Search results for: hybrid public space

Authors: Edna Ariste, Richard Standy Coqmar

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Background: Acute respiratory infections are a major public health problem in the world, mainly in vulnerable populations such as newborns, children under five years of age, and the elderly. The objective of this study was to Characterize the cases of acute respiratory infections in infants and under 15 years old hospitalized at the Immaculée Conception Hospital in Cayes from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on the epidemiology profile of acute respiratory infections hospitalized in the pediatric ward at Immaculée Conception Hospital in Les Cayes from January 2019 to December 2021. The study population consisted of all newborns, infants, and children under 15 years of age diagnosed with respiratory infections at the pediatric service. Data were collected from the hospitalization registers and patient records of this unit. A database was created and used for data collection. Excel and Epi info 7.2 were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 588 cases were identified during the 2019-2021 year. 43.5% (256) were female, and 56.5% (332) were male. The average age was 4, 3. The most affected age group was 1-4 years. The male/female sex ratio was 1.2. The most frequent respiratory infections were respectively pneumonia 44.9%, bronchitis 16.5%, and respiratory distress 10.5%. The mortality rate recorded during this period was 4.4%. Conclusion: Acute respiratory infections are more frequent in young children. It is, therefore, necessary to practice hand hygiene. Reinforce the surveillance of severe acute respiratory infections.

Keywords: acute respiratory infections, pediatrics, cayes, haiti

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Authors: Özgür Emi̇nağaoğlu, Hayal Akyildirim Beğen, Şevval Sali̇oğlu

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In this study, the plant used for purification and aromatic purposes by the public in Adagül, Akpınar, Alaca, Ambarlı, Arkaköy, Avcılar, Balcı, Civan, Demirciler, Düzköy, İbrikli, Kale, Kaynarca and Taraklı villages in Borcka (Artvin) district between 2020-2022. The purpose of the study, determining the surgical common and local names, regions, botanical features, used parts of plants, purpose of use, local usage intensive, and giving literature data. The research area is located on the A8 square according to Davis's grid system; its phytogeographic extensions are in the Holarctic regions, and the Euro-Siberian flora settlement is in the Colchic subsection of the Euxine region. In the research area, 71 personal questionnaires were applied. As a result of the surveys, it was determined that 93 plant species belonging to 44 families were used by the local people for purification and aromatic purposes. The families that contain the most taxa in the research area are, respectively, Rosaceae (15 taxa), Astericaeae (9 taxa), Lamiaceae (7 taxa), Crassulaceae (4 taxa). As a result of the survey studies, Plantago major L. is known by almost all participants. The most used plants were Allium scorodoprasum, Helichrysum arenarium, Alnus glutinosa subsp. barbata, Juglans regia, Tilia rubra subsp. caucasica, Picea orientalis, Urtica dioica. These plants are used in the treatment of many diseases. Some of these plants that grow in Borçka are used in different countries for the treatment of the same diseases.

Keywords: artvin, borçka, medicinal, aromatic, plant

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Authors: Sachin Sharma

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Sexual consent is integral to every sexual relationship. It is a process to facilitate sexual autonomy and bodily integrity. It assures complete sexual personhood and allows an individual to explore her sexual expressions independently. But the said proposition is not true for people with psychosocial disabilities. Generally, they are considered seraphic or mephistophelic and denied access to sexual autonomy. This result in institutionalizing the sexuality of disabled persons, where the eugenics-ableist narrative defines assessment and access to consent. This way, sexuality and disability are distanced apart. It is primarily due to the stigmatized socio-cultural constructs of sexuality that define sex within a “standard” and “charmed” circle. Such stigmatized expression influences the law, as it considers people with psychosocial disabilities incapable of sexual consent. The approach of legal institutions is very narrow towards interpreting their sexual rights. It echoes the modernist-ableism and strangulates the sexual choices. This way, it reflects the repressive model of sex and denies space to people with psychosocial disabilities. Moreover, judicial courts follow old and conservative methods while dealing with sexual issues. For instance, courts still practice the “standardized” norm of intelligence quotient (IQ) for determining the credibility of persons with psychosocial disabilities. Further, there is still doubt about assistive communicative techniques. This paper will try to question the normative structure of sexual consent and related laws while specifically addressing the issues of sex as desire and abuse. Considering the commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (herein referred to as UNCRPD) and common law experience, the paper will draw a comparative study on the legal position of sexual rights in India. The paper will also analyze the role of UNCRPD in addressing sexual rights. The author will examine the position of sexual rights of people with psychosocial disabilities after the drafting of UNCRPD and specific state laws. The paper primarily follows the doctrinal method.

Keywords: sexual autonomy, institutionalized choices, overregulated laws, violation of individuality

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Authors: Brunno Vasques

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Due to the non-toxic nature and high performance in terms of vacuum specific impulse and density specific impulse, the combination of liquid oxygen and liquid methane have been identified as a promising option for future space vehicle systems. Applications requiring throttling capability include specific missions such as rendezvous, planetary landing and de-orbit as well as weapon systems. One key challenge in throttling liquid rocket engines is maintaining an adequate pressure drop across the injection elements, which is necessary to provide good propellant atomization and mixing as well as system stability. The potential scalability of pintle injectors, their great suitability to throttling and inherent combustion stability characteristics led to investigations using a variety of propellant combinations, including liquid oxygen and hydrogen and fluorine-oxygen and methane. Presented here are the preliminary performance and heat transfer information obtained during hot-fire testing of a pintle injector running on liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants. The specific injector design selected for this purpose is a multi-configuration building block version with replaceable injection elements, providing flexibility to accommodate hardware modifications with minimum difficulty. On the basis of single point runs and the use of a copper/nickel segmented calorimetric combustion chamber and associated transient temperature measurement, the characteristic velocity efficiency, injector footprint and heat fluxes could be established for the first proposed pintle configuration as a function of injection velocity- and momentum-ratios. A description of the test-bench is presented as well as a discussion of irregularities encountered during testing, such as excessive heat flux into the pintle tip resulting from certain operating conditions.

Keywords: green propellants, hot-fire performance, rocket engine throttling, pintle injector

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Authors: Martin Georgiev, Milena Nanova, Damyan Damov

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Architects, engineers, and developers need to analyse and implement a wide spectrum of data in different formats, if they want to produce viable residential developments. Usually, this data comes from a number of different sources and is not well structured. The main objective of this research project is to provide parametric tools working with real geodesic data that can generate residential solutions. Various codes, regulations and design constraints are described by variables and prioritized. In this way, we establish a common workflow for architects, geodesists, and other professionals involved in the building and investment process. This collaborative medium ensures that the generated design variants conform to various requirements, contributing to a more streamlined and informed decision-making process. The quantification of distinctive characteristics inherent to typical residential structures allows a systematic evaluation of the generated variants, focusing on factors crucial to designers, such as daylight simulation, circulation analysis, space utilization, view orientation, etc. Integrating real geodesic data offers a holistic view of the built environment, enhancing the accuracy and relevance of the design solutions. The use of generative algorithms and parametric models offers high productivity and flexibility of the design variants. It can be implemented in more conventional CAD and BIM workflow. Experts from different specialties can join their efforts, sharing a common digital workspace. In conclusion, our research demonstrates that a generative parametric approach based on real geodesic data and collaborative decision-making could be introduced in the early phases of the design process. This gives the designers powerful tools to explore diverse design possibilities, significantly improving the qualities of the building investment during its entire lifecycle.

Keywords: architectural design, residential buildings, urban development, geodesic data, generative design, parametric models, workflow optimization

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Authors: Sudheer Moorkoth, Leslie Edward Lewis, Pragna Rao

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Newborn screening (NBS) is a part of routine newborn care in many countries worldwide to detect early any rare treatable conditions and inborn errors of metabolism (IEM). India has not started this program yet. In an attempt to understand the challenges in implementing a national newborn screening program in India, we initiated a pilot newborn screening project funded by the Government of Canada. Along with initiating the newborn screening at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal in South India, for screening six disorders (Congenital Hypothyroidism(CH), Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), Galactosemia, Biotinidase deficiency, Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase deficiency (G-6PD) and Phenylketonurea), we also studied the awareness of various stakeholders on the newborn screening. In a period of nine months from August 2017 to March 2018 we could screen 1915 newborns (999 male and 916 female). The result showed that there were seven babies screened positive. This interim result points to an incidence rate of 1 in 270 children for these rare disorders collectively. This includes three confirmed cases of CH, two cases of G-6PD deficiency, and one case each for Galctosemia and CAH. A questionnaire based study to understand the awareness among various stakeholders revealed that there is little awareness among parents, adolescents and anganwadi workers (public health worker). The interim data points to the need for a national newborn screening programme in India. There is also an immediate need to undertake large-scale awareness programme to create knowledge on NBS among the various stakeholders.

Keywords: awareness, inborn errors of metabolism (IEM), newborn screening, rare disease

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Authors: Tae-Uk Yun, Pullip Chung, Kee-Young Kwahk, Hyunchul Ahn

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Fake news is defined as the news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false, and could mislead readers. Spread of fake news may provoke anxiety, chaos, fear, or irrational decisions of the public. Thus, detecting fake news and preventing its spread has become very important issue in our society. However, due to the huge amount of fake news produced every day, it is almost impossible to identify it by a human. Under this context, researchers have tried to develop automated fake news detection using machine learning techniques over the past years. But, there have been no prior studies proposed an automated fake news detection method for Korean news to our best knowledge. In this study, we aim to detect Korean fake news using text mining and machine learning techniques. Our proposed method consists of two steps. In the first step, the news contents to be analyzed is convert to quantified values using various text mining techniques (topic modeling, TF-IDF, and so on). After that, in step 2, classifiers are trained using the values produced in step 1. As the classifiers, machine learning techniques such as logistic regression, backpropagation network, support vector machine, and deep neural network can be applied. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we collected about 200 short Korean news from Seoul National University’s FactCheck. which provides with detailed analysis reports from 20 media outlets and links to source documents for each case. Using this dataset, we will identify which text features are important as well as which classifiers are effective in detecting Korean fake news.

Keywords: fake news detection, Korean news, machine learning, text mining

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Authors: Innocent C. Abazie, Odukoya A. Olatunde, Ochuko Orakpoghenor, Bamidele J. Kolawole, Hannah L. Kolawole

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This study was carried out to obtain five-year retrospective data on dog bite cases and antirabies vaccination of dogs in relation to rabies control in Aba, Abia state, Nigeria. Data for retrospective studies (2016 - 2020) was collected from both government and private veterinary clinics in Aba. A total of 66 dog bite cases were reported between January 2016 and December 2020 with a majority of victims being adults (51.5%) within the ages of 18 – 50 years. On the prevalence of dog bite cases according to the gender of victims, males (75.8%) were mostly involved compared to female victims (24.2%). Anatomically, the majority of bite wounds (65.2%) were on the legs. The monthly distribution of bites indicates a higher frequency in the months of January and March (dry season). Local 28 (43.8%) and exotic breeds 30(46.8%) of dogs were mostly involved in the dog bite cases. The majority of the dogs (92.2%) involved in the bite cases were known dogs whose owners could be contacted, while a very few proportion (7.8%) were stray dogs. Results of this study indicated that only 16 (25%) of the offending dogs had a current antirabies vaccination record, 8 (12.5%) had an unknown vaccination record, while the largest proportion, 40 (62.5%) of the offending dogs had no current vaccination record. Public awareness of the danger of dog bites in relation to rabies and increased antirabies vaccination of dogs as a means of controlling the disease is recommended.

Keywords: Aba, dog bite, rabies, vaccination profile

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Authors: Ziyu Zhang, Xuanyu Ren, Fei Wu, Qinfei Lu, Yongmei Li, Xinyue Zhi

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Introduction: Adolescents experience a critical period of physical and psychological growth. Few studies focus on the influence of sleep hygiene on psychological health from the high school period to freshmen year. Also, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic has public health significance. Methods: Totally 698 students from high school and college were included in the manuscript, and a cross-sectional procedure was conducted; the objective was to make the epidemiological comparison of the social phobia/depression prevalence and discuss the effects of potential determinants. Results: Psychological problems, including social phobia and depression, are prevalent, especially among high school students, with gender differences. The current results indicated that the association between sleep status and social phobia is most obvious among high school students, while the higher MMR risk was found both for high school social phobia students and college depressive freshmen. Moreover, the interaction between social phobia and depression was also obvious for both populations. Conclusions: Psychological problems, including social phobia and depression, are more prevalent among high school girls when compared with their male and freshmen peers. Important influenced factors for the risk of psychological problems among the two populations were different, but media multitasking status should be paid attention to for both.

Keywords: adolescence, psychological health, epidemiology, social culture

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Authors: Hirbaye Mokona, Abebaw Gebeyehu, Aemro Zerihun

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Introduction: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is serious public health problem affecting millions of children throughout the world. Method: A cross-sectional study conducted from May to June 2015 among children age 6 to 17 years living in rural area of Girja district. Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select 1302 study participants. Disruptive Behavior Disorder rating scale was used to collect the data. Data were coded, entered and cleaned by Epi-Data version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Logistic regression analysis was used and Variables that have P-values less than 0.05 on multivariable logistic regression was considered as statistically significant. Results: Prevalence of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children age 6 to 17 years was 7.3%. Being male [AOR=1.81, 95%CI: (1.13, 2.91)]; living with single parent [AOR=5.0, 95%CI: (2.35, 10.65)]; child birth order/rank [AOR=2.35, 95%CI: (1.30, 4.25)]; low family socio-economic status [AOR= 2.43, 95%CI: (1.29, 4.59)]; maternal alcohol/khat use during pregnancy [AOR=3.14, 95%CI: (1.37, 7.37)] and complication at delivery [AOR=3.56, 95%CI: (1.19, 10.64)] were more likely to develop Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was similar with worldwide prevalence. Prevention and early management of its modifiable risk factors should be carryout alongside increasing community awareness.

Keywords: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, associated factors, children, prevalence

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Authors: Shashank. S. Bagane, H. N. Rajendra Prasad

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Building Information Modeling (BIM) has currently developed into a potent solution. The consistent development of BIM technology in the sphere of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry has enhanced the effectiveness of construction and decision making. However, aggrandized global warming and energy crisis has impacted on building energy analysis. It is now becoming an important factor to be considered in the AEC industry. Amalgamating energy analysis in the planning and design phase of a structure has become a necessity. In the current construction industry, estimating energy usage and reducing its footprint is of high priority. The construction industry is giving more prominence to sustainability alongside energy efficiency. This demand is compelling the designers, planners, and engineers to inspect the sustainable performance throughout the building's life cycle. The current study primarily focuses on energy consumption, space arrangement, and spatial geometry of a residential building. Most commonly residential structures in India are constructed considering Vastu Shastra. Vastu designs are intended to integrate architecture with nature and utilizing geometric patterns, symmetry, and directional alignments. In the current study, a residential brick masonry structure is considered for BIM analysis, Architectural model of the structure will be created using Revit software, later the orientation and spatial arrangement will be finalized based on Vastu principles. Furthermore, the structure will be investigated for the impact of building orientation and spatial arrangements on energy using Green Building Studio software. Based on the BIM analysis of the structure, energy consumption of subsequent building orientations will be understood. A well-orientated building having good spatial arrangement can save a considerable amount of energy throughout its life cycle and reduces the need for heating and lighting which will prove to diminish energy usage and improve the energy efficiency of the residential building.

Keywords: building information modeling, energy impact, spatial geometry, vastu

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Authors: Rowena R. De Guzman

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Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration requires that higher education institutions (HEIs) must adjust the quality of their educational services and develop a global mindset, through various quality assurance (QA) activities to a level producing global graduates and encouraging human resource mobility. For Philippine HEIs, QA involves enormous tasks and responsibilities, whereby the implementation of which involves various parties, agencies and stakeholders; and in that case innovations have to be installed to engage the whole system in the QA process. In this study, collaborative governance (CG), a concept from the field of public administration, is introduced in educational management, particularly in the area of QA management. The paper suggests that the exercise of and attitude toward CG in QA is relevant to the practice of activities across QA indicators in higher educational services among stakeholders from participating HEIs. Participants representing different interests are collectively empowered, and this compelled them to participate and support the QA activities of the HEIs. It is recommended to embed CG model in the system for HEIs undergoing or intending to undergo QA achieve their desired QA outcomes. The study supports the commitment of the Philippine government to the evolving policy and efforts to achieve comparable qualifications across the Asia-Pacific region under the auspices of the UNESCO.

Keywords: ASEAN integration, collaborative governance, global education, government policy, higher education, international demands, quality assurance

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Authors: Atty. James M. Violon, Atty. Sherrymae O. Velos

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This groundbreaking study unveils the enduring human rights violations experienced by Indigenous peoples in Valencia City, Bukidnon, with a particular focus on the Bukidnon, Higaonon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalug, Tigwahanon, and Umayamnon tribes. Through a robust qualitative approach incorporating in-depth interviews and oral histories, the research captures the profound impacts of land grabbing, forced displacement, and cultural erosion on these communities. By illuminating the historical injustices intertwined with contemporary government policies that prioritize corporate interests, the study reveals a stark reality: these violations have precipitated not only the loss of livelihoods but also the marginalization and disintegration of Indigenous identities. This research stands out by advocating for urgent reforms, calling for more comprehensive legal frameworks and inclusive decision-making processes that genuinely reflect the needs and rights of Indigenous communities. Moreover, the study emphasizes the necessity of public awareness campaigns to safeguard these marginalized groups' rights and dignity. Its findings contribute significantly to the discourse on social justice, advocating for policies that protect ancestral lands and empower communities to pursue sustainable development that honors Indigenous cultures. This work serves as a crucial call to action, highlighting the importance of respecting and uplifting the voices of Indigenous peoples in Bukidnon.

Keywords: indigenous peoples, human rights, land grabbing, Bukidnon, cultural erosion

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Authors: Daniel Chen, Chengyi Li, Naifu Xu, Shangxuan Yang

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Climate change has led to substantial changes in coastal ecosystems, including elevated ocean temperatures, increased acidity, and disrupted marine habitats. These environmental impacts have also resulted in the decline of traditional Indigenous food sources on the coast of British Columbia, including clams and salmon, which have been essential to the diet and cultural practices of the coastal Indigenous communities. This research evaluates and analyzes the costs and benefits of restoring and building clam gardens, an ancestral Indigenous mariculture technique in the Pacific Northwest. Clam gardens, which involve the construction of intertidal rock walls to enhance clam production, have been shown to more than triple clam yields compared to non-walled beaches. This research analyzes the costs and benefits to Indigenous individuals, including factors such as travel, equipment, time, food supply, and cultural engagement; then it discusses the potential of clam gardens as a significant food resource with additional environmental co-benefits, given the prevalence of clam gardens and coastlines in British Columbia. Moreover, the study concludes with policy recommendations to support the restoration and preservation of clam gardens, highlighting their potential to provide sustainable seafood production, environmental co-benefits, and social-environmental educational opportunities for Indigenous communities and the wider public.

Keywords: British Columbia coastline, clam garden, coastal resource management, Indigenous communities

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Authors: Wanhyun Cho, Soonja Kang, Sangkyoon Kim, Soonyoung Park

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In this paper, we propose a novel inference algorithm for the multi-class Gaussian process classification model that can be used in the field of human behavior recognition. This algorithm can drive simultaneously both a posterior distribution of a latent function and estimators of hyper-parameters in a Gaussian process classification model with multi-class. Our algorithm is based on the Laplace approximation (LA) technique and variational EM framework. This is performed in two steps: called expectation and maximization steps. First, in the expectation step, using the Bayesian formula and LA technique, we derive approximately the posterior distribution of the latent function indicating the possibility that each observation belongs to a certain class in the Gaussian process classification model. Second, in the maximization step, using a derived posterior distribution of latent function, we compute the maximum likelihood estimator for hyper-parameters of a covariance matrix necessary to define prior distribution for latent function. These two steps iteratively repeat until a convergence condition satisfies. Moreover, we apply the proposed algorithm with human action classification problem using a public database, namely, the KTH human action data set. Experimental results reveal that the proposed algorithm shows good performance on this data set.

Keywords: bayesian rule, gaussian process classification model with multiclass, gaussian process prior, human action classification, laplace approximation, variational EM algorithm

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Authors: Ahsan Khan, Nazish Shah, Muhammad Salman

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The present study deals with the toxicological effects of copper, lead and chromium on brain and liver tissues of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). The average length of experimental fish was 8.5 ± 5.5 cm and weighed 9.5 ± 6.5 g. Grass carp was exposed to lethal concentration (LC₁₅) of copper, lead and chromium for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours respectively. (LC₁₅) for copper was 1.5, 1.4, 1.2 and 1mgL⁻¹. Similarly, LC₁₅ of lead was 250, 235, 225 and 216mgL⁻¹ while (LC₁₅) for chromium was 25.5, 22.5, 20 and 18mgL⁻¹ respectively. During the time of exposure against various doses of heavy metals the grass carp showed some behavioral changes. In the initial stages of experiment, the rapid movements and gulping of air were observed. Several times the fish tried to jump to scat from the toxic median. In addition, the accumulation of heavy metals in different tissues of grass carp particularly in liver and brain tissues were observed. Lead was highly accumulated in brain tissue after the exposure of fish for 24 and 48 hours, while highly accumulated in liver tissues after the exposure of fish for 72 and 96 hours. Chromium was highly accumulated in the liver tissues after the exposure of fish for 24 hours while its accumulation was found highly in the brain tissues after the exposure of fish for 48, 72 and 96 hours. Similarly, accumulation of copper concentration was found highly in brain tissues after the exposure of 48 and 96 hours while its accumulation was high in liver tissues after the exposure of 24 and 72 hours. Comparatively maximum accumulation of lead was found in brain and liver tissues of grass carp followed by chromium and copper. Furthermore, accumulation of these metals caused many abnormalities like gliosis, destruction of cell, change in cell shape and shrinkage of cells in brain tissue while in liver tissues aggregation in hepatocytes, widen space between cells and also destruction of cell was observed. These experiments and observations can be useful to monitor the aquatic pollution and quality of aquatic environment system.

Keywords: brain, grass carp, liver, lethal concentration, toxicity

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Authors: N. Porzionato, M. Mantiñan, E. Bussi, S. Grinberg, R. Gutierrez, G. Curutchet

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This work sets out to debate the tensions involved in the processes of contamination and self-purification in the urban space, particularly in the streams that run through the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. For much of their course, those streams are piped; their waters do not come into contact with the outdoors until they have reached deeply impoverished urban areas with high levels of environmental contamination. These are peripheral zones that, until thirty years ago, were marshlands and fields. They are now densely populated areas largely lacking in urban infrastructure. The Cárcova neighborhood, where this project is underway, is in the José León Suárez section of General San Martín country, Buenos Aires province. A stretch of José León Suarez canal crosses the neighborhood. Starting upstream, this canal carries pollutants due to the sewage and industrial waste released into it. Further downstream, in the neighborhood, domestic drainage is poured into the stream. In this paper, we formulate a hypothesis diametrical to the one that holds that these neighborhoods are the primary source of contamination, suggesting instead that in the stretch of the canal that runs through the neighborhood the stream’s waters are actually cleaned and the sediments accumulate pollutants. Indeed, the stretches of water that runs through these neighborhoods act as water processing plants for the metropolis. This project has studied the different organic-load polluting contributions to the water in a certain stretch of the canal, the reduction of that load over the course of the canal, and the incorporation of pollutants into the sediments. We have found that the surface water has considerable ability to self-purify, mostly due to processes of sedimentation and adsorption. The polluting load is accumulated in the sediments where that load stabilizes slowly by means of anaerobic processes. In this study, we also investigated the risks of sediment management and the use of the processes studied here in controlled conditions as tools of environmental restoration.

Keywords: bioremediation, pollutants, sediments, urban streams

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Authors: Yildiz Stella Dak, Jale Tezcan

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Ground motion models that relate a strong motion parameter of interest to a set of predictive seismological variables describing the earthquake source, the propagation path of the seismic wave, and the local site conditions constitute a critical component of seismic hazard analyses. When a sufficient number of strong motion records are available, ground motion relations are developed using statistical analysis of the recorded ground motion data. In regions lacking a sufficient number of recordings, a synthetic database is developed using stochastic, theoretical or hybrid approaches. Regardless of the manner the database was developed, ground motion relations are developed using regression analysis. Development of a ground motion relation is a challenging process which inevitably requires the modeler to make subjective decisions regarding the inclusion criteria of the recordings, the functional form of the model and the set of seismological variables to be included in the model. Because these decisions are critically important to the validity and the applicability of the model, there is a continuous interest on procedures that will facilitate the development of ground motion models. This paper proposes the use of the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) in selecting the set predictive seismological variables to be used in developing a ground motion relation. The LASSO can be described as a penalized regression technique with a built-in capability of variable selection. Similar to the ridge regression, the LASSO is based on the idea of shrinking the regression coefficients to reduce the variance of the model. Unlike ridge regression, where the coefficients are shrunk but never set equal to zero, the LASSO sets some of the coefficients exactly to zero, effectively performing variable selection. Given a set of candidate input variables and the output variable of interest, LASSO allows ranking the input variables in terms of their relative importance, thereby facilitating the selection of the set of variables to be included in the model. Because the risk of overfitting increases as the ratio of the number of predictors to the number of recordings increases, selection of a compact set of variables is important in cases where a small number of recordings are available. In addition, identification of a small set of variables can improve the interpretability of the resulting model, especially when there is a large number of candidate predictors. A practical application of the proposed approach is presented, using more than 600 recordings from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) database, where the effect of a set of seismological predictors on the 5% damped maximum direction spectral acceleration is investigated. The set of candidate predictors considered are Magnitude, Rrup, Vs30. Using LASSO, the relative importance of the candidate predictors has been ranked. Regression models with increasing levels of complexity were constructed using one, two, three, and four best predictors, and the models’ ability to explain the observed variance in the target variable have been compared. The bias-variance trade-off in the context of model selection is discussed.

Keywords: ground motion modeling, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, penalized regression, variable selection

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Authors: Mariana Mangas, Yaroslava Martins, Ana Charraz, Ana Matos Pires

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Introduction: Health literacy empowers people of knowledge, motivation and skills to access, understand, evaluate and mobilize information relating to health. Although the benefits of public knowledge of physical disease are widely accepted, knowledge about mental disorder has been compatibly neglected. Nowadays there is considerably evidence that literacy is of great importance for the promotion of health and prevention of mental illness. Objective: Disclosure the concept and importance of mental health literacy and introduce the literacy program of Psychiatry Service of Hospital José Joaquim Fernandes. Methodology: A search was conducted on PubMed, using keywords “literacy” and “mental health”. A description of mental health literacy interventions implemented on Psychiatry Service of Hospital José Joaquim Fernandes was performed, namely, psychoeducation programs for depression and bipolar disorder. Results and discussion: Health literacy enables patient to be able to actively participate in his treatment. The improving of mental health literacy can promote early identification of mental disorders, improve treatment results, increase the use of health services and allow the community to take action to achieve better mental health. Psychoeducation is very useful in improving the course of disease and in reducing the number of episodes and hospitalizations. Bipolar patients who received psychoeducation and pharmacotherapy have no relapses during the program and last year. Conclusion: Mental health literacy is not simply a matter of having knowledge, rather, it is knowledge linked to action which can benefit mental health.

Keywords: mental health, literacy, psychoeducation, knowledge, empowerment

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Authors: Cody Stolle, Mojdeh Asadollahipajouh, Khaleb Pafford, Jada Iwuoha, Samantha White, Becky Mueller

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Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are growing in sales and popularity in the United States as an alternative to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). BEVs are generally heavier than corresponding models of ICEVs, with large battery packs located beneath the vehicle floorpan, a “skateboard” chassis, and have front and rear crush space available in the trunk and “frunk” or front trunk. The geometrical and frame differences between the vehicles may lead to incompatibilities with gasoline vehicles during vehicle-to-vehicle crashes as well as run-off-road crashes with roadside barriers, which were designed to handle lighter ICEVs with higher centers-of-mass and with dedicated structural chasses. Crash data were collected from 10 states spanning a five-year period between 2017 and 2021. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) codes were processed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) VIN decoder to extract BEV models from ICEV models. Crashes were filtered to isolate only vehicles produced between 2010 and 2021, and the crash circumstances (weather, time of day, maximum injury) were compared between BEVs and ICEVs. In Washington, 436,613 crashes were identified, which satisfied the selection criteria, and 3,371 of these crashes (0.77%) involved a BEV. The number of crashes which noted a fire were comparable between BEVs and ICEVs of similar model years (0.3% and 0.33%, respectively), and no differences were discernable for the time of day, weather conditions, road geometry, or other prevailing factors (e.g., run-off-road). However, crashes involving BEVs rose rapidly; 31% of all BEV crashes occurred in just 2021. Results indicate that BEVs are performing comparably to ICEVs, and events surrounding BEV crashes are statistically indistinguishable from ICEV crashes.

Keywords: battery-electric vehicles, transportation safety, infrastructure crashworthiness, run-off-road crashes, ev crash data analysis

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Authors: Xiaoqian Cheng, Jon Kleppe, Ole Torsaeter

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One objective of this work is to analyze the effects of surfactant properties (viscosity, concentration, and adsorption) on surfactant enhanced oil recovery at laboratory scale. The other objective is to obtain the functional relationships between surfactant properties and the ultimate oil recovery and oil recovery rate. A core is cut into two parts from the middle to imitate the matrix with a horizontal fracture. An injector and a producer are at the left and right sides of the fracture separately. The middle slice of the core is used as the model in this paper, whose size is 4cm x 0.1cm x 4.1cm, and the space of the fracture in the middle is 0.1 cm. The original properties of matrix, brine, oil in the base case are from Ekofisk Field. The properties of surfactant are from literature. Eclipse is used as the simulator. The results are followings: 1) The viscosity of surfactant solution has a positive linear relationship with surfactant oil recovery time. And the relationship between viscosity and oil production rate is an inverse function. The viscosity of surfactant solution has no obvious effect on ultimate oil recovery. Since most of the surfactant has no big effect on viscosity of brine, the viscosity of surfactant solution is not a key parameter of surfactant screening for surfactant flooding in fractured reservoirs. 2) The increase of surfactant concentration results a decrease of oil recovery rate and an increase of ultimate oil recovery. However, there are no functions could describe the relationships. Study on economy should be conducted because of the price of surfactant and oil. 3) In the study of surfactant adsorption, assume that the matrix wettability is changed to water-wet when the surfactant adsorption is to the maximum at all cases. And the ratio of surfactant adsorption and surfactant concentration (Cads/Csurf) is used to estimate the functional relationship. The results show that the relationship between ultimate oil recovery and Cads/Csurf is a logarithmic function. The oil production rate has a positive linear relationship with exp(Cads/Csurf). The work here could be used as a reference for the surfactant screening of surfactant enhanced oil recovery from fractured reservoirs. And the functional relationships between surfactant properties and the oil recovery rate and ultimate oil recovery help to improve upscaling methods.

Keywords: fractured reservoirs, surfactant adsorption, surfactant concentration, surfactant EOR, surfactant viscosity

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Authors: Chih-I. Tsai, Yu-Chien. Lin

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Through experiences of clinical practices, it is discovered that locations on the body at a level of four fingerbreadth above and below the joints are the points at which muscles connect to tendons, and since the muscles and tendons possess opposite characteristics, muscles are full of blood but lack qi, while tendons are full of qi but lack blood, these points on our body become easily blocked. It is proposed that through doing acupuncture or creating localized pressure to the areas four fingerbreadths above and below our joints, with an elastic bandage, we could help the energy, also known as qi, to flow smoothly in our body and further improve our health. Based on the Four Fingers Theory, we understand that human height is 22 four fingerbreadths. In addition, qi and blood travel through 24 meridians, 50 times each day, and they flow through 6 cun with every human breath. We can also understand the average number of human heartbeats is 75 times per minute. And the function of qi-blood circulation system in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the same as the blood circulation in Western Medical Science. Informed by Four Fingers Theory, this study further examined its applications in acupuncture practices. The research question is how Four Fingers Theory proves what has been mentioned in Nei Jing that there are 66 acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee. In responding to the research question, there are 66 acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee. Four Fingers Theory facilitated the creation of the acupuncture naming and teaching system. It is expected to serve as an approachable and effective way to deliver knowledge of acupuncture to the public worldwide.

Keywords: four fingers theory, meridians circulation, 66 acupoints under human elbow and knee, acupuncture

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Authors: Lilik Sudiajeng, Wiraga Wayan, Lanang Parwita I Gusti

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This is the ongoing research started in 2013 with the final aim is to design the recharge wells both for housing and industry for ground water conservation in Bali - Indonesia. The research started in Denpasar Regency, one of the strategic areas in Bali. The research showed that there is some critical area of ground water resources, especially in north and west part of Denpasar Regency. It driven by the rapid increase of the tourism industry which is followed by the high rate of population, change of land use that leads to the decreasing of rain water catchment areas, and less awareness on preserve natural resources, including ground water. Focus Group Discussion concluded that in order to solve the problem of groundwater crisis, requires the contribution of all parties, started from making simple recharge well for housing. Because of the availability of land is limited and expensive, it is necessary to present an ergonomic shallow recharge well in accordance with the ability of the family or community. The ergonomics shallow recharge well is designed based on the data of hydrology and the characteristics of soil. The design is very flexible depending on the availability of land, environmentally friendly, energy efficient, culture-based, and affordable. To meet the recommended standard of ground water quality, then it equipped with a filtration and sedimentation ponds. Before design recharge wells is disseminated to the public, it is necessary to analyze the effectiveness of the wells to harvest and absorb rainwater into the ground.

Keywords: ergonomics, ground water resources, recharge well, sustainable

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Authors: Madhura Bandyopadhyay

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Teaching writing within multicultural and multiethnic communities poses many unique challenges not the least of which is that of intercultural communication. When the writing is in English, pedagogical imperatives often encounter the universalizing tendencies of standardization of both language use and structural parameters which are often at odds with maintaining local practices which preserve cultural pluralism. English often becomes the contact zone within which individual identities of students play out against the standardization imperatives of the larger world. Writing classes can serve as places which become instruments of assimilation of ethnic minorities to a larger globalizing or nationalistic agenda. Hence, for those outside of the standard practices of writing English, adaptability towards a mastery of those practices valued as standard become the focus of teaching taking away from diversity of local English use and other modes of critical thinking. In a very multicultural and multiethnic context such as the US or Singapore, these dynamics become very important. This paper will argue that multiethnic writing classrooms can greatly benefit from taking up a cultural studies approach whereby the students’ lived environments and experiences are analyzed as cultural texts to produce writing. Such an approach eliminates limitations of using both literary texts as foci of discussion as in traditional approaches to teaching writing and the current trend in teaching composition without using texts at all. By bringing in students’ lived experiences into the classroom and analyzing them as cultural compositions stressing the ability to communicate across cultures, cultural competency is valued rather than adaptability while privileging pluralistic experiences as valuable even as universal shared experience are found. Specifically, while teaching writing in English in a multicultural classroom, a cultural studies approach makes both teacher and student aware of the diversity of the English language as it exists in our global context in the students’ experience while making space for diversity in critical thinking, structure and organization of writing effective in an intercultural context.

Keywords: English, multicultural, teaching, writing

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Authors: Othman M. Hakami, Abdul Jabbar Al-Rajab

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Occurrence of heavy metals in water resources increased in the recent years albeit at low concentrations. Lead (PbII) is among the most important inorganic pollutants in ground and surface water. However, removal of this toxic metal efficiently from water is of public and scientific concern. In this study, we developed a rapid and efficient removal method of lead from water using chitosan/magnetite nanoparticles. A simple and effective process has been used to prepare chitosan/magnetite nanoparticles (NPs) (CS/Mag NPs) with effect on saturation magnetization value; the particles were strongly responsive to an external magnetic field making separation from solution possible in less than 2 minutes using a permanent magnet and the total Fe in solution was below the detection limit of ICP-OES (<0.19 mg L-1). The hydrodynamic particle size distribution increased from an average diameter of ~60 nm for Fe3O4 NPs to ~75 nm after chitosan coating. The feasibility of the prepared NPs for the adsorption and desorption of Pb(II) from water were evaluated using Chitosan/Magnetite NPs which showed a high removal efficiency for Pb(II) uptake, with 90% of Pb(II) removed during the first 5 minutes and equilibrium in less than 10 minutes. Maximum adsorption capacities for Pb(II) occurred at pH 6.0 and under room temperature were as high as 85.5 mg g-1, according to Langmuir isotherm model. Desorption of adsorbed Pb on CS/Mag NPs was evaluated using deionized water at different pH values ranged from 1 to 7 which was an effective eluent and did not result the destruction of NPs, then, they could subsequently be reused without any loss of their activity in further adsorption tests. Overall, our results showed the high efficiency of chitosan/magnetite nanoparticles (NPs) in lead removal from water in controlled conditions, and further studies should be realized in real field conditions.

Keywords: chitosan, magnetite, water, treatment

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Authors: Y. Y. Babanyara, D. B. Ibrahim, T. Garba

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Proper management of medical waste is a crucial issue for maintaining human health and the environment. The waste generated in the hospitals has the potential for spreading infections and causing diseases. The study is aimed at assessing the medical waste management practices in Nigeria. Three instruments, questionnaire administration, in-depth interview and observation method for data collection were adopted in the study. The results revealed that the hospital does not quantify medical waste. Segregation of medical wastes is not conducted according to definite rules and standards. Wheeled trolleys are used for on-site transportation of waste from the points of production to the temporary storage area. Offsite transportation of the hospital waste is undertaken by a private waste management company. Small pickups are mainly used to transport waste daily to an off-site area for treatment and disposal. The main treatment method used in the final disposal of infectious waste is incineration. Non-infectious waste is disposed off using land disposal method. The study showed that the hospital does not have a policy and plan in place for managing medical waste. The study revealed number of problems the hospital faces in terms of medical waste management, including; lack of necessary rules, regulations and instructions on the different aspects of collections and disposal of waste, failure to quantify the waste generated in reliable records, lack of use of coloured bags by limiting the bags to only one colour for all waste, the absence of a dedicated waste manager, and no committee responsible for monitoring the management of medical waste. Recommendations are given with the aim of improving medical waste management in the hospital.

Keywords: medical waste, treatment, disposal, public health

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Authors: Muhammad Wasif, Asif Ahmed Shaikh, Sarosh Hashmat Lodi, Muhammad Aslam Bhutto, Riazuddin

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Risk Management System is quite popular in profit- based organizations, health and safety and project management fields since the last few decades. But due to rapidly changing environment and requirement of ISO 9001:2015 standards, public-sector institution, especially higher education institutes are also performing risk assessment to monitor the performance of the institution and aligning it with the latest benchmark. In this context, NED University of Engineering and Technology performed research and developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the risk assessment, its monitoring and control. In this research, risks are broken into the four sources, namely; Internal Academics Risks, External Academics Risks, Internal Non-academic Risks, External Non-academic Risks. Risks are identified by the management at all levels. Severity and likelihood of the risks are assigned based on the previous audit results and the customer complains. Risk Ratings are calculated to orderly arrange the risk according to the Risk Rating, and controls for the risks are designed, which are assigned to the responsible person. At the end of the article, result and analysis on the different sources of risk are discussed in details and the conclusion is drawn. Discussion on few sample risks are presented in this article. Hence it is presented in the research that the Risk Management System can be applied in a Higher Education Institute to effectively control the risks which might affect the scope and Quality Management System of an organization.

Keywords: higher education, quality management system, risk assessment, risk management

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Authors: A. N. Ghafar, O. A. Chaudhari, W. Oettel, P. Fontana

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This study is a part of the EU project GEOCOND-Advanced materials and processes to improve performance and cost-efficiency of shallow geothermal systems and underground thermal storage. In heat exchange boreholes, to improve the heat transfer between the pipes and the surrounding ground, the space between the pipes and the borehole wall is normally filled with geothermal grout. Traditionally, bentonite has been a crucial component in most commercially available geothermal grouts to assure the required stability and impermeability. The investigations conducted in the early stage of this project during the benchmarking tests on some commercial grouts showed considerable sensitivity of the rheological properties of the tested grouts to the mixing parameters, i.e., mixing time and velocity. Further studies on this matter showed that bentonite, which has been one of the important constituents in most grout mixes, was probably responsible for such behavior. Apparently, proper amount of shear should be applied during the mixing process to sufficiently activate the bentonite. The higher the amount of applied shear the more the activation of bentonite, resulting in change in the grout rheology. This explains why, occasionally in the field applications, the flow properties of the commercially available geothermal grouts using different mixing conditions (mixer type, mixing time, mixing velocity) are completely different than expected. A series of tests were conducted on the grout mixes, with and without bentonite, using different mixing protocols. The aim was to eliminate/reduce the sensitivity of the rheological properties of the geothermal grouts to the mixing parameters by replacing bentonite with polymeric (non-clay) stabilizers. The results showed that by replacing bentonite with a proper polymeric stabilizer, the sensitivity of the grout mix on mixing time and velocity was to a great extent diminished. This can be considered as an alternative for the developers/producers of geothermal grouts to provide enhanced materials with less uncertainty in obtained results in the field applications.

Keywords: flow properties, geothermal grout, mixing time, mixing velocity, rheological properties

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Authors: Atul Khurana, Rajul Rastogi, Hans-Joachim Gamperl

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The pharmaceutical companies are getting more inclined towards patient support programs (PSPs) which assist patients and/or healthcare professionals (HCPs) in more desirable disease management and cost-effective treatment. The utmost objective of these programs is patient care. The PSPs may include financial assistance to patients, medicine compliance programs, access to HCPs via phone or online chat centers, etc. The PSP has a crucial role in terms of customer acquisition and retention strategies. During the conduct of these programs, Marketing Authorisation Holder (MAH) may receive information related to concerned medicinal products, which is usually reported by patients or involved HCPs. This information may include suspected adverse reaction(s) during/after administration of medicinal products. Hence, the MAH should design PSP to comply with regulatory reporting requirements and avoid non-compliance during PV inspection. The emergence of wireless health devices is lowering the burden on patients to manually incorporate safety data, and building a significant option for patients to observe major swings in reference to drug safety. Therefore, to enhance the adoption of these programs, MAH not only needs to aware patients about advantages of the program, but also recognizes the importance of time of patients and commitments made in a constructive manner. It is indispensable that strengthening the public health is considered as the topmost priority in such programs, and the MAH is compliant to Pharmacovigilance (PV) requirements along with regulatory obligations.

Keywords: drug safety, good pharmacovigilance practice, patient support program, pharmacovigilance

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Authors: N. Allouache, W. Elgahri, A. Gahfif, M. Belmedani

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Solar radiation is by far the largest and the most world’s abundant, clean and permanent energy source. The amount of solar radiation intercepted by the Earth is much higher than annual global energy use. The energy available from the sun is greater than about 5200 times the global world’s need in 2006. In recent years, many promising technologies have been developed to harness the sun's energy. These technologies help in environmental protection, economizing energy, and sustainable development, which are the major issues of the world in the 21st century. One of these important technologies is the solar cooling systems that make use of either absorption or adsorption technologies. The solar adsorption cooling systems are a good alternative since they operate with environmentally benign refrigerants that are natural, free from CFCs, and therefore they have a zero ozone depleting potential (ODP). A numerical analysis of thermal and solar performances of an adsorption solar refrigerating system using different adsorbent/adsorbate pairs, such as activated carbon AC35 and activated carbon BPL/Ammoniac; is undertaken in this study. The modeling of the adsorption cooling machine requires the resolution of the equation describing the energy and mass transfer in the tubular adsorber, that is the most important component of the machine. The Wilson and Dubinin- Astakhov models of the solid-adsorbat equilibrium are used to calculate the adsorbed quantity. The porous medium is contained in the annular space, and the adsorber is heated by solar energy. Effect of key parameters on the adsorbed quantity and on the thermal and solar performances are analysed and discussed. The performances of the system that depends on the incident global irradiance during a whole day depends on the weather conditions: the condenser temperature and the evaporator temperature. The AC35/methanol pair is the best pair comparing to the BPL/Ammoniac in terms of system performances.

Keywords: activated carbon-methanol pair, activated carbon-ammoniac pair, adsorption, performance coefficients, numerical analysis, solar cooling system

Procedia PDF Downloads 74