Search results for: building information modeling

Authors: Victor Toom

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Albeit it is never possible to anticipate the full range of difficulties after a catastrophe, efforts to identify victims of mass casualty events have become institutionalized and standardized with the aim of effectively and efficiently addressing the many challenges and contingencies. Such ‘disaster victim identification’ (DVI) practices are dependent on the forensic sciences, are subject of national legislation, and are reliant on technical and organizational protocols to mitigate the many complexities in the wake of catastrophe. Apart from such technological, legal and bureaucratic elements constituting a DVI operation, victims’ families and their emotions are also part and parcel of any effort to identify casualties of mass human fatality incidents. Take for example the fact that forensic experts require (antemortem) information from the group of relatives to make identification possible. An identified body or body part is also repatriated to kin. Relatives are thus main stakeholders in DVI operations. Much has been achieved in years past regarding facilitating victims’ families’ issues and their emotions. Yet, how families are dealt with by experts and authorities is still considered a difficult topic. Due to sensitivities and required emphatic interaction with families on the one hand, and the rationalized DVI efforts, on the other hand, there is still scope for improving communication, providing information and meaningful inclusion of relatives in the DVI effort. This paper aims to bridge the standardized world of DVI efforts and families’ experienced realities and makes suggestions to further improve DVI efforts through inclusion of victims’ families. Based on qualitative interviews, the paper narrates involvement and experiences of inter alia DVI practitioners, victims’ families, advocates and clergy in the wake of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide which killed approximately 8,000 men, and the 9/11 in New York City with 2,750 victims. The paper shows that there are several models of including victims’ families into a DVI operation, and it argues for a model of where victims’ families become a partner in DVI operations.

Keywords: disaster victim identification (DVI), victims’ families, social science (qualitative), 9/11 attacks, Srebrenica genocide

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Authors: Mustapha Babatunde, Bassam Tawabini, Ole John Nielson

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Air dispersion (AD) models such as AERMOD are important tools for estimating the environmental impacts of air pollutant emissions into the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources. The outcome of these models is significantly linked to the climate condition like air temperature, which is expected to differ in the future due to the global warming phenomenon. With projections from scientific sources of impending changes to the future climate of Saudi Arabia, especially anticipated temperature rise, there is a potential direct impact on the dispersion patterns of air pollutants results from AD models. To our knowledge, no similar studies were carried out in Saudi Arabia to investigate such impact. Therefore, this research investigates the effects of climate temperature change on air quality in the Dammam Metropolitan area, Saudi Arabia, using AERMOD coupled with Station data using Sulphur dioxide (SO2) – as a model air pollutant. The research uses AERMOD model to predict the SO2 dispersion trends on the surrounding area. Emissions from five (5) industrial stacks, on twenty-eight (28) receptors in the study area were considered for the climate period (2010-2019) and future period of mid-century (2040-2060) under different scenarios of elevated temperature profiles (+1oC, + 3oC and + 5oC) across averaging time periods of 1hr, 4hr and 8hr. Results showed that levels of SO2 at the receiving sites under current and simulated future climactic condition fall within the allowable limit of WHO and KSA air quality standards. Results also revealed that the projected rise in temperature would only have mild increment on the SO2 concentration levels. The average increase of SO2 levels were 0.04%, 0.14%, and 0.23% due to the temperature increase of 1, 3, and 5 degrees respectively. In conclusion, the outcome of this work elucidates the degree of the effects of global warming and climate changes phenomena on air quality and can help the policymakers in their decision-making, given the significant health challenges associated with ambient air pollution in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: air quality, sulphur dioxide, global warming, air dispersion model

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Authors: Joan Esper Kuhnly, Jess Holden, Lynn Shelley, Nicole Kuhnly

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Empathy serves as a foundational nursing principle inherent in the nurse’s ability to form those relationships from which to care for patients. Evidence supports, including empathy in nursing and healthcare education, but there is limited data on what methods are effective to do so. Building evidence supports experiential and interactive learning methods to be effective for students to gain insight and perspective from a personalized experience. The purpose of this project is to evaluate learning activities designed to promote the attainment of empathic behaviors across 5 levels of the nursing curriculum. Quantitative analysis will be conducted on data from pre and post-learning activities using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. The main hypothesis, that simulation learning activities will increase empathy, will be examined using a repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on Pre and Post Toronto Empathy Questionnaire scores for three simulation activities (Stroke, Poverty, Dementia). Pearson product-moment correlations will be conducted to examine the relationships between continuous demographic variables, such as age, credits earned, and years practicing, with the dependent variable of interest, Post Test Toronto Empathy Scores. Krippendorff’s method of content analysis will be conducted to identify the quantitative incidence of empathic responses. The researchers will use Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method to describe the students’ simulation experience and understand its impact on caring and empathy behaviors employing bracketing to maintain objectivity. The results will be presented, answering multiple research questions. The discussion will be relevant to results and educational pedagogy in the nursing curriculum as they relate to the attainment of empathic behaviors.

Keywords: curriculum, empathy, nursing, simulation

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Authors: Ofelia Loani Elvir Lazo, Roya Yumul, Sevan Komshian, Ruby Wang, Jun Tang

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Background: Monitoring the anti-nociceptive drug effect is useful because a sudden and strong nociceptive stimulus may result in untoward autonomic responses and muscular reflex movements. Monitoring the anti-nociceptive effects of perioperative medications has long been desiredas a way to provide anesthesiologists information regarding a patient’s level of antinociception and preclude any untoward autonomic responses and reflexive muscular movements from painful stimuli intraoperatively.To this end, electroencephalogram (EEG) based tools includingBIS and qCON were designed to provide information about the depth of sedation whileqNOXwas produced to informon the degree of antinociception.The goal of this study was to compare the reliability of qCON/qNOX to BIS asspecific indicators of response to nociceptive stimulation. Methods: Sixty-two patients undergoing general anesthesia with LMA were included in this study. Institutional Review Board(IRB) approval was obtained, and informed consent was acquired prior to patient enrollment. Inclusion criteria included American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I-III, 18 to 80 years of age, and either gender. Exclusion criteria included the inability to consent. Withdrawal criteria included conversion to endotracheal tube and EEG malfunction. BIS and qCON/qNOX electrodes were simultaneously placed o62n all patientsprior to induction of anesthesia and were monitored throughout the case, along with other perioperative data, including patient response to noxious stimuli. All intraoperative decisions were made by the primary anesthesiologist without influence from qCON/qNOX. Student’s t-distribution, prediction probability (PK), and ANOVA were used to statistically compare the relative ability to detect nociceptive stimuli for each index. Twenty patients were included for the preliminary analysis. Results: A comparison of overall intraoperative BIS, qCON and qNOX indices demonstrated no significant difference between the three measures (N=62, p> 0.05). Meanwhile, index values for qNOX (62±18) were significantly higher than those for BIS (46±14) and qCON (54±19) immediately preceding patient responses to nociceptive stimulation in a preliminary analysis (N=20, * p= 0.0408). Notably, certain hemodynamic measurements demonstrated a significant increase in response to painful stimuli (MAP increased from74±13 mm Hg at baseline to 84± 18 mm Hg during noxious stimuli [p= 0.032] and HR from 76±12 BPM at baseline to 80±13BPM during noxious stimuli[p=0.078] respectively). Conclusion: In this observational study, BIS and qCON/qNOX provided comparable information on patients’ level of sedation throughout the course of an anesthetic. Meanwhile, increases in qNOX values demonstrated a superior correlation to an imminent response to stimulation relative to all other indices.

Keywords: antinociception, bispectral index (BIS), general anesthesia, laryngeal mask airway, qCON/qNOX

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Authors: Bahatti̇n Ki̇mençe, Uğur Ki̇mençe

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In this study, the purpose of obtaining the influence functions of the displacement discontinuity in an anisotropic elastic medium is to produce the boundary element equations. A Displacement Discontinuous Method formulation (DDM) is presented with the aim of modeling two-dimensional elastic fracture problems. This formulation is found by analytical integration of the fundamental solution along a straight-line crack. With this purpose, Kelvin's fundamental solutions for anisotropic media on an infinite plane are used to form dipoles from singular loads, and the various combinations of the said dipoles are used to obtain the influence functions of displacement discontinuity. This study introduces a technique for coupling Fictitious Stress Method (FSM) and DDM; the reason for applying this technique to some examples is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed coupling method. In this study, displacement discontinuity equations are obtained by using dipole solutions calculated with known singular force solutions in an anisotropic medium. The displacement discontinuities method obtained from the solutions of these equations and the fictitious stress methods is combined and compared with various examples. In this study, one or more crack problems with various geometries in rectangular plates in finite and infinite regions, under the effect of tensile stress with coupled FSM and DDM in the anisotropic environment, were examined, and the effectiveness of the coupled method was demonstrated. Since crack problems can be modeled more easily with DDM, it has been observed that the use of DDM has increased recently. In obtaining the displacement discontinuity equations, Papkovitch functions were used in Crouch, and harmonic functions were chosen to satisfy various boundary conditions. A comparison is made between two indirect boundary element formulations, DDM, and an extension of FSM, for solving problems involving cracks. Several numerical examples are presented, and the outcomes are contrasted to existing analytical or reference outs.

Keywords: displacement discontinuity method, fictitious stress method, crack problems, anisotropic material

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Authors: Babatunde Joel Todowede

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It is a public knowledge that lack of quality and qualitative education breeds problems besetting Nigeria as a nation today. This paper entitled “Quality and Qualitative Education for all, panacea for insecurity and political unrest in Nigeria” seeks to explore how quality and qualitative education for all will tends to put an end to insecurity and political unrest in Nigeria as a Nation. It may be pertinent to note at this juncture that the development of any modern society or nation is primarily hinged on the functionality of its educational system. There is no developed nation in the world today, which does not owe its advancement to quality and qualitative education. In other words, Education is a vital instrument in the nation’s economic competitiveness, in its people, and in its communities. Hence, Education is not luxury to be cut in difficult economic times – it is an essential element of growth. In fact, education is the bedrock of any society that hopes to be numbered among the developed economies in the world. Nigeria, as a nation, has made continual efforts to assume its rightful place in education on the African continent, but has not been quite lucky. Interestingly however, Quality and Qualitative Education for all will come about if all stakeholders in the Education Sector perform their roles with skill and efficiency. Education is a very sensitive area, hence, needs to be passionate about education, and focused on building a future for the sector.” Quality and qualitative education instill significant core values in every student, which shape them into mature, caring and independent individuals. These values include commitment, collaboration, integrity, responsibility and respect. By imbibing these values in every aspect of their life, they are able to contribute their skills and talents while supporting each other in attaining their lifelong goals. This paper identified lack of proper education as the bane of insecurity and political unrest in the Country and urged the government to review the policy in a way that there will be quality and standard to check insurgency in the Country. More so, until the fallen standard of education in Nigeria is fixed to engage out of school children, the incessant attack on innocent Nigerians, particularly in the North East may get worse.

Keywords: quality and qualitative education, panacea, insecurity, political unrest

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Authors: Eyob Seife

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Immunization is a life-saving intervention which prevents needless suffering through sickness, disability, and death. Emphasis on data quality and use will become even stronger with the development of the immunization agenda 2030 (IA2030). Quality of data is a key factor in generating reliable health information that enables monitoring progress, financial planning, vaccine forecasting capacities, and making decisions for continuous improvement of the national immunization program. However, ensuring data of sufficient quality and promoting an information-use culture at the point of the collection remains critical and challenging, especially in hard-to-reach and pastoralist areas where Degehabur district is selected based on a hypothesis of ‘there is no difference in reported and recounted immunization data consistency. Data quality is dependent on different factors where organizational, behavioral, technical, and contextual factors are the mentioned ones. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted on September 2022 in the Degehabur district. The study used the world health organization (WHO) recommended data quality self-assessment (DQS) tools. Immunization tally sheets, registers, and reporting documents were reviewed at 5 health facilities (2 health centers and 3 health posts) of primary health care units for one fiscal year (12 months) to determine the accuracy ratio. The data was collected by trained DQS assessors to explore the quality of monitoring systems at health posts, health centers, and the district health office. A quality index (QI) was assessed, and the accuracy ratio formulated were: the first and third doses of pentavalent vaccines, fully immunized (FI), and the first dose of measles-containing vaccines (MCV). In this study, facility-level results showed both over-reporting and under-reporting were observed at health posts when computing the accuracy ratio of the tally sheet to health post reports found at health centers for almost all antigens verified where pentavalent 1 was 88.3%, 60.4%, and 125.6% for Health posts A, B, and C respectively. For first-dose measles-containing vaccines (MCV), similarly, the accuracy ratio was found to be 126.6%, 42.6%, and 140.9% for Health posts A, B, and C, respectively. The accuracy ratio for fully immunized children also showed 0% for health posts A and B and 100% for health post-C. A relatively better accuracy ratio was seen at health centers where the first pentavalent dose was 97.4% and 103.3% for health centers A and B, while a first dose of measles-containing vaccines (MCV) was 89.2% and 100.9% for health centers A and B, respectively. A quality index (QI) of all facilities also showed results between the maximum of 33.33% and a minimum of 0%. Most of the verified immunization data accuracy ratios were found to be relatively better at the health center level. However, the quality of the monitoring system is poor at all levels, besides poor data accuracy at all health posts. So attention should be given to improving the capacity of staff and quality of monitoring system components, namely recording, reporting, archiving, data analysis, and using information for decision at all levels, especially in pastoralist areas where such kinds of study findings need to be improved beside to improving the data quality at root and health posts level.

Keywords: accuracy ratio, Degehabur District, regular childhood immunization program, quality of monitoring system, Somali Region-Ethiopia

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Authors: Vibha Venkataramu, B. V. Venkatarama Reddy

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Natural river sand is the most preferred choice as fine aggregate in masonry mortars. Uncontrolled mining of sand from riverbeds for several decades has had detrimental effects on the environment. Several countries across the world have put strict restrictions on sand mining from riverbeds. However, in countries like India, the huge infrastructural boom has made the local construction industry to look for alternative materials to sand. This study aims at understanding the suitability of granulated blast furnace slag (GBS) as fine aggregates in masonry mortars. Apart from characterising the material properties of GBS, such as particle size distribution, pH, chemical composition, etc., of GBS, tests were performed on the mortars with GBS as fine aggregate. Additionally, the properties of five brick tall, stack bonded masonry prisms with various types of GBS mortars were studied. The mortars with mix proportions 1: 0: 6 (cement: lime: fine aggregate), 1: 1: 6, and 1: 0: 3 were considered for the study. Fresh and hardened properties of mortar, such as flow and compressive strength, were studied. To understand the behaviour of GBS mortars on masonry, tests such as compressive strength and flexure bond strength were performed on masonry prisms made with a different type of GBS mortars. Furthermore, the elastic properties of masonry with GBS mortars were also studied under compression. For comparison purposes, the properties of corresponding control mortars with natural sand as fine aggregate and masonry prisms with sand mortars were also studied under similar testing conditions. From the study, it was observed the addition of GBS negatively influenced the flow of mortars and positively influenced the compressive strength. The GBS mortars showed 20 to 25 % higher compressive strength at 28 days of age, compared to corresponding control mortars. Furthermore, masonry made with GBS mortars showed nearly 10 % higher compressive strengths compared to control specimens. But, the impact of GBS on the flexural strength of masonry was marginal.

Keywords: building materials, fine aggregate, granulated blast furnace slag in mortars, masonry properties

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Authors: Ibrahim Obeidat

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Reaching a fully-connected network of mobile nodes in rural areas got a great attention between network researchers. This attention rose due to the complexity and high costs while setting up the needed infrastructures for these networks, in addition to the low transmission range these nodes has. Terranet technology, as an example, employs ad-hoc mesh network where each node has a transmission range not exceed one kilometer, this means that every two nodes are able to communicate with each other if they are just one kilometer far from each other, otherwise a third-party will play the role of the “relay”. In Terranet, and as an idea to reduce network setup cost, every node in the network will be considered as a router that is responsible of forwarding data between other nodes which result in a decentralized collaborative environment. Most researches on Terranet presents the idea of how to encourage mobile nodes to become more cooperative by letting their devices in “ON” state as long as possible while accepting to play the role of relay (router). This research presents the issue of finding the percentage of nodes in ad-hoc mesh network within rural areas that should play the role of relay at every time slot, relating to what is the actual area coverage of nodes in order to have the network reach the fully-connectivity. Far from our knowledge, till now there is no current researches discussed this issue. The research is done by making an implementation that depends on building adjacency matrix as an indicator to the connectivity between network members. This matrix is continually updated until each value in it refers to the number of hubs that should be followed to reach from one node to another. After repeating the algorithm on different area sizes, different coverage percentages for each size, and different relay percentages for several times, results extracted shows that for area coverage less than 5% we need to have 40% of the nodes to be relays, where 10% percentage is enough for areas with node coverage greater than 5%.

Keywords: ad-hoc mesh networks, network connectivity, mobile ad-hoc networks, Terranet, adjacency matrix, simulator, wireless sensor networks, peer to peer networks, vehicular Ad hoc networks, relay

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Authors: Noor Abdelhamid

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Almost half of Cairo’s growing population is housed in self-built, self-governed informal settlements serving as an alternative in the absence of government-provided public housing. These settlements emerged as the spatial expression of informal practices or activities operating outside regulated, formal frameworks. A comprehensive narrative of political events, administrative decisions, and urban policies set the stage for the growth of informal expression in Egypt. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry is to portray informal self-governance practiced by residents in the Cairo region. This research argues that informal spatial practices offer an alternative urban framework for bottom-up development in the absence of government provisions. In the context of this study, informal self-governance is defined as the residents’ autonomous control and use of public urban space in informal settlements. The case study for this research is Ard al-Liwa, a semi-formal settlement representing the majority of informal settlement typologies in Egypt, which consist of the formal occupation of land through an uncontrolled land subdivision, zoning, and construction. An inductive methodological approach is adopted to first study informal practices as singular activities and then as components of a larger environment. The collected set of empirical data consists of audiovisual material and observations obtained during regular site visits and interviews with residents native to the settlement. Methods of analysis are synthesized to identify themes in the data: the static and dynamic use of sidewalks, the urban traces of informal building allocation and construction, the de facto right to urban space, and the resultant spatial patterns. The paper concludes by positioning the research in the context of the current architectural practice, questioning the role, and responsibility, of designers in these self-governed urban regions.

Keywords: Egypt, informal settlements, self-governance, urban framework

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Authors: Sheriff Folarin, Oluwafunke Folarin, Hadassah Hussaini, Victor Jubril, Olaniyi Ayodele

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Using a famous, unrestrained and fiery United States-based, Nigerian-owned Sahara Reporters as a case study, this paper examined the impact of online-based media on governance in Nigeria. The discourse is premised on the thesis that the internet has changed the face of journalism and that the mainstream but online-based media have made journalism more participatory than ever. Everyone who has something to say finds it easy to say it quickly and conveniently, unhinged or without being censored. This has made online journalism very popular and the number of online-based news platforms to be on the increase. As these platforms have given the citizens a means to interact and added to the content of the news, they have also succeeded in promoting partisanship. It thus becomes necessary to study the impact of the rabid news platform, Sahara Reporters, on governance in Africa’s biggest democracy, Nigeria. Few studies have examined the impact on governance of mainstream-online media platforms and those studies that did, have only focused on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. This paper is a product of a bigger study, in which the research design entailed semi-structured interviews with participants from different sectors of the society and an analysis of contents from the Sahara Reporters website, from which data were collected. The findings revealed that through uncensored reporting and citizen participation on the platform of Sahara Reporters, there had been a significant people influence on governance in Nigeria, with government at two levels (national and state) sometimes shifting or yielding grounds, particularly from 2011-2016. The study also recognized the presence of counter-forces in the online community who want to discredit the information on the site. Through the lens of media dependency theory, the study concluded that the public now increasingly depends on online news media for information and the more news these media provide, the more the people depend on it, making it easy for them to influence governance.

Keywords: governance, media, online news, Sahara reporters

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Authors: Felix Olajide Ibikunle

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Introductory Statement: Sustainable participation of teenagers in sport requires deliberate and concerted plan and managerial policy rooted in the “philosophy of catch them young”. At risk, teenagers need proper integration into societal aspiration: This direction will go a long way to streamline them into the security breach and attractive nuisance free lifestyles. Basic Methodology: The population consists of children within 13-19 years old. A proportionate sampling size technique of 60% was adopted to select seven zones out of 11 geo-political zones in the Ibadan metropolis. Qualitative information and interview were used to collect needed information. Majority of the teenagers were out of school, street hawkers, motor pack, touts, and unserious vocation apprentices. These groups have the potentials of security breaches in the metropolis and beyond. Five hundred and thirty-four (534) respondents were used for the study. They were drawn from Ojoo, Akingbile, and Moniya axis = 72, Agbowo, Ajibode, and Apete axis = 74; Akobo, Basorun, and Idi-ape axis 79; Wofun, Monatan, and Iyana-Church axis = 78; Molete, Oke-ado and Oke-Bola axis = 75; Beere, Odinjo, Elekuro axis = 77; Eleyele, Ologuneru, and Alesinloye axis = 79. Major Findings: Multiple regression was used to analyze the independent variables and percentage. The respondents average age was 15.6 years old, and with 100% male. The instrument(questionnaire) used yielded; sport preference (r = 0.72); intervention (r = 0.68) and the sustainable participation (r = 0.70).The relative contributions of sport preference on participation of at risk teenagers was (F-ratio = 1.067); Intervention contribution of sport on participation of at risk teenagers = produced (F-ratio of 12.095) was significant while sustainable participation of at risk teenager produced (F-ratio = 1.062) was significant. Closing Statement: The respondents’ sport preference stimulated their participation in sport. The intervention exposed at risk-teenagers to coaching, which activated their interest and participation in sport. While sustainable participation contributed positively to evolve at risk teenagers participation in their preferred sport.

Keywords: sport, preference, intervention, teenagers, sustainable, participation and risk teenagers

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Authors: Kyle Yatich Terik, Collins Oduor

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The current healthcare system has made healthcare more accessible and efficient by the use of information technology through the implementation of computer algorithms that generate menus based on the diagnosis. While many systems just like these have been created over the years, their main objective is to help healthy individuals calculate their calorie intake and assist them by providing food selections based on a pre-specified calorie. That application has been proven to be useful in some ways, and they are not suitable for monitoring, planning, and managing hospital patients, especially that critical condition their dietary needs. The system also addresses a number of objectives, such as; the main objective is to be able to design, develop and implement an efficient, user-friendly as well as and interactive dietary management system. The specific design development objectives include developing a system that will facilitate a monitoring feature for users using graphs, developing a system that will provide system-generated reports to the users, dietitians, and system admins, design a system that allows users to measure their BMI (Body Mass Index), the system will also provide food template feature that will guide the user on a balanced diet plan. In order to develop the system, further research was carried out in Kenya, Nairobi County, using online questionnaires being the preferred research design approach. From the 44 respondents, one could create discussions such as the major challenges encountered from the manual dietary system, which include no easily accessible information of the calorie intake for food products, expensive to physically visit a dietitian to create a tailored diet plan. Conclusively, the system has the potential of improving the quality of life of people as a whole by providing a standard for healthy living and allowing individuals to have readily available knowledge through food templates that will guide people and allow users to create their own diet plans that consist of a balanced diet.

Keywords: DMS, dietitian, patient, administrator

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Authors: Fernanda Mary R. G. Da Silva, Adriana C. F. Mozzambani, Marcelo F. Mello

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Introduction: Sexual assault against children and adolescents is a public health problem with serious consequences on their quality of life, especially for those who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The broad literature in this research area points to greater losses in verbal learning, explicit memory, speed of information processing, attention and executive functioning in PTSD. Objective: To compare the neuropsychological functions of adolescents from 14 to 17 years of age, victims of sexual violence with PTSD with those of healthy controls. Methodology: Application of a neuropsychological battery composed of the following subtests: WASI vocabulary and matrix reasoning; Digit subtests (WISC-IV); verbal auditory learning test RAVLT; Spatial Span subtest of the WMS - III scale; abbreviated version of the Wisconsin test; concentrated attention test - D2; prospective memory subtest of the NEUPSILIN scale; five-digit test - FDT and the Stroop test (Trenerry version) in adolescents with a history of sexual violence in the previous six months, referred to the Prove (Violence Care and Research Program of the Federal University of São Paulo), for further treatment. Results: The results showed a deficit in the word coding process in the RAVLT test, with impairment in A3 (p = 0.004) and A4 (p = 0.016) measures, which compromises the verbal learning process (p = 0.010) and the verbal recognition memory (p = 0.012), seeming to present a worse performance in the acquisition of verbal information that depends on the support of the attentional system. A worse performance was found in list B (p = 0.047), a lower priming effect p = 0.026, that is, lower evocation index of the initial words presented and less perseveration (p = 0.002), repeated words. Therefore, there seems to be a failure in the creation of strategies that help the mnemonic process of retention of the verbal information necessary for learning. Sustained attention was found to be impaired, with greater loss of setting in the Wisconsin test (p = 0.023), a lower rate of correct responses in stage C of the Stroop test (p = 0.023) and, consequently, a higher index of erroneous responses in C of the Stroop test (p = 0.023), besides more type II errors in the D2 test (p = 0.008). A higher incidence of total errors was observed in the reading stage of the FDT test p = 0.002, which suggests fatigue in the execution of the task. Performance is compromised in executive functions in the cognitive flexibility ability, suggesting a higher index of total errors in the alternating step of the FDT test (p = 0.009), as well as a greater number of persevering errors in the Wisconsin test (p = 0.004). Conclusion: The data from this study suggest that sexual violence and PTSD cause significant impairment in the neuropsychological functions of adolescents, evidencing risk to quality of life in stages that are fundamental for the development of learning and cognition.

Keywords: adolescents, neuropsychological functions, PTSD, sexual violence

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Authors: Aurelija Burinskienė, Dalė Dzemydienė, Arūnas Miliauskas

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This research aims at developing the approach for more effective freight delivery and transportation process management. The road congestions and the identification of causes are important, as well as the context information recognition and management. The measure of many parameters during the transportation period and proper control of driver work became the problem. The number of vehicles per time unit passing at a given time and point for drivers can be evaluated in some situations. The collection of data is mainly used to establish new trips. The flow of the data is more complex in urban areas. Herein, the movement of freight is reported in detail, including the information on street level. When traffic density is extremely high in congestion cases, and the traffic speed is incredibly low, data transmission reaches the peak. Different data sets are generated, which depend on the type of freight delivery network. There are three types of networks: long-distance delivery networks, last-mile delivery networks and mode-based delivery networks; the last one includes different modes, in particular, railways and other networks. When freight delivery is switched from one type of the above-stated network to another, more data could be included for reporting purposes and vice versa. In this case, a significant amount of these data is used for control operations, and the problem requires an integrated methodological approach. The paper presents an approach for providing e-services for drivers by including the assessment of the multi-component infrastructure needed for delivery of freights following the network type. The construction of such a methodology is required to evaluate data flow conditions and overloads, and to minimize the time gaps in data reporting. The results obtained show the possibilities of the proposing methodological approach to support the management and decision-making processes with functionality of incorporating networking specifics, by helping to minimize the overloads in data reporting.

Keywords: transportation networks, freight delivery, data flow, monitoring, e-services

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Authors: Attahiru Sifawa Ahmad

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The media; electronic, print, and social, is playing very significant roles towards promoting political awareness and stability of any nation. However, for the media to play its role effectively, a clear and sound grasp of the language of communication is necessary. Otherwise, there is the tendency of the media spreading wrong and, or, misinterpreted information to the public, capable of generating rancour and political instability. One such clear misinterpretation or misrepresentation of information was the Hausa metaphorical expression, Kare Jinni Biri Jinni quoted from the statement made by Rtd. General Muhammadu Buhari, sometimes in April, 2013, while addressing his supporters from Niger State. In the political presentation of the term Kare - Jini Biri – Jini, quoted and translated by many print media in Nigeria, it was interpreted to mean; ‘The Dog and the Baboon will be soaked in blood’, denoting bloodshed and declaration of war. However, the term Kare - jini Biri - Jini, literally; the Dog with blood and the Baboon with blood, or, the Dog is bleeding the Baboon is bleeding, or, both the Dog and the Baboon sustained injuries. It is a metaphorical expression denoting a hot competition, and serious struggle, between two competing parties that are closer in strength and stamina. The expression got its origin among the hunting communities in traditional Hausa Societies. From experience, it was always not easy to wrestle and hunt Baboon by the Hunter’s Dog. In many instances, it ended a futile exercise, and even at instances whereby the latter hunted the former, it would be after a serious struggle with both two sustaining injuries. This paper seeks to highlight the poverty of vocabulary, and poor grasp of Nigerian languages among Journalists and young citizens in the country. The paper, therefore, advocated for the retention and effective teaching of the indigenous languages in primary and secondary school’s curriculums in Nigeria. The paper equally analysed the political origin of the print media in Nigeria, how since its first appearance, the print Media is being assigned very important political role by political elites in the country.

Keywords: Baboon, dog, media, politics

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Authors: Aditi Acharya

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Environmental pollution is threatening the environmental and human health in the most drastic way. This paper provides insight about the affects of environmental pollution in the perspective of water pollution. Sewage in drinking water, the increasing contamination of water bodies and water resources and the human beings are the major contributors, increasing the harsh activities of pollution. The research presents information about the sources of pollution, its impacts and control activities to be undertaken to make our environment free from water pollution.

Keywords: environmental pollution, water pollution, nanotechnology, nanomaterials

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Authors: Mohammad Karimi Moridani, Mohammad Abdi Zadeh, Zahra Shahiazar Mazraeh

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In recent years, the use of intelligent systems in biomedical engineering has increased dramatically, especially in the diagnosis of various diseases. Also, due to the relatively simple recording of the electrocardiogram signal (ECG), this signal is a good tool to show the function of the heart and diseases associated with it. The aim of this paper is to design an intelligent system for automatically detecting a normal electrocardiogram signal from abnormal one. Using this diagnostic system, it is possible to identify a person's heart condition in a very short time and with high accuracy. The data used in this article are from the Physionet database, available in 2016 for use by researchers to provide the best method for detecting normal signals from abnormalities. Data is of both genders and the data recording time varies between several seconds to several minutes. All data is also labeled normal or abnormal. Due to the low positional accuracy and ECG signal time limit and the similarity of the signal in some diseases with the normal signal, the heart rate variability (HRV) signal was used. Measuring and analyzing the heart rate variability with time to evaluate the activity of the heart and differentiating different types of heart failure from one another is of interest to the experts. In the preprocessing stage, after noise cancelation by the adaptive Kalman filter and extracting the R wave by the Pan and Tampkinz algorithm, R-R intervals were extracted and the HRV signal was generated. In the process of processing this paper, a new idea was presented that, in addition to using the statistical characteristics of the signal to create a return map and extraction of nonlinear characteristics of the HRV signal due to the nonlinear nature of the signal. Finally, the artificial neural networks widely used in the field of ECG signal processing as well as distinctive features were used to classify the normal signals from abnormal ones. To evaluate the efficiency of proposed classifiers in this paper, the area under curve ROC was used. The results of the simulation in the MATLAB environment showed that the AUC of the MLP and SVM neural network was 0.893 and 0.947, respectively. As well as, the results of the proposed algorithm in this paper indicated that the more use of nonlinear characteristics in normal signal classification of the patient showed better performance. Today, research is aimed at quantitatively analyzing the linear and non-linear or descriptive and random nature of the heart rate variability signal, because it has been shown that the amount of these properties can be used to indicate the health status of the individual's heart. The study of nonlinear behavior and dynamics of the heart's neural control system in the short and long-term provides new information on how the cardiovascular system functions, and has led to the development of research in this field. Given that the ECG signal contains important information and is one of the common tools used by physicians to diagnose heart disease, but due to the limited accuracy of time and the fact that some information about this signal is hidden from the viewpoint of physicians, the design of the intelligent system proposed in this paper can help physicians with greater speed and accuracy in the diagnosis of normal and patient individuals and can be used as a complementary system in the treatment centers.

Keywords: neart rate variability, signal processing, linear and non-linear features, classification methods, ROC Curve

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: C. Bolakis, I. S. Karanasiou, D. Grbovic, G. Karunasiri, N. Uzunoglu

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A new approach for efficient detection of THz radiation in biomedical imaging applications is proposed. A double-layered absorber consisting of a 32 nm thick aluminum (Al) metallic layer, located on a glass medium (SiO2) of 1 mm thickness, was fabricated and used to design a fine-tuned absorber through a theoretical and finite element modeling process. The results indicate that the proposed low-cost, double-layered absorber can be tuned based on the metal layer sheet resistance and the thickness of various glass media taking advantage of the diversity of the absorption of the metal films in the desired THz domain (6 to 10 THz). It was found that the composite absorber could absorb up to 86% (a percentage exceeding the 50%, previously shown to be the highest achievable when using single thin metal layer) and reflect less than 1% of the incident THz power. This approach will enable monitoring of the transmission coefficient (THz transmission ‘’fingerprint’’) of the biosample with high accuracy, while also making the proposed double-layered absorber a good candidate for a microbolometer pixel’s active element. Based on the aforementioned promising results, a more sophisticated and effective double-layered absorber is under development. The glass medium has been substituted by diluted poly-si and the results were twofold: An absorption factor of 96% was reached and high TCR properties acquired. In addition, a generalization of these results and properties over the active frequency spectrum was achieved. Specifically, through the development of a theoretical equation having as input any arbitrary frequency in the IR spectrum (0.3 to 405.4 THz) and as output the appropriate thickness of the poly-si medium, the double-layered absorber retains the ability to absorb the 96% and reflects less than 1% of the incident power. As a result, through that post-optimization process and the spread spectrum frequency adjustment, the microbolometer detector efficiency could be further improved.

Keywords: bio-imaging, fine-tuned absorber, fingerprint, microbolometer

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Seong-Jin Cho, Jin Ho Kim

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Energy harvesting is the technology which gathers and converts external energies such as light, vibration and heat which are disposed into reusable electrical energy and uses such electrical energy. The vibration energy harvesting is very interesting technology because it produces very high density of energy and unaffected by the climate. Vibration energy can be harvested by the electrostatic, electromagnetic and piezoelectric systems. The electrostatic system has low energy conversion efficiency, and the piezoelectric system is expensive and needs the frequent maintenance because it is made of piezoelectric ceramic. On the other hand, the electromagnetic system has a long life time and high harvesting efficiency, and it is relatively cheap. The electromagnetic harvesting system includes the linear generator and the rotary-type generator. The rotary-type generators require the additional mechanical conversion device if it uses linear motion of vibration. But, the linear generator uses directly linear motion of vibration without a mechanical conversion device, and it has uncomplicated structure and light weight compared with the rotary-type generator. Therefore, the linear electromagnetic generator can be useful in using vibration energy harvesting. The pole transformer systems need electricity sensor system for sending voltage and power information to administrator. Therefore, the battery is essential, and its regular maintenance of replacement is required. In case of the transformer of high location in mountainous areas, the person can’t easily access it resulting in high maintenance cost. To overcome these problems, we designed and developed the linear electromagnetic generator which can replace battery in electricity sensor system for sending voltage and power information of the pole transformer. And, it uses vibration energy of frequency more than 50 Hz by the pole transformer. In order to analyze the electromagnetic characteristics of small linear electric generator, a commercial electromagnetic finite element analysis program "MAXWELL" was used. Then, through the actual production and experiment of linear generator, we confirmed output power of linear generator.

Keywords: energy harvesting, frequency, linear generator, experiment

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Érica Lima

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In the digital era, in which we have an avalanche of information, it is not new that the Internet has brought new modes of communication and knowledge access. Characterized by the multiplicity of discourses, opinions, beliefs and cultures, the web is a space of political-ideological dimensions where people (who often do not know each other) interact and create representations, deconstruct stereotypes, and redefine identities. Currently, the translator needs to be able to deal with digital spaces ranging from specific software to social media, which inevitably impact on his professional life. One of the most impactful ways of being seen in cyberspace is the participation in social networking groups. In addition to its ability to disseminate information among participants, social networking groups allow a significant personal and social exposure. Such exposure is due to the visibility of each participant achieved not only on its personal profile page, but also in each comment or post the person makes in the groups. The objective of this paper is to study the representations of translators and translation process on the Internet, more specifically in publications in two Brazilian groups of great influence on the Facebook: "Translators/Interpreters" and "Translators, Interpreters and Curious". These chosen groups represent the changes the network has brought to the profession, including the way translators are seen and see themselves. The analyzed posts allowed a reading of what common sense seems to think about the translator as opposed to what the translators seem to think about themselves as a professional class. The results of the analysis lead to the conclusion that these two positions are antagonistic and sometimes represent conflict of interests: on the one hand, the society in general consider the translator’s work something easy, therefore it is not necessary to be well remunerated; on the other hand, the translators who know how complex a translation process is and how much it takes to be a good professional. The results also reveal that social networking sites such as Facebook provide more visibility, but it takes a more active role from the translator to achieve a greater appreciation of the profession and more recognition of the role of the translator, especially in face of increasingly development of automatic translation programs.

Keywords: Facebook, social representation, translation, translator

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Flóra Pomázi, Sándor Baranya, Zoltán Szalai

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A harmonized monitoring of the suspended sediment transport along such a large river as the world’s most international river, the Danube River, is a rather challenging task. The traditional monitoring method in Hungary is obsolete but using indirect measurement devices and techniques like optical backscatter sensors (OBS), laser diffraction or acoustic backscatter sensors (ABS) could provide a fast and efficient alternative option of direct methods. However, these methods are strongly sensitive to the particle characteristics (i.e. particle shape, particle size and mineral composition). The current method does not provide sufficient information about particle size distribution, mineral analysis is rarely done, and the shape of the suspended sediment particles have not been examined yet. The aims of the study are (1) to determine the particle characterisation of suspended sediment in the Danube River using advanced particle characterisation methods as laser diffraction and automated imaging, and (2) to perform a sensitivity analysis of the indirect methods in order to determine the impact of suspended particle characteristics. The particle size distribution is determined by laser diffraction. The particle shape and mineral composition analysis is done by the Morphologi G3ID image analyser. The investigated indirect measurement devices are the LISST-Portable|XR, the LISST-ABS (Sequoia Inc.) and the Rio Grande 1200 kHz ADCP (Teledyne Marine). The major findings of this study are (1) the statistical shape of the suspended sediment particle - this is the first research in this context, (2) the actualised particle size distribution – that can be compared to historical information, so that the morphological changes can be tracked, (3) the actual mineral composition of the suspended sediment in the Danube River, and (4) the reliability of the tested indirect methods has been increased – based on the results of the sensitivity analysis and the previous findings.

Keywords: advanced particle characterisation, automated imaging, indirect methods, laser diffraction, mineral composition, suspended sediment

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: D. Zhigulskaya, V. Anisimov, A. Pikunov, K. Babanova, S. Zuev, A. Latyshkova, K. Сhernozatonskiy, A. Revazov

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Electrophysiology of information processing in reading is certainly a popular research topic. Natural reading, however, has been relatively poorly studied, despite having broad potential applications for learning and education. In the current study, we explore the relationship between text categories and spontaneous electroencephalogram (EEG) while reading. Thirty healthy volunteers (mean age 26,68 ± 1,84) participated in this study. 15 Russian-language texts were used as stimuli. The first text was used for practice and was excluded from the final analysis. The remaining 14 were opposite pairs of texts in one of 7 categories, the most important of which were: interesting/boring, fiction/non-fiction, free reading/reading with an instruction, reading a text/reading a pseudo text (consisting of strings of letters that formed meaningless words). Participants had to read the texts sequentially on an Apple iPad Pro. EEG was recorded from 12 electrodes simultaneously with eye movement data via ARKit Technology by Apple. EEG spectral amplitude was analyzed in Fz for theta-band (4-8 Hz) and in C3, C4, P3, and P4 for alpha-band (8-14 Hz) using the Friedman test. We found that reading an interesting text was accompanied by an increase in theta spectral amplitude in Fz compared to reading a boring text (3,87 µV ± 0,12 and 3,67 µV ± 0,11, respectively). When instructions are given for reading, we see less alpha activity than during free reading of the same text (3,34 µV ± 0,20 and 3,73 µV ± 0,28, respectively, for C4 as the most representative channel). The non-fiction text elicited less activity in the alpha band (C4: 3,60 µV ± 0,25) than the fiction text (C4: 3,66 µV ± 0,26). A significant difference in alpha spectral amplitude was also observed between the regular text (C4: 3,64 µV ± 0,29) and the pseudo text (C4: 3,38 µV ± 0,22). These results suggest that some brain activity we see on EEG is sensitive to particular features of the text. We propose that changes in theta and alpha bands during reading may serve as electrophysiological tools for assessing the reader’s cognitive state as well as his or her attitude to the text and the perceived information. These physiological markers have prospective practical value for developing technological solutions and biofeedback systems for reading in particular and for education in general.

Keywords: EEG, natural reading, reader's cognitive state, theta-rhythm, alpha-rhythm

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Hui Ling Chen

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This article describes the experience of caring for a 68-year-old lung cancer patient undergoing the initial stage of concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy during the period of October 21 to November 16. In this study, the author collected data through observation, interviews, medical examination, and the use of Roy’s adaptation model as a guide for data collection and assessment. This study confirmed that chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, and radiation therapy impaired skin integrity. At the same time, the patient experienced an anxious reaction to the initial cancer diagnosis and the insertion of subcutaneous infusion ports at the start of medical treatment. Similarly, the patient’s wife shares his anxiety, not to mention the feeling of inadequacy from the lack of training in cancer care. In response, the nursing intervention strategy has included keeping the patient and his family informed of his treatment progress, transfer of cancer care knowledge, and providing them with spiritual support. For example, the nursing staff has helped them draw up a mutually agreeable dietary plan that best suits the wife’s cooking skills, provided them with knowledge in pre- and post-radiation skin care, as well as means to cope with nausea and vomiting reactions. The nursing staff has also worked on building rapport with the patient and his spouse, providing them with encouragement, caring attention and companionship. After the patient was discharged from the hospital, the nursing staff followed up with caring phone calls to help the patient and his family make life-style adjustments to normalcy. The author hopes that his distinctive nursing experience can be useful as a reference for the clinical care of lung cancer patients undergoing the initial stage of concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatment.

Keywords: lung cancer, initiate diagnosis, concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy, nursing care

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Min-Tao Hsu

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This study aims to explore the lived experiences of women with breast cancer, including their life world of illness and their adaptation to breast cancer. Breast cancer is not only a potentially lethal disease, but also a disease that may lead to many irreversible changes for female patients. Especially, in a culture where the wholeness is pursuit as an essential value, the sickness and/or broken body bring great challenge of life. Based on holism and symbolic interactionism, this study used interpretive ethnography including in-depth interviews and participant observations to collect the narrative of women with breast cancer concerning their illness experience. In addition, this study used Agar’s hermeneutic cycle to analyze data. The average age of 35 participants was 54.2. A total of 15 patients were within 2 years of onset, 5 patients were within 2-5 years of the treatment observation period, and 15 patients suffered from breast cancer for more than 5 years. The average age of onset was 50.4. Result: The main storyline of the life world of illness is ‘breast cancer is a turning point of life.’ Loss of breast was in terms of ‘no more a woman’ in Taiwanese culture. Two young women, one in her newly wedded and another right before marry, were divorced and cancelled wedding right after being diagnosed. All of them addressed that they have a ‘broken body.’ Single women accounted that they won’t marry for not being humiliated and most of married women said they never show female body in front of her husband or partner even in intimacy encounter. Three common themes were discovered: 1) new self and new identity; 2) new social relationships and new me; 3) new body and new life. The intertwining bodies, illness, selves, suffering, and medical treatments of female patients were observed. More, the recovery, of cause, was happened when new self, relationship, and new body were generated. Their identity to be a woman and a wife is shattered and their life is urged into another facet. For helping them to recovery from such situation, building a new identity and new social fabric on the new body need to be included in nursing care plan.

Keywords: breast cancer, illness narrative, world of illness, self-healing, interpretive ethnography

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Irianes C. Gozali, Betty J.L. Laglbauer, Muhammad G. Salim, Sila K. Sari, Fahmi Fahmi, Selvia Oktaviyani

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Muncar, located off the eastern coast of Java, is an important fishing port for small-scale fleets which land mobulid rays as retained bycatch, primarily in drift gillnets. Due to overlap with fishing grounds in the Bali Strait, three devil ray species are landed in Muncar, the spinetail devil ray Mobula mobular, the bentfin devil ray Mobula thurstoni, and the Chilean devil ray Mobula tarapacana, which are all listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. However, despite the importance of life-history data to better manage stocks, such information is still rare or unavailable for Indonesian mobulid ray populations. Using morphometric data, reproductive assessments, and samples collected from dead specimens at fish markets from 2015-2019, we provide information on the maturity stage, reproductive periodicity, gestation, and size at parturition. A majority of immature individuals of all three devil ray species were recorded (<10% individuals in Mobula mobular to <30% individuals in Mobula thurstoni). Pregnant females of two species, Mobula mobular and Mobula thurstoni were recorded containing embryos of various developmental stages (each with a single embryo in the left functional uterus), while for Mobula tarapacana, no fetuses were found. The largest embryo recorded in M. mobular was within the range of that previously reported for neonates of the species in Indonesia (957 cm, for a 920-994 range), and represents a near-term embryo reflecting size at parturition. Low reproductive output was confirmed for the study-species. Based on this study, we infer that the Bali Straight is likely an important location for devil ray reproduction, which raises concern for the sustainability of mobulid ray populations in the face of bycatch in drift gillnets. Potential management approaches to tackle this issue are discussed.

Keywords: devil ray, mobulid, reproduction, Indonesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Sisay Tiroro Salato

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Background: Ethiopia has been implementing the maternal death surveillance and response system to provide real-time actionable information, including causes of death and contributing factors. Analysis of maternal mortality surveillance data was conducted to identify the causes and underlying factors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: We carried out a retrospective surveillance data analysis of 324 maternal deaths reported in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2017 to 2021. The data were extracted from the national maternal death surveillance and response database, including information from case investigation, verbal autopsy, and facility extraction forms. The data were analyzed by computing frequency and presented in numbers, proportions, and ratios. Results: Of 324 maternal deaths, 92% died in the health facilities, 6.2% in transit, and 1.5% at home. The mean age at death was 28 years, ranging from 17 to 45. The maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births was 77for the five years, ranging from 126 in 2017 to 21 in 2021. The direct and indirect causes of death were responsible for 87% and 13%, respectively. The direct causes included obstetric haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, puerperal sepsis, embolism, obstructed labour, and abortion. The third delay (delay in receiving care after reaching health facilities) accounted for 57% of deaths, while the first delay (delay in deciding to seek health care) and the second delay (delay in reaching health facilities) and accounted for 34% and 24%, respectively. Late arrival to the referral facility, delayed management after admission, andnon-recognition of danger signs were underlying factors. Conclusion: Over 86% of maternal deaths were attributed by avoidable direct causes. The majority of women do try to reach health services when an emergency occurs, but the third delays present a major problem. Improving the quality of care at the healthcare facility level will help to reduce maternal death.

Keywords: maternal death, surveillance, delays, factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Reem Saad Alqahtani

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Drawing on minority literature, this research highlights the role of three contemporary Arab American writers, considering the significance of the historical and cultural contexts of the brutal attacks of 9/11. The focus of the research is to draw attention to the poetry of Samuel Hazo, Nathalie Handal, and Naomi Shihab Nye as representatives of the identity crisis, whose experiences left them feeling marginalized and alienated in both societies, and reflected as one of the ethnic American minority groups, as demonstrated in their poetry, with a special focus on hybridity, resistance, identity, and empowerment. The study explores the writers’ post-9/11 experience, affected by the United States’ long history of marginalization and discrimination against people of colour, placing Arab American literature with that of other ethnic American groups who share the same experience and contribute to composing literature characterized by the aesthetics of cultural hybridity, cultural complexity, and the politics of minorities to promote solidarity and coalition building. Indeed, the three selected Arab American writers have found a link between their narration and the identity of the exiled by establishing an identity that is a kind of synthesis of diverse identities of Western reality and Eastern nostalgia. The approaches applied in this study will include historical/biographical, postcolonial, and discourse analysis. The first will be used to emphasize the influence of the biographical aspects related to the community, identity, and resistance of the three poets on their poetry. The second is used to investigate the effects of postcolonialism on the poets and their responses to it, while the third understand the sociocultural, political, and historical dimensions of the texts, establishing these poets as representative of the Arab American experience. This study is significant because it will help shed light on the importance of the Arabic hybrid identity in creating resistance to minority communities within American society.

Keywords: Arab American, identity, hybridity, post-9/11

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Authors: Stephen Acheampong Amoafoh

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In today's dynamic economic landscape, businesses face multifaceted challenges that demand strategic foresight and informed decision-making. This abstract explores the pivotal role of financial analytics in driving business performance amidst evolving market conditions. By integrating accounting principles with economic insights, organizations can harness the power of data-driven strategies to optimize resource allocation, mitigate risks, and capitalize on emerging opportunities. This presentation will delve into the practical applications of financial analytics across various sectors, highlighting case studies and empirical evidence to underscore its efficacy in enhancing operational efficiency and fostering sustainable growth. From predictive modeling to performance benchmarking, attendees will gain invaluable insights into leveraging advanced analytics tools to drive profitability, streamline processes, and adapt to changing market dynamics. Moreover, this abstract will address the ethical considerations inherent in financial analytics, emphasizing the importance of transparency, integrity, and accountability in data-driven decision-making. By fostering a culture of ethical conduct and responsible stewardship, organizations can build trust with stakeholders and safeguard their long-term viability in an increasingly interconnected global economy. Ultimately, this abstract aims to stimulate dialogue and collaboration among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, fostering knowledge exchange and innovation in the realms of accounting, business, and economics. Through interdisciplinary insights and actionable recommendations, participants will be equipped to navigate the complexities of today's business environment and seize opportunities for sustainable success.

Keywords: financial analytics, business performance, data-driven strategies, sustainable growth

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Authors: Stéphanie Pellerin, Bérengére Podvin, Luc Pastur

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In aerovehicles context, the flow around an Ahmed body profile is simulated using the velocity-vorticity formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations, associated to a penalization method for solids and Large Eddy Simulation for turbulence. The study focuses both on the ground influence on the flow and on the dissymetry of the wake, observed for a ground clearance greater than 10% of the body height H. Unsteady and mean flows are presented and analyzed. POD study completes the analysis and gives information on the most energetic structures of the flow.

Keywords: Ahmed body, bi-stability, LES, near wake

Procedia PDF Downloads 595