Search results for: register transfer level

Authors: Georgi I. Petkov, Ivan I. Vankov, Yolina A. Petrova

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A structure-based model of category learning and categorization at different levels of abstraction is presented. The model compares different structures and expresses their similarity implicitly in the forms of mappings. Based on this similarity, the model can categorize different targets either as members of categories that it already has or creates new categories. The model is novel using two threshold parameters to evaluate the structural correspondence. If the similarity between two structures exceeds the higher threshold, a new sub-ordinate category is created. Vice versa, if the similarity does not exceed the higher threshold but does the lower one, the model creates a new category on higher level of abstraction.

Keywords: analogy-making, categorization, learning of categories, abstraction, hierarchical structure

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Authors: Ronli Sifris

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The last Australian Parliamentary inquiry into surrogacy took place in 2016. Since then, a number of countries have reviewed their surrogacy laws, including countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom, which traditionally have invoked similar legal approaches to Australia on a broad range of issues. The time is ripe to reform Australia’s surrogacy laws with a view to putting in place a system that best protects the rights of all parties to a surrogacy arrangement, and especially the rights of the child. There are two specific, linked issues which tend to be particularly contentious in the surrogacy context. The first relates to legal parentage. There are questions around whether the surrogate or the intended parents should be deemed the legal parents of a child born through surrogacy and what should be the process for any transfer of parentage. The second key issue relates to compensation and whether a surrogate should be compensated for the reproductive labour inherent in conceiving, gestating, and birthing a child. This paper will invoke a comparative analysis with a view to considering how different countries are regulating surrogacy and which approach best protects the rights all parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement, especially the rights of the children born through surrogacy. The specific countries to be considered are Australia, Canada, and California (United States). I have selected these countries for the following reasons: Australia is the jurisdiction where the author is based, it is, therefore, the jurisdiction with which she has the most familiarity. It allows altruistic surrogacy only and post-birth parentage orders in favour of the intended parents of children born through altruistic surrogacy California, as a jurisdiction allowing for compensated surrogacy and pre-birth parentage orders in favour of the intended parents, sits at the other end of the spectrum to Australia thereby providing an interesting point of comparison. Canada sits somewhere in the middle; it ostensibly allows only altruistic surrogacy, but in practice, many aspects of the Canadian process resemble compensated surrogacy. In addition to conducting a comparative analysis with other countries, the paper will also consider international human rights law as its overarching framework for determining the approach that best protects the rights of a child born through surrogacy. Particular attention will be paid to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as the key children’s rights treaty. The European Court of Human Rights will also be extensively considered as it has decided a number of cases relating to the rights of children born through surrogacy.

Keywords: surrogacy, children’s rights, australia, compensation, parentage

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Authors: Samar Mousa, Ryan Kerstein, Mohanad Adam

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Regional anaesthesia has been associated with favourable outcomes in patients undergoing a wide range of surgeries. Beneficial effects have been demonstrated in terms of postoperative respiratory and cardiovascular endpoints, 7-day survival, time to ambulation and hospital discharge, and postoperative analgesia. Our project aimed at assessing the regional anaesthesia practice in the plastic surgery department of Buckinghamshire trust and finding out ways to improve the service in collaboration with the anaesthesia team. It is a retrospective study associated with a questionnaire filled out by plastic surgeons and anaesthetists to get the full picture behind the numbers. The study period was between 1/3/2022 and 23/5/2022 (12 weeks). The operative notes of all patients who had an operation under plastic surgery, whether emergency or elective, were reviewed. The criteria of suitable candidates for the regional block were put by the consultant anaesthetists as follows: age above 16, single surgical site (arm, forearm, leg, foot), no drug allergy, no pre-existing neuropathy, no bleeding disorders, not on ant-coagulation, no infection to the site of the block. For 12 weeks, 1061 operations were performed by plastic surgeons. Local cases were excluded leaving 319 cases. Of the 319, 102 patients were suitable candidates for regional block after applying the previously mentioned criteria. However, only seven patients had their operations under the regional block, and the rest had general anaesthesia that could have been easily avoided. An online questionnaire was filled out by both plastic surgeons and anaesthetists of different training levels to find out the reasons behind the obvious preference for general over regional anaesthesia, even if this was against the patients’ interest. The questionnaire included the following points: training level, time taken to give GA or RA, factors that influence the decision, percentage of RA candidates that had GA, reasons behind this percentage, recommendations. Forty-four clinicians filled out the questionnaire, among which were 23 plastic surgeons and 21 anaesthetists. As regards the training level, there were 21 consultants, 4 associate specialists, 9 registrars, and 10 senior house officers. The actual percentage of patients who were good candidates for RA but had GA instead is 93%. The replies estimated this percentage as between 10-30%. 29% of the respondents thought that this percentage is because of surgeons’ preference to have GA rather than RA for their operations without medical support for the decision. 37% of the replies thought that anaesthetists prefer giving GA even if the patient is a suitable candidate for RA. 22.6% of the replies thought that patients refused to have RA, and 11.3% had other causes. The recommendations were in 5 main accesses, which are protocols and pathways for regional blocks, more training opportunities for anaesthetists on regional blocks, providing a separate block room in the hospital, better communication between surgeons and anaesthetists, patient education about the benefits of regional blocks.

Keywords: regional anaesthesia, regional block, plastic surgery, general anaesthesia

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Authors: S. Ithai, A. Oloo

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The emergence of globalization has cultivated an international consensus that without economic development; it is very unlikely that a country may realize social or political development. It is equally important to note that the economic effect on social development automatically influence the country healthcare services as healthcare systems are improved and adopted. For decades and before 1980's, the colonial and the Governments of Kenya had pursued a goal to provide free healthcare services to its citizen with minimal success; but as population increased, this endeavor became almost a mirage. The challenge called for a change of strategy with introduction of cost sharing which also could not guarantee sustainability of healthcare services in the country due to increased number of poor people and poverty. An involvement of multisectral approach to provision of health individual, collaboration and adoption of all dimensions through globalization provides a ray of hope to not only economic, political and social development but also guaranteed equitable and reliable healthcare systems in Kenya and specifically referral healthcare services at KNH. With the advent of globalization, KNH has made positive strides that have guaranteed patients with reliable healthcare services. These include increased donor funding, collaboration levels, training and research as well as enhanced the hospital relations with international partners. During this period, the hospital has increased number of local doctors and nurses, enhanced transfer of skills, innovations and technologies which are driving forces to quality and efficient healthcare services. The period has also brought in challenges for the hospital which include increased competition, attraction of qualified nurses and doctors to international are some the issues that have made the hospital to spend more resources in research and development in order to stay afloat. This paper reveals the link between globalization and healthcare and its influence on institution policy choice. However, the process is not expected to take place automatically without institutional initiatives if KNH is to reap the benefits of globalization. KNH need to make use of the existing infrastructure, human resources and donor confidence, the opportunities that are indeed important in propelling KNH toward Vision 2030 and achieving the desired Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Keywords: globalization, Kenyatta National Hospital, native, healthcare

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Authors: Timna Mayer

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This paper explores the vast potential of self-directed learning in violin pedagogy. Based in practice and drawing on concepts from neuropsychology, the author, a violinist and teacher, outlines five learning principles. Self-directed learning is defined as an ongoing process based on problem detection, definition, and resolution. The traditional roles of teacher and student are reimagined within this context. A step-by-step guide to applied self-directed learning suggests a model for both teachers and students that realizes student independence in the classroom, leading to higher-level understanding and more robust performance. While the value of self-directed learning is well-known in general pedagogy, this paper is novel in applying the approach to the study of musical performance, a field which is currently dominated by habit and folklore, rather than informed by science.

Keywords: neuropsychology and musical performance, self-directed learning, strategic problem solving, violin pedagogy

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Authors: Saeid Doaei

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The various studies have examined the relationship between FTO gene expression and macronutrients levels. In order to obtain better viewpoint from this interactions, all of the existing studies were reviewed systematically. All published papers have been obtained and reviewed using standard and sensitive keywords from databases such as CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane, from 1990 to 2016. The results indicated that all of 6 studies that met the inclusion criteria (from a total of 428 published article) found FTO gene expression changes at short-term follow-ups. Four of six studies found an increased FTO gene expression after calorie restriction, while two of them indicated decreased FTO gene expression. The effect of protein, carbohydrate and fat were separately assessed and suggested by all of six studies. In conclusion, the level of FTO gene expression in hypothalamus is related to macronutrients levels. Future research should evaluate the long-term impact of dietary interventions.

Keywords: obesity, gene expression, FTO, macronutrients

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Authors: L. Petrovičová, Ž. Balážová, Z. Gálová, M. Wójcik-Jagła, M. Rapacz

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In the present study, RAPD-PCR was used to assess genetic diversity of the rye including landrances and new rye cultivars coming from Central Europe and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SUN). Five arbitrary random primers were used to determine RAPD polymorphism in the set of 38 rye genotypes. These primers amplified altogether 43 different DNA fragments with an average number of 8.6 fragments per genotypes. The number of fragments ranged from 7 (RLZ 8, RLZ 9 and RLZ 10) to 12 (RLZ 6). DI and PIC values of all RAPD markers were higher than 0.8 that generally means high level of polymorphism detected between rye genotypes. The dendrogram based on hierarchical cluster analysis using UPGMA algorithm was prepared. The cultivars were grouped into two main clusters. In this experiment, RAPD proved to be a rapid, reliable and practicable method for revealing of polymorphism in the rye cultivars.

Keywords: genetic diversity, polymorphism, RAPD markers, Secale cereale L.

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Authors: Philip Robert Alldritt

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The continuing increase in human migration is at crisis levels in all areas of the planet. The causes are varied, and the risks are high for the migrants. Migration has been ongoing since the beginning of human emergence on the planet, but for the first time in our historic memory has the, migration reached this level of critical mass. The causes are many. Climate collapse, economic opportunity, drug cartel activity, political upheaval, and gang wars. Many locations are seemingly “within reach” of the migrants, and the push factors are so loaded with hopelessness that almost anyone would be willing to risk anything to improve their conditions. There is no argument about that mass migrations are occurring and will increase in the future. The solutions to this increase are complex. This paper will examine the causes of migration and attempt to provide some reasonable solutions to mitigate the migrations with equitable outcomes that may guide immigration policy in impacted areas.

Keywords: immigration, crisis, climate, cartels

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Authors: Christine A. Odinga, G. Sanjay, M. Mathew, S. Gupta, F. M. Swalaha, F. A. O. Otieno, F. Bux

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Wastewater discharged from municipal treatment plants contain an amalgamation of trace metals. The presence of metal pollutants in wastewater poses a huge challenge to the choice and applications of the preferred treatment method. Conventional treatment methods are inefficient in the removal of trace metals due to their design approach. This study evaluated the treatment performance of a constructed rhizofiltration system in the removal of heavy metals from municipal wastewater. The study was conducted at an eThekwni municipal wastewater treatment plant in Kingsburgh - Durban in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The construction details of the pilot-scale rhizofiltration unit included three different layers of substrate consisting of medium stones, coarse gravel and fine sand. The system had one section planted with Phragmites australis L. and Kyllinga nemoralis L. while the other section was unplanted and acted as the control. Influent, effluent and sediment from the system were sampled and assessed for the presence of and removal of selected trace heavy metals using standard methods. Efficiency of metals removal was established by gauging the transfer of metals into leaves, roots and stem of the plants by calculations based on standard statistical packages. The Langmuir model was used to assess the heavy metal adsorption mechanisms of the plants. Heavy metals were accumulated in the entire rhizofiltration system at varying percentages of 96.69% on planted and 48.98% on control side for cadmium. Chromium was 81% and 24%, Copper was 23.4% and 1.1%, Nickel was 72% and 46.5, Lead was 63% and 31%, while Zinc was 76% and 84% on the on the water and sediment of the planted and control sides of the rhizofilter respectively. The decrease in metal adsorption efficiencies on the planted side followed the pattern of Cd>Cr>Zn>Ni>Pb>Cu and Ni>Cd>Pb>Cr>Cu>Zn on the control side. Confirmatory analysis using Electron Scanning Microscopy revealed that higher amounts of metals was deposited in the root system with values ranging from 0.015mg/kg (Cr), 0.250 (Cu), 0.030 (Pb) for P. australis, and 0.055mg/kg (Cr), 0.470mg/kg (Cu) and 0.210mg/kg,(Pb) for K. nemoralis respectively. The system was found to be efficient in removing and reducing metals from wastewater and further research is necessary to establish the immediate mechanisms that the plants display in order to achieve these reductions.

Keywords: wastewater treatment, Phragmites australis L., Kyllinga nemoralis L., heavy metals, pathogens, rhizofiltration

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Authors: Herlangga Pramaditya, Agus Sulistyono, Risa Etika, Budiono Budiono, Alvin Saputra

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Preterm birth and anemia of prematurity are the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates, and anemia of the preterm neonates has become a major issue. The timing of umbilical cord clamping after a baby is born determines the amount of blood transferred from the placenta to fetus, Delayed Cord Clamping (DCC) has proven to prevent anemia in the neonates but it is constrained concern regarding the delayed in neonatal resuscitation. Umbilical Cord Milking (UCM) could be an alternative method for clamping the umbilical cord due to the active blood transfer from the placenta to the fetus. The aim of this study was to analyze the difference between maternal and neonatal outcome in preterm abdominal delivery who underwent UCM compared to ECC. This was an experimental study with randomized post-test only control design. Analyzed maternal and neonatal outcomes, significant P values (P <0.05). Statistical comparison was carried out using Paired Samples t-test (α two tailed 0,05). The result was the mean of preoperative mother’s hemoglobin in UCM group compared to ECC (10,9 + 0,9 g/dL vs 10,4 + 0,9 g/dL) and postoperative (11,1 + 1,1 g/dL vs 10,5 + 0,7 g/dL), the delta was (0,2 + 0,7 vs 0,1 + 0,6.). It showed no significant difference (P=0,395 vs 0,627). The mean of 3rd phase labor duration in UCM group vs ECC was (20,5 + 3,5 second vs 21,1 + 3,3 second), showed insignificant difference (P=0,634). The amount of bleeding after delivery in UCM group compared to ECC has the median of 190 cc (100-280cc) vs 210 cc (150-330 cc) showed insignificant difference (P=0,083) so the incidence of post-partum bleeding was not found. The mean of the neonates hemoglobin, hematocrit and erythrocytes of UCM group compared to ECC was (19,3 + 0,7 vs 15,9 + 0,8 g/dl), (57,1 + 3,6 % vs 47,2 + 2,8 %), and (5,4 + 0,4 g/dl vs 4,5 + 0,3 g/dl) showed significant difference (P<0,0001). There was no baby in UCM group received blood transfusion and one baby in the control ECC group received blood transfusion was found. Umbilical Cord Milking has shown to increase the baby’s blood component such as hemoglobin, hematocrit, and erythrocytes 6 hours after birth as well as lowering the incidence of blood transfusions. Maternal and neonatal morbidity were not found. Umbilical Cord Milking was the act of clamping the umbilical cord that was more beneficial to the baby and no adverse or negative effects on the mother.

Keywords: umbilical cord milking, early cord clamping, maternal and neonatal outcome, preterm, abdominal delivery

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Authors: Kristine Demilou Santiago

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In a context of a developing nation, how important is the role of Corporate Social Responsibility health programs? Is there a possibility that this will render a large impact in a society where health benefits are insufficient? The Philippine government has been in an unceasing battle to provide its citizens competitive health benefits through launching various health programs. As the efforts are being claimed by the government, the numbers just show that all the health benefits being offered such as PhilHealth health cards, medical missions and other subsidized government health benefits are not effective and sufficient at the minimum level. This is a major characteristic of a developing nation which the Philippine government is focusing on addressing as it becomes a national concern under the effects of poverty. Industrial companies, through Corporate Social Responsibility, are playing an important role in the aspiration to resolve this problem on health programs as supposed to be basic services to citizens of the Philippine government. The rise of commitment by these industrial companies to render health programs to communities as part of their corporate citizenship has covered a large portion of the basic health services that the Filipino citizens are supposed to be receiving. This is the most salient subject that a developing nation should focus on determining the important contribution of industrial companies present in their country as part of the citizens’ access to basic health services. The use of survey forms containing quantitative and qualitative questions which aim to give numerical figures and support answers as to the role of CSR Health programs in helping the communities receive the basic health services they need was the methodological procedure followed in this research. A sample population in a community where the largest industrial company in a province of the Philippines was taken through simple random sampling. The assumption is that this sample population which represents the whole of the community has the highest opportunities to access both the government health services and the CSR health program services of the industrial company located in their community. Results of the research have shown a significant level of participation by industrial companies through their CSR health programs in the attainment of basic health services that should be rendered by the Philippine government to its citizens as part of the state’s health benefits. In a context of a developing nation such as the Philippines, the role of Corporate Social Responsibility is beyond the expectation of initiating to resolve environmental and social issues. It is moving deeper in the concept of the corporate industries being a pillar of the government in catering the support needed by the individuals in the community for its development. As such, the concept of the presence of an industrial company in a community is said to be a parallel progress: by which when an industrial company expands because it is becoming more profitable, so is the community gaining the same step of progress in terms of socioeconomic development.

Keywords: basic health services, CSR health program, health services in a developing nation, Philippines health benefits

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Authors: Adrián Esteban Ortiz-Valera, Angélica Lozano

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In developing countries, informal trade is relevant, but it has been little studied in urban freight transport (UFT) context, although it is a challenge due to the non- contemplated demand it produces and the operational limitations it imposes. Hence, UFT operational improvements (initiatives) and freight attraction models must consider informal trade for developing countries. Afour phasesapproach for characterizing the commercial areas in developing countries (considering both formal and informal establishments) is proposed and applied to ten areas in Mexico City. This characterization is required to calculate real freight trip attraction and then select and/or adapt suitable initiatives. Phase 1 aims the delimitation of the study area. The following information is obtained for each establishment of a potential area: location or geographic coordinates, industrial sector, industrial subsector, and number of employees. Phase 2 characterizes the study area and proposes a set of indicators. This allows a broad view of the operations and constraints of UFT in the study area. Phase 3 classifies the study area according to seven indicators. Each indicator represents a level of conflict in the area due to the presence of formal (registered) and informal establishments on the sidewalks and streets, affecting urban freight transport (and other activities). Phase 4 determines preliminary initiatives which could be implemented in the study area to improve the operation of UFT. The indicators and initiatives relation allows a preliminary initiatives selection. This relation requires to know the following: a) the problems in the area (congested streets, lack of parking space for freight vehicles, etc.); b) the factors which limit initiatives due to informal establishments (reduced streets for freight vehicles; mobility and parking inability during a period, among others), c) the problems in the area due to its physical characteristics; and d) the factors which limit initiatives due to regulations of the area. Several differences in the study areas were observed. As the indicators increases, the areas tend to be less ordered, and the limitations for the initiatives become higher, causing a smaller number of susceptible initiatives. In ordered areas (similar to the commercial areas of developed countries), the current techniquesfor estimating freight trip attraction (FTA) can bedirectly applied, however, in the areas where the level of order is lower due to the presence of informal trade, this is not recommended because the real FTA would not be estimated. Therefore, a technique, which consider the characteristics of the areas in developing countries to obtain data and to estimate FTA, is required. This estimation can be the base for proposing feasible initiatives to such zones. The proposed approach provides a wide view of the needs of the commercial areas of developing countries. The knowledge of these needs would allow UFT´s operation to be improved and its negative impacts to be minimized.

Keywords: freight initiatives, freight trip attraction, informal trade, urban freight transport

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Authors: Bistra Kunovska, Kremena Ivanova, Jana Djounova, Desislava Djunakova, Zdenka Stojanovska

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The carcinogenic effects of radon as a radioactive noble gas have been studied and show a strong correlation between radon exposure and lung cancer occurrence, even in the case of low radon levels. The major part of the natural radiation dose in humans is received by inhaling radon and its progenies, which originates from the decay chain of U-238. Indoor radon poses a substantial threat to human health when build-up occurs in confined spaces such as homes, mines and caves and the risk increases with the duration of radon exposure and is proportional to both the radon concentration and the time of exposure. Tourist caves are a case of special environmental conditions that may be affected by high radon concentration. Tourist caves are a recognized danger in terms of radon exposure to cave workers (guides, employees working in shops built above the cave entrances, etc.), but due to the sensitive nature of the cave environment, high concentrations cannot be easily removed. Forced ventilation of the air in the caves is considered unthinkable due to the possible harmful effects on the microclimate, flora and fauna. The risks to human health posed by exposure to elevated radon levels in caves are not well documented. Various studies around the world often detail very high concentrations of radon in caves and exposure of employees but without a follow-up assessment of the overall impact on human health. This study was developed in the implementation of a national project to assess the potential health effects caused by exposure to elevated levels of radon in buildings with public access under the National Science Fund of Bulgaria, in the framework of grant No КП-06-Н23/1/07.12.2018. The purpose of the work is to assess the radon level in Bulgarian caves and the exposure of the visitors and workers. The number of caves (sampling size) was calculated for simple random selection from total available caves 65 (sampling population) are 13 caves with confidence level 95 % and confidence interval (margin of error) approximately 25 %. A measurement of the radon concentration in air at specific locations in caves was done by using CR-39 type nuclear track-etch detectors that were placed by the participants in the research team. Despite the fact that all of the caves were formed in karst rocks, the radon levels were rather different from each other (97–7575 Bq/m3). An assessment of the influence of the orientation of the caves in the earth's surface (horizontal, inclined, vertical) on the radon concentration was performed. Evaluation of health hazards and radon risk exposure causing by inhaling the radon and its daughter products in each surveyed caves was done. Reducing the time spent in the cave has been recommended in order to decrease the exposure of workers.

Keywords: tourist caves, radon concentration, exposure, Bulgaria

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Authors: Vincent Schlageter, Maroua Mestiri, Florian Denzinger, Hugo Raetzo, Michel Demierre

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Precise landslide monitoring with differential global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is well known, but technical or economic reasons limit its application by geotechnical companies. This study demonstrates the reliability and the usefulness of Geomon (Infrasurvey Sàrl, Switzerland), a stand-alone and cost-effective rover network. The system permits deploying up to 15 rovers, plus one reference station for differential GNSS. A dedicated radio communication links all the modules to a base station, where an embedded computer automatically provides all the relative positions (L1 phase, open-source RTKLib software) and populates an Internet server. Each measure also contains information from an internal inclinometer, battery level, and position quality indices. Contrary to standard GNSS survey systems, which suffer from a limited number of beacons that must be placed in areas with good GSM signal, Geomon offers greater flexibility and permits a real overview of the whole landslide with good spatial resolution. Each module is powered with solar panels, ensuring autonomous long-term recordings. In this study, we have tested the system on several sites in the Swiss mountains, setting up to 7 rovers per site, for an 18 month-long survey. The aim was to assess the robustness and the accuracy of the system in different environmental conditions. In one case, we ran forced blind tests (vertical movements of a given amplitude) and compared various session parameters (duration from 10 to 90 minutes). Then the other cases were a survey of real landslides sites using fixed optimized parameters. Sub centimetric-accuracy with few outliers was obtained using the best parameters (session duration of 60 minutes, baseline 1 km or less), with the noise level on the horizontal component half that of the vertical one. The performance (percent of aborting solutions, outliers) was reduced with sessions shorter than 30 minutes. The environment also had a strong influence on the percent of aborting solutions (ambiguity search problem), due to multiple reflections or satellites obstructed by trees and mountains. The length of the baseline (distance reference-rover, single baseline processing) reduced the accuracy above 1 km but had no significant effect below this limit. In critical weather conditions, the system’s robustness was limited: snow, avalanche, and frost-covered some rovers, including the antenna and vertically oriented solar panels, leading to data interruption; and strong wind damaged a reference station. The possibility of changing the sessions’ parameters remotely was very useful. In conclusion, the rover network tested provided the foreseen sub-centimetric-accuracy while providing a dense spatial resolution landslide survey. The ease of implementation and the fully automatic long-term survey were timesaving. Performance strongly depends on surrounding conditions, but short pre-measures should allow moving a rover to a better final placement. The system offers a promising hazard mitigation technique. Improvements could include data post-processing for alerts and automatic modification of the duration and numbers of sessions based on battery level and rover displacement velocity.

Keywords: GNSS, GSM, landslide, long-term, network, solar, spatial resolution, sub-centimeter.

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Authors: Nicolas Peyret, Sylvain Courtois, Gaël Chevallier

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This article outlines the development of the Project Based Learning (PBL) at the level of a last year’s Bachelor’s Degree. This form of pedagogy has for objective to allow a better involving of the students from the beginning of the module. The theoretical contributions are introduced during the project to solving a technological problem. The module in question is the module of mechanical dimensioning method of Supméca a French engineering school. This school issues a Master’s Degree. While the teaching methods used in primary and secondary education are frequently renewed in France at the instigation of teachers and inspectors, higher education remains relatively traditional in its practices. Recently, some colleagues have felt the need to put the application back at the heart of their theoretical teaching. This need is induced by the difficulty of covering all the knowledge deductively before its application. It is therefore tempting to make the students 'learn by doing', even if it doesn’t cover some parts of the theoretical knowledge. The other argument that supports this type of learning is the lack of motivation the students have for the magisterial courses. The role-play allowed scenarios favoring interaction between students and teachers… However, this pedagogical form known as 'pedagogy by project' is difficult to apply in the first years of university studies because of the low level of autonomy and individual responsibility that the students have. The question of what the student actually learns from the initial program as well as the evaluation of the competences acquired by the students in this type of pedagogy also remains an open problem. Thus we propose to add to the pedagogy by project format a regressive part of interventionism by the teacher based on pedagogy by example. This pedagogical scenario is based on the cognitive load theory and Bruner's constructivist theory. It has been built by relying on the six points of the encouragement process defined by Bruner, with a concrete objective, to allow the students to go beyond the basic skills of dimensioning and allow them to acquire the more global skills of engineering. The implementation of project-based teaching coupled with pedagogy by example makes it possible to compensate for the lack of experience and autonomy of first-year students, while at the same time involving them strongly in the first few minutes of the module. In this project, students have been confronted with the real dimensioning problems and are able to understand the links and influences between parameter variations and dimensioning, an objective that we did not reach in classical teaching. It is this form of pedagogy which allows to accelerate the mastery of basic skills and so spend more time on the engineer skills namely the convergence of each dimensioning in order to obtain a validated mechanism. A self-evaluation of the project skills acquired by the students will also be presented.

Keywords: Bruner's constructivist theory, mechanisms dimensioning, pedagogy by example, problem based learning

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Authors: Jae-Chang Kwak, Yong-Seo Koo

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The high efficiency power management IC (PMIC) with switching device is presented in this paper. PMIC is controlled with PFM control method in order to have high power efficiency at high current level. Dynamic Threshold voltage CMOS (DT-CMOS) with low on-resistance is designed to decrease conduction loss. The threshold voltage of DT-CMOS drops as the gate voltage increase, resulting in a much higher current handling capability than standard MOSFET. PFM control circuits consist of a generator, AND gate and comparator. The generator is made to have 1.2MHz oscillation voltage. The DC-DC converter based on PFM control circuit and low on-resistance switching device is presented in this paper.

Keywords: DT-CMOS, PMIC, PFM, DC-DC converter

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Authors: Arabi Nour El Houda, Iratni Aicha, Talaighil Razika, Bruno Capoen, Mohamed Bouazaoui

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TiO2 thin films have been prepared by the sol-gel dip-coating technique in order to elaborate antireflective thin films for monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si). The titanium isopropoxyde was chosen as a precursor with hydrochloric acid as a catalyser for preparing a stable solution. The optical properties have been tailored with varying the solution concentration, the withdrawn speed, and the heat-treatment. We showed that using a TiO2 single layer with 64.5 nm in thickness, heat-treated at 450°C or 300°C reduces the mono-Si reflection at a level lower than 3% over the broadband spectral do mains [669-834] nm and [786-1006] nm respectively. Those latter performances are similar to the ones obtained with double layers of low and high refractive index glasses respectively.

Keywords: thin film, dip-coating, mono-crystalline silicon, titanium oxide

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Authors: M. K. Mohd Safee, W. A. B. Wan Abas, F. Ibrahim, N. A. Abu Osman, N. A Abdul Malik

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This paper investigates the activity of the rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) in healthy subjects during salat (prostration) and specific exercise (squat exercise) using electromyography (EMG). A group of undergraduates aged between 19 to 25 years voluntarily participated in this study. The myoelectric activity of the muscles were recorded and analyzed. The finding indicated that there were contractions of the muscles during the salat and exercise with almost same EMG’s level. From the result, Wilcoxon’s Rank Sum test showed significant difference between prostration and squat exercise (p<0.05) but the differences was very small; RF (8.63%MVC) and BF (11.43%MVC). Therefore, salat may be useful in strengthening exercise and also in rehabilitation programs for lower limb activities. This pilot study conducted initial research into the biomechanical responses of human muscles in various positions of salat.

Keywords: electromyography, exercise, muscle, salat

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Authors: Gayane Vardanyan, Gaia Narciso, Battista Severgnini

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This paper investigates the long-run impact of the Great Irish Famine on emigration from Ireland at the turn of the twentieth century. To do it we combine the 1901 and the 1911 Irish Census data sets with the Ellis Island Administrative Records on Irish migrants to the United States. We find that the migrants were more likely to be Catholic, literate, unmarried, young and Gaelic speaking compared to the ones that stay. Running individual level specifications, our preliminary findings suggest that being born in a place where the Famine was more severe increases the probability of becoming a migrant in the long-run. We also intend to explore the mechanisms through which this impact occurs.

Keywords: Great Famine, mass migration, long-run impact, mechanisms

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Authors: Para Jansuwan, Kerstin K. Zander

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Most people in rural Thailand still depend on agriculture. The rural areas are undergoing changes in their demographic structures with an increasing older population, out migration of younger people and a shift away from work in the agricultural sector towards manufacturing and service provisioning. These changes may lead to a decline in agricultural productivity and food insecurity. Our research aims to examine perceptions of older farmers on how rural demographic change affects them, to investigate how farmers may change their agricultural practices to cope with their ageing and to explore the factors affecting these changes, including the opportunities and challenges arising from them. The data were collected through a household survey with 368 farmers in the Prachin Buri province in central Thailand, the main area for agricultural production. A series of binomial logistic regression models were applied to analyse the data. We found that most farmers suffered from age-related diseases, which compromised their working capacity. Most farmers attempted to reduce labour intense work, by either stopping farming through transferring farmland to their children (41%), stopping farming by giving the land to the others (e.g., selling, leasing out) (28%) and continuing farming with making some changes (e.g., changing crops, employing additional workers) (24%). Farmers’ health and having a potential farm successor were positively associated with the probability of stopping farming by transferring the land to the children. Farmers with a successor were also less likely to stop farming by giving the land to the others. Farmers’ age was negatively associated with the likelihood of continuing farming by making some changes. The results show that most farmers base their decisions on the hope that their children will take over the farms, and that without successor, farmers lease out or sell the land. Without successor, they also no longer invest in expansion and improvement of their farm production, especially adoption of innovative technologies that could help them to maintain their farm productivity. To improve farmers’ quality of life and sustain their farm productivity, policies are needed to support the viability of farms, the access to a pension system and the smooth and successful transfer of the land to a successor of farmers.

Keywords: rural demographic change, older farmer, stopping farming, continuing farming, health and age, farm successor, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: V. Jaime Contreras, S. Iliana Nunez, S. Mario Sanchez

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Inside a manufacturing facility, we can find innumerable automatic and manual operations, all of which are relevant to the production process. Some of these processes add more value to the products more than others. Manual operations tend to add value to the product since they can be found in the final assembly area o final operations of the process. In this areas, where a mistake or accident can increase the cost of waste exponentially. To reduce or mitigate these costly mistakes, one approach is to rely on automation to eliminate the operator from the production line - requires a hefty investment and development of specialized machinery. In our approach, the center of the solution is the operator through sufficient and adequate instrumentation, real-time reporting and ergonomics. Efficiency and reduced cycle time can be achieved thorough the integration of Internet-of-Things (IoT) ready technologies into assembly operations to enhance the ergonomics of the workstations. Augmented reality visual aids, RFID triggered personalized workstation dimensions and real-time data transfer and reporting can help achieve these goals. In this case study, a standard work cell will be used for real-life data acquisition and a simulation software to extend the data points beyond the test cycle. Three comparison scenarios will run in the work cell. Each scenario will introduce a dimension of the ergonomics to measure its impact independently. Furthermore, the separate test will determine the limitations of the technology and provide a reference for operating costs and investment required. With the ability, to monitor costs, productivity, cycle time and scrap/waste in real-time the ROI (return on investment) can be determined at the different levels to integration. This case study will help to show that ergonomics in the assembly lines can make significant impact when IoT technologies are introduced. Ergonomics can effectively reduce waste and increase productivity with minimal investment if compared with setting up to custom machine.

Keywords: augmented reality visual aids, ergonomics, real-time data acquisition and reporting, RFID triggered workstation dimensions

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: Routsukol Sunalai

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This research purpose is to study and compare the administration of Buddhist monks at northeastern Thailand. The samples used in the study are the priest in the Northeast by simple random sampling for 190 sampling. The tools used in this study is questioner were created in the 40 question items. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, average, and standard deviation. The research found that the human resources management for the Buddhist monks as a whole is moderate. But it was found that the highest average is the policy followed by the management information. The Buddhist monks aged less than 25 years old with the overall difference was not significant. The priests who are less than 10 years in the monk experience and the priest has long held in the position for 10 years are not different in the significant level.

Keywords: employee job-related outcomes, ethical institutionalization, quality of work life, stock exchange of Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Naser Zouri

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Purpose: Measures of formulate and implementation strategy shows amount of product rate-market based strategic management category such as courtesy, competence, and compliance to reach the high loyalty of financial ecosystem. Despite, it solves the market place error intention to fair trade organization. Finding: Finding shows the ability of executives’ level of management to motivate and better decision-making to solve the treatments in business organization. However, it made ideal level of each interposition policy for a hypothetical household. Methodology/design. Style of questionnaire about the data collection was selected to survey of both pilot test and real research. Also, divide of questionnaire and using of Free Scale Semiconductor`s between the finance employee was famous of this instrument. Respondent`s nominated basic on non-probability sampling such as convenience sampling to answer the questionnaire. The way of realization costs to performed the questionnaire divide among the respondent`s approximately was suitable as a spend the expenditure to reach the answer but very difficult to collect data from hospital. However, items of research survey was formed of implement strategy, environment, supply chain, employee from impact of implementation strategy on reach to better financial consequences and also formulate strategy, comprehensiveness strategic design, organization performance from impression on formulate strategy and financial consequences. Practical Implication: Dynamic capability approach of formulate and implement strategy focuses on the firm-specific processes through which firms integrate, build, or reconfigure resources valuable for making a theoretical contribution. Originality/ value of research: Going beyond the current discussion, we show that case studies have the potential to extend and refine theory. We present new light on how dynamic capabilities can benefit from case study research by discovering the qualifications that shape the development of capabilities and determining the boundary conditions of the dynamic capabilities approach. Limitation of the study :Present study also relies on survey of methodology for data collection and the response perhaps connection by financial employee was difficult to responds the question because of limitation work place.

Keywords: financial ecosystem, loyalty, Malaysian market error, dynamic capability approach, rate-market, optimization intelligence strategy, courtesy, competence, compliance

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: R. Nasrin, M. Ferdows

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Among the renewable energy sources, photovoltaic (PV) is a high potential, effective, and sustainable system. Irradiation intensity from 200 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2 has been considered to observe the performance of PV module. Generally, this module converts only about 15% - 20% of incident irradiation into electrical energy and the rest part is converted into heat energy. Finite element method has been used to solve the problem numerically. Simulation has been performed by considering the ambient temperature 30°C. Higher irradiation increase solar cell temperature and electrical power. The electrical efficiency of PV module decreases with the variation of solar radiation. The efficiency of PV module can be increased if cell temperature is reduced. Thus the effect of irradiation is significant to enhance the efficiency of PV module if the solar cell temperature is kept at a certain level.

Keywords: PV module, solar radiation, efficiency, cell temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Ibitoye Olabode Clement

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The huge amount of grants for infrastructures development in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria calls for transparency and accountability in the procurement process. However, questions have been raised concerning the judicious and appropriate use of the funds, and it was doubtful if the institutions complied with due process. This paper examined the causes of non-compliance with the Public Procurement Act (2007) in the procurement of Goods, Works, and Services through either direct or indirect processes of procurement, mostly in Tertiary Institutions of State government subvention institutions in Nigeria. Nigeria has over 120 public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of Education. This paper will take samples of some selected Institutions in southwest Nigeria. The institutions comprise 5 Universities, 5 Polytechnics, and 5 Colleges of Education / Health and Technology. The opinions of the institutions’ Procurement Officers on the tremendous investment through grants and interventions for infrastructure development in Tertiary Education Institutions (TEI) in Nigeria call for transparency and accountability in the procurement process. However, there are a lot of questions have been raised as to the judicious use of the funds, and it was doubtful if the institutions complied with due process. This study examined the causes of non-compliance with the Public Procurement Act (2007) in the procurement of Goods, Works, and Services in most State Government Public Institutions in Southwest Nigeria. Over, 120 public institutions comprising 5 Universities, 5 Polytechnics, and 5 Colleges of Education / Health and Technology were used for the study. The opinions of the institutions’ Procurement Officers on the causes of non-compliance with the Act in their procurement process were sought using a structured questionnaire. The results revealed that non-independent of Procurement Officers, non-compliance with the Act by some at the managerial level, claiming inadequate knowledge of the Act, non-employment of qualified and experienced Procurement officers, insufficient publicity of the Act, and non-existence of corporate governance led to poor management of procurement record and non-provision of incentive, Inability to separate the duties of Internal Auditors and Procurement Officers, Inability to translate procurement entity at large which makes nearly all at departmental level believe they procurement officers. Conclusively, on taking the Procurement Officers through interviewing having it that: the right educational and professional qualifications, understanding of the Act, sufficient cognate working experience, recruiting most professionals needed if not all, and occupying management position will enhance compliance. Hence, in addition, adopting an external empowered department from the Bureau should raise for monitoring the compliance mostly in State Government Tertiary Education Institution. Also, an organizational culture with a corporate governance structure that supports the engagement of the right and qualified personnel to handle procurement, encourages them to perform at their best and rewards excellent service by giving incentives, and operates within an administrative environment devoid of corruption.

Keywords: non compliance of procurement act, tertiary education institution, university, polytechnic and college of education/ health science and technology, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Alò Roberta, Bottiglione Francesco, Mantriota Giacomo

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The efficiency of the actuation system of lower limb exoskeletons and of active orthoses is a significant aspect of the design of such devices because it affects their efficacy. F-IVT is an innovative actuation system to power artificial knee joint with energy recovery capabilities. Its key and non-conventional elements are a flywheel, that acts as a mechanical energy storage system, and an Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT). The design of the F-IVT can be optimized for a certain walking condition, resulting in a heavy reduction of both the electric energy consumption and of the electric peak power. In this work, by means of simulations of level ground walking at different speeds, it is demonstrated how F-IVT is still an advantageous actuator, even when it does not work in nominal conditions.

Keywords: active orthoses, actuators, lower extremity exoskeletons, knee joint

Procedia PDF Downloads 587

Authors: Mohammad Zamani, Ramin Mansouri

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Spillways are one of the most important hydraulic structures of dams that provide the stability of the dam and downstream areas at the time of flood. A circular vertical spillway with various inlet forms is very effective when there is not enough space for the other spillway. Hydraulic flow in a vertical circular spillway is divided into three groups: free, orifice, and under pressure (submerged). In this research, the hydraulic flow characteristics of a Circular Vertical Spillway are investigated with the CFD model. Two-dimensional unsteady RANS equations were solved numerically using Finite Volume Method. The PISO scheme was applied for the velocity-pressure coupling. The mostly used two-equation turbulence models, k-ε and k-ω, were chosen to model Reynolds shear stress term. The power law scheme was used for the discretization of momentum, k, ε, and ω equations. The VOF method (geometrically reconstruction algorithm) was adopted for interface simulation. In this study, three types of computational grids (coarse, intermediate, and fine) were used to discriminate the simulation environment. In order to simulate the flow, the k-ε (Standard, RNG, Realizable) and k-ω (standard and SST) models were used. Also, in order to find the best wall function, two types, standard wall, and non-equilibrium wall function, were investigated. The laminar model did not produce satisfactory flow depth and velocity along the Morning-Glory spillway. The results of the most commonly used two-equation turbulence models (k-ε and k-ω) were identical. Furthermore, the standard wall function produced better results compared to the non-equilibrium wall function. Thus, for other simulations, the standard k-ε with the standard wall function was preferred. The comparison criterion in this study is also the trajectory profile of jet water. The results show that the fine computational grid, the input speed condition for the flow input boundary, and the output pressure for the boundaries that are in contact with the air provide the best possible results. Also, the standard wall function is chosen for the effect of the wall function, and the turbulent model k-ε (Standard) has the most consistent results with experimental results. When the jet gets closer to the end of the basin, the computational results increase with the numerical results of their differences. The mesh with 10602 nodes, turbulent model k-ε standard and the standard wall function, provide the best results for modeling the flow in a vertical circular Spillway. There was a good agreement between numerical and experimental results in the upper and lower nappe profiles. In the study of water level over crest and discharge, in low water levels, the results of numerical modeling are good agreement with the experimental, but with the increasing water level, the difference between the numerical and experimental discharge is more. In the study of the flow coefficient, by decreasing in P/R ratio, the difference between the numerical and experimental result increases.

Keywords: circular vertical, spillway, numerical model, boundary conditions

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Kym Drady

Abstract:

This paper considers whether creativity is the missing link which would allow the evolution of organisational behaviour and profitability if it was ‘released’. It suggests that although many organisations try to engage their workforce and expect innovation they fail to provide the means for its achievement. The paper suggests that creative thinking is the ‘glue’ which links organisational performance to profitability. A key role of a university today, is to produce skilled and capable graduates. Increasing competition and internationalisation has meant that the employability agenda has never been more prominent within the field of education. As such it should be a key consideration when designing and developing a curriculum. It has been suggested that creativity is a valuable personal skill and perhaps should be the focus of an organisations business strategy in order for them to increase their competitive advantage in the twenty first century. Flexible and agile graduates are now required to become creative in their use of skills and resources in an increasingly complex and sophisticated global market. The paper, therefore, questions that if this is the case why then does creativity fail to appear as a key curriculum subject in many business schools. It also considers why policy makers continue to neglect this critical issue when it could offer the ‘key’ to economic prosperity. Recent literature does go some way to addressing by suggesting that small clusters of UK Universities have started including some creativity in their PDP work. However, this paper builds on this work and proposes that that creativity should become a central component of the curriculum. The paper suggests that creativity should appear in every area of the curriculum and that it should act as the link that connects productivity to profitability rather than being marginalised as an additional part of the curriculum. A range of data gathering methods have been used but each has been drawn from a qualitative base as it was felt that due to nature of the study individual’s thoughts and feelings needed to be examined and reflection was important. The author also recognises the importance of her own reflection both on the experiences of the students and their later working experiences as well as on the creative elements within the programme that she delivered. This paper has been drawn from research undertaken by the author in relation to her PhD study which explores the potential benefits of including creativity in the curriculum within business schools and the added value this could make to their employability. To conclude, creativity is, in the opinion of the author, the missing link to organisational profitability and as such should be prioritised especially by higher education providers.

Keywords: business curriculum, business curriculum, higher education, creative thinking and problem-solving, creativity

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Ryan Chalk, G. M. Shafiullah

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Climate change is a pertinent issue facing governments and societies around the world. The industrial revolution has resulted in a steady increase in the average global temperature. The mining and energy production industries have been significant contributors to this change prompting government to intervene by promoting low emission technology within these sectors. This paper initially reviews the energy problem in Australia and the mining sector with a focus on the energy requirements and production methods utilised in Western Australia (WA). Renewable energy in the form of utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) provides a solution to these problems by providing emission-free energy which can be used to supplement the existing natural gas turbines in operation at the proposed site. This research presents a custom renewable solution for the mining site considering the specific township network, local weather conditions, and seasonal load profiles. A summary of the required PV output is presented to supply slightly over 50% of the towns power requirements during the peak (summer) period, resulting in close to full coverage in the trench (winter) period. Dig Silent Power Factory Software has been used to simulate the characteristics of the existing infrastructure and produces results of integrating PV. Large scale PV penetration in the network introduce technical challenges, that includes; voltage deviation, increased harmonic distortion, increased available fault current and power factor. Results also show that cloud cover has a dramatic and unpredictable effect on the output of a PV system. The preliminary analyses conclude that mitigation strategies are needed to overcome voltage deviations, unacceptable levels of harmonics, excessive fault current and low power factor. Mitigation strategies are proposed to control these issues predominantly through the use of high quality, made for purpose inverters. Results show that use of inverters with harmonic filtering reduces the level of harmonic injections to an acceptable level according to Australian standards. Furthermore, the configuration of inverters to supply active and reactive power assist in mitigating low power factor problems. Use of FACTS devices; SVC and STATCOM also reduces the harmonics and improve the power factor of the network, and finally, energy storage helps to smooth the power supply.

Keywords: climate change, mitigation strategies, photovoltaic (PV), power quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Mohamed Idris S. Abozaed, Suliman Mohamed Elrajoubi

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Researches and concerns in power quality gained significant momentum in the field of power electronics systems over the last two decades globally. This sudden increase in the number of concerns over power quality problems is a result of the huge increase in the use of non-linear loads. In this paper, power quality evaluation of some distribution networks at Misurata - Libya has been done using a power quality and energy analyzer (Fluke 437 Series II). The results of this evaluation are used to minimize the problems of power quality. The analysis shows the main power quality problems that exist and the level of awareness of power quality issues with the aim of generating a start point which can be used as guidelines for researchers and end users in the field of power systems.

Keywords: power quality disturbances, power quality evaluation, statistical analysis, electrical distribution networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 516