Search results for: dynamic capabilities view

Authors: Meirav Eshkol, Miri Blaufeld, Rinat Basal

Abstract:

Aim: The working environment in rural clinics is often isolated and distant from major health centers. In these circumstances, rural health care faces numerous challenges. The hope is that, in the immediate future and in the medium and long range, the rural nursing staff will realize their full professional and personal potential to their own satisfaction and to the health and welfare of their patients. Background: Rural nurses work mostly alone or with very few colleagues, and have the authority to make professional decisions, a fact which often requires them to make critical decisions in pressure situations. In addition, the expectations set for these nurses are extremely high, a fact which requires them to be extremely skilled and to fulfill their professional potential. They are required to provide high-quality and comprehensive care to the individual, the family, and the community and to maintain close interaction with the community. Work in a rural setting requires the flexibility to perform multiple tasks in an isolated setting, often far removed from major health centers. In order to maintain professional satisfaction for the rural nurse, expanded direction and training are required in professional know-how, and in the development of new and existing skills, toward the goal of treating a diverse population and to obtain a comprehensive view of the components of a diagnosis for treatment and to develop an understanding appropriate to the presented reality. Objective: To provide knowledge and to expand and develop professional skills in the prevention and advancement of health in the care of a diverse patient population. The development of strategies and skills for work under pressure alone instills expertise in performing multiple tasks in diverse disciplines. To reduce feelings of stress and burnout. Methodology: This course is the first and one of a kind in Clalit - the biggest health organisation in Israel. Observing and identifying the needs of the nurses in the field relating to the development of professional and personal skills defining goals and objectives, and determining the content of a course designed for rural nurses and kibbutz nurses who are not Clalit employees. Results: 43 nurses participated and 30 answered the feedback questionnaire. The rating of their experience was 4.33 (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest ranking). 92% indicated the importance of meeting with additional nurses to teach their colleagues. 83% of the nurses indicated an increased sense of organizational belonging. 60% indicated that the course helped to reduce feelings of stress and burnout in becoming a better rural nurse. 80% indicated that the course helped them establish intra-organizational professional cooperation and initiating processes. Conclusion: The course is an instrument which aids in increasing the feeling of organizational belonging, reducing feelings of stress and burnout, creation of relationships and cooperation both within and outside of the organization, increased the realization of the potential of the village nurse.

Keywords: rural nurse, alone, burnout, multiple tasks

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Dina Kon Mushid, Sage Ngoie, Tshimbalanga Madiba, Kabutakapua Kakanda

Abstract:

Slope stability assessment is still the biggest challenge in mining activities and civil engineering structures. The slope in an opencast mine frequently reaches multiple weak layers that lead to the instability of the pit. Faults and soft layers throughout the rock would increase weathering and erosion rates. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the stability of the complex strata to figure out how stable they are. In the Dikuluwe-Mashamba (DIMA) area, the lithology of the stratum is a set of metamorphic rocks whose parent rocks are sedimentary rocks with a low degree of metamorphism. Thus, due to the composition and metamorphism of the parent rock, the rock formation is different in hardness and softness, which means that when the content of dolomitic and siliceous is high, the rock is hard. It is softer when the content of argillaceous and sandy is high. Therefore, from the vertical direction, it appears as a weak and hard layer, and from the horizontal direction, it seems like a smooth and hard layer in the same rock layer. From the structural point of view, the main structures in the mining area are the Dikuluwe dipping syncline and the Mashamba dipping anticline, and the occurrence of rock formations varies greatly. During the folding process of the rock formation, the stress will concentrate on the soft layer, causing the weak layer to be broken. At the same time, the phenomenon of interlayer dislocation occurs. This article aimed to evaluate the stability of metasedimentary rocks of the Dikuluwe-Mashamba (DIMA) open-pit mine using limit equilibrium and stereographic methods Based on the presence of statistical structural planes, the stereographic projection was used to study the slope's stability and examine the discontinuity orientation data to identify failure zones along the mine. The results revealed that the slope angle is too steep, and it is easy to induce landslides. The numerical method's sensitivity analysis showed that the slope angle and groundwater significantly impact the slope safety factor. The increase in the groundwater level substantially reduces the stability of the slope. Among the factors affecting the variation in the rate of the safety factor, the bulk density of soil is greater than that of rock mass, the cohesion of soil mass is smaller than that of rock mass, and the friction angle in the rock mass is much larger than that in the soil mass. The analysis showed that the rock mass structure types are mostly scattered and fragmented; the stratum changes considerably, and the variation of rock and soil mechanics parameters is significant.

Keywords: slope stability, weak layer, safety factor, limit equilibrium method, stereography method

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

Abstract:

The modeling of a spatial-economic database is crucial in recitation economic network structure to social development. Sustainability within the spatial-economic model gives attention to green businesses to comply with Earth’s Systems. The natural exchange patterns of ecosystems have consistent and periodic cycles to preserve energy and materials flow in systems ecology. When network topology influences formal and informal communication to function in systems ecology, ecosystems are postulated to valence the basic level of spatial sustainable outcome (i.e., project compatibility success). These referred instrumentalities impact various aspects of the second level of spatial sustainable outcomes (i.e., participant social security satisfaction). The sustainability outcomes are modeling composite structure based on a network analysis model to calculate the prosperity of panel databases for efficiency value, from 2005 to 2025. The database is modeling spatial structure to represent state-of-the-art value-orientation impact and corresponding complexity of sustainability issues (e.g., build a consistent database necessary to approach spatial structure; construct the spatial-economic-ecological model; develop a set of sustainability indicators associated with the model; allow quantification of social, economic and environmental impact; use the value-orientation as a set of important sustainability policy measures), and demonstrate spatial structure reliability. The structure of spatial-ecological model is established for management schemes from the perspective pollutants of multiple sources through the input–output criteria. These criteria evaluate the spillover effect to conduct Monte Carlo simulations and sensitivity analysis in a unique spatial structure. The balance within “equilibrium patterns,” such as collective biosphere features, has a composite index of many distributed feedback flows. The following have a dynamic structure related to physical and chemical properties for gradual prolong to incremental patterns. While these spatial structures argue from ecological modeling of resource savings, static loads are not decisive from an artistic/architectural perspective. The model attempts to unify analytic and analogical spatial structure for the development of urban environments in a relational database setting, using optimization software to integrate spatial structure where the process is based on the engineering topology of systems ecology.

Keywords: ecological modeling, spatial structure, orientation impact, composite index, industrial ecology

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Peter Modregger, Özgül Öztürk

Abstract:

Glass fabric reinforced thermoplastic (GFRT) are composite materials, which combine low weight and resilient mechanical properties rendering them especially suitable for automobile construction. However, defects in the glass fabric as well as in the polymer matrix can occur during manufacturing, which may compromise component lifetime or even safety. One type of these defects is local fiber shifts, which can be difficult to detect. Recently, we have experimentally demonstrated the reliable detection of local fiber shifts by X-ray scattering based on the edge-illumination (EI) principle. EI constitutes a novel X-ray imaging technique that utilizes two slit masks, one in front of the sample and one in front of the detector, in order to simultaneously provide absorption, phase, and scattering contrast. The principle of contrast formation is as follows. The incident X-ray beam is split into smaller beamlets by the sample mask, resulting in small beamlets. These are distorted by the interaction with the sample, and the distortions are scaled up by the detector masks, rendering them visible to a pixelated detector. In the experiment, the sample mask is laterally scanned, resulting in Gaussian-like intensity distributions in each pixel. The area under the curves represents absorption, the peak offset refraction, and the width of the curve represents the scattering occurring in the sample. Here, scattering is caused by the numerous glass fiber/polymer matrix interfaces. In our recent publication, we have shown that the standard deviation of the absorption and scattering values over a selected field of view can be used to distinguish between intact samples and samples with local fiber shift defects. The quantification of defect detection performance was done by using p-values (p=0.002 for absorption and p=0.009 for scattering) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR=3.0 for absorption and CNR=2.1 for scattering) between the two groups of samples. This was further improved for the scattering contrast to p=0.0004 and CNR=4.2 by utilizing a harmonic decomposition analysis of the images. Thus, we concluded that local fiber shifts can be reliably detected by the X-ray scattering contrasts provided by EI. However, a potential application in, for example, production monitoring requires fast data acquisition times. For the results above, the scanning of the sample masks was performed over 50 individual steps, which resulted in long total scan times. In this paper, we will demonstrate that reliable detection of local fiber shift defects is also possible by using single images, which implies a speed up of total scan time by a factor of 50. Additional performance improvements will also be discussed, which opens the possibility for real-time acquisition. This contributes a vital step for the translation of EI to industrial applications for a wide variety of materials consisting of numerous interfaces on the micrometer scale.

Keywords: defects in composites, X-ray scattering, local fiber shifts, X-ray edge Illumination

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: Lombuso P. Shabalala

Abstract:

This research paper investigates the importance of community involvement in tourism development activities from the initial stage. Community is defined as a group of people living in the same area and practicing common ownership and practices or with a commonality such as norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Globalisation has restructured economic, political, and social relationships at the local level, which impacts community involvement in activities taking place in their own space. Although social relationships and interests are no longer limited to local communities, the power of place remains. Whereas, tourism is considered as an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and their international relations. The existing literature has indicated that the four types of motivation in community involvement are best differentiated by identifying the unique ultimate goal for each motivation. In a nutshell, the ultimate goal for egoism is to increase one's own welfare; altruism is to increase the welfare of another individual or individuals; collectivism is aimed at increasing the welfare of a group, and the principlism is to uphold one or more moral principles. As a base of community involvement, each of these four forms of motivation exhibits its own strengths and weaknesses to be acknowledged. Purposive sampling was suitable to select the fourteen descendant group representatives. The representatives included chief/s, headman, senior descendants’ member, and members of the traditional council who descends from MWCHS. The qualitative research design was adopted for the study in the form of semi-structured interviews. Community development is a social process involving residents in activities designed to improve their quality of life. The key finding of the research is the importance of involving communities, in particular, the immediate community members from the initial stage of any proposed tourism development activity. Without a doubt, the immediate communities are well informed about the dynamics of the area (economically, politically, and socially). Therefore, the finding suggests that communities are in a better position to advise project managers on possible potential tourism developments activities that can address the real needs and benefit the community, instead of investing resources in a development that will not benefit or add any value in the lives of the targeted communities. It must be noted that the power of the place where the development will be implemented remains with the community. Furthermore, community support and buy-in are crucial to the success of prospective tourism development. In conclusion, it cannot be denied that community involvement comes with its own challenges, contrary to greater sustainable benefits that can be realized prior to articulation. The study suggests for project managers to ensure a fair and transparent community involvement process. Fair distribution of meaningful roles could secure trust and result in these communities to view the proposed development as their own.

Keywords: communities, development, involvement, tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Neveen AlQasas, Daniel Johnson

Abstract:

Membranes for water treatment are an established technology that attracts great attention due to its simplicity and cost effectiveness. However, membranes in operation suffer from the adverse effect of membrane fouling. Bio-fouling is a phenomenon that occurs at the water-membrane interface, and is a dynamic process that is initiated by the adsorption of dissolved organic material, including biomacromolecules, on the membrane surface. After initiation, attachment of microorganisms occurs, followed by biofilm growth. The biofilm blocks the pores of the membrane and consequently results in reducing the water flux. Moreover, the presence of a fouling layer can have a substantial impact on the membrane separation properties. Understanding the mechanism of the initiation phase of biofouling is a key point in eliminating the biofouling on membrane surfaces. The adhesion and attachment of different fouling materials is affected by the surface properties of the membrane materials. Therefore, surface properties of different polymeric materials had been studied in terms of their surface energies and Hansen solubility parameters (HSP). The difference between the combined HSP parameters (HSP distance) allows prediction of the affinity of two materials to each other. The possibilities of measuring the HSP of different polymer films via surface measurements, such as contact angle has been thoroughly investigated. Knowing the HSP of a membrane material and the HSP of a specific foulant, facilitate the estimation of the HSP distance between the two, and therefore the strength of attachment to the surface. Contact angle measurements using fourteen different solvents on five different polymeric films were carried out using the sessile drop method. Solvents were ranked as good or bad solvents using different ranking method and ranking was used to calculate the HSP of each polymeric film. Results clearly indicate the absence of a direct relation between contact angle values of each film and the HSP distance between each polymer film and the solvents used. Therefore, estimating HSP via contact angle alone is not sufficient. However, it was found if the surface tensions and viscosities of the used solvents are taken in to the account in the analysis of the contact angle values, a prediction of the HSP from contact angle measurements is possible. This was carried out via training of a neural network model. The trained neural network model has three inputs, contact angle value, surface tension and viscosity of solvent used. The model is able to predict the HSP distance between the used solvent and the tested polymer (material). The HSP distance prediction is further used to estimate the total and individual HSP parameters of each tested material. The results showed an accuracy of about 90% for all the five studied films

Keywords: surface characterization, hansen solubility parameter estimation, contact angle measurements, artificial neural network model, surface measurements

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Rafał Szmajser, Katarzyna Świetla, Mariusz Andrzejewski

Abstract:

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a technology of repeatable business processes performed using computer programs, robots that simulate the work of a human being. This approach assumes replacing an existing employee with the use of dedicated software (software robots) to support activities, primarily repeated and uncomplicated, characterized by a low number of exceptions. RPA application is widespread in modern business services, particularly in the areas of Finance, Accounting and Human Resources Management. By utilizing this technology, the effectiveness of operations increases while reducing workload, minimizing possible errors in the process, and as a result, bringing measurable decrease in the cost of providing services. Regardless of how the use of modern information technology is assessed, there are also some doubts as to whether we should replace human activities in the implementation of the automation in business processes. After the initial awe for the new technological concept, a reflection arises: to what extent does the implementation of RPA increase the efficiency of operations or is there a Business Case for implementing it? If the business case is beneficial, in which business processes is the greatest potential for RPA? A closer look at these issues was provided by in this research during which the respondents’ view of the perceived advantages resulting from the use of robotization and automation in financial and accounting processes was verified. As a result of an online survey addressed to over 500 respondents from international companies, 162 complete answers were returned from the most important types of organizations in the modern business services industry, i.e. Business or IT Process Outsourcing (BPO/ITO), Shared Service Centers (SSC), Consulting/Advisory and their customers. Answers were provided by representatives of the positions in their organizations: Members of the Board, Directors, Managers and Experts/Specialists. The structure of the survey allowed the respondents to supplement the survey with additional comments and observations. The results formed the basis for the creation of a business case calculating tangible benefits associated with the implementation of automation in the selected financial processes. The results of the statistical analyses carried out with regard to revenue growth confirmed the correctness of the hypothesis that there is a correlation between job position and the perception of the impact of RPA implementation on individual benefits. Second hypothesis (H2) that: There is a relationship between the kind of company in the business services industry and the reception of the impact of RPA on individual benefits was thus not confirmed. Based results of survey authors performed simulation of business case for implementation of RPA in selected Finance and Accounting Processes. Calculated payback period was diametrically different ranging from 2 months for the Account Payables process with 75% savings and in the extreme case for the process Taxes implementation and maintenance costs exceed the savings resulting from the use of the robot.

Keywords: automation, outsourcing, business process automation, process automation, robotic process automation, RPA, RPA business case, RPA benefits

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Fikret Yalcinkaya, Hamza Unsal

Abstract:

To understand how neurons work, it is required to combine experimental studies on neural science with numerical simulations of neuron models in a computer environment. In this regard, the simplicity and applicability of spiking neuron modeling functions have been of great interest in computational neuron science and numerical neuroscience in recent years. Spiking neuron models can be classified by exhibiting various neuronal behaviors, such as spiking and bursting. These classifications are important for researchers working on theoretical neuroscience. In this paper, three different spiking neuron models; Izhikevich, Adaptive Exponential Integrate Fire (AEIF) and Hindmarsh Rose (HR), which are based on first order differential equations, are discussed and compared. First, the physical meanings, derivatives, and differential equations of each model are provided and simulated in the Matlab environment. Then, by selecting appropriate parameters, the models were visually examined in the Matlab environment and it was aimed to demonstrate which model can simulate well-known biological neuron behaviours such as Tonic Spiking, Tonic Bursting, Mixed Mode Firing, Spike Frequency Adaptation, Resonator and Integrator. As a result, the Izhikevich model has been shown to perform Regular Spiking, Continuous Explosion, Intrinsically Bursting, Thalmo Cortical, Low-Threshold Spiking and Resonator. The Adaptive Exponential Integrate Fire model has been able to produce firing patterns such as Regular Ignition, Adaptive Ignition, Initially Explosive Ignition, Regular Explosive Ignition, Delayed Ignition, Delayed Regular Explosive Ignition, Temporary Ignition and Irregular Ignition. The Hindmarsh Rose model showed three different dynamic neuron behaviours; Spike, Burst and Chaotic. From these results, the Izhikevich cell model may be preferred due to its ability to reflect the true behavior of the nerve cell, the ability to produce different types of spikes, and the suitability for use in larger scale brain models. The most important reason for choosing the Adaptive Exponential Integrate Fire model is that it can create rich ignition patterns with fewer parameters. The chaotic behaviours of the Hindmarsh Rose neuron model, like some chaotic systems, is thought to be used in many scientific and engineering applications such as physics, secure communication and signal processing.

Keywords: Izhikevich, adaptive exponential integrate fire, Hindmarsh Rose, biological neuron behaviours, spiking neuron models

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Anthony R. Townsend, Robyn L. Fasser

Abstract:

This research project provides an interpretative phenomenological analysis of a proposed conceptual model of parenting ability that has been designed to offer recommendations to guide intervention in child custody evaluations in South Africa. A recent review of the literature on child custody evaluations reveals that while there have been significant and valuable shifts in the capacity of the legal system aided by mental health professionals in understanding children and family dynamics, there remains a conceptual gap regarding the nature of parenting ability. With a view to addressing this paucity of a theoretical basis for considering parenting ability, this research project reviews a dimensional model for the assessment of parenting ability by conceiving parenting ability as a combination of good parenting and parental fitness. This model serves as a conceptual framework to guide child-custody evaluation and refine intervention in such cases to better meet the best interests of the child in a manner that bridges the professional gap between parties, legal entities, and mental health professionals. Using a model of good parenting as a point of theoretical departure, this model incorporates both intra-psychic and interpersonal attributes and behaviours of parents to form an impression of parenting ability and identify areas for potential enhancement. This research, therefore, hopes to achieve the following: (1) to provide nuanced descriptions of parents’ parenting ability; (2) to describe parents’ parenting potential; (3) to provide a parenting assessment tool for investigators in forensic family matters that will enable more useful recommendations and interventions; (4) to develop a language of consensus for investigators, attorneys, judges and parents, in forensic family matters, as to what comprises parenting ability and how this can be assessed; and (5) that all of the aforementioned will serve to advance the best interests of the children involved in such litigious matters. The evaluative promise and post-assessment prospects of this model are illustrated through three interlinking data sets: (1) the results of interviews with South African psychologists about the model, (2) retrospective analysis of care and contact evaluation reports using the model to determine if different conclusions or more specific recommendations are generated with its use and (3) the results of an interview with a psychologist who piloted this model by using it in care and contact evaluation.

Keywords: alienation, attachment, best interests of the child, care and contact evaluation, children’s act (38 of 2005), child custody evaluation, civil forensics, gatekeeping, good parenting, good-enough parenting, health professions council of South Africa, family law, forensic mental healthcare practitioners, parental fitness, parenting ability, parent management training, parenting plan, problem-determined system, psychotherapy, support of other child-parent relationship, voice of the child

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Lamzira Ebralidze, Aleksandre Tsertsvadze, Dali Berashvili, Aliosha Bakuridze

Abstract:

Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for biologically active substances from vegetable, animal, and mineral resources. In terms of the use of natural compounds, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutrition industry has big interest. The biggest drawback of conventional extraction methods is the need to use a large volume of organic extragents. The removal of the organic solvent is a multi-stage process. And their absolute removal cannot be achieved, and they still appear in the final product as impurities. A large amount of waste containing organic solvent damages not only human health but also has the harmful effects of the environment. Accordingly, researchers are focused on improving the extraction methods, which aims to minimize the use of organic solvents and energy sources, using alternate solvents and renewable raw materials. In this context, green extraction principles were formed. Green Extraction is a need of today’s environment. Green Extraction is the concept, and it totally corresponds to the challenges of the 21st century. The extraction of biologically active compounds based on green extraction principles is vital from the view of preservation and maintaining biodiversity. Novel technologies of green extraction are known, such as "cold methods" because during the extraction process, the temperature is relatively lower, and it doesn’t have a negative impact on the stability of plant compounds. Novel technologies provide great opportunities to reduce or replace the use of organic toxic solvents, the efficiency of the process, enhance excretion yield, and improve the quality of the final product. The objective of the research is the development of green technologies of flavonoids containing preparations. Methodology: At the first stage of the research, flavonoids containing preparations (Tincture Herba Leonuri, flamine, rutine) were prepared based on conventional extraction methods: maceration, bismaceration, percolation, repercolation. At the same time, the same preparations were prepared based on green technologies, microwave-assisted, UV extraction methods. Product quality characteristics were evaluated by pharmacopeia methods. At the next stage of the research technological - economic characteristics and cost efficiency of products prepared based on conventional and novel technologies were determined. For the extraction of flavonoids, water is used as extragent. Surface-active substances are used as co-solvent in order to reduce surface tension, which significantly increases the solubility of polyphenols in water. Different concentrations of water-glycerol mixture, cyclodextrin, ionic solvent were used for the extraction process. In vitro antioxidant activity will be studied by the spectrophotometric method, using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) as an antioxidant assay. The advantage of green extraction methods is also the possibility of obtaining higher yield in case of low temperature, limitation extraction process of undesirable compounds. That is especially important for the extraction of thermosensitive compounds and maintaining their stability.

Keywords: extraction, green technologies, natural resources, flavonoids

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: S. Rodosik, J. P. Poirot-Crouvezier, Y. Bultel

Abstract:

With the expansion of the hydrogen economy, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) systems are often presented as promising energy converters suitable for transport applications. However, reaching a durability of 5000 h recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy and decreasing system cost are still major hurdles to their development. In order to increase the system efficiency and simplify the system without affecting the fuel cell lifetime, an architecture called alternative fuel feeding has been developed. It consists in a fuel cell stack divided into two parts, alternatively fed, implemented on a 5-kW system for real scale testing. The operation strategy can be considered close to Dead End Anode (DEA) with specific modifications to avoid water and nitrogen accumulation in the cells. The two half-stacks are connected in series to enable each stack to be alternatively fed. Water and nitrogen accumulated can be shifted from one half-stack to the other one according to the alternative feeding frequency. Thanks to the homogenization of water vapor along the stack, water management was improved. The operating conditions obtained at system scale are close to recirculation without the need of a pump or an ejector. In a first part, a performance comparison with the DEA strategy has been performed. At high temperature and low pressure (80°C, 1.2 bar), performance of alternative fuel feeding was higher, and the system efficiency increased. In a second part, in order to highlight the benefits of the architecture on the fuel cell lifetime, two durability tests, lasting up to 1000h, have been conducted. A test on the 5-kW system has been compared to a reference test performed on a test bench with a shorter stack, conducted with well-controlled operating parameters and flow-through hydrogen strategy. The durability test is based upon the Fuel Cell Dynamic Load Cycle (FC-DLC) protocol but adapted to the system limitations: without OCV steps and a maximum current density of 0.4 A/cm². In situ local measurements with a segmented S++® plate performed all along the tests, showed a more homogeneous distribution of the current density with alternative fuel feeding than in flow-through strategy. Tests performed in this work enabled the understanding of this architecture advantages and drawbacks. Alternative fuel feeding architecture appeared to be a promising solution to ensure the humidification function at the anode side with a simplified fuel cell system.

Keywords: automotive conditions, durability, fuel cell system, proton exchange membrane fuel cell, stack architecture

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Majid Rasta, Xiaotao Shi, Mian Adnan Kakakhel, Yanqin Bai, Lao Liu, Jia Manke

Abstract:

Microplastics (MPs; particles <5 mm) pollution is considered as a globally pervasive threat to aquatic ecosystems, and many studies reported this pollution in rivers, wetlands, lakes, coastal waters and oceans. In the aquatic environments, settling and transport of MPs in water column and sediments are determined by different factors such as hydrologic characteristics, watershed pattern, rainfall events, hydraulic conditions, vegetation, hydrodynamics behavior of MPs, and physical features of particles (shape, size and density). In the meantime, hydraulic conditions (such as turbulence, high/low water speed flows or water stagnation) play a key role in the fate of MPs in aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, this study presents a briefly review on the effects of different hydraulic conditions on the fate, transport and accumulation of MPs in aquatic ecosystems. Generally, MPs are distributed horizontally and vertically in aquatic environments. The vertical distribution of MPs in the water column changes with different flow velocities. In the riverine, turbulent flow causing from the rapid water velocity and shallow depth may create a homogeneous mixture of MPs throughout the water column. While low velocity followed by low-turbulent waters can lead to the low level vertical mixing of MP particles in the water column. Consequently, the high numbers of MPs are expected to be found in the sediments of deep and wide channels as well as estuaries. In contrast, observing the lowest accumulation of MP particles in the sediments of straights of the rivers, places with the highest flow velocity is understandable. In the marine environment, hydrodynamic factors (e.g., turbulence, current velocity and residual circulation) can affect the sedimentation and transportation of MPs and thus change the distribution of MPs in the marine and coastal sediments. For instance, marine bays are known as the accumulation area of MPs due to poor hydrodynamic conditions. On the other hand, in the nearshore zone, the flow conditions are highly complex and dynamic. Experimental studies illustrated that maximum horizontal flow velocity in the sandy beach can predict the accumulation of MPs so that particles with high sinking velocities deposit in the lower water depths. As a whole, it can be concluded that the transport and accumulation of MPs in aquatic ecosystems are highly affected by hydraulic conditions. This study provided information about the impacts of hydraulic on MPs pollution. Further research on hydraulics and its relationship to the accumulation of MPs in aquatic ecosystems is needed to increase insights into this pollution.

Keywords: microplastics pollution, hydraulic, transport, accumulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Eric Bates

Abstract:

Higher education is recognised as being of critical importance in Ireland and has been linked as a vital factor to national well-being. Statistics show that Ireland has one of the highest rates of higher education participation in Europe. However, student retention and progression, especially in Institutes of Technology, is becoming an issue as rates on non-completion rise. Both within Ireland and across Europe student retention is seen as a key performance indicator for higher education and with these increasing rates the Irish higher education system needs to be flexible and adapt to the situation it now faces. The author is a Programme Chair on a Level 6 full time undergraduate programme and experience to date has shown that the first year undergraduate students take some time to identify themselves as a group within the setting of a higher education institute. Despite being part of a distinct class on a specific programme some individuals can feel isolated as he or she take the first step into higher education. Such feelings can contribute to students eventually dropping out. This paper reports on an ongoing initiative that aims to accelerate the bonding experience of a distinct group of first year undergraduates on a programme which has a high rate of non-completion. This research sought to engage the students in dynamic interactions with their peers to quickly evolve a group sense of coherence. Two separate modules – a Research Module and a Communications module - delivered by the researcher were linked across two semesters. Students were allocated into random groups and each group was given a topic to be researched. There were six topics – essentially the six sub-headings on the DIT Graduate Attribute Statement. The research took place in a computer lab and students also used the library. The output from this was a document that formed part of the submission for the Research Module. In the second semester the groups then had to make a presentation of their findings where each student spoke for a minimum amount of time. Presentation workshops formed part of that module and students were given the opportunity to practice their presentation skills. These presentations were video recorded to enable feedback to be given. Although this was a small scale study preliminary results found a strong sense of coherence among this particular cohort and feedback from the students was very positive. Other findings indicate that spreading the initiative across two semesters may have been an inhibitor. Future challenges include spreading such Initiatives College wide and indeed sector wide.

Keywords: first year experience, student retention, group work, presentation workshops

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Ulysse Lecomte, Maryline Thenot

Abstract:

For a long time, disabled people lived in isolation within the family environment, with little interaction with the outside world and a high risk of social exclusion. However, in a number of countries, progress has been made thanks to changes in legislation on the social integration of disabled people, a significant change in attitudes, and the development of CSR. But the problem of their social, economic, and professional exclusion persists and has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This societal phenomenon is sufficiently important to be the subject of management science research. We have therefore focused our work on society's current perception of people with disabilities and their possible integration. Our aim is to find out what levers could be put in place to bring about positive change in the situation. We have chosen to focus on the perception of young people in France, who are the new generation responsible for the future of our society and from whom tomorrow's decisionmakers, future employers, and stakeholders who can influence the living conditions of disabled people will be drawn. Our study sample corresponds to the 18-30 age group, which is the population of young adults likely to have sufficient experience and maturity. The aim of this study is not only to find out how this population currently perceives disability but also to identify the factors influencing this perception and the most effective levers for action to act positively on this phenomenon and thus promote better social integration of people with disabilities in the future. The methodology is based on theoretical and empirical research. The literature review includes a historical and etymological approach to disability, a definition of the different concepts of disability, an approach to disability as a vector of social exclusion, and the role of perception and representations in defining the social image of disability. This literature review is followed by an empirical part carried out by means of a questionnaire administered to 110 young people aged 18 to 30. Analysis of our results suggests that, despite a recent improvement, disabled people are still perceived as vulnerable and socially marginalised. The following factors stand out as having a significant influence (positive or negative) on the perception of disability: the individual's familiarity with the 'world of disability', cultural factors, the degree of 'visibility' of the disability and the empathy level of the disabled person him/herself. Others, on the other hand, such as socio-political and economic factors, have little impact on this perception. In addition, it is possible to classify the various levers of action likely to improve the social perception of disability according to their degree of effectiveness. Our study population prioritised training initiatives for the various players and stakeholders (teachers, students, disabled people themselves, companies, sports clubs, etc.). This was followed by communication, ecommunication and media campaigns in favour of disability. Lastly, the sample was judged as 'less effective' positive discrimination actions such as setting a minimum percentage for the representation of disabled people in various fields (studies, employment, politics ...).

Keywords: disability, perception, social image, young people, influencing factors, levers for action

Procedia PDF Downloads 24

Authors: Jesus Carretero, Mario Vasile, Guillermo Izquierdo, Javier Garcia-Blas

Abstract:

Currently, there is a so called ‘identity crisis’ in cybersecurity caused by the substantial security, privacy and usability shortcomings encountered in existing systems for identity management. Federated Identity Management (FIM) could be solution for this crisis, as it is a method that facilitates management of identity processes and policies among collaborating entities without enforcing a global consistency, that is difficult to achieve when there are ID legacy systems. To cope with this problem, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) initiative proposed in 2014 a federated solution in anticipation of the adoption of the Regulation (EU) N°910/2014, the so-called eIDAS Regulation. At present, a network of eIDAS Nodes is being deployed at European level to allow that every citizen recognized by a member state is to be recognized within the trust network at European level, enabling the consumption of services in other member states that, until now were not allowed, or whose concession was tedious. This is a very ambitious approach, since it tends to enable cross-border authentication of Member States citizens without the need to unify the authentication method (eID Scheme) of the member state in question. However, this federation is currently managed by member states and it is initially applied only to citizens and public organizations. The goal of this paper is to present the results of a European Project, named eID@Cloud, that focuses on the integration of eID in 5 cloud platforms belonging to authentication service providers of different EU Member States to act as Service Providers (SP) for private entities. We propose an initiative based on a private eID Scheme both for natural and legal persons. The methodology followed in the eID@Cloud project is that each Identity Provider (IdP) is subscribed to an eIDAS Node Connector, requesting for authentication, that is subscribed to an eIDAS Node Proxy Service, issuing authentication assertions. To cope with high loads, load balancing is supported in the eIDAS Node. The eID@Cloud project is still going on, but we already have some important outcomes. First, we have deployed the federation identity nodes and tested it from the security and performance point of view. The pilot prototype has shown the feasibility of deploying this kind of systems, ensuring good performance due to the replication of the eIDAS nodes and the load balance mechanism. Second, our solution avoids the propagation of identity data out of the native domain of the user or entity being identified, which avoids problems well known in cybersecurity due to network interception, man in the middle attack, etc. Last, but not least, this system allows to connect any country or collectivity easily, providing incremental development of the network and avoiding difficult political negotiations to agree on a single authentication format (which would be a major stopper).

Keywords: cybersecurity, identity federation, trust, user authentication

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Yuri Laevsky, Tatyana Nosova

Abstract:

The phenomenon of filtration gas combustion (FGC) had been discovered experimentally at the beginning of 80’s of the previous century. It has a number of important applications in such areas as chemical technologies, fire-explosion safety, energy-saving technologies, oil production. From the physical point of view, FGC may be defined as the propagation of region of gaseous exothermic reaction in chemically inert porous medium, as the gaseous reactants seep into the region of chemical transformation. The movement of the combustion front has different modes, and this investigation is focused on the low-velocity regime. The main characteristic of the process is the velocity of the combustion front propagation. Computation of this characteristic encounters substantial difficulties because of the strong heterogeneity of the process. The mathematical model of FGC is formed by the energy conservation laws for the temperature of the porous medium and the temperature of gas and the mass conservation law for the relative concentration of the reacting component of the gas mixture. In this case the homogenization of the model is performed with the use of the two-temperature approach when at each point of the continuous medium we specify the solid and gas phases with a Newtonian heat exchange between them. The construction of a computational scheme is based on the principles of mixed finite element method with the usage of a regular mesh. The approximation in time is performed by an explicit–implicit difference scheme. Special attention was given to determination of the combustion front propagation velocity. Straight computation of the velocity as grid derivative leads to extremely unstable algorithm. It is worth to note that the term ‘front propagation velocity’ makes sense for settled motion when some analytical formulae linking velocity and equilibrium temperature are correct. The numerical implementation of one of such formulae leading to the stable computation of instantaneous front velocity has been proposed. The algorithm obtained has been applied in subsequent numerical investigation of the FGC process. This way the dependence of the main characteristics of the process on various physical parameters has been studied. In particular, the influence of the combustible gas mixture consumption on the front propagation velocity has been investigated. It also has been reaffirmed numerically that there is an interval of critical values of the interfacial heat transfer coefficient at which a sort of a breakdown occurs from a slow combustion front propagation to a rapid one. Approximate boundaries of such an interval have been calculated for some specific parameters. All the results obtained are in full agreement with both experimental and theoretical data, confirming the adequacy of the model and the algorithm constructed. The presence of stable techniques to calculate the instantaneous velocity of the combustion wave allows considering the semi-Lagrangian approach to the solution of the problem.

Keywords: filtration gas combustion, low-velocity regime, mixed finite element method, numerical simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: V. A. Dubovsky, V. V. Savchenko, A. A. Baryskevich

Abstract:

The current trend in the automotive industry towards automatic vehicles is creating new challenges related to human factors. This occurs due to the fact that the driver is increasingly relieved of the need to be constantly involved in driving the vehicle, which can negatively impact his/her situation awareness when manual control is required, and decrease driving skills and abilities. These new problems need to be studied in order to provide road safety during the transition towards self-driving vehicles. For this purpose, it is important to develop an appropriate conceptual model of the interaction between the driver and the automated vehicle, which could serve as a theoretical basis for the development of mathematical and simulation models to explore different aspects of driver behaviour in different road situations. Well-known driver behaviour models describe the impact of different stages of the driver's cognitive process on driving performance but do not describe how the driver controls and adjusts his actions. A more complete description of the driver's cognitive process, including the evaluation of the results of his/her actions, will make it possible to more accurately model various aspects of the human factor in different road situations. This paper presents a conceptual model of the 'driver – highly automated vehicle' system based on the P.K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems, which is a theoretical framework for describing internal processes in purposeful living systems based on such notions as goal, desired and actual results of the purposeful activity. A central feature of the proposed model is a dynamic coupling mechanism between the decision-making of a driver to perform a particular action and changes of road conditions due to driver’s actions. This mechanism is based on the stage by stage evaluation of the deviations of the actual values of the driver’s action results parameters from the expected values. The overall functional structure of the highly automated vehicle in the proposed model includes a driver/vehicle/environment state analyzer to coordinate the interaction between driver and vehicle. The proposed conceptual model can be used as a framework to investigate different aspects of human factors in transitions between automated and manual driving for future improvements in driving safety, and for understanding how driver-vehicle interface must be designed for comfort and safety. A major finding of this study is the demonstration that the theory of functional systems is promising and has the potential to describe the interaction of the driver with the vehicle and the environment.

Keywords: automated vehicle, driver behavior, human factors, human-machine system

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Majed A. Alsalem

Abstract:

In our contemporary world, literacy is an essential skill that enables students to increase their efficiency in managing the many assignments they receive that require understanding and knowledge of the world around them. In addition, literacy enhances student participation in society improving their ability to learn about the world and interact with others and facilitating the exchange of ideas and sharing of knowledge. Therefore, literacy needs to be studied and understood in its full range of contexts. It should be seen as social and cultural practices with historical, political, and economic implications. This study aims to rebuild and reorganize the instructional designs that have been used for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students to improve their literacy level. The most critical part of this process is the teachers; therefore, teachers will be the center focus of this study. Teachers’ main job is to increase students’ performance by fostering strategies through collaborative teamwork, higher-order thinking, and effective use of new information technologies. Teachers, as primary leaders in the learning process, should be aware of new strategies, approaches, methods, and frameworks of teaching in order to apply them to their instruction. Literacy from a wider view means acquisition of adequate and relevant reading skills that enable progression in one’s career and lifestyle while keeping up with current and emerging innovations and trends. Moreover, the nature of literacy is changing rapidly. The notion of new literacy changed the traditional meaning of literacy, which is the ability to read and write. New literacy refers to the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate, and create information using a range of digital technologies. The term new literacy has received a lot of attention in the education field over the last few years. New literacy provides multiple ways of engagement, especially to those with disabilities and other diverse learning needs. For example, using a number of online tools in the classroom provides students with disabilities new ways to engage with the content, take in information, and express their understanding of this content. This study will provide teachers with the highest quality of training sessions to meet the needs of DHH students so as to increase their literacy levels. This study will build a platform between regular instructional designs and digital materials that students can interact with. The intervention that will be applied in this study will be to train teachers of DHH to base their instructional designs on the notion of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory. Based on the power analysis that has been done for this study, 98 teachers are needed to be included in this study. This study will choose teachers randomly to increase internal and external validity and to provide a representative sample from the population that this study aims to measure and provide the base for future and further studies. This study is still in process and the initial results are promising by showing how students have engaged with digital books.

Keywords: deaf and hard of hearing, digital books, literacy, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 475

Authors: Amao Funmilayo Lanrewaju

Abstract:

The study examined the socio-economic characteristics of the residents in selected urban fringes of Ibadan; identified and examined the housing and neighbourhood characteristics and evaluated housing quality in the study area. It analysed the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of the residents, housing and neighbourhood characteristics as well as housing quality in the study area. This was with a view to providing information that would enhance the housing quality in urban fringes of Ibadan. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. A survey of eleven purposively selected communities from Oluyole and Egbeda local government areas in the urban fringes was conducted through a questionnaire administration and expert rating by five independent assessors (Qualified Architects) using penalty scoring within similar time-frames. The study employed a random sampling method to select a sample size of 480 houses representing 5% of the sampling frame of 9600 houses. Respondent in the first house was selected randomly and subsequently every 20th house in the streets involved was systematically selected for questionnaire administration, usually a household-head per building. The structured questionnaire elicited information on socio-economic characteristics of the residents, housing and neighbourhood characteristics, factors affecting housing quality and housing quality in the study area. Secondary data obtained for the study included the land-use plan of Ibadan from previous publications, housing demographics, population figures from relevant institutions and other published materials. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency distribution, Cross tabulation, Correlation Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Relative Importance Index (RII). The result of the survey revealed that respondents from the Yoruba ethnic group constituted the majority, comprising 439 (91.5%) of the 480 respondents from the two local government areas selected. It also revealed that the type of tenure status of majority of the respondents in the two local government areas was self-ownership (234, 48.8%), while 44.0% of the respondents acquired their houses through personal savings. Cross tabulation indicated that majority (67.1%, 322 out of 480) of the respondents were low-income earners. The study showed that both housing and neighbourhood services were not adequately provided across neighbourhoods in the study area. Correlation analysis indicated a significant relationship between respondents’ socio–economic status and their general housing quality (r=0.46; p-value of 0.01< 0.05). The ANOVA indicated that the relationship between socio-economic characteristics of the residents, housing and neighbourhood characteristics in the study area was significant (F=18.289, p=0.00; the coefficient of determination R2= 0.192). The findings from the study however revealed that there was no significant difference in the results obtained from users based evaluation and expert rating. The study concluded that housing quality in the urban fringes of Ibadan is generally poor and the socio-economic status of the residents significantly influenced the housing quality.

Keywords: housing quality, urban fringes, economic status, poverty

Procedia PDF Downloads 427

Authors: Francesca Nardi, Kashish Aneja, Katherine Ginsbach

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated both a need for evidence-based and rights-based public health policy and how challenging it can be to make effective decisions with limited information, evidence, and data. The O’Neill Institute, in conjunction with several partners, has been working since the beginning of the pandemic to collect, analyze, and distribute critical data on public health policies enacted in response to COVID-19 around the world in the COVID-19 Law Lab. Well-designed laws and policies can help build strong health systems, implement necessary measures to combat viral transmission, enforce actions that promote public health and safety for everyone, and on the individual level have a direct impact on health outcomes. Poorly designed laws and policies, on the other hand, can fail to achieve the intended results and/or obstruct the realization of fundamental human rights, further disease spread, or cause unintended collateral harms. When done properly, laws can provide the foundation that brings clarity to complexity, embrace nuance, and identifies gaps of uncertainty. However, laws can also shape the societal factors that make disease possible. Law is inseparable from the rest of society, and COVID-19 has exposed just how much laws and policies intersects all facets of society. In the COVID-19 context, evidence-based and well-informed law and policy decisions—made at the right time and in the right place—can and have meant the difference between life or death for many. Having a solid evidentiary base of legal information can promote the understanding of what works well and where, and it can drive resources and action to where they are needed most. We know that legal mechanisms can enable nations to reduce inequities and prepare for emerging threats, like novel pathogens that result in deadly disease outbreaks or antibiotic resistance. The collection and analysis of data on these legal mechanisms is a critical step towards ensuring that legal interventions and legal landscapes are effectively incorporated into more traditional kinds of health science data analyses. The COVID-19 Law Labs see a unique opportunity to collect and analyze this kind of non-traditional data to inform policy using laws and policies from across the globe and across diseases. This global view is critical to assessing the efficacy of policies in a wide range of cultural, economic, and demographic circumstances. The COVID-19 Law Lab is not just a collection of legal texts relating to COVID-19; it is a dataset of concise and actionable legal information that can be used by health researchers, social scientists, academics, human rights advocates, law and policymakers, government decision-makers, and others for cross-disciplinary quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify best practices from this outbreak, and previous ones, to be better prepared for potential future public health events.

Keywords: public health law, surveillance, policy, legal, data

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Ashir Ahmed

Abstract:

Generally, radicalization happens when a person's thinking and behaviour become significantly different from how most of the members of their society and community view social issues and participate politically. Radicalization often leads to violent extremism that refers to the beliefs and actions of people who support or use violence to achieve ideological, religious or political goals. Studies on radicalization negate the common myths that someone must be in a group to be radicalised or anyone who experiences radical thoughts is a violent extremist. Moreover, it is erroneous to suggest that radicalisation is always linked to religion. Generally, the common motives of radicalization include ideological, issue-based, ethno-nationalist or separatist underpinning. Moreover, there are number of factors that further augments the chances of someone being radicalised and may choose the path of violent extremism and possibly terrorism. Since there are numbers of factors (and sometimes quite different) contributing in radicalization and violent extremism, it is highly unlikely to devise a single solution that could produce effective outcomes to deal with radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism. The pathway to deradicalization, like the pathway to radicalisation, is different for everyone. Considering the need of having customized deradicalization resolution, this study proposes a multi-tier framework, called ‘pyramid of deradicalization’ that first help identifying the stage at which an individual could be on the radicalization pathway and then propose a customize strategy to deal with the respective stage. The first tier (tier 1) addresses broader community and proposes a ‘universal approach’ aiming to offer community-based design and delivery of educational programs to raise awareness and provide general information on possible factors leading to radicalization and their remedies. The second tier focuses on the members of community who are more vulnerable and are disengaged from the rest of the community. This tier proposes a ‘targeted approach’ targeting the vulnerable members of the community through early intervention such as providing anonymous help lines where people feel confident and comfortable in seeking help without fearing the disclosure of their identity. The third tier aims to focus on people having clear evidence of moving toward extremism or getting radicalized. The people falls in this tier are believed to be supported through ‘interventionist approach’. The interventionist approach advocates the community engagement and community-policing, introducing deradicalization programmes to the targeted individuals and looking after their physical and mental health issues. The fourth and the last tier suggests the strategies to deal with people who are actively breaking the law. ‘Enforcement approach’ suggests various approaches such as strong law enforcement, fairness and accuracy in reporting radicalization events, unbiased treatment by law based on gender, race, nationality or religion and strengthen the family connections.It is anticipated that the operationalization of the proposed framework (‘pyramid of deradicalization’) would help in categorising people considering their tendency to become radicalized and then offer an appropriate strategy to make them valuable and peaceful members of the community.

Keywords: deradicalization, framework, terrorism, violent extremism

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Emiliano Matta

Abstract:

Passive resonant vibration absorbers are among the most widely used dynamic control systems in civil engineering. They typically consist in a single-degree-of-freedom mechanical appendage of the main structure, tuned to one structural target mode through frequency and damping optimization. One classical scheme is the pendulum absorber, whose mass is constrained to move along a curved trajectory and is damped by viscous dashpots. Even though the principle is well known, the search for improved arrangements is still under way. In recent years this investigation inspired a type of bidirectional pendulum absorber (BPA), consisting of a mass constrained to move along an optimal three-dimensional (3D) concave surface. For such a BPA, the surface principal curvatures are designed to ensure a bidirectional tuning of the absorber to both principal modes of the main structure, while damping is produced either by horizontal viscous dashpots or by vertical friction dashpots, connecting the BPA to the main structure. In this paper, a variant of BPA is proposed, where damping originates from the variable tangential friction force which develops between the pendulum mass and the 3D surface as a result of a spatially-varying friction coefficient pattern. Namely, a friction coefficient is proposed that varies along the pendulum surface in proportion to the modulus of the 3D surface gradient. With such an assumption, the dissipative model of the absorber can be proven to be nonlinear homogeneous in the small displacement domain. The resulting homogeneous BPA (HBPA) has a fundamental advantage over conventional friction-type absorbers, because its equivalent damping ratio results independent on the amplitude of oscillations, and therefore its optimal performance does not depend on the excitation level. On the other hand, the HBPA is more compact than viscously damped BPAs because it does not need the installation of dampers. This paper presents the analytical model of the HBPA and an optimal methodology for its design. Numerical simulations of single- and multi-story building structures under wind and earthquake loads are presented to compare the HBPA with classical viscously damped BPAs. It is shown that the HBPA is a promising alternative to existing BPA types and that homogeneous tangential friction is an effective means to realize systems provided with amplitude-independent damping.

Keywords: amplitude-independent damping, homogeneous friction, pendulum nonlinear dynamics, structural control, vibration resonant absorbers

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Giuliana Scuderi, Patrick Teuffel

Abstract:

The proven vulnerability of the existing social housing building heritage to natural or induced earthquakes requires the development of new design concepts and conceptual method to preserve materials and object, at the same time providing new performances. An integrate intervention between civil engineering, building physics and architecture can convert the social housing districts from a critical part of the city to a strategic resource of revitalization. Referring to bio-mimicry principles the present research proposes a taxonomy with the exoskeleton of the insect, an external, light and resistant armour whose role is to protect the internal organs from external potentially dangerous inputs. In the same way, a “building exoskeleton”, acting from the outside of the building as an enclosing cage, can restore, protect and support the existing building, assuming a complex set of roles, from the structural to the thermal, from the aesthetical to the functional. This study evaluates the structural efficiency of shape memory alloys devices (SMADs) connecting the “building exoskeleton” with the existing structure to rehabilitate, in order to prevent the out-of-plane collapse of walls and for the passive dissipation of the seismic energy, with a calibrated operability in relation to the intensity of the horizontal loads. The two case studies of a masonry structure and of a masonry structure with concrete frame are considered, and for each case, a theoretical social housing building is exposed to earthquake forces, to evaluate its structural response with or without SMADs. The two typologies are modelled with the finite element program SAP2000, and they are respectively defined through a “frame model” and a “diagonal strut model”. In the same software two types of SMADs, called the 00-10 SMAD and the 05-10 SMAD are defined, and non-linear static and dynamic analyses, namely push over analysis and time history analysis, are performed to evaluate the seismic response of the building. The effectiveness of the devices in limiting the control joint displacements resulted higher in one direction, leading to the consideration of a possible calibrated use of the devices in the different walls of the building. The results show also a higher efficiency of the 00-10 SMADs in controlling the interstory drift, but at the same time the necessity to improve the hysteretic behaviour, to maximise the passive dissipation of the seismic energy.

Keywords: adaptive structure, biomimetic design, building exoskeleton, social housing, structural envelope, structural retrofitting

Procedia PDF Downloads 409

Authors: Adae Amoako, Daniel Montero, Peter Murray, George Pujalte

Abstract:

We present a case of a 42-year-old, right-handed Caucasian male who presented to a medical orthopedics clinic with left wrist pain. The patient indicated that the pain started two months prior to the visit. He could only remember helping a friend move furniture prior to the onset of pain. Examination of the left wrist showed limited extension compared to the right. There was clicking with flexion and extension of the wrist on the dorsal aspect. Mild tenderness was noticed over the distal radioulnar joint. There was ulnar and radial deviation on provocation. Initial 4-view x-rays of the left wrist showed mild radiocarpal and scapho-trapezium-trapezoid (ST-T) osteoarthritis, with subchondral cysts seen in the lunate and scaphoid, with no obvious fractures. The patient was initially put in a wrist brace and diclofenac topical gel was prescribed for pain control, as a patient could not take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) due to gastritis. Despite diclofenac topical gel use and bracing, symptoms remained, and a steroid injection with 1 mL of lidocaine with 10 mg of triamcinolone acetonide was performed under fluoroscopy. He obtained some relief but after 3 months, the injection had to be repeated. On 2-month follow up after the initial evaluation, symptoms persisted. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained which showed an abnormal T1 hypodense signal involving the proximal pole of the scaphoid and articular collapse proximally of the scaphoid, with marked irregularity of the overlying cartilage, suggesting a remote injury, findings consistent with avascular necrosis of the proximal pole of the scaphoid. A month after that, the patient had the left proximal pole of the scaphoid debrided and an intercompartmental supraretinacular artery vascularized. Pedicle bone graft reconstruction of the proximal pole of the left scaphoid was done. A non-vascularized autograft from the left radius was also applied. He was put in a thumb spica cast with the interphalangeal joint free for 6 weeks. On 6-week follow-up after surgery, the patient was healing well and could make a composite fist with his left hand. The diagnosis of Preiser’s disease is primarily based on radiological findings. Due to the fact that necrosis happens over a period of time, most AVNs are diagnosed at the late stages of the disease. There appear to be no specific guidelines on the management AVN of the scaphoid. In the past, immobilization and arthroscopic debridement had been used. Radial osteotomy has also been tried. Vascularized bone grafts have also been used to treat Preiser’s disease. In our patient, we used three of these treatment modalities, starting with conservative management with topical NSAIDS and immobilization, then debridement with vascularized bone grafts.

Keywords: wrist pain, avascular necrosis of the scaphoid, Preiser’s disease, vascularized bone grafts

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Mohd Fairus Humar, Ibrahim Sulaiman, Pedro Cruz, Hasry Harun

Abstract:

This paper presents the propose knowledge transfer program on railway signaling and communication by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Thales Portugal. The fundamental issue is that there is no rail related course offered by local universities and colleges in Malaysia which could be an option to pursue student career path. Currently, dedicated trainings related to the rail technology are provided by in-house training academies established by the respective rail operators such as Malaysia Railway Academy (MyRA) and Rapid Rail Training Centre. In this matter, the content of training and facilities need to be strengthened to keep up-to-date with the dynamic evolvement of the rail technology. This is because rail products have evolved to be more sophisticated and embedded with high technology components which no longer exist in the mechanical form alone but combined with electronics, information technology and others. These demand for a workforce imbued with knowledge, multi-skills and competency to deal with specialized technical areas. Talent is needed to support sustainability in Southeast Asia. Keeping the above factors in mind, an Industrial Collaboration Program (ICP) was carried out to transfer knowledge on curricula of railway signaling and communication to a selected railway operators and tertiary educational institution in Malaysia. In order to achieve the aim, a partnership was formed between Technical Depository Agency (TDA), Thales Portugal and MyRA for two years with three main stages of program implementation comprising of: i) training on basic railway signaling and communication for 1 month with Thales in Malaysia; ii) training on advance railway signaling and communication for 4 months with Thales in Portugal and; iii) a series of workshop. Two workshops were convened to develop and harmonize curricula of railway signaling and communication course and were followed by one training for installation equipment of railway signaling and Controlled Train Centre (CTC) system from Thales Portugal. With active involvement from Technical Depository Agency (TDA), railway operators, universities, and colleges, in planning, executing, monitoring, control and closure, the program module of railway signaling and communication course with a lab railway signaling field equipment and CTC simulator were developed. Through this program, contributions from various parties help to build committed societies to engage important issues in relation to railway signaling and communication towards creating a sustainable future.

Keywords: knowledge transfer program, railway signaling and communication, curricula, module and teaching aid simulator

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Brady Manescau, Ilyas Sellami, Khaled Chetehouna, Charles De Izarra, Rachid Nait-Said, Fati Zidani

Abstract:

During a fire in an oil and gas refinery, several thermal accidents can occur and cause serious damage to people and environment. Among these accidents, the BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) is most observed and remains a major concern for risk decision-makers. It corresponds to a violent vaporization of explosive nature following the rupture of a vessel containing a liquid at a temperature significantly higher than its normal boiling point at atmospheric pressure. Their effects on the environment generally appear in three ways: blast overpressure, radiation from the fireball if the liquid involved is flammable and fragment hazards. In order to estimate the potential damage that would be caused by such an explosion, risk decision-makers often use quantitative risk analysis (QRA). This analysis is a rigorous and advanced approach that requires a reliable data in order to obtain a good estimate and control of risks. However, in most cases, the data used in QRA are obtained from the empirical correlations. These empirical correlations generally overestimate BLEVE effects because they are based on simplifications and do not take into account real parameters like the geometry effect. Considering that these risk analyses are based on an assessment of BLEVE effects on human life and plant equipment, more precise and reliable data should be provided. From this point of view, the CFD modeling of BLEVE effects appears as a solution to the empirical law limitations. In this context, the main objective is to develop a numerical tool in order to predict BLEVE thermal effects using the CFD code FDS version 6. Simulations are carried out with a mesh size of 1 m. The fireball source is modeled as a vertical release of hot fuel in a short time. The modeling of fireball dynamics is based on a single step combustion using an EDC model coupled with the default LES turbulence model. Fireball characteristics (diameter, height, heat flux and lifetime) issued from the large scale BAM experiment are used to demonstrate the ability of FDS to simulate the various steps of the BLEVE phenomenon from ignition up to total burnout. The influence of release parameters such as the injection rate and the radiative fraction on the fireball heat flux is also presented. Predictions are very encouraging and show good agreement in comparison with BAM experiment data. In addition, a numerical study is carried out on an operational propane accumulator in an Algerian gas processing plant of SONATRACH company located in the Hassi R’Mel Gas Field (the largest gas field in Algeria).

Keywords: BLEVE effects, CFD, FDS, fireball, LES, QRA

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Glauberto S. Quirino, Emanuelly V. Pereira, Amana S. Figueiredo, Antonia T. F. Santos, Paulo R. A. Firmino, Denise F. F. Barbosa, Caroline B. Q. Aquino, Eveliny S. Martins, Cinthia G. P. Calou, Ana K. B. Pinheiro

Abstract:

Introduction: During pregnancy there are adjustments in the physical, emotional, existential and sexual areas, which may contribute to changes in sexual behavior. The objective was to analyze the sexual behavior of pregnant women. Methods: Quantitative, exploratory-descriptive study, approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Regional University of Cariri. For data collection, it was used the Sexuality Questionnaire in Gestation and Sexual Quotient - Female Version. It was carried out in public institutions in the urban and rural areas of three municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Cariri, south of Ceará, Brazil from February to September 2016. The sampling was proportional stratified by convenience. A total of 815 pregnant women who were literate and aged 20 years or over were broached. 461 pregnant women were excluded because of high risk, adolescence, saturation of the extract, incomplete filling of the instrument, mental and physical handicap, without sexual partner, and the sample was 354 pregnant. The data were grouped, organized and analyzed in the statistical program R Studio (version 386 3.2.4). Descriptive frequency statistics and non-parametric tests were used to analyze the variables, and the results were shown in graphs and tables. Results: The women presented a minimum age of 20, maximum 35 and average of 26.9 years, predominantly urban area residents, with a monthly income of up to one minimum wage (US$ 275,00), high school, catholic, with fixed partner, heterosexuals, multiparous, multiple sexual partners throughout life and with the beginning of sexual life in adolescence (median age 17 years). There was a reduction in sexual practices (67%) and when they were performed, they were more frequent in the first trimester (79.7%) and less frequent in the third trimester (30.5%). Preliminary sexual practices did not change and were more frequent in the second trimester (46.6%). Throughout the gestational trimesters, the partner was referred as the main responsible for the sexual initiative. The women performed vaginal sex (97.7%) and provided greater pleasure (42.8%) compared to non-penetrative sex (53.9%) (oral sex and masturbation). There was also a reduction in the sexual disposition of pregnant women (90.7%) and partner (72.9%), mainly in the first trimester (78.8%), and sexual positions. Sexual performance ranged from regular to good (49.7%). Level of schooling, marital status, sexual orientation of the pregnant woman and the partner, sexual practices and positions, preliminaries, frequency of sexual practices and importance attributed to them were variables that influenced negatively sexual performance and satisfaction. It is concluded that pregnancy negatively changes the sexual behavior of the women and it is suggested to further investigations and approach of the partner, in order to clarify the influence of these variables on the sexual function and subsidize intervention strategies, with a view to the integrality of sexual and reproductive health.

Keywords: obstetric nursing, pregnant women, sexual behavior, women's health

Procedia PDF Downloads 305

Authors: Ankita Srivastava, Bhupendra S. Butola, Abhijit Majumdar

Abstract:

Application of shear thickening fluid (STF) has been proved to increase the impact resistance performance of the textile structures to further use it as a body armor material. In the present research, STF was applied on Kevlar woven fabric to make the structure lightweight and flexible while improving its impact resistance performance. It was observed that getting a fair amount of add-on of STF on Kevlar fabric is difficult as Kevlar fabric comes with a pre-coating of PTFE which hinders its absorbency. Hence, a method termed as sequential padding is developed in the present study to improve the add-on of STF on Kevlar fabric. Contrary to the conventional process, where Kevlar fabric is treated with STF once using any one pressure, in sequential padding method, the Kevlar fabrics were treated twice in a sequential manner using combination of two pressures together in a sample. 200 GSM Kevlar fabrics were used in the present study. STF was prepared by adding PEG with 70% (w/w) nano-silica concentration. Ethanol was added with the STF at a fixed ratio to reduce viscosity. A high-speed homogenizer was used to make the dispersion. Total nine STF treated Kevlar fabric samples were prepared by using varying combinations and sequences of three levels of padding pressure {0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 bar). The fabrics were dried at 80°C for 40 minutes in a hot air oven to evaporate ethanol. Untreated and STF treated fabrics were tested for add-on%. Impact resistance performance of samples was also tested on dynamic impact tester at a fixed velocity of 6 m/s. Further, to observe the impact resistance performance in actual condition, low velocity ballistic test with 165 m/s velocity was also performed to confirm the results of impact resistance test. It was observed that both add-on% and impact energy absorption of Kevlar fabrics increases significantly with sequential padding process as compared to untreated as well as single stage padding process. It was also determined that impact energy absorption is significantly better in STF treated Kevlar fabrics when 1st padding pressure is higher, and 2nd padding pressure is lower. It is also observed that impact energy absorption of sequentially padded Kevlar fabric shows almost 125% increase in ballistic impact energy absorption (40.62 J) as compared to untreated fabric (18.07 J).The results are owing to the fact that the treatment of fabrics at high pressure during the first padding is responsible for uniform distribution of STF within the fabric structures. While padding with second lower pressure ensures the high add-on of STF for over-all improvement in the impact resistance performance of the fabric. Therefore, it is concluded that sequential padding process may help to improve the impact performance of body armor materials based on STF treated Kevlar fabrics.

Keywords: body armor, impact resistance, Kevlar, shear thickening fluid

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Natarajan Ramasamy, Gurulingamurthy Haralur, Ramesh Nivarthu, Nikhil Kumar Singha

Abstract:

Elastomers are polymeric materials with varied backbone architectures ranging from linear to dendrimeric structures and wide varieties of monomeric repeat units. These elastomers show strongly viscous and weakly elastic when it is not cross-linked. But when crosslinked, based on the extent the properties of these elastomers can range from highly flexible to highly stiff nature. Lightly cross-linked systems are well studied and reported. Understanding the nature of highly cross-linked rubber based upon chemical structure and architecture is critical for varieties of applications. One of the critical parameters is cross-link density. In the current work, we have studied the highly cross-linked state of linear, lightly branched to star-shaped branched elastomers and determined the cross-linked density by using different models. Change in hardness, shift in Tg, change in modulus and swelling behavior were measured experimentally as a function of the extent of curing. These properties were analyzed using varied models to determine cross-link density. We used hardness measurements to examine cure time. Hardness to the extent of curing relationship is determined. It is well known that micromechanical transitions like Tg and storage modulus are related to the extent of crosslinking. The Tg of the elastomer in different crosslinked state was determined by DMA, and based on plateau modulus the crosslink density is estimated by using Nielsen’s model. Usually for lightly crosslinked systems, based on equilibrium swelling ratio in solvent the cross link density is estimated by using Flory–Rhener model. When it comes to highly crosslinked system, Flory-Rhener model is not valid because of smaller chain length. So models based on the assumption of polymer as a Non-Gaussian chain like 1) Helmis–Heinrich–Straube (HHS) model, 2) Gloria M.gusler and Yoram Cohen Model, 3) Barbara D. Barr-Howell and Nikolaos A. Peppas model is used for estimating crosslink density. In this work, correction factors are determined to the existing models and based upon it structure-property relationship of highly crosslinked elastomers was studied.

Keywords: dynamic mechanical analysis, glass transition temperature, parts per hundred grams of rubber, crosslink density, number of networks per unit volume of elastomer

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Kasra Afsahi, Maryam Soheilifar, S. Hossein Hosseini

Abstract:

Background: There is growing evidence that Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) can be a consequence of Covid-19 infection. Understanding novel treatment approaches are important in optimizing patient outcomes. Case: This case explores the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in the treatment of a 23-year-old COVID-positive female presenting with left hemiparesis in August 2020. Imaging showed right globus pallidus, thalamus, and internal capsule ischemic stroke. Conventional rehabilitation was started two weeks later, with virtual reality (VR) included. This game-based virtual reality (VR) technology developed for stroke patients was based on upper extremity exercises and functions for stroke. Physical examination showed left hemiparesis with muscle strength 3/5 in the upper extremity and 4/5 in the lower extremity. The range of motion of the shoulder was 90-100 degrees. The speech exam showed a mild decrease in fluency. Mild lower lip dynamic asymmetry was seen. Babinski was positive on the left. Gait speed was decreased (75 steps per minute). Intervention: Our game-based VR system was developed based on upper extremity physiotherapy exercises for post-stroke patients to increase the active, voluntary movement of the upper extremity joints and improve the function. The conventional program was initiated with active exercises, shoulder sanding for joint ROMs, walking shoulder, shoulder wheel, and combination movements of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints, alternative flexion-extension, pronation-supination movements, Pegboard and Purdo pegboard exercises. Also, fine movements included smart gloves, biofeedback, finger ladder, and writing. The difficulty of the game increased at each stage of the practice with progress in patient performances. Outcome: After 6 weeks of treatment, gait and speech were normal and upper extremity strength was improved to near normal status. No adverse effects were noted. Conclusion: This case suggests that VR is a useful tool in the treatment of a patient with covid-19 related CVA. The safety of newly developed instruments for such cases provides new approaches to improve the therapeutic outcomes and prognosis as well as increased satisfaction rate among patients.

Keywords: covid-19, stroke, virtual reality, rehabilitation

Procedia PDF Downloads 128