Search results for: problems of care

Authors: Mohd Sarfaraz

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The objective of this study is to investigate the work-life balance and job satisfaction among women employees in a hospital in India. It is believed that balancing a successful career with a family life or personal life can be challenging. WLB impacts on persons' satisfaction in their work and personal life roles. For this purpose, a questionnaire is developed with 22 items. The data collected from women employees who are working in a hospital in Aligarh, India. The constructs considered in this study include WLB and job satisfaction. The demographic and organisational variables considered in the study are genders, age and tenure of the job. Factors of WLB are flexible working conditions, work-life balance programs, and employee intention to change/leave a job, work pressure/stress and long working hours. This paper examines the relationship between work-family conflict, policies, and job and life satisfaction. Appropriate statistical tool using SPSS will be applied to achieve the objective. The anxiety over work-life balance is progressively becoming a common talk, especially for female employees.Increasing demands from the work and family domains represent a high strain for employees which even lead to the health problems among employees. Although it is believed that work-family role strain is more common among women employees. Therefore, the study will focus on these issues of WLB and job satisfaction among female professionals.

Keywords: work-life balance, job satisfaction, work- family conflict, health

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Authors: Bassem Saleh, Hussam Nusair, Nariman Al Zubadi, Shams Al Shloul, Usama Saleh

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The nursing round system (NRS) means checking patients on an hourly basis during the A (0700–2200 h) shift and once every 2 h during the B (2200–0700 h) by the assigned nursing staff. The overall goal of this prospective study is to implement an NRS in a major rehabilitation centre—Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City—in the Riyadh area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The purposes of this study are to measure the effect of the NRS on: (i) the use of patient call light; (ii) the number of incidences of patients’ fall; (iii) the number of incidences of hospital-acquired bed sores; and (iv) the level of patients’ satisfaction. All patients hospitalized in the male stroke unit will be involved in this study. For the period of 8 weeks (17 December 2009–17 February 2010) All Nursing staff on the unit will record each call light and the patient’s need. Implementation of the NRS would start on 18 February 2010 and last for 8 weeks, until 18 April 2010. Data collected throughout this period will be compared with data collected during the 8 weeks period immediately preceding the implementation of the NRS (17 December 2009–17 February 2010) in order to measure the impact of the call light use. The following information were collected on all subjects involved in the study: (i) the Demographic Information Form; (ii) authors’ developed NRS Audit Form; (iii) Patient Call Light Audit Form; (iv) Patient Fall Audit Record; (v) Hospital-Acquired Bed Sores Audit Form; and (vi) hospital developed Patient Satisfaction Records. The findings suggested that a significant reduction on the use of call bell (P < 0.001), a significant reduction of fall incidence (P < 0.01) while pressure ulcer reduced by 50% before and after the implementation of NRS. In addition, the implementation of NRS increased patient satisfaction by 7/5 (P < 0.05).

Keywords: call light, patient-care management, patient safety, patient satisfaction, rounds

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Authors: Mohammad Ranjbar, Mohammad Bazyar, Blake Angell, Thomas Lung, Yibeltal Assefa

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Background: Current health insurance programs in Iran suffer from low enrolment and are not sufficient to attain the country to universal health coverage (UHC). We hypothesize that improving the enrollment rate and moving towards a more sustainable UHC can be achieved by improving the benefits package and providing new incentives. The objective of this study is to assess public preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for social health insurance (SHI) in Iran. Methods: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted in 2021, using a self-administered questionnaire on 500 participants to estimate WTP and determine individual preferences for the SHI in Yazd, Iran. Respondents were presented with an eight-choice set and asked to select their preferred one. In each choice set, scenarios were described by eight attributes with varying levels. The conditional logit regression model was used to analyze the participants' preferences. Willingness to pay for each attribute was also calculated. Results: Most included attributes were significant predictors of the choice of a health insurance package. The maximum coverage of hospitalization costs in the private sector, ancillary services such as glasses, canes, etc., as well as coverage for hospitalization costs in the public sector and drug costs, were the most important determining factors for this choice. Coverage of preventive dental care did not significantly influence respondent choices. Estimating WTP showed that individuals are willing to pay more for higher financial protection, particularly against private sector costs; the WTP to increase the coverage of hospitalization costs in the private sector from 50% to 90% is estimated at 362,068 IR, Rials per month. Conclusion: This study identifies the key factors that the population value with regard to health insurance and the tradeoffs they are willing to make between them. Hospitalization, drugs, and ancillary services were the most important determining factors for their choice. The data suggest that additional resources coming into the Iranian health system might best be prioritized to cover hospitalization and drug costs and those associated with ancillary services.

Keywords: social health insurance, preferences, discrete choice experiment, willingness to pay

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Authors: P. Efstathiou, E. Kouskouni, Z. Manolidou, K. Karageorgou, M. Tseroni, A. Efstathiou, V. Karyoti, I. Agrafa

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Aim: The aim of this prospective comparative study is to evaluate the reduction of microbial flora on the surface of an axillary digital thermometer, made of antimicrobial copper, in relation with a common digital thermometer. Material – Methods: A brand new digital electronic thermometer implemented with antimicrobial copper (Cu 70% - Nic 30%, low lead) on the two edges of the device (top and bottom: World Patent Number WO2013064847 and Register Number by the Hellenic Copper Development Institute No 11/2012) was manufactured and a comparative study with common digital electronic thermometer was conducted on 18 ICU (Intensive Care Unit) patients of three different hospitals. The thermometry was performed in accordance with the projected International Nursing Protocols for body temperature measurement. A total of 216 microbiological samples were taken from the axillary area of the patients, using both of the investigated body temperature devises. Simultaneously the “Halo” phenomenon (phenomenon “Stefanis”) was studied at the non-antimicrobial copper-implemented parts of the antimicrobial digital electronic thermometer. Results: In all samples collected from the surface of the antimicrobial electronic digital thermometer, the reduction of microbial flora (Klebsiella spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermitis, Candida spp, Pneudomonas spp) was progressively reduced to 99% in two hours after the thermometry. The above flora was found in the axillary cavity remained the same in common thermometer. The statistical analysis (SPSS 21) showed a statistically significant reduction of the microbial load (N = 216, < 0.05). Conclusions: The hospital-acquired infections are linked to the transfer of pathogens due to the multi-usage of medical devices from both health professionals and patients, such as axillary thermometers. The use of antimicrobial digital electronic thermometer minimizes microbes' transportation between patients and health professionals while having all the conditions of reliability, proper functioning, security, ease of use and reduced cost.

Keywords: antimicrobial copper, cross infections, digital thermometers, ICU

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Authors: Levente Varga, Dávid Deritei, Mária Ercsey-Ravasz, Răzvan Florian, Zsolt I. Lázár, István Papp, Ferenc Járai-Szabó

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One of the major shortcomings of widely used scientometric indicators is that different disciplines cannot be compared with each other. The issue of cross-disciplinary normalization has been long discussed, but even the classification of publications into scientific domains poses problems. Structural properties of citation networks offer new possibilities, however, the large size and constant growth of these networks asks for precaution. Here we present a new tool that in order to perform cross-field normalization of scientometric indicators of individual publications relays on the structural properties of citation networks. Due to the large size of the networks, a systematic procedure for identifying scientific domains based on a local community detection algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is tested with different benchmark and real-world networks. Then, by the use of this algorithm, the mechanism of the scientometric indicator normalization process is shown for a few indicators like the citation number, P-index and a local version of the PageRank indicator. The fat-tail trend of the article indicator distribution enables us to successfully perform the indicator normalization process.

Keywords: citation networks, cross-field normalization, local cluster detection, scientometric indicators

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Authors: Sabika Khalid, Endale Fantahun Tadesse

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Unlike other professional sectors, a great deal of studies has addressed the overwhelming gender disparity phenomena in the early childhood education (ECE) workforce, which is acknowledged for the dominance of women over men teachers. The irony of ECE being a gendered working environment is not only observed in societies that are ruled by gender roles but also in Western countries that claim to margin the gender gap in several professions. The participation of male teachers in ECE across most countries ranged from 1% to 3% of the total preschool or kindergarten teachers. When it comes to a dynamic Chinese society tempered with a deep-rooted tradition and cultural ideology, the ECE has no less place for males, and males have a low place for ECE. According to the Ministry of Education of China (2020), there are over 5 million kindergarten teachers and staff members, while only 2.3% are accounted for male teachers. The traditional gender-based discourse asserts that giving care and guidance for young children related to nurturing ‘mothering’ labels the profession in ECE as women’s work derived from originated from their ‘naturality.’ Although a large volume of evidence sheds light on the cause for low male teachers, the perception of parents, female teachers working with male teachers, and the experience of male teachers working in ECE, less is known and understood before being a teacher. Hence, this study argues that the promotion of the involvement of male teachers in light of their masculinity identity asset in the children's learning environment is comprehended to understand the construction of male student teachers' (preservice) professional identity during early childhood teacher training that allows obtaining substantial evidence that provides a feasible and robust implication in the preparation of competent and professional male preschool teachers that understand, cherish, and bring harmony in Chinese ECE through professionalism socialization with the stakeholders. This study intended to reveal male ECE preservice teachers’ knowledge of their professional identity, i.e., how they perceive themselves as a teacher and what factors agents these perceptions towards their professional identity.

Keywords: male teachers, Early Childhood Education (ECE), self-identity, perception of stakeholders

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Authors: Young Sik Kim, Tae Kwon Ha

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Russia was one of the world’s leading mineral- producing countries. In 2012, Russia was ranked among the world’s leading producers or was a leading regional producer of such mineral commodities as aluminum, arsenic, asbestos, bauxite, boron, cadmium, cement, coal, cobalt, copper, diamond, fluorspar, gold, iron ore, lime, magnesium compounds and metals, mica (flake, scrap, and sheet), natural gas, nickel, nitrogen, oil shale, palladium, peat, petroleum, phosphate, pig iron, platinum, potash, rhenium, silicon, steel, sulfur, titanium sponge, tungsten, and vanadium. Russia has large reserves of a variety of mineral resources and undoubtedly will continue to be one of the world’s leading mineral producers. Although the country’s economy is expected to grow in 2012, some problems are likely to remain. In 2011, the Russian economy returned to economic growth after the significant decline in 2010. According to some analysts, however, the recovery of 2011 did not appear sufficiently vigorous to carry the country’s strong economic growth into the next decade. Even in the sectors of the economy where the country is among the world leaders (ferrous metals, gas, petroleum), Russian industry has obsolete plants and equipment, a slow rate of innovation, and low labor productivity.

Keywords: Russia, energy resources, economic growth, strategy, oil complex

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Authors: Lokes Parvatha Kumaran S., Sakthi Jay Mahenthar C., Sathyaprakash P., Jayakumar V., Shobanadevi A.

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With the evolution of technology, the need to solve complex computational problems like machine learning and deep learning has shot up. But even the most powerful classical supercomputers find it difficult to execute these tasks. With the recent development of quantum computing, researchers and tech-giants strive for new quantum circuits for machine learning tasks, as present works on Quantum Machine Learning (QML) ensure less memory consumption and reduced model parameters. But it is strenuous to simulate classical deep learning models on existing quantum computing platforms due to the inflexibility of deep quantum circuits. As a consequence, it is essential to design viable quantum algorithms for QML for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The proposed work aims to explore Variational Quantum Circuits (VQC) for Deep Reinforcement Learning by remodeling the experience replay and target network into a representation of VQC. In addition, to reduce the number of model parameters, quantum information encoding schemes are used to achieve better results than the classical neural networks. VQCs are employed to approximate the deep Q-value function for decision-making and policy-selection reinforcement learning with experience replay and the target network.

Keywords: quantum computing, quantum machine learning, variational quantum circuit, deep reinforcement learning, quantum information encoding scheme

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Authors: Jeounghee Kim

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Objective: To describe the incidence of complication, according to the stage of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) which was treated at Asan Medical Center (AMC), Korea. Hereafter, it should be developed in nursing management protocol of traumatic SCI. Methods. Retrospectively reviewed hospital records about the patients who were admitted AMC Patients with traumatic spinal cord injury until January 2005 and December 2016 were analyzed (n=97). AMC is a single institution of 2,700 beds where patients with trauma and severe trauma can be treated. Patients who were admitted to the emergency room due to spinal cord injury and who underwent intensive care unit, general ward, and rehabilitation ward. To identify long-term complications, we excluded patients who were operated on to other hospitals after surgery. Complications such as respiratory(pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary embolism, and others), cardiovascular (hypotension), urinary (autonomic dysreflexia, urinary tract infection (UTI), neurogenic bladder, and others), and skin systems (pressure ulcers) from the time of admission were examined through medical records and images. Results: SCI was graded according to ASIA scale. The initial grade was checked at admission. (grade A 55(56.7%), grade B 14(14.4)%, grade C 11(11.3%), grade D 15(15.5%), and grade E 2(2.1%). The grade was rechecked when the patient was discharged after treatment. (grade A 43(44.3%), grade B 15(15.5%), grade C 12(12.4%), grade D 21(21.6%), and grade E 6(6.2%). The most common complication after SCI was UTI 24cases (mean 36.5day), sore 24cases (40.5day), and Pneumonia which was 23 cases after 10days averagely. The other complications after SCI were neuropathic pain 19 cases, surgical site infection 4 cases. 53.6% of patient who had SCI were educated about intermittent catheterization at discharge from hospital. The mean hospital stay of all SCI patients was 61days. Conclusion: The Complications after traumatic SCI were developed at various stages from acute phase to chronic phase. Nurses need to understand fully the time-course of complication in traumatic SCI to provide evidence-based practice.

Keywords: spinal cord injury, complication, nursing, rehabilitation

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Authors: Antonios Paraskevas, Michael Madas

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For a university to maintain its international competitiveness in education, it is essential to recruit qualitative academic staff as it constitutes its most valuable asset. This selection demonstrates a significant role in achieving strategic objectives, particularly by emphasizing a firm commitment to the exceptional student experience and innovative teaching and learning practices of high quality. In this vein, the appropriate selection of academic staff establishes a very important factor of competitiveness, efficiency and reputation of an academic institute. Within this framework, our work demonstrates a comprehensive methodological concept that emphasizes the multi-criteria nature of the problem and how decision-makers could utilize our approach in order to proceed to the appropriate judgment. The conceptual framework introduced in this paper is built upon a hybrid neutrosophic method based on the Neutrosophic Analytical Hierarchy Process (N-AHP), which uses the theory of neutrosophy sets and is considered suitable in terms of a significant degree of ambiguity and indeterminacy observed in the decision-making process. To this end, our framework extends the N-AHP by incorporating the Neutrosophic Delphi Method (N-DM). By applying the N-DM, we can take into consideration the importance of each decision-maker and their preferences per evaluation criterion. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed model is the first which applies the Neutrosophic Delphi Method in the selection of academic staff. As a case study, it was decided to use our method for a real problem of academic personnel selection, having as the main goal to enhance the algorithm proposed in previous scholars’ work, and thus taking care of the inherent ineffectiveness which becomes apparent in traditional multi-criteria decision-making methods when dealing with situations alike. As a further result, we prove that our method demonstrates greater applicability and reliability when compared to other decision models.

Keywords: multi-criteria decision making methods, analytical hierarchy process, delphi method, personnel recruitment, neutrosophic set theory

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Authors: Namratha Pai, K. Vasantharaj, K. Haribabu

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Our Team is developing an innovative cost effective biological technique to desulfurize crude oil. ’Sulphur’ is found to be present in crude oil samples from .05% - 13.95% and its elimination by industrial methods is expensive currently. Materials required :- Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestrius, potato dextrose agar, oxygen, Pyragallol and inert gas(nitrogen). Method adapted and proposed:- 1) Growth of bacteria studied, energy needs. 2) Compatibility with crude-oil. 3) Reaction rate of bacteria studied and optimized. 4) Reaction development by computer simulation. 5) Simulated work tested by building the reactor. The method being developed requires the use of bacteria Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestrius - an acidothermophilic heterotrophic, soil dwelling aerobic, Sulfur bacteria. The bacteria are fed to crude oil in a unique manner. Its coated onto potato dextrose agar beads, cultured for 24 hours (growth time coincides with time when it begins reacting) and fed into the reactor. The beads are to be replenished with O2 by passing them through a jacket around the reactor which has O2 supply. The O2 can’t be supplied directly as crude oil is inflammable, hence the process. Beads are made to move around based on the concept of fluidized bed reactor. By controlling the velocity of inert gas pumped , the beads are made to settle down when exhausted of O2. It is recycled through the jacket where O2 is re-fed and beads which were inside the ring substitute the exhausted ones. Crude-oil is maintained between 1 atm-270 M Pa pressure and 45°C treated with tartaric acid (Ph reason for bacteria growth) for optimum output. Bacteria being of oxidising type react with Sulphur in crude-oil and liberate out SO4^2- and no gas. SO4^2- is absorbed into H2O. NaOH is fed once reaction is complete and beads separated. Crude-oil is thus separated of SO4^2-, thereby Sulphur, tartaric acid and other acids which are separated out. Bio-corrosion is taken care of by internal wall painting (phenolepoxy paints). Earlier methods used included use of Pseudomonas and Rhodococcus species. They were found to be inefficient, time and energy consuming and reduce the fuel value as they fed on skeleton.

Keywords: alicyclobacillus acidoterrestrius, potato dextrose agar, fluidized bed reactor principle, reaction time for bacteria, compatibility with crude oil

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Authors: Ghufran Ahmed, Muhammad Osama Siddiqui, Shahbaz Siddiqui, Rauf Ahmad Shams Malick, Faisal Khan, Mubashir Khan

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In this paper, a machine learning-based approach for early prediction of diseases in cows is proposed. Different ML algos are applied to extract useful patterns from the available dataset. Technology has changed today’s world in every aspect of life. Similarly, advanced technologies have been developed in livestock and dairy farming to monitor dairy cows in various aspects. Dairy cattle monitoring is crucial as it plays a significant role in milk production around the globe. Moreover, it has become necessary for farmers to adopt the latest early prediction technologies as the food demand is increasing with population growth. This highlight the importance of state-ofthe-art technologies in analyzing how important technology is in analyzing dairy cows’ activities. It is not easy to predict the activities of a large number of cows on the farm, so, the system has made it very convenient for the farmers., as it provides all the solutions under one roof. The cattle industry’s productivity is boosted as the early diagnosis of any disease on a cattle farm is detected and hence it is treated early. It is done on behalf of the machine learning output received. The learning models are already set which interpret the data collected in a centralized system. Basically, we will run different algorithms on behalf of the data set received to analyze milk quality, and track cows’ health, location, and safety. This deep learning algorithm draws patterns from the data, which makes it easier for farmers to study any animal’s behavioral changes. With the emergence of machine learning algorithms and the Internet of Things, accurate tracking of animals is possible as the rate of error is minimized. As a result, milk productivity is increased. IoT with ML capability has given a new phase to the cattle farming industry by increasing the yield in the most cost-effective and time-saving manner.

Keywords: IoT, machine learning, health care, dairy cows

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Authors: O. M. Bamigbola, A. A. Ibrahim

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Analysis of real life problems often results in linear systems of equations for which solutions are sought. The method to employ depends, to some extent, on the properties of the coefficient matrix. It is not always feasible to solve linear systems of equations by direct methods, as such the need to use an iterative method becomes imperative. Before an iterative method can be employed to solve a linear system of equations there must be a guaranty that the process of solution will converge. This guaranty, which must be determined a priori, involve the use of some criterion expressible in terms of the entries of the coefficient matrix. It is, therefore, logical that the convergence criterion should depend implicitly on the algebraic structure of such a method. However, in deference to this view is the practice of conducting convergence analysis for Gauss-Seidel iteration on a criterion formulated based on the algebraic structure of Jacobi iteration. To remedy this anomaly, the Gauss-Seidel iteration was studied for its algebraic structure and contrary to the usual assumption, it was discovered that some property of the iteration matrix of Gauss-Seidel method is only diagonally dominant in its first row while the other rows do not satisfy diagonal dominance. With the aid of this structure we herein fashion out an improved version of Gauss-Seidel iteration with the prospect of enhancing convergence and robustness of the method. A numerical section is included to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical results obtained for the improved Gauss-Seidel method.

Keywords: linear algebraic system, Gauss-Seidel iteration, algebraic structure, convergence

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Authors: Hossam El-Sayed Emam

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As an essential issue for life, water while it’s important for all living organisms. However, the world is dangerously facing the serious problem for the deficiency of the sources of drinking water. Within the aquatic systems, there are various gases, microbes, and other toxic ingredients (chemical compounds and heavy metals) occurred owing to the draining of agricultural and industrial wastewater, resulting in water pollution. On the other hand, fuel (gaseous, liquid, or in solid phase) is one of the extensively consumable energy sources, and owing to its origin from fossil, it contains some sulfur-, nitrogen- and oxygen-based compounds that cause serious problems (toxicity, catalyst poisoning, corrosion, and gum formation andcarcinogenic effects), to be ascribed as undesirable pollutants.MOFs as porous coordinating polymers are superiorly exploited in the adsorption and separationof contaminants for wastewater treatment and fuel purification. The inclusion of highly adsorbent materials like MOFs to be immobilized within cellulosic materialscould be investigated as a new challenge for the separation of contaminants with high efficiency and opportunity for recyclability. Therefore, the current approach ascribes the exploitation of different MOFsimmobilized within cellulose (powder, films, and fabrics)for applications in environmental. Herein, using cellulose containing MOFs in dye removal (degradation and adsorption), pharmaceutical intermediates removal, and fuel purification were summarized.

Keywords: cellulose, MOFs, dye removal, pharmaceutical intermediates, fuel purification

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Authors: Doki Naomi Onyeje, Doki Gowon Ama

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The past 4 years have been traumatic for Nigerians, having to deal with a number of complex economic issues with dire consequences for the economy. Households have had to respond variously to some of these problems in peculiar ways, depending, of course, on the nature and character of a particular shock. The type, magnitude, intensity and duration of a particular shock might be the determinant of different household responses. While households’ responses to the Global Financial Crisis and Covid 19 Pandemic have been documented by researchers, other economic shocks have continued to emerge in Nigeria. The dramatic turn of events since coming on board of the new government on May 29th 2023, has introduced a new economic twist that households will have to adjust to. This study, therefore, sets out to examine household responses by disaggregating them by their livelihood sources. A survey of 420 households across North Central Nigeria will be done to generate information on the respective responses. A Multinomial logit regression analysis will be employed to test the hypothesis that livelihood source(s) influences household responses to economic shocks. Consequently, responses from public and private households will be examined. The expected results should be that household responses might have some similarities, but it is expected that some peculiar responses across groups will emerge and these differences will guide for group-specific interventions. The Theatre for Development (TfD) approach will be used to disseminate and propagate results from this study to and among stakeholders for effective policy frameworks.

Keywords: drama, dynamics, economic shocks, household responses, Nigeria

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Authors: Ruchi Makani, B. V. R. Reddy

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Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) are gaining popularity due to their potential of providing low-cost mobile connectivity solutions to real-world communication problems. Integrating Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) in MANETs is a tedious task by reason of its distinctive features such as dynamic topology, de-centralized authority and highly controlled/limited resource environment. IDS primarily use automated soft-computing techniques to monitor the inflow/outflow of traffic packets in a given network to detect intrusion. Use of machine learning techniques in IDS enables system to make decisions on intrusion while continuous keep learning about their dynamic environment. An appropriate IDS model is essential to be selected to expedite this application challenges. Thus, this paper focused on fuzzy-logic based machine learning IDS technique for MANETs and presented their applicability for achieving effectiveness in identifying the intrusions. Further, the selection of appropriate protocol attributes and fuzzy rules generation plays significant role for accuracy of the fuzzy-logic based IDS, have been discussed. This paper also presents the critical attributes of MANET’s routing protocol and its applicability in fuzzy logic based IDS.

Keywords: AODV, mobile adhoc networks, intrusion detection, anomaly detection, fuzzy logic, fuzzy membership function, fuzzy inference system

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Authors: Yilin Wang, Ayumi Goto

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Although most females will experience menopause due to social value habits of cultural factors, some Chinese women may lack the confidence to talk about the problems they are experiencing while going through menopause. Also, sometimes the inappropriateness of medical terminology leads to panic when women face the symptoms associated with menopause. On top of that, when women avoid discussing menopause as a topic, others are less likely to pay attention to the needs of menopausal women as their bodies change. This research will compare the experience of Chinese menopausal women and diasporic Chinese women's perceptions of menopause. A qualitative study will be conducted by collecting and analyzing experiences and perceptions to compare differences in women's perceptions of menopause, considering cultural and social factors. In addition, the study will gather information on the differences in the conceptualization of menopause between the Chinese and Canadian medical fields. Co-design sessions will be held to establish how to bring menopause to the attention of people other than women. Furthermore, a support network for menopause women will be created through these co-design sessions. It is hoped that this research will contribute to a proper understanding of menopause and provide support for Chinese women. This research is built upon feminist standpoint theory and inclusive design theory. The results of this study will be presented in this paper.

Keywords: menopause, feminist standpoint theory, Chinese national & diasporic women, inclusive design

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Authors: Clara Inés Pardo Martínez

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In emerging economies, recycling is an opportunity for the cities to increase the lifespan of sanitary landfills, reduce the costs of the solid waste management, decrease the environmental problems of the waste treatment through reincorporate waste in the productive cycle and protect and develop people’s livelihoods of informal waste pickers. However, few studies have analysed the possibilities and strategies to integrate formal and informal sectors in the solid waste management for the benefit of both. This study seek to make a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis in three recycling associations of Bogotá with the aim to understand and determine the situation of recycling from perspective of informal sector in its transition to enter as authorized waste providers. Data used in the analysis are derived from multiple strategies such as literature review, the Bogota’s recycling database, focus group meetings, governmental reports, national laws and regulations and specific interviews with key stakeholders. Results of this study show as the main stakeholders of formal and informal sector of waste management can identify the internal and internal conditions of recycling in Bogotá. Several strategies were designed based on the SWOTs determined, could be useful for Bogotá to advance and promote recycling as a key strategy for integrated sustainable waste management in the city.

Keywords: Bogotá, recycling, solid waste management, SWOT analysis

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Authors: Ishak Kamal Baskhayroun

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This study examines consumer attitudes toward mobile marketing, especially toward SMS marketing. Unlike similar studies, this study does not focus on the young, but includes consumers who are in the 18-70 age range to the field research. According to the results, it has been concluded that most participants think SMS marketing is disturbing. Most important problems with SMS marketing are about getting subscribed to message lists without the permission of the receiver; the high number of messages sent; and the irrelevancy of the message content. The emergence of sponsorship as a new marketing communication tool and a source of competitive advantage in the marketplace has changed the entire marketing communication process. Sponsorship has overtaken other marketing communication tools in terms of growth and expenditure. This paper seeks to evaluate the role of sponsorship in marketing communication tools. The study recommends that proper measures be taken before the company embarks into sponsorship programs. This is necessary because investment in sponsorship does not always guarantee sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace.Mobile phones are one of the direct marketing tools that can be used to reach today’s hard to reach consumers. Mobile phones are very personal devices and they are always carried with the consumer, where ever they go. This creates an opportunity for marketers to create personalized marketing communications messages and send them on the right time and place.

Keywords: employee organizational performance, internal marketing, internal customer, direct marketing, mobile phones mobile marketing, sms advertising, marketing sponsorship, marketing communication theories, marketing communication tools corporate responsibility

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Authors: Anne N. Heirman, Lisette van der Molen, Richard Dirven, Gyorgi B. Halmos, Michiel W.M. van den Brekel

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Background: Due to the rising incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (OPSCC), many patients are challenged with choosing between transoral(robotic) surgery and radiotherapy, with equal survival and oncological outcomes. Also, functional outcomes are of little difference over the years. With this study, the wants and needs of patients and caregivers are identified to develop a comprehensible patient decision aid (PDA). Methods: The development of this PDA is based on the International Patient Decision Aid Standards criteria. In phase 1, relevant literature was reviewed and compared to current counseling papers. We interviewed ten post-treatment patients and ten doctors from four head and neck centers in the Netherlands, which were transcribed verbatim and analyzed. With these results, the first draft of the PDA was developed. Phase 2 beholds testing the first draft for comprehensibility and usability. Phase 3 beholds testing for feasibility. After this phase, the final version of the PDA was developed. Results: All doctors and patients agreed a PDA was needed. Phase 1 showed that 50% of patients felt well-informed after standard care and 35% missed information about treatment possibilities. Side effects and functional outcomes were rated as the most important for decision-making. With this information, the first version was developed. Doctors and patients stated (phase 2) that they were satisfied with the comprehensibility and usability, but there was too much text. The PDA underwent text reduction revisions and got more graphics. After revisions, all doctors found the PDA feasible and would contribute to regular counseling. Patients were satisfied with the results and wished they would have seen it before their treatment. Conclusion: Decision-making for OPSCC should focus on differences in side-effects and functional outcomes. Patients and doctors found the PDA to be of great value. Future research will explore the benefits of the PDA in clinical practice.

Keywords: head-and-neck oncology, oropharyngeal cancer, patient decision aid, development, shared decision making

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Authors: Bliss Singhal

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Epilepsy is a prevalent neurological disorder affecting approximately 50 million individuals worldwide and 1.2 million Americans. There exist millions of pediatric patients with intractable epilepsy, a condition in which seizures fail to come under control. The occurrence of seizures can result in physical injury, disorientation, unconsciousness, and additional symptoms that could impede children's ability to participate in everyday tasks. Predicting seizures can help parents and healthcare providers take precautions, prevent risky situations, and mentally prepare children to minimize anxiety and nervousness associated with the uncertainty of a seizure. This research proposes a comprehensive framework to predict seizures in pediatric patients by evaluating machine learning algorithms on unimodal neuroimaging data consisting of electroencephalogram signals. The bandpass filtering and independent component analysis proved to be effective in reducing the noise and artifacts from the dataset. Various machine learning algorithms’ performance is evaluated on important metrics such as accuracy, precision, specificity, sensitivity, F1 score and MCC. The results show that the deep learning algorithms are more successful in predicting seizures than logistic Regression, and k nearest neighbors. The recurrent neural network (RNN) gave the highest precision and F1 Score, long short-term memory (LSTM) outperformed RNN in accuracy and convolutional neural network (CNN) resulted in the highest Specificity. This research has significant implications for healthcare providers in proactively managing seizure occurrence in pediatric patients, potentially transforming clinical practices, and improving pediatric care.

Keywords: intractable epilepsy, seizure, deep learning, prediction, electroencephalogram channels

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Authors: Ikram Kamal, Mohamed Blaghen

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Petroleum hydrocarbons are serious problems and global pollutants in the environment due to their toxicity, carcinogenicity and persistent organic pollutant properties. One of the approaches to enhance biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons is to use biosurfactant. Biosurfactants are amphiphilic biomolecules produced as metabolic by-products from microorganisms they received considerable attention in the field of environmental remediation processes such as bioremediation. Biosurfactants have been considered as a desirable alternative to synthetic surfactants in various applications particularly in the environmental field. In comparison with their synthetic counterparts, biosurfactants have been reported to be less toxic, biodegradable and persistent. In this study we have investigated the potential of bacterial strains collected aseptically from the lagoon Marchika (water and soil) in Nador, Morocco; for the production of biosurfactants. This study also aimed to optimize the biosurfactant production process by changing the variables that influence the type and amount of biosurfactant produced by these microorganisms such as: carbon sources and also other physical and chemical parameters such as temperature and pH. Emulsification index, methylene blue test and thin layer chromatography (TLC) revealed the ability of strains used in this study to produce compounds that could emulsify gasoline. In addition, a HPLC/MS was used to separate and identify different biosurfactants purified.

Keywords: petroleum hydrocarbons, biosurfactants, biodegradation, lagoon marchika, emulsification index

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Authors: M. Karaman, H. Catalkaya

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Due to the complex nature of cyber attacks and their effects ranging from personal to governmental level, it becomes one of the priority tasks for operation planners to take into account the risks, influences and effects of cyber attacks. However it can also be embedded or integrated technically with electronic warfare planning, cyber operation planning is needed to have a sole and broadened perspective. This perspective embodies itself firstly in operational design and then military decision making process. In order to find out the ill-structured problems, understand or visualize the operational environment and frame the problem, operational design can help support cyber operation planners and commanders. After having a broadened and conceptual startup with cyber operational design, military decision making process will follow the principles of design into more concrete elements like reaching results after risk management and center of gravity analysis of our and the enemy. In this paper we tried to emphasize the importance of cyber operational design, cyber operation planning and its integration to military decision making problem. In this foggy, uncertain and unaccountable cyber security environment, it is inevitable to stay away from cyber attacks. Therefore, a cyber operational design should be formed with line of operations, decisive points and end states in cyber then a tactical military decision making process should be followed with cyber security focus in order to support the whole operation.

Keywords: cyber operational design, military decision making process (MDMP), operation planning, end state

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Authors: Joanna Rybicka-Łada, Magda Kosmal, Anna Kuśnierz

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One of the main problems of the glass industry is the still high consumption of energy needed to produce glass mass, as well as the increase in prices, fuels, and raw materials. Therefore, comprehensive actions are taken to improve the entire production process. The key element of these activities, starting from filling the set to receiving the finished product, is the melting process, whose task is, among others, dissolving the components of the set, removing bubbles from the resulting melt, and obtaining a chemically homogeneous glass melt. This solution avoids dust formation during filling and is available on the market. This process consumes over 90% of the total energy needed in the production process. The processes occurring in the set during its conversion have a significant impact on the further stages and speed of the melting process and, thus, on its overall effectiveness. The speed of the reactions occurring and their course depend on the chemical nature of the raw materials, the degree of their fragmentation, thermal treatment as well as the form of the introduced set. An opportunity to minimize segregation and accelerate the conversion of glass sets may be the development of new technologies for preparing and dosing sets. The previously preferred traditional method of melting the set, based on mixing all glass raw materials together in loose form, can be replaced with a set in a thickened form. The aim of the project was to develop a glass set in a selectively or completely densified form and to examine the influence of set processing on the melting process and the properties of the glass.

Keywords: glass, melting process, glass set, raw materials

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Authors: Keng H. Kong, Louis C. Tan, Wing L. Aw, Kay Y. Tay

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Background: Fatigue is a common problem in patients with Parkinson's disease, with reported prevalence of up to 70%. Fatigue can be disabling and has adverse effects on patients' quality of life. There is currently no satisfactory treatment of fatigue. Acupuncture is effective in the treatment of fatigue, especially that related to cancer. Its role in Parkinson's disease-related fatigue is uncertain. Aims: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment in Parkinson's disease-related fatigue. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that acupuncture is effective in alleviating Parkinson's disease-related fatigue. Design: A single center, randomized, controlled study with two parallel arms. Participants: Forty participants with idiopathic Parkinson's disease will be enrolled. Interventions: Participants will be randomized to receive verum (real) acupuncture or placebo acupuncture. The retractable non-invasive sham needle will be used in the placebo group. The intervention will be administered twice a week for five weeks. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome will be the change in general fatigue score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory at week 5. Secondary outcome measures include other subscales of the multidimensional fatigue inventory, movement disorders society-unified Parkinson's disease rating scale, Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39 and geriatric depression scale. All outcome measures will be assessed at baseline (week 0), completion of intervention (week 5) and 4 weeks after completion of intervention (week 9). Results: To date, 23 participants have been recruited and nine have completed the study. The mean age is 63.5±14.2 years, mean duration of Parkinson’s disease is 6.4±1.8 years and mean MDS-UPDRS score is 8.3±2.8. The mean general fatigue score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory is 13.5±4.6. No significant adverse event related to acupuncture is noted. Potential significance: If the results are as expected, this study will provide preliminary scientific evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in Parkinson's Disease-related fatigue, and opens the door for a larger multicentre trial to be performed. In the longer term, it may lead to the integration of acupuncture in the care of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Keywords: acupuncture, fatigue, Parkinson's disease, trial

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Authors: Osalina Toemapa, Rika Susanti, Husna Yetti

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In criminal offense case, such as homicide, investigators may request for an autopsy to the victim without family approval in Indonesia. Generally, there has been decreasing in autopsy rate in the world over past years. Family’s refusal is one of the most common problems. The purpose of this study is to find the correlation between knowledge level and public perception of autopsy on criminal offense victim. This cross-sectional study was done from April to May 2017 in subdistrict Pulau Punjung. Participants were asked to fill the questionnaire. There are 15 questions to asses knowledge level, perception, and factors influencing autopsy refusal. The chi-square test was used for the statistical analysis. Out of the total of 436 respondents, 54,5% were found to have poor knowledge level, and 56,7% were found to have poor perception. There was a significant correlation between knowledge level and public perception (p<0,001). There are 153 respondents who decline autopsy on criminal offense victim with the most factors influencing autopsy refusal is delays in victim’s funeral (92,2%). Conclusion, knowledge level is correlated with public perception in subdistrict of Pulau Punjung, district of Dharmasraya, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Most influencing factor in autopsy refusal is delays in victim’s funeral.

Keywords: knowledge level, public perception, autopsy on criminal offense victim, autopsy refusal

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Authors: L. Sun, T. Hargreaves, Z. Ahmad

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Newly-qualified Foundation Year 1 doctors in the United Kingdom are frequently expected to perform practical skills involving the upper limb in clinical practice (for example, venipuncture, cannulation, and blood gas sampling). However, a move towards systems-based undergraduate medical education in the United Kingdom often precludes or limits dedicated time to anatomy teaching with cadavers or prosections, favouring only applied anatomy in the context of pathology. The authors hypothesised that detailed anatomical knowledge may consequently be adversely affected, particularly with respect to long-term retention. A simple picture quiz and accompanying questionnaire testing the identification of 7 upper limb surface landmarks was distributed to a total of 98 final year medical students from two universities - one with a systems-based curriculum, and one with a dedicated longitudinal dissection-based anatomy module in the first year of study. Students with access to dissection and prosection-based anatomy teaching performed more strongly, with a significantly higher rate of correct identification of all but one of the landmarks. Furthermore, it was notable that none of the students who had previously undertaken a systems-based course scored full marks, compared with 20% of those who had participated in the more dedicated anatomy course. This data suggests that a traditional, dissection-based approach to undergraduate anatomy teaching is superior to modern system-based curricula, in terms of aiding long-term retention of anatomical knowledge pertinent to newly-qualified doctors. The authors express concern that this deficit in proficiency could be detrimental to patient care in clinical practice, and propose that, where dissection-led anatomy teaching is not available, further anatomy revision modules are implemented throughout undergraduate education to aid knowledge retention and support clinical excellence.

Keywords: dissection, education, surface anatomy, upper limb

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Authors: Pejman Hosseinioun, Hasan Shakeri, Ghasem Ghorbanirostam

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In recent years, we have seen an increasing importance of research and study on knowledge source, decision support systems, data mining and procedure of knowledge discovery in data bases and it is considered that each of these aspects affects the others. In this article, we have merged information source and knowledge source to suggest a knowledge based system within limits of management based on storing and restoring of knowledge to manage information and improve decision making and resources. In this article, we have used method of data mining and Apriori algorithm in procedure of knowledge discovery one of the problems of Apriori algorithm is that, a user should specify the minimum threshold for supporting the regularity. Imagine that a user wants to apply Apriori algorithm for a database with millions of transactions. Definitely, the user does not have necessary knowledge of all existing transactions in that database, and therefore cannot specify a suitable threshold. Our purpose in this article is to improve Apriori algorithm. To achieve our goal, we tried using fuzzy logic to put data in different clusters before applying the Apriori algorithm for existing data in the database and we also try to suggest the most suitable threshold to the user automatically.

Keywords: decision support system, data mining, knowledge discovery, data discovery, fuzzy logic

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Authors: Patrascu Andrei Tudor

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One of the main problems in high energy physics is the fact that we do not have a complete understanding of the interaction between local and global effects in gauge theory. This has an increasing impact on our ability to access the non-perturbative regime of most of our theories. Our theories, while being based on gauge groups considered to be simple or semi-simple and connected, are expected to be described by their simple local linear approximation, namely the Lie algebras. However, higher homotopy properties resulting in gauge anomalies appear frequently in theories of physical interest. Our assumption that the groups we deal with are simple and simply connected is probably not suitable, and ways to go beyond such assumptions, particularly in gauge theories, where the Lie algebra linear approximation is prevalent, are not known. We approach this problem from two directions: on one side we are explaining the potential role of formal group laws in describing certain higher homotopical properties and interferences with local or perturbative effects, and on the other side, we employ a categorical approach leading to synthetic theory and a way of looking at gauge theories. The topos approach is based on a geometry where the fundamental logic is intuitionistic logic, and hence the ‘tertium non datur’ principle is abandoned. This has a remarkable impact on understanding conformal symmetry and its anomalies in string theory in various dimensions.

Keywords: Gauge theory, formal group laws, Topos theory, conformal symmetry

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Authors: Ignatius Madu

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The study aims at assessing the environmental and socioeconomic determinants of climate change resilience in rural Nigeria. This is necessary because researches and development efforts on building climate change resilience of rural areas in developing countries are usually made without the knowledge of the impacts of the inherent rural characteristics that determine resilient capacities of the households. This has, in many cases, led to costly mistakes, delayed responses, inaccurate outcomes, and other difficulties. Consequently, this assessment becomes crucial not only to policymakers and people living in risk-prone environments in rural areas but also to fill the research gap. To achieve the aim, secondary data were obtained from the Annual Abstract of Statistics 2017, LSMS-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture and General Household Survey Panel 2015/2016, and National Agriculture Sample Survey (NASS), 2010/2011.Resilience was calculated by weighting and adding the adaptive, absorptive and anticipatory measures of households variables aggregated at state levels and then regressed against rural environmental and socioeconomic characteristics influencing it. From the regression, the coefficients of the variables were used to compute the impacts of the variables using the Stochastic Regression of Impacts on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) Model. The results showed that the northern States are generally low in resilient indices and are impacted less by the development indicators. The major determining factors are percentage of non-poor, environmental protection, road transport development, landholding, agricultural input, population density, dependency ratio (inverse), household asserts, education and maternal care. The paper concludes that any effort to a successful resilient building in rural areas of the country should first address these key factors that enhance rural development and wellbeing since it is better to take action before shocks take place.

Keywords: climate change resilience; spatial impacts; STIRPAT model; Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 150