was at its peak (7th- 13th Centuries), Islamic city wasn’t the highly dynamited at the scale of buildings and city planning that demonstrates a distinguished city as an ‘Islamic’ as appeared after centuries when the function of the buildings and their particular arrangement and planning scheme in relation to one another that defined an Islamic city character. The architectural features of the urban fabric of the traditional Arabic Islamic city are a ‎reflection of the spiritual, social, and cultural characteristics of the people. It is a ‎combination of Islamic values ‘Din’ and life needs ‘Dunia’ as Prophet Muhammad built the first Mosque in ‎Madinah in the 1st year of his migration to it, then the Suq or market on 2nd of Hijrah, attached to ‎the mosque to signify the birth of a new Muslims community which considers both, ‎‎’Din’ and ‘Dunia’ and initiated nucleus for what which called after that as an ‘Islamic’ city. This research will discuss the main characteristics and components of the traditional Arab cities and demonstrate the impact of the Islamic values on shaping the planning layout and general built environment features of the early traditional Arab cities.

Keywords: urban, Islamic, Arabic, city

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Authors: Gargi S. Kumar, Mrinmoyi Kulkarni

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Food choice behavior is complex and determined by biological, psychological, socio-cultural, and economic factors. The past two decades, have seen dramatic changes in food consumption patterns among urban Indian consumers. The objective of the current study was to evaluate perceptions about changes with respect to food choice behavior. Ten participants [urban men and women] ranging in age from 40 to 65 were selected and in-depth interviews were conducted with a set of open ended questions. The recorded interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed using inductive, open and axial coding. The results identified themes that act as drivers and consequences of change in food choice behavior. Drivers such as globalization [sub themes of urbanization, education, income, and work environment], media and advertising, changing gender roles, women in the workforce, and change in family structure have influenced food choice, both at an individual and national level. The consequences of changes in food choice were health implications, processed food consumption, food decisions driven by children and eating out among others. The study reveals that, over time, food choices change and evolve. However it is interesting to note how market forces and culture interact to influence individual behavior and the overall food environment which subsequently affects food choice and the health of the people.

Keywords: change, consequences, drivers, food choice, globalization

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Authors: Gabor Kiraly

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Wine regions are based on equilibria between climate, soil, grape varieties, and farming expertise that define the special character and quality of local vine farming and wine production. Changes in climate conditions may increase risk of destabilizing this equilibrium. Adaptation decisions, including adjusting practices, processes and capitals in response to climate change stresses – may reduce this risk. However, farmers’ adaptive behavior are subject to a wide range of factors and forces such as links between climate change implications and production, farm - scale adaptive capacity and other external forces that might hinder them to make efficient response to climate change challenges. This paper will aim to study climate change adaptation practices and strategies of grape growers in a way of applying a complex and holistic approach involving theories, methods and tools both from environmental and social sciences. It will introduce the field of adaptation studies as an evidence - based discourse by presenting an overview of examples from wine regions where adaptation studies have already reached an advanced stage. This will serve as a theoretical background for a preliminary research with the aim to examine the feasibility and applicability of such a research approach in the Hungarian context.

Keywords: climate change, adaptation, viticulture, Hungary

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Authors: Fan Yu

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An atrium is a place for natural climate exchanging of indoor and outdoor space of buildings, which plays an active role in the overall energy conservation, climate control and environmental purification of buildings. Its greatest contribution is serving as a natural light collector and distributor to solve the problem of natural lighting in large and deep spaces. However, in real situations, the atrium space often results in energy consumption due to improper design in considering its big size and large amount use of glass. Based on the purpose of energy conservation of buildings, this paper emphasizes the significance of natural lighting of atriums. Through literature research, case analysis and other methods, four factors, namely: the light transmittance through the top of the atrium, the geometric proportion of the atrium space, the size and position of windows and the material of the surface of walls in the atrium, were studied, and the influence of different architectural compositions on the natural light distribution of the atrium is discussed. Relying on the analysis of relevant cases, it is proposed that when designing the natural lighting of the atrium, the height and width of the atrium should be paid attention to, the atrium walls are required being rough surfaces and the atrium top-level windows need to be minimized in order to introduce more natural light into the buildings and achieve the purpose of energy conservation.

Keywords: energy conservation, atrium, natural lighting, architectural design

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Gousilin Leandra Rocha Da Silva, Stéfani T. A. Dantas, Bruna F. Rossi, Erika R. Bonsaglia, Ivana G. Castilho, Terue Sadatsune, Ary Fernandes Júnior, Vera l. M. Rall

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Kidney failure causes decreased diuresis and accumulation of nitrogenous substances in the body. To increase patient survival, hemodialysis is used as a partial substitute for renal function. However, contamination of the water used in this treatment, causing bacteremia in patients, is a worldwide concern. The Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of bacteria with more than 20 species, is frequently isolated from hemodialysis water samples and comprises opportunistic bacteria, affecting immunosuppressed patients, due to its wide variety of virulence factors, in addition to innate resistance to several antimicrobial agents, contributing to the permanence in the hospital environment and to the pathogenesis in the host. The objective of the present work was to characterize molecularly and phenotypically Bcc isolates collected from the water and dialysate of the Hemodialysis Unit and from the blood of patients at a Public Hospital in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, between 2019 and 2021. We used 33 Bcc isolates, previously obtained from blood cultures from patients with bacteremia undergoing hemodialysis treatment (2019-2021) and 24 isolates obtained from water and dialysate samples in a Hemodialysis Unit (same period). The recA gene was sequenced to identify the specific species among the Bcc group. All isolates were tested for the presence of some genes that encode virulence factors such as cblA, esmR, zmpA and zmpB. Considering the epidemiology of the outbreak, the Bcc isolates were molecularly characterized by Multi Locus Sequence Type (MLST) and by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The verification and quantification of biofilm in a polystyrene microplate were performed by submitting the isolates to different incubation temperatures (20°C, average water temperature and 35°C, optimal temperature for group growth). The antibiogram was performed with disc diffusion tests on agar, using discs impregnated with cefepime (30µg), ceftazidime (30µg), ciprofloxacin (5µg), gentamicin (10µg), imipenem (10µg), amikacin 30µg), sulfametazol/trimethoprim (23.75/1.25µg) and ampicillin/sulbactam (10/10µg). The presence of ZmpB was identified in all isolates, while ZmpA was observed in 96.5% of the isolates, while none of them presented the cblA and esmR genes. The antibiogram of the 33 human isolates indicated that all were resistant to gentamicin, colistin, ampicillin/sulbactam and imipenem. 16 (48.5%) isolates were resistant to amikacin and lower rates of resistance were observed for meropenem, ceftazidime, cefepime, ciprofloxacin and piperacycline/tazobactam (6.1%). All isolates were sensitive to sulfametazol/trimethoprim, levofloxacin and tigecycline. As for the water isolates, resistance was observed only to gentamicin (34.8%) and imipenem (17.4%). According to PFGE results, all isolates obtained from humans and water belonged to the same pulsotype (1), which was identified by recA sequencing as B. cepacia¸, belonging to sequence type ST-767. By observing a single pulse type over three years, one can observe the persistence of this isolate in the pipeline, contaminating patients undergoing hemodialysis, despite the routine disinfection of water with peracetic acid. This persistence is probably due to the production of biofilm, which protects bacteria from disinfectants and, making this scenario more critical, several isolates proved to be multidrug-resistant (resistance to at least three groups of antimicrobials), turning the patient care even more difficult.

Keywords: hemodialysis, burkholderia cepacia, PFGE, MLST, multi drug resistance

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Authors: Ramadhan Febriansyah, Sarah Novianti, Santi Agustini

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Indonesia is a big country with Moslem population. The government must fulfill all needs of the people. However, we do not have a good policy yet especially on healthy, safety and halal food. We try to offer a new solution to overcome this with ASUH (Aman, Sehat, Utuh, Halal) or in English is SHIH (Safe, Healthy, Intact, Halal) as alternative Indonesian policy on food security. This policy is Indonesian Government’s commitment to support Sustainability Development Goals program for the zero hunger (end hunger, to achieve food security and improved nutrition for Indonesian people, of course, to promote sustainable agriculture). Hopefully, it not only can increasing quality on food especially on livestock goods (meat, egg, milk) but also to guarantee the halal food. However, this policy can be an example to others country especially Moslem countries to support SDG’s programs. This research conducted means of the descriptive method; the authors find compare the secondary data obtained from journals, textbook and scientific articles in order to determine the factors that influence food safety and food security. Relevant data used and contain a description of SDG’s as well as about the system food safety and food security that SHIH (Safe, Healthy, Intact and Halal) so these ideas can be implemented.

Keywords: food safety, food security, food sovereignty, halal SDG's

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Authors: Zach Banzon, Marina Caculitan, Gianne Laisac, Stephanie Lopez, Marguerite Villegas

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The role of incidental positive emotions and gender on people’s trust decisions have been established by existing research. The aim of this experiment is to address the gap in the literature by examining whether these factors will have a similar effect on trust behavior even after the experience of betrayal. A total of 144 undergraduate students participated in a trust game involving the anonymous interaction of a participant and a transgressor. Of these participants, only 125 (63 males and 62 females) were included in the data analyses. A story was used to prime incidental positive emotions or emotions originally unrelated to the trustee. Recovered trust was measured by relating the proportion of the money passed before and after betrayal. Data was analyzed using two-way analysis of variance having two levels for gender (male, female) and two for priming (with, without), with trust propensity scores entered as a covariate. It was predicted that trust recovery will be more apparent in females than in males but the data obtained was not significantly different between the genders. Induced positive emotions, however, had a statistically significant effect on trust behavior even after betrayal. No significant interaction effect was found between induced positive emotion and gender. The experiment provides evidence that the manipulation of situational variables, to a certain extent, can facilitate the reparation of trust.

Keywords: gender effect, positive emotions, trust game, trust recovery

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Authors: Sadaf Abbas, HimGauri Sabnis

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Introduction: Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition that presents as heart failure during the last month of pregnancy or within five months postpartum. The incidence of postpartum cardiomyopathy ranges from 1 in 1300 to 1 in 15,000 pregnancies. Risk factors include multiparty, advanced maternal age, multiple pregnancies, pre-eclampsia, and chronic hypertension. Study: A 30-year-old Para3+0 presented to the Emergency Department of St’Marry Hospital, Isle of Wight, on the seventh day postpartum, with acute shortness of breath (SOB), chest pain, cough, and a temperature of 38 degrees. The risk factors were smoking and class II obesity (BMI of 40.62). The patient had mild pre-eclampsia in the last pregnancy and was on labetalol and aspirin during an antenatal period, which was stopped postnatally. There was also a history of pre-eclampsia and haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets (HELLP syndrome) in previous pregnancies, which led to preterm delivery at 35 weeks in the second pregnancy, and the first baby was stillborn at 24 weeks. On assessment, there was a national early warning score (NEWS score) of 3, persistent tachycardia, and mild crepitation in the lungs. Initial investigations revealed an enlarged heart on chest X-ray, and a CT pulmonary angiogram indicated bilateral basal pulmonary congestion without pulmonary embolism, suggesting fluid overload. Laboratory results showed elevated CRP and normal troponin levels initially, which later increased, indicating myocardial involvement. Echocardiography revealed a severely dilated left ventricle with an ejection fraction (EF) of 31%, consistent with severely impaired systolic function. The cardiology team reviewed the patient and admitted to the Coronary Care Unit. As sign and symptoms were suggestive of fluid overload and congestive cardiac failure, management was done with diuretics, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors), proton pump inhibitors, and supportive care. During admission, there was complications such as acute kidney injury, but then recovered well. Chest pain had resolved following the treatment. After being admitted for eight days, there was an improvement in the symptoms, and the patient was discharged home with a further plan of cardiac MRI and genetic testing due to a family history of sudden cardiac death. Regular appointment has been made with the Cardiology team to follow-up on the symptoms. Since discharge, the patient made a good recovery. A cardiac MRI was done, which showed severely impaired left ventricular function, ejection fraction (EF) of 38% with mild left ventricular dilatation, and no evidence of previous infarction. Overall appearance is of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. The main challenge at the time of admission was the non-availability of a cardiac radiology team, so the definitive diagnosis was delayed. The long-term implications include risk of recurrence, chronic heart failure, and, consequently, an effect on quality of life. Therefore, regular follow-up is critical in patient’s management. Conclusions: Peripartum cardiomyopathy is one of the cardiovascular diseases whose causes are still unknown yet and, in some cases, are uncontrolled. By raising awareness about the symptoms and management of this complication it will reduce morbidity and mortality rates and also the length of stay in the hospital.

Keywords: cardiomyopathy, cardiomegaly, pregnancy, puerperium

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Authors: J. Satya Eswari, Ch. Venkateswarlu

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The formulation of a commercial pharmaceutical product involves several composition factors and response characteristics. When the formulation requires to satisfy multiple response characteristics which are conflicting, an optimal solution requires the need for an efficient multiobjective optimization technique. In this work, a regression is combined with a non-dominated sorting differential evolution (NSDE) involving Naïve & Slow and ε constraint techniques to derive different multiobjective optimization strategies, which are then evaluated by means of a trapidil pharmaceutical formulation. The analysis of the results show the effectiveness of the strategy that combines the regression model and NSDE with the integration of both Naïve & Slow and ε constraint techniques for Pareto optimization of trapidil formulation. With this strategy, the optimal formulation at pH=6.8 is obtained with the decision variables of micro crystalline cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and compression pressure. The corresponding response characteristics of rate constant and release order are also noted down. The comparison of these results with the experimental data and with those of other multiple regression model based multiobjective evolutionary optimization strategies signify the better performance for optimal trapidil formulation.

Keywords: pharmaceutical formulation, multiple regression model, response surface method, radial basis function network, differential evolution, multiobjective optimization

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Authors: N. Norazlimi, R. Ramli

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A study was conducted to determine the diversity and abundance of shorebird species habituating the mudflat area of Jeram Beach and Remis Beach, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Direct observation technique (using binoculars and video camera) was applied to record the presence of bird species in the sampling sites from August 2013 until July 2014. A total of 32 species of shorebird were recorded during both migratory and non-migratory seasons. Of these, eleven species (47.8%) are migrants, six species (26.1%) have both migrant and resident populations, four species (17.4%) are vagrants and two species (8.7%) are residents. The compositions of the birds differed significantly in all months (χ2=84.35, p<0.001). There is a significant difference in avian abundance between migratory and non-migratory seasons (Mann-Whitney, t=2.39, p=0.036). The avian abundance were differed significantly in Jeram and Remis Beaches during migratory periods (t=4.39, p=0.001) but not during non-migratory periods (t=0.78, p=0.456). Shorebird diversity was also affected by tidal cycle. There is a significance difference between high tide and low tide (Mann-Whitney, t=78.0, p<0.005). Frequency of disturbance also affected the shorebird distribution (Mann-Whitney, t=57.0, p= 0.0134). Therefore, this study concluded that tides and disturbances are two factors that affecting temporal distribution of shorebird in mudflats area.

Keywords: biodiversity, distribution, migratory birds, direct observation

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Authors: S. S. Patil, Sachidanand Kini

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Classification of land use patterns is compelling in complexity and variability of remote sensing imageries data. An imperative research in remote sensing application exploited to mine some of the significant spatially variable factors as land cover and land use from satellite images for remote arid areas in Karnataka State, India. The diverse classification techniques, unsupervised and supervised consisting of maximum likelihood, Mahalanobis distance, and minimum distance are applied in Bellary District in Karnataka State, India for the classification of the raw satellite images. The accuracy evaluations of results are compared visually with the standard maps with ground-truths. We initiated with the maximum likelihood technique that gave the finest results and both minimum distance and Mahalanobis distance methods over valued agriculture land areas. In meanness of mislaid few irrelevant features due to the low resolution of the satellite images, high-quality accord between parameters extracted automatically from the developed maps and field observations was found.

Keywords: Mahalanobis distance, minimum distance, supervised, unsupervised, user classification accuracy, producer's classification accuracy, maximum likelihood, kappa coefficient

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Authors: Robert O'Mochain

Abstract:

Over seven years have passed since the #MeToo movement first became prominent in Japan. Opinions vary on the degree of success of the movement along with its offshoot campaigns. This chapter suggests that a range of historical factors help to account for the relative lack of success of #MeToo in Japan, but that the gains achieved should also be highlighted. Our interviews with a range of activists provide insights into the nature of #MeToo in Japan and how it should be contextualized in the contemporary landscape of feminist movements here. In spite of the gains that have been made, it remains clear that levels of abuse and of non-reporting remain worryingly high and calls for well-resourced campaigns for ‘Awareness, Prevention, and Response’ are as timely as ever. Surprisingly, a case of sexual abuse involving boys and young men who were the victims of the sexual predator and entertainment mogul, Johnny Kitagawa, may be the clearest sign of change in Japanese society regarding victims of sexual abuse. In the post-#MeToo era, it was possible for these victims to come forward and attain some measure of justice. It was also possible for members of the public to strongly condemn the failures of the mass media journalists who ignored the evidence of sexual abuse for many years. Nevertheless, the case itself does not constitute reliable evidence that conditions have changed significantly for all victims of abuse or that media outlets will live up to their promises about reporting abuse.

Keywords: #MeToo, significance, Japan, prevention, response

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Authors: Hongyu Ye, Hong Zhang, Minjie Sun, Hongfang Xu

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In the context of China's promotion of smart construction and building industrialization, there is a need for evaluation standards for the development of building industrialization based on assembly-type construction. However, the evaluation of smart construction remains a challenge in the industry's development process. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a calculation and evaluation method for the smartization rate of concrete structure building construction. The study focuses on examining the factors of smart equipment application and their impact on costs throughout the process of smart construction design, production, transfer, and construction. Based on this analysis, the paper presents an evaluation method for the smartization rate based on components. Furthermore, it introduces calculation methods for assessing the smartization rate of buildings. The paper also suggests a rapid calculation method for determining the smartization rate using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and information expression technology. The proposed research provides a foundation for the swift calculation of the smartization rate based on BIM and information technology. Ultimately, it aims to promote the development of smart construction and the construction of high-quality buildings in China.

Keywords: building industrialization, high quality building, smart construction, smartization rate, component

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Authors: Zhu Zhizheng, Huang Yong, Li Tong

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In the context of land and space development and resource environmental protection. Due to its special geographical location, mountain-plain transition zones are limited by many factors such as topography, mountain forest protection, etc., and their ecology is also more sensitive, with the characteristics of disaster susceptibility and resource gradient. Taking Dujiangyan City, Chengdu as an example, this paper establishes resilience evaluation indicators on the basis of ecological suitability evaluation through the analysis of current situation data and relevant policies: water conservation evaluation, soil and water conservation evaluation, biodiversity evaluation, soil erosion sensitivity evaluation, etc. Based on GIS spatial analysis, the ecological suitability and resilience evaluation results of Dujiangyan city were obtained by disjunction operation. The ecological resilience level of Dujiangyan city was divided into three categories: high, medium and low, with an area ratio of 50.81%, 16.4% and 32.79%, respectively. This paper can provide ideas for solving the contradiction between man and land in the mountain-plain transition zones, and also provide a certain basis for the construction of regional ecological protection and the delineation of three zones and three lines.

Keywords: urban and rural planning, ecological resilience, dujiangyan city, mountain-plain transition zones

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Authors: Aleksandra Ristic

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The Coronavirus Disease – 2019 hit Europe in February 2020, and infections took place in four waves. It left consequences and demanded changes for the future. More than half of European countries responded quickly by declaring a state of emergency and introducing various containment measures that have had a major impact on individuals’ lives in recent years. Closing public lives was largely achieved by limited access and/or closing public institutions and services, including the closure of educational institutions. Teaching in classrooms converted to distance learning. In the research, we used a quantitative study to analyze various factors of distance learning that influenced pupils in different segments: teachers’ availability, family support, entire online conference learning, successful distance learning, time for themselves, reliable sources, teachers’ feedback, successful distance learning, online participation classes, motivation and teachers’ communication and theoretical review of the importance of digital skills, e-learning Index, World comparison of e-learning in the past, digital education plans for the field of Europe. We have gathered recommendations and distance learning solutions to improve the learning process by strengthening teachers and creating more tiered strategies for setting and achieving learning goals by the children.

Keywords: availability, digital skills, distance learning, resources

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Jafari, Zeinolabedin Amini Sabegh, Habibollah Azimian

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Background: Today variable and dynamic environment doubles importance of using suitable solutions for confronting these changes in th4e organizations. One of the best ways for coping with environmental changes is directing the organization towards agility. Current research aims at investigating status of organizational agility in Tehran municipality (22 districts). Research Methodology: This research is applied research in terms of purpose of study and it is survey in terms of collection of descriptive data. A sample (n = 377) was selected from Tehran Municipality (22 districts) employees using multistage sampling method (cluster and regular). Data were collected using organizational agility standard questionnaire, and they were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software as well as inferential statistics such as one-sample t-test and Friedman test and descriptive statistics such as mean and median. Findings: Research findings showed organizational agility status in the organizations under study is in relatively optimal status and competence has highest priority in terms of ranking and priority of organizational agility indexes. Conclusion: It is necessary that managers provide suitable conditions for promoting organizational agility status in the organizations under study by identifying factors affecting change in the organizational environments and using available potentials for better coping with changes and higher flexibility and speed.

Keywords: organizational, municipality, employer, agility

Procedia PDF Downloads 354

Authors: Yuri V. Plugatar, Vladimir P. Koba, Vladimir V. Papelbu, Vladimir N. Gerasimchuk, Tatjana M. Sakhno

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Using a supersonic shaft–wood tomography, the evaluation of a shaft-wood phyto-pathogenic damage level of Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buccholz was prosecuted. The digital bivariate reflections of the shaft tissue damage were obtained, the characteristics of comparative parameters of the wood-decay degree were given. The investigation results allowed to show up the role of some edaphic factors in their affection on a vital condition and the level of destructive processes while shaft tissue damaging of S.giganteum. It was pinned up that soil consolidation, and hydro-morphication equally make for a phyto-pathogenic damage of plants. While soil consolidation negative acting the shaft-wood damage is located in an underneath of a shaft. In the conditions of an enlarged hydro-morphication a tissue degradation runs less intensively, the destructive processes more active spread in a vertical section of a shaft. The use of a supersonic tomography method gives wide possibilities to diagnose a shaft-wood phyto-pathogenic damage.

Keywords: Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buccholz, supersonic tomography, diagnosis, phyto-pathogenic damage, a vital condition

Procedia PDF Downloads 213