Search results for: essential quality tools

Authors: Kars Beek, Remco Groeneveld, Sjaak Brinkkemper

Abstract:

Although there is much literature available on requirement documentation in traditional software development, few studies have been conducted about this topic in open source software development. While open-source software development is becoming more important, the software development processes are often not as structured as corporate software development processes. Papers show that communities, creating open-source software, often lack structure and documentation. However, most recent studies about this topic are often ten or more years old. Therefore, this research has been conducted to determine if the lack of structure and documentation in requirement engineering is currently still the situation in these communities. Three open-source products have been chosen as subjects for conducting this research. The data for this research was gathered based on interviews, observations, and analyses of feature proposals and issue tracking tools. In this paper, we present a comparison and an analysis of the different methods used for requirements documentation to understand the current practices of requirements documentation in open source software development.

Keywords: case study, open source software, open source software development, requirement elicitation, requirement engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Shahid Noor, Kazim Najjad, Muhammad Nasir, Irshad Bhutto, Abdul Samad Memon, Khurram Anwar, Tehseen Riaz, Mian Muhammad Hanif, Nauman A. Mallik, Saeed Ahmed, Israr Ahmed, Ali Yasir

Abstract:

Background: Musculoskeletal pain is the most common complaint presented to the health practitioner. It is well known that untreated or under-treated pain can have a significant negative impact on an individual’s quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This study was conducted across 10 sites in six (6) major cities of Pakistan to evaluate the tolerability, safety, and the clinical response of Nuberol Forte® (Paracetamol 650 mg + Orphenadrine 50 mg) to musculoskeletal pain in routine Pakistani practice and its impact on improving the patient’s QoL. Design & Methods: This NFORT-EFFECT observational, prospective multicenter study was conducted in compliance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines and local regulatory requirements. The study sponsor was "The Searle Company Limited, Pakistan. To maintain the GCP compliances, the sponsor assigned the CRO for the site and data management. Ethical approval was obtained from an independent ethics committee. The IEC reviewed the progress of the study. Written informed consent was obtained from the study participants, and their confidentiality was maintained throughout the study. A total of 399 patients with known prescreened musculoskeletal conditions and pain who attended the study sites were recruited, as per the inclusion/exclusion criteria (clinicaltrials.gov ID# NCT04765787). The recruited patients were then prescribed Paracetamol (650 mg) and Orphenadrine (50 mg) combination (Nuberol Forte®) for 7 to 14 days as per the investigator's discretion based on the pain intensity. After the initial screening (visit 1), a follow-up visit was conducted after 1-2 weeks of the treatment (visit 2). Study Endpoints: The primary objective was to assess the pain management response of Nuberol Forte treatment and the overall safety of the drug. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale was used to measure pain severity. Secondary to pain, the patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was also assessed using the Muscle, Joint Measure (MJM) scale. The safety was monitored on the first dose by the patients. These assessments were done on each study visit. Results: Out of 399 enrolled patients, 49.4% were males, and 50.6% were females with a mean age of 47.24 ± 14.20 years. Most patients were presented with Knee Osteoarthritis (OA), i.e., 148(38%), followed by backache 70(18.2%). A significant reduction in the mean pain score was observed after the treatment with the combination of Paracetamol and Orphenadrine (p<0.05). Furthermore, an overall improvement in the patient’s QoL was also observed. During the study, only ten patients reported mild adverse events (AEs). Conclusion: The combination of Paracetamol and Orphenadrine (Nuberol Forte®) exhibited effective pain management among patients with musculoskeletal conditions and also improved their QoL.

Keywords: musculoskeletal pain, orphenadrine/paracetamol combination, pain management, quality of life, Pakistani population

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Ankita Jadon, Sidi Souvi, Nathalie Girault, Denis Petitprez

Abstract:

Safety requirements for Generation IV nuclear reactor designs, especially the new generation sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFR) require a risk-informed approach to model severe accidents (SA) and their consequences in case of outside release. In SFRs, aerosols are produced during a core disruptive accident when primary system sodium is ejected into the containment and burn in contact with the air; producing sodium aerosols. One of the key aspects of safety evaluation is the in-containment sodium aerosol behavior and their interaction with fission products. The study of the effects of sodium fires is essential for safety evaluation as the fire can both thermally damage the containment vessel and cause an overpressurization risk. Besides, during the fire, airborne fission product first dissolved in the primary sodium can be aerosolized or, as it can be the case for fission products, released under the gaseous form. The objective of this work is to study the interactions between sodium aerosols and fission products (Iodine, toxic and volatile, being the primary concern). Sodium fires resulting from an SA would produce aerosols consisting of sodium peroxides, hydroxides, carbonates, and bicarbonates. In addition to being toxic (in oxide form), this aerosol will then become radioactive. If such aerosols are leaked into the environment, they can pose a danger to the ecosystem. Depending on the chemical affinity of these chemical forms with fission products, the radiological consequences of an SA leading to containment leak tightness loss will also be affected. This work is split into two phases. Firstly, a method to theoretically understand the kinetics and thermodynamics of the heterogeneous reaction between sodium aerosols and fission products: I2 and HI are proposed. Ab-initio, density functional theory (DFT) calculations using Vienna ab-initio simulation package are carried out to develop an understanding of the surfaces of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) aerosols and hence provide insight on its affinity towards iodine species. A comprehensive study of I2 and HI adsorption, as well as bicarbonate formation on the calculated lowest energy surface of Na2CO3, was performed which provided adsorption energies and description of the optimized configuration of adsorbate on the stable surface. Secondly, the heterogeneous reaction between (I2)g and Na2CO3 aerosols were investigated experimentally. To study this, (I2)g was generated by heating a permeation tube containing solid I2, and, passing it through a reaction chamber containing Na2CO3 aerosol deposit. The concentration of iodine was then measured at the exit of the reaction chamber. Preliminary observations indicate that there is an effective uptake of (I2)g on Na2CO3 surface, as suggested by our theoretical chemistry calculations. This work is the first step in addressing the gaps in knowledge of in-containment and atmospheric source term which are essential aspects of safety evaluation of SFR SA. In particular, this study is aimed to determine and characterize the radiological and chemical source term. These results will then provide useful insights for the developments of new models to be implemented in integrated computer simulation tool to analyze and evaluate SFR safety designs.

Keywords: iodine adsorption, sodium aerosols, sodium cooled reactor, DFT calculations, sodium carbonate

Procedia PDF Downloads 204

Authors: Theng Theng Ong

Abstract:

This study adopts a multidisciplinary method by combining the corpus-based discourse analysis study and language attitude study to explore the construction of Malaysia airline tragedies: MH370, MH17 and QZ8501 in the selected Malaysian and United Kingdom (UK) online news. The study aims to determine the ways in which Malaysian Airline tragedies MH370, MH17 and QZ8501 are linguistically defined and constructed in terms of keyword and collocation. The study also seeks to identify the types of discourse that are presented in the new articles. The differences or similarities in terms of keywords, topics or issues covered by the selected Malaysian and UK news media will also be examined. Finally, the language attitude study will be carried out to examine the Malaysia and UK university students’ attitudes toward the keywords, topics or issues covered by the selected Malaysian and UK news media pertaining to Malaysian Airline tragedies MH370, MH17 and QZ8501. The analysis is divided into two parts with the first part focusing on corpus-based discourse analysis on the media text. The second part of the study is to investigate Malaysians and UK news readers’ attitudes towards the online news being reported by the Malaysian and UK news media pertaining to the Airline tragedies. The main findings of corpus-based discourse analysis are essential in designing the questions in the questionnaires and interview and therefore led to the identification of the attitudes among Malaysian and UK news. This study adopts a multidisciplinary method by combining the corpus-based discourse analysis study and language attitude study to explore the construction of Malaysia airline tragedies: MH370, MH17 and QZ8501 in the selected Malaysian and United Kingdom (UK) online news. The study aims to determine the ways in which Malaysian Airline tragedies MH370, MH17 and QZ8501 are linguistically defined and constructed in terms of keyword and collocation. The study also seeks to identify the types of discourse that are presented in the new articles. The differences or similarities in terms of keywords, topics or issues covered by the selected Malaysian and UK news media will also be examined. Finally, the language attitude study will be carried out to examine the Malaysia and UK university students’ attitudes toward the keywords, topics or issues covered by the selected Malaysian and UK news media pertaining to Malaysian Airline tragedies MH370, MH17 and QZ8501. The analysis is divided into two parts with the first part focusing on corpus-based discourse analysis on the media text. The second part of the study is to investigate Malaysians and UK news readers’ attitudes towards the online news being reported by the Malaysian and UK news media pertaining to the Airline tragedies. The main findings of corpus-based discourse analysis are essential in designing the questions in the questionnaires and interview and therefore led to the identification of the attitudes among Malaysian and UK news.

Keywords: corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, news media, tragedies study

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Mansouri Nabila, Ben Jemaa Yousra, Motamed Cina, Watelain Eric

Abstract:

Research and development efforts in intelligent Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) seek to save lives and reduce the number of on-road fatalities. For traffic and emergency monitoring, the essential but challenging task is vehicle detection and tracking in reasonably short time. This purpose needs first of all a powerful dynamic car detector model. In fact, this paper presents an optimized HOG process based on shape and motion parameters fusion. Our proposed approach mains to compute HOG by bloc feature from foreground blobs using configurable research window and pathway in order to overcome the shortcoming in term of computing time of HOG descriptor and improve their dynamic application performance. Indeed we prove in this paper that HOG by bloc descriptor combined with motion parameters is a very suitable car detector which reaches in record time a satisfactory recognition rate in dynamic outside area and bypasses several popular works without using sophisticated and expensive architectures such as GPU and FPGA.

Keywords: car-detector, HOG, motion, computing time

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Saad Bin Saeed, Fayzan Ahmed, Shahbaz Ahmed, Amjad Hussain

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to evaluate dynamic log files (Dynalogs) at different dose rates by dose-volume histograms (DVH) and used as a (QA) procedure of IMRT. Seven patients of phase one head and neck cancer with similar OAR`s are selected randomly. Reference plans of dose rate 300 and 600 MU/Min with prescribed dose of 50Gy in 25 fractions for each patient is made. Dynalogs produced by delivery of reference plans processed by in-house MATLAB program which produces new field files contain actual positions of multi-leaf collimators (MLC`s) instead of planned positions in reference plans. Copies of reference plans are used to import new field files generated by MATLAB program and renamed as Dyn.plan. After dose calculations of Dyn.plans for different dose rates, DVH, and multiple linear regression tools are used to evaluate reference and Dyn.plans. The results indicate good agreement of correlation between different dose rate plans. The maximum dose difference among PTV and OAR`s are found to be less than 5% and 9% respectively. The study indicates the potential of dynalogs to be used as patient-specific QA of IMRT at different dose rate.

Keywords: IMRT, dynalogs, dose rate, DVH

Procedia PDF Downloads 520

Authors: Joshua Teo, Leo Phan

Abstract:

Signet cell carcinoma of the appendix is the rarest and the most aggressive subtype of appendiceal malignancy, typically with non-specific presentations. We describe a case of a 62-year-old male with large bowel obstruction and CT demonstrating dilated large bowels from caecum to proximal sigmoid colon with pneumoperitoneum. Intra-operatively, closed-loop obstruction caused by dense adherence of sigmoid colon to caecum was noted, which had resulted in caecal perforation. Histopathology study indicated primary appendiceal malignancy of signet cell morphology with intra-peritoneal spread to the sigmoid colon. Large bowel obstruction from appendiceal malignancy has rarely been reported, and a similar presentation has not been described in the existing literature. When left-sided large bowel obstruction is suspected to be caused by a malignant stricture, it is essential to consider transperitoneal spread of appendiceal malignancy as potential aetiology, particularly in the elderly.

Keywords: appendiceal carcinoma, large bowel obstruction, signet ring cell cancer, caecal perforation

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Seon Soon Choi

Abstract:

The fatigue crack growth is stochastic because of the fatigue behavior having an uncertainty and a randomness. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the probability distribution of a grown crack size at a specific fatigue crack propagation life for maintenance of structure as well as reliability estimation. The essential purpose of this study is to present the good probability distribution fit for the grown crack size at a specified fatigue life in a rolled magnesium alloy under different specimen thickness conditions. Fatigue crack propagation experiments are carried out in laboratory air under three conditions of specimen thickness using AZ31 to investigate a stochastic crack growth behavior. The goodness-of-fit test for probability distribution of a grown crack size under different specimen thickness conditions is performed by Anderson-Darling test. The effect of a specimen thickness on variability of a grown crack size is also investigated.

Keywords: crack size, fatigue crack propagation, magnesium alloys, probability distribution, specimen thickness

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Rossana Roila, Raffaella Branciari, Lorenzo Cardinali, David Ranucci

Abstract:

The wild boar (Sus scrofa) population has strongly increased across Europe in the last decades, also causing severe fauna management issues. In central Italy, wild boar is the main hunted wild game species, with approximately 40,000 animals killed per year only in the Umbria region. The meat of the game is characterized by high-quality nutritional value as well as peculiar taste and aroma, largely appreciated by consumers. This type of meat and products thereof can meet the current consumers’ demand for higher quality foodstuff, not only from a nutritional and sensory point of view but also in relation to environmental sustainability, the non-use of chemicals, and animal welfare. The game meat production chain is characterized by some gaps from a hygienic point of view: the harvest process is usually conducted in a wild environment where animals can be more easily contaminated during hunting and subsequent practices. The definition and implementation of a certified and controlled supply chain could ensure quality, traceability and safety for the final consumer and therefore promote game meat products. According to European legislation in some animal species, such as bovine, the use of weak acid solutions for carcass decontamination is envisaged in order to ensure the maintenance of optimal hygienic characteristics. A preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the applicability of similar strategies to control the hygienic level of wild boar carcasses. The carcasses, harvested according to the selective method and processed into the game-handling establishment, were treated by nebulization with two different solutions: a 2% food-grade lactic acid solution and aromatic vinegar. Swab samples were performed before treatment and in different moments after-treatment of the carcasses surfaces and subsequently tested for Total Aerobic Mesophilic Load, Total Aerobic Psychrophilic Load, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus spp. and lactic acid bacteria. The results obtained for the targeted microbial populations showed a positive effect of the application of the lactic acid solution on all the populations investigated, while aromatic vinegar showed a lower effect on bacterial growth. This study could lay the foundations for the optimization of the use of a lactic acid solution to treat wild boar carcasses aiming to guarantee good hygienic level and safety of meat.

Keywords: game meat, food safety, process hygiene criteria, microbial population, microbial growth, food control

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Moustapha Bande, Hakima Ould-Slimane, Hanifa Boucheneb

Abstract:

Software development for complex systems requires efficient and automatic tools that can be used to verify the satisfiability of some critical properties such as security ones. With the emergence of Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP), considerable work has been done in order to better modularize the separation of concerns in the software design and implementation. The goal is to prevent the cross-cutting concerns to be scattered across the multiple modules of the program and tangled with other modules. One of the key challenges in the aspect-oriented programs is to be sure that all the pieces put together at the weaving time ensure the satisfiability of the overall system requirements. Our paper focuses on this problem and proposes a formal property verification approach for a given property from the woven program. The approach is based on the control flow graph (CFG) of the woven program, and the use of a satisfiability modulo theories (SMT) solver to check whether each property (represented par one aspect) is satisfied or not once the weaving is done.

Keywords: aspect-oriented programming, control flow graph, property verification, satisfiability modulo theories

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Darko Prebežac, Josip Mikulić, Maja Šerić, Damir Krešić

Abstract:

Camping tourism is recognized as a growing segment of the broader tourism industry, currently evolving from an inexpensive, temporary sojourn in a rural environment into a highly fragmented niche tourism sector. The trends among public-managed campgrounds seem to be moving away from rustic campgrounds that provide only a tent pad and a fire ring to more developed facilities that offer a range of different amenities, where campers still search for unique experiences that go above the opportunity to experience nature and social interaction. In addition, while camping styles and options changed significantly over the last years, coastal camping in particular became valorized as is it regarded with a heightened sense of nostalgia. Alongside this growing interest in the camping tourism, a demand for quality servicing infrastructure emerged in order to satisfy the wide variety of needs, wants, and expectations of an increasingly demanding traveling public. However, camping activity in general and quality of camping experience and campers’ satisfaction in particular remain an under-researched area of the tourism and consumption behavior literature. In this line, very few studies addressed the issue of quality product/service provision in satisfying nature based tourists and in driving their future behavior with respect to potential re-visitation and recommendation intention. The present study thus aims to investigate the drivers of positive and negative campsite experience using the case of Croatia. Due to the well-preserved nature and indented coastline, camping tourism has a long tradition in Croatia and represents one of the most important and most developed tourism products. During the last decade the number of tourist overnights in Croatian camps has increased by 26% amounting to 16.5 million in 2014. Moreover, according to Eurostat the market share of campsites in the EU is around 14%, indicating that the market share of Croatian campsites is almost double large compared to the EU average. Currently, there are a total of 250 camps in Croatia with approximately 75.8 thousands accommodation units. It is further noteworthy that Croatian camps have higher average occupancy rates and a higher average length of stay as compared to the national average of all types of accommodation. In order to explore the main drivers of positive and negative campsite experiences, this study uses principal components analysis (PCA) and an impact-asymmetry analysis (IAA). Using the PCA, first the main dimensions of the campsite experience are extracted in an exploratory manner. Using the IAA, the extracted factors are investigated for their potentials to create customer delight and/or frustration. The results provide valuable insight to both researchers and practitioners regarding the understanding of campsite satisfaction.

Keywords: Camping tourism, campsite, impact-asymmetry analysis, satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Joyce Joas Kahembe

Abstract:

The implementation of education assessment reforms in developing countries has been claimed to be problematic and difficult. The socio-economic teaching and learning environment has pointed to constraints in the education reform process. Nevertheless, there are existing assessment practices that if enhanced, can have potential to foster formative assessment practices in those contexts. The present study used the sociocultural perspective to explore teachers’ assessment practices and factors influencing them in Tanzania. Specifically, the sociocultural perspective helped to trace social, economic and political histories imparted to teachers’ assessment practices. The ethnographic oriented methods like interviews, observations and document reviews was used in this exploration. Teachers used assessment practices, such as questioning and answering, tests, assignments and examinations, for evaluating, monitoring and diagnosing students’ understanding, achievement and performance and standards and quality of instruction practices. The obtained assessment information functioned as feedback for improving students’ understanding, performance, and the standard and quality of teaching instruction and materials. For example, teachers acknowledged, praised, approved, disapproved, denied, graded, or marked students’ responses to give students feedback and aid learning. Moreover, teachers clarified and corrected or repeated students’ responses with worded/added words to improve students’ mastery of the subject content. Teachers’ assessment practices were influenced by the high demands of passing marks in the high stakes examinations and the contexts of the social economic teaching environment. There is a need to ally education assessment reforms with existing socio-economic teaching environments and society and institutional demands of assessment to make assessment reforms meaningful and sustainable. This presentation ought to contribute on ongoing strategies for contextualizing assessment practices for formative uses.

Keywords: assessment, feedback, practices, formative assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 483

Authors: Norbert Magyar, Jozsef Kovacs, Peter Tanos, Balazs Trasy, Tamas Garamhegyi, Istvan Gabor Hatvani

Abstract:

Water is one of the most important common resources, and as a result of urbanization, agriculture, and industry it is becoming more and more exposed to potential pollutants. The prevention of the deterioration of water quality is a crucial role for environmental scientist. To achieve this aim, the operation of monitoring networks is necessary. In general, these networks have to meet many important requirements, such as representativeness and cost efficiency. However, existing monitoring networks often include sampling sites which are unnecessary. With the elimination of these sites the monitoring network can be optimized, and it can operate more economically. The aim of this study is to illustrate the applicability of the CCDA (Combined Cluster and Discriminant Analysis) to the field of water quality monitoring and optimize the monitoring networks of a river (the Danube), a wetland-lake system (Kis-Balaton & Lake Balaton), and two surface-subsurface water systems on the watershed of Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő and on the Szigetköz area over a period of approximately two decades. CCDA combines two multivariate data analysis methods: hierarchical cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis. Its goal is to determine homogeneous groups of observations, in our case sampling sites, by comparing the goodness of preconceived classifications obtained from hierarchical cluster analysis with random classifications. The main idea behind CCDA is that if the ratio of correctly classified cases for a grouping is higher than at least 95% of the ratios for the random classifications, then at the level of significance (α=0.05) the given sampling sites don’t form a homogeneous group. Due to the fact that the sampling on the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő was conducted at the same time at all sampling sites, it was possible to visualize the differences between the sampling sites belonging to the same or different groups on scatterplots. Based on the results, the monitoring network of the Danube yields redundant information over certain sections, so that of 12 sampling sites, 3 could be eliminated without loss of information. In the case of the wetland (Kis-Balaton) one pair of sampling sites out of 12, and in the case of Lake Balaton, 5 out of 10 could be discarded. For the groundwater system of the catchment area of Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő all 50 monitoring wells are necessary, there is no redundant information in the system. The number of the sampling sites on the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő can decrease to approximately the half of the original number of the sites. Furthermore, neighbouring sampling sites were compared pairwise using CCDA and the results were plotted on diagrams or isoline maps showing the location of the greatest differences. These results can help researchers decide where to place new sampling sites. The application of CCDA proved to be a useful tool in the optimization of the monitoring networks regarding different types of water bodies. Based on the results obtained, the monitoring networks can be operated more economically.

Keywords: combined cluster and discriminant analysis, cost efficiency, monitoring network optimization, water quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Hiroko Komatsu, Kaori Yagasaki

Abstract:

Background: Cancer-related cognitive impairment is a common problem seen in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Physical activity may show beneficial effects on the cognitive function in such patients. Therefore, we have developed a self-directed home yoga program for cancer patients with cognitive symptoms during chemotherapy. This program involves a DVD presenting a combination of yoga courses based on patient preferences to be practiced at home. This study was performed to examine the feasibility of this program. In addition, we also examined changes in cognitive function and quality of life (QOL) in these patients participating in the program. Methods: This prospective feasibility study was conducted in a 500-bed general hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The study population consisted of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy as the initial therapy. This feasibility study used a convenience sample with estimation of recruitment rate in a single facility with the availability of trained nurses and physicians to ensure safe yoga intervention. The aim of the intervention program was to improve cognitive function by means of both physical and mental activation via yoga, consisting of physical practice, breathing exercises, and meditation. Information on the yoga program was provided as a booklet, with an instructor-guided group yoga class during the orientation, and a self-directed home yoga program on DVD with yoga logs. Results: The recruitment rate was 44.7%, and the study population consisted of 18 women with a mean age of 43.9 years. This study showed high rates of retention, adherence, and acceptability of the yoga program. Improvements were only observed in the cognitive aspects of fatigue, and there were serious adverse events during the program. Conclusion: The self-directed home yoga program discussed here was both feasible and safe for breast cancer patients showing cognitive symptoms during chemotherapy. The patients also rated the program as useful, interesting, and satisfactory. Participation in the program was associated with improvements in cognitive fatigue but not cognitive function.

Keywords: yoga, cognition, breast cancer, chemotherapy, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: W. M. M. Weerasooriya, K. T. N. P. Abeywickrama

Abstract:

There has been some research on stress in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Still, the amount is not proportionate to the severity of the issue. This paper examined the effect of stress on job performance of frontline employees of Sri Lankan hotel context. Duly completed 70 self-administered questionnaires filled by frontline employees of star class hotels in North Central Province in Sri Lanka were used for the purpose with a response rate of 70%. The researcher employed empirical analysis using statistical tools such as regression analysis of Pearson’s correlation of coefficient. It was found that there is a high level of workload and role ambiguity existing among the frontline employees of hotels located in North Central Province and existing role ambiguity significantly reduce the job performance of the frontline employees of star class hotels while the existing low level of physical work environment also leads to a low level of job performance.

Keywords: hotel front line employees, job stress, job performance, Sri Lanka

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Debora C. Mendes, Matthias Eckert, Claudia S. Moço, Helio Martins, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves, Miguel Oliveira, Jose P. Da Silva

Abstract:

Disposal of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) in embankments in the periphery of cities causes both environmental and social problems. To achieve the management of C&DW, a detailed analysis of the properties of these materials should be done. In this work we report a comparative study of the physical, chemical and environmental properties of natural and C&DW aggregates from 25 different origins. Assays were performed according to European Standards. Analysis of heavy metals and organic compounds, namely polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were performed. Finally, properties of concrete prepared with C&DW aggregates are reported. Physical analyses of C&DW aggregates indicated lower quality properties than natural aggregates, particularly for concrete preparation and unbound layers of road pavements. Chemical properties showed that most samples (80%) meet the values required by European regulations for concrete and unbound layers of road pavements. Analyses of heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Mo and Zn in the C&DW leachates showed levels below the limits established by the Council Decision of 19 December 2002. Identification and quantification of PCBs and PAHs indicated that few samples shows the presence of these compounds. The measured levels of PCBs and PAHs are also below the limits. Other compounds identified in the C&DW leachates include phthalates and diphenylmethanol. The characterized C&DW aggregates show lower quality properties than natural aggregates but most samples showed to be environmentally safe. A continuous monitoring of the presence of heavy metals and organic compounds should be made to trial safe C&DW aggregates. C&DW aggregates provide a good economic and environmental alternative to natural aggregates.

Keywords: concrete preparation, construction and demolition waste, heavy metals, organic pollutants

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Rubaiat S. Ahmed, Jemer Garrido, Sergey M. Motov

Abstract:

Clinical informatics (CI) enables the transformation of data into a systematic organization that improves the quality of care and the generation of positive health outcomes.Innovative technology through informatics that compiles accurate data on analgesic utilization in the emergency department can enhance pain management in this important clinical setting. We aim to establish a simplified reporting system through CI to examine and assess the analgesic prescribing practices in the EDthrough executing a U.S. federal grant project on opioid reduction initiatives. Queried data points of interest from a level-one trauma ED’s electronic medical records were used to create data sets and develop informational/visual reporting dashboards (on Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets) concerning analgesic usage across several pre-defined parameters and performance metrics using CI. The data was then qualitatively analyzed to evaluate ED analgesic prescribing trends by departmental clinicians and leadership. During a 12-month reporting period (Dec. 1, 2020 – Nov. 30, 2021) for the ongoing project, about 41% of all ED patient visits (N = 91,747) were for pain conditions, of which 81.6% received analgesics in the ED and at discharge (D/C). Of those treated with analgesics, 24.3% received opioids compared to 75.7% receiving opioid alternatives in the ED and at D/C, including non-pharmacological modalities. Demographics showed among patients receiving analgesics, 56.7% were aged between 18-64, 51.8% were male, 51.7% were white, and 66.2% had government funded health insurance. Ninety-one percent of all opioids prescribed were in the ED, with intravenous (IV) morphine, IV fentanyl, and morphine sulfate immediate release (MSIR) tablets accounting for 88.0% of ED dispensed opioids. With 9.3% of all opioids prescribed at D/C, MSIR was dispensed 72.1% of the time. Hydrocodone, oxycodone, and tramadol usage to only 10-15% of the time, and hydromorphone at 0%. Of opioid alternatives, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were utilized 60.3% of the time, 23.5% with local anesthetics and ultrasound-guided nerve blocks, and 7.9% with acetaminophen as the primary non-opioid drug categories prescribed by ED providers. Non-pharmacological analgesia included virtual reality and other modalities. An average of 18.5 ED opioid orders and 1.9 opioid D/C prescriptions per 102.4 daily ED patient visits was observed for the period. Compared to other specialties within our institution, 2.0% of opioid D/C prescriptions are given by ED providers, compared to the national average of 4.8%. Opioid alternatives accounted for 69.7% and 30.3% usage, versus 90.7% and 9.3% for opioids in the ED and D/C, respectively.There is a pressing need for concise, relevant, and reliable clinical data on analgesic utilization for ED providers and leadership to evaluate prescribing practices and make data-driven decisions. Basic computer software can be used to create effective visual reporting dashboards with indicators that convey relevant and timely information in an easy-to-digest manner. We accurately examined our ED's analgesic prescribing practices using CI through dashboard reporting. Such reporting tools can quickly identify key performance indicators and prioritize data to enhance pain management and promote safe prescribing practices in the emergency setting.

Keywords: clinical informatics, dashboards, emergency department, health informatics, healthcare informatics, medical informatics, opioids, pain management, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Vinesh Janarthanan, Mohammad H. Rahman

Abstract:

There are numerous neurological conditions that may result in a loss of motor function. Such conditions may include cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, stroke or multiple sclerosis. Due to impaired motor function, specifically in the hand and arm, living independently becomes tremendously more difficult. Rehabilitation programs are the main method to treat these kinds of disabled individuals. However, these programs require longtime commitment from the clinicians/therapists, demand person to person caring, and typically the treatment duration is usually very long. Aside from the treatment received from the therapist, the continuation of neuroplasticity at home is essential to maximizing development and restoring the biological function. To contribute in this area, we have researched and developed a portable and comfortable hand glove for fine motor skills rehabilitation. The glove provides interactive home-based therapy to engage the patient with simple games. The key to this treatment is the repetition of moving the hand and being capable of positioning the hand in various ways.

Keywords: home based, wearable sensors, glove, rehabilitation, motor function, video games

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Umut Tac, Leyla Tavacioglu, Pelin Bolat

Abstract:

Human factor has been one of the elements that cause vulnerabilities which can be resulted with accidents in maritime transportation. When the roots of human factor based accidents are analyzed, gaps in performing cognitive abilities (reaction time, attention, memory…) are faced as the main reasons for the vulnerabilities in complex environment of maritime systems. Thus cognitive processes in maritime systems have arisen important subject that should be investigated comprehensively. At this point, neurocognitive tests such as reaction time analysis tests have been used as coherent tools that enable us to make valid assessments for cognitive status. In this respect, the aim of this study is to evaluate the reaction time (response time or latency) of seafarers due to their occupational experience and age. For this study, reaction time for different maneuverers has been taken while the participants were performing a sea voyage through a simulator which was run up with a certain scenario. After collecting the data for reaction time, a statistical analyze has been done to understand the relation between occupational experience and cognitive abilities.

Keywords: cognitive abilities, human factor, neurocognitive test battery, reaction time

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Marco Frieslaar, Bing Chu, Eric Rogers

Abstract:

Stroke is a devastating illness that is the second biggest cause of death in the world (after heart disease). Where it does not kill, it leaves survivors with debilitating sensory and physical impairments that not only seriously harm their quality of life, but also cause a high incidence of severe depression. It is widely accepted that early intervention is essential for recovery, but current rehabilitation techniques largely favor hospital-based therapies which have restricted access, expensive and specialist equipment and tend to side-step the emotional challenges. In addition, there is insufficient funding available to provide the long-term assistance that is required. As a consequence, recovery rates are poor. The relatively unexplored solution is to develop therapies that can be harnessed in the home and are formulated from technologies that already exist in everyday life. This would empower individuals to take control of their own improvement and provide choice in terms of when and where they feel best able to undertake their own healing. This research seeks to identify how effective post-stroke, rehabilitation therapy can be applied to upper limb mobility, within the physical context of a home rather than a hospital. This is being achieved through the design and construction of an automation scheme, based on iterative learning control and the Riener muscle model, that has the ability to adapt to the user and react to their level of fatigue and provide tangible physical recovery. It utilizes a SMART Phone and laptop to construct an iterative learning control (ILC) system, that monitors upper arm movement in three dimensions, as a series of exercises are undertaken. The equipment generates functional electrical stimulation to assist in muscle activation and thus improve directional accuracy. In addition, it monitors speed, accuracy, areas of motion weakness and similar parameters to create a performance index that can be compared over time and extrapolated to establish an independent and objective assessment scheme, plus an approximate estimation of predicted final outcome. To further extend its assessment capabilities, nerve conduction velocity readings are taken by the software, between the shoulder and hand muscles. This is utilized to measure the speed of response of neuron signal transfer along the arm and over time, an online indication of regeneration levels can be obtained. This will prove whether or not sufficient training intensity is being achieved even before perceivable movement dexterity is observed. The device also provides the option to connect to other users, via the internet, so that the patient can avoid feelings of isolation and can undertake movement exercises together with others in a similar position. This should create benefits not only for the encouragement of rehabilitation participation, but also an emotional support network potential. It is intended that this approach will extend the availability of stroke recovery options, enable ease of access at a low cost, reduce susceptibility to depression and through these endeavors, enhance the overall recovery success rate.

Keywords: home-based therapy, iterative learning control, Riener muscle model, SMART phone, stroke rehabilitation

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: A. Mohammed, R. Lewis, M. Marshall

Abstract:

Commonly used coatings to protect tools in die casting were used. A heat treatment and then surface coating can have a large effect on erosion damage. Samples have been tested to evaluate their resistances to erosive wear and to assess how this compares with behaviour seen for untreated material. Five commercial (PN + TiN), (PN + TiAlCN), (TiN X 2), (TiN), and (TiAlCN) coatings have been evaluated for their wear resistance. The objective was to permit an optimized selection of coatings to be used to give good resistance to erosive wear. A test-Rig has been developed to study the erosive wear in aluminium die casting and provide an environment similar to industrial operation that is more practical than using actual machines. These surfaces were analysed using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Optical Microscopes each with a different level of resolution. Examination of coating materials revealed an important parameter associated with the failure of the coating materials.This was adhesion of the coating material to the substrate surface. A well-adhered coating withstands wear much better compared to the poorest-adhering coating.

Keywords: solid particle erosion, PVD-coatings, steel, erosion testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Catarina Isabel Ramos Pereira, Jorge Machado, Begona Alonso Criado, Maria João Santos

Abstract:

Introduction: Gait disorders are one of the symptoms that have severe implications on the quality of life in Parkinson's disease (PD). Currently, there is no therapy to reverse or treat this condition. None of the drugs used in conventional medical treatment is entirely efficient, and all have a high incidence of side effects. Acupuncture treatment is believed to improve motor ability, but there is still little scientific evidence in individuals with PD. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the acute effect of acupuncture on gait parameters in Parkinson's disease. Methods: This is a randomized and controlled crossover study. The same individual patient was part of both the experimental (real acupuncture) and control group (false acupuncture/sham), and the sequence was randomized. Gait parameters were measured at two different moments, before and after treatment, using four force platforms as well as the collection of 3D markers positions taken by 11 cameras. Images were quantitatively analyzed using Qualisys Track Manager software that let us extract data related to the quality of gait and balance. Seven patients with the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease were included in the study. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in gait speed (p = 0.016), gait cadence (p = 0.006), support base width (p = 0.0001), medio-lateral oscillation (p = 0.017), left-right step length (p = 0.0002), and stride length: right-right (p = 0.0000) and left-left (p = 0.0018), time of left support phase (p = 0.029), right support phase (p = 0.025) and double support phase (p = 0.015), between the initial and final moments for the experimental group. Differences in right-left stride length were found for both groups. Conclusion: Our results show that acupuncture could enhance gait in Parkinson's disease patients. Deep research involving a larger number of volunteers should be accomplished to validate these encouraging findings.

Keywords: acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, Parkinson's disease, gait

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Jong Hoon Kim, Hyun-Soo Lee, Moonseo Park, Min Jeong, Inbeom Lee

Abstract:

Pre-construction is essential in achieving the success of a construction project. Due to the early involvement of project participants in the construction phase, project managers are able to plan ahead and solve issues well in advance leading to the success of the project and the satisfaction of the client. This research utilizes quantitative data derived from construction management projects in order to identify the relationship between pre-construction, construction schedule, and client satisfaction. A total of 65 construction projects and 93 clients were investigated for this research in an attempt to identify (a) the relationship between pre-construction and schedule reduction, and (b) pre-construction and client loyalty. Based on the quantitative analysis, this research was able to establish a negative correlation based on 65 construction projects between pre-construction and project schedule existed. This finding represents that the more pre-construction is performed for a certain project, the overall construction schedule decreased. Then, to determine the relationship between pre-construction and client satisfaction, Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 93 clients from the 65 projects was utilized. Pre-construction and NPS was further analyzed and a positive correlation was found between the two. This infers that clients tend to be more satisfied with projects with higher ratio of pre-construction than those projects with less pre-construction.

Keywords: client loyalty, NPS, pre-construction, schedule reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Joana Margarida Bôto, Belmira Neto, Vera Miguéis, Manuela Meireles, Ada Rocha

Abstract:

The Mediterranean diet has been recognized as a sustainable model of living with benefits for the environment and human health. However, a complete assessment of its sustainability, encompassing all dimensions and aspects, to our best knowledge, has not yet been realized. This systematic literature review aimed to fill this gap by identifying and describing the indicators used to assess the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet, looking at several dimensions, and presenting the results from their application. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines methodology was used, and searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and GreenFile. There were identified thirty-two articles evaluating the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet. The environmental impact was quantified in twenty-five of these studies, the nutritional quality was evaluated in seven studies, and the daily cost of the diet was assessed in twelve studies. A total of thirty-three indicators were identified and separated by four dimensions of sustainability, specifically, the environmental dimension (ten indicators, namely carbon, water, and ecological footprint), the nutritional dimension (eight indicators, namely Health score and Nutrient Rich Food Index), the economic dimension (one indicator, the dietary cost), the sociocultural dimension (six indicators – with no results). Only eight of the studies used combined indicators. The Mediterranean diet was considered in all articles as a sustainable dietary pattern with a lower impact than Western diets. The carbon footprint ranged between 0.9 and 6.88 kg CO₂/d per capita, the water footprint between 600 and 5280 m³/d per capita, and the ecological footprint between 2.8 and 53.42 m²/d per capita. The nutritional quality was high, obtaining 122 points using the Health score and 12.95 to 90.6 points using the Nutrient Rich Food Index. The cost of the Mediterranean diet did not significantly differ from other diets and varied between 3.33 and 14.42€/d per capita. A diverse approach to evaluating the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet was found.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet, sustainability, environmental indicators, nutritional indicators

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Moira Cordiner

Abstract:

As a result of an Australian university approving a policy to improve the quality of assessment practices, as an academic developer (AD) with expertise in criterion-referenced assessment commenced in 2008. The four-year appointment was to support 40 'champions' in their Schools. This presentation is based on the experiences of a group of Chemistry academics who worked with the AD to develop and implement an honours dissertation rubric. Honours is a research year following a three-year undergraduate year. If the standard of the student's work is high enough (mainly the dissertation) then the student can commence a PhD. What became clear during the process was that much more was at stake than just the successful development and trial of the rubric, including academics' reputations, university rankings and research outputs. Working with the champion-Head of School(HOS) and the honours coordinator, the AD helped them adapt an honours rubric that she had helped create and trial successfully for another Science discipline. A year of many meetings and complex power plays between the two academics finally resulted in a version that was critiqued by the Chemistry teaching and learning committee. Accompanying the rubric was an explanation of grading rules plus a list of supervisor expectations to explain to students how the rubric was used for grading. Further refinements were made until all staff were satisfied. It was trialled successfully in 2011, then small changes made. It was adapted and implemented for Medicine honours with her help in 2012. Despite coming to consensus about statements of quality in the rubric, a few academics found it challenging matching these to the dissertations and allocating a grade. They had had no time to undertake training to do this, or make overt their implicit criteria and standards, which some admitted they were using - 'I know what a first class is'. Other factors affecting grading included: the small School where all supervisors knew each other and the students, meant that friendships and collegiality were at stake if low grades were given; no external examiners were appointed-all were internal with the potential for bias; supervisors’ reputations were at stake if their students did not receive a good grade; the School's reputation was also at risk if insufficient honours students qualified for PhD entry; and research output was jeopardised without enough honours students to work on supervisors’ projects. A further complication during the study was a restructure of the university and retrenchments, with pressure to increase research output as world rankings assumed greater importance to senior management. In conclusion, much more was at stake than developing a usable rubric. The HOS had to be seen to champion the 'new' assessment practice while balancing institutional demands for increased research output and ensuring as many honours dissertations as possible met high standards, so that eventually the percentage of PhD completions and research output rose. It is therefore in the institution's best interest for this cycle to be maintained as it affects rankings and reputations. In this context, are rubrics redundant?

Keywords: explicit and implicit standards, judging quality, university rankings, research reputations

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Rocio Murad, Marcela Sanchez, Mariana Calderon Jaramillo, Danny Rivera, Angela Cifuentes, Daniela Roldán, Juan Carlos Rivillas

Abstract:

Women and girls have specific health needs, but during health pandemics such as COVID19 they are less likely to have access to quality essential health information, commodities and services, or insurance coverage for routine and catastrophic health expenses, especially in rural and marginalized communities. This is compounded by multiple or intersecting inequalities, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, and sexual orientation, among others. Despite concerted collective action, there is a lack of information on the situation of women, adolescents and youth, including gender inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic. Much more needs to be done to amplify the lived realities of women and adolescents in global and national advocacy and policy responses. The COVID 19 pandemic reflects the need for systematic advocacy policies based on the lived experiences of women and adolescents, underpinned by human rights. This research is part of the initiative of Profamilia Association (Solidarity Study), and its objective is twofold: i) to analyze the behavioral changes and immediate expectations of Colombians during the stage of relaxation of the confinement measures decreed by the national government; and ii) to identify the needs, experiences and resilient practices of adolescents and young women during the COVID-19 crisis in Colombia. Descriptive analysis of data collected by Profamilia through the Solidaridad study, an exploratory cross-sectional descriptive study that used subnational level data from a nonprobabilistic sample survey conducted to 1735 adults, between September 01 and 11, 2020. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders about their experiences during COVID19, under three key axes: i) main challenges for adolescents and young women; ii) examples of what has worked well in responding to the challenge; and iii) how/what services are/should be provided during COVID-19 (and beyond) to address the challenge. Interviewees were selected based on prior mapping of social groups of interest. In total, 23 adolescents and young women participated in the interviews. The results show that people adopted behavioral changes such as wearing masks, avoiding people with symptoms, and reducing mobility, but there was also a doubling of concerns for many reasons, from effects on mental health, sexual health, and unattended reproductive health to the burden of care and working at home. The favorable perception that people had at the beginning of the quarantine about the response and actions of the national and local government to control Covid-19 decreased over the course of the quarantine. The challenges and needs of adolescents and young women were highlighted during the most restrictive measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in disruptions to daily activities, education and work, as well as restrictions to mobility and social interaction. Concerns raised by participants included: impact on mental health and wellbeing due to disruption of daily life; limitations in access to formal and informal education; food insecurity; migration; loss of livelihoods; lack of access to health information and services; limitations to sexual and reproductive health and rights; insecurity problems; and problems in communication and treatment among household members.

Keywords: COVID-19, changes in behavior, adolescents, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: S. Fata, M. A. Tokat, N. Bagardi, B. Yilmaz

Abstract:

Nowadays, various traditional practices are used throughout the world with aim to improve fertility. Various traditional remedies, acupuncture, religious practices such as sacrifice are frequently used. Studies often evaluate the traditional practices used by the women. But the use of this non-medical practice by couples and specific application reasons of this methods has been less investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the common used non-medical practices and determine perceived benefits by couples with fertility problems in Turkey. This is a descriptive study. Research data were collected between May-July 2016, in Izmir Ege Birth Education and Research Hospital Assisted Reproduction Clinic, from 151 couples with fertility problem. Personal Information Form and Non-Medical Practices Used for Fertility Evaluation Form was used. Number 'GOA 2649' permission letter from Dokuz Eylul University Non-Invasive Research Ethics Board, permission letter from the institution and the written consent from participants has been received to carry out the study. In the evaluation of the data, frequencies and proportions analysis were used. The average age of women participating in the study was 32.87, the 35.8% were high school graduates, 60.3% were housewife and the 58.9% lived in city. The 30.5% of husbands were high school graduates, the 96.7% were employed and the 60.9% lived in city. The 78.1% of couples lived as a nuclear family, the average marriage year was 7.58, in 33.8% the fertility problem stems from women, 42.4% of them received a diagnosis for 1-2 years, 35.1% were being treated for 1-2 years. The 35.8% of women reported use of non-medical applications. The 24.4% of women used figs, onion cure, hacemat, locust, bee-pollen milk, the 18.2% used herbs, the 13.1% vowed, the 12.1% went to the tomb, the 10.1% did not bath a few days after the embryo transfer, the 9.1% used thermal water baths, the 5.0% manually corrected the womb, the 5.0% printed amulets by Hodja, the 3.0% went to the Hodja/pilgrims. Among the perceived benefits of using non-medical practices; facilitate pregnancy and implantation, improve oocyte quality were the most recently expressed. Women said that they often used herbs to develop follicles, did not bath after embryo transfer with aim to provide implantation, and used thermal waters to get rid of the infection. Compared to women, only the 25.8% of men used the non-medical practice. The 52.1% reported that they used peanuts, hacemat, locust, bee-pollen milk, the 14.9% used herbs, the 12.8% vowed, the 10.1% went to the tomb, the 10.1% used thermal water baths. Improve sperm number, motility and quality were the most expected benefits. Men said that they often used herbs to improve sperm number, used peanuts, hacemat, locust, bee-pollen milk to improve sperm motility and quality. Couples in Turkey often use non-medical practices to deal with fertility problems. Some of the practices considered as useful can adversely affect health. Healthcare providers should evaluate the use of non-medical practices and should inform if the application is known adverse effects on health.

Keywords: fertility, couples, non-medical practice, perceived benefit

Procedia PDF Downloads 330

Authors: Lucie Cote, Isabelle Rodier

Abstract:

The main objective of the research was to identify demonstrated mechanisms promoting psychological well-being and psychological health in the workplace, and to take a critical look at the 'National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace - Prevention, Promotion and Guidance to Staged Implementation (Standard)' as a mechanism to promote the psychological well-being and psychological health in the workplace. A review of the scientific literature was conducted, and a case study was done using data from a Canadian federal department. The following six mechanisms with an efficiency supported by most of the studies reviewed were identified: improving psychological well-being in the workplace literacy; strengthening the resilience of employees; creating an environmentally friendly and healthy workplace; promoting a healthy lifestyle; taking into account psychological characteristics in the drafting of job descriptions and tasks during the hiring process; and offering psychological self-care tools. The Standard offers several mechanisms beyond those previously identified and their implementation can be demanding. Research based on objective data and addressing the magnitude of the effect would be required.

Keywords: critical review, national standard of Canada, psychological health, workplace

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Nikolaos Souvlakis

Abstract:

The present paper negotiates the effect of 'the evil eye' on individuals' mental health while at the same time poses the problem of how the evil eye fits into the anthropological arena as a key question that forges a fundamental link between religion, anthropology and mental health professions. It is the argument of the paper that the evil eye is an essential and fundamental human phenomenon and therefore any scholarly field involved in its study must consider the insight it provides into the development of personhood. The study was an anthropological study in the geographical area of Corfu, a Greek Orthodox society uninfluenced by the Ottoman Islamic Culture. The paper aims to deepen our understanding of the evil eye as it analyses the interaction between the evil eye and gaze and how they affect the development of personhood; based on the empirical data collected from the fieldwork. Therefore, the paper adopts a psychoanalytic anthropology approach to facilitate a better understanding of the evil eye through the accounts of individuals’ journeys in the process of their development of personhood. Finally, the paper aims to offer a detailed analysis of the particular element of eye (‘I’) and, more specifically, of ‘the others’, as they relate to the phenomenon of the evil eye.

Keywords: gaze, evil eye, mental health, personhood

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Aneesh Mathew, Arunab K. S., Atul Kumar Sharma

Abstract:

The uncontrolled rise in population has led to unplanned, swift, and unsustainable urban expansion, causing detrimental environmental impacts on both local and global ecosystems. This research delves into a comprehensive examination of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, India. It centers on the spatial and temporal distribution of UHI and its correlation with air pollutants. Conducted across summer and winter seasons from 2001 to 2021 in Bangalore and Hyderabad, this study discovered that UHI intensity varies seasonally, peaking in summer and decreasing in winter. The annual maximum UHI intensities range between 4.65 °C to 6.69 °C in Bengaluru and 5.74 °C to 6.82 °C in Hyderabad. Bengaluru particularly experiences notable fluctuations in average UHI intensity. Introducing the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI), the study indicates a consistent strong UHI effect in both cities, significantly impacting living conditions. Moreover, hotspot analysis demonstrates a rising trend in UHI-affected areas over the years in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This research underscores the connection between air pollutant concentrations and land surface temperature (LST), highlighting the necessity of comprehending UHI dynamics for urban environmental management and public health. It contributes to a deeper understanding of UHI patterns in swiftly urbanizing areas, providing insights into the intricate relationship between urbanization, climate, and air quality. These findings serve as crucial guidance for policymakers, urban planners, and researchers, facilitating the development of innovative, sustainable strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of uncontrolled expansion while promoting the well-being of local communities and the global environment.

Keywords: urban heat island effect, land surface temperature, air pollution, urban thermal field variance index

Procedia PDF Downloads 50