Search results for: light field

Authors: Daniela Gnarini

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This paper aims to contribute to the field of immigrants' entrepreneurial performance. The debate on immigrant entrepreneurship has been dominated by cultural explanations, which argue that immigrants’ entrepreneurial results are linked to groups’ characteristics. However, this approach does not consider important dimensions that influence entrepreneurial performances. Furthermore, cultural theories do not take into account the huge differences in performances also within the same ethnic group. For these reason, this study adopts a biographical approach, both at theoretical and at methodological level, which can allow to understand the main aspects that make the difference in immigrants' entrepreneurial performances, by exploring the narratives of immigrant entrepreneurs, who operate in the restaurant sector in two different Italian metropolitan areas: Milan and Rome. Through the qualitative method of biographical interviews, this study analyses four main dimensions and their combinations: a) individuals' entrepreneurial and migratory path: this aspect is particularly relevant to understand the biographical resources of immigrant entrepreneurs and their change and evolution during time; b) entrepreneurs' social capital, with a particular focus on their networks, through the adoption of a transnational perspective, that takes into account both the local level and the transnational connections. This study highlights that, though entrepreneurs’ connections are significant, especially as far as those with family members are concerned, often their entrepreneurial path assumes an individualised trajectory. c) Entrepreneurs' human capital, including both formal education and skills acquired through informal channels. The latter are particularly relevant since in the interviews and data collected the role of informal transmission emerges. d) Embeddedness within the social, political and economic context, to understand the main constraints and opportunities both at local and national level. The comparison between two different metropolitan areas within the same country helps to understand this dimension.

Keywords: biographies, immigrant entrepreneurs, life stories, performance

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Authors: Merih Welay Welesilassie

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Language is a potent instrument that does not only serve the purpose of communication but also plays a pivotal role in shaping our cultural practices and identities. The right to choose one's language is a fundamental human right that helps to safeguard the integrity of both personal and communal identities. Language holds immense significance in Ethiopia, a nation with a diverse linguistic landscape that extends beyond mere communication to delineate administrative boundaries. Consequently, depriving Ethiopians of their linguistic rights represents a multifaceted punishment, more complex than food embargoes. In the aftermath of the civil war that shook Ethiopia in November 2020, displacing millions and resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, concerns have been raised about the preservation of the indigenous Tigrayan language and culture. This is particularly true following the annexation of western Tigray into the Amhara region and the implementation of an Amharic-only language and culture education policy. This scholarly inquiry explores the intricacies surrounding the Amhara regional state's prohibition of Tigrayans' indigenous language and culture and the subsequent adoption of a monolingual and monocultural Amhara language and culture in western Tigray. The study adopts the linguistic genocide conceptual framework as an analytical tool to gain a deeper insight into the factors that contributed to and facilitated this significant linguistic and cultural shift. The research was conducted by interviewing ten teachers selected through a snowball sampling. Additionally, document analysis was performed to support the findings. The findings revealed that the push for linguistic and cultural assimilation was driven by various political and economic factors and the desire to promote a single language and culture policy. This process, often referred to as ‘Amharanization,’ aimed to homogenize the culture and language of the society. The Amhara authorities have enacted several measures in pursuit of their objectives, including the outlawing of the Tigrigna language, punishment for speaking Tigrigna, imposition of the Amhara language and culture, mandatory relocation, and even committing heinous acts that have inflicted immense physical and emotional suffering upon members of the Tigrayan community. Upon conducting a comprehensive analysis of the contextual factors, actions, intentions, and consequences, it has been posited that there may be instances of linguistic genocide taking place in the Western Tigray region. The present study sheds light on the severe consequences that could arise because of implementing monolingual and monocultural policies in multilingual areas. Through thoroughly scrutinizing the implications of such policies, this study provides insightful recommendations and directions for future research in this critical area.

Keywords: linguistic genocide, linguistic human right, mother tongue, Western Tigray

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Authors: Samuel Francisco Ngovene

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Mozambique is a country with cultural segregation along its rivers, dividing the main ethnic groups of Machangana, Macena, and Macua, inter alia South, Centre, and North. This division has led to internal conflicts, seemingly rooted in ethnicity. The aim of this study is to analyze the tolerance of the main ethnic groups in Mozambique in terms of cohabitation, sharing opportunities, and political power. The study utilizes participant observation in the field, group discussions, and a questionnaire targeting 150 respondents split into 50 for each ethnic group. The study finds that people in Mozambique are generally tolerant of cohabiting or marrying individuals from different ethnic groups. However, when it comes to sharing opportunities such as employment or business, there is a perception that individuals from different ethnic groups may be taking away opportunities. Similarly, each ethnic group believes that having a president from their own group would lead to better opportunities for their community. The study highlights the importance of addressing this intolerance, as it can be a source of internal political conflicts. The anthropological approach provides a valuable tool for diplomacy channels to ensure long-lasting peace. Analysis procedures: The data collected through participant observation, group discussions are analytically crosschecked, comparing the opinions of people from different ethnic groups, while the data from the questionnaire are analyzed statistically to understand the level of tolerance among the ethnic groups and their perceptions of sharing opportunities and political power. The study addresses the question of whether the main ethnic groups in Mozambique are tolerant of cohabitation, sharing opportunities, and political power among themselves. The study concludes that while there is overall tolerance for cohabitation and marriage across ethnic groups, there is also a perception that individuals from different ethnic groups may take away opportunities. The study suggests that cultural education from a young age may be an effective way to promote tolerance.

Keywords: cohabitation, ethnicities, Mozambique, political conflicts, tolerance

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Authors: Alex Gonzalez Caceres, Jan Karlshøj, Tor Arvid Vik

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Life cycle of residential buildings are expected to be several decades, 40% of European residential buildings have inefficient energy conservation measure. The existing building represents 20-40% of the energy use and the CO₂ emission. Since net zero energy buildings are a short-term goal, (should be achieved by EU countries after 2020), is necessary to plan the next logical step, which is to prepare the existing outdated stack of building to retrofit them into an energy efficiency buildings. In order to accomplish this, two specialize and widespread tool can be used Building Information Modelling (BIM) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). BIM and LCA are tools used by a variety of disciplines; both are able to represent and analyze the constructions in different stages. The combination of these technologies could improve greatly the retrofitting techniques. The incorporation of the carbon footprint, introducing a single database source for different material analysis. To this is added the possibility of considering different analysis approaches such as costs and energy saving. Is expected with these measures, enrich the decision-making. The methodology is based on two main activities; the first task involved the collection of data this is accomplished by literature review and interview with experts in the retrofitting field and BIM technologies. The results of this task are presented as an evaluation checklist of BIM ability to manage data and improve decision-making in retrofitting projects. The last activity involves an evaluation using the results of the previous tasks, to check how far the IFC format can support the requirements by each specialist, and its uses by third party software. The result indicates that BIM/LCA have a great potential to improve the retrofitting process in existing buildings, but some modification must be done in order to meet the requirements of the specialists for both, retrofitting and LCA evaluators.

Keywords: retrofitting, BIM, LCA, energy efficiency

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Authors: Mahsa Fathollahzadeh

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The various nanoparticles employed in drug delivery applications include micelles, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, functionalized nanoparticles, nanocrystals, cyclodextrins, dendrimers, and nanotubes. Micelles, composed of amphiphilic block copolymers, can encapsulate hydrophobic molecules, allowing for targeted delivery. Liposomes, vesicular structures made up of phospholipids, can encapsulate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules, providing a flexible platform for delivering therapeutic agents. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are designed to improve the stability and bioavailability of lipophilic drugs. Polymeric nanoparticles, such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), are biodegradable and can be engineered to release drugs in a controlled manner. Functionalized nanoparticles, coated with targeting ligands or antibodies, can specifically target diseased cells or tissues. Nanocrystals, engineered to have specific surface properties, can enhance the solubility and bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. Cyclodextrins, doughnut-shaped molecules with hydrophobic cavities, can be complex with hydrophobic molecules, allowing for improved solubility and bioavailability. Dendrimers, branched polymers with a central core, can be designed to deliver multiple therapeutic agents simultaneously. Nanotubes and metallic nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles, offer real-time tracking capabilities and can be used to detect biomolecular interactions. The use of these nanoparticles has revolutionized the field of drug delivery, enabling targeted and controlled release of therapeutic agents, reduced toxicity, and improved patient outcomes.

Keywords: nanotechnology, nanopharmaceuticals, drug-delivery, proteins, ligands, nanoparticles, chemistry

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Authors: Aarthi Mariappan, Janani Selvaraj, P. B. Harathi, M. Prashanthi Devi

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Anthropogenic modification of the urban environment has largely increased in the recent years in order to sustain the growing human population. Intense industrial activity, permanent and high traffic on the roads, a developed subterranean infrastructure network, land use patterns are just some specific characteristics. Every day, the urban environment is polluted by more or less toxic emissions, organic or metals wastes discharged from specific activities such as industrial, commercial, municipal. When these eventually deposit into the soil, the physical and chemical properties of the surrounding soil is changed, transforming it into a human exposure indicator. Metals are non-degradable and occur cumulative in soil due to regular deposits are a result of permanent human activity. Due to this, metals are a contaminant factor for soil when persistent over a long period of time and a possible danger for inhabitant’s health on prolonged exposure. Metals accumulated in contaminated soil may be transferred to humans directly, by inhaling the dust raised from top soil, or by ingesting, or by dermal contact and indirectly, through plants and animals grown on contaminated soil and used for food. Some metals, like Cu, Mn, Zn, are beneficial for human’s health and represent a danger only if their concentration is above permissible levels, but other metals, like Pb, As, Cd, Hg, are toxic even at trace level causing gastrointestinal and lung cancers. In urban areas, metals can be emitted from a wide variety of sources like industrial, residential, commercial activities. Our study interrogates the spatial distribution of heavy metals in soil in relation to their permissible levels and their association with the health risk to the urban population in Coimbatore, India. Coimbatore region is a high cancer risk zone and case records of gastro intestinal and respiratory cancer patients were collected from hospitals and geocoded in ArcGIS10.1. The data of patients pertaining to the urban limits were retained and checked for their diseases history based on their diagnosis and treatment. A disease map of cancer was prepared to show the disease distribution. It has been observed that in our study area Cr, Pb, As, Fe and Mg exceeded their permissible levels in the soil. Using spatial overlay analysis a relationship between environmental exposure to these potentially toxic elements in soil and cancer distribution in Coimbatore district was established to show areas of cancer risk. Through this, our study throws light on the impact of prolonged exposure to soil contamination in soil in the urban zones, thereby exploring the possibility to detect cancer risk zones and to create awareness among the exposed groups on cancer risk.

Keywords: soil contamination, cancer risk, spatial analysis, India

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Authors: Dimitra Marini, Konstantinos Bakogiannis, Spyros Polychronopoulos, Georgios Kouroupetroglou

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Archaemusicology cannot entirely depend on the study of the excavated ancient musical instruments as most of the time their condition is not ideal (i.e., missing/eroded parts) and moreover, because of the concern damaging the originals during the experiments. Researchers, in order to overcome the above obstacles, build replicas. This technique is still the most popular one, although it is rather expensive and time-consuming. Throughout the last decades, the development of physical modeling techniques has provided tools that enable the study of musical instruments through their digitally simulated models. This is not only a more cost and time-efficient technique but also provides additional flexibility as the user can easily modify parameters such as their geometrical features and materials. This paper thoroughly describes the steps to create a physical model of a woodwind ancient Greek instrument, Plagiaulos. This instrument could be considered as the ancestor of the modern flute due to the common geometry and air-jet excitation mechanism. Plagiaulos is comprised of a single resonator with an open end and a number of tone holes. The combination of closed and open tone holes produces the pitch variations. In this work, the effects of all the instrument’s components are described by means of physics and then simulated based on digital waveguides. The synthesized sound of the proposed model complies with the theory, highlighting its validity. Further, the synthesized sound of the model simulating the Plagiaulos of Koile (2nd century BCE) was compared with its replica build in our laboratory by following the scientific methodologies of archeomusicology. The aforementioned results verify that robust dynamic digital tools can be introduced in the field of computational, experimental archaemusicology.

Keywords: archaeomusicology, digital waveguides, musical acoustics, physical modeling

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Authors: Mansa Radhakrishnan, Anwar Ali, Muhammad Rizwan Mughal

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Many universities around the world are working on modular and low budget architecture of small spacecraft to reduce the development cost of the overall system. This paper focuses on the design of a modular solar power harvesting system for a hexagonal-shaped small satellite. The designed solar power harvesting systems are composed of solar panels and power converter subsystems. The solar panel is composed of solar cells mounted on the external face of the printed circuit board (PCB), while the electronic components of power conversion are mounted on the interior side of the same PCB. The solar panel with dimensions 16.5cm × 99cm is composed of 36 solar cells (each solar cell is 4cm × 7cm) divided into four parallel banks where each bank consists of 9 solar cells. The output voltage of a single solar cell is 2.14V, and the combined output voltage of 9 series connected solar cells is around 19.3V. The output voltage of the solar panel is boosted to the satellite power distribution bus voltage level (28V) by a boost converter working on a constant voltage maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique. The solar panel module is an eight-layer PCB having embedded coil in 4 internal layers. This coil is used to control the attitude of the spacecraft, which consumes power to generate a magnetic field and rotate the spacecraft. As power converter and distribution subsystem components are mounted on the PCB internal layer, therefore it is mandatory to do thermal analysis in order to ensure that the overall module temperature is within thermal safety limits. The main focus of the overall design is on compactness, miniaturization, and efficiency enhancement.

Keywords: small satellites, power subsystem, efficiency, MPPT

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Authors: Ma. Doreen E. Candelaria, Ma. Louise Margaret A. Ramos, Dr. Jaime Y. Hernandez, Jr

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Bamboo has been introduced as a possible alternative to some construction materials nowadays. Its potential use in the field of engineering, however, is still not widely practiced due to insufficient engineering knowledge on the material’s properties and characteristics. Although there are researches and studies proving its advantages, it is still not enough to say that bamboo can sustain and provide the strength and capacity required of common structures. In line with this, a more detailed analysis was made to observe the layered structure of the bamboo, particularly the species of Kawayan Tinik. It is the main intent of this research to provide the necessary experiments to determine the tensile strength of dried bamboo samples. The test includes tensile strength parallel to fibers with samples taken at internodes only. Throughout the experiment, methods suggested by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) were followed. The specimens were tested using 3366 INSTRON Universal Testing Machine, with a rate of loading set to 0.6 mm/min. It was then observed from the results of these experiments that dried bamboo samples recorded high layered tensile strengths, as high as 600 MPa. Likewise, along the culm’s length and across its cross section, higher tensile strength were observed at the top part and at its outer layers. Overall, the top part recorded the highest tensile strength per layer, with its outer layers having tensile strength as high as 600 MPa. The recorded tensile strength of its middle and inner layers, on the other hand, were approximately 450 MPa and 180 MPa, respectively. From this variation in tensile strength across the cross section, it may be concluded that an increase in tensile strength may be observed towards the outer periphery of the bamboo. With these preliminary investigations on the layered tensile strength of bamboo, it is highly recommended to conduct experimental investigations on the layered compressive strength properties as well. It is also suggested to conduct investigations evaluating perpendicular layered tensile strength of the material.

Keywords: bamboo strength, layered strength tests, strength test, tensile test

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Authors: J. M. Geyser

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Lamb is a popular meat throughout the world, particularly in Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. However, the conventional lamb industry faces challenges related to environmental sustainability, climate change, consumer health and dwindling profit margins. This has stimulated an increasing demand for organic lamb, as it is perceived to increase environmental sustainability, offer superior quality, taste, and nutritional value, which is appealing to farmers, including small-scale and female farmers, as it often commands a premium price. Despite its advantages, organic lamb production presents challenges, with a significant hurdle being the high production costs encompassing organic certification, lower stocking rates, higher mortality rates and marketing cost. These costs impact the profitability and competitiveness or organic lamb producers, particularly female and small-scale farmers, who often encounter additional obstacles, such as limited access to resources and markets. Therefore, this paper examines the cost of producing organic lambs and its impact on female farmers and raises the research question: “Is organic lamb production the saving grace for female and small-scale farmers?” Objectives include estimating and comparing production costs and profitability or organic lamb production with conventional lamb production, analyzing influencing factors, and assessing opportunities and challenges for female and small-scale farmers. The hypothesis states that organic lamb production can be a viable and beneficial option for female and small-scale farmers, provided that they can overcome high production costs and access premium markets. The study uses a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data involves semi-structured interviews with ten female and small-scale farmers engaged in organic lamb production in South Africa. The interview covered topics such as farm characteristics, practices, cost components, mortality rates, income sources and empowerment indicators. Quantitative data used secondary published information and primary data from a female farmer. The research findings indicate that when a female farmer moves from conventional lamb production to organic lamb production, the cost in the first year of organic lamb production exceed those of conventional lamb production by over 100%. This is due to lower stocking rates and higher mortality rates in the organic system. However, costs start decreasing in the second year as stocking rates increase due to manure applications on grazing and lower mortality rates due to better worm resistance in the herd. In conclusion, this article sheds light on the economic dynamics of organic lamb production, particularly focusing on its impact on female farmers. To empower female farmers and to promote sustainable agricultural practices, it is imperative to understand the cost structures and profitability of organic lamb production.

Keywords: cost analysis, empowerment, female farmers, organic lamb production

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Authors: Leila Batmany

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This research studies the relationship between the feeling of distributive justice and national identity of the youth. The present analysis intends to experimentally investigate the various dimensions of the justice feeling and its effect on the national identity components. The study has taken justice into consideration from four different points of view on the basis of availability of valuable social sources such as power, wealth, knowledge and status in the political, economic, and cultural and status justice respectively. Furthermore, the national identity has been considered as the feeling of honour, attachment and commitment towards national society and its seven components i.e. history, language, culture, political system, religion, geographical territory and society. The 'field study' has been used as the method for the research with the individual as unit, taking 368 young between the age of 18 and 29 living in Tehran, chosen randomly according to Cochran formula. The individual samples have been randomly chosen among five districts in north, south, west, east, and centre of Tehran, based on the multistage cluster sampling. The data collection has been performed with the use of questionnaire and interview. The most important results are as follows: i) The feeling of economic justice is the weakest one among the youth. ii) The strongest and the weakest dimensions of the national identity are, respectively, the historical and the social dimension. iii) There is a positive and meaningful relationship between the feeling political and statues justice and then national identity, whereas no meaningful relationship exists between the economic and cultural justice and the national identity. iv) There is a positive and meaningful relationship between the feeling of justice in all dimensions and legitimacy of the political system. There is also such a relationship between the legitimacy of the political system and national identity. v) Generally, there is a positive and meaningful relationship between the feeling of distributive justice and national identity among the youth. vi) It is through the legitimacy of the political system that justice feeling can have an influence on the national identity.

Keywords: distributive justice, national identity, legitimacy of political system, Cochran formula, multistage cluster sampling

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Authors: A. Sathish, N. N. Lingaraju, K. N. Geetha, C. A. Srinivasamurthy, S. Bhaskar

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Under dryland conditions, it is observed that the soil organic matter is low due to low organic carbon content due to poor management with less use of inputs. On the other hand, disposal of sugar industry waste, i.e., spentwash is a major concern with limited space for land based treatment and disposal which causes environmental pollution. Spentwash is also a resource that can be applied for productive uses since it contains nutrients that have the potential for use in agriculture. The disposal of spent wash may lead to environmental pollution. Hence as an alternative mechanism, it was applied once to dry lands, and the experiments were conducted from 2012-13 to 2016-17 in kharif season in Maddur Taluk, Mandya District, Karnataka State, India. The study conducted was in 93 different farmers field (maize-11, finger millet-80 & horsegram-14). Spentwash was applied at the rate of 100 m³ ha⁻¹ before sowing of the crops. The results showed that yield of dryland crops like finger millet, horse gram and maize was recorded 14.75 q ha⁻¹, 6 q ha⁻¹ and 31.00 q ha⁻¹, respectively and the yield increase to an extent of 10-25 per cent with one time application of spentwash to dry lands compared to farmers practice, i.e., chemical fertilizer application. The higher yield may be attributed to slow and steady release of nutrients by spentwash throughout the crop growth period. In addition, the growth promoting and other beneficial substances present in spentwash might have also helped in better plant growth and yield. The soil sample analysis after harvest of the crops indicate acidic to neutral pH, EC of 0.11 dSm⁻¹ and Na of 0.20 C mol (P⁺) kg⁻¹ in the normal range which are not harmful. Hence, it can be applied to drylands at least once in 3 years which enhances yield as well as reduces environmental pollution.

Keywords: dryland crops, pollution, sugar industry waste, spentwash

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Authors: Saurabh Basu, Sudin Ganguly

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Conductance in graphene nanoribbons (GNR) in presence of magnetic (for example, Iron) and non-magnetic (for example, Gold) adatoms are explored theoretically within a Kane-Mele model for their possible spintronic applications and topologically non-trivial properties. In our work, we have considered the magnetic adatoms to induce a Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) and an exchange bias field, while the non-magnetic ones induce an RSOC and an intrinsic spin-orbit (SO) coupling. Even though RSOC is present in both, they, however, represent very different physical situations, where the magnetic adatoms do not preserve the time reversal symmetry, while the non-magnetic case does. This has important implications on the topological properties. For example, the non-magnetic adatoms, for moderately strong values of SO, the GNR denotes a quantum spin Hall insulator as evident from a 2e²/h plateau in the longitudinal conductance and presence of distinct conducting edge states with an insulating bulk. Since the edge states are protected by time reversal symmetry, the magnetic adatoms in GNR yield trivial insulators and do not possess any non-trivial topological property. However, they have greater utility than the non-magnetic adatoms from the point of view of spintronic applications. Owing to the broken spatial symmetry induced by the presence of adatoms of either type, all the x, y and z components of the spin-polarized conductance become non-zero (only the y-component survives in pristine Graphene owing to a mirror symmetry present there) and hence become suitable for spintronic applications. However, the values of the spin polarized conductances are at least two orders of magnitude larger in the case of magnetic adatoms than their non-magnetic counterpart, thereby ensuring more efficient spintronic applications. Further the applications are tunable by altering the adatom densities.

Keywords: magnetic and non-magnetic adatoms, quantum spin hall phase, spintronic applications, spin polarized conductance, time reversal symmetry

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Authors: Bryce R. Jolley, Michael Uchic

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This study presents initial results toward the correlative characterization of inherent defects of Ti-6Al-4V additive manufacture (AM). X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) defect data are compared and correlated with microscopic photographs obtained via automated serial sectioning. The metal AM specimen was manufactured out of Ti-6Al-4V virgin powder to specified dimensions. A post-contour was applied during the fabrication process with a speed of 1050 mm/s, power of 260 W, and a width of 140 µm. The specimen was stress relief heat-treated at 16°F for 3 hours. Microfocus CT imaging was accomplished on the specimen within a predetermined region of the build. Microfocus CT imaging was conducted with parameters optimized for Ti-6Al-4V additive manufacture. After CT imaging, a modified RoboMet. 3D version 2 was employed for serial sectioning and optical microscopy characterization of the same predetermined region. Automated montage capture with sub-micron resolution, bright-field reflection, 12-bit monochrome optical images were performed in an automated fashion. These optical images were post-processed to produce 2D and 3D data sets. This processing included thresholding and segmentation to improve visualization of defect features. The defects observed from optical imaging were compared and correlated with the defects observed from CT imaging over the same predetermined region of the specimen. Quantitative results of area fraction and equivalent pore diameters obtained via each method are presented for this correlation. It is shown that Microfocus CT imaging does not capture all inherent defects within this Ti-6Al-4V AM sample. Best practices for this correlative effort are also presented as well as the future direction of research resultant from this current study.

Keywords: additive manufacture, automated serial sectioning, computed tomography, nondestructive evaluation

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Authors: Maria Armalita Tumimbang

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Jathilan or Kuda Lumping is a dance-drama with warfare as the main theme and the dancers mimicking mighty horsemen armed with sword in the middle of the battle field. However, to most people this dance-drama is more identical with magical nuanced dance and trance, beside the attractive and even dangerous acts of the dancers, such as eating shard or broken glass in a state of trance. Several music players play the accompaniment made up of incomplete gamelan set that include saron, kendang, gong, and kempul. In general, it remains unchanged with regards to the seemingly monotonous beat and occasional “bumps” that may lead the dancers into a trance state. The dances performed also tend to be of repetitive patterns. The development of Jathilan and other traditional art performance in this globalization and industrialization era can be divided into two: firstly, they are subjected to the power of industrialization, which means their performances are to be recorded for commercial purpose, and secondly, they are to be presented in live performances. To some people, live performances are preferable, and for some reasons, they represent a form of cultural résistance to globalization and industrialization. The present study is qualitative in nature. It aims to describe the music and performance of Jathilan in the era of globalization in Indonesia. The subject of this study is a traditional art group, Jathilan Kuda Pranesa of Godean, Yogyakarta. Data collection was conducted by interviews with the leader of the group, the dancers and music players, as well as the audience. The wave of globalization has brought strong capitalistic industrialization that render traditional arts simply into industrial commodities tailored to the need of the era. This very fact has made the repositioning of traditional art performance of Jathilan a necessity. And by repositioning we mean that Jathilans should be put back to their traditional forms and functions as they used to be.

Keywords: Jathilan, globalization, industrialization, music, performance

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Authors: Rahul R. Gurpude, Pallvita Yadav, Amrut Mulay

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In recent years, there has been a growing focus on advanced manufacturing processes, and one such emerging process is wire electric discharge machining (WEDM). WEDM is a precision machining process specifically designed for cutting electrically conductive materials with exceptional accuracy. It achieves material removal from the workpiece metal through spark erosion facilitated by electricity. Initially developed as a method for precision machining of hard materials, WEDM has witnessed significant advancements in recent times, with numerous studies and techniques based on electrical discharge phenomena being proposed. These research efforts and methods in the field of ED encompass a wide range of applications, including mirror-like finish machining, surface modification of mold dies, machining of insulating materials, and manufacturing of micro products. WEDM has particularly found extensive usage in the high-precision machining of complex workpieces that possess varying hardness and intricate shapes. During the cutting process, a wire with a diameter ranging from 0.18mm is employed. The evaluation of EDM performance typically revolves around two critical factors: material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR). To comprehensively assess the impact of machining parameters on the quality characteristics of EDM, an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted. This statistical analysis aimed to determine the significance of various machining parameters and their relative contributions in controlling the response of the EDM process. By undertaking this analysis, optimal levels of machining parameters were identified to achieve desirable material removal rates and surface roughness.

Keywords: WEDM, MRR, optimization, surface roughness

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Authors: Pia Kastl

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By combining face-to-face sessions with digital selflearning units, the learning process can be enhanced and learning success improved. Potentials of blended learning are the flexibility and possibility to get in touch with lecturers and fellow students face-toface. It also offers the opportunity to individualize and self-regulate the learning process. Aim of this article is to analyse how different learning environments affect students’ learning behavior and how digital tools can be used effectively. The analysis also considers the extent to which the field of study affects the students’ preferences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students from different disciplines at two German universities (N= 60). The questions addressed satisfaction and perception of online, faceto-face and blended learning courses. In addition, suggestions for improving learning experience and the use of digital tools in the different learning environments were surveyed. The results show that being present on campus has a positive impact on learning success and online teaching facilitates flexible learning. Blended learning can combine the respective benefits, although one challenge is to keep the time investment within reasonable limits. The use of digital tools differs depending on the subject. Medical students are willing to use digital tools to improve their learning success and voluntarily invest more time. Students of the humanities and social sciences, on the other hand, are reluctant to invest additional time. They do not see extra study material as an additional benefit their learning success. This study illustrates how these heterogenous demands on learning environments can be met. In addition, potential for improvement will be identified in order to foster both learning process and learning success. Learning environments can be meaningfully enriched with digital elements to address student diversity in higher education.

Keywords: blended learning, higher education, diversity, learning styles

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Authors: Joy Ghosh, Debasmita Biswas

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The road network of any area is the most important indicator of regional planning. For proper utilization of urban road networks, the structural parameters such as connectivity and accessibility should be analyzed and evaluated. This paper aims to explain the application of GIS on urban road network connectivity and accessibility analysis with a case study of Chandannagar City. This paper has been made to analyze the road network connectivity through various connectivity measurements like the total number of nodes and links, Cyclomatic Number, Alpha Index, Beta Index, Gamma index, Eta index, Pi index, Theta Index, and Aggregated Transport Score, Road Density based on existing road network in Chandannagar city in India. Accessibility is measured through the shortest Path Matrix, associate Number, and Shimbel Index. Various urban services, such as schools, banks, Hospitals, petrol pumps, ATMs, police stations, theatres, parks, etc., are considered for the accessibility analysis for each ward. This paper also highlights the relationship between urban land use/ land cover (LULC) and urban road network and population density using various spatial and statistical measurements. The datasets were collected through a field survey of 33 wards of the Chandannagar Municipal Corporation area, and the secondary data were collected through an open street map and satellite image of LANDSAT8 OLI & TIRS from USGS. Chandannagar was actually once a French colony, and at that time, various sort of planning was applied, but now Chandannagar city continues to grow haphazardly because that city is facing some problems; the knowledge gained from this paper helps to create a more efficient and accessible road network. Therefore, it would be suggested that some wards need to improve their connectivity and accessibility for the future growth and development of Chandannagar.

Keywords: accessibility, connectivity, transport, road network

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Authors: T. Poyai, P. Painmanakul, N. Chawaloesphonsiya, P. Dhanasin, C. Getwech, P. Wattana

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Drilling is a key activity in oil and gas exploration and production. Drilling always requires the use of drilling mud for lubricating the drill bit and controlling the subsurface pressure. As drilling proceeds, a considerable amount of cuttings or rock fragments is generated. In general, water or Water Based Mud (WBM) serves as drilling fluid for the top hole section. The cuttings generated from this section is non-hazardous and normally applied as fill materials. On the other hand, drilling the bottom hole to reservoir section uses Synthetic Based Mud (SBM) of which synthetic oils are composed. The bottom-hole cuttings, SBM cuttings, is regarded as a hazardous waste, in accordance with the government regulations, due to the presence of hydrocarbons. Currently, the SBM cuttings are disposed of as an alternative fuel and raw material in cement kiln. Instead of burning, this work aims to propose an alternative for drill cuttings management under two ultimate goals: (1) reduction of hazardous waste volume; and (2) making use of the cleaned cuttings. Soil washing was selected as the major treatment process. The physiochemical properties of drill cuttings were analyzed, such as size fraction, pH, moisture content, and hydrocarbons. The particle size of cuttings was analyzed via light scattering method. Oil present in cuttings was quantified in terms of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) through gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Other components were measured by the standard methods for soil analysis. Effects of different washing agents, liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio, washing time, mixing speed, rinse-to-solid (R/S) ratio, and rinsing time were also evaluated. It was found that drill cuttings held the electrical conductivity of 3.84 dS/m, pH of 9.1, and moisture content of 7.5%. The TPH in cuttings existed in the diesel range with the concentration ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 mg/kg dry cuttings. A majority of cuttings particles held a mean diameter of 50 µm, which represented silt fraction. The results also suggested that a green solvent was considered most promising for cuttings treatment regarding occupational health, safety, and environmental benefits. The optimal washing conditions were obtained at L/S of 5, washing time of 15 min, mixing speed of 60 rpm, R/S of 10, and rinsing time of 1 min. After washing process, three fractions including clean cuttings, spent solvent, and wastewater were considered and provided with recommendations. The residual TPH less than 5,000 mg/kg was detected in clean cuttings. The treated cuttings can be then used for various purposes. The spent solvent held the calorific value of higher than 3,000 cal/g, which can be used as an alternative fuel. Otherwise, the recovery of the used solvent can be conducted using distillation or chromatography techniques. Finally, the generated wastewater can be combined with the produced water and simultaneously managed by re-injection into the reservoir.

Keywords: drill cuttings, green solvent, soil washing, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)

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Authors: A. K. Jain, M. C. Paliwal

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The production of cement leads to the emission of large amounts of carbon-dioxide gas into the atmosphere which is a major contributor for the greenhouse effect and the global warming; hence it is mandatory either to quest for another material or partly replace it with some other material. According to the practical demonstrations and reports, Egg Shell Powder (ESP) can be used as a binding material for different field applications as it contains some of the properties of lime. It can partially replace the cement and further; it can be used in different proportion for enhancing the performance of cement. It can be used as a first-class alternative, for material reuse and waste recycling practices. Eggshell is calcium rich and analogous to limestone in chemical composition. Therefore, use of eggshell waste for partial replacement of cement in concrete is feasible. Different studies reveal that plasticity index of the soil can be improved by adding eggshell wastes in all the clay soil and it has wider application in construction projects including earth canals and earthen dams. The scarcity of aggregates is also increasing nowadays. Utilization of industrial waste or secondary materials is increasing in different construction applications. Coconut shell was successfully used in the construction industry for partial or full replacement for coarse aggregates. The use of coconut shell gives advantage of using waste material to partially replace the coarse aggregate. Studies carried on coconut shell indicate that it can partially replace the aggregate. It has good strength and modulus properties along with the advantage of high lignin content. It absorbs relatively low moisture due to its low cellulose content. In the paper, study carried out on eggshell powder and coconut shell will be discussed. Optimum proportions of these materials to be used for partial replacement of cement and aggregate will also be discussed.

Keywords: greenhouse, egg shell powder, binding material, aggregates, coconut shell, coarse aggregates

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Authors: Viktor Novikov, Yuri Ruzhin

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The studies completed to-date on a relation of the Earth's seismicity and solar processes provide the fuzzy and contradictory results. For verification of an idea that solar flares can trigger earthquakes, we have analyzed a case of a powerful surge of solar flash activity early in September 2017 during approaching the minimum of 24th solar cycle was accompanied by significant disturbances of space weather. On September 6, 2017, a group of sunspots AR2673 generated a large solar flare of X9.3 class, the strongest flare over the past twelve years. Its explosion produced a coronal mass ejection partially directed towards the Earth. We carried out a statistical analysis of the catalogs of earthquakes USGS and EMSC for determination of the effect of solar flares on global seismic activity. New evidence of earthquake triggering due to the Sun-Earth interaction has been demonstrated by simple comparison of behavior of Earth's seismicity before and after the strong solar flare. The global number of earthquakes with magnitude of 2.5 to 5.5 within 11 days after the solar flare has increased by 30 to 100%. A possibility of electric/electromagnetic triggering of earthquake due to space weather disturbances is supported by results of field and laboratory studies, where the earthquakes (both natural and laboratory) were initiated by injection of electrical current into the Earth crust. For the specific case of artificial electric earthquake triggering the current density at a depth of earthquake, sources are comparable with estimations of a density of telluric currents induced by variation of space weather conditions due to solar flares. Acknowledgment: The work was supported by RFBR grant No. 18-05-00255.

Keywords: solar flare, earthquake activity, earthquake triggering, solar-terrestrial relations

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Authors: Armand Okende, Joëlle De Weerdt, Esther Fichtler, Maaike De Ridder, Hans Beeckman

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The rainforest plays a crucial role in regulating the climate balance. The biodiversity of tropical rainforests is undeniable, but many aspects remain poorly known, which directly influences its management. Despite the efforts of sustainable forest management, human pressure in terms of exploitation and smuggling of timber forms a problem compared to exploited species whose status is considered "vulnerable" on the IUCN red list compiled by. Commercial species in Class III of the Democratic Republic of Congo are the least known in the market operating, and their biology is unknown or non-existent. Identification of wood in terms of descriptions and anatomical measurements of the wood is in great demand for various stakeholders such as scientists, customs, IUCN, etc. The objective of this study is the qualitative and quantitative description of the anatomical characteristics of commercial species in Class III of DR Congo. The site of the Luki Biosphere Reserve was chosen because of its high tree species richness. This study focuses on the wood anatomy of 14 commercial species of Class III of DR Congo. Thirty-four wooden discs were collected for these species. The following parameters were measured in the field: Diameter at breast height (DBH), total height and geographic coordinates. Microtomy, identification of vessel parameters (diameter, density and grouping) and photograph of the microscopic sections and determining age were performed in this study. The results obtained are detailed anatomical descriptions of species in Class III of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Keywords: sustainable management of forest, rainforest, commercial species of class iii, vessel diameter, vessel density, grouping vessel

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Authors: Javed Iqbal

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Filling of Xiangjiaba Reservoir Lake in Southwest China triggered and re-activated numerous landslides due to water fluctuation. In order to understand the relationship between reservoirs and slope instability, a typical reservoir landslide (Dasha landslide) at right bank of Jinsha River was selected as a case study for in-depth investigations. The detailed field investigations were carried out in order to identify the landslide with respect to its surroundings and to find out the slip-surface. Boreholes were drilled in order to find out the subsurface lithology and the depth of failure of Dasha landslide. The in-situ geotechnical tests were performed, and the soil samples from exposed slip surface were retrieved for geotechnical laboratory analysis. Finally, stability analysis was done using 3D strength reduction method under different conditions of reservoir water level fluctuations and rainfall conditions. The in-depth investigations show that the Dasha landslide is a bedding rockslide which was once activated in 1986. The topography of Dasha landslide is relatively flat, while the back scarp and local terrain are relatively steep. The landslide area is about 29 × 104 m², and the maximum thickness of the landslide deposits revealed by drilling is about 40 m with the average thickness being about 20 m, and the volume is thus estimated being about 580 × 10⁴ m³. Bedrock in the landslide area is composed of Suining Formation of Jurassic age. The main rock type is silty mudstone with sandstone, and bedding orientation is 300~310° ∠ 7~22°. The factor of safety (FOS) of Dasha landslide obtained by 3D strength reduction cannot meet the minimum safety requirement under the working condition of reservoir level fluctuation as designed, with effect of rainfall and rapid drawdown.

Keywords: Dasha landslide, Xiangjiaba reservoir, strength reduction method, bedding rockslide

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Authors: Francine Morales Tavares, Jose Alberto Rio Fernandes

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The expanding concept of Heritage and the increased relevance of how heritage places relate to their surroundings is associated with an important shift in public heritage policies and how they consider the development of cities and communities, with an increasingly relevant role of management. Within the current discussions, management plans, mandatory since the year 2005 in areas classified by UNESCO as World Heritage, it is a tool for the reconciliation of cultural heritage demands with the needs of multiple users of a certain area, being especially critical in the case of urban areas with intense touristic pressure. Considering the transformations of the heritage policy management model, this paper discusses the practices on the integration of cultural heritage in urban policies through indicators which were selected from resource manual 'Managing Cultural World Heritage (2013)' and analyzed two case studies: The Management Plan of the Historic Centre of Porto (Portugal) and The Management Plan for the Historic Site of Olinda (Brazil). The empirical evidence concluded that for the historic centre of Porto the increase of tourism is the main aim driver in the management plan, with positive and negative aspects on the heritage management point of view, unlike Olinda, where the plan for the development of local urban policies was identified as essential. Plans also differ in form, content and process but coincide on being unaligned with committed local political leaders’ agendas, with the consequent misunderstandings between theory and practice, planning and management, and critically missing in the field integration of urban policies. Therefore, more debate about management plans, more efficient tools and also, appropriate methodologies to correlate cultural heritage and urban public policy are still lacking.

Keywords: world heritage, management plan, planning, urban policies

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Authors: Ran Goldblatt, Nicholas Jones, Jennifer Mannix, Brad Bottoms

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Accurate, complete, and up-to-date geospatial information is the foundation of successful disaster management. When the 2010 Haiti Earthquake struck, accurate and timely information on the distribution of critical infrastructure was essential for the disaster response community for effective search and rescue operations. Existing geospatial datasets such as Google Maps did not have comprehensive coverage of these features. In the days following the earthquake, many organizations released high-resolution satellite imagery, catalyzing a worldwide effort to map Haiti and support the recovery operations. Of these organizations, OpenStreetMap (OSM), a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world, used the imagery to support volunteers to digitize roads, buildings, and other features, creating the most detailed map of Haiti in existence in just a few weeks. However, large portions of the island are still not fully covered by OSM. There is an increasing need for a tool to automatically identify which areas in Haiti, as well as in other countries vulnerable to disasters, that are not fully mapped. The objective of this project is to leverage different types of remote sensing measurements, together with machine learning approaches, in order to identify geographical areas where OSM coverage of building footprints is incomplete. Several remote sensing measures and derived products were assessed as potential predictors of OSM building footprints coverage, including: intensity of light emitted at night (based on VIIRS measurements), spectral indices derived from Sentinel-2 satellite (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), urban index (UI)), surface texture (based on Sentinel-1 SAR measurements)), elevation and slope. Additional remote sensing derived products, such as Hansen Global Forest Change, DLR`s Global Urban Footprint (GUF), and World Settlement Footprint (WSF), were also evaluated as predictors, as well as OSM street and road network (including junctions). Using a supervised classification with a random forest classifier resulted in the prediction of 89% of the variation of OSM building footprint area in a given cell. These predictions allowed for the identification of cells that are predicted to be covered but are actually not mapped yet. With these results, this methodology could be adapted to any location to assist with preparing for future disastrous events and assure that essential geospatial information is available to support the response and recovery efforts during and following major disasters.

Keywords: disaster management, Haiti, machine learning, OpenStreetMap, remote sensing

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Authors: M. A. Rahman, A. T. Ohta, H. V. Trinh, J. Hyvl

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Atmospheric pressure and oxygen (O2) concentration are critical life support parameters for human-occupied aerospace vehicles and habitats. Various medical conditions may require medical O2; for example, the American Medical Association has determined that commercial air travel exposes passengers to altitude-related hypoxia and gas expansion. It may cause some passengers to experience significant symptoms and medical complications during the flight, requiring supplemental medical-grade O2 to maintain adequate tissue oxygenation and prevent hypoxemic complications. Although supplemental medical grade O2 is a successful lifesaver for respiratory and cardiac failure, O2-enriched exhaled air can contain more than 95 % O2, increasing the likelihood of a fire. In an aerospace environment, a localized high concentration O2 bubble forms around a patient being treated for hypoxia, increasing the cabin O2 beyond the safe limit. To address this problem, this work describes a medical O2 delivery system that can reduce the O2 concentration from patient-exhaled O2-rich air to safe levels while maintaining the prescribed O2 administration to the patient. The O2 delivery system is designed to be a part of the medical O2 kit. The system uses cationic multimetallic cobalt complexes to reversibly, selectively, and stoichiometrically chemisorb O2 from the exhaled air. An air-release sub-system monitors the exhaled air, and as soon the O2 percentage falls below 21%, the air is released to the room air. The O2-enriched exhaled air is channeled through a layer of porous, thin-film heaters coated with the cobalt complex. The complex absorbs O2, and when saturated, the complex is heated to 100°C using the thin-film heater. Upon heating, the complex desorbs O2 and is once again ready to absorb or remove the excess O2 from exhaled air. The O2 absorption is a sub-second process, and desorption is a multi-second process. While heating at 0.685 °C/sec, the complex desorbs ~90% O2 in 110 sec. These fast reaction times mean that a simultaneous absorb/desorb process in the O2 delivery system will create a continuous absorption of O2. Moreover, the complex can concentrate O2 by a factor of 160 times that in air and desorb over 90% of the O2 at 100°C. Over 12 cycles of thermogravimetry measurement, less than 0.1% decrease in reversibility in O2 uptake was observed. The 1 kg complex can desorb over 20L of O2, so simultaneous O2 desorption by 0.5 kg of complex and absorption by 0.5 kg of complex can potentially continuously remove 9L/min O2 (~90% desorbed at 100°C) from exhaled air. The complex is synthesized and characterized for reversible O2 absorption and efficacy. The complex changes its color from dark brown to light gray after O2 desorption. In addition to thermogravimetric analysis, the O2 absorption/desorption cycle is characterized using optical imaging, showing stable color changes over ten cycles. The complex was also tested at room temperature in a low O2 environment in its O2 desorbed state, and observed to hold the deoxygenated state under these conditions. The results show the feasibility of using the complex for reversible O2 absorption in the proposed fire safe medical O2 delivery system.

Keywords: fire risk, medical oxygen, oxygen removal, reversible absorption

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Authors: U. Waqas, M. F. Ahmed, A. Mehmood, M. A. Rashid

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In geophysical exploration surveys, the quality of acquired data holds significant importance before executing the data processing and interpretation phases. In this study, 2D seismic reflection survey data of Fort Abbas area, Cholistan Desert, Pakistan was taken as test case in order to assess its quality on statistical bases by using normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), Cronbach’s alpha test (α) and null hypothesis tests (t-test and F-test). The analysis challenged the quality of the acquired data and highlighted the significant errors in the acquired database. It is proven that the study area is plain, tectonically least affected and rich in oil and gas reserves. However, subsurface 3D modeling and contouring by using acquired database revealed high degrees of structural complexities and intense folding. The NRMSE had highest percentage of residuals between the estimated and predicted cases. The outcomes of hypothesis testing also proved the biasness and erraticness of the acquired database. Low estimated value of alpha (α) in Cronbach’s alpha test confirmed poor reliability of acquired database. A very low quality of acquired database needs excessive static correction or in some cases, reacquisition of data is also suggested which is most of the time not feasible on economic grounds. The outcomes of this study could be used to assess the quality of large databases and to further utilize as a guideline to establish database quality assessment models to make much more informed decisions in hydrocarbon exploration field.

Keywords: Data quality, Null hypothesis, Seismic lines, Seismic reflection survey

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Authors: Mary-Luz Olivares-Tenorio, Ruud Verkerk, Matthijs Dekker, Martinus A. J. S. van Boekel

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Cape gooseberry, the fruit of the plant Physalis peruviana L. has gained interest in research given its contents of promising health-promoting compounds like contents. The presence of carotenoids, ascorbic acid, minerals, polyphenols, vitamins and antioxidants. This project aims to study thermal stability of β-carotene, ascorbic acid, catechin and epicatechin and antioxidant activity in the matrix of the Cape Gooseberry. Fruits were obtained from a Colombian field in Cundinamarca. Ripeness stage was 4 (According to NTC 4580, corresponding to mature stage) at the moment of the experiment. The fruits have been subjected to temperatures of 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120°C for several times. β-Carotene, ascorbic acid, catechin and epicatechin content were assessed with HPLC and antioxidant activity with the DPPH method. β-Carotene was stable upon 100°C, and showed some degradation at 120°C. The same behavior was observed for epicatechin. Catechin increased during treatment at 40°C, at 60°C it remained stable and it showed degradation at 80°C, 100°C and 120°C that could be described by a second order kinetic model. Ascorbic acid was the most heat-sensitive of the analyzed compounds. It showed degradation at all studied temperatures, and could be described by a first order model. The activation energy for ascorbic acid degradation in cape gooseberry was 46.0 kJ/mol and its degradation rate coefficient at 100 °C was 6.53 x 10-3 s-1. The antioxidant activity declined for all studied temperatures. Results from this study showed that cape gooseberry is an important source of different health-promoting compounds and some of them are stable to heat. That makes this fruit a suitable raw material for processed products such as jam, juices and dehydrated fruit, giving the consumer a good intake of these compounds.

Keywords: goldenberry, health-promoting compounds, phytochemical, processing, heat treatment

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Authors: Nur A. Azmi, Suseela D. Chandran, Fadilah Puteh, Azizan Zainuddin

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Medical tourism has been associated as a global phenomenon in developed and developing countries in the 21st century. Medical tourism is defined as an activity in which individuals who travel from one country to another country to seek or receive medical healthcare. Based on the global trend, the number of medical tourists is increasing annually, especially in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. Since the establishment of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, the SEA nations have worked towards regional integration in medical tourism. The medical tourism in the SEA has become the third-largest sector that contributes towards economic development. Previous research has demonstrated several factors that affect the development of medical tourism. However, despite the already published literature on SEA's medical tourism in the last ten years there continues to be a scarcity of research on niche areas each of the SEA countries. Hence, this paper is significant in enriching the literature in the field of medical tourism particularly in showcasing the niche market of medical tourism among the SEA best players namely Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. This paper also contributes in offering a comparative analysis between the said nations whether they are complementing or competing with each other in the medical tourism sector. This then, will increase the availability of information in SEA region on medical tourism. The data was collected through an in-depth interview with various stakeholders and private hospitals. The data was then analyzed using two approaches namely thematic analysis (interview data) and document analysis (secondary data). The paper concludes by arguing that the ASEAN countries have specific niche market to promote their medical tourism industry. This paper also concludes that these key nations complement each other in the industry. In addition, the medical tourism sector in SEA region offers greater prospects for market development and expansion that witnessed the emerging of new key players from other nations.

Keywords: healthcare services, medical tourism, medical tourists, SEA region, comparative analysis

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Authors: Christopher Thornton, Niina Kolehmainen, Kianoush Nazarpour

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Background: Accelerometers are widely used to measure physical activity behavior, including in children. The traditional method for processing acceleration data uses cut points, relying on calibration studies that relate the quantity of acceleration to energy expenditure. As these relationships do not generalise across diverse populations, they must be parametrised for each subpopulation, including different age groups, which is costly and makes studies across diverse populations difficult. A data-driven approach that allows physical activity intensity states to emerge from the data under study without relying on parameters derived from external populations offers a new perspective on this problem and potentially improved results. We evaluated the data-driven approach in a diverse population with a range of rapidly evolving physical and mental capabilities, namely very young children (9-38 months old), where this new approach may be particularly appropriate. Methods: We applied an unsupervised machine learning approach (a hidden semi-Markov model - HSMM) to segment and cluster the accelerometer data recorded from 275 children with a diverse range of physical and cognitive abilities. The HSMM was configured to identify a maximum of six physical activity intensity states and the output of the model was the time spent by each child in each of the states. For comparison, we also processed the accelerometer data using published cut points with available thresholds for the population. This provided us with time estimates for each child’s sedentary (SED), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data on the children’s physical and cognitive abilities were collected using the Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI-CAT). Results: The HSMM identified two inactive states (INS, comparable to SED), two lightly active long duration states (LAS, comparable to LPA), and two short-duration high-intensity states (HIS, comparable to MVPA). Overall, the children spent on average 237/392 minutes per day in INS/SED, 211/129 minutes per day in LAS/LPA, and 178/168 minutes in HIS/MVPA. We found that INS overlapped with 53% of SED, LAS overlapped with 37% of LPA and HIS overlapped with 60% of MVPA. We also looked at the correlation between the time spent by a child in either HIS or MVPA and their physical and cognitive abilities. We found that HIS was more strongly correlated with physical mobility (R²HIS =0.5, R²MVPA= 0.28), cognitive ability (R²HIS =0.31, R²MVPA= 0.15), and age (R²HIS =0.15, R²MVPA= 0.09), indicating increased sensitivity to key attributes associated with a child’s mobility. Conclusion: An unsupervised machine learning technique can segment and cluster accelerometer data according to the intensity of movement at a given time. It provides a potentially more sensitive, appropriate, and cost-effective approach to analysing physical activity behavior in diverse populations, compared to the current cut points approach. This, in turn, supports research that is more inclusive across diverse populations.

Keywords: physical activity, machine learning, under 5s, disability, accelerometer

Procedia PDF Downloads 185