Search results for: resilient urban form

Authors: Chandragouda R. Patil, K. S. Jagadeesh, S. D. Kalolgi

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Biofertilizers containing live microbial cells can mobilize one or more nutrients to plants when applied to either seed or rhizosphere. They form an integral part of nutrient management strategies for sustainable production of agricultural crops. Annually, about 22 tons of lignite-based biofertilizers are being produced and supplied to farmers at the Institute of Organic Farming, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka state India. Although carrier based biofertilizers are common, they have shorter shelf life, poor quality, high contamination, unpredictable field performance and high cost of solid carriers. Hence, liquid formulations are being developed to increase their efficacy and broaden field applicability. An attempt was made to develop liquid formulation of strains of Rhizobium NC-92 (Groundnut), Azospirillum ACD15 both nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers and Pseudomonas striata an efficient P-solubilizing bacteria (PSB). Different concentration of amendments such as additives (glycerol and polyethylene glycol), adjuvants (carboxyl methyl cellulose), gum arabica (GA), surfactant (polysorbate) and trehalose specifically for Azospirillum were found essential. Combinations of formulations of Rhizobium and PSB for groundnut and Azospirillum and PSB for maize were evaluated under field conditions to determine the optimum level of inoculum required. Each biofertilizer strain was inoculated at the rate of 2, 4, 8 ml per kg of seeds and the efficacy of each formulation both individually and in combinations was evaluated against the lignite-based formulation at the rate of 20 g each per kg seeds and a un-inoculated set was included to compare the inoculation effect. The field experiment had 17 treatments in three replicates and the best level of inoculum was decided based on net returns and cost: benefit ratio. In peanut, the combination of 4 ml of Rhizobium and 2 ml of PSB resulted in the highest net returns and higher cost to benefit ratio of 1:2.98 followed by treatment with a combination of 2 ml per kg each of Rhizobium and PSB with a B;C ratio of 1:2.84. The benefits in terms of net returns were to the extent of 16 percent due to inoculation with lignite based formulations while it was up to 48 percent due to the best combination of liquid biofertilizers. In maize combination of liquid formulations consisting of 4 ml of Azospirillum and 2 ml of PSB resulted in the highest net returns; about 53 percent higher than the un-inoculated control and 20 percent higher than the treatment with lignite based formulation. In both the crops inoculation with lignite based formulations significantly increased the net returns over un-inoculated control while levels higher or lesser than 4 ml of Rhizobium and Azospirillum and higher or lesser than 2 ml of PSB were not economical and hence not optimal for these two crops.

Keywords: Rhizobium, Azospirillum, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, liquid formulation, benefit-cost ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 493

Authors: Anastasia Constantinou, Panayiotis Laouris, Stephen Morris

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Background: Climate change has been reported as one of the worst threats to healthcare. The healthcare sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions with primary care being responsible for 23% of the NHS’ total carbon footprint. Digital interventions, primarily focusing on telemedicine, offer a route to change. This systematic review aims to quantify and characterize the carbon footprint savings associated with the implementation of digital interventions in the setting of primary care. Methods: A systematic review of published literature was conducted according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. MEDLINE, PubMed, and Scopus databases as well as Google scholar were searched using key terms relating to “carbon footprint,” “environmental impact,” “sustainability”, “green care”, “primary care,”, and “general practice,” using citation tracking to identify additional articles. Data was extracted and analyzed in Microsoft Excel. Results: Eight studies were identified conducted in four different countries between 2010 and 2023. Four studies used interventions to address primary care services, three studies focused on the interface between primary and specialist care, and one study addressed both. Digital interventions included the use of mobile applications, online portals, access to electronic medical records, electronic referrals, electronic prescribing, video-consultations and use of autonomous artificial intelligence. Only one study carried out a complete life cycle assessment to determine the carbon footprint of the intervention. It estimate that digital interventions reduced the carbon footprint at primary care level by 5.1 kgCO2/visit, and at the interface with specialist care by 13.4 kg CO₂/visit. When assessing the relationship between travel-distance saved and savings in emissions, we identified a strong correlation, suggesting that most of the carbon footprint reduction is attributed to reduced travel. However, two studies also commented on environmental savings associated with reduced use of paper. Patient savings in the form of reduced fuel cost and reduced travel time were also identified. Conclusion: All studies identified significant reductions in carbon footprint following implementation of digital interventions. In the future, controlled, prospective studies incorporating complete life cycle assessments and accounting for double-consulting effects, use of additional resources, technical failures, quality of care and cost-effectiveness are needed to fully appreciate the sustainable benefit of these interventions

Keywords: carbon footprint, environmental impact, primary care, sustainable healthcare

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Authors: Fatemeh Abbasi, Arne Hofemeier, Timo Betz

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Muscle growth and regeneration critically depend on satellite cells (SCs) which are muscle stem cells located between the basal lamina and myofibres. Upon damage, SCs become activated, enter the cell cycle, and give rise to myoblasts that form new myofibres, while a sub-population self-renew and re-populate the muscle stem cell niche. In aged muscle as well as in certain muscle diseases such as muscular dystrophy, some of the SCs lose their regenerative ability. Although it is demonstrated that the chemical composition of SCs quiescent niche is different from the activated niche, the mechanism initially activated in the SCs remains unknown. While extensive research efforts focused on potential chemical activation, no such factor has been identified to the author’s best knowledge. However, it is substantiated that niche mechanics affects SCs behaviors, such as stemness and engraftment. We hypothesize that mechanical stress in the healthy niche (homeostasis) is different from the regenerative niche and that this difference could serve as an early signal activating SCs upon fiber damage. To investigate this hypothesis, we develop a biomimetic system to reconstitute both, the mechanical and the chemical environment of the SC niche. Cells will be confined between two elastic polyacrylamide (PAA) hydrogels with controlled elastic moduli and functionalized surface chemistry. By controlling the distance between the PAA hydrogel surfaces, we vary the compression forces exerted by the substrates on the cells, while the lateral displacement of the upper hydrogel will create controlled shear forces. To establish such a system, a simplified system is presented. We engineered a sandwich-like configuration of two elastic PAA layer with stiffnesses between 1 and 10 kPa and confined a precursor myoblast cell line (C2C12) in between these layers. Our initial observations in this sandwich model indicate that C2C12 cells show different behaviors under mechanical compression if compared to a control one-layer gel without compression. Interestingly, this behavior is stiffness-dependent. While the shape of C2C12 cells in the sandwich consisting of two stiff (10 kPa) layers was much more elongated, showing almost a neuronal phenotype, the cell shape in a sandwich situation consisting of one stiff and one soft (1 kPa) layer was more spherical. Surprisingly, even in proliferation medium and at very low cell density, the sandwich situation stimulated cell differentiation with increased striation and myofibre formation. Such behavior is commonly found for confluent cells in differentiation medium. These results suggest that mechanical changes in stiffness and applied pressure might be a relevant stimulation for changes in muscle cell behavior.

Keywords: C2C12 cells, compression, force, satellite cells, skeletal muscle

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Ramesh Chinnasamy, Srishti Semalty, Vishnu S. Nair, Thirumurugan Vedagiri, Mahesh Ganeshan, Gautam Talukdar, Karthy Sivapushanam, Abhijit Das

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Snakes form an integral component of ecological systems. Human population explosion and associated acceleration of habitat destruction and degradation, has led to a rapid increase in human-snake encounters. The study aims at understanding the level of awareness, knowledge, and attitude of the people towards human-snake negative interaction and role of awareness programmes in the Moyar river valley, Tamil Nadu. The study area is part of the Mudumalai and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves, which are significant wildlife corridors between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The data was collected using questionnaire covering 644 respondents spread across 18 villages between 2018 and 2019. The study revealed that 86.5% of respondents had strong negative perceptions towards snakes which were propelled by fear, superstitions, and threat of snakebite which was common and did not vary among different villages (F=4.48; p = <0.05) and age groups (X2 = 1.946; p = 0.962). Cobra 27.8% (n = 294) and rat snake 21.3% (n = 225) were the most sighted species and most snake encounter occurred during the monsoon season i.e., July 35.6 (n = 218), June 19.1% (n = 117) and August 18.4% (n = 113). At least 1 out of 5 respondents was reportedly bitten by snakes during their lifetime. The most common species of snakes that were the cause of snakebite were Saw scaled viper (32.6%, n = 42) followed by Cobra 17.1% (n = 22). About 21.3% (n = 137) people reported livestock loss due to pythons and other snakes 21.3% (n = 137). Most people, preferred medical treatment for snakebite (87.3%), whereas 12.7%, still believed in traditional methods. The majority (82.3%) used precautionary measure by keeping traditional items such as garlic, kerosene, and snake plant to avoid snakes. About 30% of the respondents expressed need for technical and monetary support from the forest department that could aid in reducing the human-snake conflict. It is concluded that the general perception in the study area is driven by fear and negative attitude towards snakes. Though snakes such as Cobra were widely worshiped in the region, there are still widespread myths and misconceptions that have led to the irrational killing of snakes. Awareness and innovative education programs rooted in the local context and language should be integrated at the village level, to minimize risk and the associated threat of snakebite among the people. Results from this study shall help policy makers to devise appropriate conservation measures to reduce human-snake conflicts in India.

Keywords: Envenomation, Health-Education, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Neglected Tropical Disease, Snakebite Mitigation, Traditional Practitioners

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Authors: Naniek Widayati Priyomarsono

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Introduction: In beginning of Karaton formation, namely, era of Javanese kingdom town had the power region outside castle town (called as Mancanegara), settlement of karaton can function as “the space-between” and “space-defense”, besides it was one of components from governmental structure and karaton power at that time (internal servant/abdi dalem and sentana dalem). Upon the Independence of Indonesia in 1945 “Kingdom-City” converted its political status into part of democratic town managed by statutes based on the classification. The latter affects local culture hierarchy alteration due to the physical development and events. Dynamics of social economy activities in Kampung Karaton surrounded by buildings of Complex of Karaton Kasunanan ini, have impact on the urban system disturbed into the región. Also cultural region image fades away with the weak visual access from existant cultural artefacts. That development lacks of giving appreciation to the established region image providing identity of Karaton Kasunanan particularly and identity of Surakarta city in general. Method used is strategy of grounded theory research (research providing strong base of a theory). Research is focused on actors active and passive relevantly getting involved in change process of Karaton settlement. Data accumulated is “Investigation Focus” oriented on actors affecting that change either internal or external. Investigation results are coupled with field observation data, documentation, literature study, thus it takes accurate findings. Findings: Karaton village has potential products as attraction, possessing human resource support, strong motivation from society still living in that settlement, possessing facilities and means supports, tourism event-supporting facilities, cultural art institution, available fields or development area. Data analyzed: To get the expected result it takes restoration in social cultural development direction, and economy, with ways of: Doing social cultural development strategy, economy, and politics. To-do steps are program socialization of Karaton village as Tourism Village, economical development of local society, regeneration pattern, filtering, and selection of tourism development, integrated planning system development, development with persuasive approach, regulation, market mechanism, social cultural event sector development, political development for region activity sector. Summary: In case the restoration is done by getting society involved as subject of that settlement (active participation in the field), managed and packed interestingly and naturally with tourism-supporting facilities development, village of Karaton Kasunanan Surakarta is ready to receive visit of domestic and foreign tourists.

Keywords: karaton village, finding, restoration, economy, Indonesia

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Authors: Caglayan Pinar Demirtas, Mustafa Koc

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Objective: This study was carried out in order to find out; the methods which are used by primary school teachers to cope with stress, their psychological health, and the direction of controlling focus. The study was carried out by using the ‘school survey’ and ‘society survey’ methods. Method: The study included primary school teachers. The study group was made up of 1066 people; 511 women and 555 men who accepted volunteerly to complete; ‘the inventory for collecting data, ‘the Scale for Attitude of Overcoming Stress’ (SBTE / SAOS), ‘Rotter’s Scale for the Focus of Inner- Outer Control’ (RİDKOÖ / RSFIOC), and ‘the Symptom Checking List’ (SCL- 90). The data was collected by using ‘the Scale for Attitude of Overcoming Stress’, ‘the Scale for the Focus of Inner- Outer Control’, ‘the Symptom Checking List’, and a personal information form developed by the researcher. SPSS for Windows packet programme was used. Result: The age variable is a factor in interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxciety, hostality symptoms but it is not a factor in the other symptoms. The variable, gender, is a factor in emotional practical escaping overcoming method but it is not a factor in the other overcoming methods. Namely, it has been found out that, women use emotional practical escaping overcoming method more than men. Marital status is a factor in methods of overcoming stress such as trusting in religion, emotional practical escaping and biochemical escaping while it is not a factor in the other methods. Namely, it has been found out that married teachers use trusting in religion method, and emotional practical escaping method more than single ones. Single teachers generally use biochemical escaping method. In primary school teachers’ direction of controlling focus, gender variable is a factor. It has been found out that women are more inner controlled while the men are more outer controlled. The variable, time of service, is a factor in the direction of controlling focus; that is, teachers with 1-5 years of service time are more inner controlled compared with teachers with 16-20 years of service time. The variable, age, is a factor in the direction of controlling focus; that is, teachers in 26-30 age groups are more outer controlled compared with the other age groups and again teachers in 26-30 age group are more inner controlled when compared with the other age groups. Direction of controlling focus is a factor in the primary school teachers’ psychological health. Namely, being outer controlled is a factor but being inner controlled is not. The methods; trusting in religion, active plannıng and biochemical escaping used by primary school teachers to cope with stress act as factors in the direction of controlling focus but not in the others. Namely, it has been found out that outer controlled teachers prefer the methods of trusting in religion and active planning while the inner controlled ones prefer biochemical escaping.

Keywords: coping with, controlling focus, psychological health, stress

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Authors: Kyohei Yoshino, Masahiko Matsumiya, Yuji Sasaki

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Recently, studies have been conducted on Au(III) extraction using ionic liquids (ILs) as extractants or diluents. ILs such as piperidinium, pyrrolidinium, and pyridinium have been studied as extractants for noble metal extractions. Furthermore, the polarity, hydrophobicity, and solvent miscibility of these ILs can be adjusted depending on their intended use. Therefore, the unique properties of ILs make them functional extraction media. The extraction mechanism of Au(III) using phosphonium-based ILs and relevant thermodynamic studies are yet to be reported. In the present work, we focused on the mechanism of Au(III) extraction and related thermodynamic analyses using phosphonium-based ILs. Triethyl-n-pentyl, triethyl-n-octyl, and triethyl-n-dodecyl phosphonium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)amide, [P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf₂], (X = 5, 8, and 12) were investigated for Au(III) extraction. The IL–Au complex was identified as [P₂₂₂₅][AuCl₄] using UV–Vis–NIR and Raman spectroscopic analyses. The extraction behavior of Au(III) was investigated with a change in the [P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf₂]IL concentration from 1.0 × 10–4 to 1.0 × 10–1 mol dm−3. The results indicate that Au(III) can be easily extracted by the anion-exchange reaction in the [P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf₂]IL. The slope range 0.96–1.01 on the plot of log D vs log[P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf2]IL indicates the association of one mole of IL with one mole of [AuCl4−] during extraction. Consequently, [P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf₂] is an anion-exchange extractant for the extraction of Au(III) in the form of anions from chloride media. Thus, this type of phosphonium-based IL proceeds via an anion exchange reaction with Au(III). In order to evaluate the thermodynamic parameters on the Au(III) extraction, the equilibrium constant (logKₑₓ’) was determined from the temperature dependence. The plot of the natural logarithm of Kₑₓ’ vs the inverse of the absolute temperature (T–1) yields a slope proportional to the enthalpy (ΔH). By plotting T–1 vs lnKₑₓ’, a line with a slope range 1.129–1.421 was obtained. Thus, the result indicated that the extraction reaction of Au(III) using the [P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf₂]IL (X=5, 8, and 12) was exothermic (ΔH=-9.39〜-11.81 kJ mol-1). The negative value of TΔS (-4.20〜-5.27 kJ mol-1) indicates that microscopic randomness is preferred in the [P₂₂₂₅][NTf₂]IL extraction system over [P₂₂₂₁₂][NTf₂]IL. The total negative alternation in Gibbs energy (-5.19〜-6.55 kJ mol-1) for the extraction reaction would thus be relatively influenced by the TΔS value on the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl side length, even if the efficiency of ΔH is significantly influenced by the total negative alternations in Gibbs energy. Electrochemical analysis revealed that extracted Au(III) can be reduced in two steps: (i) Au(III)/Au(I) and (ii) Au(I)/Au(0). The diffusion coefficients of the extracted Au(III) species in [P₂₂₂ₓ][NTf₂] (X = 5, 8, and 12) were evaluated from 323 to 373 K using semi-integral and semi-differential analyses. Because of the viscosity of the IL medium, the diffusion coefficient of the extracted Au(III) increases with increasing alkyl chain length. The 4f7/2 spectrum based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the Au electrodeposits obtained after 10 cycles of continuous extraction and electrodeposition were in the metallic state.

Keywords: au(III), electrodeposition, phosphonium-based ionic liquids, solvent extraction

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Authors: Jerome Joshi

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The paper presents the modelling of financial markets using the Stochastic Pi Calculus model. The Stochastic Pi Calculus model is mainly used for biological applications; however, the feature of this model promotes its use in financial markets, more prominently in high frequency trading. The trading system can be broadly classified into exchange, market makers or intermediary traders and fundamental traders. The exchange is where the action of the trade is executed, and the two types of traders act as market participants in the exchange. High frequency trading, with its complex networks and numerous market participants (intermediary and fundamental traders) poses a difficulty while modelling. It involves the participants to seek the advantage of complex trading algorithms and high execution speeds to carry out large volumes of trades. To earn profits from each trade, the trader must be at the top of the order book quite frequently by executing or processing multiple trades simultaneously. This would require highly automated systems as well as the right sentiment to outperform other traders. However, always being at the top of the book is also not best for the trader, since it was the reason for the outbreak of the ‘Hot – Potato Effect,’ which in turn demands for a better and more efficient model. The characteristics of the model should be such that it should be flexible and have diverse applications. Therefore, a model which has its application in a similar field characterized by such difficulty should be chosen. It should also be flexible in its simulation so that it can be further extended and adapted for future research as well as be equipped with certain tools so that it can be perfectly used in the field of finance. In this case, the Stochastic Pi Calculus model seems to be an ideal fit for financial applications, owing to its expertise in the field of biology. It is an extension of the original Pi Calculus model and acts as a solution and an alternative to the previously flawed algorithm, provided the application of this model is further extended. This model would focus on solving the problem which led to the ‘Flash Crash’ which is the ‘Hot –Potato Effect.’ The model consists of small sub-systems, which can be integrated to form a large system. It is designed in way such that the behavior of ‘noise traders’ is considered as a random process or noise in the system. While modelling, to get a better understanding of the problem, a broader picture is taken into consideration with the trader, the system, and the market participants. The paper goes on to explain trading in exchanges, types of traders, high frequency trading, ‘Flash Crash,’ ‘Hot-Potato Effect,’ evaluation of orders and time delay in further detail. For the future, there is a need to focus on the calibration of the module so that they would interact perfectly with other modules. This model, with its application extended, would provide a basis for researchers for further research in the field of finance and computing.

Keywords: concurrent computing, high frequency trading, financial markets, stochastic pi calculus

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Authors: Chong Jiang, Liang Zhao, Hua Jian, Xiaoguang Wang

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The belief that there is a strong relationship between reading narrative and morality has generally become the basic assumption of scholars, philosophers, critics, and cultural critics. The virtuality constructed by literary novels inspires readers to regard the narrative as a thinking experiment, creating the distance between readers and events so that they can freely and morally experience the positions of different roles. Therefore, the virtual narrative combined with literary characteristics is always considered as a "moral laboratory." Well-established findings revealed that people show less lying and deceptive behaviors in the morning than in the afternoon, called the morning morality effect. As a limited self-regulation resource, morality will be constantly depleted with the change of time rhythm under the influence of the morning morality effect. It can also be compensated and restored in various ways, such as eating, sleeping, etc. As a common form of entertainment in modern society, literary novel reading gives people more virtual experience and emotional catharsis, just as a relaxing afternoon tea that helps people break away from fast-paced work, restore physical strength, and relieve stress in a short period of leisure. In this paper, inspired by the compensation control theory, we wonder whether reading literary novels in the digital environment could replenish a kind of spiritual energy for self-regulation to compensate for people's moral loss in the afternoon. Based on this assumption, we leverage the social annotation text content generated by readers in digital reading to represent the readers' reading attention. We then recognized the semantics and calculated the readers' moral motivation expressed in the annotations and investigated the fine-grained dynamics of the moral motivation changing in each time slot within 24 hours of a day. Comprehensively comparing the division of different time intervals, sufficient experiments showed that the moral motivation reflected in the annotations in the afternoon is significantly higher than that in the morning. The results robustly verified the hypothesis that reading compensates for moral motivation, which we called the moral afternoon tea effect. Moreover, we quantitatively identified that such moral compensation can last until 14:00 in the afternoon and 21:00 in the evening. In addition, it is interesting to find that the division of time intervals of different units impacts the identification of moral rhythms. Dividing the time intervals by four-hour time slot brings more insights of moral rhythms compared with that of three-hour and six-hour time slot.

Keywords: digital reading, social annotation, moral motivation, morning morality effect, control compensation

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Authors: W. Kritsarikan, T. Patcharawit, T. Yingnakorn, S. Khumkoa

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Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets classified as high-power magnets are widely used in various applications such as electrical and medical devices and account for 13.5 % of the permanent magnet’s market. Since its typical composition of 29 - 32 % Nd, 64.2 – 68.5 % Fe and 1 – 1.2 % B contains a significant amount of rare earth metals and will be subjected to shortages in the future. Domestic NdFeB magnet waste recycling should therefore be developed in order to reduce social, environmental impacts toward a circular economy. Most research works focus on recycling the magnet wastes, both from the manufacturing process and end of life. Each type of wastes has different characteristics and compositions. As a result, these directly affect recycling efficiency as well as the types and purity of the recyclable products. This research, therefore, focused on the recycling of manufacturing NdFeB magnet waste obtained from the sintering stage of magnet production and the waste contained 23.6% Nd, 60.3% Fe and 0.261% B in order to recover high purity neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) using hybrid metallurgical process via oxidative roasting and selective leaching techniques. The sintered NdFeB waste was first ground to under 70 mesh prior to oxidative roasting at 550 - 800 °C to enable selective leaching of neodymium in the subsequent leaching step using H₂SO₄ at 2.5 M over 24 h. The leachate was then subjected to drying and roasting at 700 – 800 °C prior to precipitation by oxalic acid and calcination to obtain neodymium oxide as the recycling product. According to XRD analyses, it was found that increasing oxidative roasting temperature led to an increasing amount of hematite (Fe₂O₃) as the main composition with a smaller amount of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) found. Peaks of neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) were also observed in a lesser amount. Furthermore, neodymium iron oxide (NdFeO₃) was present and its XRD peaks were pronounced at higher oxidative roasting temperatures. When proceeded to acid leaching and drying, iron sulfate and neodymium sulfate were mainly obtained. After the roasting step prior to water leaching, iron sulfate was converted to form hematite as the main compound, while neodymium sulfate remained in the ingredient. However, a small amount of magnetite was still detected by XRD. The higher roasting temperature at 800 °C resulted in a greater Fe₂O₃ to Nd₂(SO₄)₃ ratio, indicating a more effective roasting temperature. Iron oxides were subsequently water leached and filtered out while the solution contained mainly neodymium sulfate. Therefore, low oxidative roasting temperature not exceeding 600 °C followed by acid leaching and roasting at 800 °C gave the optimum condition for further steps of precipitation and calcination to finally achieve neodymium oxide.

Keywords: NdFeB magnet waste, oxidative roasting, recycling, selective leaching

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Authors: V. De Sandi

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In this paper, we characterize a class of rank-weighted social welfare orderings that we call ”Excessivist.” The Excessivist Social Welfare Ordering (eSWO) judges incomes above a fixed threshold θ as detrimental to society. To accomplish this, the identification of a richness or affluence line is necessary. We employ a fixed, exogenous line of excess. We define an eSWF in the form of a weighted sum of individual’s income. This requires introducing n+1 vectors of weights, one for all possible numbers of individuals below the threshold. To do this, the paper introduces a slight modification of the class of rank weighted class of social welfare function. Indeed, in our excessivist social welfare ordering, we allow the weights to be both positive (for individuals below the line) and negative (for individuals above). Then, we introduce ethical concerns through an axiomatic approach. The following axioms are required: continuity above and below the threshold (Ca, Cb), anonymity (A), absolute aversion to excessive richness (AER), pigou dalton positive weights preserving transfer (PDwpT), sign rank preserving full comparability (SwpFC) and strong pareto below the threshold (SPb). Ca, Cb requires that small changes in two income distributions above and below θ do not lead to changes in their ordering. AER suggests that if two distributions are identical in any respect but for one individual above the threshold, who is richer in the first, then the second should be preferred by society. This means that we do not care about the waste of resources above the threshold; the priority is the reduction of excessive income. According to PDwpT, a transfer from a better-off individual to a worse-off individual despite their relative position to the threshold, without reversing their ranks, leads to an improved distribution if the number of individuals below the threshold is the same after the transfer or the number of individuals below the threshold has increased. SPb holds only for individuals below the threshold. The weakening of strong pareto and our ethics need to be justified; we support them through the notion of comparative egalitarianism and income as a source of power. SwpFC is necessary to ensure that, following a positive affine transformation, an individual does not become excessively rich in only one distribution, thereby reversing the ordering of the distributions. Given the axioms above, we can characterize the class of the eSWO, getting the following result through a proof by contradiction and exhaustion: Theorem 1. A social welfare ordering satisfies the axioms of continuity above and below the threshold, anonymity, sign rank preserving full comparability, aversion to excessive richness, Pigou Dalton positive weight preserving transfer, and strong pareto below the threshold, if and only if it is an Excessivist-social welfare ordering. A discussion about the implementation of different threshold lines reviewing the primary contributions in this field follows. What the commonly implemented social welfare functions have been overlooking is the concern for extreme richness at the top. The characterization of Excessivist Social Welfare Ordering, given the axioms above, aims to fill this gap.

Keywords: comparative egalitarianism, excess income, inequality aversion, social welfare ordering

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Authors: Davoud Maleki

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Today, education and investment in human capital is a long-term investment without which the economy will be stagnant Stayed. Higher education represents a type of investment in human resources by providing and improving knowledge, skills and Attitudes help economic development. Providing efficient human resources by increasing the efficiency and productivity of people and on the other hand with Expanding the boundaries of knowledge and technology and promoting technology such as the responsibility of training human resources and increasing productivity and efficiency in High specialized levels are the responsibility of universities. Therefore, the university plays an infrastructural role in economic development and growth because education by creating skills and expertise in people and improving their ability.In recent decades, Iran's higher education system has been faced with many problems, therefore, scholars have looked for it is to identify and validate the causal factors affecting the responsiveness and productivity of non-governmental universities. The data in the qualitative part is the result of semi-structured interviews with 25 senior and middle managers working in the units It was Islamic Azad University of Tehran province, which was selected by theoretical sampling method. In data analysis, stepwise method and Analytical techniques of Strauss and Corbin (1992) were used. After determining the central category (answering for the sake of the beneficiaries) and using it in order to bring the categories, expressions and ideas that express the relationships between the main categories and In the end, six main categories were identified as causal factors affecting the university's responsiveness and productivity.They are: 1- Scientism 2- Human resources 3- Creating motivation in the university 4- Development based on needs assessment 5- Teaching process and Learning 6- University quality evaluation. In order to validate the response model obtained from the qualitative stage, a questionnaire The questionnaire was prepared and the answers of 146 students of Master's degree and Doctorate of Islamic Azad University located in Tehran province were received. Quantitative data in the form of descriptive data analysis, first and second stage factor analysis using SPSS and Amos23 software were analyzed. The findings of the research indicated the relationship between the central category and the causal factors affecting the response The results of the model test in the quantitative stage confirmed the generality of the conceptual model.

Keywords: accountability, productivity, non-governmental, universities, foundation data theory

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Authors: Amelia Frickey, Timothy (TJ) Sheridan, Angelica Rossi, Bahar Aliakbarian

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The growth of large food supply chains demanded improved end-to-end traceability of food products, which has led to companies being increasingly interested in using smart technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-enabled packaging to track items. As technology is being widely used, there are several technological or economic issues that should be overcome to facilitate the adoption of this track-and-trace technology. One of the technological challenges of RFID technology is its sensitivity to different environmental form factors, including packaging materials and the content of the packaging. Although researchers have assessed the performance loss due to the proximity of water and aqueous solutions, there is still the need to further investigate the impacts of food products on the reading range of RFID tags. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are not enough studies to determine the correlation between RFID tag performance and food beverages properties. The goal of this project was to investigate the effect of the solution properties (pH and conductivity) and different packaging materials filled with food-like water-based solutions on the performance of an RFID tag. Three commercially available ultra high-frequency RFID tags were placed on three different bottles and filled with different concentrations of water-based solutions, including sodium chloride, citric acid, sucrose, and ethanol. Transparent glass, Polyethylneterephtalate (PET), and Tetrapak® were used as the packaging materials commonly used in the beverage industries. Tag readability (Theoretical Read Range, TRR) and sensitivity (Power on Tag Forward, PoF) were determined using an anechoic chamber. First, the best place to attach the tag for each packaging material was investigated using empty and water-filled bottles. Then, the bottles were filled with the food-like solutions and tested with the three different tags and the PoF and TRR at the fixed frequency of 915MHz. In parallel, the pH and conductivity of solutions were measured. The best-performing tag was then selected to test the bottles filled with wine, orange, and apple juice. Despite various solutions altering the performance of each tag, the change in tag performance had no correlation with the pH or conductivity of the solution. Additionally, packaging material played a significant role in tag performance. Each tag tested performed optimally under different conditions. This study is the first part of comprehensive research to determine the regression model for the prediction of tag performance behavior based on the packaging material and the content. More investigations, including more tags and food products, are needed to be able to develop a robust regression model. The results of this study can be used by RFID tag manufacturers to design suitable tags for specific products with similar properties.

Keywords: smart food packaging, supply chain management, food waste, radio frequency identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Pellecchia M. T., Savarese G., Carpinelli L., Calabrese M.

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Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by a progressive loss of autonomy which undoubtedly has a significant impact on the quality of life of caregivers, and parents are the main informal caregivers. Caring for a person with PD is associated with an increased risk of psychiatric morbidity and persistent anxiety-depressive distress. The aim of the study is to investigate the burden on caregivers of patients with PD, through the use of multidimensional scales and to identify their personological and environmental determinants. Methods: The study has been approved by the Ethic Committee of the University of Salerno and informed consent for participation to the study was obtained from patients and their caregivers. The study was conducted at the Neurology Department of the A.O.U. "San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi D’Aragona" of Salerno between September 2020 and May 2021. Materials: The questionnaires used were: a) Caregiver Burden Inventory - CBI a questionnaire of 24 items that allow identifying five sub-categories of burden (objective, psychological, physical, social, emotional); b) Depression Anxiety Stress Scales Short Version - DASS-21 questionnaire consisting of 21 items and valid in examining three distinct but interrelated areas (depression, anxiety and stress); c) Family Strain Questionnaire Short Form - FSQ-SF is a questionnaire of 30 items grouped in areas of increasing psychological risk (OK, R, SR, U); d) Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory - ZBI, consisting of 22 items based on the analysis of two main factors: personal stress and pressure related to his role; e) Life Satisfaction, a single item that aims to evaluate the degree of life satisfaction in a global way using a 0-100 Likert scale. Findings: N ° 29 caregivers (M age = 55.14, SD = 9.859; 69% F) participated in the study. 20.6% of the sample had severe and severe burden (CBI score = M = 26.31; SD = 22.43) and 13.8% of participants had moderate to severe burden (ZBI). The FSQ-SF highlighted a minority of caregivers who need psychological support, in some cases urgent (Area SR and Area U). The DASS-21 results show a prevalence of stress-related symptoms (M = 10.90, SD = 10.712) compared to anxiety (M = 7.52, SD = 10.752) and depression (M = 8, SD = 10.876). There are significant correlations between some specific variables and mean test scores: retired caregivers report higher ZBI scores (p = 0.423) and lower Life Satisfaction levels (p = -0.460) than working caregivers; years of schooling show a negative linear correlation with the ZBI score (p = -0.491). The T-Test indicates that caregivers of patients with cognitive impairment are at greater risk than those of patients without cognitive impairment. Conclusions: It knows the factors that affect the burden the most would allow for early recognition of risky situations and caregivers who would need adequate support.

Keywords: anxious-depressive axis, caregivers’ burden, Parkinson’ disease, psychological risks

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Authors: Mengdan Guo, Zongmin Wang, Haibo Yang

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Drought is one of the most complex and destructive natural disasters, with a huge impact on both nature and society. In recent years, adverse climate conditions and uncontrolled human activities have exacerbated the occurrence of global droughts, among which socio-economic droughts are closely related to human survival. The study of socio-economic drought risk assessment is crucial for sustainable social development. Therefore, this study comprehensively considered the risk of disaster causing factors, the exposure level of the disaster-prone environment, and the vulnerability of the disaster bearing body to construct a socio-economic drought risk assessment model for Chuxiong Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Firstly, a threedimensional frequency analysis of intensity area duration drought was conducted, followed by a statistical analysis of the drought risk of the socio-economic system. Secondly, a grid analysis model was constructed to assess the exposure levels of different agents and study the effects of drought on regional crop growth, industrial economic growth, and human consumption thresholds. Thirdly, an agricultural vulnerability model for different irrigation levels was established by using the DSSAT crop model. Industrial economic vulnerability and domestic water vulnerability under the impact of drought were investigated by constructing a standardized socio-economic drought index and coupling water loss. Finally, the socio-economic drought risk was assessed by combining hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. The results show that the frequency of drought occurrence in Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan Province is relatively high, with high population and economic exposure concentrated in urban areas of various counties and districts, and high agricultural exposure concentrated in mountainous and rural areas. Irrigation can effectively reduce agricultural vulnerability in Chuxiong, and the yield loss rate under the 20mm winter irrigation scenario decreased by 10.7% compared to the rain fed scenario. From the perspective of comprehensive risk, the distribution of long-term socio-economic drought risk in Chuxiong Prefecture is relatively consistent, with the more severe areas mainly concentrated in Chuxiong City and Lufeng County, followed by counties such as Yao'an, Mouding and Yuanmou. Shuangbai County has the lowest socio-economic drought risk, which is basically consistent with the economic distribution trend of Chuxiong Prefecture. And in June, July, and August, the drought risk in Chuxiong Prefecture is generally high. These results can provide constructive suggestions for the allocation of water resources and the construction of water conservancy facilities in Chuxiong Prefecture, and provide scientific basis for more effective drought prevention and control. Future research is in the areas of data quality and availability, climate change impacts, human activity impacts, and countermeasures for a more comprehensive understanding and effective response to drought risk in Chuxiong Prefecture.

Keywords: DSSAT model, risk assessment, socio-economic drought, standardized socio-economic drought index

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Luthfia A. Eka, Bertri M. Masita, G. Indah Lestari, Rizka. Ryanindya, Anindita D. Nur, Asih. Setiarini

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The preferred habit nowadays is to watch television or listen to the radio rather than reading a newspaper or magazine. The low interest in reading is the reason to the Indonesian government passed a regulation to foster interest in reading early in schoolchildren through literacy programs. Literacy programs are held for the first 10 - 15 minutes before classes begin and children are asked to read books other than textbooks such as storybooks or magazines. In addition, elementary school children have a tendency to buy less healthy snacks around the school and do not know the nutrition fact from the food purchased. Whereas snacks contribute greatly in the fulfillment of energy and nutrients of children every day. The purpose of this study was to increase reading interest as well as knowledge of nutrition and health for elementary school students. This study used quantitative method with experimental study design for four months with twice intervention per week and deepened by qualitative method in the form of interview. The participants were 130 students consisting of 3rd and 4th graders in selected elementary school in Depok City. The Interventions given using KUCERIA (Child Storybook) which were storybooks with pictures consisting of 12 series about nutrition and health given at school literacy hours. There were five questions given by using the crossword method to find out the students' understanding of the story content in each series. To maximize the understanding and absorption of information, two students were asked to retell the story in front of the class and one student to fill the crossword on the board for each series. In addition, interviews were conducted by asking questions about students' interest in reading books. Intervention involved not only students but also teachers and parents in order to optimize students' reading habits. Analysis showed > 80% of student could answer 3 of 5 questions correctly in each series, which showed they had an interest in what they read. Research data on nutrition and health knowledge were analyzed using Wilcoxon and Chi-Square Test to see the relationship. However, only 46% of students completed 12 series and the rest lost to follow up due to school schedule incompatibility with the program. The results showed that there was a significant increase of knowledge (p = 0.000) between before intervention with 66,53 score and after intervention with 81,47 score. Retention of knowledge was conducted one month after the last intervention was administered and the analysis result showed no significant decrease of knowledge (p = 0,000) from 79,17 score to 75,48 score. There is also no relationship between sex and class with knowledge. Hence, an increased interest in reading of elementary school students and nutritional knowledge interventions using KUCERIA was proved successful. These interventions may be replicated in other schools or learning communities.

Keywords: literation, reading interest, nutrition knowledge, school children

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Evanka Madan, Madhu Puri, Dan Zilberstein, Rohini Muthuswami, Rentala Madhubala

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The extensive interaction between the host and pathogen metabolic networks decidedly shapes the outcome of infection. Utilization of arginine by the host and pathogen is critical for determining the outcome of pathogenic infection. Infections with L. donovani, an intracellular parasite, will lead to an extensive competition of arginine between the host and the parasite donovani infection. One of the major amino acid (AA) sensing signaling pathways in mammalian cells are the mammalian target of rapamycin complex I (mTORC1) pathway. mTORC1, as a sensor of nutrient, controls numerous metabolic pathways. Arginine is critical for mTORC1 activation. SLC38A9 is the arginine sensor for the mTORC1, being activated during arginine sufficiency. L. donovani transport arginine via a high-affinity transporter (LdAAP3) that is rapidly up-regulated by arginine deficiency response (ADR) in intracellular amastigotes. This study, to author’s best knowledge, investigates the interaction between two arginine sensing systems that act in the same compartment, the lysosome. One is important for macrophage defense, and the other is essential for pathogen virulence. We hypothesize that the latter modulates lysosome arginine to prevent host defense response. The work presented here identifies an upstream regulatory role of LdAAP3 in regulating the expression of SLC38A9-mTORC1 pathway, and consequently, their function in L. donovani infected THP-1 cells cultured in 0.1 mM and 1.5 mM arginine. It was found that in physiological levels of arginine (0.1 mM), infecting THP-1 with Leishmania leads to increased levels of SLC38A9 and mTORC1 via an increase in the expression of RagA. However, the reversal was observed with LdAAP3 mutants, reflecting the positive regulatory role of LdAAP3 on the host SLC38A9. At the molecular level, upon infection, mTORC1 and RagA were found to be activated at the surface of phagolysosomes which was found to form a complex with phagolysosomal localized SLC38A9. To reveal the relevance of SLC38A9 under physiological levels of arginine, endogenous SLC38A9 was depleted and a substantial reduction in the expression of host mTORC1, its downstream active substrate, p-P70S6K1 and parasite LdAAP3, was observed, thereby showing that silencing SLC38A9 suppresses ADR. In brief, to author’s best knowledge, these results reveal an upstream regulatory role of LdAAP3 in manipulating SLC38A9 arginine sensing in host macrophages. Our study indicates that intra-macrophage survival of L. donovani depends on the availability and transport of extracellular arginine. An understanding of the sensing pathway of both parasite and host will open a new perspective on the molecular mechanism of host-parasite interaction and consequently, as a treatment for Leishmaniasis.

Keywords: arginine sensing, LdAAP3, L. donovani, mTORC1, SLC38A9, THP-1

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Gautam, Gurcharan Singh, Mandeep Kaur, Yogesh Aggarwal, Sanjeev Naval

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The present ground reality scenario of suffering of humanity shows the evidence of failure to take wrong decisions to shape the civilization with Irresponsibilities in the history. A strong positive will of right responsibilities make the right civilization structure which affects itself and the whole world. Present suffering of humanity shows and reflect the failure of past decisions taken to shape the true culture with right social structure of society, due to unplanned system of Indian civilization and its rapid disaster of population make the failure to face all kind of problems which make the society sufferer. Our India is still suffering from disaster like earthquake, floods, droughts, tsunamis etc. and we face the uncountable disaster of deaths from the beginning of humanity at the present time. In this research paper our focus is to make a Disaster Resistance Structure having the solution of dense populated urban cities area by high vertical expansion HYBRID STRUCTURE. Our efforts are to analyse the Reinforced Concrete Hybrid Structure at different seismic zones, these concrete frames were analyzed using the response spectrum method to calculate and compare the different seismic displacement and drift. Seismic analysis by this method generally is based on dynamic analysis of building. Analysis results shows that the Reinforced Concrete Building at seismic Zone V having maximum peak story shear, base shear, drift and node displacement as compare to the analytical results of Reinforced Concrete Building at seismic Zone III and Zone IV. This analysis results indicating to focus on structural drawings strictly at construction site to make a HYBRID STRUCTURE. The study case is deal with the 10 story height of a vertical expansion Hybrid frame structure at different zones i.e. zone III, zone IV and zone V having the column 0.45x0.36mt and beam 0.6x0.36mt. with total height of 30mt, to make the structure more stable bracing techniques shell be applied like mage bracing and V shape bracing. If this kind of efforts or structure drawings are followed by the builders and contractors then we save the lives during earthquake disaster at Bhuj (Gujarat State, India) on 26th January, 2001 which resulted in more than 19,000 deaths. This kind of Disaster Resistance Structure having the capabilities to solve the problems of densely populated area of cities by the utilization of area in vertical expansion hybrid structure. We request to Government of India to make new plans and implementing it to save the lives from future disasters instead of unnecessary wants of development plans like Bullet Trains.

Keywords: history, irresponsibilities, unplanned social structure, humanity, hybrid structure, response spectrum analysis, DRIFT, and NODE displacement

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Authors: Chux Gervase Iwu, Simon Nsengimane

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Entrepreneurship stimulates socio-economic development in many countries, if not all. It creates jobs and decreases unemployment and inequality. There are other benefits that are accruable from entrepreneurship, namely the empowerment of women and the promotion of better livelihoods. Innovation has become a weapon for business competition, growth, and sustainability. Paradoxically, it is a threat to businesses because products can be duplicated; new products may decrease the market share of existing ones or delete them from the market. This creates a constant competitive environment that calls for updates, innovation, and the invention of new products and services. Thus, the importance of higher education in instilling a good entrepreneurial mindset in students has become even more critical. It can be argued that the business environment is under enormous pressure from several factors, including the fourth industrial revolution, which calls for the adoption and use of information and communication technology, which is the catalyst for many innovations and organisational changes. Therefore, it is crucial that higher education students are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to respond effectively to the needs of the business environment and create a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem. In South Africa, entrepreneurship education or some form of it has been a privilege for economic and management fields of study, leaving behind other fields. Entrepreneurship should not be limited to business faculties but rather extended to other fields of study. This is perhaps the reason for low levels of entrepreneurship uptake among South African graduates if they are compared with the graduates in other countries. There may be other reasons for the low entrepreneurship uptake. Some of these have been documented in extant literature to include (1) not enough time was spent teaching entrepreneurship in the business faculties, (2) the skills components in the curricula are insufficient, and (3) the overall attitudes/mindsets necessary to establish and run sustainable enterprises seem absent. Therefore, four important areas are recognised as crucial for the effective implementation of entrepreneurship education: policy, private sector engagement, curriculum development, and teacher development. The purpose of this research is to better comprehend the views, aspirations, and expectations of students and faculty members to design an entrepreneurial teaching model for higher education institutions. A qualitative method will be used to conduct a purposive interview with undergraduate and graduate students in select higher institutions. Members of faculty will also be included in the sample as well as, where possible, two or more government personnel responsible for higher education policy development. At present, interpretative analysis is proposed for the analysis of the interviews with the support of Atlas Ti. It is hoped that an entrepreneurship education model in the South African context is realised through this study.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, higher education institution, graduate unemployment, curriculum development

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: M. Chukhryaeva, R. Skhalyakho, J. Kagazegeva, E. Pocheshkhova, L. Yepiskopossyan, O. Balanovsky, E. Balanovska

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The Middle East is crossroad of different populations at different times. The Kurds are of particular interest in this region. Historical sources suggested that the origin of the Kurds is associated with Medes. Therefore, it was especially interesting to compare gene pool of Kurds with other supposed descendants of Medes-Tats. Yezidis are ethno confessional group of Kurds. Yezidism as a confessional teaching was formed in the XI-XIII centuries in Iraq. Yezidism has caused reproductively isolation of Yezidis from neighboring populations for centuries. Also, isolation helps to retain Yezidian caste system. It is unknown how the history of Yezidis affected its genу pool because it has never been the object of researching. We have examined the Y-chromosome variation in Yezidis and Kurdish males to understand their gene pool. We collected DNA samples from 90 Yezidi males and 24 Kurdish males together with their pedigrees. We performed Y-STR analysis of 17 loci in the samples collected (Yfiler system from Applied Biosystems) and analysis of 42 Y-SNPs by real-time PCR. We compared our data with published data from other Kurdish groups and from European, Caucasian, and West Asian populations. We found that gene pool of Yezidis contains haplogroups common in the Middle East (J-M172(xM67,M12)- 24%, E-M35(xM78)- 9%) and in South Western Asia (R-M124- 8%) and variant with wide distribution area - R-M198(xM458- 9%). The gene pool of Kurdish has higher genetic diversity than Yezidis. Their dominants haplogroups are R-M198- 20,3 %, E-M35- 9%, J-M172- 9%. Multidimensional scaling also shows that the Kurds and Yezidis are part of the same frontier Asian cluster, which, in addition, included Armenians, Iranians, Turks, and Greeks. At the same time, the peoples of the Caucasus and Europe form isolated clusters that do not overlap with the Asian clusters. It is noteworthy that Kurds from our study gravitate towards Tats, which indicates that most likely these two populations are descendants of ancient Medes population. Multidimensional scaling also reveals similarity between gene pool of Yezidis, Kurds with Armenians and Iranians. The analysis of Yezidis pedigrees and their STR variability did not reveal a reliable connection between genetic diversity and caste system. This indicates that the Yezidis caste system is a social division and not a biological one. Thus, we showed that, despite many years of isolation, the gene pool of Yezidis retained a common layer with the gene pool of Kurds, these populations have common spectrum of haplogroups, but Yezidis have lower genetic diversity than Kurds. This study received primary support from the RSF grant No. 16-36-00122 to MC and grant No. 16-06-00364 to EP.

Keywords: gene pool, haplogroup, Kurds, SNP and STR markers, Yezidis

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Authors: Nan Yang, Hye Pae

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English as a second language (ESL) learners are often observed to have transferred traits of their first languages (L1) and habits of using their L1s to their use of English (second language, L2), and this phenomenon is coined as language transfer. In addition to the transfer of linguistic features (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, etc.), which are relatively easy to observe and quantify, many cross-cultural theorists emphasized on a much subtle and fundamental transfer existing on a higher conceptual level that is referred to as conceptual transfer. Although a growing body of literature in linguistics has demonstrated evidence of L1 transfer in various discourse genres, very limited studies address the underlying conceptual transfer that is happening along with the language transfer, especially with the extended form of spontaneous discourses such as personal narrative. To address this issue, this study situates itself in the context of Chinese ESL learners’ written narratives, examines evidence of L1 conceptual transfer in comparison with native English speakers’ narratives, and provides discussion from the perspective of the conceptual transfer. It is hypothesized that Chinese ESL learners’ English narrative strategies are heavily influenced by the strategies that they use in Chinese as a result of the conceptual transfer. Understanding language transfer cognitively is of great significance in the realm of SLA, as it helps address challenges that ESL learners around the world are facing; allow native English speakers to develop a better understanding about how and why learners’ English is different; and also shed light in ESL pedagogy by providing linguistic and cultural expectations in native English-speaking countries. To achieve the goals, 40 college students were recruited (20 Chinese ESL learners and 20 native English speakers) in the United States, and their written narratives on the prompt 'The most frightening experience' were collected for quantitative discourse analysis. 40 written narratives (20 in Chinese and 20 in English) were collected from Chinese ESL learners, and 20 written narratives were collected from native English speakers. All written narratives were coded according to the coding scheme developed by the authors prior to data collection. Statistical descriptive analyses were conducted, and the preliminary results revealed that native English speakers included more narrative elements such as events and explicit evaluation comparing to Chinese ESL students’ both English and Chinese writings; the English group also utilized more evaluation device (i.e., physical state expressions, indirectly reported speeches, delineation) than Chinese ESL students’ both English and Chinese writings. It was also observed that Chinese ESL students included more orientation elements (i.e., the introduction of time/place, the introduction of character) in their Chinese and English writings than the native English-speaking participants. The findings suggest that a similar narrative strategy was observed in Chinese ESL learners’ Chinese narratives and English narratives, which is considered as the evidence of conceptual transfer from Chinese (L1) to English (L2). The results also indicate that distinct narrative strategies were used by Chinese ESL learners and native English speakers as a result of cross-cultural differences.

Keywords: Chinese ESL learners, language transfer, thinking-for-speaking, written narratives

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Authors: Ludmila Polechonska, Agnieszka Klink

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The biogeochemical studies of macrophytes shed light on elements bioavailability, transfer through the food webs and their possible effects on the biota, and provide a basis for their practical application in aquatic monitoring and remediation. Measuring the accumulation of elements in plants can provide time-integrated information about the presence of chemicals in aquatic ecosystems. The aim of the study was to determine and compare the contents of micro- and macroelements in two cosmopolitan macrophytes, submerged Ceratophyllum demersum (hornworth) and free-floating Hydrocharis morsus-ranae (European frog-bit), in order to assess their bioaccumulation potential, elements stock accumulated in each plant and their role in nutrients cycling in small water reservoirs. Sampling sites were designated in 25 oxbow lakes in urban areas in Lower Silesia (SW Poland). In each sampling site, fresh whole plants of C. demersum and H. morsus-ranae were collected from squares of 1x1 meters each where the species coexisted. European frog-bit was separated into leaves, stems and roots. For biomass measurement all plants growing on 1 square meter were collected, dried and weighed. At the same time, water samples were collected from each reservoir and their pH and EC were determined. Water samples were filtered and acidified and plant samples were digested in concentrated nitric acid. Next, the content of Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni and Zn was determined using atomic absorption method (AAS). Statistical analysis showed that C. demersum and organs of H. morsus-ranae differed significantly in respect of metals content (Kruskal-Wallis Anova, p<0.05). Contents of Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn were higher in hornwort, while European frog-bit contained more Ca, Fe, K, Mg. Bioaccumulation Factors (BCF=content in plant/concentration in water) showed similar pattern of metal bioaccumulation – microelements were more intensively accumulated by hornwort and macroelements by frog-bit. Based on BCF values both species may be positively evaluated as good accumulators of Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn. However, the distribution of metals in H. morsus-ranae was uneven – the majority of studied elements were retained in roots, which may indicate to existence of physiological barriers developed for dealing with toxicity. Some percent of Ca and K was actively transported to stems, but to leaves Mg only. Although the biomass of C. demersum was two times greater than biomass of H. morsus-ranae, the element off-take was greater only for Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn. Nevertheless, it can be stated that despite a relatively small biomass, compared to other macrophytes, both species may have an influence on the removal of trace elements from aquatic ecosystems and, as they serve as food for some animals, also on the incorporation of toxic elements into food chains. There was a significant positive correlation between content of Mn and Fe in water and roots of H. morus-ranae (R=0.51 and R=0.60, respectively) as well as between Cu concentration in water and in C. demersum (R=0.41) (Spearman rank correlation, p<0.05). High bioaccumulation rates and correlation between plants and water elements concentrations point to their possible use as passive biomonitors of aquatic pollution.

Keywords: aquatic plants, bioaccumulation, biomonitoring, macroelements, phytoremediation, trace metals

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: B. Grygalewicz, R. Woroniecka, J. Rygier, K. Borkowska, A. Labak, B. Nowakowska, B. Pienkowska-Grela

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Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common form of adult leukemia in the Western world. Hemizygous and or homozygous loss at 13q14 occur in more than half of cases and constitute the most frequent chromosomal abnormality in CLL. It is believed that deletions 13q14 play a role in CLL pathogenesis. Two microRNA genes miR-15a and miR- 16-1 are targets of 13q14 deletions and plays a tumor suppressor role by targeting antiapoptotic BCL2 gene. Deletion size, as a single change detected in FISH analysis, has haprognostic significance. Patients with small deletions, without RB1 gene involvement, have the best prognosis and the longest overall survival time (OS 133 months). In patients with bigger deletion region, containing RB1 gene, prognosis drops to intermediate, like in patients with normal karyotype and without changes in FISH with overall survival 111 months. Aim: Precise delineation of 13q14 deletions regions in two groups of CLL patients, with mono- and biallelic deletions and qualifications of their prognostic significance. Methods: Detection of 13q14 deletions was performed by FISH analysis with CLL probe panel (D13S319, LAMP1, TP53, ATM, CEP-12). Accurate deletion size detection was performed by CGH Haematological Cancer and SNP array (8x60K). Results: Our investigated group of CLL patients with the 13q14 deletion, detected by FISH analysis, comprised two groups: 18 patients with monoallelic deletions and 18 patients with biallelic deletions. In FISH analysis, in the monoallelic group the range of cells with deletion, was 43% to 97%, while in biallelic group deletion was detected in 11% to 94% of cells. Microarray analysis revealed precise deletion regions. In the monoallelic group, the range of size was 348,12 Kb to 34,82 Mb, with median deletion size 7,93 Mb. In biallelic group discrepancy of total deletions, size was 135,27 Kb to 33,33 Mb, with median deletion size 2,52 Mb. The median size of smaller deletion regions on one copy chromosome 13 was 1,08 Mb while the average region of bigger deletion on the second chromosome 13 was 4,04 Mb. In the monoallelic group, in 8/18 deletion region covered RB1 gene. In the biallelic group, in 4/18 cases, revealed deletion on one copy of biallelic deletion and in 2/18 showed deletion of RB1 gene on both deleted 13q14 regions. All minimal deleted regions included miR-15a and miR-16-1 genes. Genetic results will be correlated with clinical data. Conclusions: Application of CGH microarrays technique in CLL allows accurately delineate the size of 13q14 deletion regions, what have a prognostic value. All deleted regions included miR15a and miR-16-1, what confirms the essential role of these genes in CLL pathogenesis. In our investigated groups of CLL patients with mono- and biallelic 13q14 deletions, patients with biallelic deletion presented smaller deletion sizes (2,52 Mb vs 7,93 Mb), what is connected with better prognosis.

Keywords: CLL, deletion 13q14, CGH microarrays, SNP array

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Abrar Almutairi, Alyaa Farouk, Amal Gouda

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Background: Social capital is a factor that helps in bonding in a social network. The individual and the neighborhood social capital affect the health status of members of a particular society. In addition, to the influence of social health on the health of the population, social health has a significant effect on women, especially those with pregnancy. Study objective was to assess the impact of the social capital on the health status of pregnant women Design: A descriptive crosssectional correlational design was utilized in this study. Methods: A convenient sample of 210 pregnant women who attended the outpatient antenatal clinicsfor follow-up in King Fahad hospital (Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs/Riyadh) and King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz University Hospital (KAAUH, Ministry of Education /Riyadh) were included in the study. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that was developed by the researchers based on the “World Bank Social Capital Assessment Tool” and SF-36 questionnaire (Short Form Health Survey). The questionnaire consists of 4 parts to collect information regarding socio-demographic data, obstetric and gynecological history, general scale of health status and social activity during pregnancy and the social capital of the study participants, with different types of questions such as multiple-choice questions, polar questions, and Likert scales. Data analysis was carried out by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23. Descriptive statistic as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation was used to describe the sample characteristics, and the simple linear regression test was used to assess the relationship between the different variables, with level of significance P≤0.005. Result: This study revealed that only 31.1% of the study participants perceived that they have good general health status. About two thirds (62.8%) of the participants have moderate social capital, more than one ten (11.2٪) have high social capital and more than a quarter (26%) of them have low social capital. All dimensions of social capital except for empowerment and political action had positive significant correlations with the health status of pregnant women with P value ranging from 0.001 to 0.010in all dimensions. In general, the social capital showed high statistically significant association with the health status of the pregnant (P=0.002). Conclusion: Less than one third of the study participants had good perceived health status, and the majority of the study participants have moderate social capital, with only about one ten of them perceived that they have high social capital. Finally, neighborhood residency area, family size, sufficiency of income, past medical and surgical history and parity of the study participants were all significantly impacting the assessed health domains of the pregnant women.

Keywords: impact, social capital, health status, pregnant women

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Richard Byrne, Emma Mulliner

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Smart cities are a vision for the future that is increasingly becoming a reality. While a key concept of the smart city is the ability to capture, communicate, and process data that has long been produced through day-to-day activities of the city, much of the assessment models in place neglect this fact to focus on ‘smartness’ concepts. Although it is true technology often provides the opportunity to capture and communicate data in more effective ways, there are also human processes involved that are just as important. The growing importance with regards to the use and ownership of data in society can be seen by all with companies such as Facebook and Google increasingly coming under the microscope, however, why is the same scrutiny not applied to cities? The research area is therefore of great importance to the future of our cities here and now, while the findings will be of just as great importance to our children in the future. This research aims to understand the influence data is having on organisations operating throughout the smart cities sector and employs a mixed-method research approach in order to best answer the following question: Would a data-based evaluation model for smart cities be more appropriate than a smart-based model in assessing the development of the smart city? A fully comprehensive literature review concluded that there was a requirement for a data-driven assessment model for smart cities. This was followed by a documentary analysis to understand the root source of data integration to the smart city. A content analysis of city data platforms enquired as to the alternative approaches employed by cities throughout the UK and draws on best practice from New York to compare and contrast. Grounded in theory, the research findings to this point formulated a qualitative analysis framework comprised of: the changing environment influenced by data, the value of data in the smart city, the data ecosystem of the smart city and organisational response to the data orientated environment. The framework was applied to analyse primary data collected through the form of interviews with both public and private organisations operating throughout the smart cities sector. The work to date represents the first stage of data collection that will be built upon by a quantitative research investigation into the feasibility of data network effects in the smart city. An analysis into the benefits of data interoperability supporting services to the smart city in the areas of health and transport will conclude the research to achieve the aim of inductively forming a framework that can be applied to future smart city policy. To conclude, the research recognises the influence of technological perspectives in the development of smart cities to date and highlights this as a challenge to introduce theory applied with a planning dimension. The primary researcher has utilised their experience working in the public sector throughout the investigation to reflect upon what is perceived as a gap in practice of where we are today, to where we need to be tomorrow.

Keywords: data, planning, policy development, smart cities

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Authors: B. Ozarisoy, E. Ampatzi, G. Z. Lancaster

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This research project is undertaken in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (T.R.N.C). The study focuses on identifying refurbishment activities capable of diagnosing and detecting the underlying problems alongside the challenges offered by the buildings’ typology in addition to identifying the correct construction materials in the refurbishment process which allow for the maximisation of expected energy savings. Attention is drawn to, the level of awareness and understanding of refurbishment activity that needs to be raised in the current construction process alongside factors that include the positive environmental impact and the saving of energy. The approach here is to look at buildings that have been built by private construction companies that have already been refurbished by occupants and to suggest additional control mechanisms for retrofitting that can further enhance the process of renewal. The objective of the research is to investigate the occupants’ behaviour and role in the refurbishment activity; to explore how and why occupants decide to change building components and to understand why and how occupants consider using energy-efficient materials. The present work is based on data from this researcher’s first-hand experience and incorporates the preliminary data collection on recent housing sector statistics, including the year in which housing estates were built, an examination of the characteristics that define the construction industry in the T.R.N.C., building typology and the demographic structure of house owners. The housing estates are chosen from 16 different projects in four different regions of the T.R.N.C. that include urban and suburban areas. There is, therefore, a broad representation of the common drivers in the property market, each with different levels of refurbishment activity and this is coupled with different samplings from different climatic regions within the T.R.N.C. The study is conducted through semi-structured interviews to identify occupants’ behaviour as it is associated with refurbishment activity. The interviews provide all the occupants’ demographic information, needs and intentions as they relate to various aspects of the refurbishment process. This research paper presents the results of semi-structured interviews with 70 homeowners in a selected group of 16 housing estates in five different parts of the T.R.N.C. The people who agreed to be interviewed in this study are all residents of single or multi-family housing units. Alongside the construction process and its impact on the environment, the results point out the need for control mechanisms in the housing sector to promote and support the adoption of retrofit strategies and minimize non-controlled refurbishment activities, in line with diagnostic information of the selected buildings. The expected solutions should be effective, environmentally acceptable and feasible given the type of housing projects under review, with due regard for their location, the climatic conditions within which they were undertaken, the socio-economic standing of the house owners and their attitudes, local resources and legislative constraints. Furthermore, the study goes on to insist on the practical and long-term economic benefits of refurbishment under the proper conditions and why this should be fully understood by the householders.

Keywords: construction process, energy-efficiency, refurbishment activity, retrofitting

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Authors: Marzieh Nojomi, Azadeh Mottaghi, Arghavan Haj-Sheykholeslami, Narjes Khalili, Arash Tehrani Banihashemi

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Background and objectives: Domestic violence is a global problem with severe consequences throughout the life of the victims. Iran’s Ministry of Health has launched an intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention program, integrated in the primary health care services since 2016. The present study is a part of this national program’s evaluation. In this section, we aimed to examine spousal abuse victims’ knowledge and attitude towards domestic violence before and after receivingthese services. Methods: To assess the knowledge and attitudes of victims, a questionnaire designed by Ahmadzadand colleagues in 2013 was used. This questionnaire includes 15 questions regarding knowledge in the fields of definition, epidemiology, and effects on children, outcomes, and prevention of domestic violence. To assess the attitudes, this questionnaire has 10 questions regarding the attitudes toward the causes, effects, and legal or protective support services of domestic violence. To assess the satisfaction and the effect of the program on prevention or reduction of spousal violence episodes, two more questions were also added. Since domestic violence prevalence differs in different parts of the country, we chose nine areas with the highest, the lowest, and moderate prevalence of IPVfor the study. The link to final electronic version of the questionnaire was sent to the randomly selected public rural or urban health centers in the nine chosen areas. Since the study had to be completed in one month, we used newly identified victims as pre-intervention group and people who had at least received one related service from the program (like psychiatric consultation, education about safety measures, supporting organizations and etc.) during the previous year, as our post- intervention group. Results: A hundred and ninety-two newly identified IPV victims and 267 victims who had at least received one related program service during the previous year entered the study. All of the victims were female. Basic characteristics of the two groups, including age, education, occupation, addiction, spouses’ age, spouses’ addiction, duration of the current marriage, and number of children, were not statistically different. In knowledge questions, post- intervention group had statistically better scores in the fields of domestic violence outcomes and its effects on children; however, in the remaining areas, the scores of both groups were similar. The only significant difference in the attitude across the two groups was in the field of legal or protective support services. From the 267 women who had ever received a service from the program, 91.8% were satisfied with the services, and 74% reported a decrease in the number of violent episodes. Conclusion: National IPV prevention program integrated in the primary health care services in Iran is effective in improving the knowledge of victims about domestic violence outcomes and its effects on children. Improving the attitude and knowledge of domestic violence victims about its causes and preventive measures needs more effective interventions. This program can reduce the number of IPV episodes between the spouses, and satisfaction among the service users is high.

Keywords: intimate partner violence, assessment, health services, efficacy

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Authors: Andrew Green, Jiaming Liu, Kellathur Srinivasan, Raymond Chua

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Introduction: The size of Singapore’s online health product (HP) market (e-commerce) is largely unknown. However, it is recognized that a large majority comes from overseas and thus, unregulated. As buying HP from unauthorized sources significantly compromises public health safety, understanding e-commerce users’ demographics and their perceptions on online HP purchasing becomes a pivotal first step to form a basis for recommendations in Singapore’s pharmacovigilance efforts. Objective: To assess the prevalence of online HP purchasing behaviour among Singaporean e-commerce users. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study targeting Singaporean e-commerce users recruited from various local websites and online forums. Participants were not randomized into study arms but instead stratified by random sampling method based on participants’ age. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was used to explore participants' demographics, online HP purchasing behaviour, knowledge and attitude. The association of different variables with online HP purchasing behaviour was analysed using logistic regression statistics. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of HP e-commerce users in Singapore (%) and variables that contribute to the prevalence (adjusted prevalent ratio). Results: The study recruited 372 complete and valid responses. The prevalence of online HP consumers among e-commerce users in Singapore is estimated to be 55.9% (1.7 million consumers). Online purchasing of complementary HP (46.9%) was the most prevalent, followed by medical devices (21.6%) and Western medicine (20.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that age is an independent variable that correlates with the likelihood of buying HP online. The prevalence of HP e-commerce users is highest in the 35-44 age group (64.1%) and lowest among the 16-24 age group (36.4%). The most bought HP through the internet are vitamins and minerals (21.5%), non-herbal (15.9%), herbal (13.9%), weight loss (8.7%) and sports (8.4%) supplements. While the top 3 products are distributed equally between the genders, there is a skew towards female respondents (12.4% in females vs. 4.9% in males) for weight loss supplements and towards males (13.2% in males vs. 3.7% in females) for sports supplements. Even though online consumers are in the younger age brackets, our study found that up to 72.0% of HP bought online are bought for others (buyer’s family and/or friends). Multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between purchasing HP through online means and the perceptions that 'internet is safe' (adjusted Prevalence Ratio=1.15, CI 1.03-1.28), 'buying HP online is time saving' (PR=1.17, CI 1.01-1.36), and 'recognition of HP brand' (PR=1.21 CI 1.06-1.40). Conclusions: This study has provided prevalence data for online HP market in Singapore, and has allowed the country’s regulatory body to formulate a targeted pharmacovigilance approach to this growing problem.

Keywords: e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, pharmacovigilance, Singapore

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Authors: Thaminda Liyanage, Anuga Liyanage, Chamila Kurukulasuriya, Sidath Bandara

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Background: The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is growing rapidly around the world, particularly in Asia. Over the last two decades Sri Lanka has experienced an epidemic of CKD with ever growing number of patients pursuing medical care due to CKD and its complications, specially in the “Mahaweli” river basin in north central region of the island nation. This was apparently a new form of CKD which was not attributable to conventional risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension or infection and widely termed as “CKD-unknown” or “CKDu”. In the past decade a number of small scale studies were conducted to determine the aetiology, prevalence and complications of CKDu in North Central region. These hospital-based studies did not provide an accurate estimate of the problem as merely 10% or less of the people with CKD are aware of their diagnosis even in developed countries with better access to medical care. Interestingly, similar observations were made on the changing epidemiology of obesity in the region but no formal study was conducted to date to determine the magnitude of obesity burden. Moreover, if increasing obesity in the region is associated with CKD epidemic is yet to be explored. Methods: We will conduct an area wide cross sectional survey among all adult residents of the “Mahaweli” development project area 5, in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. We will collect relevant medical history, anthropometric measurements, blood and urine for hematological and biochemical analysis. We expect a participation rate of 75%-85% of all eligible participants. Participation in the study is voluntary, there will be no incentives provided for participation. Every analysis will be conducted in a central laboratory and data will be stored securely. We will calculate the prevalence of obesity and chronic kidney disease, overall and by stage using total number of participants as the denominator and report per 1000 population. The association of obesity and CKD will be assessed with regression models and will be adjusted for potential confounding factors and stratified by potential effect modifiers where appropriate. Results: This study will provide accurate information on the prevalence of obesity and CKD in the region. Furthermore, this will explore the association between obesity and CKD, although causation may not be confirmed. Conclusion: Obesity and CKD are increasingly recognized as major public health problems in Sri Lanka. Clearly, documenting the magnitude of the problem is the essential first step. Our study will provide this vital information enabling the government to plan a coordinated response to tackle both obesity and CKD in the region.

Keywords: BMI, Chronic Kidney Disease, obesity, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Woranittha Kritsarikan

Abstract:

Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets classified as high-power magnets are widely used in various applications such as electrical and medical devices and account for 13.5 % of the permanent magnet’s market. Since its typical composition of 29 - 32 % Nd, 64.2 – 68.5 % Fe and 1 – 1.2 % B contains a significant amount of rare earth metals and will be subjected to shortages in the future. Domestic NdFeB magnet waste recycling should therefore be developed in order to reduce social, environmental impacts toward the circular economy. Most research works focus on recycling the magnet wastes, both from the manufacturing process and end of life. Each type of wastes has different characteristics and compositions. As a result, these directly affect recycling efficiency as well as the types and purity of the recyclable products. This research, therefore, focused on the recycling of manufacturing NdFeB magnet waste obtained from the sintering stage of magnet production and the waste contained 23.6% Nd, 60.3% Fe and 0.261% B in order to recover high purity neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) using hybrid metallurgical process via oxidative roasting and selective leaching techniques. The sintered NdFeB waste was first ground to under 70 mesh prior to oxidative roasting at 550 - 800 ᵒC to enable selective leaching of neodymium in the subsequent leaching step using H₂SO₄ at 2.5 M over 24 hours. The leachate was then subjected to drying and roasting at 700 – 800 ᵒC prior to precipitation by oxalic acid and calcination to obtain neodymium oxide as the recycling product. According to XRD analyses, it was found that increasing oxidative roasting temperature led to the increasing amount of hematite (Fe₂O₃) as the main composition with a smaller amount of magnetite (Fe3O4) found. Peaks of neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) were also observed in a lesser amount. Furthermore, neodymium iron oxide (NdFeO₃) was present and its XRD peaks were pronounced at higher oxidative roasting temperature. When proceeded to acid leaching and drying, iron sulfate and neodymium sulfate were mainly obtained. After the roasting step prior to water leaching, iron sulfate was converted to form hematite as the main compound, while neodymium sulfate remained in the ingredient. However, a small amount of magnetite was still detected by XRD. The higher roasting temperature at 800 ᵒC resulted in a greater Fe2O3 to Nd2(SO4)3 ratio, indicating a more effective roasting temperature. Iron oxides were subsequently water leached and filtered out while the solution contained mainly neodymium sulfate. Therefore, low oxidative roasting temperature not exceeding 600 ᵒC followed by acid leaching and roasting at 800 ᵒC gave the optimum condition for further steps of precipitation and calcination to finally achieve neodymium oxide.

Keywords: NdFeB magnet waste, oxidative roasting, recycling, selective leaching

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