Search results for: challenges of management

Authors: B. Adebayo, A. A. Adebayo

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Adequate power generation and supply are enormous challenges confronting Nigeria state today. This is a powerful mechanism that drives industrial development and socio-economy of any nation. The present level of power generation and supply have become national embarrassment to both government and the citizens of Nigeria, where over 60% of the population have no access to electricity. This paper is set to review the abundant clean energy alternative sources available in abundance that are capable of boosting power generation. The clean energy sources waiting to be exploited include: nuclear, solar and wind energy. The environmental benefits of these sources of power generation are identified. Nuclear energy is a powerful clean energy source. However, Africa accounted for 20% of known recoverable reserve and uranium produces heat of 500,000 MJ/kg. Moreover, Nigeria receives average daily solar radiation of over 5.249 kWh/m2/day. Researchers have shown that wind speed and power flux densities varied from 1.5 – 4.1 m/s and 5.7 – 22.5 W/m2 respectively. It is a fact that the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high, leading to winding up of the multi-national companies and then led to increase unemployment level. More importantly, readily available vast quantity of energy will reduce cost of running industries. Hence, more industries will come on board, goods, services, and more job creation will be achieved. This clean source of power generation is devoid of production of green house gases, elimination of environmental pollution, and reduced waste disposal. Then Nigerians will live in harmony with the environment.

Keywords: power, generation, energy, mix, clean, industrial

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Authors: Shivani Verma, Amit Agrawal, Pankaj Kumar Meena, Ashish B. Deoghare

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Over the decade robotics has been a major area of interest among the researchers and scientists in reducing human efforts. The need for robots to replace human work in different dangerous fields such as underground mining, nuclear power station and war against terrorist attack has gained huge attention. Most of the robot design is based on human structure popularly known as humanoid robots. However, the problems encountered in humanoid robots includes low speed of movement, misbalancing in structure, poor load carrying capacity, etc. The simplification and adaptation of the fundamental design principles seen in animals have led to the creation of bio-inspired robots. But the major challenges observed in naturally inspired robot include complexity in structure, several degrees of freedom and energy storage problem. The present work focuses on design and fabrication of a bionic quadruped walking robot which is based on different joint of quadruped mammals like a dog, cheetah, etc. The design focuses on the structure of the robot body which consists of four legs having three degrees of freedom per leg and the electronics system involved in it. The robot is built using readily available plastics and metals. The proposed robot is simple in construction and is able to move through uneven terrain, detect and locate obstacles and take images while carrying additional loads which may include hardware and sensors. The robot will find possible application in the artificial intelligence sector.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, bionic, quadruped robot, degree of freedom

Procedia PDF Downloads 201

Authors: F. O. Danquah, F. Frimpong, E. Owusu Danquah, T. Frimpong, J. Adu, S. K. Amposah, P. Amankwaa-Yeboah, N. E. Amengor

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In the face of global concerns such as population increase, climate change, and limited natural resources, sustainable agriculture practices are critical for ensuring food security and environmental stewardship. The study was conducted in the Forest zones of Ghana during the major and minor seasons of 2023 cropping seasons to evaluate maize yield productivity improvement and profitability of integrating Cajanus cajan (pigeonpea) into a maize production system described as a pigeonpea-maize cropping system. This is towards an integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) with a legume shrub pigeonpea for sustainable maize production while improving smallholder farmers' resilience to climate change. A split-plot design with maize-pigeonpea (Pigeonpea-Maize intercrop – MPP and No pigeonpea/ Sole maize – NPP) and inorganic fertilizer rate (250 kg/ha of 15-15-15 N-P2O5-K2O + 250 kg/ha Sulphate of Ammonia (SoA) – Full rate (FR), 125 kg/ha of 15-15-15 N-P2O5-K2O + 125 kg/ha Sulphate of Ammonia (SoA) – Half rate (HR) and no inorganic fertilizer (NF) as control) was used as the main plot and subplot treatments respectively. The results indicated a significant interaction of the pigeonpea-maize cropping system and inorganic fertilizer rate on the growth and yield of the maize with better and similar maize productivity when HR and FR were used with pigeonpea biomass. Thus, the integration of pigeonpea and its biomass would result in the reduction of recommended fertiliser rate to half. This would improve farmers’ income and profitability for sustainable maize production in the face of climate change.

Keywords: agroforestry tree, climate change, integrated soil fertility management, resource use efficiency

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Authors: Jing Hu, Dong Yang

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With the increasingly difficult development and operating environment of exploration, there are many new challenges and difficulties in developing and exploiting oil and gas resources. These include the ability to dynamically monitor wells and provide data and assurance for the completion and production of high-cost and complex wells. A key technology in providing these assurances and maximizing oilfield profitability is real-time permanent reservoir monitoring. The emergence of optical fiber sensing systems has gradually begun to replace traditional electronic systems. Traditional temperature sensors can only achieve single-point temperature monitoring, but fiber optic sensing systems based on the Bragg grating principle have a high level of reliability, accuracy, stability, and resolution, enabling cost-effective monitoring, which can be done in real-time, anytime, and without well intervention. Continuous data acquisition is performed along the entire wellbore. The integrated package with the downhole pressure gauge, packer, and surface system can also realize real-time dynamic monitoring of the pressure in some sections of the downhole, avoiding oil well intervention and eliminating the production delay and operational risks of conventional surveys. Real-time information obtained through permanent optical fibers can also provide critical reservoir monitoring data for production and recovery optimization.

Keywords: PDHM, optical fiber, coiled tubing, photoelectric composite cable, digital-oilfield

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Authors: Kamyar Maleki Bagherabadi, Torstein Aarseth Bø, Truls Flatberg, Olve Mo

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Hydrogen fuel cells and batteries are one of the promising solutions aligned with carbon emission reduction goals for the marine sector. However, the higher installation and operation costs of hydrogen-based systems compared to conventional diesel gensets raise questions about the appropriate hydrogen tank size, energy, and fuel consumption estimations. Ship designers need methodologies and tools to calculate energy and fuel consumption for different component sizes to facilitate decision-making regarding feasibility and performance for retrofits and design cases. The aim of this work is to compare three alternative modeling approaches for the estimation of energy and fuel consumption with various hydrogen tank sizes, battery capacities, and load-sharing strategies. A fishery vessel is selected as an example, using logged load demand data over a year of operations. The modeled power system consists of a PEM fuel cell, a diesel genset, and a battery. The methodologies used are: first, an energy-based model; second, considering load variations during the time domain with a rule-based Power Management System (PMS); and third, a load variations model and dynamic PMS strategy based on optimization with perfect foresight. The errors and potentials of the methods are discussed, and design sensitivity studies for this case are conducted. The results show that the energy-based method can estimate fuel and energy consumption with acceptable accuracy. However, models that consider time variation of the load provide more realistic estimations of energy and fuel consumption regarding hydrogen tank and battery size, still within low computational time.

Keywords: fuel cell, battery, hydrogen, hybrid power system, power management system

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Authors: Ahmad Umar, Sheikh Akbar, Ahmed A. Ibrahim, Mohsen A. Alhamami

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The development of advanced materials for energy storage and gas sensing applications has gained significant attention in recent years. In this study, we synthesized and characterized PANI@MnO2@rGO ternary nanocomposites (NCs) to explore their potential in supercapacitors and gas sensing devices. The ternary NCs were synthesized through a multi-step process involving the hydrothermal synthesis of MnO2 nanoparticles, preparation of PANI@rGO composites and the assembly to the ternary PANI@MnO2@rGO ternary NCs. The structural, morphological, and compositional characteristics of the materials were thoroughly analyzed using techniques such as XRD, FESEM, TEM, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. In the realm of gas sensing, the ternary NCs exhibited excellent performance as NH3 gas sensors. The optimized operating temperature of 100 °C yielded a peak response of 15.56 towards 50 ppm NH3. The nanocomposites demonstrated fast response and recovery times of 6 s and 10 s, respectively, and displayed remarkable selectivity for NH3 gas over other tested gases. For supercapacitor applications, the electrochemical performance of the ternary NCs was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge techniques. The composites exhibited pseudocapacitive behavior, with the capacitance reaching up to 185 F/g at 1 A/g and excellent capacitance retention of approximately 88.54% over 4000 charge-discharge cycles. The unique combination of rGO, PANI, and MnO2 nanoparticles in these ternary NCs offer synergistic advantages, showcasing their potential to address challenges in energy storage and gas sensing technologies.

Keywords: paniI@mnO2@rGO ternary NCs, synergistic effects, supercapacitors, gas sensing, energy storage

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Authors: Jui-Hung Hung, Ching-Liang Hsieh, Yi-Wen Lin

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Modern medicine highly emphasizes the importance of palliative treatment. The inception of palliative and hospice care recently developed into the concept of caring for the patients’ and families’ physical, psychological and spiritual problems. There are several benefits related to palliative care such as reducing medical expenses, decreasing patients’ suffer, and supporting patient go through the finale of the life. Nowadays, in Taiwan, over 60-70% terminal cancer patients were covered in hospice care, and the coverage rate increased annually. Acupuncture is a well-known therapy used more than thousand years to relieve symptoms of cancer patient. Many reports showed that, even in the Western society, many reputable medical centers can provide Acupuncture therapy for patients. Accordingly, using Acupuncture for cancer patient care is a global trend. There are increased evidences indicate that Acupuncture can relieve the symptoms for cancer patients including pain, reduce the dosage of anesthetic, improve the cancer-related fatigue, relieve the chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, ease anxiety mood and even improving the quality of life. Furthermore, some trials show that Acupuncture may help relieve xerostomia, hot flash, sleep disorders, and some GI discomfort and so on. Acupuncture therapy has many advantages for clinical use with effective, low-cost, minimal side effect, suitable for cancer patients and even for elderly population. Especially in nowadays, there are more diversified challenges in modern medicine, all of them will make the higher medical budget. We suggest that Acupuncture will be one of methods for palliative care for cancer patients.

Keywords: Acupuncture, cancer, integrative medicine, palliative care

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Authors: Meenu Mehta, Munish Garg

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The use of oral anticancer drugs from AYUSH system of medicine is widely increased among the society due to their low cost, enhanced efficacy, increased patient preference, lack of inconveniences related to infusion and they provide an opportunity to develop chronic treatment regimens. However, oral delivery of these drugs usually laid down by the limited bioavailability of the drug, which is associated with a wide variation. As most of the cytotoxic agents have a narrow therapeutic window and are dosed at or near the maximum tolerated dose, a wide variability in the bioavailability can negatively affect treatment result. It is estimated that 40% of active substances are poorly soluble in water. The improvement of bio-availability of drugs with such properties presents one of the greatest challenges in drug formulations. There are several techniques reported in literature. Among all these Self Emulsifying Drug Delivery System (SEDDS) has gained more attention due to enhanced oral bio-availability enabling a reduction in dose. Thus, SEDDS anticancer drugs will have the increased bioavailability and efficacy. These dosage form will provide societal benefit in a cost-effective manner as compared to other oral dosage forms. Present study reflects on the formulation strategies as SEDDS for oral anticancer agents of AYUSH system for enhanced bioavailability with proven efficacy by cancer cell lines.

Keywords: anticancer agents, AYUSH system, bioavailability, SEDDS

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Authors: Iyabo Aremu

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The role of the teacher in stirring a qualitative and distinctive knowledge-driven and value-laden environment with modern teaching practices cannot be over accentuated. In spite of the myriad advantages the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) promises, many teachers are still at the rear of this archetypical transition. These teachers; notable forces needed to elicit positive academic performances of students of higher learning are ill-equipped for the task. In view of this, the research work sought to assess how teachers have been able to effectively apply ICT tools to improve students’ academic performance in the higher institution and to evaluate the challenges faced by teachers in using these tools. Thus, the research adopted descriptive survey research design and involved a sample of 25 lecturers from five schools in the study area: Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED). The barrier to Teachers’ Use of ICT Questionnaire (BTUICTQ) was used to gather data from these respondents. The data gathered was tested with chi-square at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that the perception and attitude of teachers towards the use of ICT is not favourable. It was also discovered that teachers suffer from gaps in ICT knowledge and skills. Finally, the research showed that lack of training and inadequate support is a major challenge teacher contend with. The study recommended that teachers should be given adequate training and support and that teachers’ unrestricted access to ICT gadgets should be ensured by schools.

Keywords: ICT, teachers, AOCOED, academic performance

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Authors: Felsy J. Sandi

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There is a potential of growth in the spa industry due to the influx of domestic and international tourist coming to Sabah, Malaysia. It is a good opportunity to venture into this industry for the country’s economic future growth, and therefore, it is essential for this area to be researched. Being one of the fastest growing industries in the world, has led to enormous challenges, which need to be addressed. Malaysia is also riding with this phenomenon. The President of the Malaysian Association of Wellness and Spa stated that the misconception about the Spa industry’s image, especially amongst the elderly is the biggest challenge faced by the industry, as they perceived the spa industry is equivalent to a prostitution center. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the issue by analyzing whether image can be added in the theory of planned behavior to better understand the consumer’s intention to visit, in the spa context. The Theory of Planned Behavior by Ajzen, a theory or model in predicting intention, has three constructs; such as Attitude as the first construct, the second construct is Subjective Norm and the third construct is Perceived Behavioral Control. Qualitative research is used as this is an exploratory research. The site of study will be at Jari Jari Spa, located in Kota Kinabalu, the only spa in Sabah that was awarded as the Center of Excellence (CoE) by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in Malaysia. The findings propose to provide useful information to the relevant stakeholders on ways to approach local customers to convince them to visit the spa and for spa marketers to help them develop and design effective marketing strategies. Future investigation should consider more on the perception and loyalty of the local customers.

Keywords: consumer's perception, image, local customer, spa, visit intention

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Authors: Magdalena Barbara Kaziuk, Waldemar Kosiba, Marek Jan Kuzniewski

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Introduction: Vitamin D3 has a proven pleiotropic effect, not only responsible for calcium and phosphate management, but also influencing normal functioning of the whole body. Aim: Evaluation of vitamin D3 resources and its effect on a nutritional status, obesity type and glomerular filtration in kidney transplant recipients. Methods: Group of 152 (81 women and 71 men, average age 47.8 ± 11.6 years) patients with a functioning renal transplant their body composition was assessed using the bioimpendance method (BIA) and anthropometric measurements more than 3 months after the transplant. The nutritional status and the obesity type were determined with the Waist to Height Ratio (WHtR) and the Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR). 25- Hydroxyvitamin D3 (25 (OH)D3) was determined, together with its correlation with the obesity type and the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated with the MDRD formula. Results: The mean 25 (OH)D3 level was 20.4 ng/ml. 30ng/ml was considered as a minimum correct level 22,7% of patients from the study group were classified to be a correct body weight, 56,7% of participants had an android type and 20,6% had a gynoid type. Significant correlation was observed between 25 (OH)D3 deficiency and abdominal obesity (p < 0.005) in patients. Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between the 25 (OH)D3 levels and eGFR in patients after a kidney transplant. Patients with an android body type had lower eGFR versus those with the gynoid body type (p=0.004). Conclusions: Correct diet in patients after a kidney transplant determines minimum recommended serum levels of vitamin D3. Excessive fatty tissue, low levels of 25 (OH)D3), may be a predictor for android obesity and renal injury; therefore, correct diet and pharmacological management together with physical activities adapted to the physical fitness level of a patient are necessary.

Keywords: kidney transplantation, glomerular filtration rate, obesity, vitamin D3

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Authors: Shirin Shaideh, Nina Shirkhanloo

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Creative public spaces were needed to foster conviviality in an urban form. The conviviality could be enhanced by facilitating variety of opportunities to participate in communal activities and promoting collective experiences. In this regard, The Namik Kemal Square as a major public space of Walled City of Famagusta in North Cyprus was found as the creative public space because it supports collective practices by leisure activities which enclosed the space. The square also utilized creative collaboration such as festivals and outdoor exhibition. Accordingly this paper focuses on the issue of conviviality in urban public space, in the perspective of square, as a major indicator of their success. The survey firstly provides a theoretical framework for understanding conviviality in creative public space to empower collective experience. Secondly it discusses the essential components of conviviality in form of square and finally investigating conviviality and also its determinants in Namik Kemal square. Hence, the main challenges of this study are going to focus on how convivial public spaces impact collective experience, what people expect from a kind of public space, or what they perceive as a good place to be in. Since it seems essential to respond positively, inclusively to the needs of people to socialize in public spaces by involving them in collective and common practices, this article aims to tease out what gives some places personality and conviviality so that we can learn to design, maintain and manage better quality built environment in future.

Keywords: conviviality, creative public space, collective experience, Namik Kemal square

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Authors: H. Hakim, C. Kibert, C. Fabre, S. Monadizadeh

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Construction industry is an industry saddled with chronic problems of high waste generation. Waste management that is to ensure materials are utilized in an efficient manner would make a major contribution to mitigating the negative environmental impacts of construction waste including finite resources depletion and growing occupied landfill areas to name a few. Furthermore, ‘material resource efficiency’ has been found an economically smart approach specially when considered during the design phase. One effective strategy is to utilizing off-site construction process which includes a series of prefabricated systems such as mobile, modular, and HUD construction (Department of Housing and Urban Development manufactured buildings). These types of buildings are by nature material and resource-efficient. Despite conventional construction that is exposed to adverse weather conditions, manufactured construction production line is capable of creating repetitive units in a factory controlled environment. A factory can have several parallel projects underway with a high speed and in a timely manner which simplifies the storage of excess materials and re-allocating to the next projects. The literature reports that prefabricated construction significantly helps reduce errors, site theft, rework, and delayed problems and can ultimately lead to a considerable waste reduction. However, there is not sufficient data to quantify this reduction when it comes to a regular modular house in the U.S. Therefore, this manuscript aims to provide an analysis of waste originated from a manufactured factory trend. The analysis was made possible with several visits and data collection of Homes of Merits, a Florida Manufactured and Modular Homebuilder. The results quantify and verify a noticeable construction waste reduction.

Keywords: construction waste, modular construction, prefabricated buildings, waste management

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Authors: Saima Hirani, Emmanuela Ojukwu, Nilanga Aki Bandara

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Background: Mental health challenges that begin during the youth age period may continue across the entire life course. One way to support youth mental health is to encourage youth engagement in prosocial activities. This study aimed to explore youth’s perceptions about helping others and mental well-being, barriers, and enablers for youth to initiate and continue prosocial activities, and strategies for developing the attribute of helping others in youth. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured, virtual interviews with 18 young individuals (aged 16-24 years) living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Results: Youth perceived helping others as a source of feeling peace and calm, finding meaning in life, experiencing social connection and promoting self-care, and relieving stress. Participants reported opportunities to learn new skills, the role of religion, social connections, previous positive experiences, and role modeling as enablers for their prosocial behaviour. Heavy time commitment, negative behaviour from others, self-doubt, and late exposure to such activities were considered barriers by youth when participating in prosocial activities. Youth also brought forward key recommendations for engaging youth in helping others. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the notion that youth have positive experiences when engaging in helping others and that involving young people in prosocial activities could be used as a protective intervention for promoting youth mental health and overall well-being.

Keywords: helping others, prosocial behaviour, youth, mental well-being

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Authors: Latif Duran, Erdem Aydin, Ahmet Baydin, Ali Kemal Erenler, Iskender Aksoy

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Aim: In this retrospective study, we aim to contribute to the literature by presenting the proposals for taking measures to reduce the mortality by examining the demographic characteristics of the pediatric age group patients presenting with trauma and the factors that may cause mortality Material and Method: This study has been performed by retrospectively investigating the data obtained from the patient files and the hospital automation registration system of the pediatric trauma patients who applied to the Adult Emergency Department of the Ondokuz Mayıs University Medical Faculty between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016. Results: 289 of 415 patients involved in our study, were males. The median age was 11.3 years. The most common trauma mechanism was falling from the high. A significant statistical difference was found on the association between trauma mechanisms and gender. An increase in the number of trauma cases was found especially in the summer months. The study showed that thoracic and abdominal trauma was relevant to the increased mortality. Computerized tomography was the most common diagnostic imaging modality. The presence of subarachnoid hemorrhage has increased the risk of mortality by 62.3 fold. Eight of the patients (1.9%) died. Scoring systems were statistically significant to predict mortality. Conclusion: Children are vulnerable to trauma because of their unique anatomical and physiological differences compared to adult patient groups. It will be more successful in the mortality rate and in the post-traumatic healing process by administering the patient triage fast and most appropriate trauma centers in the prehospital period, management of the critical patients with the scoring systems and management with standard treatment protocols

Keywords: emergency service, pediatric patients, scoring systems, trauma, age groups

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Authors: Yusuf Garba Baba

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The construction industry and housing subsector are fraught with risks that have the potential of negatively impacting on the achievement of project objectives. The success or otherwise of most construction projects depends to large extent on how well these risks have been managed. The recent paradigm shift by the subsector to use of formal risk management approach in contrast to hitherto developed rules of thumb means that risks must not only be identified but also properly assessed and responded to in a systematic manner. The study focused on identifying risks associated with housing development projects and prioritisation assessment of the identified risks in order to provide basis for informed decision. The study used a three-step identification framework: review of literature for similar projects, expert consultation and questionnaire based survey to identify potential risk factors. Delphi survey method was employed in carrying out the relative prioritization assessment of the risks factors using computer-based Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) software. The results show that 19 out of the 50 risks significantly impact on housing development projects. The study concludes that although significant numbers of risk factors have been identified as having relevance and impacting to housing construction projects, economic risk group and, in particular, ‘changes in demand for houses’ is prioritised by most developers as posing a threat to the achievement of their housing development objectives. Unless these risks are carefully managed, their effects will continue to impede success in these projects. The study recommends the adoption and use of the combination of multi-technique identification framework and AHP prioritization assessment methodology as a suitable model for the assessment of risks in housing development projects.

Keywords: risk management, risk identification, risk analysis, analytic hierarchical process

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Authors: Caroline Hoorn

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Post-matriculants in disadvantaged communities such as Douglas encounter a number of career challenges. The transition to the democratic dispensation in 1994, coupled with the rapid changes in the information domain that are characteristic of post-industrial life, complicate the career development trajectories of disadvantaged youth. The career development stories and experiences of disadvantaged youth in provinces such as the Northern Cape have not been told, leading to their marginalisation. It is against this background that the study explored the gendered dimensions of career development narratives, experiences, and choices of post-matriculants in the Douglas community in the Northern Cape. Using a qualitative, narrative approach, the researcher elicited career development stories from 23 participants in Douglas using semi-structured interviews. Two main themes were highlighted through the narratives; (1) willingness to challenge the traditional male dominated career script (2) breaking gender barriers. The study showed that gender did not have any influence on the career choices of the post-matriculants. The perceptions around career choices and gender were being challenged partly by the urge to affirm equality and the constant reminder of the poverty-stricken conditions prevalent in the households. A preferred gender is not required to be attached to the fulfilment of outcomes in a knowledge-based economy. Thus, it is not an issue of gender or masculinity but knowledge and skills. Furthermore, the study revealed that the career choices being considered are still the traditionally stereotypical careers like nursing, teaching, and social work, which demonstrates a lack of information to a broader pool of career options to select from.

Keywords: career development, gender, narratives, post-matriculants

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Authors: Chethika Gunasiri Wadumestrige Dona, Geetha Mohan, Kensuke Fukushi

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Solid waste in urban areas, especially from organic materials like garden waste, food, and degradable sources, can create health and environmental problems if not managed properly. Urban agriculture has emerged as a potential solution in developing countries to mitigate these issues. It offers the possibility of low-carbon economies and knowledge and innovation dissemination. Domestic composting is a significant aspect of urban agriculture, and its success relies on the attitudes of those who practice it. This study examines the perspectives of 402 urban farmers in the Colombo District, Sri Lanka, regarding domestic compost production. It aims to identify the factors that influence these perspectives. The research found that urban farmers are willing to participate in domestic composting because they believe that it facilitates effective recycling of organic waste within their households. The study used an ordinal regression model to determine the factors that shape farmers' perspectives. Age, family size, and crop preferences are significant determinants of the adoption of domestic composting practices among urban farmers in the Colombo District. These findings highlight the importance of understanding and addressing farmers' attitudes in designing effective waste management strategies. In addition, the study also emphasizes the need for tailored interventions that align with farmers' beliefs and preferences to enhance the adoption and implementation of domestic composting practices in urban areas. The insights gained from this study contribute to the academic discourse and offer practical guidance for policymakers and urban planners seeking to promote sustainable waste management practices and support the adoption of urban agriculture in the broader context of urban development.

Keywords: urban agriculture, domestic composting, farmers` perspectives, sustainable urban development

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Authors: Li Ji, Kaiwei Chu, Shibo Kuang, Aibing Yu

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Hydrocyclones are widely used to classify particles by size in industries such as mineral processing and chemical processing. The particles to be handled usually have a broad range of size distributions and sometimes density distributions, which has to be properly considered, causing challenges in the modelling of hydrocyclone. The combined approach of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) offers convenience to model particle size/density distribution. However, its direct application to hydrocyclones is computationally prohibitive because there are billions of particles involved. In this work, a CFD-DEM model with the concept of the coarse-grained (CG) model is developed to model the solid-fluid flow in a hydrocyclone. The DEM is used to model the motion of discrete particles by applying Newton’s laws of motion. Here, a particle assembly containing a certain number of particles with same properties is treated as one CG particle. The CFD is used to model the liquid flow by numerically solving the local-averaged Navier-Stokes equations facilitated with the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model to capture air-core. The results are analyzed in terms of fluid and solid flow structures, and particle-fluid, particle-particle and particle-wall interaction forces. Furthermore, the calculated separation performance is compared with the measurements. The results obtained from the present study indicate that this approach can offer an alternative way to examine the flow and performance of hydrocyclones

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, discrete element method, hydrocyclone, multiphase flow

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Authors: Kenneth Kapalu Muzata, Dikeledi Mahlo, Pinkie Mabunda Mabunda

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This paper presents results of a study conducted to establish special education teachers’ knowledge and application of curriculum adaptation of the 2013 revised curriculum in Zambia. From a sample of 134 respondents (120 special education teachers, 12 education officers, and 2 curriculum specialists), the study collected both quantitative and qualitative data to establish whether teachers understood and applied the concept of curriculum adaptation in teaching learners with special education needs. To obtain data validity and reliability, the researchers collected data by use of mixed methods. Semi-structured questionnaires and interviews were administered. Lesson Observations and post-lesson discussions were conducted on 12 selected teachers from the 120 sample that answered the questionnaires. Frequencies, percentages, and significant differences were derived through the statistical package for social sciences. Qualitative data were analyzed with the help of NVIVO qualitative software to create themes and obtain coding density to help with conclusions. Both quantitative and qualitative data were concurrently compared and related. The results revealed that special education teachers lacked a thorough understanding of the concept of curriculum adaptation, thus denying learners with special education needs the opportunity to benefit from the revised curriculum. The teachers were not oriented on the revised curriculum and hence facing numerous challenges trying to adapt the curriculum. The study recommended training of special education teachers in curriculum adaptation.

Keywords: curriculum adaptation, special education, learners with special education needs, special education teachers

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Authors: Hasnaa Benchorfi

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The Tellurite glasses exhibit interesting properties, notably their low melting point (700-900°C), high refractive index (≈2), high transparency in the infrared region (up to 5−6 μm), interesting linear and non-linear optical properties and high rare earth ions solubility. These properties give tellurite glasses a great interest in various optical applications. Transparent ceramics present advantages compared to glasses, such as improved mechanical, thermal and optical properties. But, the elaboration process of these ceramics requires complex sintering conditions. The full crystallization of glass into transparent ceramics is an alternative to circumvent the technical challenges related to the ceramics obtained by conventional processing. In this work, a crystallization study of a specific glass composition in the system TeO2-Ta2O5-Bi2O3 shows structural transitions from the glass to the stabilization of an unreported anti-glass phase to a transparent ceramic upon heating. An anti-glass is a material with a cationic long-range order and a disordered anion sublattice. Thus, the X-ray diffraction patterns show sharp peaks, while the Raman bands are broad and similar to those of the parent glass. The structure and microstructure of the anti-glass and corresponding ceramic were characterized by Powder X-Ray Diffraction, Electron Back Scattered Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The optical properties of the Er3+-doped samples are also discussed.

Keywords: glass, congruent crystallization, anti-glass, glass-ceramic, optics

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Authors: Mohammad Ansari, Ahmed Ismail, Satinder Mann

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Overcrowding in Emergency departments (ED) of United Kingdom has become a common problem. Urgent Care centres were developed nearly a decade ago to reduce pressure on EDs. Unfortunately, the development of Urgent Care centres has failed to produce the projected effects. It was thought that nearly 40% patients attending ED would go to Urgent Care centres and these would be staffed by Primary care Physicians. Data reveals that no more than 20% patients were seen by Primary Care Physicians even when the Urgent Care Centre was based in the ED. This study was carried out at the ED of George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton, UK where the Urgent Care centre was based in the ED and employed Primary Care Physicians with special interest in trauma for nearly one year. This was then followed by a Primary Care Physician and Advanced Nurse Practitioner. We compared the number of patients seen during these periods and the cost-effectiveness of the service.We randomly selected a week of patients seen by Primary Care Physicians with special interest in Trauma and by Primary Care Physicians and the Advanced Nurse Practitioner. We compared the number and type of patients seen during these two periods. Nearly 38% patients were seen by Primary care Physician with special interest in Trauma, whilst only 14.3% patients were seen by the Primary care Physician and Advanced Nurse Practitioner. The Primary Care Physicians with special interest in trauma were paid less. Our study confirmed that unless Primary Care Physicians are able to treat minor trauma and interpret x-rays, the urgent care service is not going to be cost effective. Numerous previous studies have shown that 15 to 20% patients attending ED can be treated by Primary Care Physicians who do not require any investigations for their management. It is advantageous to have Urgent Care Centres within the ED because if the patient deteriorates they can be transferred to ED. We recommend that the Urgent care Centres should be a part of ED. Our study shows that Urgent care Centres in the ED can be helpful and cost effective if staffed by either senior Emergency Physicians or Primary Care Physicians with special interest and experience in the management of minor trauma.

Keywords: urgent care centres, primary care physician, advanced nurse practitioner, trauma

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Authors: Nadeem Munawar, David Galbraith, Tariq Mahmood

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Rodenticides are often included as part of an integrated pest management approach for managing rodent species since they are relatively quick and inexpensive to apply. The current field study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of formulated baits of zinc phosphide (2%) and the second generation anticoagulant brodifacoum (0.005%) against field rats inhabiting a wheat-groundnut cropping system. Burrow baiting was initiated at the early flowering stages of the respective crops, and continued through three growth stages (tillering / peg formation, flowering, and maturity). Three treatments were done at equal time intervals, with the final baiting being about 2 weeks before harvest. Treatment efficacy of the trials was assessed through counts of active rodent burrows before and after treatments at the three growth stages of these crops. The results indicated variable degrees of reduction in burrow activities following the three bait applications. The reductions in rodent activity in wheat were: 88.8% (at tillering), 92%, (at flowering/grain formation), and 95.5% (at maturity). In groundnut, the rodent activities were reduced by 91.8%, 93.5% and 95.8% at sowing, peg formation, and maturity stages, respectively. The estimated mortality at all three growth stages of both wheat and groundnut ranged between 60-85%. We recommend that a field efficacy study should be conducted with zinc phosphide and brodifacoum bait formulations to determine their field performance in the reduction of agricultural damage by rodent pest species. It is a promising alternative approach for use of the most potent second-generation anticoagulant (brodifacoum) in resistance management, particularly with respect to reducing environmental risks and secondary poisoning.

Keywords: brodifacoum, burrow baiting, second-generation anticoagulant, synergistic effect

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Authors: Merav Meiron-Goren, Orna Braun-Lewensohn, Tal Litvak-Hirsh

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In recent years, there has been an increasing tendency towards separation and divorce in relationships. Nevertheless, many couples in a first marriage do not anticipate this as a probable possibility and do not make any preparation for it. Same sex couples establishing a family encounter a much more complicated situation than do heterosexual couples. Although there is a trend towards legal recognition of same sex marriage, many countries, including Israel, do not recognize it. The absence of legal recognition or the existence of partial recognition creates complexity for these couples. They have to fight for their right to establish a family, like the recognition of the biological child of a woman, as a child of her woman spouse too, or the option of surrogacy for a male couple who want children, and more. The lack of legal recognition is burden on the lives of these couples. In the absence of clear norms regarding the conduct of the family unit, the couples must define for themselves the family structure, and deal with everyday dilemmas that lack institutional solutions. This may increase the friction between the two couple members, and it is one of the factors that make it difficult for them to maintain the relationship. This complexity exists, perhaps even more so, in separation. The end of relationship is often accompanied by a deep crisis, causing pain and stress. In most cases, there are also other conflicts that must be settled. These are more complicated when rights are in doubt or do not exist at all. Complex issues for separating same sex couples may include matters of property, recognition of parenthood, and care and support for the children. The significance of the study is based on the fact that same sex relationships are becoming more and more widespread, and are an integral part of the society. Even so, there is still an absence of research focusing on such relationships and their ending. The objective of the study is to research the perceptions of same sex couples regarding the possibility of separation, preparing for it, conflict management and resolving disputes through the separation process. It is also important to understand the point of view of couples that have gone through separation, how they coped with the emotional and practical difficulties involved in the separation process. The doctoral research will use a qualitative research method in a phenomenological approach, based on semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviewees will be divided into three groups- at the beginning of a relationship, during the separation crisis and after separation, with a time perspective, with about 10 couples from each group. The main theoretical model serving as the basis of the study will be the Lazarus and Folkman theory of coping with stress. This model deals with the coping process, including cognitive appraisal of an experience as stressful, appraisal of the coping resources, and using strategies of coping. The strategies are divided into two main groups, emotion-focused forms of coping and problem-focused forms of coping.

Keywords: conflict management, coping, legal recognition, same-sex relationship, separation

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Authors: Ju Shan Lin

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The challenges for traditional industries in Taiwan the past few years are the changes of overall domestic and foreign industry structure, the entrepreneurs not only need to keep on improving their profession skills but also continuously research and develop new products. It is also necessary for the all traditional industries to keep updating the business strategy, let the enterprises continue to progress, and won't be easily replaced by the other industries. The traditional industry in Taiwan attach great importance to the field of enterprises upgrading and innovation in recent years, by the enterprise innovation and transformation can enhance the overall business situation also enable them to obtain more additional profits than in the past. Except the original industry structure's need to transform and upgrade, the brand's business and marketing strategy are also essential. This study will take a certain plastic company as case analysis, for the brand promotion of traditional industries, brand values and business innovation model for further exploration. It will also be mentioned that the other traditional industries cases which were already achieved success on the enterprise's upgrading and innovation, at the same time, the difficulties which they faced with and the way they overcome will be explored as well. This study will use the case study method combined with expert interviews to discuss and analyze this certain plastic company's current business situation, the existing products and the possible trends in the future. Looking forward to providing an innovative business model that will enable this plastic company to upgrade its corporate image and the brand could transform successfully.

Keywords: brand marketing strategy, enterprise upgrade, industrial transformation, traditional industry

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Authors: Raya Kathreen T. Fuentes, Christian Owen P. Domingo, Kaisha V. Durana, Kristine Chelsea Shynne M. Evangelista, Nicole A. Feliciano, Kathleen Patricia Q. Ferido, Christianna Joy J. Ferrer

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Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a global public health concern. The foot ulcer is one of the most serious and costly complications of DM. Among the components of diabetes self-management (DSM), foot self-care was found to be one of the best preventive measures for foot ulcers yet is seldom performed. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine how adequate foot self-care practices (FSP) are among Filipino adults with DM with the following objectives: 1) determine their DSM, 2) describe their FSP, 3) determine the relationship between FSP and DSM, and 4) determine the relationship of FSP to sociodemographic characteristics, disease-related characteristics, social support, and knowledge. A descriptive correlational design was utilized. 114 respondents aged 19-65 were selected through purposive sampling from diabetes clinics. A self-administered questionnaire regarding FSP, DSM, sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics, social support, and knowledge on diabetes were used. Pearson's correlation was utilized to determine the relationship between FSP and DSM while simple linear regression was used to determine the relationship of FSP to the factors aforementioned. Results showed that majority of the respondents have desirable DSM but inadequate FSP. FSP and DSM were shown to be positively correlated but not statistically significant (p = 0.8). Disparity among the two suggests that there is less emphasis on foot self-care compared to other components of DSM. Findings further revealed that patients diagnosed with DM for < 5 years demonstrated more adequate FSP compared to patients diagnosed for > 5 years which may suggest that newly diagnosed patients are more receptive to new information about DSM. Health education on DSM should place more emphasis on FSP. Reiteration of health education and continuous motivation should be done to all DM patients, not just to newly diagnosed patients, to improve compliance to FSP and enhance patient empowerment regarding self-care.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, diabetes self-management, foot self-care practices, foot ulcer

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Authors: Megh Patel, Arjun Chauhan, Jay Thakkar

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Hydrofracturing is the most prominent but at the same time expensive, highly skilled and time consuming well stimulation technique. Due to high cost and skilled labor involved, it is generally carried out as the consummate solution among other well stimulation techniques. Considering today’s global petroleum market, no gaffe or complications could be entertained during fracturing, as it would further hamper the current dwindling economy. The literature would be dealing with the challenges encountered during fracturing low temperature waxy reservoirs and the prominent solutions to overcome such teething troubles. During fracturing treatment for, shallow and high freezing point waxy oil reservoirs, the first line problems are to overcome uncompleted breakdown, uncompleted cleanup of fracturing fluids and cold damages to the formations by injecting cold fluid (fluid at ambient conditions). Injecting fracturing fluids at ambient conditions have the tendency to decrease the near wellbore reservoir temperature below the freezing point of oil reservoir and hence leading to wax deposition around the wellbore thereby hampering the fluid production as well as fracture propagation. To overcome such problems, solutions such as hot fracturing fluid injection, encapsulated heat generating hydraulic fracturing fluid system, and injection of wax inhibitor techniques would be discussed. The paper would also be throwing light on changes in rheological properties occurred during heating fracturing fluids and solutions to deal with it taking economic considerations into account.

Keywords: hydrofracturing, waxy reservoirs, low temperature, viscosity, crosslinkers

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Authors: Crystal Shackleford, Michael Pasek, Allon Vishkin, Jeremy Ginges

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In the Middle East, conflict is often viewed as religiously motivated. In this context, an important question is how we think the religion of the other drives their behavior. If people see conflicts as religious, they may expect the belief of the other to motivate intergroup bias. Beliefs about the motivations of the other impact how we engage with them. Conflict may result if actors believe the other’s religion promotes parochialism. To examine how actors on the ground in Israel-Palestine think about the God of the other as it relates to the other’s behavior towards them, we ran two studies in winter 2019 with an online sample of Jewish Israelis and fieldwork with Palestinians in the West Bank. We asked participants to predict the behavior of an outgroup member participating in an economic game task, dividing the money between themselves and another person, who is either an ingroup or outgroup member. Our experimental manipulation asks participants to predict the behavior of the other when the other is thinking of their God. Both Israelis and Palestinians believed outgroup members would show in-group favoritism, and that group members would give more to their in-group when thinking of their God. We also found that participants thought outgroup members would give more to their own ingroup when thinking of God. In other words, Palestinians predicted that Israelis would give more to fellow Israelis when thinking of God, but also more to Palestinians. Our results suggest that religious belief is seen to promote universal moral reasoning, even in a context with over 70 years of intense conflict. More broadly, this challenges the narrative that religion necessarily motivates intractable conflict.

Keywords: conflict, psychology, religion, meta-cognition, morality

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Authors: Tasaduk Musood

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In the dynamic landscape of higher education, intra-regional migration within Kashmir represents a complex interplay of influential elements. This qualitative research study aims to explore and analyze the multifaceted factors that significantly shape the patterns and motivations driving students' migration within the region. The study employed a qualitative research approach. The research is carried out with a sample of 60 participants, consisting of 30 male and 30 female students selected from various higher education institutions in the Punjab region. Through self-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the research unravels the underlying drivers, aspirations, challenges, and opportunities that underpin the phenomenon of intra-regional migration in the Kashmiri higher education landscape. The results of this study are expected to offer valuable insights for policymakers, educational institutions, and stakeholders to better understand, address, and potentially enhance the experiences and outcomes of shareholders of students engaged in intra-regional mobility within Kashmir's higher education domain. This study's findings aim to contribute significantly to the existing body of knowledge surrounding intra-regional migration within Kashmir's higher education landscape, offering a nuanced understanding of the drivers behind student mobility. Ultimately, this research endeavors to facilitate more informed and effective decision-making in addressing the evolving dynamics of intra-regional migration in Kashmir's higher education sector.

Keywords: intra-regional migration, student migration patterns, student mobility, higher education, kashmir

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Authors: Rika Uchida

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In teaching sophomore level aural skills, I have dealt with students with absolute pitch do poorly in my courses, particularly in harmonic dictation. They can identify triads; however, identifying quality of seventh chords or chromatic chords poses serious challenges. Most often, they need to spell all the pitches before identifying the chord qualities and Roman Numerals. Growing up in a country where acquiring absolute pitch is considered essential, I started my early music training with fixed do system at age three and learned all my music with solfege. When I was assigned as a TA in aural skills courses at graduate school in US, I had to learn relative pitch quickly. My survival method was listening to music with absolute pitch first, then quickly "translate" to relative pitch. In teaching my courses, I have been using chord progressions (5-8 chords total), in which students are asked to sing chord arpeggiation with movable do solfege. I use same progressions for harmonic dictation; I hoped that students learn to incorporate singing and listening skills by overlapping same materials. This method has proven to be successful for most students; in particular, it has helped students with absolute pitch to hear chord quality and function. Although original progressions are written in C as a tonic, they can identify chords in harmonic dictation in other keys as well. In short, I believe singing chord progression with movable do arpeggiation helps students with absolute pitch to improve hearing function and quality of chords in harmonic dictation.

Keywords: aural skills pedagogy, music theory, absolute pitch, harmonic dictation

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