Search results for: firm performance effectiveness

Authors: Sabiha S. Marine, Nicole Flint, John Rolfe

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The Queensland state government introduced commercial gill net fishing closures in Cairns, Mackay, and Rockhampton in November 2015 to increase the recreational fishing opportunities, nature-based tourism, and economic benefits in these three regional areas. This management change is likely to improve the potential for more desirable stock structures through natural recruitment. Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is one of the popular target fish for recreational and commercial fishers in Northern Australia. This investigation examines the effects of reduced commercial fishing from both biological and economic perspectives, particularly on the local Barramundi population of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, the largest river catchment flowing to the eastern coast of Australia. Data on different parameters of biological and economic aspects have been collated from secondary sources for analysis through a system simulation approach to identify the effectiveness of the commercial netting closures on recreational fishing effort, especially for the Barramundi population. The results have the potential to explain certain consequences of the netting closures in Queensland, which could serve to inform future fisheries management decisions. The study output as a whole will help in the better management of fisheries resources by evaluating recreational fishing opportunities in Queensland, where the potential for increases in recreation is high.

Keywords: Barramundi, bioeconomic model, fishery management, recreational fishing

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Authors: Colm Barcoe, Garvan Whelan

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that US TV and movies have had on Irish tourism. This study examines how a destination marketing organisation (DMO) can use social media channels to capitalise upon the opportunities created by film tourism as it pertains to North American TV and movie productions. The findings are based on a combination of two qualitative methods, in-depth interviews with 20 industry professionals and a Netnographic analysis of social media activity between Tourism Ireland and the North American audience on Facebook and Twitter. The qualitative data were analysed in order to provide insights into the effectiveness of using North American pop culture as part of a digital marketing strategy when creating awareness of Ireland as a brand in the US and Canada. This study addresses a gap in the literature in relation to the use of social media when attracting the North American holidaymaker to Ireland. The findings from this investigation will extend an under-researched body of literature pertaining to Ireland as a destination and the successful digital marketing campaigns that have achieved exponential growth in this sector over the past five years. The empirical evidence presented also illustrates how the innovative use of social media has assisted the DMO to engage with the North American holidaymaker as part of an effective digital marketing strategy. This paper will be of value to academics and industry practitioners interested in film-induced tourism and indeed tourism in general, as well as students.

Keywords: digital marketing, tourism, strategies, movies, US TV

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Authors: Maria Malliarou, Efrossini Lyraraki, Pavlos Sarafis, Theodosios Paralikas, Styliani Kotrotsiou, Evangelia Kotrotsiou, Mairy Gouva

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Women with breast cancer have to adapt to physical malformations, side effects of chemotherapy, emotional insecurity, and changes in social roles. Inability to recognize the co-morbidity of psychiatric conditions can have an aggravating effect on patient compliance in therapeutic interventions, resulting in treatment delays and an impact on overall survival. The purpose of this study was to identify the quality of life of breast cancer patients undergoing external radiation therapy and to correlate it with depression and anxiety. Patients were asked to respond to an anonymous questionnaire with general demographic and clinical questions, followed by the EORTCQLQ-C30 questionnaire for assessing the quality of life of patients with breast cancer. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as well as the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was also administered. The statistical analysis of the data was done in IBM SPSS. Results indicated that the incidence of anxiety and depression in breast cancer patients is high both in HADS (37.5 % with mild to moderate depression and 62.5 % with significant to severe depression) and DASS - 21 (39.2 % mild to moderate depression and 60.8 % significant to severe) scales. The correlation of anxiety and depression with life quality was negative for HADS (r = -, 810, p = .000) as well as for DASS-21 (r = -, 682, p = .000). The psychological impact of breast cancer on patients is important. Its correlation with the quality of life may lead to better tolerance to treatment and better effectiveness of the therapeutic approach.

Keywords: anxiety, breast cancer, depression, quality of life

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Authors: M. Torres, A. Moulay, M. Zhuldybina, M. Rozel, N. D. Trinh, C. Bois

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Printed electronics are a fast-growing market as their applications cover a large range of industrial needs, their production cost is low, and the additive printing techniques consume less materials than subtractive manufacturing methods used in traditional electronics. With the growing demand for printed electronics, there are concerns about their harmful and irreversible contribution to the environment. Indeed, it is estimated that 80% of the environmental load of a product is determined by the choices made at the conception stage. Therefore, examination through a life cycle approach at the developing stage of a novel product is the best way to identify potential environmental issues and make proactive decisions. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a comprehensive scientific method to assess the environmental impacts of a product in its different stages of life: extraction of raw materials, manufacture and distribution, use, and end-of-life. Impacts and major hotspots are identified and evaluated through a broad range of environmental impact categories of the ReCiPe (H) middle point method. At the conception stage, the LCA is a tool that provides an environmental point of view on the choice of materials and processes and weights-in on the balance between performance materials and eco-friendly materials. Using the life cycle approach, the current work aims to provide a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment of a roll-to-roll hybrid printed smart label designed for the food cold chain. Furthermore, this presentation will present the environmental impact of metallic conductive inks, a comparison with promising conductive polymers, evaluation of energy vs. performance of industrial printing processes, a full assessment of the impact from the smart label applied on a cellulosic-based substrate during the recycling process and the possible recovery of precious metals and rare earth elements.

Keywords: Eco-design, label, life cycle assessment, printed electronics

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Authors: Amin Banae Babazadeh

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In the contemporary world, NGOs are considered as important tool for motivating the community. So they committed their true mission and the promotion of civic participation and strengthen social identities. Functional characteristics of non-governmental organizations are the element to leverage the centers of political and social development of powerful governments since they are concrete and familiar with the problems of society and the operational strategies which would facilitate this process of mutual trust between the people and organizations. NGOs on the one hand offer reasonable solutions in line with approved organizations as agents to match between the facts and reality of society and on the other hand changes to a tool to have true political, social and economic behavior. However, the NGOs are active in the formulation of national relations and policy formulation in an organized and disciplined based on three main factors, i.e., resources, policies, and institutions. Organizations are not restricted to state administration in centralized system bodies and this process in the democratic system limits the accumulation of desires and expectations and at the end reaches to the desired place. Hence, this research will attempt to emphasis on field research (questionnaire) and according to the development evolution and role of NGOs analyze the effects of this center on youth. Therefore, the hypothesis is that there is a direct relationship between the Enlightenment and the effectiveness of policy towards NGOs and solving social damages.

Keywords: civic participation, community vulnerability, insightful, NGO, urmia

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Authors: Takashi Shimizu, Tomoaki Hashimoto

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Controlling the flow of fluids is a challenging problem that arises in many fields. Burgers’ equation is a fundamental equation for several flow phenomena such as traffic, shock waves, and turbulence. The optimal feedback control method, so-called model predictive control, has been proposed for Burgers’ equation. However, the model predictive control method is inapplicable to systems whose all state variables are not exactly known. In practical point of view, it is unusual that all the state variables of systems are exactly known, because the state variables of systems are measured through output sensors and limited parts of them can be only available. In fact, it is usual that flow velocities of fluid systems cannot be measured for all spatial domains. Hence, any practical feedback controller for fluid systems must incorporate some type of state estimator. To apply the model predictive control to the fluid systems described by Burgers’ equation, it is needed to establish a state estimation method for Burgers’ equation with limited measurable state variables. To this purpose, we apply unscented Kalman filter for estimating the state variables of fluid systems described by Burgers’ equation. The objective of this study is to establish a state estimation method based on unscented Kalman filter for Burgers’ equation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

Keywords: observer systems, unscented Kalman filter, nonlinear systems, Burgers' equation

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Authors: M. Parvez Alam, M. Bilal Khan

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Concrete is the material of choice where strength, performance, durability, impermeability, fire resistance, and abrasion resistance are required. The hunger for the higher strength leads to other materials to achieve the desired results and thus, emerged the contribution of cementitious material for the strength of concrete In present day constructions, concrete is chosen as one of the best choices by civil engineers in construction materials. The concept of sustainability is touching new heights and many pozzolonic materials are tried and tested as partial replacement for the cement. In this paper, comprehensive review of available literatures are studied to evaluate the performance of pozzolonic materials such as ceramic waste powder, copper slag, silica fume on the strength of concrete by the partial replacement of ordinary materials such as cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate at different percentage of composition. From the study, we conclude that ceramic wastes are suitable to be used in the construction industry, and more significantly on the making of concrete. Ceramic wastes are found to be suitable for usage as substitution for fine and coarse aggregates and partial substitution in cement production. They were found to be performing better than normal concrete, in properties such as density, durability, permeability, and compressive strength. Copper slag is the waste material of matte smelting and refining of copper such that each ton of copper generates approximately 2.5 tons of copper slag. Copper slag is one of the materials that is considered as a waste which could have a promising future in construction Industry as partial or full substitute of aggregates. Silica fume, also known as micro silica or condensed silica fume, is a relatively new material compared to fly ash, It is another material that is used as an artificial pozzolonic admixture. High strength concrete made with silica fume provides high abrasion/corrosion resistance.

Keywords: concrete, pozzolonic materials, ceramic waste powder, copper slag

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Authors: Ayalew Yimam Ali

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The Y-shaped microchannel system is used to mix up low or high viscosities of different fluids, and the laminar flow with high-viscous water-glycerol fluids makes the mixing at the entrance Y-junction region a challenging issue. Acoustic streaming (AS) is time-average, a steady second-order flow phenomenon that could produce rolling motion in the microchannel by oscillating low-frequency range acoustic transducer by inducing acoustic wave in the flow field is the promising strategy to enhance diffusion mass transfer and mixing performance in laminar flow phenomena. In this study, the 3D trapezoidal Structure has been manufactured with advanced CNC machine cutting tools to produce the molds of trapezoidal structure with the 3D sharp edge tip angles of 30° and 0.3mm spine sharp-edge tip depth from PMMA glass (Polymethylmethacrylate) and the microchannel has been fabricated using PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) which could be grown-up longitudinally in Y-junction microchannel mixing region top surface to visualized 3D rolling steady acoustic streaming and mixing performance evaluation using high-viscous miscible fluids. The 3D acoustic streaming flow patterns and mixing enhancement were investigated using the micro-particle image velocimetry (μPIV) technique with different spine depth lengths, channel widths, high volume flow rates, oscillation frequencies, and amplitude. The velocity and vorticity flow fields show that a pair of 3D counter-rotating streaming vortices were created around the trapezoidal spine structure and observing high vorticity maps up to 8 times more than the case without acoustic streaming in Y-junction with the high-viscosity water-glycerol mixture fluids. The mixing experiments were performed by using fluorescent green dye solution with de-ionized water on one inlet side, de-ionized water-glycerol with different mass-weight percentage ratios on the other inlet side of the Y-channel and evaluated its performance with the degree of mixing at different amplitudes, flow rates, frequencies, and spine sharp-tip edge angles using the grayscale value of pixel intensity with MATLAB Software. The degree of mixing (M) characterized was found to significantly improved to 0.96.8% with acoustic streaming from 67.42% without acoustic streaming, in the case of 0.0986 μl/min flow rate, 12kHz frequency and 40V oscillation amplitude at y = 2.26 mm. The results suggested the creation of a new 3D steady streaming rolling motion with a high volume flow rate around the entrance junction mixing region, which promotes the mixing of two similar high-viscosity fluids inside the microchannel, which is unable to mix by the laminar flow with low viscous conditions.

Keywords: nano fabrication, 3D acoustic streaming flow visualization, micro-particle image velocimetry, mixing enhancement

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Authors: Shulamit Sternin

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Athletes experience injuries that can have both a physical and psychological impact on the individual. In such instances, athletes are able to rely on the established field of sports psychology to facilitate holistic rehabilitation. Musicians, like athletes rely on their bodies to perform in much the same way athletes do and are also susceptible to injury. Due to the similar performative nature of succeeding as an athletes or a musician, these careers share many of the same primary psychological concerns and therefore it is reasonable that athletes and musicians may require similar rehabilitation post-injury. However, musicians face their own unique psychological challenges and understanding the needs of an injured athlete can serve as a foundation for understanding the injured musician but is not enough to fully rehabilitate an injured musician. The current research surrounding musicians and their injuries is primarily focused on physiological aspects of injury and rehabilitation; the psychological aspects have not yet received adequate attention resulting in poor musician rehabilitation post- injury. This review paper uses current models of psychological response to injury in athletes to draw parallels with the psychological response to injury in musicians. Search engines such as Medline and PsycInfo were systematically searched using specific key words, such as psychological response, injury, athlete, and musician. Studies that focused on post-injury psychology of either the musician or the athlete were included. Within the literature there is evidence to support psychological responses, unique to the musician, that are not accounted for by current models of response in athletes. The models of psychological response to injury in athletes are inadequate tools for application to the musician. Future directions for performance arts research that can fill the gaps in our understanding and modeling of musicians’ response to injury are discussed. A better understanding of the psychological impact of injuries on musicians holds significant implications for health care practitioners working with injured musicians. Understanding the unique barriers musicians face post-injury, and how support for this population must be tailored to properly suit musicians’ needs will aid in more holistic rehabilitation and a higher likelihood of musician’s returning to pre-injury performance levels.

Keywords: athlete, injury, musician, psychological response

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Authors: Razieh Zareia, Hassan ZMB, Darush Moslemic, Amrollah Mostafa-Zaded

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Introduction: Shark is a murine organism and its cartilage has antitumor peptides to prevent angiogenesis, at least, in vitro. The purpose of our research was to evaluate the immune-effectiveness on imbalance between IL-23/IL-17 axis, as an inflammatory pathway and TGF/Foxp3 T regulatory as a inhibitory pathway of commercial shark cartilage that is available as a non-common dietary supplement in IRAN. Materials and Methods: First investigated an imbalanced supernatant of cytokines exist in patients with gastric cancer by ELISA. Associated with cytokines measuring such as IL-23, IL-17, TGF-β, IL-4, and γ-IFN, then flow cytometry was employed to determine whether the peripheral blood mononuclear cells such as CD4+CD25+Foxp3highT regulatory cells in patients with gastric cancer were changed correspondingly. Results: The simultaneously presented up-regulation IL-17A indicated, at least cytokine level without changing in TGF-β amount or CD4+CD25+Foxp3 T regulatory cells, that there are not a direct correlation between IL-23/IL-17 axis and Treg/TGF-β pathway in patients with gastric cancer treated by shark cartilage, but IL-23 was not expressed differentially in this group. So, accompany these changes, an imbalance between Th1 immunity (γ-IFN production) and TH2 immunity (IL-4 secretion) evaluated in patients with gastric cancer treated by shark cartilage. Conclusion: On the basis of results, we propose that shark cartilage, by reducing IL-4, decreasing IL-17 a central cytokine in angiogenesis and increasing γ-IFN amplify anti-tumor immune responses in patients with gastric cancer.

Keywords: IL-23/IL17 axis, TGF-β/CD4+CD25+Foxp3high T regulatory pathway, γ-IFN, IL-4, shark cartilage, gastric cancer

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Authors: Pauliina Haustein

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Improvisation was part of Western classical concert culture and performers’ skill sets until early 20th century. Historical accounts, as well as recent studies, indicate that improvisatory elements in the programme may contribute specifically towards the audiences’ experience of enhanced emotional engagement during the concert. This paper presents findings from the author’s artistic practice research, which explored re-introducing improvisation to Western classical performance practice as a musician (cellist and ensemble partner/leader). In an investigation of four concert cycles, the performer-researcher sought to gain solo and chamber music improvisation techniques (both related to and independent of repertoire), conduct ensemble improvisation rehearsals, design concerts with an improvisatory approach, and reflect on interactions with audiences after each concert. Data was collected through use of reflective diary, video recordings, measurement of sound parameters, questionnaires, a focus group, and interviews. The performer’s empirical experiences and findings from audience research components were juxtaposed and interrogated to better understand the (1) rehearsal and planning processes that enable improvisatory elements to return to Western classical concert experience and (2) the emotional experience and type of engagement that occur throughout the concert experience for both performer and audience members. This informed the development of a concert model, in which a programme of solo and chamber music repertoire and improvisations were combined according to historically evidenced performance practice (including free formal solo and ensemble improvisations based on audience suggestions). Inspired by historical concert culture, where elements of risk-taking, spontaneity, and audience involvement (such as proposing themes for fantasies) were customary, this concert model invited musicians to contribute to the process personally and creatively at all stages, from programme planning, and throughout the live concert. The type of democratic, personal, creative, and empathetic collaboration that emerged, as a result, appears unique in Western classical contexts, rather finding resonance in jazz ensemble, drama, or interdisciplinary settings. The research identified features of ensemble improvisation, such as empathy, emergence, mutual engagement, and collaborative creativity, that became mirrored in audience’s responses, generating higher levels of emotional engagement, empathy, inclusivity, and a participatory, co-creative experience. It appears that duringimprovisatory moments in the concert programme, audience members started feeling more like active participants in za\\a creative, collaborative exchange and became stakeholders in a deeper phenomenon of meaning-making and narrativization. Examining interactions between all involved during the concert revealed that performer-audience impulse exchange occurred on multiple levels of awareness and seemed to build upon each other, resulting in particularly strong experiences of both performer and audience’s engagement. This impact appeared especially meaningful for audience members who were seldom concertgoers and reported little familiarity with classical music. The study found that re-introducing improvisatory elements to Western classical concert programmes has strong potential in increasing audience’s emotional engagement with the musical performance, enabling audience members to connect more personally with the individual performers, and in reaching new-to-classical-music audiences.

Keywords: artistic research, audience engagement, audience experience, classical improvisation, ensemble improvisation, emotional engagement, improvisation, improvisatory approach, musical performance, practice research

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Authors: Bryony Pound

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This study investigated how views of green or urban space affect learning performance. It provides evidence of the value of visual access to greenspace in work and learning environments, and builds on the extensive research into the cognitive and learning-related benefits of access to green and natural spaces, particularly in learning environments. It demonstrates that benefits of visual access to natural spaces whilst learning can produce statistically significant faster responses than those facing urban views after only 5 minutes. The primary hypothesis of this research was that a greenspace view would improve short-term learning. Participants were randomly assigned to either a view of parkland or of urban buildings from the same room. They completed a psychological test of two stages. The first stage consisted of a presentation of words from eight different categories (four manmade and four natural). Following this a 2.5 minute break was given; participants were not prompted to look out of the window, but all were observed doing so. The second stage of the test involved a word recognition/false memory test of three types. Type 1 was presented words from each category; Type 2 was non-presented words from those same categories; and Type 3 was non-presented words from different categories. Participants were asked to respond with whether they thought they had seen the words before or not. Accuracy of responses and reaction times were recorded. The key finding was that reaction times for Type 2 words (highest difficulty) were significantly different between urban and green view conditions. Those with an urban view had slower reaction times for these words, so a view of greenspace resulted in better information retrieval for word and false memory recognition. Importantly, this difference was found after only 5 minutes of exposure to either view, during winter, and with a sample size of only 26. Greenspace views improve performance in a learning task. This provides a case for better visual access to greenspace in work and learning environments.

Keywords: benefits, greenspace, learning, restoration

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Authors: Guo Rui, Cao Xinhu

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In recent decades, the world has endured severe challenges in light of climate change, epidemics, geopolitics, terrorism, economic uncertainties, as well as regional conflicts and rivalries. The appropriate use of critical infrastructures (Cis) is confronted. Ports, as typical Cis cover more than 80% of the global freight movement. Within this context, even the minimal disruption of port operations could cause malfunction of the holistic supply chain network and substantial economic losses. Hence, it is crucial to evaluate port performance from the perspective of resilience. Research on resilience and risk/safety management has been increasing, however, it needs more attention, as it could prevent potential socio-economic losses and inspire decision-makers to make resilience-based decisions to answer the challenges, such as COVID-19. To facilitate better moves from decision-makers, ports need to identify proper factors influencing port resilience. Inappropriately influenced factor selection could have a cascading effect on undesirable port performances. Thus, a systematic evaluation of factors is essential to stimulate the improvement process of port resilience investigation. This study zooms into container ports considering their critical role in international trade and global supply chains. 440 articles are selected after relevance ranking, and consequently, 62 articles are scrutinized after the title and abstract screening. Forty-one articles are included for bibliographic analysis in the end. It is found that there is no standardized index system to measure port resilience. And most studies evaluate port resilience merely in the recovery phase. Only two articles cover absorption, adaption and recovery state. However, no literature involves the prevention state. Hence, a uniform resilience index system is expected with a clear resilience definition. And port safety and security should also be considered while evaluating port resilience.

Keywords: port resilience, port safety and security, literature review, index system, port performance

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Authors: Schadrack Mwizerwa

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The characterization and prediction of landslides are crucial for assessing geological hazards and mitigating risks to infrastructure and communities. This research aims to develop a probabilistic framework for analyzing excavation-induced landslides, which is fundamental for assessing geological hazards and mitigating risks to infrastructure and communities. The study uses Hermite polynomial chaos, a non-stationary random process, to analyze the stability of a slope and characterize the failure probability of a real landslide induced by highway construction excavation. The correlation within the data is captured using the Karhunen-Loève (KL) expansion theory, and the finite element method is used to analyze the slope's stability. The research contributes to the field of landslide characterization by employing advanced random field approaches, providing valuable insights into the complex nature of landslide behavior and the effectiveness of advanced probabilistic models for risk assessment and management. The data collected from the Baiyuzui landslide, induced by highway construction, is used as an illustrative example. The findings highlight the importance of considering the probabilistic nature of landslides and provide valuable insights into the complex behavior of such hazards.

Keywords: Hermite polynomial chaos, Karhunen-Loeve, slope stability, probabilistic analysis

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Authors: Karakhalis N. B.

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This study aimed to determine the prevalence of heparin resistance among cardiac surgical pediatric and neonatal patients and identify associated risk factors. Materials and Methods: The study included 306 pediatric and neonatal patients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery. Patients whose activated clotting time (ACT) targets were achieved after the first administration of heparin formed the 1st group (n=280); the 2nd group (n=26) included patients with heparin resistance. The initial assessment of the haemostasiological profile included determining the PT, aPPT, FG, AT III activity, and INR. Intraoperative control of heparinization was carried out with a definition of ACT using a kaolin activator. A weight-associated protocol at the rate of 300 U/kg with target values of ACT >480 sec was used for intraoperative heparinization. Results: The heparin resistance was verified in 8.5% of patients included in the study. Repeated heparin administration at the maximum dose of≥600 U/kg is required in 80.77% of cases. Despite additional heparinization, 19.23% of patients had FFP infusion. There was reduced antithrombin activity in the heparin resistance group (p=0.01). Most patients with heparin resistance (57.7%) were pretreated with low molecular weight heparins during the preoperative period. Conclusion: Determining the initial level of antithrombin activity can predict the risk of developing heparin resistance. The factor analysis verified hidden risk factors for heparin resistance to the heparin pretreatment, chronic hypoxia, and chronic heart failure.

Keywords: congenital heart disease, heparin, antithrombin, activated clotting time, heparin resistance

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Authors: Justine Kiiza, Xu Jiafang

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The world’s demand for energy is increasing rapidly due to population growth and a reduction in shallow conventional oil and gas reservoirs, resorting to deeper and mostly unconventional reserves like shale oil and gas. Most shale formations contain a large amount of expansive sodium montmorillonite (Na-Mnt), due to high water adsorption, hydration, and when the drilling fluid filtrate enters the formation with high Mnt content, the wellbore wall can be unstable due to hydration and swelling, resulting to shrinkage, sticking, balling, time wasting etc., and well collapse in extreme cases causing complex downhole accidents and high well costs. Recently, polyamines like 1, 6 – hexane diamine (HEDA) have been used as typical drilling fluid shale inhibitors to minimize and/or cab clay mineral swelling and maintain the wellbore stability. However, their application is limited to shallow drilling due to their sensitivity to elevated temperature and pressure. Inorganic potassium salts i.e., KCl, have long been applied for restriction of shale formation hydration expansion in deep wells, but their use is limited due to toxicity. Understanding the adsorption behaviour of HEDA on Na-Mnt surfaces in present of organo-salts, organic K-salts e.g., HCO₂K - main component of organo-salt drilling fluid, is of great significance in explaining the inhibitory performance of polyamine inhibitors. Molecular dynamic simulations (MD) were applied to investigate the influence of HCO₂K and KCl on the adsorption mechanism of HEDA on the Na-Mnt surface. Simulation results showed that adsorption configurations of HEDA are mainly by terminal amine groups with a flat-lying alkyl hydrophobic chain. Its interaction with the clay surface decreased the H-bond number between H₂O-clay and neutralized the negative charge of the Mnt surface, thus weakening the surface hydration ability of Na-Mnt. The introduction of HCO₂K greatly improved inhibition ability, coordination of interlayer ions with H₂O as they were replaced by K+, and H₂O-HCOO- coordination reduced H₂O-Mnt interactions, mobility and transport capability of H₂O molecules were more decreased. While KCl showed little ability and also caused more hydration with time, HCO₂K can be used as an alternative for offshore drilling instead of toxic KCl, with a maximum concentration noted in this study as 1.65 wt%. This study provides a theoretical elucidation for the inhibition mechanism and adsorption characteristics of HEDA inhibitor on Na-Mnt surfaces in the presence of K+-salts and may provide more insight into the evaluation, selection, and molecular design of new clay-swelling high-performance WBDF systems used in oil and gas complex offshore drilling well sections.

Keywords: shale, hydration, inhibition, polyamines, organo-salts, simulation

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Authors: Sarah Ullrich, Juliane Rolle, Christian Beste, Nicole Wolff

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Inhibition and cognitive flexibility are essential parts of executive functions in our daily lives, as they enable the avoidance of unwanted responses or selectively switch between mental processes to generate appropriate behavior. There is growing interest in improving inhibition and response selection through brief mindfulness-based meditations. Arguably, open-monitoring meditation (OMM) improves inhibitory and flexibility performance by optimizing cognitive control and information processing. Yet, the underlying neurophysiological processes have been poorly studied. Using the Simon-Go/Nogo paradigm, the present work examined the effect of a single 15-minute smartphone app-based OMM on inhibitory performance and response selection in meditation novices. We used both behavioral and neurophysiological measures (event-related potentials, ERPs) to investigate which subprocesses of response selection and inhibition are altered after OMM. The study was conducted in a randomized crossover design with N = 32 healthy adults. We thereby investigated Go and Nogo trials in the paradigm. The results show that as little as 15 minutes of OMM can improve response selection and inhibition at behavioral and neurophysiological levels. More specifically, OMM reduces the rate of false alarms, especially during Nogo trials regardless of congruency. It appears that OMM optimizes conflict processing and response inhibition compared to no meditation, also reflected in the ERP N2 and P3 time windows. The results may be explained by the meta control model, which argues in terms of a specific processing mode with increased flexibility and inclusive decision-making under OMM. Importantly, however, the effects of OMM were only evident when there was the prior experience with the task. It is likely that OMM provides more cognitive resources, as the amplitudes of these EKPs decreased. OMM novices seem to induce finer adjustments during conflict processing after familiarization with the task.

Keywords: EEG, inhibition, meditation, Simon Nogo

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Authors: Andrea Cretu, Calin Cadar, Maria Miclaus, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran, Siegfried Stapf, Ioan Ardelean

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Additives and mineral admixtures have become an integral part of cement-based materials. It is common practice to add silica fume to cement based mixes in order to produce high-performance concrete. There is still a lack of scientific understanding regarding the effects that silica fume has on the microstructure of hydrated cement paste. The aim of the current study is to develop high-performance materials with low permeability and high resistance to flexural stress using silica fume and an organosilane. Organosilane bonds with cement grains and silica fume, influencing both the workability and the final properties of the mix, especially the pore size distributions and pore connectivity. Silica fume is a known pozzolanic agent which reacts with the calcium hydroxide in hydrated cement paste, producing more C-S-H and improving the mechanical properties of the mix. It is believed that particles of silica fume act as capillary pore fillers and nucleation centers for C-S-H and other hydration products. In order to be able to design cement-based materials with added silica fume and organosilane, it is necessary first to understand the formation of the porous network during hydration and to observe the distribution of pores and their connectivity. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods in low-fields are non-destructive and allow the study of cement-based materials from the standpoint of their porous structure. Other methods, such as XRD and SEM-EDS, help create a comprehensive picture of the samples, along with the classic mechanical tests (compressive and flexural strength measurements). The transverse relaxation time (T₂) was measured during the hydration of 16 samples prepared with two water/cement ratios (0.3 and 0.4) and different concentrations or organosilane (APTES, up to 2% by mass of cement) and silica fume (up to 6%). After their hydration, the pore size distribution was assessed using the same NMR approach on the samples filled with cyclohexane. The SEM-EDS and XRD measurements were applied on pieces and powders prepared from the samples that were used in mechanical testing, which were kept under water for 28 days. Adding silica fume does not influence the hydration dynamics of cement paste, while the addition of organosilane extends the dormancy stage up to 10 hours. The size distribution of the capillary pores is not influenced by the addition of silica fume or organosilane, while the connectivity of capillary pores is decreased only when there is organosilane in the mix. No filling effect is observed even at the highest concentration of silica fume. There is an apparent increase in flexural strength of samples prepared only with silica fume and a decrease for those prepared with organosilane, with a few exceptions. XRD reveals that the pozzolanic reactivity of silica fume can only be observed when there is no organosilane present and the SEM-EDS method reveals the pore distribution, as well as hydration products and the presence or absence of calcium hydroxide. The current work was funded by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS – UEFISCDI, through project PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2016-0719.

Keywords: cement hydration, concrete admixtures, NMR, organosilane, porosity, silica fume

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Authors: Bello, A., Muhammed Ibrahim Abba., Abdullahi, M., Dauda, Sabo, & Shittu, A. T.

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This study investigated the Predictors of Lecturers Knowledge Sharing Acceptance on Open Educational Resources (OER) in North-East Nigerian in Universities. The study population comprised of 632 lecturers of Federal Universities in North-east Nigeria. The study sample covered 338 lecturers who were selected purposively from Adamawa, Bauchi and Borno State Federal Universities in Nigeria. The study adopted a prediction correlational research design. The instruments used for data collection was the questionnaire. Experts in the field of educational technology validated the instrument and tested it for reliability checks using Cronbach’s alpha. The constructs on lecturers’ acceptance to share OER yielded a reliability coefficient of; α = .956 for Performance Expectancy, α = .925; for Effort Expectancy, α = .955; for Social Influence, α = .879; for Facilitating Conditions and α = .948 for acceptance to share OER. the researchers contacted the Deanery of faculties of education and enlisted local coordinators to facilitate the data collection process at each university. The data was analysed using multiple sequential regression statistic at a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS version 23.0. The findings of the study revealed that performance expectancy (β = 0.658; t = 16.001; p = 0.000), effort expectancy (β = 0.194; t = 3.802; p = 0.000), social influence (β = 0.306; t = 5.246; p = 0.000), collectively indicated that the variables have a predictive capacity to stimulate lecturer’s acceptance to share their resources on OER repository. However, the finding revealed that facilitating conditions (β = .053; t = .899; p = 0.369), does not have a predictive capacity to stimulate lecturer’s acceptance to share their resources on OER repository. Based on these findings, the study recommends among others that the university management should consider adjusting OER policy to be centered around actualizing lecturers career progression.

Keywords: acceptance, lecturers, open educational resources, knowledge sharing

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Paul Lam, Kevin Wong, Chi Him Chan

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Constant practicing and accurate, immediate feedback are the keys to improving students’ speaking skills. However, traditional oral examination often fails to provide such opportunities to students. The traditional, face-to-face oral assessment is often time consuming – attending the oral needs of one student often leads to the negligence of others. Hence, teachers can only provide limited opportunities and feedback to students. Moreover, students’ incentive to practice is also reduced by their anxiety and shyness in speaking the new language. A mobile app was developed to use artificial intelligence (AI) to provide immediate feedback to students’ speaking performance as an attempt to solve the above-mentioned problems. Firstly, it was thought that online exercises would greatly increase the learning opportunities of students as they can now practice more without the needs of teachers’ presence. Secondly, the automatic feedback provided by the AI would enhance students’ motivation to practice as there is an instant evaluation of their performance. Lastly, students should feel less anxious and shy compared to directly practicing oral in front of teachers. Technically, the program made use of speech-to-text functions to generate feedback to students. To be specific, the software analyzes students’ oral input through certain speech-to-text AI engine and then cleans up the results further to the point that can be compared with the targeted text. The mobile app has invited English teachers for the pilot use and asked for their feedback. Preliminary trials indicated that the approach has limitations. Many of the users’ pronunciation were automatically corrected by the speech recognition function as wise guessing is already integrated into many of such systems. Nevertheless, teachers have confidence that the app can be further improved for accuracy. It has the potential to significantly improve oral drilling by giving students more chances to practice. Moreover, they believe that the success of this mobile app confirms the potential to extend the AI-assisted assessment to other language skills, such as writing, reading, and listening.

Keywords: artificial Intelligence, mobile learning, oral assessment, oral practice, speech-to-text function

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Y. Abdul Aziz, E. L. K. Osafo, S. O. Apori, A. Osman

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A sixteen week trial was conducted at the Research Farm (Technology Village) of the Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. This study sought to investigate the effects of Probiotic (RE3) on growth performance, diarrhea incidence and blood parameters of N’dama calves. Sixteen N’dama calves aged 3 months of an average initial weight of 44.2 kg were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments according to their body weight, age, and sex. Treatment 1 (T1) serve as a control animal (No RE3 supplementation). Treatment 2 (T2) receives 0.03 ml RE3 per kg body weight. Treatment 3 (T3) receives 0.06 ml RE3 per kg body weight, and Treatment 4 (T4) also receives 0.09 ml RE3 per kg body weight in a Completely Randomize Design (CRD). There were 4 replicates per treatment. The calves were allowed access to feed and water ad libitum. The body weight of the calves was recorded at the start of the experiment and thereafter regularly at two weeks interval. Weighing was done early morning before the calves are allowed to access feed and water and were also observed in their pens for occurrence of diarrhea and faecal scores recorded. Blood samples were obtained from each calf at the end of the study through jugular vein puncture. Supplementation of RE3 to calves had showed a beneficial effect by reducing the incidence of diarrhea. The highest faecal score was recorded in T1 and the least faecal score was recorded in T3. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in the faecal score between the treatment group and the control after two weeks of the experiment. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the average daily gain of the animals. Hematological and biochemical indices of calves were all within the normal range except in treatments (1, 3 and 4) which recorded high White Blood Cell (WBC) count with no significant difference (P > 0.05).

Keywords: probiotics (RE3), diarrhea incidence, blood parameters, N’dama calves

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Luiz F. J. Maia

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This paper presents an approach to fuzzy control, with the use of new pertinence functions, applied in the case of an inverted pendulum. Appropriate definitions of pertinence functions to fuzzy sets make possible the implementation of the controller with only one control rule, resulting in a smooth control surface. The fuzzy control system can be implemented with analog devices, affording a true real-time performance.

Keywords: control surface, fuzzy control, Inverted pendulum, pertinence functions

Procedia PDF Downloads 445

Authors: Saou Mohamed Amine

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The construction industry has been identified as a user of substantial amount of materials and energy resources that has an enormous impact on environment. The energy efficient in refurbishment project is being considered as one of the approaches to achieve sustainability in construction industry. The increasing concern for environment has made building owners and designers to incorporate the energy efficiency features into their building projects.

Keywords: construction industry, design team attributes, energy efficient performance, refurbishment projects characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Mehmet Oren, Susan Pedersen, Sevket C. Cetin

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Despite the frequently criticized disadvantages of the traditional used paper and pencil assessment, it is the most frequently used method in our schools. Although assessments do an acceptable measurement, they are not capable of measuring all the aspects and the richness of learning and knowledge. Also, many assessments used in schools decontextualize the assessment from the learning, and they focus on learners’ standing on a particular topic but do not concentrate on how student learning changes over time. For these reasons, many scholars advocate that using simulations and games (S&G) as a tool for assessment has significant potentials to overcome the problems in traditionally used methods. S&G can benefit from the change in technology and provide a contextualized medium for assessment and teaching. Furthermore, S&G can serve as an instructional tool rather than a method to test students’ learning at a particular time point. To investigate the potentials of using educational games as an assessment and teaching tool, this study presents the implementation and the validation of an automated embedded assessment (AEA), which can constantly monitor student learning in the game and assess their performance without intervening their learning. The experiment was conducted on an undergraduate level engineering course (Digital Circuit Design) with 99 participant students over a period of five weeks in Spring 2016 school semester. The purpose of this research study is to examine if the proposed method of AEA is valid to assess student learning in a 3D Educational game and present the implementation steps. To address this question, this study inspects three aspects of the AEA for the validation. First, the evidence-centered design model was used to lay out the design and measurement steps of the assessment. Then, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test if the assessment can measure the targeted latent constructs. Finally, the scores of the assessment were compared with an external measure (a validated test measuring student learning on digital circuit design) to evaluate the convergent validity of the assessment. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the fit of the model with three latent factors with one higher order factor was acceptable (RMSEA < 0.00, CFI =1, TLI=1.013, WRMR=0.390). All of the observed variables significantly loaded to the latent factors in the latent factor model. In the second analysis, a multiple regression analysis was used to test if the external measure significantly predicts students’ performance in the game. The results of the regression indicated the two predictors explained 36.3% of the variance (R2=.36, F(2,96)=27.42.56, p<.00). It was found that students’ posttest scores significantly predicted game performance (β = .60, p < .000). The statistical results of the analyses show that the AEA can distinctly measure three major components of the digital circuit design course. It was aimed that this study can help researchers understand how to design an AEA, and showcase an implementation by providing an example methodology to validate this type of assessment.

Keywords: educational video games, automated embedded assessment, assessment validation, game-based assessment, assessment design

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Niall J. English

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Under- and post-graduate training can benefit from a more active learning style, and most particularly so in engineering. Despite this, outreach to young children in primary and secondary schools is less-developed in terms of its documented effectiveness, especially given new emphasis placed within the third level and advanced research program’s on Education and Public Engagement (EPE). Bearing this in mind, outreach and school visits form the basis to ascertain how active learning, careers stimulus and EPE initiatives for young children can inform the university sector, helping to improve future engineering-teaching standards, and enhancing both quality and practicalities of the teaching-and-learning experience. Indeed, engineering-education EPE/outreach work has been demonstrated to lead to several tangible benefits and improved outcomes, such as greater engagement and interest with science/engineering for school-children, careers awareness, enabling teachers with strong contributions to technical knowledge of engineering subjects, and providing development of general professional skills for engineering, e.g., communication and teamwork. This intervention involved active learning in ‘buzz’ groups for young children of concepts in gas engineering, observing their peer interactions to develop university-level lessons on activity learning. In addition, at the secondary level, careers-outreach efforts have led to statistical determinations of motivations towards engineering education and training, which aids in the redesign of engineering curricula for more active learning.

Keywords: outreach, education and public engagement, careers, peer interactions

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Marzieh Yassin, Azizeh Parandnia, Javad Sarrafzadeh, Reza Salehi

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Background: Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) are one of the main causes of musculoskeletal pain syndromes and are associated with pain, tenderness, and limited range of motion (ROM). This study compared the effectiveness of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) and dry needling (DN) on pain intensity, pain pressure threshold, cervical range of motion and disability in people with chronic neck pain. Method and Material: 30 patients with chronic neck pain were randomly divided into two groups: a HILT group (n=15) and a DN group (n=15). Treatment sessions were performed for three weeks, and all participants received related intervention twice a week (5 sessions). The pain level was measured using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS); the pain pressure threshold (PPT) was measured using a digital algometer; perceived disability was measured using the neck disability index (NDI); and cervical range of movements (CROMs) were measured using an iPhone app (lateral flexion) and a goniometer (Rotation). Results: In both the dry needling and high-intensity laser therapy groups, the pain and neck disability were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Also, the pain pressure threshold and cervical range of motions were significantly increased in both groups. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Both high-intensity laser therapy and dry needling can be used to treat chronic neck pain.

Keywords: chronic neck pain, dry needling, high intensity laser therapy (HILT), pain, pain pressure threshold

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Andrew Anis Fakhrey Mosaad

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Objectives: Physiotherapy in the intensive care unit (ICU) improves patient outcomes. We aimed to determine the characteristics of physiotherapy practice and critical barriers to applying physiotherapy in ICUs. Materials and Methods: A 54-item survey for determining the characteristics physiotherapists and physiotherapy applications in the ICU was developed. The survey was electronically sent to potential participants through the Turkish Physiotherapy Association network. Sixty-five physiotherapists (47F and 18M; 23–52 years; ICU experience: 6.0±6.2 years) completed the survey. The data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results: The duration of ICU practice was 3.51±2.10 h/day. Positioning (90.8%), active exercises (90.8%), breathing exercises (89.2%), passive exercises (87.7%), and percussion (87.7%) were the most commonly used applications. The barriers were related to physiotherapists (low level of employment and practice, lack of shift); patients (unwillingness, instability, participation restriction); teamwork (lack of awareness and communication); equipment (inadequacy, non-priority to purchase); and legal (reimbursement, lack of direct physiotherapy access, non-recognition of autonomy) procedures. Conclusion: The most common interventions were positioning, active, passive, breathing exercises, and percussion. Critical barriers toward physiotherapy are multifactorial and related to physiotherapists, patients, teams, equipment, and legal procedures. Physiotherapist employment, service maintenance, and multidisciplinary teamwork should be considered for physiotherapy effectiveness in ICUs.

Keywords: intensive care units, physical therapy, physiotherapy, exercises

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Tesfaye Walle Mekonnen

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Maize is one of the most important staple food crops for most low-income households in the Sub-Saharan (SSA). Combined heat and drought stress is the major production threats that reduce the yield potential of biofortified maize and restrain various macro and micronutrient deficiencies highly prevalent in low-income people who rely solely on maize-based diets, SSA. This problem can be alleviated by crossing the biofortified inbred lines with different nutritional attributes, Fe, Zn, Protein, and Provitamin A, and developing agronomically superior and stable multi-nutrient maize of various genetic backgrounds. This aimed to understand the correlation between biofortified inbred lines per se and hybrid performance under combined heat and drought stress conditions (CSC). The experiment was conducted at CIMMYT, Zimbabwe, using α-lattice design with three replications. The hybrid effect was highly significant for zein fractions (α-, β-, γ- and δ-zein) zinc, (Zn), and iron (Fe) provitamin A, phytic acid, and grain yield. Under CSC, Fe, Zn concentration, provitamin A in grain and grain yield of hybrids were significantly decreased, however, the zein fraction content and phytic acid content increases in grain were increased under CSC. The phenotypic correlation between grain yield with Zn, Fe concentration, and Provitamin A in grain was strongly positive and higher under CSC than in well-watered conditions. The present investigation confirmed that under CSC, Fe, and Zn-enhanced hybrids could be forecasted to a certain scope based on the performance of and scientifically selected for desirable grain yield and related traits with CSC tolerance during hybrid development programs. In conclusion, the development of high-yielding and micronutrient-dense maize variety is possible under CSC, which could reduce the highly prevalent micronutrient in SSA.

Keywords: drought, Fe, heat, maize, protein, zein fractions, Zn

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Rivindu Nethmin Bandara Menik Hitihamy Mudiyanselage, Matthias Hank Haeusler, Ben Doherty

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Investors and clients in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry find it difficult to understand complex datasets and reports with little to no graphic representation. The stakeholders examined in this paper include designers, design clients and end-users. Communicating embodied carbon information graphically and concisely can aid with decision support early in a building's life cycle. It is essential to create a common visualisation approach as the level of knowledge about embodied carbon varies between stakeholders. The tool, designed in conjunction with Bates Smart, condenses Tally Life Cycle Assessment data to a carbon hot-spotting visualisation, highlighting the sections with the highest amounts of embodied carbon. This allows stakeholders at every stage of a given project to have a better understanding of the carbon implications with minimal effort. It further allows stakeholders to differentiate building elements by their carbon values, which enables the evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the selected materials at an early stage. To examine and build a decision-support tool, an action-design research methodology of cycles of iterations was used along with precedents of embodied carbon visualising tools. Accordingly, the importance of visualisation and Building Information Modelling are also explored to understand the best format for relaying these results.

Keywords: embodied carbon, visualisation, summarisation, data filtering, early-stage decision-making, materiality

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Helan Gethse J., Dhanya K., Muthuselvi G., Diana Hyden N., Samuel Pakianathan P.

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Transformer oil is mostly used to keep the transformer cool. It functions as a cooling agent. Mineral oil has long been used in transformers. Mineral oil has a high dielectric strength, which allows it to withstand high temperatures. Mineral oil's main disadvantage is that it is not environmentally friendly and can be dangerous to the environment. The features of breakdown voltage (BDV), viscosity, flash point, and fire point are measured and reported in this study, and the characteristics of olive oil are compared to the characteristics of mineral oil.

Keywords: antioxidants, transformer oil, mineral oil, olive oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 145