Search results for: case series

Authors: Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Albahar

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This paper aims to answer the question of: is oil as a natural resource with all the wealth that it brings an economic burden? And how can resource curse be mitigated in such oil dependent nations? The case of Kuwait will be used as an example. The paper begins with an introduction of the resource curse and the Kuwaiti economy in general. Then there is an attempt to see that does the curse exist in the case for Kuwait. Furthermore, in the analysis section, an exploration on how the economy is dependent on oil and how oil is more of a burden if there is mismanagement is conducted. Later on, in answering on how to mitigate the problem of a resource curse, the case of Norway is explored. In concluding the paper, the results do show that oil rentals affects the Kuwaiti economy via 2 main channels, these are government spending that are mainly financed via oil rentals and exportation of oil based products. The surprising result was that government spending had a negative impact on GDP (gross domestic product) growth when oil rentals where instrumented on government expenditure, this is due to the issue of rent seeking in which government spending in Kuwait is financing things such as stimulus packages and raising the nominal wages. Yet, when comparing the magnitude of both oil exportation and government spending, the latter has a stronger effect on the GDP (gross domestic product) growth than the former. A resource curse doesn’t seem to exist in the case of Kuwait however, the characteristics of a curse do show in the form of rent seeking in the political sphere, the disruption of the traditional sectors like that of pearl trade and fishing markets. Yet, a curse doesn’t show due to the fact that the currency of the nation is very stable and hasn’t experienced any appreciation because of the fixed exchange rate system. Moreover, even if we can’t say that a curse exists, it is clear to see that the Kuwaiti economy is heading towards one. Whether or not it faces a resource curse will be based on how judicious the nation will be in exploiting their sovereign wealth fund and implementing diversification strategies to be less oil dependent like the vision “New Kuwait-2035” which has been underway since 2017.

Keywords: economic development, Kuwait, oil curse, dutch disease

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Authors: P. Tsarouhas, Ch. Achillas, D. Aidonis, D. Folinas, V. Maslis, N. Moussiopoulos

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Agricultural production is a sector with high socioeconomic significance and key implications on employment and nutritional security. However, the impacts of agrifood production and consumption patterns on the environment are considerable, mainly due to the demand of large inputs of resources. This paper presents a case study of olive oil production in Greece, an important agri-product especially for countries in the Mediterranean basin. Life Cycle Analysis has been used to quantify the environmental performance of olive oil production. All key parameters that are associated with the life cycle of olive oil production are studied and environmental “hotspots” are diagnosed.

Keywords: LCA, olive oil production, environmental impact, case study, Greece

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Authors: Chui Ling Teng, R. Matsa

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We report a case with combined overdose of Lercanidipine (non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker), Quetiapine (Atypical antipsychotic), Ramipril and Duloxetine. A 66-year old male presented to the Emergency Department 12-hours after the ingestion of 1.2g Lercanidipine, 3g Quetiapine, 280mg of Ramipril and 420mg of Duloxetine. He describes lethargic, drowsiness and was unable to pass any urine since overdosed. He was found to be bradycardic, hypotensive and anuric. He had refractory hypotension and anuric despite fluid resuscitation, glucagon therapy and intravenous naloxone. His care was escalated to Intensive care, requiring noradrenaline, adrenaline, vasopressin, and hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemia therapy. He achieved haemodynamic stability and kidney function improved gradually with the support received. The total length of therapy lasted for 30 horus in which individual therapy was weaned down based on the requirement. He was then transferred to medical ward for further psychiatric assessment. This is a the first repored case of mixed overdose with lercanidipine, Quetiapine, Rampmipril and Duloxetine.

Keywords: calcium channel blocker, hyperinsulinaemic Euglycaemia therapy, lercanidipine, overdose

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Authors: O. Nthoi-Molefe, V. Makwinja

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In the North West district of Botswana, Heritage tourism has the potential to offer tremendous economic and social opportunities for local communities in terms of supporting Tourism product development and entrepreneurship. This paper Identifies that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneur brings to the market goods and services, organizes and runs cultural heritage in a commercial or non-profit manner depending on characteristics of cultural resources identified. Data was collected through a series of focus group discussions that included sixteen village community members within the region. Data collected was transcribed and then further analyzed thematically to bring forward results to be analysed. Using Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site as a case study, the researchers acknowledged that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs in that area should use a creative approach in order toidentify suitable solutions for financing different tourism activities starting with sponsored events, grant funds, donations, including the benefits of financial opportunities brough be foreign visitors and domestic tourists alike. The researchers also identified a need for specialized training for the identified entrepreneurs in order to maintain quality services of tourism products and sites (interpretation), information for tourists, visitation services, diversification, and upgrading of the heritage experience. The research reveals that the identified Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs prefer economic motivation, exploitation over the cultural value of their resources, further calling for recommendations of the research that emphasize on the need for detailed training on how to valorize their cultural resources for the growth of Tourism in the area.

Keywords: education, community development, entrepreneurship, cultural tourism

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Authors: Marwa Djebbi, Hakim Gabtni

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Gravity is a continuously advancing method that has become a mature technology for geological studies. Increasingly, it has been used to complement and constrain traditional seismic data and even used as the only tool to get information of the sub-surface. In fact, in some regions the seismic data, if available, are of poor quality and hard to be interpreted. Such is the case for the current study area. The Nefza zone is part of the Tellian fold and thrust belt domain in the north west of Tunisia. It is essentially made of a pile of allochthonous units resulting from a major Neogene tectonic event. Its tectonic and stratigraphic developments have always been subject of controversies. Considering the geological and hydrogeological importance of this area, a detailed interdisciplinary study has been conducted integrating geology, seismic and gravity techniques. The interpretation of Gravity data allowed the delimitation of the dune reservoir and the identification of the regional lineaments contouring the area. It revealed the presence of three gravity lows that correspond to the dune of Zouara and Ouchtata separated along with a positive gravity axis espousing the Ain Allega_Aroub Er Roumane axe. The Bouguer gravity map illustrated the compartmentalization of the Zouara dune into two depressions separated by a NW-SE anomaly trend. This constitution was confirmed by the vertical derivative map which showed the individualization of two depressions with slightly different anomaly values. The horizontal gravity gradient magnitude was performed in order to determine the different geological features present in the studied area. The latest indicated the presence of NE-SW parallel folds according to the major Atlasic direction. Also, NW-SE and EW trends were identified. The maxima tracing confirmed this direction by the presence of NE-SW faults, mainly the Ghardimaou_Cap Serrat accident. The quality of the available seismic sections and the absence of borehole data in the region, except few hydraulic wells that been drilled and showing the heterogeneity of the substratum of the dune, required the process of gravity modeling of this challenging area that necessitates to be modeled for the geometrical characterization of the dune reservoir and determine the different stratigraphic series underneath these deposits. For more detailed and accurate results, the scale of study will be reduced in coming research. A more concise method will be elaborated; the 4D microgravity survey. This approach is considered as an expansion of gravity method and its fourth dimension is time. It will allow a continuous and repeated monitoring of fluid movement in the subsurface according to the micro gal (μgall) scale. The gravity effect is a result of a monthly variation of the dynamic groundwater level which correlates with rainfall during different periods.

Keywords: 3D gravity modeling, dune reservoir, heterogeneous substratum, seismic interpretation

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Authors: Do Su Park, Sang Jun Park, Cheon Soon Jeong

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This study was performed in order to investigate the optimum ripening conditions for the marketing of Squash. Research sample 'Bochang' was grown at Hongcheonin in Gangwon province in August 2014. Ripening the samples were stored under the conditions of 25℃, 30℃, and 35℃ with the humidity RH70 ± 5%. They were checked every 3 days for 21 days. The respiration rate, water loss, hardness, coloration, the contents of soluble solids, starch, total sugar were evaluated after storage. Respiration rate was reduced in all treatments with longer storage period. Water loss was increased in the higher temperature. The 13% water loss was found at 35℃ on 21st storage day. The store initially 25℃ and 30℃ Hardness 47N and the ripening 21 days decreased slightly. On the other hand, in the case of 35℃ showed a large reduction than 25℃ and 30℃. Soluble solid contents were increased with longer ripening period. 30℃ and 35℃ was highest ripening 15 days. In the case of 25℃, it was highest on 21th day. The higher the temperature, the higher the soluble solids content are. 25℃ and 30℃ Coloration was increased rapidly until the ripening 12 days. In case of 35℃, continued increase up to 21 days. 25℃ and 30℃ showed no differences. Meanwhile, in case of 35℃, appearance quality was reduced in Occurrence of yellowing phenomenon of pericarp occurs from after ripening for 9 days. The coloration of fruit flesh is increase until after ripening for 9 days and decrease from after ripening for 9 days. There was no significant difference depending on the conditions of temperature. The higher the temperature, the lower the content of the starch. In case of 30℃ and 35℃, was reduced with longer storage period. 25℃ was minimal content change. Total sugar was increased in all treatments with longer storage period. The higher the temperature, the higher the amount of total sugar content is. Therefore, at 25℃ for 18-21 days and at 30℃ for 12-15 days is suitable for ripening.

Keywords: marketing, ripening, temperature, winter squash

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Authors: A. Zaher, A. Traore, F. Thiéry, T. Talbert, B. Shaer

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In this paper, an intelligent approach is proposed to optimize the orientation of continuous solar tracking systems on cloudy days. Considering the weather case, the direct sunlight is more important than the diffuse radiation in case of clear sky. Thus, the panel is always pointed towards the sun. In case of an overcast sky, the solar beam is close to zero, and the panel is placed horizontally to receive the maximum of diffuse radiation. Under partly covered conditions, the panel must be pointed towards the source that emits the maximum of solar energy and it may be anywhere in the sky dome. Thus, the idea of our approach is to analyze the images, captured by ground-based sky camera system, in order to detect the zone in the sky dome which is considered as the optimal source of energy under cloudy conditions. The proposed approach is implemented using experimental setup developed at PROMES-CNRS laboratory in Perpignan city (France). Under overcast conditions, the results were very satisfactory, and the intelligent approach has provided efficiency gains of up to 9% relative to conventional continuous sun tracking systems.

Keywords: clouds detection, fuzzy inference systems, images processing, sun trackers

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Authors: Maryam Ghoreishi, Christian Larsen

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In this paper, we investigate the effect of stochastic inputs on problem of joint optimal pricing and lot-sizing decisions where the inventory cycle is divided into advance and spot sales periods. During the advance sales period, customer can make reservations while customer with reservations can cancel their order. However, during the spot sales period customers receive the order as soon as the order is placed, but they cannot make any reservation or cancellation during that period. We assume that the inter arrival times during the advance sales and spot sales period are exponentially distributed where the arrival rate is decreasing function of price. Moreover, we assume that the number of cancelled reservations is binomially distributed. In addition, we assume that deterioration process follows an exponential distribution. We investigate two cases. First, we consider two-state case where we find the optimal price during the spot sales period and the optimal price during the advance sales period. Next, we develop a generalized case where we extend two-state case also to allow dynamic prices during the spot sales period. We apply the Markov decision theory in order to find the optimal solutions. In addition, for the generalized case, we apply the policy iteration algorithm in order to find the optimal prices, the optimal lot-size and maximum advance sales amount.

Keywords: inventory control, pricing, Markov decision theory, advance sales system

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Authors: Yujun Liu, Maosheng Ran

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Background: Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers’ mental health problems raise attentions from different social sectors. However, situation of present mental health services provided to this population has not been discovered. This study attempts to describe the current mental health service situation, identify the gaps and give the future directions based on the quantitative data. Methods: Questionnaire surveys were conducted among 2017 rural-to-urban migrant workers in 13 cities and 100 social work service organizations in 5 cities in 2014. Data was collected by face-to-face structured interview by trained interviewers. Findings: Migrant workers’ mental health status was not good. Compared to the severity of mental distress, mental health service for this population was lacking and insufficient, which accounted for only 14.4% of all services in our sample. And the group work and case work were the most frequently-used methods. By estimating a series of regression models, we revealed that life experiences and working conditions were significantly associated with migrant workers’ mental health status. Therefore, the macro social work practices aimed at this whole group were advocated to promote their mental wellbeing. That is, practitioners should not only focus on the improvement of migrant workers’ emotion management capacity, but also pay attention to raise awareness and improve their living and working condition; not only concentrate on the solving of individuals’ dilemma, but also promote gradual reformation of present labor regime and hukou system in China.

Keywords: Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers, macro social work practice, mental health service needs, mental health status

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Authors: Reza Soleimanpour, Ching Tai Ng

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Fibre-composites are widely used in various structures due to their attractive properties such as higher stiffness to mass ratio and better corrosion resistance compared to metallic materials. However, one serious weakness of this composite material is delamination, which is a subsurface separation of laminae. A low level of this barely visible damage can cause a significant reduction in residual compressive strength. In the last decade, the application of guided waves for damage detection has been a topic of significant interest for many researches. Among all guided wave techniques, nonlinear guided wave has shown outstanding sensitivity and capability for detecting different types of damages, e.g. cracks and delaminations. So far, most of researches on applications of nonlinear guided wave have been dedicated to isotropic material, such as aluminium and steel, while only a few works have been done on applications of nonlinear characteristics of guided waves in anisotropic materials. This study investigates the nonlinear interactions of the fundamental antisymmetric lamb wave (A0) with delamination in composite laminates using three-dimensional (3D) explicit finite element (FE) simulations. The nonlinearity considered in this study arises from interactions of two interfaces of sub-laminates at the delamination region, which generates contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN). The aim of this research is to investigate the phenomena of CAN in composite laminated beams by a series of numerical case studies. In this study interaction of fundamental antisymmetric lamb wave with delamination of different sizes are studied in detail. The results show that the A0 lamb wave interacts with the delaminations generating CAN in the form of higher harmonics, which is a good indicator for determining the existence of delaminations in composite laminates.

Keywords: contact acoustic nonlinearity, delamination, fibre reinforced composite beam, finite element, nonlinear guided waves

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Authors: R. Morbidelli, C. Saltalippi, A. Flammini, A. Garcia-Marin, J. L. Ayuso-Munoz

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The climate change, mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions associated to human activities, has been modifying hydrologic processes with a direct effect on air surface temperature that has significantly increased in the last century at global scale. In this context the Mediterranean area is considered to be particularly sensitive to the climate change impacts on temperature indices. An analysis finalized to study the evolution of temperature indices and to check the existence of significant trends in the Umbria Region (Italy) is presented. Temperature data were obtained by seven meteorological stations uniformly distributed in the study area and characterized by very long series of temperature observations (at least 60 years) spanning the 1924-2015 period. A set of 39 temperature indices represented by monthly and annual mean, average maximum and average minimum temperatures, has been derived. The trend analysis was realized by applying the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test, while the non-parametric Pettit test and the parametric Standard Normal Homogeneity test (SNHT) were used to check the presence of breakpoints or in-homogeneities due to environmental changes/anthropic activity or climate change effects. The Umbria region, in agreement with other recent studies exploring the temperature behavior in Italy, shows a general increase in all temperature indices, with the only exception of Gubbio site that exhibits very light negative trends or absence of trend. The presence of break points and in-homogeneity was widely explored through the selected tests and the results were checked on the basis of the well-known metadata of the meteorological stations.

Keywords: reception theory, reading, literary translation, horizons of expectation, reader

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Authors: Firouz Amani, Adalat Hoseinian, Sajjad Hakimian

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Background: The mortality due to Myocardial Infarction (MI) is often occur during the first hours after onset of symptom. So, for taking the necessary treatment and decreasing the mortality rate, timely visited of the hospital could be effective in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of effective factors in mortality of MI patients by using Linear Logistic Regression. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, all patients with Acute MI who referred to the Ardabil city hospital were studied. All of died patients were considered as the case group (n=27) and we select 27 matched patients without Acute MI as a control group. Data collected for all patients in two groups by a same checklist and then analyzed by SPSS version 24 software using statistical methods. We used the linear logistic regression model to determine the effective factors on mortality of MI patients. Results: The mean age of patients in case group was significantly higher than control group (75.1±11.7 vs. 63.1±11.6, p=0.001).The history of non-cardinal diseases in case group with 44.4% significantly higher than control group with 7.4% (p=0.002).The number of performed PCIs in case group with 40.7% significantly lower than control group with 74.1% (P=0.013). The time distance between hospital admission and performed PCI in case group with 110.9 min was significantly upper than control group with 56 min (P=0.001). The mean of delay time from Onset of symptom to hospital admission (patient delay) and the mean of delay time from hospital admissions to receive treatment (system delay) was similar between two groups. By using logistic regression model we revealed that history of non-cardinal diseases (OR=283) and the number of performed PCIs (OR=24.5) had significant impact on mortality of MI patients in compare to other factors. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that of all studied factors, the number of performed PCIs, history of non-cardinal illness and the interval between onset of symptoms and performed PCI have significant relation with morality of MI patients and other factors were not meaningful. So, doing more studies with a large sample and investigated other involved factors such as smoking, weather and etc. is recommended in future.

Keywords: acute MI, mortality, heart failure, arrhythmia

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Authors: Aleksandra Dudkowska, Gabriela Gic-Grusza

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Wind wave-induced sediment transport is an important multidimensional and multiscale dynamic process affecting coastal seabed changes and coastline evolution. The knowledge about sediment transport rate is important to solve many environmental and geotechnical issues. There are many types of sediment transport models but none of them is widely accepted. It is bacause the process is not fully defined. Another problem is a lack of sufficient measurment data to verify proposed hypothesis. There are different types of models for longshore sediment transport (LST, which is discussed in this work) and cross-shore transport which is related to different time and space scales of the processes. There are models describing bed-load transport (discussed in this work), suspended and total sediment transport. LST models use among the others the information about (i) the flow velocity near the bottom, which in case of wave-currents interaction in coastal zone is a separate problem (ii) critical bed shear stress that strongly depends on the type of sediment and complicates in the case of heterogeneous sediment. Moreover, LST rate is strongly dependant on the local environmental conditions. To organize existing knowledge a series of sediment transport models intercomparisons was carried out as a part of the project “Development of a predictive model of morphodynamic changes in the coastal zone”. Four classical one-grid-point models were studied and intercompared over wide range of bottom shear stress conditions, corresponding with wind-waves conditions appropriate for coastal zone in polish marine areas. The set of models comprises classical theories that assume simplified influence of turbulence on the sediment transport (Du Boys, Meyer-Peter & Muller, Ribberink, Engelund & Hansen). It turned out that the values of estimated longshore instantaneous mass sediment transport are in general in agreement with earlier studies and measurements conducted in the area of interest. However, none of the formulas really stands out from the rest as being particularly suitable for the test location over the whole analyzed flow velocity range. Therefore, based on the models discussed a new unified formula for longshore sediment transport rate estimation is introduced, which constitutes the main original result of this study. Sediment transport rate is calculated based on the bed shear stress and critical bed shear stress. The dependence of environmental conditions is expressed by one coefficient (in a form of constant or function) thus the model presented can be quite easily adjusted to the local conditions. The discussion of the importance of each model parameter for specific velocity ranges is carried out. Moreover, it is shown that the value of near-bottom flow velocity is the main determinant of longshore bed-load in storm conditions. Thus, the accuracy of the results depends less on the sediment transport model itself and more on the appropriate modeling of the near-bottom velocities.

Keywords: bedload transport, longshore sediment transport, sediment transport models, coastal zone

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Authors: Seong Hyeok Lee, Jin Wook Lee, Bu Seog Ju, Woo Young Jung

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Korea Train eXpress (KTX) is now being operated, which allows Korea being one of the countries that operates the high-speed rail system. The high-speed rail has its advantage of short time transportation of population and materials, which lead to many researches performed in this matter. In the case of high speed classical trackbed system, the maintenance and usability of gravel ballast system is costly. Recently, the concrete trackbed structure has been introduced as a replacement of classical trackbed system. In this case, the sleeper plays a critical role. Current study investigated to develop the track sleepers readily applicable to the top of the asphalt trackbed, as part of the trcakbed study utilizing the asphalt material. Among many possible shapes and design of sleepers, current study proposed two types of wide-sleepers according to the shear-key installation method. The structural behavior analysis and safety evaluation on each case was conducted using Korean design standard.

Keywords: wide sleepers, asphalt, high-speed railway, shear-key

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Authors: Zeinabsadat Haghshenas

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Bloom’s Taxonomy has been changed during the years. The idea of this writing is about the revision that has happened in both facts and terms. It also contains case studies of using cognitive Bloom’s taxonomy in teaching geometric solids to the secondary school students, affective objectives in a creative workshop for adults and psychomotor objectives in fixing a malfunctioned refrigerator lamp. There is also pointed to the important role of classification objectives in adult education as a way to prevent memory loss.

Keywords: adult education, affective domain, cognitive domain, memory loss, psychomotor domain

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Authors: Kyungsuk Cho, Seungun Chae, Jihun Choi

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Elevators are examined as one of evacuation methods in super-tall buildings. However, data on the use of elevators for evacuation at a fire are extremely scarce. Therefore, a test to measure delay time in using an evacuation elevator was conducted. In the test, time taken to get on and get off an elevator was measured and the case in which people gave up boarding when the capacity of the elevator was exceeded was also taken into consideration. 170 men and women participated in the test, 130 of whom were young people (20 ~ 50 years old) and 40 were senior citizens (over 60 years old). The capacity of the elevator was 25 people and it travelled between the 2nd and 4th floors. A video recording device was used to analyze the test. An elevator at an ordinary building, not a super-tall building, was used in the test to measure delay time in getting on and getting off an elevator. In order to minimize interference from other elements, elevator platforms on the 2nd and 4th floors were partitioned off. The elevator travelled between the 2nd and 4th floors where people got on and off. If less than 20 people got on the elevator which was empty, the data were excluded. If the elevator carrying 10 passengers stopped and less than 10 new passengers got on the elevator, the data were excluded. Getting-on an empty elevator was observed 49 times. The average number of passengers was 23.7, it took 14.98 seconds for the passengers to get on the empty elevator and the load factor was 1.67 N/s. It took the passengers, whose average number was 23.7, 10.84 seconds to get off the elevator and the unload factor was 2.33 N/s. When an elevator’s capacity is exceeded, the excessive number of people should get off. Time taken for it and the probability of the case were measure in the test. 37% of the times of boarding experienced excessive number of people. As the number of people who gave up boarding increased, the load factor of the ride decreased. When 1 person gave up boarding, the load factor was 1.55 N/s. The case was observed 10 times, which was 12.7% of the total. When 2 people gave up boarding, the load factor was 1.15 N/s. The case was observed 7 times, which was 8.9% of the total. When 3 people gave up boarding, the load factor was 1.26 N/s. The case was observed 4 times, which was 5.1% of the total. When 4 people gave up boarding, the load factor was 1.03 N/s. The case was observed 5 times, which was 6.3% of the total. Getting-on and getting-off time data for people who can walk freely were obtained from the test. In addition, quantitative results were obtained from the relation between the number of people giving up boarding and time taken for getting on. This work was supported by the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) grant by the Korea government (MSIP) (No. CRC-16-02-KICT).

Keywords: evacuation elevator, super tall buildings, evacuees, delay time

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Authors: Kechnit Djamel, Ammarri Abdelhadi, Raphael Tshimang, Mark Trrig

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One of the most important aspects of monitoring rivers is navigation. The variation of discharge in the river generally produces a change in available draft for a vessel, particularly in the low flow season, which can impact the navigable water path, especially when the water depth is less than the normal one, which allows safe navigation for boats. The water depth is related to the bathymetry of the channel as well as the discharge. For a seasonal update of the navigation maps, a daily discharge value is required. Many novel approaches based on earth observation and remote sensing have been investigated for large rivers. However, it should be noted that most of these approaches are not currently able to directly estimate river discharge. This paper discusses the application of remote sensing tools using the analysis of the reflectance value of MODIS imagery and is combined with field measurements for the estimation of discharge. This approach is applied in the lower reach of the Congo River (Pool Malebo) for the period between 2019 and 2021. The correlation obtained between the observed discharge observed in the gauging station and the reflectance ratio time series is 0.81. In this context, a Discharge Reflectance Model (DRM) was developed to express discharge as a function of reflectance. This model introduces a non-contact method that allows discharge monitoring using earth observation. DRM was validated by field measurements using ADCP, in different sections on the Pool Malebo, over two different periods (dry and wet seasons), as well as by the observed discharge in the gauging station. The observed error between the estimated and measured discharge values ranges from 1 to 8% for the ADCP and from (1% to 11%) for the gauging station. The study of the uncertainties will give us the possibility to judge the robustness of the DRM.

Keywords: discharge monitoring, navigation, MODIS, empiric, ADCP, Congo River

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Authors: Nadarajah I. Ramesh

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Much of the research on stochastic point process models for rainfall has focused on Poisson cluster models constructed from either the Neyman-Scott or Bartlett-Lewis processes. The doubly stochastic Poisson process provides a rich class of point process models, especially for fine-scale rainfall modelling. This paper provides an account of recent development on this topic and presents the results based on some of the fine-scale rainfall models constructed from this class of stochastic point processes. Amongst the literature on stochastic models for rainfall, greater emphasis has been placed on modelling rainfall data recorded at hourly or daily aggregation levels. Stochastic models for sub-hourly rainfall are equally important, as there is a need to reproduce rainfall time series at fine temporal resolutions in some hydrological applications. For example, the study of climate change impacts on hydrology and water management initiatives requires the availability of data at fine temporal resolutions. One approach to generating such rainfall data relies on the combination of an hourly stochastic rainfall simulator, together with a disaggregator making use of downscaling techniques. Recent work on this topic adopted a different approach by developing specialist stochastic point process models for fine-scale rainfall aimed at generating synthetic precipitation time series directly from the proposed stochastic model. One strand of this approach focused on developing a class of doubly stochastic Poisson process (DSPP) models for fine-scale rainfall to analyse data collected in the form of rainfall bucket tip time series. In this context, the arrival pattern of rain gauge bucket tip times N(t) is viewed as a DSPP whose rate of occurrence varies according to an unobserved finite state irreducible Markov process X(t). Since the likelihood function of this process can be obtained, by conditioning on the underlying Markov process X(t), the models were fitted with maximum likelihood methods. The proposed models were applied directly to the raw data collected by tipping-bucket rain gauges, thus avoiding the need to convert tip-times to rainfall depths prior to fitting the models. One advantage of this approach was that the use of maximum likelihood methods enables a more straightforward estimation of parameter uncertainty and comparison of sub-models of interest. Another strand of this approach employed the DSPP model for the arrivals of rain cells and attached a pulse or a cluster of pulses to each rain cell. Different mechanisms for the pattern of the pulse process were used to construct variants of this model. We present the results of these models when they were fitted to hourly and sub-hourly rainfall data. The results of our analysis suggest that the proposed class of stochastic models is capable of reproducing the fine-scale structure of the rainfall process, and hence provides a useful tool in hydrological modelling.

Keywords: fine-scale rainfall, maximum likelihood, point process, stochastic model

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Authors: Sunghae Jun

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Technology management (TM) is important issue in a company improving the competitiveness. Among many activities of TM, technology analysis (TA) is important factor, because most decisions for management of technology are decided by the results of TA. TA is to analyze the developed results of target technology using statistics or Delphi. TA based on Delphi is depended on the experts’ domain knowledge, in comparison, TA by statistics and machine learning algorithms use objective data such as patent or paper instead of the experts’ knowledge. Many quantitative TA methods based on statistics and machine learning have been studied, and these have been used for technology forecasting, technological innovation, and management of technology. They applied diverse computing tools and many analytical methods case by case. It is not easy to select the suitable software and statistical method for given TA work. So, in this paper, we propose a methodology for quantitative TA using statistical computing software called R and data science to construct a general framework of TA. From the result of case study, we also show how our methodology is applied to real field. This research contributes to R&D planning and technology valuation in TM areas.

Keywords: technology management, R system, R data science, statistics, machine learning

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Authors: Fethia Braik

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This paper summarizes the history of the US Supreme Court. It did not enjoy today’s status. It did neither control legislation nor the executive power. It was until 1803, during Marshall’s term, that it gained the pride of ruling over the constitutionality of acts be they federal or local, congressional or presidential. The Chief Justice, whether intended or not, vested such power in the supreme judicial institution via the case of Marbury v. Madison. Such power, nevertheless, had not been exercised for many years, till the Dred Scott case.

Keywords: Judiciary Acts 1789, 1801, chief justice, associate justice, justice of peace, review of constitutionality of acts, Jay court, Ellsworth court, Marshall court

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Authors: A. V. Varfolomeeva, N. S. Tkachenko, A. G. Tishchenko

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The problem of violation of internal validity in studies of psychological structures is considered. The role of epistemological attitudes of researchers in the planning of research within the methodology of the system-evolutionary approach is assessed. Alternative programs of psychological research involving representatives of different biological species are presented. On the example of the results of two research series the variants of solving the problem are discussed.

Keywords: epistemological attitudes, experimental design, validity, psychological structure, learning

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Authors: M. Mulumpwa, W. W. L. Jere, M. Lazaro, A. H. N. Mtethiwa

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The study considered Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) processes to select an appropriate stochastic model to forecast the monthly data from the Lake Malawi water levels for the period 1986 through 2015. The appropriate model was chosen based on SARIMA (p, d, q) (P, D, Q)S. The Autocorrelation function (ACF), Partial autocorrelation (PACF), Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), Box–Ljung statistics, correlogram and distribution of residual errors were estimated. The SARIMA (1, 1, 0) (1, 1, 1)12 was selected to forecast the monthly data of the Lake Malawi water levels from August, 2015 to December, 2021. The plotted time series showed that the Lake Malawi water levels are decreasing since 2010 to date but not as much as was the case in 1995 through 1997. The future forecast of the Lake Malawi water levels until 2021 showed a mean of 474.47 m ranging from 473.93 to 475.02 meters with a confidence interval of 80% and 90% against registered mean of 473.398 m in 1997 and 475.475 m in 1989 which was the lowest and highest water levels in the lake respectively since 1986. The forecast also showed that the water levels of Lake Malawi will drop by 0.57 meters as compared to the mean water levels recorded in the previous years. These results suggest that the Lake Malawi water level may not likely go lower than that recorded in 1997. Therefore, utilisation and management of water-related activities and programs among others on the lake should provide room for such scenarios. The findings suggest a need to manage the Lake Malawi jointly and prudently with other stakeholders starting from the catchment area. This will reduce impacts of anthropogenic activities on the lake’s water quality, water level, aquatic and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems thereby ensuring its resilience to climate change impacts.

Keywords: forecasting, Lake Malawi, water levels, water level fluctuation, climate change, anthropogenic activities

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Authors: Fengjuan Wang, Azilawati Jamaludin

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Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is defined as a particular learning difficulty with continuous challenges in learning requisite math skills that cannot be explained by intellectual disability or educational deprivation. Recent studies have increasingly recognized that DD is a heterogeneous, instead of monolithic, learning disorder with not only cognitive and behavioral deficits but so too neural dysfunction. In recent years, neuroimaging studies employed group comparison to explore the neural underpinnings of DD, which contradicted the heterogenous nature of DD and may obfuscate critical individual differences. This research aimed to investigate the neural heterogeneity of DD using case studies with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). A total of 54 aged 6-7 years old of children participated in this study, comprising two comprehensive cognitive assessments, an 8-minute resting state, and an 8-minute one-digit addition task. Nine children met the criteria of DD and scored at or below 85 (i.e., the 16th percentile) on the Mathematics or Math Fluency subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-III) (both subtest scores were 90 and below). The remaining 45 children formed the typically developing (TD) group. Resting-state data and brain activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) were collected for comparison between each case and the TD group. Graph theory was used to analyze the brain network under the resting state. This theory represents the brain network as a set of nodes--brain regions—and edges—pairwise interactions across areas to reveal the architectural organizations of the nervous network. Next, a single-case methodology developed by Crawford et al. in 2010 was used to compare each case’s brain network indicators and brain activation against 45 TD children’s average data. Results showed that three out of the nine DD children displayed significant deviation from TD children’s brain indicators. Case 1 had inefficient nodal network properties. Case 2 showed inefficient brain network properties and weaker activation in the IFG and IPS areas. Case 3 displayed inefficient brain network properties with no differences in activation patterns. As a rise above, the present study was able to distill differences in architectural organizations and brain activation of DD vis-à-vis TD children using fNIRS and single-case methodology. Although DD is regarded as a heterogeneous learning difficulty, it is noted that all three cases showed lower nodal efficiency in the brain network, which may be one of the neural sources of DD. Importantly, although the current “brain norm” established for the 45 children is tentative, the results from this study provide insights not only for future work in “developmental brain norm” with reliable brain indicators but so too the viability of single-case methodology, which could be used to detect differential brain indicators of DD children for early detection and interventions.

Keywords: brain activation, brain network, case study, developmental dyscalculia, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, graph theory, neural heterogeneity

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Authors: Yan Li

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Purpose: There is a lack of suitable recommendation systems to assist engineering teaching. The existing traditional engineering pedagogies lack learning interests for postgraduate students. The knowledge graph-based recommender system aims to enhance postgraduate students’ programming skills, with a focus on programming courses. Design/methodology/approach: The case study will be used as a major research method, and the two case studies will be taken in both two teaching styles of the universities (Zhejiang University and the University of Nottingham Ningbo China), followed by the interviews. Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be combined in this study. Research limitations/implications: The case studies were only focused on two teaching styles universities, which is not comprehensive enough. The subject was limited to postgraduate students. Originality/value: The study collected and analyzed the data from two teaching styles of universities’ perspectives. It explored the challenges of Engineering education and tried to seek potential enhancement.

Keywords: knowledge graph and recommender system, engineering pedagogy, programming skills, postgraduate students

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Authors: Merav Rabinovich

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Background: Psychoanalytic and cognitive therapy attend problems from a different point of view. At the recent decade the integrating movement gaining momentum. However only little has been studied regarding the theoretical interrelationship among these therapy approaches. Method: 33 transference case-studies that were published in peer-reviewed academic journals were coded by Luborsky's Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) method (components of wish, response from other – real or imaginal - and the response of self). CCRT analysis was conducted through tailor-made method, a valid tool to identify transference patterns. Rabinovich and Kacen's (2010, 2013) Relationship Between Categories (RBC) method was used to analyze the relationship among these transference patterns with cognitive and behavior components appearing at those psychoanalytic case-studies. Result: 30 of 33 cases (90%) were found to connect the transference themes with cognitive overgeneralization. In these cases, overgeneralizations were organized around Luborsky's transference themes of response from other and response of self. Additionally, overgeneralization was found to be an antithesis of the wish component, and the tension between them found to be linked with powerful behavioral and emotional reactions. Conclusion: The findings indicate that thinking distortions of overgeneralization (cognitive therapy) are the actual expressions of transference patterns. These findings point to a theoretical junction, a platform for clinical integration. Awareness to this junction can help therapists to promote well psychotherapy outcomes relying on the accumulative wisdom of the different therapies.

Keywords: transference, overgeneralization, theoretical integration, case-study metasynthesis, CCRT method, RBC method

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Authors: James Alberto Ortega Morales, Nelson Andrés Martínez Marín

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The bulding industry is one of the most important sectors all around the world in terms of contribution to index like GDP and labor. On the other hand, it is a major contributor to Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and waste generation contributing to global warming. In this sense, it is necessary to establish sustainable practices both from the strategic point of view to the operations point of view as well in all business and industries. Business models don’t scape to this reality attending it´s mediator role between strategy and operations. Business models can turn from the traditional practices searching economic benefits to sustainable bussines models that generate both economic value and value for society and the environment. Recent advances in the analysis of sustainable business models find different classifications that allow finding potential triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental) solutions applicable in every business sector. Into the metioned Advances have been identified, 11 groups and 45 patterns of sustainable business models have been identified; such patterns can be found either in the business models as a whole or found concurrently in their components. This article presents the analysis of a case study, seeking to identify the components and elements that are part of it, using the ECO CANVAS conceptual model. The case study allows showing the concurrent existence of different patterns of business models for sustainability empirically, serving as an example and inspiration for other Latin American companies interested in integrating sustainability into their new and existing business models.

Keywords: sustainable business models, business sustainability, business model patterns, case study, construction industry

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Authors: Rose Virginy S. Bautista, Ida Marie Tabangay-Lim, Helen Bongalon-Amo, Jose Modesto B. Abellera

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Chordomas, particularly those of the spine and the head and neck region, represent a rare and locally aggressive group of malignancies. The complexity of these tumors -given the rarity, location, and involvement of neurovascular structures- imposes a challenge in the diagnosis and management. We herein report a case of spinal cord compression due to a prevertebral cervical chordoma. The patient presented with a gradually enlarging lateral neck mass, with progressive bilateral extremity weakness and urinary incontinence; preoperative biopsy showed chordoma. A multidisciplinary approach for the management of this case was made, involving neurosurgery, head and neck surgery, and radiation oncology services. Surgical collaboration between the two cutting services was done to have a radical excision of the tumor and spinal cord decompression. The patient was then referred for adjuvant radiation therapy. With this collaborative treatment strategy, more comprehensive and quality care could be provided to our patients.

Keywords: chordoma, surgical collaboration, spinal cord compression, neurosurgery, head and neck surgery

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Authors: Hatun Korkmaz

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Todays, the developing countries of the world widely face challenges of economic growth, political, social and human development. One of the ways to achieve economic, political and human development is good governance. Without an improvement in good governance, the objectives of human development cannot be achieved. The good governance has become a key issue over preceding two decades and it is the very important component of good economic growth and human development. This paper argues that good governance impacts positively human development with the case of Rwanda. Rwanda is a good example of this subject. In this paper, firstly we explained that what is good governance and human development and how we measure them. Then we researched the relationship between good governance and human development in case of Rwanda with the indexes of many international institutions which are researching in this topics. Rwanda has recorded the 'best progress' since the year 2000, making it the ‘most successful' about governance. Rwanda is seen as one of the top ten countries in the region in terms of relative peace, political stability and economic progress. Part of the reason for Rwanda's success is accountability, which comprises access to information, elimination of corruption and bureaucracy and transparency in public service, which variables cumulatively earned it 72.1 percent. According to this research If countries want batter growth and human development then good reforms of good governance is needed.

Keywords: human development, Rwanda, good governance, governance, development

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Authors: Zerrin Orbak, Busra Demir

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Osteopetrosis is a rare genetic disease characterized by impaired bone resorption and increased bone sclerosis. Clinical presentation is very different in osteopetrosis. It can be asymptomatic or can be seen with typical symptoms. Here, a case of osteopetrosis was presented when evaluated for nystagmus. She was 10 months old. Parents were second-degree relatives. On physical examination, pigeon chest deformity and horizontal nystagmus were observed. There was a failure of thrive but no fracture. The cardiovascular examination was normal. Cranial, vertebral and long bone roentgenograms revealed characteristic deformities of osteopetrosis and diffuse sclerosis. The diagnosis was confirmed by genetic testing. A Homozygous mutation was detected in the TNFRSF11A gene (c.508A>G p.(Arg170Gly)). RANKL is encoded by the tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 11 (TNFSF11) gene, and the binding to its receptor RANK, encoded by the TNFRSF11A gene, determines the activation of the downstream pathway that drives osteoclast differentiation and activation (51). The complete absence of osteoclasts is the key feature of the osteoclast-poor form of osteopetrosis (46). Patients are characterized by the absence of TRAP-positive osteoclasts in bone biopsies. The osteoclast-poor subtype of osteopetrosis caused by mutations in TNFSF11 gene is ultra-rare in humans. Clinical presentation is usually severe, with onset in early infancy or in fetal life. But here, a case was presented with horizontal nystagmus. A case presented with horizontal nystagmus, which was evaluated by neurology and diagnosed incidentally, was shared.

Keywords: osteopetrosis, nystagmus, bone, osteoclast-poor

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Authors: Nafdha Thajudeen

Abstract:

Hijamah therapy is one of the leading alternative & complementary modalities in the World. It is a kind of detoxification, rejuvenation, and blood purification method. It comes under Ilaj bil Tadbeer (Regimental therapy) in the Unani medical system. In diabetes, hands and foot care in people is very important because of slow blood circulation, where blood sometimes is not able to fully penetrate the capillaries. Hijamah therapy works upon the following two principles- Tanqiyae Mawad (Evacuation of morbid humor) and Imalae Mawad (Diversion of humor). The aim of this study was to find out the effectiveness of hijamah therapy on the numbness of legs in a diabetic patient. This case study was carried out in Ayurvedic Research Hospital (Non-Communicable Diseases), Ninthavur, Sri Lanka. A 63 years old female diabetic patient came to the clinic with the complain of numbness in both feet for one year. The treatment history of the patient revealed that she had taken western medicine for her complaints for 7 months. In her first visit, wet cupping was done on local and distal points. The patient said there was a remarkable improvement; internal medicines were given to keep the sugar level in normal with some external applications. Every week, wet cupping was done on the same points, with repeating the same medicines. Foot numbness was fully cured within one month. The finding of this study shows that the complaint of numbness in the diabetic patient was treated with hijamah therapy with internal & external medicine. This case study can be concluded as hijamah therapy is very effective in treating diabetic numbness. This single case study may be the entrance for future clinical studies

Keywords: Hijamah therapy, Ilaj bil thadbeer, diabetes, numbness

Procedia PDF Downloads 121