Search results for: recursive utility

Authors: Nehir Nebioglu

Abstract:

Chemotherapy is widely used for the treatment of cancer. Doxorubicin is an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug that is classified as an anthracycline antibiotic. Antitumor antibiotics consist of natural products produced by species of the soil fungus Streptomyces. These drugs act in multiple phases of the cell cycle and are known cell-cycle specific. Although DOX is a precious clinical antineoplastic agent, resistance is also a problem that limits its utility besides cardiotoxicity problem. The drug resistance of cancer cells results from multiple factors including individual variation, genetic heterogeneity within a tumor, and cellular evolution. The mechanism of resistance is thought to involve, in particular, ABCB1 (MDR1, Pgp) and ABCC1 (MRP1) as well as other transporters. Several studies on DOX-resistant cell lines have shown that resistance can be overcome by an inhibition of ABCB1, ABCC1, and ABCC2. This study attempts to understand the effects of different concentration levels of glucose treatment and starvation on the proliferation of Doxorubicin resistant cancer cells lines. To understand the effect of starvation, K562/Dox and K562 cell lines were treated with 0, 5 nM, 50 nM, 500 nM, 5 uM and 50 uM Dox concentrations in both starvation and normal medium conditions. In addition to this, to interpret the effect of glucose treatment, different concentrations (0, 1 mM, 5 mM, 25 mM) of glucose were applied to Dox-treated (with 0, 5 nM, 50 nM, 500 nM, 5 uM and 50 uM) K562/Dox and K652 cell lines. All results show significant decreasing in the cell count of K562/Dox, when cells were starved. However, while proliferation of K562/Dox lines decrease is associated with the increasingly applied Dox concentration, K562/Dox starved ones remain at the same proliferation level. Thus, the results imply that an amount of K562/Dox lines gain starvation resistance and remain resistant. Furthermore, for K562/Dox, there is no clear effect of glucose treatment in terms of cell proliferation. In the presence of a moderate level of glucose (5 mM), proliferation increases compared to other concentration of glucose for each different Dox application. On the other hand, a significant increase in cell proliferation in moderate level of glucose is only observed in 5 uM Dox concentration. The moderate concentration level of Dox can be examined in further studies. For the high amount of glucose (25 mM), cell proliferation levels are lower than moderate glucose application. The reason could be high amount of glucose may not be absorbable by cells. Also, in the presence of low amount of glucose, proliferation is decreasing in an orderly manner of increase in Dox concentration. This situation can be explained by the glucose depletion -Warburg effect- in the literature.

Keywords: drug resistance, cancer cells, chemotherapy, doxorubicin

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: A. Caicedo Padilla, J. Zambrano Nájera

Abstract:

Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca and the second city of Colombia, is located in the Cauca River Valley between the Western and Central Cordillera that is South West of the country. The topography of the city is mainly flat, but it is possibly to find mountains in the west. The city has increased urbanization during XX century, especially since 1958 when started a rapid growth due to migration of people from other parts of the region. Much of that population has settled in eastern of Cali, an area originally intended for cane cultivation and a zone of flood from Cauca River and its tributaries. Due to the unplanned migration, settling was inadequate and produced changes in natural dynamics of the basins, which has resulted in increases in runoff volumes, peak flows and flow velocities, that in turn increases flood risk. Sewerage networks capacity were not enough for this higher runoff volume, because in first term they were not adequately designed and built, causing its failure. This in turn generates increasingly recurrent floods generating considerable effects on the economy and development of normal activities in Cali. Thus, it becomes very important to know hydrological behavior of Urban Watersheds. This research aims to determine the impact of urbanization on hydrology of watersheds with very low slopes. The project aims to identify changes in natural drainage patterns caused by the changes made on landscape. From the identification of such modifications it will be defined the most critical areas due to recurring flood events in the city of Cali. Critical areas are defined as areas where the sewerage system does not work properly as surface runoff increases considerable with storm events, and floods are recurrent. The assessment will be done from the analysis of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) theme layers from CVC Environmental Institution of Regional Control in Valle del Cauca, hydrological data and disaster database developed by OSSO Corporation. Rainfall data from a network and historical stream flow data will be used for analysis of historical behavior and change of precipitation and hydrological response according to homogeneous zones characterized by EMCALI S.A. public utility enterprise of Cali in 1999.

Keywords: drainage systems, land cover changes, urban hydrology, urban planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Mike Wei, Nebu Koshy, Koen van Besien, Giorgio Inghirami, Steven M. Horwitz

Abstract:

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a rare hematologic disease characterized by a T-cell phenotype, rapid progression, and poor prognosis with median survival of less than a year. Alemtuzumab-based chemotherapy has increased the rate of complete remissions but these are often short-lived, and allogeneic transplant is considered the only curative therapy. In recent studies, JAK3 activating mutations have been identified in T-cell cancers, with T-PLL having the highest rate of JAK3 mutations (30 – 42%). As such, T-PLL is a model disease for evaluating the utility of JAK3 inhibitors. We present a case of a 64-year-old man with relapsed-refractory T-PLL. He was initially treated with alemtuzumab and obtained complete response and was consolidated with matched unrelated donor stem cell transplant. His disease stayed in remission for approximately 1.5 years before relapse, which was then treated with a clinical trial of romidepsin-lenalidomide (partial responses then progression at 6 months) and later alemtuzumab. Due to complications of myelosuppression and CMV reactivation, his treatment was interrupted leading to disease progression. The doubling time of lymphocyte count was approximately 20 days and over a span of 60 days the lymphocyte count rose from 8 x 109/L to 68 x 109/L. Exon sequencing showed a JAK3 mutation. The patient consented to and was treated with FDA-approved tofacitinib (initially 5 mg BID, increased to 10 mg BID after 15 days of treatment). An initial decrease in lymphocyte count was followed by progression. In vitro treatment of the patient’s cells showed modest effects of tofacitinib and ruxolitinib as single agents, in the range of doxorubicin, but synergy between the agents. After 40 days of treatment with tofacitinib and with a lymphocyte count of 150 x 109/L, ruxolitinib (5mg BID) was added. Over the 60 days since dual inhibition was started, the lymphocyte count has stabilized. The patient has remained completely asymptomatic during treatment with tofacitinib and ruxolitinib. Neutrophil count has remained normal. Platelet count and hemoglobin have however declined from ~50 x109/L to ~30 x109/L and from 11 g/dL to 8.1 g/dL respectively, since the introduction of ruxolitinib. The stabilization in lymphocyte count confirms the clinical activity of JAK inhibitors in T-PLL as suggested by the presence of JAK3 mutations and by in-vitro assays. It also suggests clinical synergy between ruxolitinib and tofacitinib in this setting. Prospective studies of JAK inhibitors in PLL patients with formal dose-finding studies are needed.

Keywords: tofacitinib, ruxolitinib, T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia, JAK3

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: B. Vadiraj, S. N. Omkar, B. Kapil Bharadwaj, Yash Vardhan Gupta

Abstract:

During manned exploration of space, missions will require astronaut crewmembers to perform Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs) for a variety of tasks. These EVAs take place after long periods of operations in space, and in and around unique vehicles, space structures and systems. Considering the remoteness and time spans in which these vehicles will operate, EVA system operations should utilize common worksites, tools and procedures as much as possible to increase the efficiency of training and proficiency in operations. All of the preparations need to be carried out based on studies of astronaut motions. Until now, development and training activities associated with the planned EVAs in Russian and U.S. space programs have relied almost exclusively on physical simulators. These experimental tests are expensive and time consuming. During the past few years a strong increase has been observed in the use of computer simulations due to the fast developments in computer hardware and simulation software. Based on this idea, an effort to develop a computational simulation system to model human dynamic motion for EVA is initiated. This study focuses on the simulation of an astronaut moving the orbital replaceable units into the worksites or removing them from the worksites. Our physics-based methodology helps fill the gap in quantitative analysis of astronaut EVA by providing a multisegment human arm model. Simulation work described in the study improves on the realism of previous efforts, incorporating joint stops to account for the physiological limits of range of motion. To demonstrate the utility of this approach human arm model is simulated virtually using ADAMS/LifeMOD® software. Kinematic mechanism for the astronaut’s task is studied from joint angles and torques. Simulation results obtained is validated with numerical simulation based on the principles of Newton-Euler method. Torques determined using mathematical model are compared among the subjects to know the grace and consistency of the task performed. We conclude that due to uncertain nature of exploration-class EVA, a virtual model developed using multibody dynamics approach offers significant advantages over traditional human modeling approaches.

Keywords: extra vehicular activity, biomechanics, inverse kinematics, human body modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Pappu Kumar, Ajai Singh, Anshuman Singh

Abstract:

There are different water user sectors such as rural, urban, mining, subsistence and commercial irrigated agriculture, commercial forestry, industry, power generation which are present in the catchment in Subarnarekha River Basin and Ranchi city. There is an inequity issue in the access to water. The development of the rural area, construction of new power generation plants, along with the population growth, the requirement of unmet water demand and the consideration of environmental flows, the revitalization of small-scale irrigation schemes is going to increase the water demands in almost all the water-stressed catchment. The WEAP Model was developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) to enable evaluation of planning and management issues associated with water resources development. The WEAP model can be used for both urban and rural areas and can address a wide range of issues including sectoral demand analyses, water conservation, water rights and allocation priorities, river flow simulation, reservoir operation, ecosystem requirements and project cost-benefit analyses. This model is a tool for integrated water resource management and planning like, forecasting water demand, supply, inflows, outflows, water use, reuse, water quality, priority areas and Hydropower generation, In the present study, efforts have been made to access the utility of the WEAP model for water supply and demand analysis for Ranchi city. A detailed works have been carried out and it was tried to ascertain that the WEAP model used for generating different scenario of water requirement, which could help for the future planning of water. The water supplied to Ranchi city was mostly contributed by our study river, Hatiya reservoir and ground water. Data was collected from various agencies like PHE Ranchi, census data of 2011, Doranda reservoir and meteorology department etc. This collected and generated data was given as input to the WEAP model. The model generated the trends for discharge of our study river up to next 2050 and same time also generated scenarios calculating our demand and supplies for feature. The results generated from the model outputs predicting the water require 12 million litter. The results will help in drafting policies for future regarding water supplies and demands under changing climatic scenarios.

Keywords: WEAP model, water demand analysis, Ranchi, scenarios

Procedia PDF Downloads 402

Authors: Marina Wagdy Nageeb Eskander

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: Bunindro Nameirakpam, Sonia Sougrapakam, Shannon B. Olsson, Rajashekar Yallappa

Abstract:

Natural sources for new pesticidal compounds hold promise in view of their eco-friendly nature, selectivity and mammalian safety. Despite a large number of plants that show insecticidal activity and diversity of natural chemistry with inherent eco-friendly nature, newer classes of insecticides have eluded discovery. Artemisia vulgaris, known as Mugwort, is a universal herb used for folk medicine and religious purposes throughout the ancient world. In India, the essential oils of Artemisia vulgaris are used for its insecticidal, anti parasiticidal and antimicrobial properties. Traditionally, the dried leaves of Artemisia vulgaris are used to repel insects as well as rats in and around the granaries in the North-East India. Artemisia vulgaris collected during November from different ecological sites were studied for the bio-pesticidal utility against the stored grain pests. The insecticidal activities were found in the crude extracts of n-hexane and methanol from the samples collected in Sikkim and Manipur respectively. Using silica gel column chromatography protocol, we have isolated one novel bioactive molecule from the aerial parts of Artemisia vulgaris L based on various physical-chemical and spectroscopic techniques (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass). The novel bioactive molecule is highly toxic and very low concentration (4.35 µg/l) is needed to control the stored product insects. In additional experiment results clearly showed the involvement of sodium pumps inhibition in the insecticidal action of purified compound in the Sitophilus oryzae. The knockdown activity of the purified compound is concomitant with the in vivo inhibition of Na+/ K+- ATPase. Further, our study showed insignificant differences in the seed germination of control and the treated grains. The lack of adverse effect of the novel bioactive molecule on the seed germination is highly desirable for seed/grain protectant and showing the potential to be developed as possible natural fumigants for the control of stored grain pests. The novel bioactive molecule is selective insecticide with a high margin of safety to mammals and showed promise as novel biopesticide candidate for grain protection. It is believed that Bio-pesticides can serve as the most important pest management tools as far as global safety is concerned.

Keywords: Indian traditional plant, Artemisia vulgaris, bio-pesticides, Na+/ K+- ATPase, seed germination

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Lerato Dixon, Thorsten Chmura

Abstract:

This paper explores whether ethnic identity in Zimbabwe leads to discriminatory behaviour and the degree to which a norm-based intervention can shift this discriminatory behaviour. Social Identity Theory suggests that group identity can lead to favouritism towards the in-group and discriminatory behaviour towards the out-group. Agents yield higher utility from maintaining positive self-esteem by confirming with group behaviour. This paper focuses on the two majority ethnic groups in Zimbabwe – the Ndebele and Shona. Racial identities are synonymous with the language spoken. Zimbabwe’s history highlights how identity formation took place. As following independence, political parties became recognised as either Ndebele or Shona-speaking. It is against this backdrop that this study investigates the degree to which norm-based nudge can alter behaviour. This paper uses experimental methods to analyse discriminatory behaviour between two naturally occurring ethnic groups in Zimbabwe. In addition, we investigate if social norm-based interventions can shift discriminatory behaviour to understand if the divide between these two identity groups can be further divided or healed. Participants are randomly assigned into three groups to receive information regarding a social norm. We compare the effect of a proscriptive social norm-based intervention, stating what shouldn't be done and prescriptive social norms as interventions, stating what should be done. Specifically, participants are either shown the socially appropriate (Heal) norm, the socially inappropriateness (Divide) norm regarding interethnic marriages or no norm-based intervention. Following the random assignment into intervention groups, participants take part in the Trust Game. We conjecture that discrimination will shift in accordance with the prevailing social norm. Instead, we find evidence of interethnic discriminatory behaviour. We also find that trust increases when interacting with Ndebele, Shona and Zimbabwean participants following the Heal intervention. However, if the participant is Shona, the Heal intervention decreases trust toward in-groups and Zimbabwean co-players. On the other hand, if the participant is Shona, the Divide treatment significantly increases trust toward Ndebele participants. In summary, we find evidence that norm-based interventions significantly change behaviour. However, the prescriptive norm-based intervention (Heal) decreases trust toward the in-group, out-group and national identity group if the participant is Shona – therefore having an adverse effect. In contrast, the proscriptive Divide treatment increases trust if the participant is Shona towards Ndebele co-players. We conclude that norm-based interventions have a ‘rebound’ effect by altering behaviour in the opposite direction.

Keywords: discrimination, social identity, social norm-based intervention, zimbabwe

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Eva Maged Hosni Sadek

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Jihee Jang, Seowon Yoon, Gaeun Son, Minjung Kang, Joon Yeon Choeh, Kee-Hong Choi

Abstract:

Background: Self-report multiple choice questionnaires have been widely utilized to quantitatively measure one’s personality and psychological constructs. Despite several strengths (e.g., brevity and utility), self-report multiple-choice questionnaires have considerable limitations in nature. With the rise of machine learning (ML) and Natural language processing (NLP), researchers in the field of psychology are widely adopting NLP to assess psychological constructs to predict human behaviors. However, there is a lack of connections between the work being performed in computer science and that psychology due to small data sets and unvalidated modeling practices. Aims: The current article introduces the study method and procedure of phase II, which includes the interview questions for the five-factor model (FFM) of personality developed in phase I. This study aims to develop the interview (semi-structured) and open-ended questions for the FFM-based personality assessments, specifically designed with experts in the field of clinical and personality psychology (phase 1), and to collect the personality-related text data using the interview questions and self-report measures on personality and psychological distress (phase 2). The purpose of the study includes examining the relationship between natural language data obtained from the interview questions, measuring the FFM personality constructs, and psychological distress to demonstrate the validity of the natural language-based personality prediction. Methods: The phase I (pilot) study was conducted on fifty-nine native Korean adults to acquire the personality-related text data from the interview (semi-structured) and open-ended questions based on the FFM of personality. The interview questions were revised and finalized with the feedback from the external expert committee, consisting of personality and clinical psychologists. Based on the established interview questions, a total of 425 Korean adults were recruited using a convenience sampling method via an online survey. The text data collected from interviews were analyzed using natural language processing. The results of the online survey, including demographic data, depression, anxiety, and personality inventories, were analyzed together in the model to predict individuals’ FFM of personality and the level of psychological distress (phase 2).

Keywords: personality prediction, psychological distress prediction, natural language processing, machine learning, the five-factor model of personality

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Rania Melad Kamel Hakim

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. These have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these ‘syndrome’ forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or ‘non-syndrome’ autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way to improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co-morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties (‘sticky attention’), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Marietta Kékes Szabó

Abstract:

The patterns of personality (mal)function and the individuals’ psychosocial environment influence the healthy status collectively and may lie in the background of psychosomatic disorders. Although the patients with their diversified symptoms usually do not have any organic problems, the experienced complaint, the fear of serious illness and the lack of social support often lead to increased anxiety and further enigmatic symptoms. The role of the family system and its atmosphere seem to be very important in this process. More studies explored the characteristics of dysfunctional family organization: inflexible family structure, hidden conflicts that are not spoken about by the family members during their daily interactions, undefined role boundaries, neglect or overprotection of the children by the parents and coalition between generations. However, questionnaires that are used to measure the properties of the family system are able to explore only its unit and cannot pay attention to the dyadic interactions, while the representation of the family structure by a figure placing test gives us a new perspective to better understand the organization of the (sub)system(s). Furthermore, its dynamic form opens new perspectives to explore the family members’ joint representations, which gives us the opportunity to know more about the flexibility of cohesion and hierarchy of the given family system. In this way, the communication among the family members can be also examined. The aim of my study was to collect a great number of information about the organization of psychosomatic families. In our research we used Gehring’s Family System Test (FAST) both in static and dynamic forms to mobilize the family members’ mental representations about their family and to get data in connection with their individual representations as well as cooperation. There were four families in our study, all of them with a young adult person. Two families with healthy participants and two families with asthmatic patient(s) were involved in our research. The family members’ behavior that could be observed during the dynamic situation was recorded on video for further data analysis with Noldus Observer XT 8.0 program software. In accordance with the previous studies, our results show that the family structure of the families with at least one psychosomatic patient is more rigid than it was found in the control group and the certain (typical, ideal, and conflict) dynamic representations reflected mainly the most dominant family member’s individual concept. The behavior analysis also confirmed the intensified role of the dominant person(s) in the family life, thereby influencing the family decisions, the place of the other family members, as well as the atmosphere of the interactions, which could also be grasped well by the applied methods. However, further research is needed to learn more about the phenomenon that can open the door for new therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: psychosomatic families, family structure, family system test (FAST), static and dynamic representations, behavior analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 372

Authors: Sara Asham Mahrous Kamel

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: T. Suleiman, C. Mchugh, H. Ranu

Abstract:

Background; Asthma continues to be associated with poor patient outcomes, including mortality. An audit of the management of acute asthma admissions in our hospital in 2020 found poor compliance with National Asthma and COPD Audit Project (NACAP) standards which set out to improve inpatient asthma care. Clinical nurse specialists have been shown to improve patient care across a range of specialties. In September 2021, an asthma Nurse Specialist (ANS) was employed in our hospital. Aim; To re-audit management of acute asthma admissions using NACAP standards and assess for quality improvement post-employment of an ANS. Methodology; NACAP standards are wide-reaching; therefore, we focused on ‘specific elements of good practice’ in addition to the provision of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on discharge. Medical notes were retrospectively requested from the hospital coding department and selected as per NACAP inclusion criteria. Data collection and entry into the NACAP database were carried out. As this was a clinical audit, ethics approval was not required. Results; Cycle 1 (pre-ANS) and 2 (post-ANS) of the audit included 20 and 32 patients, respectively, with comparable baseline demographics. No patients had a discharge bundle completed on discharge in cycle 1 vs. 84% of cases in cycle 2. Regarding specific components of the bundle, 25% of patients in cycle 1 had their inhaler technique checked vs. 91% in cycle 2. Furthermore, 80% of patients had maintenance medications reviewed in cycle 1 vs. 97% in cycle 2. Medication adherence was addressed in 20% of cases in cycle 1 vs. 88% of cases in cycle 2. Personalized asthma action plans were not issued or reviewed in any cases in cycle 1 as compared with 84% of cases in cycle 2. Triggers were discussed in 30% of cases in cycle 1 vs. 88% of cases in cycle 2. Tobacco dependence was addressed in 44% of cases in cycle 1 vs. 100% of cases in cycle 2. No patients in cycle 1 had community follow-up requested within 2 days vs. 81% of the patients in cycle 2. Similarly, 20% of the patients in cycle 1 vs. 88% of the patients in cycle 2 had a 4-week asthma clinic follow-up requested. 75% of patients in cycle 1 were the recipient of ICS on discharge compared with 94% of patients in cycle 2. Conclusion; Our quality improvement project demonstrates the utility of an ANS in improving performance in the management of acute asthma admissions, evidenced here through concordance with NACAP standards. Asthma is a complex condition with biological, psychological, and sociological components; therefore, ANS is a suitable intervention to improve concordance with guidelines. ANS likely impacted performance directly, for example, by checking inhaler technique, and indirectly as a safety net ensuring doctors included ICS on discharge.

Keywords: asthma, nurse specialist, clinical audit, quality improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Dina Moheb Rashid Michael

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: Mariam Atef Zakaria Faltas

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: G. Natuhwera, M. Rabwoni, P. Ellis, A. Merriman

Abstract:

Aims: Health workers are likely to document patients’ care inaccurately, especially when using new and revised case tools, and this could negatively impact patient care. This study set out to; (1) assess nurses’ and clinicians’ documentation practices when using a new patients’ continuation case sheet (PCCS) and (2) explore nurses’ and clinicians’ experiences regarding documentation of patients’ information in the new PCCS. The purpose of introducing the PCCS was to improve continuity of care for patients attending clinics at which they were unlikely to see the same clinician or nurse consistently. Methods: This was a mixed methods study. The cross-sectional inquiry retrospectively reviewed 100 case notes of active patients on hospice and palliative care program. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire with constructs formulated from the new PCCS under study. The qualitative element was face-to-face audio-recorded, open-ended interviews with a purposive sample of one palliative care clinician, and four palliative care nurse specialists. Thematic analysis was used. Results: Missing patients’ biogeographic information was prevalent at 5-10%. Spiritual and psychosocial issues were not documented in 42.6%, and vital signs in 49.2%. Poorest documentation practices were observed in past medical history part of the PCCS at 40-63%. Four themes emerged from interviews with clinicians and nurses-; (1) what remains unclear and challenges, (2) comparing the past with the present, (3) experiential thoughts, and (4) transition and adapting to change. Conclusions: The PCCS seems to be a comprehensive and simple tool to be used to document patients’ information at subsequent visits. The comprehensiveness and utility of the PCCS does paper to be limited by the failure to train staff in its use prior to introducing. The authors find the PCCS comprehensive and suitable to capture patients’ information and recommend it can be adopted and used in other palliative and hospice care settings, if suitable introductory training accompanies its introduction. Otherwise, the reliability and validity of patients’ information collected by this PCCS can be significantly reduced if some sections therein are unclear to the clinicians/nurses. The study identified clinicians- and nurses-related pitfalls in documentation of patients’ care. Clinicians and nurses need to prioritize accurate and complete documentation of patient care in the PCCS for quality care provision. This study should be extended to other sites using similar tools to ensure representative and generalizable findings.

Keywords: documentation, information case sheet, palliative care, quality improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Randa Reda Luke Waheeb

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 32

Authors: Amany Nosshy Fawzy George

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 13

Authors: Tamphasana Wairokpam

Abstract:

Inflammatory myopathies (IMs) have long been recognised as a heterogenous family of myopathies with acute, subacute, and sometimes chronic presentation and are potentially treatable. Necrotizing autoimmune myopathies (NAM) are a relatively new subset of myopathies. Patients generally present with subacute onset of proximal myopathy and significantly elevated creatinine kinase (CK) levels. It is being increasingly recognised that there are limitations to the independent diagnostic utility of muscle biopsy. Immunohistochemistry tests may reveal important information in these cases. The traditional classification of IMs failed to recognise NAM as a separate entity and did not adequately emphasize the diversity of IMs. This review and case report on NAM aims to highlight the heterogeneity of this entity and focus on the distinct clinical presentation, biopsy findings, specific auto-antibodies implicated, and available treatment options with prognosis. This article is a meta-analysis of literatures on NAM and a case report illustrating the clinical course, investigation and biopsy findings, antibodies implicated, and management of a patient with NAM. The main databases used for the search were Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library. Altogether, 67 publications have been taken as references. Two biomarkers, anti-signal recognition protein (SRP) and anti- hydroxyl methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) Abs, have been found to have an association with NAM in about 2/3rd of cases. Interestingly, anti-SRP associated NAM appears to be more aggressive in its clinical course when compared to its anti-HMGCR associated counterpart. Biopsy shows muscle fibre necrosis without inflammation. There are reports of statin-induced NAM where progression of myopathy has been seen even after discontinuation of statins, pointing towards an underlying immune mechanism. Diagnosisng NAM is essential as it requires more aggressive immunotherapy than other types of IMs. Most cases are refractory to corticosteroid monotherapy. Immunosuppressive therapy with other immunotherapeutic agents such as IVIg, rituximab, mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine has been explored and found to have a role in the treatment of NAM. In conclusion,given the heterogeneity of NAM, it appears that NAM is not just a single entity but consists of many different forms, despite the similarities in presentation and its classification remains an evolving field. A thorough understanding of underlying mechanism and the clinical correlation with antibodies associated with NAM is essential for efficacious management and disease prognostication.

Keywords: inflammatory myopathies, necrotising autoimmune myopathies, anti-SRP antibody, anti-HMGCR antibody, statin induced myopathy

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Narges Arsanious Kamel Arsanious

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

Abstract:

Basal metabolic rate is questioned as a risk factor for weight gain. The relations between basal metabolic rate and body composition have not been cleared yet. The impact of fat mass on basal metabolic rate is also uncertain. Within this context, indices based upon total body mass as well as total body fat mass are available. In this study, the aim is to investigate the potential clinical utility of these indices in the adult population. 287 individuals, aged from 18 to 79 years, were included into the scope of the study. Based upon body mass index values, 10 underweight, 88 normal, 88 overweight, 81 obese, and 20 morbid obese individuals participated. Anthropometric measurements including height (m), and weight (kg) were performed. Body mass index, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index I, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II, basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio were calculated. Total body fat mass (kg), fat percent (%), basal metabolic rate, metabolic age, visceral adiposity, fat mass of upper as well as lower extremities and trunk, obesity degree were measured by TANITA body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology. Statistical evaluations were performed by statistical package (SPSS) for Windows Version 16.0. Scatterplots of individual measurements for the parameters concerning correlations were drawn. Linear regression lines were displayed. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p < 0.05. The strong correlations between body mass index and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index I as well as diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II were obtained (p < 0.001). A much stronger correlation was detected between basal metabolic rate and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index I in comparison with that calculated for basal metabolic rate and body mass index (p < 0.001). Upon consideration of the associations between basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio and these three indices, the best association was observed between basal metabolic rate-to-weight and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II. In a similar manner, this index was highly correlated with fat percent (p < 0.001). Being independent of the indices, a strong correlation was found between fat percent and basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio (p < 0.001). Visceral adiposity was much strongly correlated with metabolic age when compared to that with chronological age (p < 0.001). In conclusion, all three indices were associated with metabolic age, but not with chronological age. Diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index II values were highly correlated with body mass index values throughout all ranges starting with underweight going towards morbid obesity. This index is the best in terms of its association with basal metabolic rate-to-weight ratio, which can be interpreted as basal metabolic rate unit.

Keywords: basal metabolic rate, body mass index, children, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index, obesity

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Veslava Osinska, Adam Szalach, Dominik Piotrowski

Abstract:

Contemporary VR technologies allow users to explore virtual 3D spaces where they can work, socialize, learn, and play. User's interaction with GUI and the pictures displayed implicate perceptual and also cognitive processes which can be monitored due to neuroadaptive technologies. These modalities provide valuable information about the users' intentions, situational interpretations, and emotional states, to adapt an application or interface accordingly. Virtual galleries outfitted by specialized assets have been designed using the Unity engine BITSCOPE project in the frame of CHIST-ERA IV program. Users interaction with gallery objects implies the questions about his/her visual interests in art works and styles. Moreover, an attention, curiosity, and other emotional states are possible to be monitored and analyzed. Natural gaze behavior data and eye position were recorded by built-in eye-tracking module within HTC Vive headset gogle for VR. Eye gaze results are grouped due to various users’ behavior schemes and the appropriate perpetual-cognitive styles are recognized. Parallelly usability tests and surveys were adapted to identify the basic features of a user-centered interface for the virtual environments across most of the timeline of the project. A total of sixty participants were selected from the distinct faculties of University and secondary schools. Users’ primary knowledge about art and was evaluated during pretest and this way the level of art sensitivity was described. Data were collected during two months. Each participant gave written informed consent before participation. In data analysis reducing the high-dimensional data into a relatively low-dimensional subspace ta non linear algorithms were used such as multidimensional scaling and novel technique technique t-Stochastic Neighbor Embedding. This way it can classify digital art objects by multi modal time characteristics of eye tracking measures and reveal signatures describing selected artworks. Current research establishes the optimal place on aesthetic-utility scale because contemporary interfaces of most applications require to be designed in both functional and aesthetical ways. The study concerns also an analysis of visual experience for subsamples of visitors, differentiated, e.g., in terms of frequency of museum visits, cultural interests. Eye tracking data may also show how to better allocate artefacts and paintings or increase their visibility when possible.

Keywords: eye tracking, VR, UX, visual art, virtual gallery, visual communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 18

Authors: Adejoke Omowumi Adediran

Abstract:

The commitment of African states to liberalise civil aviation in Africa through the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision of 1999 was reiterated in 2015 at the African Union Assembly meeting. A declaration was made by African Heads of government at the meeting to ensure the immediate implementation of the decision towards the establishment of a Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) by 2017. A SAATM will imply among others, a removal of all commercial restrictions for African airlines in Africa; access to any route in Africa by African airlines without any required permit or authorisation; and a common set of regulations for airlines in African member states. As the envisioned 2017 date for launching the SAATM could not be met, a new date of January 2018 has been set. The lack of political will by African States, however, remains a prominent challenge to the realisation of the SAATM. As at June 2017, only twenty-one states had signed the commitment to actualise the decision creating the SAATM. In actualisation of the SAATM, a regulatory framework has been established to efficiently manage the new African airline industry, and regulatory texts have been adopted as part of the legal regime. This legal regime is to regulate both interstate and domestic operations. Airlines in Nigeria are currently faced with certain challenges which ultimately affect their effectiveness and passengers as well do not enjoy utmost customer satisfaction with services rendered by the airlines. Although Nigeria has demonstrated support for the SAATM since 2015, as Nigeria alongside ten other states, signed the initial commitment, whether or not SAATM will eventually be beneficial to airlines and passengers has become an issue in the light of the challenges of the Nigerian airline industry. Remarkably, the benefit of the SAATM is to a large extent ultimately determined by its legal framework. Using doctrinal research, this paper examines the legal implications of the SAATM on airlines and passengers in Nigeria. This paper analyses the legal framework of SAATM and juxtaposes this with the particular issues affecting airlines and passengers in Nigeria such as financial difficulties on the part of airlines and consumer protection as regards passengers. Among others, it can be asserted that the legal regime affords an opportunity for business expansion and creates a fair environment for competition. This is beneficial not only to the airlines but to passengers as well. In addition, in the interest of passengers, consumer rights are prescribed, and the regulations also cater for situations where airlines interrupt their services, as losses arising from these situations will be mitigated. There is indeed no doubt that the SAATM will be of great utility to both airlines and passengers in Nigeria.

Keywords: airlines, civil aviation, competition, consumer protection, passengers, single African air transport market, yamoussoukro decision

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Alex Eldo Simon, Abhishek Yadav

Abstract:

This study aimed to evaluate the utility of postmortem computed tomography (CT) and heart weight measurements in the assessment of cardiomegaly in cases of sudden death due to cardiac origin by comparing the results of these two diagnostic methods. The study retrospectively analyzed postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) data from 54 cases of sudden natural death and compared the findings with those of the autopsy. The study involved measuring the cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) from coronal computed tomography (CT) images and determining the actual cardiac weight by weighing the heart during the autopsy. The inclusion criteria for the study were cases of sudden death suspected to be caused by cardiac pathology, while exclusion criteria included death due to unnatural causes such as trauma or poisoning, diagnosed natural causes of death related to organs other than the heart, and cases of decomposition. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy were calculated, and to evaluate the accuracy of using the cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) to detect an enlarged heart, the study generated receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is a radiological tool used to assess cardiomegaly by measuring the maximum cardiac diameter in relation to the maximum transverse diameter of the chest wall. The clinically used criteria for CTR have been modified from 0.50 to 0.57 for use in postmortem settings, where abnormalities can be detected by comparing CTR values to this threshold. A CTR value of 0.57 or higher is suggestive of hypertrophy but not conclusive. Similarly, heart weight is measured during the traditional autopsy, and a cardiac weight greater than 450 grams is defined as hypertrophy. Of the 54 cases evaluated, 22 (40.7%) had a cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) ranging from > 0.50 to equal 0.57, and 12 cases (22.2%) had a CTR greater than 0.57, which was defined as hypertrophy. The mean CTR was calculated as 0.52 ± 0.06. Among the 54 cases evaluated, the weight of the heart was measured, and the mean was calculated as 369.4 ± 99.9 grams. Out of the 54 cases evaluated, 12 were found to have hypertrophy as defined by PMCT, while only 9 cases were identified with hypertrophy in traditional autopsy. The sensitivity and specificity of the test were calculated as 55.56% and 84.44%, respectively. The sensitivity of the hypertrophy test was found to be 55.56% (95% CI: 26.66, 81.12¹), the specificity was 84.44% (95% CI: 71.22, 92.25¹), and the diagnostic accuracy was 79.63% (95% CI: 67.1, 88.23¹). The limitation of the study was a low sample size of only 54 cases, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. The comparison of the cardiothoracic ratio with heart weight in this study suggests that PMCT may serve as a screening tool for medico-legal autopsies when performed by forensic pathologists. However, it should be noted that the low sensitivity of the test (55.5%) may limit its diagnostic accuracy, and therefore, further studies with larger sample sizes and more diverse populations are needed to validate these findings.

Keywords: PMCT, virtopsy, CTR, cardiothoracic ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Guohong Wang, Hao Huang, Rui Xing, Liyan Tang, Yu Wang

Abstract:

Start-ups are consistently under pressure to overcome liabilities of newness and smallness. They must focus on assembling resource and engaging constant renewal and repeated entrepreneurial activities to survive and grow. As an important form of resource, knowledge is constantly vital to start-ups, which will help start-ups with developing new product in hence forming competitive advantage. However, significant knowledge is usually needed to be identified and exploited from external entities, which makes it difficult to achieve knowledge transfer; with limited resources, it can be quite challenging for start-ups balancing the exploration and exploitation of knowledge. The research on knowledge transfer has become a relatively well-developed domain by indicating that knowledge transfer can be achieved through plenty of patterns, yet it is still under-explored that what processes and organizational practices help start-ups facilitating knowledge transfer for new product in the context portfolio entrepreneurship. Resource orchestration theory emphasizes the initiative and active management of company or the manager to explain the fulfillment of resource utility, which will help understand the process of managing knowledge as a certain kind of resource in start-ups. Drawing on the resource orchestration theory, this research aims to explore how knowledge transfer can be facilitated through resource orchestration. A qualitative single-case study of a sodium-ion battery new venture was conducted. The case company is sampled deliberately from representative industrial agglomeration areas in Liaoning Province, China. It is found that distinctive resource orchestration sub-processes are leveraged to facilitate knowledge transfer: (i) resource structuring makes knowledge available across the portfolio; (ii) resource bundling makes combines internal and external knowledge to form new knowledge; and (iii) resource harmonizing balances specific knowledge configurations across the portfolio. Meanwhile, by purposefully reallocating knowledge configurations to new product development in a certain new venture (exploration) and gradually adjusting knowledge configurations to being applied to existing products across the portfolio (exploitation), resource orchestration processes as a whole make exploration and exploitation of knowledge balanced. This study contributes to the knowledge management literature through proposing a resource orchestration view and depicting how knowledge transfer can be facilitated through different resource orchestration processes and mechanisms. In addition, by revealing the balancing process of exploration and exploitation of knowledge, and laying stress on the significance of the idea of making exploration and exploitation of knowledge balanced in the context of portfolio entrepreneurship, this study also adds specific efforts to entrepreneurship and strategy management literature.

Keywords: exploration and exploitation, knowledge transfer, new product development, portfolio entrepreneur, resource orchestration

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Jing Nan

Abstract:

The air breakdown voltage in compact circuit breakers is a critical factor in the design and reliability of electrical distribution systems. This voltage determines the threshold at which the air insulation between conductors will fail or 'break down,' leading to an arc. This phenomenon is highly sensitive to the conditions within the breaker, such as the temperature and the distance between electrodes. Typically, air breakdown voltage models have been reliable for predicting failure under standard operational temperatures. However, in conditions post-arcing, where temperatures can soar above 2000K, these models face challenges due to the complex physics of ionization and electron behaviour at such high-energy states. Building upon the foundational understanding that the breakdown mechanism is initiated by free electrons and propelled by electric fields, which lead to ionization and, potentially, to avalanche or streamer formation, we acknowledge the complexity introduced by high-temperature environments. Recognizing the limitations of existing experimental data, a notable research gap exists in the accurate prediction of breakdown voltage at elevated temperatures, typically observed post-arcing, where temperatures exceed 2000K.To bridge this knowledge gap, we present a method that integrates gap distance and high-temperature effects into air breakdown voltage assessment. The proposed model is grounded in the physics of ionization, accounting for the dynamic behaviour of free electrons which, under intense electric fields at elevated temperatures, lead to thermal ionization and potentially reach the threshold for streamer formation as Meek's criterion. Employing the Saha equation, our model calculates equilibrium electron densities, adapting to the atmospheric pressure and the hot temperature regions indicative of post-arc temperature conditions. Our model is rigorously validated against established experimental data, demonstrating substantial improvements in predicting air breakdown voltage in the high-temperature regime. This work significantly improves the predictive power for air breakdown voltage under conditions that closely mimic operational stressors in compact circuit breakers. Looking ahead, the proposed methods are poised for further exploration in alternative insulating media, like SF6, enhancing the model's utility for a broader range of insulation technologies and contributing to the future of high-temperature electrical insulation research.

Keywords: air breakdown voltage, high-temperature insulation, compact circuit breakers, electrical discharge, saha equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Katarzyna Wyka, Dana Sylvan, JoAnn Difede

Abstract:

Background and significance: The following disaster, population-based screening programs are routinely established to assess physical and psychological consequences of exposure. These data sets are highly skewed as only a small percentage of trauma-exposed individuals develop health issues. Commonly used statistical methodology in post-disaster mental health generally involves population-averaged models. Such models aim to capture the overall response to the disaster and its aftermath; however, they may not be sensitive enough to accommodate population heterogeneity in symptomatology, such as post-traumatic stress or depressive symptoms. Methods: We use an archival longitudinal data set from Weill-Cornell 9/11 Mental Health Screening Program established following the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks in New York in 2001. Participants are rescue and recovery workers who participated in the site cleanup and restoration (n=2960). The main outcome is the post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD) severity score assessed via clinician interviews (CAPS). For a detailed understanding of response to the disaster and its aftermath, we are adapting quantile regression methodology with particular focus on predictors of extreme distress and resilience to trauma. Results: The response variable was defined as the quantile of the CAPS score for each individual under two different scenarios specifying the unconditional quantiles based on: 1) clinically meaningful CAPS cutoff values and 2) CAPS distribution in the population. We present graphical summaries of the differential effects. For instance, we found that the effect of the WTC exposures, namely seeing bodies and feeling that life was in danger during rescue/recovery work was associated with very high PTSD symptoms. A similar effect was apparent in individuals with prior psychiatric history. Differential effects were also present for age and education level of the individuals. Conclusion: We evaluate the utility of quantile regression in disaster research in contrast to the commonly used population-averaged models. We focused on assessing the distribution of risk factors for post-traumatic stress symptoms across quantiles. This innovative approach provides a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between dependent and independent variables and could be used for developing tailored training programs and response plans for different vulnerability groups.

Keywords: disaster workers, post traumatic stress, PTSD, quantile regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Monica Enculescu, A. Evanghelidis, I. Enculescu

Abstract:

Among the numerous methods for obtaining polymer nanofibers, the electrospinning technique distinguishes itself due to the more growing interest induced by its proved utility leading to developing and improving of the method and the appearance of novel materials. In particular, production of polymeric nanofibers in which different dopants are introduced was intensively studied in the last years because of the increased interest for the obtaining of functional electrospun nanofibers. Electrospinning is a facile method of obtaining polymer nanofibers with diameters from tens of nanometers to micrometrical sizes that are cheap, flexible, scalable, functional and biocompatible. Besides the multiple applications in medicine, polymeric nanofibers obtained by electrospinning permit manipulation of light at nanometric dimensions when doped with organic dyes or different nanoparticles. It is a simple technique that uses an electrical field to draw fine polymer nanofibers from solutions and does not require complicated devices or high temperatures. Different morphologies of the electrospun nanofibers can be obtained for the same polymeric host when different parameters of the electrospinning process are used. Consequently, we can obtain tuneable optical properties of the electrospun nanofibers (e.g. changing the wavelength of the emission peak) by varying the parameters of the fabrication method. We focus on obtaining doped polymer nanofibers with enhanced optical properties using the electrospinning technique. The aim of the paper is to produce dye-doped polymer nanofibers’ mats incorporating uniformly dispersed dyes. Transmission and fluorescence of the fibers will be evaluated by spectroscopy methods. The morphological properties of the electrospun dye-doped polymer fibers will be evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We will tailor the luminescent properties of the material by doping the polymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone or polymethylmetacrilate) with different dyes (coumarins, rhodamines and sulforhodamines). The tailoring will be made taking into consideration the possibility of changing the luminescent properties of electrospun polymeric nanofibers that are doped with different dyes by using different parameters for the electrospinning technique (electric voltage, distance between electrodes, flow rate of the solution, etc.). Furthermore, we can evaluated the influence of the concentration of the dyes on the emissive properties of dye-doped polymer nanofibers using different concentrations. The advantages offered by the electrospinning technique when producing polymeric fibers are given by the simplicity of the method, the tunability of the morphology allowed by the possibility of controlling all the process parameters (temperature, viscosity of polymeric solution, applied voltage, distance between electrodes, etc.), and by the absence of necessity of using harsh and supplementary chemicals such as the ones used in the traditional nanofabrication techniques. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the financial support received through IFA CEA Project No. C5-08/2016.

Keywords: electrospinning, luminescence, polymer nanofibers, scanning electron microscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Luis Guilherme Resende Santos, Ido Nevat, Leslie Norford

Abstract:

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is characterized by increased air temperatures in urban areas compared to undeveloped rural surrounding environments. With urbanization and densification, the intensity of UHI increases, bringing negative impacts on livability, health and economy. In order to reduce those effects, it is required to take into consideration design factors when planning future developments. Given design constraints such as population size and availability of area for development, non-trivial decisions regarding the buildings’ dimensions and their spatial distribution are required. We develop a framework for optimization of urban design in order to jointly minimize UHI intensity and buildings’ energy consumption. First, the design constraints are defined according to spatial and population limits in order to establish realistic boundaries that would be applicable in real life decisions. Second, the tools Urban Weather Generator (UWG) and EnergyPlus are used to generate outputs of UHI intensity and total buildings’ energy consumption, respectively. Those outputs are changed based on a set of variable inputs related to urban morphology aspects, such as building height, urban canyon width and population density. Lastly, an optimization problem is cast where the utility function quantifies the performance of each design candidate (e.g. minimizing a linear combination of UHI and energy consumption), and a set of constraints to be met is set. Solving this optimization problem is difficult, since there is no simple analytic form which represents the UWG and EnergyPlus models. We therefore cannot use any direct optimization techniques, but instead, develop an indirect “black box” optimization algorithm. To this end we develop a solution that is based on stochastic optimization method, known as the Cross Entropy method (CEM). The CEM translates the deterministic optimization problem into an associated stochastic optimization problem which is simple to solve analytically. We illustrate our model on a typical residential area in Singapore. Due to fast growth in population and built area and land availability generated by land reclamation, urban planning decisions are of the most importance for the country. Furthermore, the hot and humid climate in the country raises the concern for the impact of UHI. The problem presented is highly relevant to early urban design stages and the objective of such framework is to guide decision makers and assist them to include and evaluate urban microclimate and energy aspects in the process of urban planning.

Keywords: building energy consumption, stochastic optimization, urban design, urban heat island, urban weather generator

Procedia PDF Downloads 111