Search results for: survey methodology

Authors: Luana Centorame, Alessio Ilari, Marco Giustozzi, Ester Foppa Pedretti

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Maize is one of the most important agricultural cash crops in the world, involving three different chains: food, feed, and bioenergy production. Nowadays, the European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, to the best of the author's knowledge, is the most important pest to control for maize growers. The ECB is harmful to maize; young larvae are responsible for minor damage to the leaves, while the most serious damage is tunneling by older larvae that burrow into the stock. Soon after, larvae can affect cobs, and it was found that ECB can foster mycotoxin contamination; this is why it is crucial to control it. There are multiple control methods available: agronomic, biological, and microbiological means, agrochemicals, and genetically modified plants. Meanwhile, the European Union’s policy focuses on the transition to sustainable supply chains and translates into the goal of reducing the use of agrochemicals by 50%. The current work aims to compare the agrochemical treatment of ECB and biological control through beneficial insects released by drones. The methodology used includes field trials of both chemical and biological control, considering a farm in central Italy as a case study. To assess the mechanical and technical efficacy of drones with respect to standard machinery, the available literature was consulted. The findings are positive because drones allow them to get in the field promptly, in difficult conditions and with lower costs if compared to traditional techniques. At the same time, it is important to consider the limits of drones regarding pilot certification, no-fly zones, etc. In the future, it will be necessary to deepen the topic with the real application in the field of both systems, expanding the scenarios in which drones can be used and the type of material distributed.

Keywords: beneficial insects, corn borer management, drones, precision agriculture

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Authors: Timo Miebach, Kirsten Hoeper, Carolin Felix

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In times of competitive pressures and demographic change, hospitals have to reconsider their strategies as a company. Due to the fact, that operations are one of the main income and one of the primary cost drivers otherwise, a process-oriented approach and an efficient use of resources seems to be the right way for getting a consistent market position. Thus, the efficient operation room occupancy planning is an important cause variable for the success and continued the existence of these institutions. A high utilization of resources is essential. This means a very high, but nevertheless sensible capacity-oriented utilization of working systems that can be realized by avoiding downtimes and a thoughtful occupancy planning. This engineering approach should help hospitals to reach her break-even point. Firstly, the aim is to establish a strategy point, which can be used for the generation of a planned throughput time. Secondly, the operation planning and control should be facilitated and implemented accurately by the generation of time modules. More than 100,000 data records of the Hannover Medical School were analyzed. The data records contain information about the type of conducted operation, the duration of the individual process steps, and all other organizational-specific data such as an operating room. Based on the aforementioned data base, a generally valid model was developed by an analysis to define a strategy point which takes the conflict of capacity utilization and low overtime into account. Furthermore, time modules were generated in this work, which allows a simplified and flexible operation planning and control for the operation manager. By the time modules, it is possible to reduce a high average value of the idle times of the operation rooms. Furthermore, the potential is used to minimize the idle time spread.

Keywords: capacity, operating room, surgery planning and control, utilization

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Authors: Jessica Achebe, Susan Tighe

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The reduction of material consumption and greenhouse gas emission when maintain and rehabilitating road networks can achieve added benefits including improved life cycle performance of pavements, reduced climate change impacts and human health effect due to less air pollution, improved productivity due to an optimal allocation of resources and reduced road user cost. This is the essence of incorporating environmental sustainability into pavement management. The functionality of performance measurement approach has made it one of the most valuable tool to Pavement Management Systems (PMSs) to account for different criteria in the decision-making process. However measuring the environmental performance of road network is still a far-fetched practice in road network management, more so an ostensive agency-wide environmental sustainability or sustainable maintenance specifications is missing. To address this challenge, this present research focuses on the environmental sustainability performance of network-level pavement management. The ultimate goal is to develop a framework to incorporate environmental sustainability in pavement management systems for network-level maintenance programming. In order to achieve this goal, this paper present the first step, the intention is to review the previous studies that employed environmental performance measures, as well as the suitability of environmental performance indicators for the evaluation of the sustainability of network-level pavement maintenance strategies. Through an industry practice survey, this paper provides a brief forward regarding the pavement manager motivations and barriers to making more sustainable decisions, and data needed to support the network-level environmental sustainability. The trends in network-level sustainable pavement management are also presented, existing gaps are highlighted, and ideas are proposed for network-level sustainable maintenance and rehabilitation programming.

Keywords: pavement management, environment sustainability, network-level evaluation, performance measures

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Authors: Mandeep Kaur, Jitendra K. Bera

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The search for atom-economical and green synthetic methods for the synthesis of functionalized molecules has attracted much attention. Metal ligand cooperation (MLC) plays a pivotal role in organometallic catalysis to activate C−H, H−H, O−H, N−H and B−H bonds through reversible bond breaking and bond making process. Towards this goal, a bifunctional N─heterocyclic carbene (NHC) based pyridyl-functionalized amide ligand precursor, and corresponding dearomatized iridium complex was synthesized. The NMR and UV/Vis acid titration study have been done to prove the proton response nature of the iridium complex. Further, the dearomatized iridium complex explored as a catalyst on the platform of MLC via dearomatzation/aromatization mode of action towards atom economical α and β─alkylation of ketones and secondary alcohols by using primary alcohols through hydrogen borrowing methodology. The key features of the catalysis are high turnover frequency (TOF) values, low catalyst loading, low base loading and no waste product. The greener syntheses of quinoline, lactone derivatives and selective alkylation of drug molecules like pregnenolone and testosterone were also achieved successfully. Another structurally similar iridium complex was also synthesized with modified ligand precursor where a pendant amide unit was absent. The inactivity of this analogue iridium complex towards catalysis authenticated the participation of proton responsive imido sidearm of the ligand to accelerate the catalytic reaction. The mechanistic investigation through control experiments, NMR and deuterated labeling study, authenticate the borrowing hydrogen strategy.

Keywords: C-C bond formation, hydrogen borrowing, metal ligand cooperation (MLC), n-heterocyclic carbene

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Authors: Hazel Ann Gianelli Cu, Stephanie Co, Radcliff Cobankiat

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Objectives: TRC101/Veverimer is an orally administered, non absorbed, sodium- and counterion-free hydrochloric acid binder for the treatment of metabolic acidosis associated with chronic kidney disease. The main objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of TRC 101/ Veverimer 6g/day in increasing serum bicarbonate levels of chronic kidney disease patients with metabolic acidosis. In this meta analysis, we also aim to look at safety outcomes, adverse effects and if the level of serum bicarbonate reached metabolic alkalosis when given TRC101/Veverimer. Methodology: Pubmed, Cochrane, Google Scholar and Science direct were used to search for randomized controlled trials about TRC101/Veverimer use in Chronic kidney disease patients with metabolic acidosis. Search strategy according to the Prisma checklist was done with evaluation of biases and synthesis of results using the Cochrane Review Manager software 5.4. Results: Two randomized controlled trials involving 371 chronic kidney disease patients were included in this study. Results show there was a significant increase in the serum bicarbonate level when given TRC101/Veverimer compared to the placebo. Both studies had a significant number of participants who completed the studies until the end. P value of <0.00001 was used in both studies with a confidence interval of 95%. Conclusion: TRC101/Veverimer 6g/day was shown to effectively and safely increase serum bicarbonate or achieve normalization in chronic kidney disease patients with metabolic acidosis as compared with a placebo. This was associated with delayed progression of kidney disease with improvement of physical functioning, however longer duration of future studies is ideal in order to assess further the long advantages and consequences of TRC 101/Veverimer.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, metabolic acidosis, Veverimer, TRC101

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Authors: Ali Alshahrani, Adel Almaai, Saad Garni

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Aim of the study: To explore duration and determinants of consultation time at a family medicine center. Methodology: This study was conducted at the Family Medicine Center in Ahad Rafidah City, at the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia. It was conducted on the working days of March 2013. Trained nurses helped in filling in the checklist. A total of 459 patients were included. A checklist was designed and used in this study. It included patient’s age, sex, diagnosis, type of visit, referral and its type, psychological problems and additional work-up. In addition, number of daily bookings, physician`s experience and consultation time. Results: More than half of patients (58.39%) had less than 10 minutes’ consultation (Mean+SD: 12.73+9.22 minutes). Patients treated by physicians with shortest experience (i.e., ≤5 years) had the longest consultation time while those who were treated with physicians with the longest experience (i.e., > 10 years) had the shortest consultation time (13.94±10.99 versus 10.79±7.28, p=0.011). Regarding patients’ diagnosis, those with chronic diseases had the longest consultation time (p<0.001). Patients who did not need referral had significantly shorter consultation time compared with those who had routine or urgent referral (11.91±8.42,14.60±9.03 and 22.42±14.81 minutes, respectively, p<0.001). Patients with associated psychological problems needed significantly longer consultation time than those without associated psychological problems (20.06±13.32 versus 12.45±8.93, p<0.001). Conclusions: The average length of consultation time at Ahad Rafidah Family Medicine Center is approximately 13 minutes. Less-experienced physicians tend to spend longer consultation times with patients. Referred patients, those with psychological problems, those with chronic diseases tend to have longer consultation time. Recommendations: Family physicians should be encouraged to keep their optimal consultation time. Booking an adequate number of patients per shift would allow the family physician to provide enough consultation time for each patient.

Keywords: consultation, quality, medicine, clinics

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Authors: Taoufik Djennane

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Algeria is characterized by a fragmented language education policy. While pre-university education is entirely conducted in Arabic, higher education remains linguistically divided, with some fields offered in Arabic and others exclusively based on French. Within this linguistic policy, English remains far behind French. However, there has been a significant shift in the state’s linguistic orientation since the social riot of March 2019, known as El-Hirak, which ousted away the ex-president. Since then, social calls were voiced to get rid of French, and English started to receive an unprecedented political push. The historical decision only came at the beginning of the academic year 2023-2024 when the ministry of higher education imposed English as medium of instruction (hereafter EMI), especially in scientific and technological fields. As such, this paper considered this abrupt switch in the medium of instruction and its effects on the community of teachers. Building on a socio-psychological approach, teachers’ attitudes towards EMI were measured. Data were collected using classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The results showed that a clear majority of teachers hold negative attitudes towards EMI. The point is that they are linguistically incompetent, and they are not ready yet to deliver content subjects in a language they have no, or little, command of. The study showed the importance of considering attitudes in the ‘policy-formation’ stage before the ‘implementation’ stage. The findings also proved that teachers are not passive bystanders; they can rather be the final arbiters imposing themselves as policy-makers resisting ministerial instructions through their linguistic practices inside the classroom which only acknowledge French. The study showed the necessity to avoid sudden switch and opt for gradual change, without putting aside those who are directly concerned with political/pedagogical measures (teachers, learners, etc).

Keywords: micro planning, EMI, language education policy, agency

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Authors: Vaikunthan Rajaratnam

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Intro: Motor imagery (MI) and mental practice (MP) can be an alternative to acquire mastery of surgical skills. One component of using this technique is the use of a mental script. The aim of this study was to design and develop a mental script for basic micro suturing training for skill acquisition using a low-fidelity rubber glove model and to describe the detailed methodology for this process. Methods: This study was based on a design and development research framework. The mental script was developed with 5 expert surgeons performing a cognitive walkthrough of the repair of a vertical opening in a rubber glove model using 8/0 nylon. This was followed by a hierarchal task analysis. A draft script was created, and face and content validity assessed with a checking-back process. The final script was validated with the recruitment of 28 participants, assessed using the Mental Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ). Results: The creation of the mental script is detailed in the full text. After assessment by the expert panel, the mental script had good face and content validity. The average overall MIQ score was 5.2 ± 1.1, demonstrating the validity of generating mental imagery from the mental script developed in this study for micro suturing in the rubber glove model. Conclusion: The methodological approach described in this study is based on an instructional design framework to teach surgical skills. This MP model is inexpensive and easily accessible, addressing the challenge of reduced opportunities to practice surgical skills. However, while motor skills are important, other non-technical expertise required by the surgeon is not addressed with this model. Thus, this model should act a surgical training augment, but not replace it.

Keywords: mental script, motor imagery, cognitive walkthrough, verbal protocol analysis, hierarchical task analysis

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Authors: Somya R. Patro, Arnab Banerjee, G. V. Ramana

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A flexural beam carrying elastically mounted concentrated masses, such as engines, motors, oscillators, or vibration absorbers, is often encountered in mechanical, civil, and aeronautical engineering domains. To prevent resonance conditions, the designers must predict the natural frequencies of such a constrained beam system. This paper investigates experimental and analytical studies on vibration suppression in a cantilever beam with a tip mass with the help of spring-mass to achieve local resonance conditions. The system consists of a 3D printed polylactic acid (PLA) beam screwed at the base plate of the shaker system. The top of the free end is connected by an accelerometer which also acts as a tip mass. A spring and a mass are attached at the bottom to replicate the mechanism of the spring-mass resonator. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm converts time acceleration plots into frequency amplitude plots from which transmittance is calculated as a function of the excitation frequency. The mathematical formulation is based on the transfer matrix method, and the governing differential equations are based on Euler Bernoulli's beam theory. The experimental results are successfully validated with the analytical results, providing us essential confidence in our proposed methodology. The beam spring-mass system is then converted to an equivalent two-degree of freedom system, from which frequency response function is obtained. The H2 optimization technique is also used to obtain the closed-form expression of optimum spring stiffness, which shows the influence of spring stiffness on the system's natural frequency and vibration response.

Keywords: euler bernoulli beam theory, fast fourier transform, natural frequencies, polylactic acid, transmittance, vibration absorbers

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Authors: Oscar H. Malaco Jr.

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Homosexuality has been adapted as the universal concept that defines the deviations from the heteronormative parameters of society. Sexual orientation and gender identities have been used in a concretely separate manner the same way as the dynamics between man and woman, male and female, gender and sex operate. These terms are all products of human beings’ utilization of language. Language has proven its power to define and determine the status and the categories of the subjects in society. This tool developed by human beings provides a definition of their own specific cultural community and their individual selves that either claim or oppugn their space in the social hierarchy. The label ‘bakla’ is reasoned as an identity which is a reaction to the spectral disposition of gender and sexuality in the Philippine society. To expose the Filipino constitutes of bakla is the major attempt of this study. Through the methods of Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology), namely Pagtatanung-tanong (asking questions) and Pakikipagkuwentuhan (story-telling), the utterances of the bakla were gathered and analyzed in a rhetorical and ideological manner. Furthermore, the Dramatistic Pentad of Kenneth Burke was adapted as a methodology and also utilized as a perspective of analysis. The results suggest that the bakla as an identity carries the hurdles of class. The performativity of the bakla is proven to be a cycle propelled by their guilt to be identified and recognized as subjects in a society where heteronormative power contests their gender and sexual expressions as relatively aberrational to the binary gender and sexual roles. The labels, hence, are potent structures that control the disposition of the bakla in the society, reflecting an aspect of the disposition of Filipino identities. After all, performing kabaklaan in the Philippine society is interplay between resistance and conformity to the hegemonic dominions as a result of imperial attempts to universalize the concept of homosexuality between and among distant cultural communities.

Keywords: gender identity, sexual orientation, rhetoric, performativity

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Authors: Selvam M., Vadthya Poornachandar, Surender Singh

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These Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) aggregates are generally dumped in the open area after the demolition of Asphalt Pavements. The utilization of RAP aggregates in cement concrete pavements may provide several socio-economic-environmental benefits and could embrace the circular economy. The cross recycling of RAP aggregates in the concrete pavement could reduce the consumption of virgin aggregates and saves the fertile land. However, the structural, as well as functional properties of RAP-concrete could be significantly lower than the conventional Pavement Quality Control (PQC) pavements. This warrants judicious selection of RAP fraction (coarse and fine aggregates) along with the accurate proportion of the same for PQC highways. Also, the selection of the RAP fraction and its proportion shall not be solely based on the mechanical properties of RAP-concrete specimens but also governed by the structural and functional behavior of the pavement system. In this study, an effort has been made to predict the optimum RAP fraction and its corresponding proportion for cement concrete pavements by considering the low-volume and high-volume roads. Initially, the effect of inclusions of RAP on the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete pavement mixes is mapped through an extensive literature survey. Almost all the studies available to date are considered for this study. Generally, Indian Roads Congress (IRC) methods are the most widely used design method in India for the analysis of concrete pavements, and the same has been considered for this study. Subsequently, fatigue damage analysis is performed to evaluate the required safe thickness of pavement slab for different fractions of RAP (coarse RAP). Consequently, the performance of RAP-concrete is predicted by employing the AASHTO-1993 model for the following distresses conditions: faulting, cracking, and smoothness. The performance prediction and total cost analysis of RAP aggregates depict that the optimum proportions of coarse RAP aggregates in the PQC mix are 35% and 50% for high volume and low volume roads, respectively.

Keywords: concrete pavement, RAP aggregate, performance prediction, pavement design

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Authors: M. R. Ahmad, I. Musirin, M. M. Othman, N. A. Rahmat

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Plug-in Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (PHEV) has gained immense popularity in recent years. PHEV offers numerous advantages compared to the conventional internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Millions of PHEVs are estimated to be on the road in the USA by 2020. Uncoordinated PHEV charging is believed to cause severe impacts to the power grid; i.e. feeders, lines and transformers overload and voltage drop. Nevertheless, improper PHEV data model used in such studies may cause the findings of their works is in appropriated. Although smart charging is more attractive to researchers in recent years, its implementation is not yet attainable on the street due to its requirement for physical infrastructure readiness and technology advancement. As the first step, it is finest to study the impact of charging PHEV based on real vehicle travel data from National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and at present charging rate. Due to the lack of charging station on the street at the moment, charging PHEV at home is the best option and has been considered in this work. This paper proposed a technique that comprehensively presents the impact of charging PHEV on power system networks considering huge numbers of PHEV samples with its traveling data pattern. Vehicles Charging Load Profile (VCLP) is developed and implemented in IEEE 30-bus test system that represents a portion of American Electric Power System (Midwestern US). Normalization technique is used to correspond to real time loads at all buses. Results from the study indicated that charging PHEV using opportunity charging will have significant impacts on power system networks, especially whereas bigger battery capacity (kWh) is used as well as for higher penetration level.

Keywords: plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, transportation electrification, impact of charging PHEV, electricity demand profile, load profile

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Authors: Gulfam Hasan, Ijaz Ashraf, Saleem Ashraf, Muhammad Rafay Muzammil, Salman Asghar, Shafiq-Ur-Rehman Zia

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The word “climate change” has become the most popular term when anyone observes any uncertain climate variation in their respective region. Asian countries are more prone to the impact of this phenomenon, and Pakistan is the leading affected country. Last few years, governments all over the world have been trying to cater to this issue for the best entrust of their population, especially agriculture. Now the farmers in Pakistan are fully aware of the term “climate change” and are more concerned about its solutions. On the other hand, developed countries like the USA are setting a benchmark for developing countries in every sphere of life. Based on cultural and other variations, the research was carried out to identify the behavior of farmers regarding the same issue. Cross-sectional survey research was designed for an in-depth study of relevant research questions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in Pakistan, while virtual and face-to-face interviews were conducted in the Indiana State of the USA. The results of the present study and the responses of farmers were very interesting. The common climate change mitigation strategies suggested by farmers of both countries were less use of motor vehicles (replacement with bicycles in the circle of 10 Km), less dependency on chemical fertilizers (increased use of Manure, Bio-fertilizer, Compost), and plantation of the tree. The difference of opinion was in less government interest, lack of farmers’ education, political instability (views of Pakistani farmers), awareness of local communities, self-satisfaction, and economic disparities (views of USA farmers). Based on the given evidence, it was recommended that there is a dire need to address the climate change issue all over the world without discrimination of race, color, region, or religion. Because it will affect not only agriculture but also the real effect will be on HUMANITY.

Keywords: climate change, mitigation strategies, forests, biodiversity

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Authors: Baluku Nathan

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Transferring critically ill patients from one health facility to another poses a major risk to the patient because of increased oxygen demands. transferring patients with critical COVID-19 from a rural health canter in a rural district to a national referral hospital over 350 km in 7 hours would require three size H oxygen cylinders for successful transfer. It was always difficult to arrange the three size cylinders in the ambulance as workspace was greatly compromised for the ambulance assistant. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact and effectiveness of transport ventilators on the transportation of the critically ill patients from rural health canters to national referral hospitals in Uganda. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in sept 2022 among critical care nurses and ambulance assistants who had used both methods of transportation (ventilators and cylinders). A semi structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data after informed consent. Results: From the findings, distribution of transport ventilators to the regional referral hospitals by the Ministry of Health has gradually improved patient transfer as the team requires less than one size oxygen cylinder to successfully transfer a patient. We use two ambulance assistants (a critical care nurse and another nurse who has been trained on use of the ventilator) when transferring patients with critical COVID-19 as the teams have to interchange over the long distance. Conclusions: Transport ventilators are effective and efficient in transferring critically ill patients, therefore should be rolled out to lower levels coupled with user training to improve outcomes of patients transferred in ambulances in lower income countries.

Keywords: emergency medical technician, critically ill, COVID-19, transport ventilator

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Authors: Bushra Alghamdi, Alla Alsharif, Hamzah Aljohani, Saba Kassim

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Introduction: Collaborative work has always been acknowledged as a fundamental concept in delivering oral health care. Aim: This study aimed to assess the perception and attitude of pharmacists in oral health promotion and to determine the confident levels of pharmacists in delivering advice on oral health problems. Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey, using self-administered anonymous questionnaires, was conducted between March and April 2017. The study recruited a convenience sample of registered community pharmacists who were working in local private pharmaceutical stores in the urban area of Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A preliminary descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Thirty-five pharmacists have completed the surveys. All participants were males, with a mean age of 35.5 ( ± 6.92) years. Eighty-six percent of the participants reported that pharmacists should have a role in oral health promotion. Eighty percent have reported adequate level of confident when giving advice on most of the common oral health problems that include; oral health related risk behaviors such as tobacco cessation (46%), bleeding gums (63%) and sensitive teeth (60%). However, higher percentages of pharmacists have reported low confident levels when giving advice in relation to specific domain of dentistry, such as lost dental fillings (57%), loose crowns (60%), trauma to teeth (40%), denture-related problems (51%) and oral cancer (6.9%). Conclusion: Community pharmacists recognized their potential role in promoting oral health in KSA. Community pharmacists had varying levels of ability and confidence to offer support for oral health. The study highlighted that inner professional collaboration between pharmacists and dental care healthcare should be enhanced.

Keywords: community, oral health, promotion, pharmacist

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Authors: Fareena Alladin

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In the Caribbean, issues of food security, health and taste are intricately linked, seen most clearly in the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases among children coupled with a taste for high calorie and Westernized diets. In order to fully appreciate this link, the role of nutrition environments must be examined. To this end, the present study incorporates tenets of Bourdieu’s social constructivist theory with the Community Nutrition Environment Model. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between availability of and access to healthy/unhealthy foods within nutrition environments, namely the household and school, and the development of taste preferences for healthy/unhealthy foods among primary school children in a selected educational district in Trinidad and Tobago. A cross-sectional survey of 400 children between the ages of 9 and 11 years was conducted. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 24. Results indicated that availability of healthy food at home was positively correlated with preference for vegetables, and negatively correlated with preference for salty snacks and fast food. The availability of unhealthy food within the home was found to be negatively correlated with preference for vegetables and positively correlated with preference for salty snacks. Access to unhealthy foods at school had a positive correlation with preference for fast food. These findings highlight the role of the food environment in shaping taste preferences, and point to the need for interrogating the centrality of food security concerns in emerging health concerns of Caribbean countries. Such interrogations are a necessary part of the development of research agendas, and policy formulation and implementation.

Keywords: food security, nutrition environment, taste preference, Trinidad and Tobago

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Authors: Javed Y. Uppal

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The background of this study is the great degree of stress that the world is experiencing today, internationally among the countries, within a community among people, and even individually within one’s own self. The significance of the study is the attempt to find a solution of this stress in the philosophy of the olden times of Jalaluddin Rumi and comparatively recently of that of Allama Iqbal. The methodology adopted in this paper is firstly exploration of the perspectives of these philosophers that are being consolidated by a number of psychic and spiritual experts of today, who are being widely read but less followed. This paper further goes on presenting brief life sketches of Rumi and Iqbal. It expounds the key concepts proposed by them and the social change that was resulted in the times of the two above mentioned metaphysical philosophers. It is further amplified that with the recent advancements, in both metaphysics and the physical sciences, the gap between the two is closing down. Both Rumi and Iqbal emphasized their common essence. The old time's concepts, postulates, and philosophies are hence once again becoming valid. The findings of this paper are that the existence of human empathy, affection and mutual social attraction among humans is still valid. The positive inner belief system that dictates our thoughts and actions is vital. As a conclusion, empathy should enable us solving our problems collectively. We need to strengthen our inner communication system, to listen to the messages that come to our inner-selves. We need to get guidance and strength from them. We need to value common needs and purposes collectively to achieve results. Spiritual energy among us is to be harnessed and utilized. Connectivity is to be recognized to unify and strengthen ties among people. Mutual bonding at small and large group levels is to be employed for the survival of the disadvantaged, and sustainability of the empowering trends. With the above guidelines, hopefully, we can define a framework towards a brave and happy new humane world.

Keywords: belief system, connectivity, human empathy, inner-self, mutual bonding, spiritual energy

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Authors: Peaceman Sopazi, Mabila Mathebula, John Smallwood

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Recent health and safety (H&S) concerns and their resultant impact on railway operations, namely, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or collectively known as SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) pandemic and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which have dominated public discourse, brought into question as to whether, or not, some aspects of how we have so far managed safety oversight as railway regulatory bodies and operators will remain relevant in a changing railway environment. Railway practitioners have generally found themselves between a proverbial rock and a hard place by being confronted by emerging challenges which have brought along great opportunities for sustainability. As witnesses and participants to the progressively introduced railway safety management, and transformation regimes, this paper attempts to share gathered field experience on adaptable regulatory oversight and safety awareness. The discourse is approached from a South African context but also with an informed perspective of what seems to work and what usually does not. The authors share their own multi and transdisciplinary experience coupled with insights they have gained as researchers of global trends in general safety management and specific aspects of railway safety management, for sustainability. In addition to sharing a largely experience-based methodology for survival, suggestions are offered for consideration as a way of keeping the railway safety management discourse alive as practitioners navigate a new path which is shrouded in a cloud of untold uncertainty. The authors further believe that the right timing for the implementation of the proposed suggestions in this paper will produce beneficial outcomes. Finally, the paper will identify areas that are still open for further investigation for and by researchers and practitioners alike.

Keywords: health & safety management, safety awareness, railway safety management, railway systems sustainability

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Authors: Rumesh Liyanage, S. B. Nawaratne, K. K. D. S. Ranaweera, Indira Wickramasinghe, K. G. S. C. Katukurunda

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Study it was attempted to identify an effect of food habits and publics’ attitudes on micro-sleepiness and preventive measures to develop a food product to combat. Statistical data pertaining to road accidents were collected from, Sri Lanka Police Traffic Division and a pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 250 respondents. They were selected representing drivers (especially highway drivers), private and public sector workers (shift based) and cramming students (university and school). Questionnaires were directed to fill independently and personally and collected data were analyzed statistically. Results revealed that 76.84, 96.39 and 80.93% out of total respondents consumed rice for all three meals which lead to ingesting higher glycemic meals. Taking two hyper glycemic meals before 14.00h was identified as a cause of micro-sleepiness within these respondents. Peak level of road accidents were observed at 14.00 - 20.00h (38.2%)and intensity of micro-sleepiness falls at the same time period (37.36%) while 14.00 to 16.00h was the peak time, 16.00 to 18.00h was the least; again 18.00 to 20.00h it reappears slightly. Even though respondents of the survey expressed that peak hours of micro- sleepiness is 14.00-16.00h, according to police reports, peak hours fall in between 18.00-20.00h. Out of the interviewees, 69.27% strongly wanted to avoid micro-sleepiness and intend to spend LKR 10-20 on a commercial product to combat micro sleepiness. As age-old practices to suppress micro-sleepiness are time taken, modern day respondents (51.64%) like to have a quick solution through a drink. Therefore, food habits of morning and noon may cause for micro- sleepiness while dinner may cause for both, natural and micro-sleepiness due to the heavy glycemic load of food. According to the study micro-sleepiness, can be categorized into three zones such as low-risk zone (08.00-10.00h and 18.00-20.00h), manageable zone (10.00-12.00h), and high- risk zone (14.00-16.00h).

Keywords: food habits, glycemic load, micro-sleepiness, road accidents

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Authors: Sayed Ahmed

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Religious activities that have evolved the sacred into a dynamic cultural phenomenon in the public realm of Sylhet, Bangladesh, and the spatiality of sacred sites and everyday practices in certain built forms have framed these phenomena. Religious rituals in Sylhet gave birth to unique practices of their own and have a vast impact even on contemporary spatial practices, while most Western researchers are not hopeful about the future of religion. However, despite extensive research on urban morphology and religion separately, there is limited literature on the relationship between these two topics to capture religious perceptions and experiences in urban spaces. This research will try to fill the existing gap and explain sacred within the range of Western sociological and philosophical tools implemented in third-world contexts, which was never highlighted before. This perspective of research puts forth the argument that urban morphology influences sacred experiences and how consecrated entities and religious activities shape the city's structure in return. The methodology of the research will map key morphological and religious variables. This mapping might include festival trajectories, street life observations, pedestrian densities, religious activities, public and private interface types with religious commodification, and the identification of blurred boundaries between sacred and profane on smaller to broader urban scales. To relate the derived cartography, illustrative (not representative) interviews about religious signs and symbols will be conducted and compared accordingly. The possible findings might reintroduce the diversity of religious practices in urban places and develop a decent concept of how sacred and urban morphology are mutually reinforcing the city, which has remained a vital nutrient for the survival of its inhabitants. Such infrequent conceptualizations of urban morphology and its relationship to symbolic sacralization are truly ‘outside’ to those that exist in the West.

Keywords: sylhet, religion, urban morphology, symbolic exchange, Baudrillard

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Authors: P. J. Kagosi, M. Mndolwa, E. Japhate

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The study was conducted to communities adjacent MNR, Lushoto district, Tanzania. The MNR is one of the nine nature reserves in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania with an area of 8,700ha with high biological diversity. However, biodiversity in MNR have been threatened by increasing human activities for livelihood in 1970s. The AF systems in the study area was practised since 1980s however, no study was conducted on AF impacts. This paper presents the influence of AF on livelihood of communities adjacent MNR and biodiversity conservation. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using socio-economic survey and botanical surveys. Data were analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences and content analysis. The study found that in 1970s free livestock grazing caused considerable surface runoff, soil erosion and reduction of crop production. Since 1980s, the study area received various interventions based on the land conservations and improved livelihood through practising AF systems. It was further found that the AF farming improved crop productivity, reduced soil erosion, increased firewood (80.2%) and other forest products availability and AF encouraged community members practicing indoor livestock keeping.The dominant agroforestry tree found in the study area is grevillea reported by 74.1% of respondents planting an average of 40 trees. The study found that the AF reduced pressure to MNR as forest products and fodders were obtained from community's farms in turn, currently water flow from MNR has been increased. Thus AF products support livelihood needs and conserve biodiversity. The study recommends continuity education on new AF technology packages.

Keywords: impact of agroforestry, biodiversity management, communities’ livelihoods, Magamba nature reserve

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Authors: Caiwei Chen, Jianhao Li, Jiasong Zhu

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The reform and opening-up stimulated economic and technological take-off in China while resulting in massive urbanization and motorization. Wujiaochang area was set as a secondary business district in Shanghai to meet the growing demand, with the reconstruction of Wujiaochang Plaza in 2005 being a milestone of this intended urban renewal. Wujiaochang is now an economically dynamic area providing much larger traffic and transit capacity transportation-wise. However, this rebuilding has completely changed the face of the district. It is, therefore, appropriate to evaluate its impact on neighborhoods and communities while assessing the overall sustainability of such an operation. In this study, via an online questionnaire survey among local residents and daily visitors, we assess the perceptions and the estimated impact of Wujiaochang Plaza's reconstruction. We then confront these results to the 62 answers from local residents to a questionnaire collected on paper. The analysis of our data, along with observation and other forms of information -such as maps analysis or online applications (Dianping)- demonstrate major improvement in economic sustainability but also significant losses in environmental sustainability, especially in terms of active transportation. As for the social viewpoint, local residents' opinions tend to be rather positive, especially regarding traffic safety and access to consumption, despite the lack of connectivity and radical changes induced by Wujiaochang massive transformations. In general, our investigation exposes the overall positive outcomes of Wujiaochang Plaza reconstruction but also unveils major drawbacks, especially in terms of soft mobility and traffic fluidity. We gather that our approach could be of tremendous help for future major urban interventions, as such approaches in municipal regeneration are widely implemented in Chinese cities and yet still need to be thoroughly assessed in terms of sustainability.

Keywords: China's reform and opening-up, economical revitalization, neighborhood identity, sustainability assessment, urban renewal

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Authors: Tan Dexian Arthur, James Wei Ming Kwek, Ian Loh, Lee Tee Sin

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Statement of the Problem: Mucoceles most commonly affect the frontal sinus, which results from chronic obstruction of the sinus ostium or cystic dilatation of mucous glands with ductal obstruction. They are known to cause bony erosion of the sinus walls, which can lead to large defects. These defects were typically managed by obliteration or cranialization of the frontal sinus. Although short term outcomes of conservative management of significant posterior table defects from fractures are promising, there have been no studies on the long-term outcomes of large dehiscences in the posterior wall of the frontal sinus. Methodology & Findings : Computed Tomography (CT) Paranasal Sinuses images were analyzed and found complete spontaneous osteogenesis of a large dehiscent frontal sinus posterior wall, secondary to a large mucocele, 9 years from functional endoscopic sinus surgery with the defect managed conservatively. Conclusion & Significance: The dura is well known for its osteogenic properties. Prior studies have showed that dura could induce osteogenesis in cutaneous tissue in the absence of other central nervous system structures. It was also demonstrated that osteogenesis and chondrogenesis were possible in zygomatic fractures by transplanting neonatal dura grafts to the bony defects in rats. Extrapolating from these studies, the authors postulate that the presence of dura beneath the bony deformity of the posterior frontal sinus wall had likely initiated the osteogenesis and restored the bony defect in the patient. In our literature review, we did not find any reports of spontaneous osteogenesis of large frontal sinus defects. While our experience is incidental, it reinforces the osteogenetic potential of an intact dura and further highlights that selected large defects of the posterior wall of the frontal sinus can be conservatively managed.

Keywords: paranasal sinus mucocele, mucocele, osteogenesis, dehiscence

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Authors: Abdurrauf M. Gusbi, Mahmud H. Arhima, Abdurrahim A. Elouzi, Ebtisam A. Benomran, Salsabeela Elmezwghi, Aram Elhatan, Nafesa Elgusbi

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Mass poisonings with methanol are rare but occur regularly both in developed and in non-developing countries. As a result of the tragedy that happened in the city of Tripoli Libya in March during year 2013 a number of patients were admitted to Tripoli Medical Center and Tripoli Central Hospital suffering from poisoning following ingestion of methanol by mistake. Our aims have been formulated to collect Information about those cases as much as we can from the archiving departments from the two hospitals including the number of cases that had been admitted, recovered patients and died victims. This retrospective study was planned to find out the reasons which allow those patients to drink methanol in our Muslim community and also the role of pharmacist to prevent such a disaster that claimed the lives of many people. During this tragedy 291 ospitalized patients their ages between 16-32 years old were admitted to both hospitals, total number of died 189 (121 at Tripoli medical center) and (68 at Tripoli central hospital), demographic data also shows that most of them are male (97%) and (3% female), about 4% of the patients foreigners and 96% were Libyans. There were a lot of obstacles and poor facilities at the time of patient admission as recognized in many cases including lack of first line of treatment. The morbidity was high due to the lack of antidote and availability of dialysis machines at this two main hospitals in Tripoli also according to survey done to the medical staff and also a random number of medical students shows about 28% have no idea about the first aid procedure used for methanol poisoning cases and this due to the absence of continuing education for all medical staff through the establishment of training courses on first aid, rapid diagnosis of poisoning and follow the written procedures to dealing with such cases.

Keywords: ethanol, fomepizole, methanol, poisoning

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Authors: Oumaima Khlifati, Khadija Baba

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Pavement distress is the main factor responsible for the deterioration of road structure durability, damage vehicles, and driver comfort. Transportation agencies spend a high proportion of their funds on pavement monitoring and maintenance. The auscultation of pavement distress was based on the manual survey, which was extremely time consuming, labor intensive, and required domain expertise. Therefore, the automatic distress detection is needed to reduce the cost of manual inspection and avoid more serious damage by implementing the appropriate remediation actions at the right time. Inspired by recent deep learning applications, this paper proposes an algorithm for automatic road distress detection and classification using on the Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN). In this study, the types of pavement distress are classified as transverse or longitudinal cracking, alligator, pothole, and intact pavement. The dataset used in this work is composed of public asphalt pavement images. In order to learn the structure of the different type of distress, the DCNN models are trained and tested as a multi-label classification task. In addition, to get the highest accuracy for our model, we adjust the structural optimization hyper parameters such as the number of convolutions and max pooling, filers, size of filters, loss functions, activation functions, and optimizer and fine-tuning hyper parameters that conclude batch size and learning rate. The optimization of the model is executed by checking all feasible combinations and selecting the best performing one. The model, after being optimized, performance metrics is calculated, which describe the training and validation accuracies, precision, recall, and F1 score.

Keywords: distress pavement, hyperparameters, automatic classification, deep learning

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Authors: Destriyanti Sugiarti, Ririn A Wulandari

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Background: Malaria disease was widespread in many countries, both tropical and sub-tropical. Tasikmalaya is a region that experienced an increase in malaria cases over the last 5 years and highest in 2013, a total of 168 positive cases of malaria. Tasikmalaya region consists of coastal and mountain areas, it has a potential place for Anopheles mosquito breeding, i.e swamp, lagoon, andrice fields.The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation of environmental risk factors with the incidence of malaria in Tasikmalaya. Methods: The design of the study is case control study with 140 samples in 5 sub-district (Cineam, Cikatomas, Cipatujah, Salopa, and Jatiwaras). This study examines the environmental factors that influence the incidence of malaria in Tasikmalaya District in 2013. The research used 14 variables: individual characteristics (education, knowledge, occupation) and environmental risk factors (mobility to endemic areas, use mosquito nets, use of wire gauze at home, use mosquito repellent, repellent use, the presence of a large animal in a cage, breeding place, the presence of larvae, temperature and humidity chamber). Results: Results demonstrated an association between occupation (0.22; 0.10-0.47), the mobility of the population to the endemic areas (37.4; 14.29-98.18) ,the presence of larvae (5.26; 1.41-19.74), and the room temperature with optimum temperature for mosquito breeding is 25-30oC (3.25; 1.62- 6.50). Conclusion: The dominant factor affecting the spread of malaria in Tasikmalaya is the mobility of the population to endemic areas. The results of the study suggest migration survey conducted activity and health promotion for preventive efforts against malaria in malaria-endemic areas, and to encourage people to behave healthy life by freeing environment of mosquito larvae and protect themselves from mosquito bites.

Keywords: Environmental risk factors, malaria, correlation, Anopheles

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Authors: Mashaal Hooda

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The rationale for conducting this action research was to increase students' Academic Achievement (AA) contexts of studying/researching by employing the Goal Setting intervention (GS). The purposive sample consisted of 10 female undergraduate students at a university in Dubai. The intervention was introduced through workshop classes conducted online. The pre-intervention consisted of discussions concentrating on participants' research contexts amidst a pandemic. The GS moderators were implemented in the class, followed by scaffolding and mentoring interactions and self-reflective accounts of students' actions and feelings of using the intervention to better plan and structure their dissertation tasks. The research incorporated a Mixed Methods Methodology (MMM). Quantitative data collection took place through surveys, while qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Triangulation of the emergent themes showed a positive increase in students achievable GS, self-regulatory study skills, feedback-seeking behaviours, research organisation and synthesis, self-reflection and Academic Resilient (AR) attitudes amalgamate to enhance students' AA outcomes. Though, students' intrinsic motivational levels to study and research observed minor changes only. Nonetheless, the pebble in the shoe was removed as students AA contexts improved in undertaking better actionable steps for their research. Therefore, the GS intervention enabled students to set, balance, and achieve academic goals while catering to their academic anxieties, mental health concerns, and adaptability to the e-learning platforms amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the wide-scale changes the pandemic brought to the teaching and learning communities, the GS intervention served as a targeted intervention to help students maintain their achievement contexts in a goal-oriented way.

Keywords: academic achievement, acadeic resilience, COVID-19, goal setting

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Authors: Nazirah Hassan, Andrew Kendrick

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Punishment inside the penal institution has always been practiced in order to maintain discipline and keep order. Nonetheless, criminologists have long debated that the enforcement of discipline by punishing inmates is often ineffective and has a detrimental impact on inmates’ conduct. This paper uses data from a sample of 289 incarcerated young offenders to investigate the prevalence of institutional misconduct. It explores punitive cultural practices inside institutions and how this culture affects the inmates’ conduct during confinement. The project focused on male and female young offenders aged 12 to 21 years old, in eight juvenile justice institutions. The research collected quantitative and qualitative data using a mixed-method approach. All participants completed the Direct and Indirect Prisoner behavior Checklist-Scaled Version Revised (DIPC-SCALED-R). In addition, exploratory interviews were carried out with sixteen inmates and eight institutional staff. Results of the questionnaire survey show that almost half of the inmates reported a higher level of involvement in perpetration. It demonstrates a remarkable convergence of direct, rather than indirect, perpetration. Also, inmates reported a higher level of tobacco used and behavior associated with negative attitudes towards staff and institutional rules. In addition to this, the qualitative data suggests that the punitive culture encourages the onset of misconduct by increasing the stressful and oppressive conditions within the institution. In general, physical exercise and locking up inmates are two forms of punishment that were ubiquitous throughout the institutions. Interestingly, physical exercise is not only enforced by institutional staff but also inmates. These findings are discussed in terms of existing literature and their practical implications are considered.

Keywords: institutional punishment, incarcerated young offenders, punitive culture, institutional misconduct

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Authors: Avinash Kishore, Suman Chakrabarti

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In September 2013, the parliament of India enacted the National Food Security Act (NFSA) which entitles two-thirds of India’s population to five kilograms of rice, wheat or coarse cereals per person per month at one to three rupees per kilogram. Five states in India—Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal—had already implemented somewhat similar changes in the TPDS a few years earlier using their own budgetary resources. They made rice—coincidentally, all five states are predominantly rice-eating—available in fair price shops to a majority of their population at very low prices (less than Rs.3/kg). This paper tries to account for the changes in household consumption patterns associated with the change in TPDS policy in these states using data from household consumption surveys by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). NSS data show improvement in the coverage of TPDS and average off-take of grains from fair price shops between 2004-05 and 2009-10 across all states of India. However, the increase in coverage and off-take was significantly higher in four out of these five states than in the rest of India. An average household in these states purchased three kilos more rice per month from fair price shops than its counterpart in non-treated states as a result of more generous TPDS policies backed by administrative reforms. The increase in consumption of PDS rice was the highest in Chhattisgarh, the poster state of PDS reforms. Households in Chhattisgarh used money saved on rice to spend more on pulses, edible oil, vegetables and sugar and other non-food items. We also find evidence that making TPDS more inclusive and more generous is not enough unless it is supported by administrative reforms to improve grain delivery and control diversion to open markets.

Keywords: public distribution system, social safety-net, national food security act, diet quality, Chhattisgarh

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Authors: Arezoo Fallahi, Fateme Aslibigi, Parvaneh Taymoori, Babak Nematshahrbabaki

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Background and Aims: Cancer of the cervix, one of cancer-related death, is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. It develops over time but it is one of the most preventable types of cancer and there is the available proper screening program for its preventing. Since Pap smear test is vital to prevent and control of disease but women do not accomplish it regularly. Therefore, this study was aimed to explore women's needs referring to health care centers for doing Pap smear test. Material and methods: In this study, an inductive qualitative method with content analysis approach was used. This survey was done in varamin city (is located capital of Iran) in year 2014. Through the purposive sampling 15 women's view of point referring to health care centers of for doing Pap smear test was surveyed. Inclusion criteria were: 20-50 years old married women, having experience Pap smear test and attendance to participate in the Study. Recorded semi- structured interviews were typed and analyzed through of content analysis method. To obtain trustworthiness and rigor of the data, the criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability was used. Results: During the data analysis, four main categories of “role of health care team”, “role of organizations”, “social support” and “policies and administration system” were developed. The participants emphasized on making motivational rules and coordination among organizations to do behaviors related to women health. Conclusion: The findings of study showed that doing Pap smear test are attributed to appropriate and intimate interactions with health professionals, family support, encouraging legislation and policies and coordination and notification of organizations. Therefore, designers and stockholders of policies and health system should more consider to growth and involve other organizations toward women's health.

Keywords: qualitative approach, pap smear test, women, health care centers

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