Search results for: process design

Authors: Rebecca-Lee Kuhnert, Ron Rapee

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Up to 15% of Australian youth will experience an emotional disorder, yet relatively few get the help they need. Schools provide an ideal environment through which we can identify young people who are struggling and provide them with appropriate help. Universal mental health screening is a method by which all young people in school can be quickly assessed for emotional disorders, after which identified youth can be linked to appropriate health services. Despite the obvious logic of this process, universal mental health screening has received little scientific evaluation and even less application in Australian schools. This study will develop methods for Australian education systems to help identify young people (aged 9-17 years old) who are struggling with existing and emerging emotional disorders. Prior to testing, a series of focus groups will be run to get feedback and input from young people, parents, teachers, and mental health professionals. They will be asked about their thoughts on school-based screening methods and and how to best help students at risk of emotional distress. Schools (n=91) across New South Wales, Australia will be randomised to do either immediate screening (in May 2021) or delayed screening (in February 2022). Students in immediate screening schools will complete a long online mental health screener consisting of standard emotional health questionnaires. Ultimately, this large set of items will be reduced to a small number of items to form the final brief screener. Students who score in the “at-risk” range on any measure of emotional health problems will be identified to schools and offered pathways to relevant help according to the most accepted and approved processes identified by the focus groups. Nine months later, the same process will occur among delayed screening schools. At this same time, students in the immediate screening schools will complete screening for a second time. This will allow a direct comparison of the emotional health and help-seeking between youth whose schools had engaged in the screening and pathways to care process (immediate) and those whose schools had not engaged in the process (delayed). It is hypothesised that there will be a significant increase in students who receive help from mental health support services after screening, compared with baseline. It is also predicted that all students will show significantly less emotional distress after screening and access to pathways of care. This study will be an important contribution to Australian youth mental health prevention and early intervention by determining whether school screening leads to a greater number of young people with emotional disorders getting the help that they need and improving their mental health outcomes.

Keywords: children and young people, early intervention, mental health, mental health screening, prevention, school-based mental health

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Authors: Camila da Silva, Simone Belorte de Andrade, Vitor Augusto dos Santos Garcia, Vladimir Ferreira Cabral, J. Vladimir Oliveira Lúcio Cardozo-Filho

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In the present study, the non-catalytic transesterification of soybean oil in continuous mode using supercritical ethanol were investigated. Experiments were performed in a packed-bed tubular reactor (PBTR) and variable studied were reaction temperature (523 K to 598 K), pressure (10 MPa to 20 MPa), oil to ethanol molar ratio (1:10 to 1:40) and water concentration (0 wt% to 10 wt% in ethanol). Results showed that ethyl esters yields obtained in the PBTR were higher (> 20 wt%) than those verified in a tubular reactor (TR), due to improved mass transfer conditions attained in the PBTR. Results demonstrated that temperature, pressure, oil to ethanol molar ratio and water concentration had a positive effect on fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) production in the experimental range investigated, with appreciable reaction yields (90 wt%) achieved at 598 K, 20 MPa, oil to ethanol molar ratio of 1:40 and 10 wt% of water concentration.

Keywords: packed bed reactor, ethyl esters, continuous process, catalyst-free process

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Authors: David M. Gilstrap

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Designing effective instructions is a critical dimension of effective teaching systems. Due to a void in interpersonal contact, online courses present new challenges in this regard, especially with large class sizes. This presentation is a case study in how the repetition of instructions within the course design was utilized to increase instructor efficiency in managing a rapid rise in enrollment. World of Turf is a two-credit, semester-long elective course for non-turfgrass majors at Michigan State University. It is taught entirely online and solely by the instructor without any graduate teaching assistants. Discussion forums about subject matter are designated for each lecture, and those forums are moderated by a few undergraduate turfgrass majors. The instructions as to the course structure, navigation, and grading are conveyed in the syllabus and course-introduction lecture. Regardless, students email questions about such matters, and the number of emails increased as course enrollment grew steadily during the first three years of its existence, almost to a point that the course was becoming unmanageable. Many of these emails occurred because the instructor was failing to update and operate the course in a timely and proper fashion because he was too busy answering emails. Some of the emails did help the instructor ferret out poorly composed instructions, which he corrected. Beginning in the summer semester of 2015, the instructor overhauled the course by segregating content into weekly modules. The philosophy envisioned and embraced was that there can never be too much repetition of instructions in an online course. Instructions were duplicated within each of these modules as well as associated modules for syllabus and schedules, getting started, frequently asked questions, practice tests, surveys, and exams. In addition, informational forums were created and set aside for questions about the course workings and each of the three exams, thus creating even more repetition. Within these informational forums, students typically answer each other’s questions, which demonstrated to the students that that information is available in the course. When needed, the instructor interjects with corrects answers or clarifies any misinformation which students might be putting forth. Increasing the amount of repetition of instructions and strategic enhancements to the course design have resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of email replies necessitated by the instructor. The resulting improvement in efficiency allowed the instructor to raise enrollment limits thus effecting a ten-fold increase in enrollment over a five-year period with 1050 students registered during the most recent academic year, thus becoming easily the largest online course at the university. Because of the improvement in course-delivery efficiency, sufficient time was created that allowed the instructor to development and launch an additional online course, hence further enhancing his productivity and value in terms of the number of the student-credit hours for which he is responsible.

Keywords: design, efficiency, instructions, online, repetition

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Authors: Himanshu Singh, Rishi Kant, Shantanu Bhattacharya

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This paper adopts a top-down approach for mathematical modeling to predict the size reduction from micro to nano-scale through persistent etching. The process is simulated using a finite difference approach. Previously, various researchers have simulated the etching process for 1-D and 2-D substrates. It consists of two processes: 1) Convection-Diffusion in the etchant domain; 2) Chemical reaction at the surface of the particle. Since the process requires analysis along moving boundary, partial differential equations involved cannot be solved using conventional methods. In 1-D, this problem is very similar to Stefan's problem of moving ice-water boundary. A fixed grid method using finite volume method is very popular for modelling of etching on a one and two dimensional substrate. Other popular approaches include moving grid method and level set method. In this method, finite difference method was used to discretize the spherical diffusion equation. Due to symmetrical distribution of etchant, the angular terms in the equation can be neglected. Concentration is assumed to be constant at the outer boundary. At the particle boundary, the concentration of the etchant is assumed to be zero since the rate of reaction is much faster than rate of diffusion. The rate of reaction is proportional to the velocity of the moving boundary of the particle. Modelling of the above reaction was carried out using Matlab. The initial particle size was taken to be 50 microns. The density, molecular weight and diffusion coefficient of the substrate were taken as 2.1 gm/cm3, 60 and 10-5 cm2/s respectively. The etch-rate was found to decline initially and it gradually became constant at 0.02µ/s (1.2µ/min). The concentration profile was plotted along with space at different time intervals. Initially, a sudden drop is observed at the particle boundary due to high-etch rate. This change becomes more gradual with time due to declination of etch rate.

Keywords: particle size reduction, micromixer, FDM modelling, wet etching

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Authors: Abdel Qader Al Bawab, Mohannad Odeh, Rami Amer

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Recently, there has been an increasing interest in innovative business development. Nevertheless, in the pharmacy practice field, there seems to be a gap in perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge about innovation between practicing pharmacists and academia. This study explores this gap and aspects of pharmaceutical innovation in Jordan, comparing pharmacists and last-year pharmacy students. A validated (r2 = 0.74) and reliable (Pearson’s r = 0.88) online questionnaire was designed to assess and compare knowledge, attitude, and perceptions about pharmaceutical innovation. A total of 397 participants (215 pharmacy students and 182 pharmaceutical professionals) responded. Compared with 50% of the pharmacists, only 32.1% of the students claimed that they knew the differences between pharmaceutical innovation, discovery, invention, and entrepreneurship [x2 (2) = 14.238, p = 0.001; Cramer’s V = 0.189]. Pharmacists demonstrated a higher level of trust in the innovative website design for their institution compared with students (25.3% vs. 16.3%, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.327). However, 60% of the students did not know the innovative design standards for websites, while the corresponding percentage was 37% for the pharmacists (p < 0.001; Cramer’s V = 0.327). The majority of the students were interested in pharmaceutical innovation (81.9%). Unfortunately, 76.3% never studied innovation in their pharmacy curricula. Similarly, most pharmacists (76.4%) considered adopting innovation, but only 30% had a concrete plan. For the field where pharmacists aim to innovate in the next 5 years, new pharmaceutical services were the dominant field (34.6%). Despite a positive attitude and perception, pharmacists and pharmacy students expressed poor knowledge about innovation. Policies to enhance awareness about innovation and professional educational tools should be implemented.

Keywords: pharmacy, innovation, knowledge, attitude, practice

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Authors: Waraporn Boonchieng, Ekkarat Boonchieng, Sivaporn Aungwattana, Decha Tamdee, Wongamporn Pinyavong

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Drug addiction represents one of the most important public health issues in both developed and developing countries. The purpose of this study was to develop a drug abuse health information in a community in Northern Thailand using developmental research design. The developmental researchers performed four phases to develop drug abuse health information, including 1) synthesizing knowledge related to drug abuse prevention and identifying the components of drug abuse health information; 2) developing the system in mobile application and website; 3) implementing drug abuse health information in the rural community; and 4) evaluating the feasibility of drug abuse health information. Data collection involved both qualitative and quantitative procedures. The qualitative data and quantitative data were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics, respectively. The findings of this study showed that drug abuse health information consisted of five sections, including drug-related prevention knowledge for teens, drug-related knowledge for adults and professionals, the database for drug dependence treatment centers, self-administered questionnaires, and supportive counseling sections. First, in drug-related prevention knowledge for teens, the developmental researchers designed four infographics and animation to provide drug-related prevention knowledge, including types of illegal drugs, causes of drug abuse, consequences of drug abuse, drug abuse diagnosis and treatment, and drug abuse prevention. Second, in drug-related knowledge for adults and professionals, the developmental researchers developed many documents in a form of PDF file to provide drug-related knowledge, including types of illegal drugs, causes of drug abuse, drug abuse prevention, and relapse prevention guideline. Third, database for drug dependence treatment centers included the place, direction map, operation time, and the way for contacting all drug dependence treatment centers in Thailand. Fourth, self-administered questionnaires comprised preventive drugs behavior questionnaire, drug abuse knowledge questionnaire, the stages of change readiness and treatment eagerness to drug use scale, substance use behaviors questionnaire, tobacco use behaviors questionnaire, stress screening, and depression screening. Finally, for supportive counseling, the developmental researchers designed chatting box through which each user could write and send their concerns to counselors individually. Results from evaluation process showed that 651 participants used drug abuse health information via mobile application and website. Among all users, 48.8% were males and 51.2% were females. More than half (55.3%) were 15-20 years old and most of them (88.0%) were Buddhists. Most users reported ever getting knowledge related to drugs (86.1%), and drinking alcohol (94.2%) while some of them (6.9%) reported ever using tobacco. For satisfaction with using the drug abuse health information, more than half of users reflected that the contents of drug abuse health information were interesting (59%), up-to date (61%), and highly useful to their self-study (59%) at high level. In addition, half of them were satisfied with the design in terms of infographics (54%) and animation (51%). Thus, this drug abuse health information can be adopted to explore drug abuse situation and serves as a tool to prevent drug abuse and addiction among Thai community people.

Keywords: drug addiction, health informatics, big data, development research

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Authors: Michael Mederle, Heinz Bernhardt

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The Management of machine fleets or autonomous vehicle control will considerably increase efficiency in future agricultural production. Especially entire process chains, e.g. harvesting complexes with several interacting combine harvesters, grain carts, and removal trucks, provide lots of optimization potential. Organization and pre-planning ensure to get these efficiency reserves accessible. One way to achieve this is to optimize infield path planning. Particularly autonomous machinery requires precise specifications about infield logistics to be navigated effectively and process optimized in the fields individually or in machine complexes. In the past, a lot of theoretical optimization has been done regarding infield logistics, mainly based on field geometry. However, there are reasons why farmers often do not apply the infield strategy suggested by mathematical route planning tools. To make the computational optimization more useful for farmers this study focuses on these influencing factors by expert interviews. As a result practice-oriented navigation not only to the field but also within the field will be possible. The survey study is intended to cover the entire range of German agriculture. Rural mixed farms with simple technology equipment are considered as well as large agricultural cooperatives which farm thousands of hectares using track guidance and various other electronic assistance systems. First results show that farm managers using guidance systems increasingly attune their infield-logistics on direction giving obstacles such as power lines. In consequence, they can avoid inefficient boom flippings while doing plant protection with the sprayer. Livestock farmers rather focus on the application of organic manure with its specific requirements concerning road conditions, landscape terrain or field access points. Cultivation of sugar beets makes great demands on infield patterns because of its particularities such as the row crop system or high logistics demands. Furthermore, several machines working in the same field simultaneously influence each other, regardless whether or not they are of the equal type. Specific infield strategies always are based on interactions of several different influences and decision criteria. Single working steps like tillage, seeding, plant protection or harvest mostly cannot be considered each individually. The entire production process has to be taken into consideration to detect the right infield logistics. One long-term objective of this examination is to integrate the obtained influences on infield strategies as decision criteria into an infield navigation tool. In this way, path planning will become more practical for farmers which is a basic requirement for automatic vehicle control and increasing process efficiency.

Keywords: autonomous vehicle control, infield logistics, path planning, process optimizing

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Authors: Chompoonut Chaiyaraksa, Chanida Singbubpha, Kliaothong Angkabkingkaew, Thitikorn Boonyasawin

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Heavy metal contamination in an environment is an important problem in Thailand that needs to be addressed urgently, particularly contaminated with water. It can spread to other environments faster. This research aims to study the adsorption of cadmium ion by unmodified biochar and sodium dodecyl sulfate modified magnetic biochar derived from Eichhornia Crassipes. The determination of the adsorbent characteristics was by Scanning Electron Microscope, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer, X-ray Diffractometer, and the pH drift method. This study also included the comparison of adsorption efficiency of both types of biochar, adsorption isotherms, and kinetics. The pH value at the point of zero charges of the unmodified biochar and modified magnetic biochar was 7.40 and 3.00, respectively. The maximum value of adsorption reached when using pH 8. The equilibrium adsorption time was 5 hours and 1 hour for unmodified biochar and modified magnetic biochar, respectively. The cadmium adsorption by both adsorbents followed Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin – Radushkevich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic. The adsorption process was spontaneous at high temperatures and non-spontaneous at low temperatures. It was an endothermic process, physisorption in nature, and can occur naturally.

Keywords: Eichhornia crassipes, magnetic biochar, sodium dodecyl sulfate, water treatment

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Authors: Yanan Zhu

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Based on the previous work about the influence mechanism of the mobility difference of phenyl and thienyl substituent semiconductors, we have made further exploration towards to design high-performance organic thin-film transistors. The substituent groups effect plays a significant role in materials properties and device performance as well. For the theoretical study, simulation of materials property and crystal packing can supply scientific guidance for materials synthesis in experiments. This time, we have taken the computational methods to design a new material substituent with furan groups, which are the potential to be used in organic thin-film transistors and organic single-crystal transistors. The reorganization energy has been calculated and much lower than 2,6-diphenyl anthracene (DPAnt), which performs large mobility as more than 30 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹. Moreover, the other important parameter, charge transfer integral is larger than DPAnt, which suggested the furan substituent material may get a much better charge transport data. On the whole, the mechanism investigation based on phenyl and thienyl assisted in designing novel materials with furan substituent, which is predicted to be an outperformed organic field-effect transistors.

Keywords: theoretical calculation, mechanism, mobility, organic transistors

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Authors: Elif Aykin Dincer, Mustafa Erbas

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The vacuum drying behavior of beef slices (10 x 4 x 0.2 cm3) was experimentally investigated at the temperature of 60, 70, and 80°C under 25 mbar ultimate vacuum pressure and the mathematical models (Lewis, Page, Midilli, Two-term, Wangh and Singh and Modified Henderson and Pabis) were used to fit the vacuum drying of beef slices. The increase in drying air temperature resulted in a decrease in drying time. It took approximately 206, 180 and 157 min to dry beef slices from an initial moisture content to a final moisture content of 0.05 kg water/kg dry matter at 60, 70 and 80 °C of vacuum drying, respectively. It is also observed that the drying rate increased with increasing drying temperature. The coefficients (R2), the reduced chi-square (x²) and root mean square error (RMSE) values were obtained by application of six models to the experimental drying data. The best model with the highest R2 and, the lowest x² and RMSE values was selected to describe the drying characteristics of beef slices. The Page model has shown a better fit to the experimental drying data as compared to other models. In addition, the effective moisture diffusivities of beef slices in the vacuum drying at 60 - 80 °C varied in the range of 1.05 – 1.09 x 10-10 m2/s. Consequently, this results can be used to simulate vacuum drying process of beef slices and improve efficiency of the drying process.

Keywords: beef slice, drying models, effective diffusivity, vacuum

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Authors: Bei Zhang, Zhaoxin Zhang, Lidong Zhao

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Green infrastructures (GIs) for rainwater management can directly meet the multiple purposes of urban greening and non-point source pollution control. To reveal the overall layout law of GIs dominated by typical woody plants and their impact on urban environmental effects, we constructed a HYDRUS-1D and Stormwater management (SWMM) coupling model to simulate the response of typical root woody plant planting methods on urban hydrological. The results showed that the coupling model had high adaptability to the simulation of urban surface runoff control effect under different woody plant planting methods (NSE ≥0.64 and R² ≥ 0.71). The regulation effect on surface runoff showed that the average runoff reduction rate of GIs increased from 60 % to 71 % with the increase of planting area (5% to 25%) under the design rainfall event of the 2-year recurrence interval. Sophora japonica with tap roots was slightly higher than that of without plants (control) and Malus baccata (M. baccata) with fibrous roots. The comprehensive benefit evaluation system of rainwater utilization technology was constructed by using an analytic hierarchy process. The coupling model was used to evaluate the comprehensive benefits of woody plants with different planting areas in the study area in terms of environment, economy, and society. The comprehensive benefit value of planting 15% M. baccata was the highest, which was the first choice for the planting of woody plants in the study area. This study can provide a scientific basis for the decision-making of green facility layouts of woody plants.

Keywords: green infrastructure, comprehensive benefits, runoff regulation, woody plant layout, coupling model

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Authors: Zexiao Zheng, Irene M. C. Lo

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Organic pollutants, ammonia, and bacteria are major contaminants in sewage, which may adversely impact ecosystems without proper treatment. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are operated to remove these contaminants from sewage but suffer from high carbon emissions and are powerless to remove emerging organic pollutants (EOPs). Herein, we have developed a low operational carbon emissions multifunctional photoelectrochemical (PEC) system for saline sewage treatment to simultaneously remove organic compounds, ammonia, and bacteria, coupled with H2 evolution. A reduced BiVO4 (r-BiVO4) with improved PEC properties due to the construction of oxygen vacancies and V4+ species was developed for the multifunctional PEC system. The PEC/r-BiVO4 process could treat saline sewage to meet local WWTPs’ discharge standard in 40 minutes at 2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and completely degrade carbamazepine (one of the EOPs), coupled with significant evolution of H2. A remarkable reduction in operational carbon emissions was achieved by the PEC/r-BiVO4 process compared with large-scale WWTPs, attributed to the restrained direct carbon emissions from the generation of greenhouse gases. Mechanistic investigation revealed that the PEC system could activate chloride ions in sewage to generate reactive chlorine species and facilitate •OH production, promoting contaminants removal. The PEC system exhibited operational feasibility at different pH and total suspended solids concentrations and has outstanding reusability and stability, confirming its promising practical potential. The study combined the simultaneous removal of three major contaminants from saline sewage and H2 evolution in a single PEC process, demonstrating a viable approach to supplementing and extending the existing wastewater treatment technologies. The study generated profound insights into the in-situ activation of existing chloride ions in sewage for contaminants removal and offered fundamental theories for applying the PEC system in sewage remediation with low operational carbon emissions. The developed PEC system can fit well with the future needs of wastewater treatment because of the following features: (i) low operational carbon emissions, benefiting the carbon neutrality process; (ii) higher quality of the effluent due to the elimination of EOPs; (iii) chemical-free in the operation of sewage treatment; (iv) easy reuse and recycling without secondary pollution.

Keywords: contaminants removal, H2 evolution, multifunctional PEC system, operational carbon emissions, saline sewage treatment, r-BiVO4 photoanodes

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Authors: Murat Zencirkıran, Elvan Ender

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Climate change, which has become effective on a global scale, is accompanied by an increase in negative conditions for human, plant and animal life. Especially these negative conditions (drought, warming, glowing, etc.) are felt more rapidly in urban life and affect the sustainability of green areas which are of great importance in terms of life comfort. In this context, the choice of woody taxa used in the design and design of green spaces in the city increase one more time. Within the scope of this study, two of four urban parks located in the city center of Bursa province were selected and evaluated for woody taxa. Urban parks have been identified as the oldest and newest urban park in Bursa, and it has been tried to emphasize the differences that may exist over time. It was determined that 54 woody taxa took place in Resat Oyal Kulturpark and 76 woody taxa in Hudavendigar Urban Park. These taxa have been evaluated in terms of water consumption and ecological tolerances by taking into account climate change, and suggestions have been developed against possible problems.

Keywords: ecological hardiness, urban park, water consumption, woody plants

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Authors: Ganiyu Rasaq Omokeji

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The growing recognition of the pivotal role of universities in promoting socio-economic development has led to a focus upon the expansion of the sector around the world. As the economy and society become more ‘knowledge intensive’, the role of universities in development is more onerous than just teaching, research, and service. It is to help create the open society upon which the progress of ideas depends on. Driven to fulfill this role, universities are likely to become even more important in building regional networks of their host communities. Currently, there are about 129 universities in Nigeria, with a total number of 37 federal, 36 state, and 56 privately owned universities. Fountain University is among the private universities in Nigeria located in Osogbo, Osun State. The university is committed to the total development of men and women in an enabling environment, through appropriate teaching, research, and service to humanity, influenced by Islamic ethics and culture. The university focuses on educational development and growth that are relevant to the nation’s manpower needs and global competitiveness through a gradual but steady process. This paper examines the role of Private University in the socio-economic development of host community using Fountain University as a case study. The research methodology design for this paper has a total of 200 respondents. The research instrument of data collection was a questionnaire and in-depth interview (IDI). The finding reveals that Fountain University plays an important role in socio-economic and cultural development through their Islamic culture. The paper recommend that universities must bridge the gaps between creative individual with innovative ideas and the application of technology for economic progress and social betterment of their host communities. University also must serve as a bridge that carries the traffic of social and economic development.

Keywords: private university, socio-economic development, host communities, role of universities and community development

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Authors: Kiraz Esmeli, Alper Ozkan

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In this study, firstly, the effect of ultrasonic treatment on the stability of celestite suspension was investigated. In this context, the variations of the suspension stability with ultrasonic power, treatment time, immersion depth of ultrasonic probe, and treatment regime (batch and continuous) were determined. The experimental results showed that the suspension stability and zeta potential of celestite decreased with ultrasonic treatment. Also, the treatment time, immersion depth of probe, and treatment regime affected the stability of celestite suspension. Secondly, the effect of pre-treatment of the suspension with the ultrasonic process on the shear flocculation of celestite using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was studied and the variations of the flocculation, zeta potential, and contact angle of the mineral with SDS concentration were presented. It was found that the ultrasonic pre-treatment slightly improved the shear flocculation of celestite particles in accordance with the increase in the contact angles. In addition, the ultrasonic process again relatively reduced the magnitude of the negative potential of celestite particles in the presence of SDS.

Keywords: celestite, contact angle, suspension stability, ultrasonic treatment, zeta potential

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Authors: Angel Fabian Mijangos, Jaime Alvarez Quintana

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Key concepts like waste heat recycling or waste heat recovery are the basic ideas in thermoelectricity so as to the design the newest solid state sources of energy for a stable supply of electricity and environmental protection. According to several theoretical predictions; at device level, the geometry and configuration of the thermoelectric legs are crucial in the thermoelectric performance of the thermoelectric modules. Thus, in this work, it has studied the geometry effect of legs on the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of the device. First, asymmetrical legs are proposed in order to reduce the overall thermal conductance of the device so as to increase the temperature gradient in the legs, as well as by harnessing the Thomson effect, which is generally neglected in conventional symmetrical thermoelectric legs. It has been developed a novel design of a thermoelectric module having asymmetrical legs, and by first time it has been validated experimentally its thermoelectric performance by realizing a proof-of-concept device which shows to have almost twofold the thermoelectric figure of merit as compared to conventional one. Moreover, it has been also varied the length of thermoelectric legs in order to analyze its effect on the thermoelectric performance of the device. Along with this, it has studied the impact of contact resistance in these systems. Experimental results show that device architecture can improve up to twofold the thermoelectric performance of the device.

Keywords: asymmetrical legs, heat recovery, heat recycling, thermoelectric module, Thompson effect

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Authors: M. Masłowski, M. Zaborski

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Magnetorheological elastomer composites based on micro- and nano-sized magnetite, gamma iron oxide and carbonyl iron powder in ethylene-octene rubber are reported and studied. The method of preparation process influenced the specific properties of MREs (isotropy/anisotropy). The use of extrusion method instead of traditional preparation processes (two-roll mill, mixer) of composites is presented. Micro and nan-sized magnetites as well as gamma iron oxide and carbonyl iron powder were found to be an active fillers improving the mechanical properties of elastomers. They also changed magnetic properties of composites. Application of extrusion process also influenced the mechanical properties of composites and the dispersion of magnetic fillers. Dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA) indicates the presence of strongly developed secondary structure in vulcanizates. Scanning electron microscopy images (SEM) show that the dispersion improvement had significant effect on the composites properties. Studies investigated by vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) proved that all composites exhibit good magnetic properties.

Keywords: extrusion, magnetic fillers, magnetorheological elastomers, mechanical properties

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Authors: Keerthi S. Shetty, Annappa Basava

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In recent years, modelling of biological systems represented by biochemical reactions has become increasingly important in Systems Biology. Biological systems represented by biochemical reactions are highly stochastic in nature. Probabilistic model is often used to describe such systems. One of the main challenges in Systems biology is to combine absolute experimental data into probabilistic model. This challenge arises because (1) some molecules may be present in relatively small quantities, (2) there is a switching between individual elements present in the system, and (3) the process is inherently stochastic on the level at which observations are made. In this paper, we describe a novel idea of combining absolute experimental data into probabilistic model using tool R2. Through a case study of the Transcription Process in Prokaryotes we explain how biological systems can be written as probabilistic program to combine experimental data into the model. The model developed is then analysed in terms of intrinsic noise and exact sampling of switching times between individual elements in the system. We have mainly concentrated on inferring number of genes in ON and OFF states from experimental data.

Keywords: systems biology, probabilistic model, inference, biology, model

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Authors: Maik Kschischo, Dominik Kahl, Philipp Wendland, Andreas Weber

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Understanding and modelling of real-world complex dynamic systems in biology, engineering and other fields is often made difficult by incomplete knowledge about the interactions between systems states and by unknown disturbances to the system. In fact, most real-world dynamic networks are open systems receiving unknown inputs from their environment. To understand a system and to estimate the state dynamics, these inputs need to be reconstructed from output measurements. Reconstructing the input of a dynamic system from its measured outputs is an ill-posed problem if only a limited number of states is directly measurable. A first requirement for solving this problem is the invertibility of the input-output map. In our work, we exploit the fact that invertibility of a dynamic system is a structural property, which depends only on the network topology. Therefore, it is possible to check for invertibility using a structural invertibility algorithm which counts the number of node disjoint paths linking inputs and outputs. The algorithm is efficient enough, even for large networks up to a million nodes. To understand structural features influencing the invertibility of a complex dynamic network, we analyze synthetic and real networks using the structural invertibility algorithm. We find that invertibility largely depends on the degree distribution and that dense random networks are easier to invert than sparse inhomogeneous networks. We show that real networks are often very difficult to invert unless the sensor nodes are carefully chosen. To overcome this problem, we present a sensor node placement algorithm to achieve invertibility with a minimum set of measured states. This greedy algorithm is very fast and also guaranteed to find an optimal sensor node-set if it exists. Our results provide a practical approach to experimental design for open, dynamic systems. Since invertibility is a necessary condition for unknown input observers and data assimilation filters to work, it can be used as a preprocessing step to check, whether these input reconstruction algorithms can be successful. If not, we can suggest additional measurements providing sufficient information for input reconstruction. Invertibility is also important for systems design and model building. Dynamic models are always incomplete, and synthetic systems act in an environment, where they receive inputs or even attack signals from their exterior. Being able to monitor these inputs is an important design requirement, which can be achieved by our algorithms for invertibility analysis and sensor node placement.

Keywords: data-driven dynamic systems, inversion of dynamic systems, observability, experimental design, sensor node placement

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Authors: Taiebe Shokri, Shahram Yazdani, Leila Afshar, Soleiman Ahmadi

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Introduction: The importance of professionalism in higher education not only determines the appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and guides faculty members in the implementation of professional responsibilities, but also guarantees faculty members' adherence to professional principles and values, ensures the quality of teaching and facilitator will be the teaching-learning process in universities and will increase the commitment to meet the needs of students as well as the development of an ethical culture based on ethics. Therefore, considering the important role of medical education teachers to prepare teachers and students in the future, the need to determine the concept of professional teacher and teacher, and the characteristics of teacher professionalism, we have explained the concept of professionalism in teachers in this study. Methods: The concept analysis method used in this study was Walker and Avant method which has eight steps. Walker and Avant state the purpose of concept analysis as follows: The process of distinguishing between the defining features of a concept and its unrelated features. The process of concept analysis includes selecting a concept, determining the purpose of the analysis, identifying the uses of the concept, determining the defining features of the concept, identifying a model, identifying boundary and adversarial items, identifying the precedents and consequences of the concept, and defining empirical references. is. Results: Professionalism in its general sense, requires deep knowledge, insight, creating a healthy and safe environment, honesty and trust, impartiality, commitment to the profession and continuous improvement, punctuality, criticism, professional competence, responsibility, and Individual accountability, especially in social interactions, is an effort for continuous improvement, the acquisition of these characteristics is not easily possible and requires education, especially continuous learning. Professionalism is a set of values, behaviors, and relationships that underpin public trust in teachers.

Keywords: concept analysis, medical education, professionalism, faculty members

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Authors: Saman Sobhani

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Historical neighborhoods have special values inside them, and, in addition to inducing a sense of collective memories, they have to have some criteria in respect of achieving desirable environmental quality in order for citizens to live. From the perspective of urban planners and designers, a neighborhood as an urban space has to satisfy various needs of citizens in terms of activities as well as their spiritual requirements. In the research based on the component of environmental quality in one of the neighborhoods with historical value resulting from the theoretical model presented (functional-structural, physical-spatial, and substantive), integrated analysis has been performed on the Khajeh Khezr neighborhood in Kerman. Then, after studying the weaknesses and strengths points of it based on the AIDA model, some mechanisms have been presented to promote environmental quality based on neighborhood organization, and related urban design projects have been defined accordingly. Analyzing the findings shows that inhabitants in the Khajeh Khezr neighborhood are not much satisfied with the quality of the urban environment of the neighborhood. In the research, the descriptive-analytical method and review of texts have been used in the form of library studies, and case study has been applied as well as observation and questionnaire in the form of field studies.

Keywords: environmental quality, Kerman, Khajeh Khezr, neighborhood

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Authors: Riaz Ahmad, Jiazhong Zhang, Asma Farooqi

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In this study, mass transport between separation bubbles and the flow around a two-dimensional airfoil are numerically investigated using Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCSs). Finite Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE) technique is used for the computation to identify invariant manifolds and LCSs. Moreover, the Characteristic Base Split (CBS) scheme combined with dual time stepping technique is applied to simulate such transient flow at low Reynolds number. We then investigate the evolution of vortex structures during the transport process with the aid of LCSs. To explore the vortex formation at the surface of the airfoil, the dynamics of separatrix is also taken into account which is formed by the combination of stable-unstable manifolds. The Lagrangian analysis gives a detailed understanding of vortex dynamics and separation bubbles which plays a significant role to explore the performance of the unsteady flow generated by the airfoil. Transport process and flow separation phenomena are studied extensively to analyze the flow pattern by Lagrangian point of view.

Keywords: transport phenomena, CBS Method, vortex formation, Lagrangian Coherent Structures

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Authors: Ayat-Allah Bouramdane

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Power generation from offshore wind energy does not emit carbon dioxide or other air pollutants and therefore play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. In addition, these systems are considered more efficient than onshore wind farms, as they generate electricity from the wind blowing across the sea, thanks to the higher wind speed and greater consistency in direction due to the lack of physical interference that the land or human-made objects can present. This means offshore installations require fewer turbines to produce the same amount of energy as onshore wind farms. However, offshore wind farms require more complex infrastructure to support them and, as a result, are more expensive to construct. In addition, higher wind speeds, strong seas, and accessibility issues makes offshore wind farms more challenging to maintain. This study uses a combination of Geographic Referenced Information (GRI) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify the most suitable sites for offshore wind farm development in Morocco, with a particular focus on the Dakhla city. A range of environmental, socio-economic, and technical criteria are taken into account to solve this complex Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) problem. Based on experts' knowledge, a pairwise comparison matrix at each level of the hierarchy is performed, and fourteen sub-criteria belong to the main criteria have been weighted to generate the site suitability of offshore wind plants and obtain an in-depth knowledge on unsuitable areas, and areas with low-, moderate-, high- and very high suitability. We find that wind speed is the most decisive criteria in offshore wind farm development, followed by bathymetry, while proximity to facilities, the sediment thickness, and the remaining parameters show much lower weightings rendering technical parameters most decisive in offshore wind farm development projects. We also discuss the potential of other marine renewable energy potential, in Morocco, such as wave and tidal energy. The proposed approach and analysis can help decision-makers and can be applied to other countries in order to support the site selection process of offshore wind farms.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, dakhla, geographic referenced information, morocco, multi-criteria decision-making, offshore wind, site suitability

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Authors: S. H. Babu Gurucharan, Priyanka Kaushal

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Majority of the world's population is expected to live in the Asia and Pacific region by 2050 and thus their cities will generate the maximum waste. India, being the second populous country in the world, is an ideal case study to identify a solution for Asian countries. Waste minimisation and utilisation have always been part of the Indian culture. During rapid urbanisation, our society lost the art of waste minimisation and utilisation habits. Presently, Waste is not considered as a resource, thus wasting an opportunity to tap resources. The technologies in vogue are not suited for effective treatment of large quantities of generated solid waste, without impacting the environment and the population. If not treated efficiently, Waste can become a silent killer. The article is trying to highlight the Indian municipal solid waste scenario as a key indicator of Asian waste management and recommend sustainable waste management and suggest effective solutions to treat the Solid Waste. The methods followed during the research were to analyse the solid waste data on characteristics of solid waste generated in Indian cities, then evaluate the current technologies to identify the most suitable technology in Indian conditions with minimal environmental impact, interact with the technology technical teams, then generate a technical process specific to Indian conditions and further examining the environmental impact and advantages/ disadvantages of the suggested process. The most important finding from the study was the recognition that most of the current municipal waste treatment technologies being employed, operate sub-optimally in Indian conditions. Therefore, the study using the available data, generated heat and mass balance of processes to arrive at the final technical process, which was broadly divided into Waste processing, Waste Treatment, Power Generation, through various permutations and combinations at each stage to ensure that the process is techno-commercially viable in Indian conditions. Then environmental impact was arrived through secondary sources and a comparison of environmental impact of different technologies was tabulated. The major advantages of the suggested process are the effective use of waste for resource generation both in terms of maximised power output or conversion to eco-friendly products like biofuels or chemicals using advanced technologies, minimum environmental impact and the least landfill requirement. The major drawbacks are the capital, operations and maintenance costs. The existing technologies in use in Indian municipalities have their own limitations and the shortlisted technology is far superior to other technologies in vogue. Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste with an efficient green power generation is possible through a combination of suitable environment-friendly technologies. A combination of bio-reactors and plasma-based gasification technology is most suitable for Indian Waste and in turn for Asian waste conditions.

Keywords: calorific value, gas fermentation, landfill, municipal solid waste, plasma gasification, syngas

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Authors: Ayon Mukherjee

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Covariate-adjusted response-adaptive (CARA) designs use the available responses to skew the treatment allocation in a clinical trial in towards treatment found at an interim stage to be best for a given patient's covariate profile. Extensive research has been done on various aspects of CARA designs with the patient responses assumed to follow a parametric model. However, ranges of application for such designs are limited in real-life clinical trials where the responses infrequently fit a certain parametric form. On the other hand, robust estimates for the covariate-adjusted treatment effects are obtained from the parametric assumption. To balance these two requirements, designs are developed which are free from distributional assumptions about the survival responses, relying only on the assumption of proportional hazards for the two treatment arms. The proposed designs are developed by deriving two types of optimum allocation designs, and also by using a distribution function to link the past allocation, covariate and response histories to the present allocation. The optimal designs are based on biased coin procedures, with a bias towards the better treatment arm. These are the doubly-adaptive biased coin design (DBCD) and the efficient randomized adaptive design (ERADE). The treatment allocation proportions for these designs converge to the expected target values, which are functions of the Cox regression coefficients that are estimated sequentially. These expected target values are derived based on constrained optimization problems and are updated as information accrues with sequential arrival of patients. The design based on the link function is derived using the distribution function of a probit model whose parameters are adjusted based on the covariate profile of the incoming patient. To apply such designs, the treatment allocation probabilities are sequentially modified based on the treatment allocation history, response history, previous patients’ covariates and also the covariates of the incoming patient. Given these information, an expression is obtained for the conditional probability of a patient allocation to a treatment arm. Based on simulation studies, it is found that the ERADE is preferable to the DBCD when the main aim is to minimize the variance of the observed allocation proportion and to maximize the power of the Wald test for a treatment difference. However, the former procedure being discrete tends to be slower in converging towards the expected target allocation proportion. The link function based design achieves the highest skewness of patient allocation to the best treatment arm and thus ethically is the best design. Other comparative merits of the proposed designs have been highlighted and their preferred areas of application are discussed. It is concluded that the proposed CARA designs can be considered as suitable alternatives to the traditional balanced randomization designs in survival trials in terms of the power of the Wald test, provided that response data are available during the recruitment phase of the trial to enable adaptations to the designs. Moreover, the proposed designs enable more patients to get treated with the better treatment during the trial thus making the designs more ethically attractive to the patients. An existing clinical trial has been redesigned using these methods.

Keywords: censored response, Cox regression, efficiency, ethics, optimal allocation, power, variability

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Authors: Mariya V. Yanyukina, Michael A. Bolotov

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Assembling accuracy is the degree of accordance between the actual values of the parameters obtained during assembly, and the values specified in the assembly drawings and technical specifications. However, the assembling accuracy depends not only on the quality of the production process but also on the correctness of the assembly process. Therefore, preliminary calculations of assembly stages are carried out to verify the correspondence of real geometric parameters to their acceptable values. In the aviation industry, most calculations involve interacting dimensional chains. This greatly complicates the task. Solving such problems requires a special approach. The purpose of this article is to carry out the problem of improving the technology of assembly of aviation units by use of computer calculations. One of the actual examples of the assembly unit, in which there is an interacting dimensional chain, is the turbine wheel of gas turbine engine. Dimensional chain of turbine wheel is formed by geometric parameters of disk and set of blades. The interaction of the dimensional chain consists in the formation of two chains. The first chain is formed by the dimensions that determine the location of the grooves for the installation of the blades, and the dimensions of the blade roots. The second dimensional chain is formed by the dimensions of the airfoil shroud platform. The interaction of the dimensional chain of the turbine wheel is the interdependence of the first and second chains by means of power circuits formed by a plurality of middle parts of the turbine blades. The timeliness of the calculation of the dimensional chain of the turbine wheel is the need to improve the technology of assembly of this unit. The task at hand contains geometric and mathematical components; therefore, its solution can be implemented following the algorithm: 1) research and analysis of production errors by geometric parameters; 2) development of a parametric model in the CAD system; 3) creation of set of CAD-models of details taking into account actual or generalized distributions of errors of geometrical parameters; 4) calculation model in the CAE-system, loading of various combinations of models of parts; 5) the accumulation of statistics and analysis. The main task is to pre-simulate the assembly process by calculating the interacting dimensional chains. The article describes the approach to the solution from the point of view of mathematical statistics, implemented in the software package Matlab. Within the framework of the study, there are data on the measurement of the components of the turbine wheel-blades and disks, as a result of which it is expected that the assembly process of the unit will be optimized by solving dimensional chains.

Keywords: accuracy, assembly, interacting dimension chains, turbine

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Authors: Inga Balarjishvili, Ia Natsvlishvili

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Article aims to discuss the controversial character of the institutional preferences of elites and society in modern Georgia. Desktop research method is used to formulate the findings and analyze the outcomes. It is accepted that transformation process in Post-Soviet Georgia went with the prevalence of elites’ institutional preferences over the needs of the society that induced voluntarism in the process of formation of institutions. Hypothesis of 'quasi-inclusion trap' is put forward in the article as an effect of authoritarian modernization that is proved by instable paces of wealth and economic growth in the post-authoritarian period. On the one hand, monopolization of institutional choice by the elites, blocking formation of inclusive political and economic institutions for fear of losing status-quo worsen perspectives for achieving free availability regime. On the other hand, consciousness of the society is dominated by informal institutions, judicial nihilism and orientation on 'self-survival values.' This hinders its consolidation as a 'collective principal' against 'institutional utilitarianism,' result of which is hindered economic development.

Keywords: elites, hypothesis of 'quasi-inclusion trap', institutional preferences, post-Soviet Georgia

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Authors: Breanna Wright, Peter Bragge

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Diagnostic error rates in healthcare are approximately 10% of cases. Diagnostic errors can cause patient harm due to inappropriate, inadequate or delayed treatment, and such errors contribute heavily to medical liability claims globally. Therefore, addressing diagnostic error is a high priority. In most cases, diagnostic errors are the result of faulty information synthesis rather than lack of knowledge. Specifically, the majority of diagnostic errors involve cognitive factors, and in particular, cognitive biases. Emergency Departments are an environment with heightened risk of diagnostic error due to time and resource pressures, a frequently chaotic environment, and patients arriving undifferentiated and with minimal context. This project aimed to develop a behavioural, evidence-informed intervention to reduce diagnostic error in Emergency Departments through co-design with emergency physicians, insurers, researchers, hospital managers, citizens and consumer representatives. The Forum Process was utilised to address this aim. This involves convening a small (4 – 6 member) expert panel to guide a focused literature and practice review; convening of a 10 – 12 person citizens panel to gather perspectives of laypeople, including those affected by misdiagnoses; and a 18 – 22 person structured stakeholder dialogue bringing together representatives of the aforementioned stakeholder groups. The process not only provides in-depth analysis of the problem and associated behaviours, but brings together expertise and insight to facilitate identification of a behaviour change intervention. Informed by the literature and practice review, the Citizens Panel focused on eliciting the values and concerns of those affected or potentially affected by diagnostic error. Citizens were comfortable with diagnostic uncertainty if doctors were honest with them. They also emphasised the importance of open communication between doctors and patients and their families. Citizens expect more consistent standards across the state and better access for both patients and their doctors to patient health information to avoid time-consuming re-taking of long patient histories and medication regimes when re-presenting at Emergency Departments and to reduce the risk of unintentional omissions. The structured Stakeholder Dialogue focused on identifying a feasible behavioural intervention to review diagnoses in Emergency Departments. This needed to consider the role of cognitive bias in medical decision-making; contextual factors (in Victoria, there is a legislated 4-hour maximum time between ED triage and discharge / hospital admission); resource availability; and the need to ensure the intervention could work in large metropolitan as well as small rural and regional ED settings across Victoria. The identified behavioural intervention will be piloted in approximately ten hospital EDs across Victoria, Australia. This presentation will detail the findings of all review and consultation activities, describe the behavioural intervention developed and present results of the pilot trial.

Keywords: behavioural intervention, cognitive bias, decision-making, diagnostic error

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Authors: Jian-Xiu Wan, Yao Yin

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In complex terrain and poor geological conditions areas, Railway, highway and other transportation constructions are still strongly developing. However, various geological disasters happened such as landslide, rock heap and so on. According to the results of geological investigation, the form of skirt (trapezoidal), semicircle and triangle rock heaps are mainly due to complex internal force and external force, in a certain extent, which is related to the terrain, the nature of the rock mass, the supply area and the surface shape of rock heap. Combined with the above factors, discrete element numerical simulation of rock mass is established under different terrain conditions based on 3DEC, and accelerated formation process of rock heap under seismic action is simulated. The fragmentation structure supply area is calculated, in which the most dangerous area is located. At the same time, the formation mechanism and development process are studied in different terrain conditions, and the structure of rock heap is judged by section, which can provide a strong theoretical and technical support for the prevention and control of geological disasters.

Keywords: 3DEC, fragmentation structure, rock heap, slope, seismic action

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Authors: Bojana Ž. Bajić, Siniša N. Dodić, Vladimir S. Puškaš, Jelena M. Dodić

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Increasing industrialization as a response to the demands of the consumer society greatly exploits resources and generates large amounts of waste effluents in addition to the desired product. This means it is a priority to implement technologies with the maximum utilization of raw materials and energy, minimum generation of waste effluents and/or their recycling (secondary use). Considering the process conditions and the nature of the raw materials used by the vegetable oil industry, its wastewaters can be used as substrates for the biotechnological production which requires large amounts of water. This way the waste effluents of one branch of industry become raw materials for another branch which produces a new product while reducing wastewater pollution and thereby reducing negative environmental impacts. Vegetable oil production generates wastewaters during the process of rinsing oils and fats which contain mainly fatty acid pollutants. The vegetable oil industry generates large amounts of waste effluents, especially in the processes of degumming, deacidification, deodorization and neutralization. Wastewaters from the vegetable oil industry are generated during the whole year in significant amounts, based on the capacity of the vegetable oil production. There are no known alternative applications for these wastewaters as raw materials for the production of marketable products. Since the literature has no data on the potential negative impact of fatty acids on the metabolism of the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris, these wastewaters were considered as potential raw materials for the biotechnological production of xanthan. In this research, vegetable oil industry wastewaters were used as the basis for the cultivation media for xanthan production with Xanthomonas campestris ATCC 13951. Examining the process of biosynthesis of xanthan on vegetable oil industry wastewaters as the basis for the cultivation media was performed to obtain insight into the possibility of its use in the aforementioned biotechnological process. Additionally, it was important to experimentally determine the absence of substances that have an inhibitory effect on the metabolism of the production microorganism. Xanthan content, rheological parameters of the cultivation media, carbon conversion into xanthan and conversions of the most significant nutrients for biosynthesis (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources) were determined as indicators of the success of biosynthesis. The obtained results show that biotechnological production of the biopolymer xanthan by bacterium Xanthomonas campestris on vegetable oil industry wastewaters based cultivation media simultaneously provides preservation of the environment and economic benefits which is a sustainable solution to the problem of wastewater treatment.

Keywords: biotechnology, sustainable bioprocess, vegetable oil industry wastewaters, Xanthomonas campestris

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