Search results for: soil-water management practices

Authors: Magda Kosmal, Anna A. Kuśnierz, Joanna Rybicka-Łada

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In the case of waste glass cullet, a fully functioning recycling system for individual glass industries was developed, while recycling of cement dust encounters a number of difficulties and is conducted to a limited extent in the packaging and flat glass industry. The aim of the project was to examine the possibility of using dust arising in cement plants in the process of melting various types of glasses. Dust management has a positive effect on the aspect of environmental protection and ecology. Sets have been designed, and the parameters of the melting process have been optimized. Glasses were obtained with the addition of selected cement dust on a laboratory scale, using DTA, XRD, SEM tests, and a gradient furnace was conducted to check the tendency to crystallization.

Keywords: cement dust, crystallization, glass, XRD, SEM

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Authors: Nur Hidayah Iwani Mohd Kamal

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The higher education institutions in Malaysia is challenged with a more socially and culturally diverse student population than ever before, especially with the increasing number of international students studying in Malaysia in the recent years. First year university is a critical time in students’ lives. Students are not only developing intelectually, they are also establishing and maintaining personal relationships, developing an identity, deciding about career and lifestyle, maintaining personal health and wellness, and developing an integrated philosohy of life. The higher education institutions work as a diverse community of learners to provide a supportive environment for these first year students in assisting them in their transition from high school to university. Although many universities are taking steps to improve the first year experience for their new local and international students, efforts must be taken to ensure organized and coordinated manner in order for the initiatives to be successful. The objectives of the study are to examine the international students’ perceptions and interpretation of their first year experiences in shaping and determining their attitudes toward study and the quality of their entire undergraduate academic career; and identify an appropriate mechanism to encounter the international students’ adjustment in the new environment in order to facilitate cross-functional communication and create a coherent and meaningful first year experience. A key construct in this study is that if universities wish to recruiting and retaining international students, it is their ethical responsibility to determine how they can best meet their needs at the academic and social level, create a supportive ‘learning community’ as a foundation of their educational experience, hence facilitate cross-cultural communication and create a coherent and meaningful first year experience. This study is simultaneously frames in relation to focus on the factors that influence a successful and satisfying transition to university life by the first year international students. The study employs a mixed-method data collection involving semi-structured interviews, questionnaire, classroom observation and document analysis. This study provides valuable insight into the struggles that many international students face as they attempt to make the adjustment not only to a new educational system but factors such as psychosocial and cultural problems. It would discuss some of the factors that impact the international students during their first year in university in their quest to be academically successful. It concludes with some recommendations on how Malaysian universities provide these students with a good first year experience based on some the best practices of universities around the world.

Keywords: first year experience, Malaysian universities, international students, education

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Friday I. Joseph

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Background: Nigeria has an under-five mortality rate that is 128 per 1000 live birth which is higher than the rate for the African region. Optimal breastfeeding practice has the potential to reduce under-five mortality by 13% in developing countries. However, documented exclusive breastfeeding rate in Nigeria from birth to six months is just 17%. Aim: To explore perceptions of the sociocultural factors that influence exclusive breastfeeding for six months among rural mothers in Bindawa and Baure Local Government Area (LGA), Katsina state, North West Nigeria, to inform policies, intervention or strategies to improve exclusive breastfeeding practice in Nigeria. Methods: The social constructionism-interpretivist epistemological approach informed the use of an exploratory study to understand mothers’ experiences and views. Twenty mothers, all from rural areas between 19-35 years old were conveniently sampled from two LGA in Katsina state, north –west Nigeria for semi-structured interviews. Sample size had representation of both Hausa and Fulani ethnic group. Thematic content analysis was utilized for analysis. Results: Three major themes emerged from the study: (1) Breastfeeding initiation - Immediate traditional newborn care practices, birth attendant, place of delivery, the perception of about colostrum determines how soon a mother initiate breastfeeding. (2) Exclusive breastfeeding and introduction of food-Motivation to sustain exclusive breastfeeding relies on the interplay between the obligation to perform traditional rites; mother’s awareness and family support. (3) Decision making about infant feeding – It is not independent of the influence of key social figures like the father, mother-in-law, traditional birth attendant and the health workers. Overall, in spite of awareness of exclusive breastfeeding benefits, mothers expressed concerns that they may not win their family support if they shared contrary views. Conclusions: Health promotion intervention should be tailored, taking cognizant and addressing the sociocultural barriers to the practice of optimal breastfeeding by a focused community and family-based participatory approach. Implementers of interventions should employ culture-sensitive approaches in community-based intervention.

Keywords: exclusive breastfeeding, perception, qualitative, sociocultural determinants

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Authors: Moshiur Rahman, Tahmida Jakia

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Bangladesh, a densely populated South Asian country is home to more than 160 million people. In two decades ago, the people of this developing nation drank heavily contaminated surface water. Over the past thirty years, the country, and its development partners, has undertaken extensive efforts to provide microbiologically safe groundwater based drinking water through the use of tube-wells. About 85% of the people now drink tube-well water from about 11 million tube-wells/hand pumps. However, diarrhoeal and other water-related diseases are still reported among the major causes of morbidity and mortality among Bangladeshi children. This implies that the mode of transmission of pathogens through water and/or other modes continue. In addition, massive scale arsenic contamination has been recently reported in the ground water. Thirty five million people may be at risk of consuming arsenic contaminated water exceeding 0.05 mg/l in Bangladesh. Drinking of arsenic contaminated water has been linked with skin problems, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, eye problems, cancer of the internal organs, and other diseases. In the study area, Narail district, recent investigations about existing water quality situations indicated presence of low to high levels of arsenic, salinity, iron, manganese and bacteriological contamination risks. As challenges for safe water exist; it is likely that sanitation and food hygiene practices are poor which lead threat to ensure food security.The main attempt of this study is to find out the challenges to ensure food security andprovide probable solutions to ensure food safety towards 0.7 million of people in study area. A survey has been conducted at Lohagara and Kalia sub district of Narail district with a pretested questionnaire. Primary data are collected through a questionnaire, while secondary data are collected from pertinent offices as well as academic journals. FGD has also been done to know the knowledge regarding water, sanitation as well as food preparation and consumption practice of community people in study area. The major focus of this study is to assess the state of sanitation and food hygiene condition of rural people. It is found that most of the villagers have lack of knowledge about food safety. Open defecation rate is high which lead threat to ensure food security.

Keywords: food safety, challenges, hygiene, Bangladesh

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Authors: Bojana Tot, Goran BošKović, Goran Vujić

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Route optimisation is a process of planning one or multiple routes, with the purpose of minimizing overall costs, while achieving the highest possible performance under a set of given constraints. It combines routing or route planning, which is the process of creating the most cost-effective route by minimizing the distance or travelled time necessary to reach a set of planned stops, and route scheduling, which is the process of assigning an arrival and service time for each stop, with drivers being given shifts that adhere to their working hours. The objective of this paper is to provide benefits on the implementation of waste collection route optimisation and thus achieve economic efficiency for public utility companies, better service for citizens and positive environment and health.

Keywords: waste management, environment, collection route optimisation, GIS

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Authors: Kiamran Radjabli

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State Estimator became an intrinsic part of Energy Management Systems (EMS). The SCADA measurements received from the field are processed by the State Estimator in order to accurately determine the actual operating state of the power systems and provide that information to other real-time network applications. All EMS vendors offer a State Estimator functionality in their baseline products. However, setting up and ensuring that State Estimator consistently produces a reliable solution often consumes a substantial engineering effort. This paper provides generic recommendations and describes a simple practical approach to efficient tuning of State Estimator, based on the working experience with major EMS software platforms and consulting projects in many electrical utilities of the USA.

Keywords: convergence, monitoring, state estimator, performance, troubleshooting, tuning, power systems

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Authors: S. S. Rwanga, J. M. Ndambuki

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Groundwater quantification needs a method which is not only flexible but also reliable in order to accurately quantify its spatial and temporal variability. As groundwater is dynamic and interdisciplinary in nature, an integrated approach of remote sensing (RS) and GIS technique is very useful in various groundwater management studies. Thus, the GIS water balance model (WetSpass) together with remote sensing (RS) can be used to quantify groundwater recharge. This paper discusses the concept of WetSpass in combination with GIS on the quantification of recharge with a view to managing water resources in an integrated framework. The paper presents the simulation procedures and expected output after simulation. Preliminary data are presented from GIS output only.

Keywords: groundwater, recharge, GIS, WetSpass

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Authors: Roger M. Wall, David G. Proverbs, Yamina Silva, Danny Scipion

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This paper critically reviews the outcomes of a 4 day workshop focused on building resilience to El Niño related Flood Events in northern Perú. The workshop was run jointly by Birmingham City University (BCU) in partnership with Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) and was hosted by the Universidad de Piura (UDEP). The event took place in August 2018 and was funded by the Newton-Paulet fund administered by the British Council. The workshop was a response to the severe flooding experienced in Piura during the El Niño event of March 2017 which damaged over 100,000 homes and destroyed much local infrastructure including around 100 bridges. El Niño is a recurrent event and there is concern that its frequency and intensity may change in the future as a consequence of climate change. A group of 40 early career researchers and practitioners from the UK and Perú were challenged with working together across disciplines to identify key cross-cutting themes and make recommendations for building resilience to similar future events. Key themes identified on day 1 of the workshop were governance; communities; risk information; river management; urban planning; health; and infrastructure. A field study visit took place on day 2 so that attendees could gain first-hand experience of affected and displaced communities. Each of the themes was then investigated in depth on day 3 by small interdisciplinary teams drawing on their own expertise, local knowledge and the experiences of the previous day’s field trip. Teams were responsible for developing frameworks for analysis of their chosen theme and presenting their findings to the whole group. At this point, teams worked together to develop links between the different themes so that an integrated approach could be developed and presented on day 4. This paper describes the approaches taken by each team and the way in which these were integrated to form an holistic picture of the whole system. The findings highlighted the importance of risk-related information and the need for strong governance structures to enforce planning regulations and development. The structured facilitation approach proved to be very effective and it is recommended that the process be repeated with a broader group of stakeholders from across the region.

Keywords: El Niño, integrated flood risk management, Perú, structured facilitation, systems approach, resilience

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Authors: Liu Chyong-Ru, Wang Yao-Chin, Huang Wen-Shiung, Tang Wan-Ching

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Although gamification has been concerned and applied in the tourism industry, limited literature could be found in tourism academy. Therefore, to contribute knowledge in festival gamification, it becomes essential to start by establishing a Festival Gamification Scale (FGS). This study defines festival gamification as the extent of a festival to involve game elements and game mechanisms. Based on self-determination theory, this study developed an FGS. Through the multi-study method, in study one, five FGS dimensions were sorted through literature review, followed by twelve in-depth interviews. A total of 296 statements were extracted from interviews and were later narrowed down to 33 items under six dimensions. In study two, 226 survey responses were collected from a cycling festival for exploratory factor analysis, resulting in twenty items under five dimensions. In study three, 253 survey responses were obtained from a marathon festival for confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in the final sixteen items under five dimensions. Then, results of criterion-related validity confirmed the positive effects of these five dimensions on flow experience. In study four, for examining the model extension of the developed five-dimensional 16-item FGS, which includes dimensions of relatedness, mastery, competence, fun, and narratives, cross-validation analysis was performed using 219 survey responses from a religious festival. For the tourism academy, the FGS could further be applied in other sub-fields such as destinations, theme parks, cruise trips, or resorts. The FGS serves as a starting point for examining the mechanism of festival gamification in changing tourists’ attitudes and behaviors. Future studies could work on follow-up studies of FGS by testing outcomes of festival gamification or examining moderating effects of enhancing outcomes of festival gamification. On the other hand, although the FGS has been tested in cycling, marathon, and religious festivals, the research settings are all in Taiwan. Cultural differences of FGS is another further direction for contributing knowledge in festival gamification. This study also contributes to several valuable practical implications. First, this FGS could be utilized in tourist surveys for evaluating the extent of gamification of a festival. Based on the results of the performance assessment by FGS, festival management organizations and festival planners could learn the relative scores among dimensions of FGS, and plan for future improvement of gamifying the festival. Second, the FGS could be applied in positioning a gamified festival. Festival management organizations and festival planners could firstly consider the features and types of their festival, and then gamify their festival based on investing resources in key FGS dimensions.

Keywords: festival gamification, festival tourism, scale development, self-determination theory

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Authors: Kh. Alaa, Sh. Sarah, J. Khowlah, S. Liyakathunsia

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Education has become very important nowadays and with the rapidly increasing number of student, taking the attendance manually is getting very difficult and time wasting. In order to solve this problem, an automated solution is required. An effective automated system can be implemented to manage student attendance in different ways. This research will discuss a unique class attendance system which integrates both Face Recognition and RFID technique. This system focuses on reducing the time spent on submitting of the lecture and the wastage of time on submitting and getting approval for the absence excuse and sick leaves. As a result, the suggested solution will enhance not only the time, also it will also be helpful in eliminating fake attendance.

Keywords: attendance system, face recognition, RFID, process model, cost, time

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Authors: Temitayo Abayomi Ewemoje, Isaac Olugbemiga Afolayan, Badmus Alao Tayo

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Researchers in developing countries have worked on improving cassava resistance to diseases and pests, high yielding and early maturity However, water management has received little or no attention as cassava cultivation in Sub-Saharan Africa depended on available precipitation (rain-fed condition). Therefore the need for water management in Agricultural crop production cannot be overemphasized. As other sectors compete with agricultural sector for fresh water (which is not readily available), there is need to increase water productivity in agricultural production. Experimentation was conducted to examine water use, growth and yield of improved cassava varieties under rain fed condition using Latin- square design with four replications. Four improved disease free stem cassava varieties TMS (30572, 980505, 920326 and 090581) were planted and growth parameters of the varieties were monitored for 90 and 120 days after planting (DAP). Effective rainfall useful for the plant growth was calculated using CROPWAT8 for Windows. Results indicated TMS090581 was having the highest tuber yield and plant height while TMS30572 had highest number of nodes. Tuber stem and leaf water productivities at 90 and 120 DAP of TMS (30572, 980505, 920326 and 090581) are (1.27 and 3.58, 1.44 and 2.35, 0.89 and 1.86, 1.64 and 3.77) kg/m3 (1.56 and 2.59, 1.95 and 2.02, 1.98 and 2.05, 1.95 and 2.18) kg/m3, and (1.34 and 2.32, 1.94 and 2.16, 1.57 and 1.40, 1.27 and 1.80) kg/m3 respectively. Based on tuber water productivity TMS090581 are recommended while TMS30572 are recommended based on leaf and stem productivity in water scarce regions.Experimentation was conducted to examine water use, growth and yield of improved cassava varieties under rain fed condition using Latin- square design with four replications. Four improved disease free stem cassava varieties TMS (30572, 980505, 920326 and 090581) were planted and growth parameters of the varieties were monitored for 90 and 120 days after planting (DAP). Effective rainfall useful for the plant growth was calculated using CROPWAT8 for Windows. Results indicated TMS090581 was having the highest tuber yield and plant height while TMS30572 had the highest number of nodes. Tuber, stem and leaf water productivities at 90 and 120 DAP of TMS (30572, 980505, 920326 and 090581) are (1.27 and 3.58, 1.44 and 2.35, 0.89 and 1.86, 1.64 and 3.77) kg/m3 (1.56 and 2.59, 1.95 and 2.02, 1.98 and 2.05, 1.95 and 2.18) kg/m3, and (1.34 and 2.32, 1.94 and 2.16, 1.57 and 1.40, 1.27 and 1.80) kg/m3 respectively. Based on tuber water productivity TMS090581 are recommended while TMS30572 are recommended based on leaf and stem productivity in water scarce regions

Keywords: improved TMS varieties, leaf productivity, rain-fed cassava production, stem productivity, tuber productivity

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Authors: Alexi Colleen F. Lim, Inna Felicia I. Agoncillo, Quenniejoy T. Dizon, Jennifer Joyce T. Eti, Carlota Aileen H. Monares, Neil Roy B. Rosales, Joshua F. Santillan, Alyssa Francesca D. S. Tanchuling, Josefina A. Tuazon, Mary Joan Therese C. Valera-Kourdache

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Majority of leading causes of mortality in the Philippines are NCDs, which are preventable through control of known risk factors such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, and alcohol. Sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda and energy drinks also contribute to NCD risk and are of concern particularly for youth. This study provides baseline data on beverage consumption of university students in Manila with the focus on alcohol and soda. It further aims to identify factors affecting consumption. Specific objectives include: (1) to describe beverage consumption practices of university students in Manila; and (2) to determine factors promoting excessive consumption of alcohol and soda including demographic characteristics, attitude, interpersonal and environmental variables. Methods: The study employed correlational design with randomly selected students from two universities in Manila. Students 18 years or older who agreed to participate were included after obtaining ethical clearance. The study had two instruments: (1) World Health Organization’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used with permission, to determine excessive alcohol consumption; and (2) a questionnaire to obtain information regarding soda and energy drink consumption. Results: Out of 400 students surveyed, 70% were female and 78.75% were 18-20 years old (mean=19.79; SD=3.76). Among them, 51.50% consumed alcohol, with 30.10% excessive drinkers. Soda consumption is 91.50% with 37.70% excessive consumers. For energy drinks, 36.75% consume this and only 4.76% drink excessively. Using logistic regression, students who were more likely to be excessive alcohol drinkers belonged to non-health courses (OR=2.21) and purchased alcohol from bars (OR=7.84). Less likely to drink excessively are students who do not drink due to stress (OR=0.05) and drink when it is accessible (OR=0.02). Excessive soda consumption was less likely for female students (OR=0.28), those who drink when it is accessible (OR=0.14), do not drink soda during stressful situations (OR=0.19), and do not use soda as hangover treatment (OR=0.15). Conclusion: Excessive alcohol consumption was greater among students in Manila (30.10%) than in US (20%). Drinking alcohol with friends was not related to excessive consumption but availability in bars was. It is expected that health sciences students are less likely to engage in excessive alcohol as they are more aware of its ill effects. Prevalence of soda consumption in Manila (91.50%) is markedly higher compared to 24.5% in the US. These findings can inform schools in developing appropriate health education interventions and policies. For greater understanding of these behaviors and factors, further studies are recommended to explore knowledge and other factors that may promote excessive consumption.

Keywords: alcohol consumption, beverage consumption, energy drinks consumption, soda consumption, university students

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Authors: Hassan M. Al-Ahmadi, Hamad Bader Almobayedh

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Planning for urban transportation is essential for developing effective and sustainable transportation networks that meet the needs of various communities. Advanced modeling software is required for effective transportation planning, management, and optimization. This paper compares PTV VISUM, Aimsun, TransCAD, and Emme, four industry-leading software tools for transportation planning and modeling. Each software has strengths and limitations, and the project's needs, financial constraints, and level of technical expertise influence the choice of software. Transportation experts can design and improve urban transportation systems that are effective, sustainable, and meet the changing needs of their communities by utilizing these software tools.

Keywords: PTV VISUM, Aimsun, TransCAD, transportation modeling software

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Authors: Sunaitan Al Mutairi

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A perfect start is a key factor for project completion on time. The study examined the effects of delayed mobilization of resources during the initial phases of the project. This paper mainly highlights the identification and categorization of all delays during the initial construction phase and their root cause analysis with corrective/control measures for the Kuwait Oil Company oil and gas projects. A relatively good percentage of the delays identified during the project execution (Contract award to end of defects liability period) attributed to mobilization/preliminary activity delays. Data analysis demonstrated significant increase in average project delay during the last five years compared to the previous period. Contractors had delays/issues during the initial phase, which resulted in slippages and progressively increased, resulting in time and cost overrun. Delays/issues not mitigated on time during the initial phase had very high impact on project completion. Data analysis of the delays for the past five years was carried out using trend chart, scatter plot, process map, box plot, relative importance index and Pareto chart. Construction of any project inside the Gathering Centers involves complex management skills related to work force, materials, plant, machineries, new technologies etc. Delay affects completion of projects and compromises quality, schedule and budget of project deliverables. Works executed as per plan during the initial phase and start-up duration of the project construction activities resulted in minor slippages/delays in project completion. In addition, there was a good working environment between client and contractor resulting in better project execution and management. Mainly, the contractor was on the front foot in the execution of projects, which had minimum/no delays during the initial and construction period. Hence, having a perfect start during the initial construction phase shall have a positive influence on the project success. Our research paper studies each type of delay with some real example supported by statistic results and suggests mitigation measures. Detailed analysis carried out with all stakeholders based on impact and occurrence of delays to have a practical and effective outcome to mitigate the delays. The key to improvement is to have proper control measures and periodic evaluation/audit to ensure implementation of the mitigation measures. The focus of this research is to reduce the delays encountered during the initial construction phase of the project life cycle.

Keywords: construction activities delays, delay analysis for construction projects, mobilization delays, oil & gas projects delays

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Authors: Dongjae Kang, Sokho Son, Jinmee Kim

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Cloud service brokering is a new service paradigm that provides interoperability and portability of application across multiple Cloud providers. In this paper, we designed cloud service brokerage system, any broker, supporting integrated service provisioning and SLA based service life cycle management. For the system design, we introduce the system concept and whole architecture, details of main components and use cases of primary operations in the system. These features ease the Cloud service provider and customer’s concern and support new Cloud service open market to increase cloud service profit and prompt Cloud service echo system in cloud computing related area.

Keywords: cloud service brokerage, multiple Clouds, Integrated service provisioning, SLA, network service

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Authors: Jihee Jang, Seowon Yoon, Gaeun Son, Minjung Kang, Joon Yeon Choeh, Kee-Hong Choi

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Background: Self-report multiple choice questionnaires have been widely utilized to quantitatively measure one’s personality and psychological constructs. Despite several strengths (e.g., brevity and utility), self-report multiple-choice questionnaires have considerable limitations in nature. With the rise of machine learning (ML) and Natural language processing (NLP), researchers in the field of psychology are widely adopting NLP to assess psychological constructs to predict human behaviors. However, there is a lack of connections between the work being performed in computer science and that psychology due to small data sets and unvalidated modeling practices. Aims: The current article introduces the study method and procedure of phase II, which includes the interview questions for the five-factor model (FFM) of personality developed in phase I. This study aims to develop the interview (semi-structured) and open-ended questions for the FFM-based personality assessments, specifically designed with experts in the field of clinical and personality psychology (phase 1), and to collect the personality-related text data using the interview questions and self-report measures on personality and psychological distress (phase 2). The purpose of the study includes examining the relationship between natural language data obtained from the interview questions, measuring the FFM personality constructs, and psychological distress to demonstrate the validity of the natural language-based personality prediction. Methods: The phase I (pilot) study was conducted on fifty-nine native Korean adults to acquire the personality-related text data from the interview (semi-structured) and open-ended questions based on the FFM of personality. The interview questions were revised and finalized with the feedback from the external expert committee, consisting of personality and clinical psychologists. Based on the established interview questions, a total of 425 Korean adults were recruited using a convenience sampling method via an online survey. The text data collected from interviews were analyzed using natural language processing. The results of the online survey, including demographic data, depression, anxiety, and personality inventories, were analyzed together in the model to predict individuals’ FFM of personality and the level of psychological distress (phase 2).

Keywords: personality prediction, psychological distress prediction, natural language processing, machine learning, the five-factor model of personality

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Authors: Abel Mahowe

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Furrow erosion is the major problem menacing sustainability of irrigation in Malawi and polluting water bodies resulting in death of many aquatic animals. Many rivers in Malawi are drying due to some poor practices that are being practiced around these water bodies, furrow erosion is one of the cause of sedimentation in these rivers although it has gradual effect on deteriorating of these rivers hence neglected, but has got long term disastrous effect on water bodies. Many aquatic animals also suffer when these sediments are taken into these water bodies. An assessment of effect of manure treatment on furrow erosion was carried out in Sagawika irrigation scheme located in Kasungu District north part of Malawi. The soil on the field was clay loam and had just been tilled. The average furrow slope of 0.2% and was divided into two blocks, A and B. Each block had 20V-shaped furrow having a length of 10 m. Three different manure were used to construct these furrows by mixing it with soil which was moderately moist and 5 furrows from each block were constructed without manure. In each block 5furrow were made using a specific type of manure, and one set of five furrows in each block was made without manure treatment. The types of manure that were used were goat manure, pig manure, and manure from crop residuals. The manure application late was 5 kg/m. The furrow was constructed at a spacing of 0.6 m. Tomato was planted in the two blocks at spacing of 0.15 m between rows and 0.15 m between planting stations. Irrigation water was led from feeder canal into the irrigation furrows using siphons. The siphons discharge into each furrow was set at 1.86 L/S. The ¾ rule was used to determine the cut-off time for the irrigation cycles in order to reduce the run-off at the tail end. During each irrigation cycle, samples of the runoff water were collected at one-minute intervals and analyzed for total sediment concentration for use in estimating the total soil sediment loss. The results of the study have shown that a significant amount of soil is lost in soils without many organic matters, there was a low level of erosion in furrows that were constructed using manure treatment within the blocks. In addition, the results have shown that manure also differs in their ability to control erosion since pig manure proved to have greater abilities in binding the soil together than other manure since they were reduction in the amount of sediments at the tail end of furrows constructed by this type of manure. The results prove that manure contains organic matters which helps soil particles to bind together hence resisting the erosive force of water. The use of manure when constructing furrows in soil with less organic matter can highly reduce erosion hence reducing also pollution of water bodies and improve the conditions of aquatic animals.

Keywords: aquatic, erosion, furrow, soil

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Authors: Mohammad Khatib, Salam Hadid

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Introduction: Developing nurses' cultural competence begins in their basic training and requires them to participate in an array of activities which raise their awareness and stimulate their interest, desire and curiosity about different cultures, by creating opportunities for intercultural meetings promoting the concept of 'culture' and its components, including recognition of cultural diversity and the legitimacy of the other. Importantly, professionals need to acquire specific cultural knowledge and thorough understanding of the values, norms, customs, beliefs and symbols of different cultures. Similarly, they need to be given opportunities to practice the verbal and non-verbal communication skills of other cultures according to their cultural codes. Such a system is being implemented as part of nursing studies at Zefat Academic College in two study frameworks; firstly, a course integrating nursing theory and practice in multicultural nursing; secondly, a course in learning the languages spoken in Israel focusing on medical and nursing terminology. Methods: Students participating in the 'Transcultural Nursing' course come from a variety of backgrounds: Jews, or Arabs, religious, or secular; Muslim, Christian, new immigrants, Ethiopians or from other cultural affiliations. They are required to present and discuss cultural practices that affect health. In addition, as part of the language course, students learn and teach their friends 5 spoken languages (Arabic, Russian, Amharian, Yidish, and Sign language) focusing on therapeutic interaction and communication using the vocabulary and concepts necessary for the therapeutic encounter. An evaluation of the process and the results was done using a structured questionnaire which includes series of questions relating to the contributions of the courses to their cultural knowledge, awareness and skills. 155 students completed the questionnaire. Results: A preliminary assessment of this educational system points an increase in cultural awareness and knowledge among the students as well as in their willingness to recognize the other's difference. A positive atmosphere of multiculturalism is reflected in students' mutual interest and respect was created. Students showed a deep understanding of cultural issues relating to health and care (consanguinity and genetics, food customs; cultural events, reincarnation, traditional treatments etc.). Most of the students were willing to recommend the courses to others and suggest some changes relating learning methods (more simulations, role playing and activities).

Keywords: cultural competence, nursing education, culture, language

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Authors: Sait Ozsoy, Hacer Yasar Teke, Mustafa Dalgic, Cetin Ketenci, Ertugrul Gok, Kenan Karbeyaz, Azem Irez, Mesut Akyol

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Self-mutilating behavior or self-injury behavior (SIB) is defined as: intentional harm to one’s body without intends to commit suicide”. SIB cases are commonly seen in psychiatry and forensic medicine practices. Despite variety of SIB methods, cuts in the skin is the most common (70-97%) injury in this group of patients. Subjects with SIB have one or more other comorbidities which include depression, anxiety, depersonalization, and feeling of worthlessness, borderline personality disorder, antisocial behaviors, and histrionic personality. These individuals feel a high level of hostility towards themselves and their surroundings. Researches have also revealed a strong relationship between antisocial personality disorder, criminal behavior, and SIB. This study has retrospectively evaluated 6,599 autopsy cases performed at forensic medicine institutes of six major cities (Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Trabzon, Eskisehir) of Turkey in 2013. The study group consisted of all cases with SIB findings (psychopathic cuts, cigarette burns, scars, and etc.). The relationship between causes of death in the study group (SIB subjects) and the control group was investigated. The control group was created from subjects without signs of SIB. Mann-Whitney U test was used for age variables and Chi-square test for categorical variables. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used in order to analyze group differences in respect to manner of death (natural, accident, homicide, suicide) and analysis of risk factors associated with each group was determined by the Binomial logistic regression analysis. This study used SPSS statistics 15.0 for all its statistical and calculation needs. The statistical significance was p <0.05. There was no significant difference between accidental and natural death among the groups (p=0.737). Also there was a unit increase in number of cuts in psychopathic group while number of accidental death decreased (95% CI: 0.941-0.993) by 0.967 times (p=0.015). In contrast, there was a significant difference between suicidal and natural death (p<0.001), and also between homicidal and natural death (p=0.025). SIB is often seen with borderline and antisocial personality disorder but may be associated with many psychiatric illnesses. Studies have shown a relationship between antisocial personality disorders with criminal behavior and SIB with suicidal behavior. In our study, rate of suicide, murder and intoxication was higher compared to the control group. It could be concluded that SIB can be used as a predictor of possibility of one’s harm to him/herself and other people.

Keywords: autopsy, cause of death, forensic science, self-injury behaviour

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Authors: Blessing C. Nwachukwu, Michael O. Taiwo, Wasiu A. Abibu, Isaac O. Ayodeji

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Milk is an important source of micro and macronutrients for humans. Soft Cheese (Wara) is an example of a by-product of milk. In addition, water is considered as one of the most vital resources in cattle farms. Due to the high consumption rate of milk and soft cheese and the traditional techniques involved in their production in Nigeria, there was a need for a microbiological assessment which will be of utmost public health importance. The study thus investigated microbial risk assessments associated with consumption of milk and soft cheese (Wara). It also investigated common pathogens present in dairy water in farms and antibiotic sensitivity profiling for implicated pathogens were conducted. Samples were collected from three different Fulani dairy herds in Ido local government, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria and subjected to microbiological evaluation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Aspergillus flavus was the only isolated fungal isolate from Wara while Staphylococcus aureus, Vibro cholera, Hafnia alvei, Proteus mirabilis, Escherishia coli, Psuedomonas aeuroginosa, Citrobacter freundii, and Klebsiella pneumonia were the bacteria genera isolated from Wara, dairy milk and dairy drinking water. Bacterial counts from Wara from the three selected farms A, B and C were 3.5×105 CFU/ml, 4.0×105 CFU/ml and 5.3×105 CFU/ml respectively while the fungal count was 3CFU/100µl. The total bacteria count from dairy milk from the three selected farms A, B and C were Farms 2.0 ×105 CFU/ml, 3.5 × 105 CFU/ml and 6.5 × 105 CFU/ml respectively. 1.4×105 CFU/ml, 1.9×105 CFU/ml and 4.9×105 CFU/ml were the recorded bacterial counts from dairy water from farms A, B and C respectively. The highest antimicrobial resistance of 100% was recorded in Wara with Enrofloxacin, Gentamycin, Cefatriaxone and Colistin. The highest antimicrobial susceptibility of 100% was recorded in Raw milk with Enrofloxacin and Gentamicin. Highest antimicrobial intermediate response of 100% was recorded in Raw milk with Streptomycin. The study revealed that most of the cheeses sold at Ido local Government are contaminated with pathogens. Further research is needed on standardizing the production method to prevent pathogens from gaining access. The presence of bacteria in raw milk indicated contamination due to poor handling and unhygienic practices. Thus, drinking unpasteurized milk is hazardous as it increases the risk of zoonoses. Also, the Provision of quality drinking water is crucial for optimum productivity of dairy. Health education programs aiming at increasing awareness of the importance of clean water for animal health will be helpful.

Keywords: dairy, raw milk, soft cheese, Wara

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Authors: Guilherme B. B. Vieira, Rafael M. da Silva, Eliana T. P. Senna, Luiz A. S. Senna, Francisco J. Kliemann Neto

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Given the importance of ports as links in the global supply chains and because they are key elements to induce competitiveness in their hinterlands, the number of studies devoted to port governance, management and operations has increased in the last decades. Some of these studies address the port governance model as an element to improve coordination among the actors of the port logistics chain and to generate a better port performance. In this context, the present study analyzes the governance of Port of Santos through individual interviews with port managers, based on a conceptual model that considers the key dimensions associated with port governance. The results reinforce the usefulness of the applied model and highlight some existing improvement opportunities in the port studied.

Keywords: port governance, model, Port of Santos, managers’ perception

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Authors: B. Petrović, M. Petrović, L. Rutonjski, I. Djan, V. Ivanović

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Objective: Cardiac pacemakers are very sensitive to radiotherapy treatment from two sources: electromagnetic influence from the medical linear accelerator producing ionizing radiation- influencing electronics within the pacemaker, and the absorption of dose to the device. On the other hand, patients with cardiac pacemakers at the place of a tumor are rather rare, and single clinic hardly has experience with the management of such patients. The widely accepted international guidelines for management of radiation oncology patients recommend that these patients should be closely monitored and examined before, during and after radiotherapy treatment by cardiologist, and their device and condition followed up. The number of patients having both cancer and pacemaker, is growing every year, as both cancer incidence, as well as cardiac diseases incidence, are inevitably growing figures. Materials and methods: Female patient, age 69, was diagnozed with valvular cardiomyopathy and got implanted a pacemaker in 2005 and prosthetic mitral valve in 1993 (cancer was diagnosed in 2012). She was stable cardiologically and came to radiation therapy department with the diagnosis of right breast cancer, with the tumor in upper lateral quadrant of the right breast. Since she had all lymph nodes positive (28 in total), she had to have irradiated the supraclavicular region, as well as the breast with the tumor bed. She previously received chemotherapy, approved by the cardiologist. The patient was estimated to be with the high risk as device was within the field of irradiation, and the patient had high dependence on her pacemaker. The radiation therapy plan was conducted as 3D conformal therapy. The delineated target was breast with supraclavicular region, where the pacemaker was actually placed, with the addition of a pacemaker as organ at risk, to estimate the dose to the device and its components as recommended, and the breast. The targets received both 50 Gy in 25 fractions (where 20% of a pacemaker received 50 Gy, and 60% of a device received 40 Gy). The electrode to the heart received between 1 Gy and 50 Gy. Verification of dose planned and delivered was performed. Results: Evaluation of the patient status according to the guidelines and especially evaluation of all associated risks to the patient during treatment was done. Patient was irradiated by prescribed dose and followed up for the whole year, with no symptoms of failure of the pacemaker device during, or after treatment in follow up period. The functionality of a device was estimated to be unchanged, according to the parameters (electrode impedance and battery energy). Conclusion: Patient was closely monitored according to published guidelines during irradiation and afterwards. Pacemaker irradiated with the full dose did not show any signs of failure despite recommendations data, but in correlation with other published data.

Keywords: cardiac pacemaker, breast cancer, radiotherapy treatment planning, complications of treatment

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Authors: Zoran Barac, Maja Martinovic

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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are a special kind of organization, with its unique purpose and combination of actors. From the societal point of view, they are central institutions in the society that are involved in the activities of education, research, and innovation. At the same time, their societal function derives complex relationships between involved actors, ranging from students, faculty and administration, business community and corporate partners, government agencies, to the general public. HEIs are also particularly interesting as objects of governance research because of their unique public purpose and combination of stakeholders. Furthermore, they are the special type of institutions from an organizational viewpoint. HEIs are often described as “loosely coupled systems” or “organized anarchies“ that implies the challenging nature of their governance models. Governance models of HEIs describe roles, constellations, and modes of interaction of the involved actors in the process of strategic direction and holistic control of institutions, taking into account each particular context. Many governance models of the HEIs are primarily based on the balance of power among the involved actors. Besides the actors’ power and influence, leadership style and environmental contingency could impact the governance model of an HEI. Analyzing them through the frameworks of institutional and contingency theories, HEI governance models originate as outcomes of their institutional and contingency adaptation. HEIs tend to fit to institutional context comprised of formal and informal institutional rules. By fitting to institutional context, HEIs are converging to each other in terms of their structures, policies, and practices. On the other hand, contingency framework implies that there is no governance model that is suitable for all situations. Consequently, the contingency approach begins with identifying contingency variables that might impact a particular governance model. In order to be effective, the governance model should fit to contingency variables. While the institutional context creates converging forces on HEI governance actors and approaches, contingency variables are the causes of divergence of actors’ behavior and governance models. Finally, an HEI governance model is a balanced adaptation of the HEIs to the institutional context and contingency variables. It also encompasses roles, constellations, and modes of interaction of involved actors influenced by institutional and contingency pressures. Actors’ adaptation to the institutional context brings benefits of legitimacy and resources. On the other hand, the adaptation of the actors’ to the contingency variables brings high performance and effectiveness. HEI governance models outlined and analyzed in this paper are collegial, bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, network, professional, political, anarchical, cybernetic, trustee, stakeholder, and amalgam models.

Keywords: governance, governance models, higher education institutions, institutional context, situational context

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Authors: Jilbert Novelero, Oliver Mariano

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In a world where technological evolution and competition to create innovative products are at its peak, problems on Electronic Waste (E-Waste) are now becoming a global concern. E-waste is said to be any electrical or electronic devices that have reached the terminal of its useful life. The major issue are the volume and the raw materials used in crafting E-waste which is non-biodegradable and contains hazardous substances that are toxic to human health and the environment. The objective of this study is to gather baseline data in terms of the composition of E-waste in the solid waste stream and to determine the top 5 E-waste categories in a highly urbanized city. Recommendations in managing these wastes for its reduction were provided which may serve as a guide for acceptance and implementation in the locality. Pasig City was the chosen beneficiary of the research output and through the collaboration of the City Government of Pasig and its Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO); the researcher successfully conducted the Electronic Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (E-WACS) to achieve the objectives. E-WACS that was conducted on April 2019 showed that E-waste ranked 4th which comprises the 10.39% of the overall solid waste volume. Out of 345, 127.24kg which is the total daily domestic waste generation in the city, E-waste covers 35,858.72kg. Moreover, an average of 40 grams was determined to be the E-waste generation per person per day. The top 5 E-waste categories were then classified after the analysis. The category which ranked first is the office and telecommunications equipment that contained the 63.18% of the total generated E-waste. Second in ranking was the household appliances category with 21.13% composition. Third was the lighting devices category with 8.17%. Fourth on ranking was the consumer electronics and batteries category which was composed of 5.97% and fifth was the wires and cables category where it comprised the 1.41% of the average generated E-waste samples. One of the recommendations provided in this research is the implementation of the Pasig City Waste Advantage Card. The card can be used as a privilege card and earned points can be converted to avail of and enjoy services such as haircut, massage, dental services, medical check-up, and etc. Another recommendation raised is for the LGU to encourage a communication or dialogue with the technology and electronics manufacturers and distributors and international and local companies to plan the retrieval and disposal of the E-wastes in accordance with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy where producers are given significant responsibilities for the treatment and disposal of post-consumer products.

Keywords: E-waste, E-WACS, E-waste characterization, electronic waste, electronic waste analysis

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Authors: M. L. Gaol, I. W. Mudita

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Indonesia is well known as a country covered by lush tropical rain forests, but in fact, the northeastern part of the country, within the areas geologically known as Lesser Sunda, the dominant vegetation is tropical savanna. Lesser Sunda is a chain of islands located closer to Australia than to islands in the other parts of the country. Among those of islands in the chain which is closes to Australia, and thereby most strongly affected by the hot and dry Australian climate, is the island of Timor, the western part of which belongs to Indonesia and the eastern part is a sovereign state East Timor. Regardless of being the most dominant vegetation cover, tropical savanna in West Timor, especially its understory, is rarely investigated. This research was therefore carried out to investigate the structure, composition and diversity of the understory of this tropical savanna as the basis for looking at the possibility of introducing other spesieis for various purposes. For this research, 14 terrestrial communities representing major types of the existing savannas in West Timor was selected with aid of the most recently available satellite imagery. At each community, one stand of the size of 50 m x 50 m most likely representing the community was as the site of observation for the type of savanna under investigation. At each of the 14 communities, 20 plots of 1 m x 1 m in size was placed at random to identify understory species and to count the total number of individuals and to estimate the cover of each species. Based on such counts and estimation, the important value of each species was later calculated. The results of this research indicated that the understory of savanna in West Timor consisted of 73 understory species. Of this number of species, 18 species are grasses and 55 are non-grasses. Although lower than non-grass species, grass species indeed dominated the savanna as indicated by their number of individuals (65.33 vs 34.67%), species cover (57.80 vs 42.20%), and important value (123.15 vs 76.85). Of the 14 communities, the lowest density of grass was 13.50/m2 and the highest was 417.50/m2. Of 18 grass species found, all were commonly found as agricultural weeds, whereas of 55 non-grass, 10 species were commonly found as agricultural weeds, environmental weeds, or invasive species. In terms of better managing the savanna in the region, these findings provided the basis for planning a more integrated approach in managing such agricultural and environmental weeds as well as invasive species by considering the structure, composition, and species diversity of the understory species existing in each site. These findings also provided the basis for better understanding the flora of the region as a whole and for developing a flora database of West Timor in future.

Keywords: tropical savanna, understory species, integrated management, weedy and invasive species

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Authors: Sung Hyun You, Jeong Hoon Kim, Dae Ki Kim, Choon Ki Ahn

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In this paper, we proposed a new strategy for estimating indoor temperature based on the modified resistance capacitance (R–C) network thermal dynamic model. Using minimum variance finite impulse response (FIR) filter, accurate indoor temperature estimation can be achieved. Our study is clarified by the experimental validation of the proposed indoor temperature estimation method. This experiment scenario environment is composed of a demand response (DR) server and home energy management system (HEMS) in a test bed.

Keywords: energy consumption, resistance-capacitance network model, demand response, finite impulse response filter

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Authors: Karthiyayini J., Arpita Chowdary Vantipalli, Darshana Sailu Tanti, Malvika Ravi Kudari, Krtin Kannan

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This paper is propelled from the generally existing undertaking of the smart water quality management, which addresses an IoT (Internet of things) based brilliant water quality observing (SWQM) framework which we call it AquaSwach that guides in the ceaseless estimation of water conditions dependent on five actual boundaries i.e., temperature, pH, electric conductivity and turbidity properties and water virtue estimation each time you drink water. Six sensors relate to Arduino-Mega in a discrete way to detect the water parameters. Extracted data from the sensors are transmitted to a desktop application developed in the NET platform and compared with the WHO (World Health Organization) standard values.

Keywords: AquaSwach, IoT, WHO, water quality

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Authors: RAJ KUMAR G.C.

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There are tremendous opportunities to maximize smallholder farmers’ income from small-scale water resource development through micro irrigation and multiple-use water systems (MUS). MUS are an improved water management approach, developed and tested successfully by iDE that pipes water to a community both for domestic use and for agriculture using efficient micro irrigation. Different MUS models address different landscape constraints, water demand, and users’ preferences. MUS are complemented by micro irrigation kits, which were developed by iDE to enable farmers to grow high-value crops year-round and to use limited water resources efficiently. Over the last 15 years, iDE’s promotion of the MUS approach has encouraged government and other key stakeholders to invest in MUS for better planning of scarce water resources. Currently, about 60% of the cost of MUS construction is covered by the government and community. Based on iDE’s experience, a gravity-fed MUS costs approximately $125 USD per household to construct, and it can increase household income by $300 USD per year. A key element of the MUS approach is keeping farmers well linked to input supply systems and local produce collection centers, which helps to ensure that the farmers can produce a sufficient quantity of high-quality produce that earns a fair price. This process in turn creates an enabling environment for smallholders to invest in MUS and micro irrigation. Therefore, MUS should be seen as an integrated package of interventions –the end users, water sources, technologies, and the marketplace– that together enhance technical, financial, and institutional sustainability. Communities are trained to participate in sustainable water resource management as a part of the MUS planning and construction process. The MUS approach is cost-effective, improves community governance of scarce water resources, helps smallholder farmers to improve rural health and livelihoods, and promotes gender equity. MUS systems are simple to maintain and communities are trained to ensure that they can undertake minor maintenance procedures themselves. All in all, the iDE Nepal MUS offers multiple benefits and represents a practical and sustainable model of the MUS approach. Moreover, there is a growing national consensus that rural water supply systems should be designed for multiple uses, acknowledging that substantial work remains in developing national-level and local capacity and policies for scale-up.

Keywords: multiple-use water systems , small scale water resources, rural livelihoods, practical and sustainable model

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Authors: Prasansha Kumari

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Financial Literacy is the possession of knowledge and understanding of financial matters. Financial Literacy often entails the knowledge of properly making decisions pertaining to certain personal financial areas like real estate, insurance investing, and savings. This paper intends to identify and analyze the financial knowledge among university undergraduates by using 200 undergraduates in four faculties of University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Collected data will be analyzed by descriptive research method using SPSS package. Expected outcomes are considerable percentage of undergraduates have basic knowledge on financial matters while it has a law percentage for advanced financial literacy among undergraduates. Students from faculty of Commerce and Management and Science have good understanding about financial matters than undergraduates in other two faculties

Keywords: advanced finance, undergraduates, financial literacy, savings

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Authors: Sofia Baldelli, Aman More

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Milk curd obstruction is commonly reported as being misdiagnosed for NEC, and they predominantly mimic each other in clinical presentation, including abdominal distension, vomiting, constipation, feeding intolerance and frank or occult blood PR. Using the case of a pre-term neonate misdiagnosed with necrotising enterocolitis when in fact, they had milk curd obstruction, we compare the two diagnoses and why they are hard to differentiate, the risk factors for clinicians to consider and the different management options. The main diagnostic tool for these conditions remains the plain radiograph and here we present the original radiograph of the neonate and discuss the classical radiological features of both diagnoses. We conclude that further imaging techniques such as ultrasound might be used to improve diagnosis when X-ray is inconclusive.

Keywords: milk curd obstruction, Necrotising Enterocolitis, radiology, pediatric surgery

Procedia PDF Downloads 115