Search results for: María Laura Guevara Campos

Authors: Laura Mclean

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A recurring point of interest in computational phylogenetic analysis of Indo-European family trees is the inference of a Germano-Italo-Celtic clade in some versions of the trees produced. The presence of this clade in the models is intriguing as there is little evidence for innovations shared among Germanic, Italic, and Celtic, the evidence generally used in the traditional method to construct a subgroup. One source of this unexpected outcome could be the input to the models. The datasets in the various models used so far, for the most part, take as their basis the Swadesh list, a list compiled by Morris Swadesh and then revised several times, containing up to 207 words that he believed were resistant to change among languages. The judgments made by Swadesh for this list, however, were subjective and based on his intuition rather than rigorous analysis. Some scholars used the Swadesh 200 list as the basis for their Indo-European dataset and made cognacy judgements for each of the words on the list. Another dataset is largely based on the Swadesh 207 list as well although the authors include additional lexical and non-lexical data, and they implement ‘split coding’ to deal with cases of polymorphic characters. A different team of scholars uses a different dataset, IECoR, which combines several different lists, one of which is the Swadesh 200 list. In fact, the Swadesh list is used in some form in every study surveyed and each dataset has three words that, when they are coded as cognates, seemingly contribute to the inference of a Germano-Italo-Celtic clade which could happen due to these clades sharing three words among only themselves. These three words are ‘fish’, ‘flower’, and ‘man’ (in the case of ‘man’, one dataset includes Lithuanian in the cognacy coding and removes the word ‘man’ from the screened data). This collection of cognates shared among Germanic, Italic, and Celtic that were deemed important enough to be included on the Swadesh list, without the ability to account for possible reasons for shared cognates that are not shared innovations, gives an impression of affinity between the Germanic, Celtic, and Italic branches without adequate methodological support. However, by changing how cognacy is defined (ie. root cognates, borrowings vs inherited cognates etc.), we will be able to identify whether these three cognates are significant enough to infer a clade for Germanic, Celtic, and Italic. This paper examines the question of what definition of cognacy should be used for phylogenetic datasets by examining the Germano-Italo-Celtic clade as a case study and offers insights into the reconstruction of a Germano-Italo-Celtic clade.

Keywords: historical, computational, Italo-Celtic, Germanic

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Authors: Steffy Maria Joseph, Abdu Rahiman V, Abdul Hameed K. M.

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Online handwritten character recognition is a challenging field in Artificial Intelligence. The classification success rate of current techniques decreases when the dataset involves similarity and complexity in stroke styles, number of strokes and stroke characteristics variations. Malayalam is a complex south indian language spoken by about 35 million people especially in Kerala and Lakshadweep islands. In this paper, we consider the significant feature extraction for the similar stroke styles of Malayalam. This extracted feature set are suitable for the recognition of other handwritten south indian languages like Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. A classification scheme based on support vector machines (SVM) is proposed to improve the accuracy in classification and recognition of online malayalam handwritten characters. SVM Classifiers are the best for real world applications. The contribution of various features towards the accuracy in recognition is analysed. Performance for different kernels of SVM are also studied. A graphical user interface has developed for reading and displaying the character. Different writing styles are taken for each of the 44 alphabets. Various features are extracted and used for classification after the preprocessing of input data samples. Highest recognition accuracy of 97% is obtained experimentally at the best feature combination with polynomial kernel in SVM.

Keywords: SVM, matlab, malayalam, South Indian scripts, onlinehandwritten character recognition

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Authors: Laura Struik, Sarah Dow-Fleisner, Robert Janke

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Introduction: The use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, has risen exponentially among North American youth and young adults (YYA) in recent years and has become a critical public health concern. The marketing strategies used by e-cigarette companies have been associated with the uptick in use among YYA, with video advertisements on TV and other electronic platforms being the most pervasive strategy. It is unknown if or how these advertisements capitalize on the recently documented multi-faceted influences that contribute to the initiation of vaping among this demographic (e.g., stress, anxiety, gender, peers, etc.), which is examined in this study. Methods: This content analysis is phase one of a two-phased research project that aims to inform meaningful approaches to anti-vaping messaging and campaigns. As part of this first phase, a scoping review has been conducted to identify various influences (environmental, cognitive, contextual, social, and emotional) on e-cigarette uptake among YYA. The results of this scoping review will inform the development of a coding framework to analyze the multiple influences present in vaping advertisements, as seen on two popular television channels (Discovery and AMC). In addition, advertisement characteristics will be incorporated into the coding framework (e.g., the number of people present, demographic details, context, and setting, etc.), and analyzed. Findings: Findings will reveal the types of influences being leveraged in vaping advertisements, and identify the underlying messages that may be particularly attractive to YYA. This will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how e-cigarette companies market their products and to whom. The results will also inform the next phase of this research project, which will encompass an analysis of anti-vaping advertisements and how the underpinning strategies align with those of the pro-vaping advertisements. Conclusions: Findings of this will study bring forward important implications for developing effective anti-vaping messages, and assist public health professionals in providing more comprehensive prevention and cessation support as it relates to e-cigarette use. Understanding which marketing strategies e-cigarette companies use is vital to our understanding of how to combat them. Findings will inform recommendations for public health efforts aimed at curbing e-cigarette use among YYA, and ultimately contribute to the health and well-being of YYA.

Keywords: e-cigarettes, youth and young adults, advertisements, public health

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Authors: Laura A. Rodriguez-Villamizar, Alvaro Osornio-Vargas, Brian H. Rowe, Rhonda J. Rosychuk

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Introduction/Objectives: The Census Metropolitan Area of Edmonton (CMAE) has important industrial emissions to the air from the Industrial Heartland Alberta (IHA) at the Northeast and the coal-fired power plants (CFPP) at the West. The objective of the study was to explore the presence of clusters of children asthma ED visits in the areas around the IHA and the CFPP. Methods: Retrospective data on children asthma ED visits was collected at the dissemination area (DA) level for children between 2 and 14 years of age, living in the CMAE between April 1, 2004, and March 31, 2010. We conducted a spatial analysis of disease clusters around putative sources with count (ecological) data using descriptive, hypothesis testing, and multivariable modeling analysis. Results: The mean crude rate of asthma ED visits was 9.3/1,000 children population per year during the study period. Circular spatial scan test for cases and events identified a cluster of children asthma ED visits in the DA where the CFPP are located in the Wabamum area. No clusters were identified around the IHA area. The multivariable models suggest that there is a significant decline in risk for children asthma ED visits as distance increases around the CFPP area this effect is modified at the SE direction with mean angle 125.58 degrees, where the risk increases with distance. In contrast, the regression models for IHA suggest that there is a significant increase in risk for children asthma ED visits as distance increases around the IHA area and this effect is modified at SW direction with mean angle 216.52 degrees, where the risk increases at shorter distances. Conclusions: Different methods for detecting clusters of disease consistently suggested the existence of a cluster of children asthma ED visits around the CFPP but not around the IHA within the CMAE. These results are probably explained by the direction of the air pollutants dispersion caused by the predominant and subdominant wind direction at each point. The use of different approaches to detect clusters of disease is valuable to have a better understanding of the presence, shape, direction and size of clusters of disease around pollution sources.

Keywords: air pollution, asthma, disease cluster, industry

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Authors: Maria Angelica Trak-Fellermeier, Alison K. Macchi, Rodolfo Galvan, Yolangel Hernandez, Thresia Gambon, Rebeca Martinez, Cristina Palacios

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Poor lifestyle habits, vitamin D deficiency, and inadequate calcium intake, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, may contribute to severe osteopenia in childhood, increasing future fractures and osteoporosis risk. We here present a case of osteopenia in a 13-year-old white, Hispanic, premenarchal girl who completed the baseline visit of the MetA-Bone Trial during the COVID-19 pandemic. The premenarchal girl has a family history of osteoporosis (maternal grandfather) but no previous fractures; moderate outdoor activity was <1 hour/day 3 times/week with 8 hours/day of sleep. Consumption of dairy products and vegetables was <1 serving/day. Lab blood tests confirmed vitamin D deficiency (serum 25(OH)D: 9 ng/L) and hyperphosphatemia (5.2 mg/dL); other tests were normal. DXA scan Z‐score was ‐2.2 SD (indicative of osteopenia by age and sex). The premenarchal girl was referred to a pediatrician, who confirmed the results, and prescribed a daily supplement with 2000 IU of vitamin D and 1000 mg of calcium. Seclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the severity of the findings. Therefore, we recommend screening children undergoing growth spurts for vitamin D, calcium, and poor lifestyle habits during and after the pandemic.

Keywords: bone mass, vitamin D, puberty, Hispanic

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Authors: Maria da Conceição Proença

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This case study implements the evaluation of burned areas that suffered successive wildfires in Portugal mainland during the summer of 2017, killing more than 60 people. It’s intended to show that this evaluation can be done with remote sensing data free of charges in a simple laptop, with open-source software, describing the not-so-simple methodology step by step, to make it available for county workers in city halls of the areas attained, where the availability of information is essential for the immediate planning of mitigation measures, such as restoring road access, allocate funds for the recovery of human dwellings and assess further restoration of the ecological system. Wildfires also devastate forest ecosystems having a direct impact on vegetation cover and killing or driving away from the animal population. The economic interest is also attained, as the pinewood burned becomes useless for the noblest applications, so its value decreases, and resin extraction ends for several years. The tools described in this paper enable the location of the areas where took place the annihilation of natural habitats and establish a baseline for major changes in forest ecosystems recovery. Moreover, the result allows the follow up of the surface fuel loading, enabling the targeting and evaluation of restoration measures in a time basis planning.

Keywords: image processing, remote sensing, wildfires, burned areas evaluation, sentinel-2

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Authors: Maria Nejjari, Michel Cloutier, Guylaine Talbot, Martin Lanthier

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The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a staining technique that allows the identification, detection and quantification of microorganisms without prior cultivation by means of epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Oligonucleotide probes have been used to detect bacteria and archaea that colonize the cattle and swine digestive systems. These bacterial strains have been obtained from fecal samples issued from cattle manure and swine slurry. The collection of these samples has been done at 3 different pit’s levels A, B and C with same height. Two collection depth levels have been taken in consideration, one collection level just under the pit’s surface and the second one at the bottom of the pit. Cells were fixed and FISH was performed using oligonucleotides of 15 to 25 nucleotides of length associated with a fluorescent molecule Cy3 or Cy5. The double hybridization using Cy3 probe targeting bacteria (Cy3-EUB338-I) along with a Cy5 probe targeting Archaea (Gy5-ARCH915) gave a better signal. The CLSM images show that there are more bacteria than archaea in swine slurry. However, the choice of fluorescent probes is critical for getting the double hybridization and a unique signature for each microorganism. FISH technique is an easy way to detect pathogens like E. coli O157, Listeria, Salmonella that easily contaminate water streams, agricultural soils and, consequently, food products and endanger human health.

Keywords: archaea, bacteria, detection, FISH, fluorescence

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Authors: Maria Bercea, Bernhard A. Wolf

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The thermodynamic behavior for solutions of poly (methyl methacrylate-ran-t-butyl methacrylate) of variable composition as compared with the corresponding homopolymers was investigated by light scattering measurements carried out for dilute solutions and vapor pressure measurements of concentrated solutions. The complex dependencies of the Flory Huggins interaction parameter on concentration and copolymer composition in solvents of different polarity (toluene and chloroform) can be understood by taking into account the ability of the polymers to rearrange in a response to changes in their molecular surrounding. A recent unified thermodynamic approach was used for modeling the experimental data, being able to describe the behavior of the different solutions by means of two adjustable parameters, one representing the effective number of solvent segments and another one accounting for the interactions between the components. Thus, it was investigated how the solvent quality changes with the composition of the copolymers through the Gibbs energy of mixing as a function of polymer concentration. The largest reduction of the Gibbs energy at a given composition of the system was observed for the best solvent. The present investigation proves that the new unified thermodynamic approach is a general concept applicable to homo- and copolymers, independent of the chain conformation or shape, molecular and chemical architecture of the components and of other dissimilarities, such as electrical charges.

Keywords: random copolymers, Flory Huggins interaction parameter, Gibbs energy of mixing, chemical architecture

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Authors: Eleftheria Barouni, Antonia Terpou, Maria Kanellaki, Argyro Bekatorou, Athanasios A.Koutinas

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The aim of the present work was to evaluate the production of cheese using a composite filter of tubular cellulose (TC) with [a] entrapped rennin enzyme and [b] immobilized L.casei and entrapped enzyme. Tubular cellulose from sawdust was prepared after lignin removal with 1% NaOH. The biocatalysts were thermally dried at 38oC and used for milk coagulation. The effect of temperature (5,20,37 oC) of the first dried biocatalyst on the pH kinetics of milk coagulation was examined. The optimum temperature (37oC) of the first biocatalyst was used for milk coagulation with the second biocatalyst prepared by entrapment of both rennin enzyme and probiotic lactic acid bacteria in order to introduce a sour taste in cheeses. This co-biocatalyst was used for milk coagulation. Samples were studied as regards its effect on lactic acid formation and its correlation with taste test results in cheeses. For both biocatalysts samples were analyzed for total acidity and lactic acid formation by HPLC. The quality of the produced cheeses was examined through the determination of volatile compounds by SPME GC/MS analysis. Preliminary taste tests and microbiological analysis were performed and encourage us for further research regarding scale up.

Keywords: tubular cellulose, Lactobacillus casei, rennin enzyme, cheese production

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Authors: Maria Torres

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After the acknowledgment of contrastive analysis, Pit Coder’s establishment of error analysis revolutionized the way instructors analyze and examine students’ writing errors. One question that relates to error analysis with speakers of a first language, in this case, Spanish, who are learning a second language (English), is the type of errors that these learners make along with the causes of these errors. Many studies have looked at the way the native tongue influences second language acquisition, but this method does not take into account other possible sources of students’ errors. This paper examines writing samples from an advanced ESL class whose first language is Spanish at non-profit organization, Learning Quest Stanislaus Literacy Center. Through error analysis, errors in the students’ writing were identified, described, and classified. The purpose of this paper was to discover the type and origin of their errors which generated appropriate treatments. The results in this paper show that the most frequent errors in the advanced ESL students’ writing pertain to interlanguage and a small percentage from an intralanguage source. Lastly, the least type of errors were ones that originate from negative transfer. The results further solidify the idea that there are other errors and sources of errors to account for rather than solely focusing on the difference between the students’ mother and target language. This presentation will bring to light some strategies and techniques that address the issues found in this research. Taking into account the amount of error pertaining to interlanguage, an ESL teacher should provide metalinguistic awareness of the students’ errors.

Keywords: error analysis, ESL, interlanguage, intralangauge

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Authors: Maria Jose Ramos Villagra

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Since the boom of tourism in the late 80s and 90s, Costa Rica is considered as one of the leading countries for tourism. The size and geography of its territory, its low population density, and its image of being one of the most stable Latin American democracies make Costa Rica an attractive and safe target for foreign investors. Land ownership by foreign investors has increased as the natural resources in rural communities have been exhausted. When nature becomes an instrument to increase profit, it loses its communal value contributing to local communities losing their sovereignty and access to basic resources. The rural regions in proximity to the most tourist areas are often the most marginalized. The purpose of this research is to use the case of the rural community Sardinal and its struggle to protect its aquifer to investigate the economic and cultural consequences of the tourism boom in Costa Rican rural communities. The process of reclaiming the access to and the preservation of the aquifer enabled individuals to redefine their political views and their political power. The case of Sardinal broke the stereotypes about rural individuals and their ability to politically educate themselves and organize. Sardinal´s conflict brought to light the necessity of questioning the role of modern tourism as part of Costa Rica’s national identity, and as a tool for development

Keywords: Costa Rica, tourism, rural development, economy, ecotourism, environment, water, Sardinal

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Authors: Maria C. Proença, Marco Aniceto, Pedro N. Santos, José C. Freitas

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A methodology based on wavelets is proposed for the automatic location and delimitation of defects in limestone plates. Natural defects include dark colored spots, crystal zones trapped in the stone, areas of abnormal contrast colors, cracks or fracture lines, and fossil patterns. Although some of these may or may not be considered as defects according to the intended use of the plate, the goal is to pair each stone with a map of defects that can be overlaid on a computer display. These layers of defects constitute a database that will allow the preliminary selection of matching tiles of a particular variety, with specific dimensions, for a requirement of N square meters, to be done on a desktop computer rather than by a two-hour search in the storage park, with human operators manipulating stone plates as large as 3 m x 2 m, weighing about one ton. Accident risks and work times are reduced, with a consequent increase in productivity. The base for the algorithm is wavelet decomposition executed in two instances of the original image, to detect both hypotheses – dark and clear defects. The existence and/or size of these defects are the gauge to classify the quality grade of the stone products. The tuning of parameters that are possible in the framework of the wavelets corresponds to different levels of accuracy in the drawing of the contours and selection of the defects size, which allows for the use of the map of defects to cut a selected stone into tiles with minimum waste, according the dimension of defects allowed.

Keywords: automatic detection, defects, fracture lines, wavelets

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Authors: Irina Alexandra Paun, Mona Mihailescu, Marian Zamfirescu, Catalin Romeo Luculescu, Adriana Maria Acasandrei, Cosmin Catalin Mustaciosu, Roxana Cristina Popescu, Maria Dinescu

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A major concern in bone tissue engineering is to develop complex 3D architectures that mimic the natural cells environment, facilitate the cells growth in a defined manner and allow the flow transport of nutrients and metabolic waste. In particular, porous structures of controlled pore size and positioning are indispensable for growing human-like bone structures. Another concern is to monitor both the structures and the seeded cells with high spatial resolution and without interfering with the cells natural environment. The present approach relies on laser-based technologies employed for fabricating porous biomimetic structures that support the growth of osteoblast-like cells and for their non-invasive 3D imaging. Specifically, the porous structures were built by two photon polymerization –direct writing (2PP_DW) of the commercially available photoresists IL-L780, using the Photonic Professional 3D lithography system. The structures consist of vertical tubes with micrometer-sized heights and diameters, in a honeycomb-like spatial arrangement. These were fabricated by irradiating the IP-L780 photoresist with focused laser pulses with wavelength centered at 780 nm, 120 fs pulse duration and 80 MHz repetition rate. The samples were precisely scanned in 3D by piezo stages. The coarse positioning was done by XY motorized stages. The scanning path was programmed through a writing language (GWL) script developed by Nanoscribe. Following laser irradiation, the unexposed regions of the photoresist were washed out by immersing the samples in the Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate (PGMEA). The porous structures were seeded with osteoblast like MG-63 cells and their osteogenic potential was tested in vitro. The cell-seeded structures were analyzed in 3D using the digital holographic microscopy technique (DHM). DHM is a marker free and high spatial resolution imaging tool, where the hologram acquisition is performed non-invasively i.e. without interfering with the cells natural environment. Following hologram recording, a digital algorithm provided a 3D image of the sample, as well as information about its refractive index, which is correlated with the intracellular content. The axial resolution of the images went down to the nanoscale, while the temporal scales ranged from milliseconds up to hours. The hologram did not involve sample scanning and the whole image was available in one frame recorded going over 200μm field of view. The digital holograms processing provided 3D quantitative information on the porous structures and allowed a quantitative analysis of the cellular response in respect to the porous architectures. The cellular shape and dimensions were found to be influenced by the underlying micro relief. Furthermore, the intracellular content gave evidence on the beneficial role of the porous structures in promoting osteoblast differentiation. In all, the proposed laser-based protocol emerges as a promising tool for the fabrication and non-invasive imaging of porous constructs for bone tissue engineering. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-2534 (contract 97 from 01/10/2015) and by UEFISCDI PN-II-PT-PCCA no. 6/2012. A part of this work was performed in the CETAL laser facility, supported by the National Program PN 16 47 - LAPLAS IV.

Keywords: biomimetic, holography, laser, osteoblast, two photon polymerization

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Authors: Sarah Vuningoma, Maria Rosa Lorini, Wallace Chigona

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The potential of mobile phones is evident in their ability to address isolation and loneliness, support the improvement of interpersonal relations, and contribute to the facilitation of assimilation processes. Mobile phones can play a role in facilitating the integration of refugees into a new environment. This study aims to evaluate the impact of mobile phone use on helping refugees navigate the challenges posed by cultural differences in the host country. Semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data for the study, involving a sample size of 27 participants. Participants in the study were refugees based in South Africa, and thematic analysis was the chosen method for data analysis. The research highlights the numerous challenges faced by refugees in their host nation, including a lack of local cultural skills, the separation of family and friends from their countries of origin, hurdles in acquiring legal documentation, and the complexities of assimilating into the unfamiliar community. The use of mobile phones by refugees comes with several advantages, such as the advancement of language and cultural understanding, seamless integration into the host country, streamlined communication, and the exploration of diverse opportunities. Concurrently, mobile phones allow refugees in South Africa to manage the impact of culture shock.

Keywords: mobile phones, culture shock, refugees, South Africa

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Authors: Valentina Di Maria, Anton Ianakiev

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The use of adhesive anchors for wooden constructions is an efficient technology to connect and design timber members in new timber structures and to rehabilitate the damaged structural members of historical buildings. Due to the lack of standard regulation in this specific area of structural design, designers’ choices are still supported by test analysis that enables knowledge, and the prediction, of the structural behavior of glued in rod joints. The paper outlines an experimental research activity aimed at identifying the tensile resistance capacity of several new adhesive joint prototypes made of epoxy resin, steel bar and timber, Oak and Douglas Fir species. The development of new adhesive connectors has been carried out by using epoxy to glue stainless steel bars into pre-drilled holes, characterized by smooth and rough internal surfaces, in timber samples. The realization of a threaded contact surface using a specific drill bit has led to an improved bond between wood and epoxy. The applied changes have also reduced the cost of the joints’ production. The paper presents the results of this parametric analysis and a Finite Element analysis that enables identification and study of the internal stress distribution in the proposed adhesive anchors.

Keywords: glued in rod joints, adhesive anchors, timber, epoxy, rough contact surface, threaded hole shape

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Authors: Pedro G. Rodrigues, Maria J. Bárrios, Sara A. Ambrósio

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The digitalisation of health is a profoundly transformative economic, political, and social process. As is often the case, such processes need to be carefully managed if misunderstandings, policy misalignments, or outright conflicts between the government and a wide gamut of stakeholders with competing interests are to be avoided. Thus, ensuring open lines of communication where all parties know what each other’s concerns are is key to good governance, as well as efficient and effective policymaking. This project aims to make a small but still significant contribution in this regard in that we seek to determine the extent to which health managers’ perceptions of what is a priority for digital health in Portugal are aligned with official policy perspectives. By applying state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology first to the indexed literature on digital health and then to a set of official policy documents on the same topic, followed by a survey directed at health managers working in public and private hospitals in Portugal, we obtain two priority rankings that, when compared, will allow us to produce a synthesis and toolkit on digital health policy in Portugal, with a view to identifying areas of policy convergence and divergence. This project is also particularly peculiar in the sense that sophisticated digital methods related to text analytics are employed to study good governance aspects of digitalisation applied to health care.

Keywords: digital health, health informatics, text analytics, governance, natural language understanding

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Authors: Antonio Brigido, Maria Meireles, Francisco Barros, Gaspar Mota, Fernanda Terra, Lidia Melo, Marcelo Reis, Camilo Souza

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As the globalization of the software process advances, companies are increasingly committed to improving software development technologies across multiple locations. On the other hand, working with teams distributed in different locations also raises new challenges. In this sense, automated processes can help to improve the quality of process execution. Therefore, this work presents the development of a tool called TSS Script that automates the sample preparation process for carrier requirements validation tests. The objective of the work is to obtain significant gains in execution time and reducing errors in scenario preparation. To estimate the gains over time, the executions performed in an automated and manual way were timed. In addition, a questionnaire-based survey was developed to discover new requirements and improvements to include in this automated support. The results show an average gain of 46.67% of the total hours worked, referring to sample preparation. The use of the tool avoids human errors, and for this reason, it adds greater quality and speed to the process. Another relevant factor is the fact that the tester can perform other activities in parallel with sample preparation.

Keywords: Android, GSD, automated testing tool, mobile products

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Authors: Fernanda M. Assef, Maria Teresinha A. Steiner, David Gabriel F. Barros

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Review researches are useful in terms of analysis of research problems. Between the types of review documents, we commonly find bibliometric studies. This type of application often helps the global visualization of a research problem and helps academics worldwide to understand the context of a research area better. In this document, a bibliometric view surrounding clustering techniques and sustainability problems is presented. The authors aimed at which issues mostly use clustering techniques, and, even which sustainability issue would be more impactful on today’s moment of research. During the bibliometric analysis, we found ten different groups of research in clustering applications for sustainability issues: Energy; Environmental; Non-urban planning; Sustainable Development; Sustainable Supply Chain; Transport; Urban Planning; Water; Waste Disposal; and, Others. And, by analyzing the citations of each group, we discovered that the Environmental group could be classified as the most impactful research cluster in the area mentioned. Now, after the content analysis of each paper classified in the environmental group, we found that the k-means technique is preferred for solving sustainability problems with clustering methods since it appeared the most amongst the documents. The authors finally conclude that a bibliometric assessment could help indicate a gap of researches on waste disposal – which was the group with the least amount of publications – and the most impactful research on environmental problems.

Keywords: bibliometric assessment, clustering, sustainability, territorial partitioning

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Authors: Maria Melania Muda, Retno Wibawanti, Retno Asti Werdhani

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Background: Flight attendant (FA) is a job that is often exposed to ergonomic stressors; thus, they are very susceptible to symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). One of the ways to overcome musculoskeletal complaints is by stretching. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of MSDs and the effect of a 2-week stretching exercise program using the Indonesian Ministry of Health's stretching video on changes in musculoskeletal pain intensity in FA on commercial aircraft in Indonesia. Methods: A pre-post study was conducted using Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) for MSDs’ identification and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) as pain intensity measurement. Data was collected and then analyzed using SPSS with Wilcoxon test. The change in pain intensity was considered significant if the p value was less than 0.05. Results: The results showed that 92% of the FA (n=75) had MSDs in at least 1 area of the body in the last 12 months. Thirty-four respondents participated as subjects. The complaint level score in 28 body areas before intervention was a median of 34 (29-84), with pain intensity of a median of 6 (2-9) became a median of 32 (28-67) and a median of 3 (0-9) after the intervention, respectively, with p-value <0.001. Conclusion: The stretching exercise program showed significant changes in the complaint level scores in 28 body areas (p < 0.001) and pain intensity before and after the stretching exercise intervention (p < 0.001).

Keywords: flight attendant, MSDs, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, stretching exercise program, visual analog scale

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Authors: Maria Borawska, Patryk Nowakowski, Sylwia K. Naliwajko, Renata Markiewicz-Zukowska, Anna Puscion-Jakubik, Krystyna Gromkowska-Kepka, Justyna Moskwa

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Coprinus comatus (O. F. Müll.) Pers.) should not be confused with the common Ink Cap, which contains coprine and can induce coprine poisoning. We study the possibility of applying coprinus mushroom (Coprinus comatus), available in Poland, as food product supporting the treatment of human glioblastoma cells. The U87MG and T98 glioblastoma cell lines were exposed to water (CW) or ethanol 95° (CE) Cantharellus extracts (50-500 μg/ml), with or without temozolomide (TMZ) during 24, 48 or 72 hours. The cell division was examined by the H³-thymidine incorporation. The statistical analysis was performed using Statistica v. 13.0 software. Significant differences were assumed for p < 0.05. We found that both, CW and CE, administrated alone, had inhibitory effect on cell lines growth, but the CE extract had a higher degree of growth inhibition. The anti-tumor effect of TMZ (50 μM) on U87MG was enhanced by mushroom extracts, and the effect was lower to the effect after using Coprinus comatus extracts (CW and CE) alone. A significant decrease (p < 0.05) in pro-MMP2 (82.61 ± 6.3% of control) secretion in U87MG cells was observed after treated with CE (250 μg/ml). We conclude that extracts of Coprinus comatus, edible mushroom, present cytotoxic properties on U87MG and T98 cell lines and may cooperate with TMZ synergistically enhancing its growth inhibiting activity against glioblastoma U87MG cell line.

Keywords: anticancer, glioma, mushroom, temozolomide

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Authors: Sarah Holdren, Laura Crook, Anne Drapkin Lyerly

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Objective: The COVID-19 Pandemic has drawn new attention to long-existing bioethical questions around pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood. Due to the increased risk of severe COVID-19, pregnant individuals may experience anxiety regarding medical decision-making. Especially in the case of hospital births, questions around the ethics of bringing healthy pregnant individuals into a high-risk environment for viral transmission illuminate gaps in the American maternal and child healthcare system. Limited research has sought to understand the experiences of those who gave birth outside hospitals during this time. This study aims to understand pregnant individuals’ conceptualization of risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Individuals who gave birth after March 2020 were recruited through advertisements on social media. Participants completed a 1-hour semi-structured interview and a demographic questionnaire. Interviews were transcribed and coded by members of the research team using thematic narrative analysis. Results: A total of 18 participants were interviewed and completed the demographic questionnaire. The language of risk was utilized in birth narratives in three different ways, which highlighted the multileveled and nuanced ways in which risk is understood and mitigated by pregnant and birthing individuals. These included: 1. The risk of contracting COVID-19 before, during, and after birth, 2. The risk of birth complications requiring medical interventions dependent on selected birthing space (home, birthing center, hospital), and 3. The overall risk of creating life in the middle of a pandemic. The risk of contracting COVID-19 and risk of birth complications were often weighed in paradoxical ways throughout each individual’s pregnancy, while phrases such as “pandemic baby” and “apocalypse” appeared throughout narratives and highlighted the broader implications of pregnancy and childbirth during this momentous time. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals should consider the variety of ways that pregnant and birthing individuals understand the risk when counseling patients on healthcare decisions, especially during times of healthcare crisis such as COVID-19. Future work should look to understand how the language of risk fits into a broader understanding of the human experience of growing life in times of crisis.

Keywords: maternal and child health, thematic narrative analysis, COVID-19, risk mitigation

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Authors: Diogo Ribeiro, Teresa Neto, Ricardo Santos, Maria Portela, Alexandra Trincão

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This article describes a set of innovating student recruitment strategies in a 1st cycle course of Civil Engineering, in particular the Civil Engineering Degree from the School of Engineering - Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP-PP). The strategies described were two-fold, targeting, for one, the increment on the number of admissions for the degree’s first year and two, promoting the re-entry of students who, for whatever reason, interrupted their studies. For the first objective, teacher-student binomials were set, whilst for the second, personalized contacts and assistance were provided. The main initiatives were promoted by the team of degree directors and were upheld with the participation and in consonance with the School’s external relations office. These initiatives were put forward as an attempt to minimize the impact of a national and international crisis on the AEC industry when the sustainability of the course was at risk. The implementation of these strategies was assessed on basis of a statistical analysis of the data collected from official sources and by surveys promoted. The results showed that the re-entry boost of former students, attending classes scattered on the three curricular years, secured registrations on some Curricular Units (UC’s) which more than doubled their numbers. Accompanied by a still incipient but regained interest on Civil Engineering it was possible in the short span of three years to reset the number of new students from less than 10 to the currently maximum allowed of 75, and so invert the tendency of an abrupt decline on the total number of students enrolled on the degree.

Keywords: civil engineering, monitoring, performance indicators, strategies, student recruitment

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Authors: Kafuko M. Maria, Namisango Fatuma, Byomire Gorretti

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Mobile learning (m-learning) is steadily growing and has undoubtedly derived benefits to learners and tutors in different learning environments. This paper investigates the variation in benefits derived from enhanced classroom learning through use of m-learning platforms in the context of a developing country owing to the fact that it is still in its initial stages. The study focused on how basic technology-enhanced pedagogic innovation like cell phone-based learning is enhancing classroom learning from the learners’ perspective. The paper explicitly indicates the opportunities presented by enhanced learning to a conventional learning environment like a physical classroom. The findings were obtained through a survey of two universities in Uganda in which data was quantitatively collected, analyzed and presented in a three banded diagram depicting the variation in the obtainable benefits. Learners indicated that a smartphone is the most commonly used device. Learners also indicate that straight lectures, student to student plus student to lecturer communication, accessing learning material and assignments are core activities. In a TEL environment support by smartphones, learners indicated that they conveniently achieve the prior activities plus discussions and group work. Learners seemed not attracted to the possibility of using TEL environment to take lectures, as well as make class presentations. The less attractiveness of these two factors may be due to the teacher centered approach commonly applied in the country’s education system.

Keywords: technology enhanced learning, m-learning, classroom learning, perceived benefits

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Authors: Angela Maria Fasnacht

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Detection of anomalies due to contaminants’ presence, also known as early detection systems in water treatment plants, has become a critical point that deserves an in-depth study for their improvement and adaptation to current requirements. The design of these systems requires a detailed analysis and processing of the data in real-time, so it is necessary to apply various statistical methods appropriate to the data generated, such as Spearman’s Correlation, Factor Analysis, Cross-Correlation, and k-fold Cross-validation. Statistical analysis and methods allow the evaluation of large data sets to model the behavior of variables; in this sense, statistical treatment or analysis could be considered a vital step to be able to develop advanced models focused on machine learning that allows optimized data management in real-time, applied to early detection systems in water treatment processes. These techniques facilitate the development of new technologies used in advanced sensors. In this work, these methods were applied to identify the possible correlations between the measured parameters and the presence of the glyphosate contaminant in the single-pass system. The interaction between the initial concentration of glyphosate and the location of the sensors on the reading of the reported parameters was studied.

Keywords: glyphosate, emergent contaminants, machine learning, probes, sensors, predictive

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Authors: María de los Ángeles Crespo López, Carmen García García

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The highly competitive nature of today's globalised marketplace requires that brands and stores develop effective commercial strategies to ensure their economic survival. Maintaining the loyalty of existing customers constitutes one key strategy that yields the best results. Although the relationship between consumers' self-congruity and their manifestations of loyalty towards a store has been investigated, the role of store personality in this relationship remains unclear. In this study, multiple parallel mediation analysis was used to examine the effect of Store Personality on the relationship between Self-Congruity of consumers and their Manifestations of Loyalty. For this purpose, 457 Spanish consumers of the Fnac store completed three self-report questionnaires assessing Store Personality, Self-Congruity, and Store Loyalty. The data were analyzed using the SPSS macro PROCESS. The results revealed that three dimensions of Store Personality, namely Exciting, Close and Competent Store, positively and significantly mediated the relationship between Self-Congruity and Manifestations of Loyalty. The indirect effect of Competent Store was the greatest. This means that a consumer with higher levels of Self-Congruity with the store will exhibit more Manifestations of Loyalty when the store is perceived as Exciting, Close or Competent. These findings suggest that more attention should be paid to the perceived personality of stores for the development of effective marketing strategies to maintain or increase consumers' manifestations of loyalty towards stores.

Keywords: multiple parallel mediation, PROCESS, self-congruence, store loyalty, store personality

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Authors: Livhuwani Muthelo, Tebogo Maria Mothiba, Rambelani Nancy Malema

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Background: Despite occupational legislation/standards being in place in the industry, there are many reported health and safety incidents, including both occupational injuries and illnesses in the South African mining industry. Purpose: This systematic literature review aimed to describe and identify the existing gaps in health and safety compliance within the South African mining industry and propose future research areas. Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted using the key concepts of health and safety, compliance, standards, and mining. A total of 102 papers issued from 1994 to April 2020 were extracted from an online database search, which included a combination of South African and international government OHS legislation documents, policies, standards, reports from the mineral departments and international labour office, qualitative and quantitative journal articles, dissertations, seminars and conference proceedings. Results: The literature review revealed that, though there are laws, regulations, standards to guide the industry on health and safety issues in South Africa, the main challenge is with the compliance with the existing health and safety systems, wherein systems are not being implemented. Conclusion: Gaps between research, policy, and implementation in occupational health practice in the South African mining industry were also identified.

Keywords: circumstances, non-compliance, health and safety, standards, mining industry

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Authors: Vinicius Buccelli Ribeiro, Maria Teresa Destro, Mariza Landgraf

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Bacteriophages are one of the most abundant replicating entities on Earth and can be found everywhere in which their hosts live and there are reports regarding isolation from different niches such as soil and foods. Since studies are moving forward with regard to biotechnology area, different research projects are being performed focusing on the phage technology and its use by the food industry. This study aimed to evaluate a cocktail (LP501) of phages isolated in Brazil for its lytic potential against Listeria monocytogenes. Three bacteriophages (LP05, LP12 and LP20) were isolated from soil samples and all of them showed 100% lysis against a panel of 10 L. monocytogenes strains representing different serotypes of this pathogen. A mix of L. monocytogenes 1/2a and 4b were inoculated in soft cheeses (approximately 105 cfu/cm2) with the phage cocktail added thereafter (1 x 109 PFU/cm2). Samples were analyzed immediately and then stored at 10°C for ten days. At 30 min post-infection, the cocktail reduced L. monocytogenes counts approximately 1.5 logs, compared to controls without bacteriophage. The treatment produced a statistically significant decrease in the counts of viable cells (p < 0.05) and in all assays performed we observed a decrease of up to 4 logs of L. monocytogenes. This study will make available to the international community behavioral and molecular data regarding bacteriophages present in soil samples in Brazil. Furthermore, there is the possibility to apply this new cocktail of phages in different food products to combat L. monocytogenes.

Keywords: bacteriophages, biocontrol, listeria monocytogenes, soft cheese

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Authors: Albert Amagyei, Julia Carroll, Amanda R. Amorim Adegboye, Laura Strumidlo, Rosie Kneafsey

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Introduction: Classroom-based learning has persisted as the mainstream model of pre-registration nurse education. This model is often rigid, teacher-centered, and unable to support active learning and the practical learning needs of nursing students. Health Education England (HEE), a public body of the Department of Health and Social Care, hypothesises that blended learning (BL) programmes may address health system and nursing profession challenges, such as nursing shortages and lack of digital expertise, by exploring opportunities for providing predominantly online, remote-access study which may increase nursing student recruitment, offering alternate pathways to nursing other than the traditional classroom route. This study will provide evidence for blended learning strategies adopted in nursing education as well as examine nursing student learning experiences concerning the challenges and opportunities related to using blended learning within nursing education. Objective: This review will explore the challenges and opportunities of BL within pre-registration nurse education from the student's perspective. Methods: The search was completed within five databases. Eligible studies were appraised independently by four reviewers. The JBI-convergent segregated approach for mixed methods review was used to assess and synthesize the data. The study’s protocol has been registered with the International Register of Systematic Reviews with registration number// PROSPERO (CRD42023423532). Results: Twenty-seven (27) studies (21 quantitative and 6 qualitative) were included in the review. The study confirmed that BL positively impacts nursing students' learning outcomes, as demonstrated by the findings of the meta-analysis and meta-synthesis. Conclusion: The review compared BL to traditional learning, simulation, laboratory, and online learning on nursing students’ learning and programme outcomes as well as learning behaviour and experience. The results show that BL could effectively improve nursing students’ knowledge, academic achievement, critical skills, and clinical performance as well as enhance learner satisfaction and programme retention. The review findings outline that students’ background characteristics, BL design, and format significantly impact the success of the BL nursing programme.

Keywords: nursing student, blended learning, pre-registration nurse education, online learning

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Authors: Yasmin A. M. Ferreira, Ana C. K. Pelissari, Sofia De C. F. Vicente, Raquel M. Da S. Campos, Deborah C. L. Masquio, Lian Tock, Lila M. Oyama, Flavia C. Corgosinho, Valter T. Boldarine, Ana R. Dâmaso

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The prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing around the world and currently considered a global epidemic. Food and nutrition are essential requirements for promoting health and protecting non-communicable chronic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. Specific dietary components may modulate the inflammation and oxidative stress in obese individuals. Few studies have investigated the dietary Inflammation Factor Rating (IFR) in obese adolescents. The IFR was developed to characterize an individual´s diet on anti- to pro-inflammatory score. This evaluation contributes to investigate the effects of inflammatory diet in metabolic profile in several individual conditions. Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary weight loss therapy on inflammation factor rating and cardiometabolic risk in obese adolescents. Methods: A total of 26 volunteers (14-19 y.o) were recruited and submitted to 20 weeks interdisciplinary therapy allied to health education website- Ciclo do Emagrecimento®, including clinical, nutritional, psychological counseling and exercise training. The body weight was monitored weekly by self-report and photo. The adolescents answered a test to evaluate the knowledge of the topics covered in the videos. A 24h dietary record was applied at the baseline and after 20 weeks to assess the food intake and to calculate IFR. A negative IFR suggests that diet may have inflammatory effects and a positive IFR indicates an anti-inflammatory effect. Statistical analysis was performed using the program STATISTICA version 12.5 for Windows. The adopted significant value was α ≤ 5 %. Data normality was verified with the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Data were expressed as mean±SD values. To analyze the effects of intervention it was applied test t. Pearson´s correlations test was performed. Results: After 20 weeks of treatment, body mass index (BMI), body weight, body fat (kg and %), abdominal and waist circumferences decreased significantly. The mean of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) increased after the therapy. Moreover, it was found an improvement of inflammation factor rating from -427,27±322,47 to -297,15±240,01, suggesting beneficial effects of nutritional counselling. Considering the correlations analysis, it was found that pro-inflammatory diet is associated with increase in the BMI, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL), triglycerides, insulin and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR); while an anti-inflammatory diet is associated with improvement of HDL-c and insulin sensitivity Check index (QUICKI). Conclusion: The 20-week blended multidisciplinary therapy was effective to reduce body weight, anthropometric circumferences and improve inflammatory markers in obese adolescents. In addition, our results showed that an increase in inflammatory profile diet is associated with cardiometabolic parameters, suggesting the relevance to stimulate anti-inflammatory diet habits as an effective strategy to treat and control of obesity and related comorbidities. Financial Support: FAPESP (2017/07372-1) and CNPq (409943/2016-9)

Keywords: cardiometabolic risk, inflammatory diet, multidisciplinary therapy, obesity

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Authors: Valean Maria

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Construction and demolition waste management is a timely topic, due to the urgency of its transition to sustainability. This sector is responsible for over a third of the waste generated in the E.U., while the legislation requires a proportion of at least 70% preparation for reuse and recycle, excluding backfilling. To this end, the E.U. Commission has provided the Level(s) methodology, allowing for the standardized planning and reporting of waste quantities across all levels of the construction process, from the architecture, to the demolition, from the estimation stage, to the actual measurements at the end of the operations. We applied Level(s) for the first time to the Romanian context, a developing E.U. country in which illegal dumping of contruction waste in nature and landfills, are still common practice. We performed the desk study of the buildings’ documents, followed by field studies of the sites, and finally the insertion and calculation of statistical data of the construction and demolition waste. We learned that Romania is far from the E.U. average in terms of the initial estimations of waste, with some numbers being higher, others lower, and that the price of evacuation to landfills is significantly lower in the developing country, a possible barrier to adopting the new regulations. Finally, we found that concrete is the predominant type waste, in terms of quantity as well as cost of disposal. Further directions of research are provided, such as mapping out all of the alternative facilities in the region and the calculation of the financial costs and of the CO2 footprint, for preparing and delivering waste sustainably, for a more sound and locally adapted model of waste management.

Keywords: construction, waste, management, levels, EU

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