Search results for: children and young people

Authors: Pınar Aydın, Şule Turhan

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Today, with the change of people's consumption habits, the importance of frozen fruit and vegetable sector has been increased. In Turkey, sector is based on export. It is growing very fast and external demand is constantly increasing. About 80% of frozen fruits and vegetables produced in Turkey are being exported. More than 90% of the exports go to European Union countries. About 49% of frozen fruits and vegetables in Turkey is being exported to Germany, England and France. In the sector which the abroad demand is continuously increasing, although it has been estimated that around 25% of the average annual growth rate, the domestic consumption is very low. Although the frozen food consumption per person in Turkey is about %2 of United States, the growing rate of the sector is higher than the United States and Europe. This situation reflects that it is such a sector that has a growing demand in both domestic and foreign markets.

Keywords: frozen food, fruit and vegetable sector, exports, Turkey

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Majid Samiee Zenoozian

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This paper studies the susceptibility of local settlements in the gulf of Oman mangrove forest zone to flooding and progressesconsiderate of acuities and reactions to historical and present coastal flooding.it is indirect thaterosionsproduced in coastal zones by the change of mangrove undergrowthsubsequent from the enduring influence of persons since the late 19th century. Confronted with the increasing impact of climate change on climate ambitiousalarms such as flooding and biodiversity damage, handling the relationship between mangroves and their atmosphere has become authoritative for their defense. Coastal flood dangers are increasing quickly. We offer high resolution approximations of the financial value of mangroves forests for flood risk discount. We progress a probabilistic, process-based estimate of the properties of mangroves on avoidanceharms to people and property. More significantly, it also establishes how the incessantsqualor of this significant ecosystem has the potential to unfavorably influence the future cyclone persuadeddangers in the area.

Keywords: mangrove forest, coastal, flood, erosion

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Authors: Tholokuhle T. Ntshakala, Seraphin D. Eyono Obono

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Nations are still finding it quite difficult to win mega sport competitions despite the major contribution of sport to society in terms of social and economic development, personal health, and in education. Even though the world of sports has been transformed into a huge global economy, it is important to note that the first step of sport is usually its introduction to children at school through physical education or PE. In other words, nations who do not win mega sport competitions also suffer from a weak and neglected PE system. This problem of the neglect of PE systems is the main motivation of this research aimed at examining the factors affecting the perceived awareness of physical education teachers on the ICT's that are adoptable for the teaching and learning of physical education. Two types of research objectives will materialize this aim: relevant theories will be identified in relation to the analysis of the perceived ICT awareness of PE teachers and subsequent models will be compiled and designed from existing literature; the empirical testing of such theories and models will also be achieved through the survey of PE teachers from the Camperdown magisterial district of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The main hypothesis at the heart of this study is the relationship between the demographics of PE teachers, their behavior both as individuals and as social entities, and their perceived awareness of the ICTs that are adoptable for PE, as postulated by existing literature; except that this study categorizes human behavior under performance expectancy, computer attitude, and social influence. This hypothesis was partially confirmed by the survey conducted by this research in the sense that performance expectancy and teachers’ age, gender, computer usage, and class size were found to be the only factors affecting their awareness of ICT's for physical education.

Keywords: human behavior, ICT Awareness, physical education, teachers

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Authors: Keith Diamond, Tracy Collier, Ciara Sterling, Ben Kraal

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The increased frequency and intensity of disaster events in the Asia-Pacific region is likely to require organisations to better understand how their initiatives, and the support they provide to their customers, intersect with other organisations aiming to support communities in achieving disaster resilience. While there is a growing awareness that disaster response and recovery rebuild programmes need to adapt to more integrated, community-led approaches, there is often a discrepancy between how programmes intend to work and how they are collectively experienced in the community, creating undesired effects on community resilience. Following Australia’s North Queensland Monsoon Disaster of 2019, this research set out to understand and evaluate how the service and support ecosystem impacted on the local community’s experience and influenced their ability to respond and recover. The purpose of this initiative was to identify actionable, cross-sector, people-centered improvements that support communities to recover and thrive when faced with disaster. The challenge arose as a group of organisations, including utility providers, banks, insurers, and community organisations, acknowledged that improving their own services would have limited impact on community wellbeing unless the other services people need are also improved and aligned. The research applied human-centred service design methods, typically applied to single products or services, to design a new way to understand a whole-of-community journey. Phase 1 of the research conducted deep contextual interviews with residents and small business owners impacted by the North Queensland Monsoon and qualitative data was analysed to produce community journey maps that detailed how individuals navigated essential services, such as accommodation, finance, health, and community. Phase 2 conducted interviews and focus groups with frontline workers who represented industries that provided essential services to assist the community. Data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the research was analysed and combined to generate a systems map that visualised the positive and negative impacts that occurred across the disaster response and recovery service ecosystem. Insights gained from the research has catalysed collective action to address future Australian disaster events. The case study outlines a transformative way for sectors and industries to rethink their corporate social responsibility activities towards a cross-sector partnership model that shares responsibility and approaches disaster response and recovery as a single service that can be designed to meet the needs of communities.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, cross sector partnerships, disaster resilience, human-centred design, service design, systems change

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Authors: A. M. Jungudo, M. A. Lasan

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Affordable housing has long been one of the basic necessities of life to man. The ever rising prices of building materials are one of the major causes of housing shortage in many developing countries. Breaching the gap of housing needs in developing countries like Nigeria is an awaiting task longing for attention. This is due to lack of research in the development of local materials that will suit the troubled economies of these countries. The use of earth material to meet the housing needs is a sustainable option and its material is freely available universally. However, people are doubtful of using the earth material due to its modest outlook and uncertain durability. This research aims at enhancing the durability of Compressed Earth Bricks (CEBs) using stone dust as a stabilizer. The result indicates that partial replacement of lateritic soil with stone dust at 30% improves its compressive strength along with abrasive resistance.

Keywords: earth construction, durability, stone dust, sustainable

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Authors: Hassan Kian

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The future of millions of people and consequently, the future of societies and humanity is threatened by a great threat which is called wasted human resources. Perhaps Pasteur, Beethoven and Avicenna, Lavoisier and Einstein and millions of genius individuals and thinkers may have never been discovered and could not found a chance of being known due to various reasons such as poverty or social status, and other problems. So without being able to serve humanity, their talents are fully wasted. While, if a global mechanism exists to discover their talents in different countries and provide to them the right direction, during less than a generation, human society will face to a profound transformation and sustainable social justice will be formed as the basis of sustainable development of human resources. Therefore, the situation of the institution which organizes the affair of discovering and guiding talents was vacant at the level of the international community and its necessity has been felt. So in this plan, the establishment and development of such an organization have been suggested in the international context.

Keywords: talent identification, comparative advantage, sustainable justice, sustainable development

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Authors: Ali Fuad Ashour

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Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive and degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). MS has been described to result in the debilitating symptom of the disease. It is reported to have a negative impact on the patient’s mental activities, brings a lower quality of life, leads to unemployment, causes distress and psychological disorders, generates low levels of motivation and self-esteem, and result in disability and neurological impairment. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of MS on patients from Britain and Kuwait. Methodology: A questionnaire was distributed to 200 individuals with MS (100 Kuwaiti and 100 British). The questionnaire consists of three parts; 1. General demographics, 2. Disease-specific data (symptoms, severity levels, relapse frequency, and support system), and 3. Attitudes towards physical exercise. Results: A response rate of 62% from the British sample and 50% from the Kuwaiti sample was achieved. 84% of the sample (n=52) were 41 years old or over. The duration of the disease was less than 10 years in 43.4% of British and 68% of Kuwaiti respondents. The majority of British respondents (56.5%) reported the disease severity to be moderate, while the majority of Kuwaitis was mild (72%). The annual relapse rates in Kuwait were relatively low, with 82% of the Kuwaiti sample had one relapse per year, compared to the 64.5% of British. The most common symptoms reported by British respondents were balance (75.8%), fatigue (74.2%), and weakness (71%), and by Kuwaiti respondents were fatigue (86%), balance (76%), and weakness (66%). The help and support for MS were by far more diverse for the British than Kuwaiti respondents. Discussion: The results unveiled marked differences between two groups of British and Kuwaiti MS patients in terms of patients’ age and disease duration, and severity. The overwhelming majority of Kuwaiti patients are young individuals who have been with the disease for a relatively short period of time, and their MS in most cases was mild. On the other hand, British patients were relatively older, many have been with the disease for a long period of time, and their average MS condition was more serious than that of their Kuwaiti counterparts. The main support in Kuwait comes from the neurologist, who primarily prescribe medications and advise patients to try to be active. The Kuwaiti respondents thought that lack of encouragement was the main reason for them not to engage in social activities.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, Kuwait, exercise, demographic

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Authors: Phutthiwat Waiyawuththanapoom, Wannapong Waiyawuththanapoom, Pimploi Tirastittam

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Nowadays, it is a globalization era which social media plays an important role to the lifestyle as an information source, tools to connect people together and etc. This research is object to find out about the significant level of the social media as a distribution channel to the agriculture product of Thailand. In this research, the agriculture product is the Rice Berry which is the cross-bred unmilled rice producing dark violet grain, is a combination of Hom Nin Rice and Thai Jasmine/ Fragrant Rice 105. Rice Berry has a very high nutrition and nice aroma so the product is in the growth stage of the product cycle. The problem for the Rice Berry product in Thailand is the production and the distribution channel. This study is to confirm that the social media is another option as the distribution channel for the product which is not a mass production product. This will be the role model for the other niche market product to select the distribution channel.

Keywords: distribution, social media, rice berry, distribution channel

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Authors: Taekyun Doo, Cheongmin Ji, Manpyo Hong

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Like a closed-circuit television (CCTV), video surveillance system is widely placed for gathering video from unspecified people to prevent crime, surveillance, or many other purposes. However, abuse of CCTV brings about concerns of personal privacy invasions. In this paper, we propose an encryption method to protect personal privacy system in H.264 compressed video bitstream with encrypting only regions of interest (ROI). There is no need to change the existing video surveillance system. In addition, encrypting ROI in compressed video bitstream is a challenging work due to spatial and temporal drift errors. For this reason, we propose a novel drift mitigation method when ROI is encrypted. The proposed method was implemented by using JM reference software based on the H.264 compressed videos, and experimental results show the verification of our proposed methods and its effectiveness.

Keywords: H.264/AVC, video encryption, privacy protection, post compression, region of interest

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Authors: Genesis F. Dela Cruz, Liza C. Costa

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The study is concerned with the Risk factors of dropping out among Grade VII students for SY 2012-2013. A total of 87 Grade VII Students-At-Risk-of-Dropping Out (SARDOs) were involved in this study. The descriptive survey method was used in this study. A 50-item questionnaire was used in data gathering. Expert validation was done to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument. The study used Chi Square, Kruskal Wallis Test and Mann Whitney Test in the statistical treatment of data. The study revealed that the respondents are within the standard age limit for Grade VII students in the Philippines which is 13 years old. Males more than females usually becomes SARDOs. SARDOs come from low economic status and complete families contrary to the common belief that they came from single-parent families. The study also showed that parent’s involvement in educating their children on family-related factors contributed to the very good perception on the family related factors. Based on age, there are no significant differences in their perception of the four major recognized risk factors for dropping out among all ages. There are no significant differences in their perception of the family, individual and community related factors for dropping out based on sex. However, females have a more favorable perception when it comes to school related factors. No significant differences in their perception of dropping out were also noted when they are classified according to distance of school from home. The respondents do not differ in their perception on family, individual and community related factors when they are classified according to type of family. When surveyed regarding the respondents’ reason for being absent, it was found out that laziness and being late are the two major reasons. Respondents also perceived remedial and tutorial classes as school-initiated intervention measure to prevent school disengagement or dropping out.

Keywords: drop-out, guidance and counseling, school initiated intervention, students at risk of dropping out

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Authors: Seon-Ho Yoon, Jin-Young Choi, Dong-Jun Won

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This paper presents hierarchical operation strategies which are minimizing operation error between day ahead operation plan and real time operation. Operating power systems between centralized and decentralized approaches can be represented as hierarchical control scheme, featured as primary control, secondary control and tertiary control. Primary control is known as local control, featuring fast response. Secondary control is referred to as microgrid Energy Management System (EMS). Tertiary control is responsible of coordinating the operations of multi-microgrids. In this paper, we formulated 3 stage microgrid operation strategies which are similar to hierarchical control scheme. First stage is to set a day ahead scheduled output power of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) which is only controllable source in microgrid and it is optimized to minimize cost of exchanged power with main grid using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method. Second stage is to control the active and reactive power of BESS to be operated in day ahead scheduled plan in case that State of Charge (SOC) error occurs between real time and scheduled plan. The third is rescheduling the system when the predicted error is over the limited value. The first stage can be compared with the secondary control in that it adjusts the active power. The second stage is comparable to the primary control in that it controls the error in local manner. The third stage is compared with the secondary control in that it manages power balancing. The proposed strategies will be applied to one of the buildings in Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). The building microgrid is composed of Photovoltaic (PV) generation, BESS and load and it will be interconnected with the main grid. Main purpose of that is minimizing operation cost and to be operated in scheduled plan. Simulation results support validation of proposed strategies.

Keywords: Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), Energy Management System (EMS), Microgrid (MG), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)

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Authors: Lien-Fa Lin, Yung-Ming Li, Fu-Shun Hsieh

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With the advancement of information technology and development of group commerce, people have obviously changed in their lifestyle. However, group commerce faces some challenging problems. The products or services provided by vendors do not satisfactorily reflect customers’ opinions, so that the sale and revenue of group commerce gradually become lower. On the other hand, the process for a formed customer group to reach group-purchasing consensus is time-consuming and the final decision is not the best choice for each group members. In this paper, we design a social decision support mechanism, by using group discussion message to recommend suitable options for group members and we consider social influence and personal preference to generate option ranking list. The proposed mechanism can enhance the group purchasing decision making efficiently and effectively and venders can provide group products or services according to the group option ranking list.

Keywords: social network, group decision, text mining, group commerce

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Authors: Sarp Erturk, Levent Eyigel, Cihat Celik, Muhammet Sahinoglu, Serdar Ay, Yasin Kaya, Hasan Kaya

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This paper presents a quantitative analysis on the need for automotive calibration methods for digital tachographs. Digital tachographs are mandatory for vehicles used in people and goods transport and they are an important aspect for road safety and inspection. Digital tachographs need to be calibrated for workshops in order for the digital tachograph to display and record speed and odometer values correctly. Calibration of digital tachographs can be performed either manual or automatic. It is shown in this paper that manual calibration of digital tachographs is prone to errors and there can be differences between manual and automatic calibration parameters. Therefore automatic calibration methods are imperative for digital tachograph calibration. The presented experimental results and error analysis clearly support the claims of the paper by evaluating and statistically comparing manual and automatic calibration methods.

Keywords: digital tachograph, road safety, tachograph calibration, tachograph workshops

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Authors: Yinan Zhou

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One in four people in the world still lack access to clean drinking water, and there is a current lack of cost-effective ways for water-scarce regions to access it. This study seeks to investigate the solutions to water filtration in rural China as well as test the feasibility of using angiosperms as xylem candidates. Four angiosperms that are found in China and around Asia were subject to three tests to test their filtration capacity: ink water filtration, creek water filtration, and microparticle filtration. Analysis of the experiments demonstrated that Celtis Sinensis was able to produce one of the clearest solutions, filter out large debris and bacteria, and reject microparticles almost completely. Celtis Sinensis proves that angiosperm xylem filters are also competent filter candidates and, due to their availability in China, can be used as a nearby source of water filtration. Further research should be done on scaling production to a larger scale and also on the filtration of viruses.

Keywords: xylem filter, water quality, China, angiosperms, bacteria

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Authors: Rosemond Mbii

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Menstruation is a critical topic. However normal menstruation is, it has become a determinant in the education of young women today. The research focuses on Breaking the silence and accessing menstrual hygiene management's challenges and experiences among rural schoolgirls in Ghana. The study's goal was to examine the menstrual hygiene practices of female students. Participants described their menstrual hygiene practices, their problems, and how they coped with their menstrual symptoms. The research used a qualitative technique through group interviews, personal interviews, and open-ended questionnaires since it is easier to understand a phenomenon from the subject's viewpoint. Sen's capacities approach and Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) were used to analyze the data. Menstruation was known to girls even before their menarche. A mother or grandmother, friends, and teachers were the primary sources of menstrual knowledge. The study also found that most girls use sanitary products made of fabrics, pads, and cotton during menstruation. Among the difficulties the girls faced, the study found were emotional upset, physical discomfort (cramps in the stomach, fatigue), embarrassment, and inadequate sanitation hygiene facilities. The girls wore many garments to avoid leaks; checked their skirts continuously, went to the bathroom with their friends to act as spics while they changed; sat differently on the chairs, and took medicine to reduce period discomfort. Introduction of a health care teacher who supplies sanitary products and medications to girls during school time. Euphemisms as a form of communication amongst girls were all coping mechanisms girls and the school developed. Another finding was that some girls continued to go to school even while having their periods, while others did not. Discomfort and menstruation cramps hampered class participation. In addition, the study revealed insufficient sanitation and hygiene for females to change sanitary products in private and manage menstrual hygiene comfortably.

Keywords: MHM (menstrual hygiene management), rural area, sanitation, menstruation, water, schoolgirl, rural area, sanitation, menstruation, water

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Authors: Amani A. Saad, Ahmed A. El-Farag, El-Sayed A. Helali

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Cloud computing is an important and promising field in the recent decade. Cloud computing allows sharing resources, services and information among the people of the whole world. Although the advantages of using clouds are great, but there are many risks in a cloud. The data security is the most important and critical problem of cloud computing. In this research a new security model for cloud computing is proposed for ensuring secure communication system, hiding information from other users and saving the user's times. In this proposed model Blowfish encryption algorithm is used for exchanging information or data, and SHA-2 cryptographic hash algorithm is used for data integrity. For user authentication process a user-name and password is used, the password uses SHA-2 for one way encryption. The proposed system shows an improvement of the processing time of uploading and downloading files on the cloud in secure form.

Keywords: cloud Ccomputing, data security, SAAS, PAAS, IAAS, Blowfish

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Authors: Krisstalova Dana, Mazal Jan

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This article deals with geographical conditions in terrain and their effect on the movement of vehicles, their effect on speed and safety of movement of people and vehicles. Finding of the optimal routes outside the communication is studied in the army environment, but it occur in civilian as well, primarily in crisis situation, or by the provision of assistance when natural disasters such as floods, fires, storms etc., have happened. These movements require the optimization of routes when effects of geographical factors should be included. The most important factor is the surface of a terrain. It is based on several geographical factors as are slopes, soil conditions, micro-relief, a type of surface and meteorological conditions. Their mutual impact has been given by coefficient of deceleration. This coefficient can be used for the commander`s decision. New approaches and methods of terrain testing, mathematical computing, mathematical statistics or cartometric investigation are necessary parts of this evaluation.

Keywords: movement in a terrain, geographical factors, surface of a field, mathematical evaluation, optimization and searching paths

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Authors: Nuray Okcum, Jenny Sharples

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While the scrutinization towards marginalized groups throughout the globe has been existent for decades, prejudice towards Muslims in Western countries has been increasing dramatically. The vicious attacks across the globe by perpetrators who identify with Islam as well as popular political discourse by politicians in Western countries claiming and portraying Muslims as being dangerous, oppressed, or lacking the ability to assimilate into the community, adds to the exclusion and lack of belonging Muslims living in Western countries experience. The early stages of adulthood which have recently been conceptualized as emerging adulthood is a critical and socially ambiguous transition. For a young Muslim emerging into adulthood in a Western country, a variety of different challenges and demands that can exceed their coping abilities can arise. While in search for their identity and in a bid to structure themselves with their past childhood experiences together with their newly forming values, the emerging adult may attempt to direct or change the way in which they are viewed by others. This can be done to gain approval from others and to feel a sense of belonging. A change in the emerging adult’s interpersonal interactions and relationships, the way in which they view themselves and others, their sense of belonging, and their identity, also occurs during this developmental stage. To explore the manner in which Muslims emerging into adulthood carve their identity, their experiences, and representation of their Muslim identity, social identification, and their sense of belonging in Australia, an interpretative phenomenological methodology was utilized. This allowed participants to offer their own subjective experiences. A total of eight emerging adults took part in the study whilst four adults who work with emerging adults took part. Adult participants who work with emerging adults took part in the study to bring forth their insight and experiences. Common experiences were organized into themes. Themes included identifying as a Muslim, social identification, and belonging. Identification included visual identification and name, discrimination and resilience. Findings clearly indicated that Muslims emerging into adulthood in Australia do face various hurdles while they try to retain and represent their religious identity. Despite the unique challenges that they face, they still feel a sense of belonging and identity as being Australian.

Keywords: Muslim, Islam, emerging adulthood, Australia

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Authors: Yasaman Zeinali, Farid Khosravikia

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This paper presents a multi-objective framework for sustainable urban development. The proposed framework aims to address different aspects of sustainability in urban development planning. These aspects include, but are not limited to education, health, job opportunities, architecture, culture, environment, mobility, energy, water, waste, and so on. Then, the proposed framework is applied to the Brackenridge Tract (an area in downtown Austin, Texas), to redevelop that area in a sustainable way. The detail of the implementation process is presented in this paper. The ultimate goal of this paper is to develop a sustainable area in downtown Austin with ensuring that it locally meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental, health as well as cultural aspects. Moreover, it helps the city with the population growth problem by accommodating more people in that area.

Keywords: urban planning, sustainability, sustainable urban development, environmental impacts of human activities

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Authors: Sahil Anand, John Luetke, Nikhil Venkatesh, Dorothy Wong

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Trust plays an important role in building and sustaining long-term relationships between people. In this paper, we present a robot that communicates using nonverbal behaviors such as facial expressions and body movements. Our study reports on an experiment in which participants were asked to team up with the robot to perform specific tasks. We varied the expressivity of the robot and measured the effects on trust, quality of interactions as well as on the praising and punishing behavior of the participant towards the robot. We found that participants developed a stronger affinity towards the expressive robot, but did not show any significant differences in the level of trust. When the same robot made mistakes, participants unconsciously punished it with lesser intensity compared to the neutral robot. The results emphasize the role of expressive behaviors on participant’s perception of the robot and also on the quality of interactions between humans and robots.

Keywords: human-robot interaction, nonverbal communication, relationships, social robot, trust

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Authors: Hermann Luecken, Young Won Park, Judith M. Puetter

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Quality is known to be the accordance of product characteristics and customer requirements. Both the customer requirements and the assessment of the characteristics of the product with regard to the fulfillment of customer requirements are subject to cultural influences. Of course, the processes itself which lead to product manufacturing is also subject to cultural influences. In the first point, the cultural background of the customer influences the quality, in the second point, it is the cultural background of the employees and the company that influences the process itself. In times of globalization products are manufactured at different locations around the world, but typically the quality management system of the country in which the mother company is based is used. This leads to significantly different results in terms of productivity, product quality and process efficiency at the different locations, although the same quality management system is in use. The aim of an efficient and effective quality management system is therefore not doing the same at all locations, but to have the same result at all locations. In the past, standardization was used to achieve the same results. Recent investigations show that this is not the best way to achieve the same characteristics of product quality and production performance. In the present work, it is shown that the consideration of cultural aspects in the design of processes, production systems, and quality management systems results in a significantly higher efficiency and a quality improvement. Both Japanese and German companies were investigated with comparative interviews. The background of this selection is that in most cases the cultural difference regarding industrial processes between Germany and Japan is high. At the same time, however, the customer expectations regarding the product quality are very similar. Interviews were conducted with experts from German and Japanese companies; in particular, companies were selected that operate production facilities both in Germany and in Japan. The comparison shows that the cultural influence on the respective production performance is significant. Companies that adapt the design of their quality management and production systems to the country where the production site is located have a significantly higher productivity and a significantly higher quality of the product than companies that work with a centralized system.

Keywords: comparison of German and Japanese production systems, cultural influence on quality management, expert interviews, process efficiency

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Authors: Brian Yulianto, Syachrial, Saeful Aziz, Anggita Clara Shinta

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Indonesia, with a population of about two hundred and fifty million people in quantity, indicates the outstanding wealth of human resources. Hundreds of millions of the population scattered in various communities in various regions in Indonesia with the different characteristics of economic, social and unique culture. Broadly speaking, the community in Indonesia is divided into two classes, namely urban communities and rural communities. The rural communities characterized by low potential and management of natural and human resources, limited access of development, and lack of social and economic infrastructure, and scattered and isolated population. West Java is one of the provinces with the largest population in Indonesia. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2015 the number of population in West Java reached 46.7096 million souls spread over 18 districts and 9 cities. The big difference in geographical and social conditions of people in West Java from one region to another, especially the south to the north causing the gap is high. It is closely related to the flow of investment to promote the area. Poverty and underdevelopment are the classic problems that occur on a massive scale in the region as the effects of inequity in development. South Cianjur and Tasikmalaya area South became one of the portraits area where the existing potential has not been capable of prospering society. Tri Dharma College not only define the College as a pioneer implementation of education and research to improve the quality of human resources but also demanded to be a pioneer in the development through the concept of public service. Bandung Institute of Technology as one of the institutions of higher education to implement community service system through collaborative community work program "one of the university community" as one approach to developing villages. The program is based Community Service, where students are not only required to be able to take part in community service, but also able to develop a community development strategy that is comprehensive and integrity in cooperation with government agencies and non-government related as a real form of effort alignment potential, position and role from various parties. Areas of western Java in particular have high poverty rates and disparity. On the other hand, there are three fundamental pillars in the development of rural communities, namely economic development, community development, and the integrated infrastructure development. These pillars require the commitment of all components of community, including the students and colleges for upholding success. College’s community program is one of the approaches in the development of rural communities. ITB is committed to implement as one form of student community service as community-college programs that integrate all elements of the community which is called Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic.

Keywords: development in rural area, collaborative, student community service, Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic ITB

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Authors: Saleh Abu Dabous, Khaled Hamad, Rami Al-Ruzouq

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Bridge condition assessment and rating provide essential information needed for bridge management. This paper reviews bridge inspection and condition rating practices and introduces a defect-based urgency index. The index is estimated at the element-level based on the extent and severity of the different defects typical to the bridge element. The urgency index approach has the following advantages: (1) It facilitates judgment submission, i.e. instead of rating the bridge element with a specific linguistic overall expression (which can be subjective and used differently by different people), the approach is based on assessing the defects; (2) It captures multiple defects that can be present within a deteriorated element; and (3) It reflects how critical the element is through quantifying critical defects and their severity. The approach can be further developed and validated. It is expected to be useful for practical purposes as an early-warning system for critical bridge elements.

Keywords: condition rating, deterioration, inspection, maintenance

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Authors: Ankita Dixit

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A conference call using a mobile refers to a telephonic call in which several people talks to each other simultaneously. This is one of the most eminent features nowadays. This concept is already existing using LTE technology for mobile phones supporting SIM cards. Hence, currently, a conference call is possible only with the support of a SIM card, i.e., a Mobile operator. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology that is used for exchanging data between devices placed over short distances (up to 240 meters). This is a booming technology that is easily and freely available and has no dependency on network operators. Our study work proposes a smart system to enable conference calls with more than two mobile users without SIM support to communicate with each other simultaneously. The AI-based proposed solution will be self–governed, self-learned and will be intelligent enough to smartly switch between all callers connected via Bluetooth in a conference call. This proposed solution system will greatly increase the potential of using Bluetooth technology from a wider applicability perspective of conference calls, which is currently only possible over LTE mobiles.

Keywords: conference call, bluetooth, AI, frequency hopping, piconet, scatter net

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Authors: Edmar Jose da Rocha

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This paper is a study on Brazilian irregular migrants living and working in two global cities in Europe, Milan and London. The aim of the journal is to show out why Brazilian choose irregular migration to Milan and London as a strategy. Few studies in Europe have focused on groups coming from the same place of origin and residing in different cities in comparative studies. It is this international comparison that makes this research original. Both in London and Milan there is an economic migration. The reasons showed to migrate to Milan were marriage, citizenship and work. The reasons indicated to migrate to London were work, studies and a better life. In London marriage is a channel for regularisation and citizenship. In both countries, fake documents is a channel for undocumented people to get a job and health care.

Keywords: border, immigration, integration, survival strategies, undocumented, regularisation

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Authors: Rachid El Khoury

Abstract:

Chronic pain is perhaps the most burdensome health issue facing the planet. Our understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain has increased substantially over the past 25 years, including but not limited to changes in the brain. However, we still do not know why chronic pain develops in some people and not in others. Most of the recent developments in pain science, that have direct relevance to clinical management, relate to our understanding of the role of the brain, the role of the immune system, or the role of cognitive and behavioral factors. Although the Biopsychosocial model of pain management was presented decades ago, the Bio-reductionist model remains, unfortunately, at the heart of many practices across professional and geographic boundaries. A large body of evidence shows that nociception is neither sufficient nor necessary for pain. Pain is a conscious experience that can certainly be, and often is, associated with nociception, however, always modulated by countless neurobiological, environmental, and cognitive factors. This study will clarify the current misconceptions of chronic pain concepts, and their misperceptions by clinicians. It will also attempt to bridge the considerable gap between what we already know on pain but somehow disregarded, the development in pain science, and clinical practice.

Keywords: chronic pain, nociception, biopsychosocial, neuroplasticity

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Authors: David Mason-Cox

Abstract:

Existing academic analyses of The Beatles cover a huge array of topics. This research explores one clear but multifaceted aspect of The Beatles: the development of their creativity. While its importance cannot be underestimated, a thorough appraisal of the roots of the group’s individual and collective artistic blossoming deserves more attention. This paper investigates the mechanisms that caused or enabled the group to eventually exert such an immense and long-lasting influence on popular music and culture. It suggests that the artistic inspiration of Astrid Kirchherr during their time in Hamburg may be much more far-reaching than has previously been credited. It further addresses the effect of the confluence of conditions and events which essentially ‘hot-housed’ the four working-class Liverpudlians, providing them with the incentives and the means to far exceed their apparent potential. Thirdly, it looks at the competitive nature of The Beatles, both as a group and as individuals, and how that competitive streak sparked them to improve as musicians, songwriters, and showmen. In viewing these triggers through the lens of creative theory, the research attempts to analyse what made The Beatles’ innovative ascendancy so extraordinary and why creativity can be misunderstood. This then is the tale of impressionable youths from post-war austerity Britain; the lure of an artist with strong aesthetic sensibilities in an exotic locale, the media boom of the early 1960s, the machinations of the music business, the national grief in the US following Kennedy’s assassination, and, finally the resilience and determination of four young men who were prepared to take advantage of every opportunity to prove, and improve, themselves -the harbingers of a new creative paradigm. This paper is part of a broader study which also examines how their growth toward artistic maturity informs The Beatles’ significance and impact on the culture and the counterculture during the 1960s and beyond. It will eventually combine critical textual analysis with a series of interviews of musicians, other creatives, and intellectuals. These will be conducted to advance the existing erudition and to develop a more accurate understanding of the group’s cultural influence upon real-world individuals.

Keywords: artistic influence, Beatles, competition, creative theory, new creative paradigm

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Authors: Tracy-Ann Johnson-Myers

Abstract:

Since the early 1990’s voter turnout in Jamaica has been abysmal. More troubling, the group less interested in voting are the ‘articulate minority’ (educated youths, aged 18-35). Using surveys, media commentaries and data from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, this study explores the relationship between educated youths and traditional politics in Jamaica. Specifically, it raises questions about why the ‘articulate minority’ did not vote in the 2016 general election. This will be done by highlighting the political and socio-economic reasons affecting their participation in the electoral process, their opinions of who is responsible for low voter turnout in Jamaica, and what they think needs to be done to encourage people in general to vote. The findings reveal that lack of interest in the democratic and electoral process by the ‘articulate minority’ is due to their growing distrust of politicians and political parties, and lack of confidence in the political process.

Keywords: articulate minority, Jamaica, voter apathy, voter turnout

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Amira Kaddour, Hedia Teraoui, Khmayes Bougatef

Abstract:

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the major causes of the underdevelopment of Islamic finance in Tunisia. Indeed, it’s surprising to note that Zitouna bank established in May 2010 is the first Islamic Tunisian bank although 99% of Tunisians are Muslim and Islam is the religion of the State according to the Constitution. So we rely in our paper on the opinions of number of professors of finance and economics as educated people to prove or reject our hypothesis that the underdevelopment of Islamic finance in Tunisia can be explained by the ignorance of its main principles and advantages. Ours findings reveal that this branch of finance is still largely unknown, not only from public but also from professionals. The results obtained surprisingly show that this insignificance of Islamic banking cannot be explained by the fact that Tunisia has been governed since its independence by a secular left-wing party. Indeed, only 3% of respondents believe that legislation and regulation in Tunisia represent an obstacle to the development of Islamic finance. Moreover, respondents are not very optimistic about the future role of Islamic financing.

Keywords: Islamic banking, Islamic insurance (takaful), Islamic law (shariah), usury (riba)

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Gina Cecilia Pistol, Loredana Calin, Mariana Stancu, Veronica Chedea, Ionelia Taranu

Abstract:

Inflammatory-associated diseases have an increased trend in the past decades. The pharmacological strategies aimed to treat these inflammatory diseases are very expensive and with non-beneficial results. The current trend is to find alternative strategies to counteract or to control inflammatory component of diseases. The grape by-products either seeds or pomace are rich in bioactive compounds (e.g. polyphenols) which may be beneficial in prevention of inflammation associated with cancer progression and other pathologies with inflammatory component. The in vivo models are very useful for studying the immune and inflammatory status. The domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) is related to human from anatomic and physiologic point of view, representing a feasible model for studying the human inflammatory pathologies. Starting from these data, we evaluated the effect of a diet containing 5% grape seed cakes (GS) on piglets blood biochemical parameters and immune pro- and anti-inflammatory biomarkers (IL-1 beta, IL-8, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IFN-gamma, IL-10, IL-4) in spleen and lymph nodes. 12 weaned piglets were fed for 30 days with a control diet or an experimental diet containing 5% GS. At the end of trial, plasma and tissue samples (spleen and lymph nodes) were collected and the biochemical and inflammatory markers were analysed by using biochemistry analyser and ELISA techniques. Our results showed that diet included 5% GS did not influence the health status determined by plasma biochemical parameters. Only a tendency for a slight increase of the biochemical parameters associated with energetic profile (glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides) was observed. Also, GS diet had no effect on pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines content in spleen and lymph nodes tissue. Further experiments are needed in order to investigate other rate of dietary inclusion which could provide more evidence about the effect of grape bioactive compounds on pigs used as animal model.

Keywords: animal model, inflammation, grape seed by-product, immune organs

Procedia PDF Downloads 292