Search results for: John. R. J. French

Authors: E. Obreque-Slier, J. Laqui-Estaña, A. Peña-Neira, M. Medel-Marabolí

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Wine is an important source of polyphenols. Red wines show important concentrations of nonflavonoid (gallic acid, ellagic acid, caffeic acid and coumaric acid) and flavonoid compounds [(+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (+)-gallocatechin and (-)-epigallocatechin]. However, a significant variability in the quantitative and qualitative distribution of chemical constituents in wine has to be expected depending on an array of important factors, such as the varietal differences of Vitis vinifera and cultural practices. It has observed that Carménère grapes present a differential composition and evolution of phenolic compounds when compared to other varieties and specifically with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Likewise, among the cultural practices, the aging in contact with oak wood is a high relevance factor. Then, the extraction of different polyphenolic compounds from oak wood into wine during its ageing process produces both qualitative and quantitative changes. Recently, many new techniques have been introduced in winemaking. One of these involves putting new pieces of wood (oak chips or inner staves) into inert containers. It offers some distinct and previously unavailable flavour advantages, as well as new options in wine handling. To our best knowledge, there is not information about the behaviour of Carménère wines (Chilean emblematic cultivar) in contact with oak wood. In addition, the effect of aging time and wood product (barrels, chips or staves) on the phenolic composition in Carménère wines has not been studied. This study aims at characterizing the condensed and hydrolyzable tannins from Carménère wines during the aging with staves, chips and barrels from French oak wood. The experimental design was completely randomized with two independent assays: aging time (0-12 month) and different formats of wood (barrel, chips and staves). The wines were characterized by spectrophotometric (total tannins and fractionation of proanthocyanidins into monomers, oligomers and polymers) and HPLC-DAD (ellagitannins) analysis. The wines in contact with different products of oak wood showed a similar content of total tannins during the study, while the control wine (without oak wood) presented a lower content of these compounds. In addition, it was observed that the polymeric proanthocyanidin fraction was the most abundant, while the monomeric fraction was the less abundant fraction in all treatments in two sample. However, significative differences in each fractions were observed between wines in contact from barrel, chips, and staves in two sample dates. Finally, the wine from barrels presented the highest content of the ellagitannins from the fourth to the last sample date. In conclusion, the use of alternative formats of oak wood affects the chemical composition of wines during aging, and these enological products are an interesting alternative to contribute with tannins to wine.

Keywords: enological inputs, oak wood aging, polyphenols, red wine

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Authors: Raja Lahiani

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This study is concerned with scrutinising translations into English and French of references to locations in the desert of pre-Islamic Arabia. These references are used in the Source Text (ST) within a poetic image. Reference is made to the names of three different mountains in Arabia, namely Qatan, Sitar, and Yadhbul. As these mountains are referred to in the context of the poet’s description of the density and expansion of the clouds, it is crucial to know that while Sitar and Yadhbul are close to each other, Qatan is far away from them. This distance was functional for the poet to describe the expansion of the clouds. This reflects the spacious place (desert) he handled, and the fact that it was possible for him to physically see what he described. The purpose of this image is for the poet to communicate the vastness of the space he managed to see as he was in a moment of contemplation. Thus, knowledge of this characteristic about the setting is capital for the receiver to understand the communicative function of the verse. A corpus of eighteen translations is gathered. These vary between verse and prose renderings. The methodology adopted in this research work is comparative. Comparison is conducted at both the synchronic and diachronic levels; every translation shall be compared to the ST and then to previous translations. The comparative work will prove at the end that the translators who target historical facts do not necessarily succeed in preserving the image of the ST. It also proves that the more recent the translation is, the deeper the translator’s awareness is the link between imagery, setting, and point of view. Since the late eighteenth century and until nowadays, pre-Islamic poetry has been translated into Western languages. Translators differ as to motives, sources, priorities and intellectual backgrounds. A translator's skopoi undoubtedly affect the way s/he handles aspects of the ST. When it comes to culture-specific aspects and details related to setting, the problem is even more complex. Setting is a very important factor that reveals a great deal of the culture of pre-Islamic Arabia as this is remote in place, historical framework and literary tradition from its translators. History is present in pre-Islamic poetry, which justifies the important literature that has been written to extract information and data from it. These are imbedded not only by signalling given facts, events, and meditations but also by means of references to specific locations and landmarks that used to exist at the time. Spatial setting is an integral part of a literary text as it places it within its historical context. The importance of the translator’s awareness of spatial anthropological data before indulging in the process of translation is tested. This is also crucial in measuring the effect of setting loss and setting gain in translation. The findings of this research would ultimately evaluate the extent to which a comparative methodology is reliable in investigating the role of spatial setting awareness in translation.

Keywords: historical context, translation, comparative literature, spatial setting

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Authors: Gautier Girard, Marion Martiny, Sebastien Mercier, Mohamad Jrad, Mohamed-Slim Bahi, Laurent Bodin, Francois Lechleiter, David Nevo, Sophie Dareys

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Reliability of electronic devices has always been of highest interest for Aero-MIL and space applications. In any electronic device, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), providing interconnection between components, is a key for reliability. During the last decades, PCB technologies evolved to sustain and/or fulfill increased original equipment manufacturers requirements and specifications, higher densities and better performances, faster time to market and longer lifetime, newer material and mixed buildups. From the very beginning of the PCB industry up to recently, qualification, experiments and trials, and errors were the most popular methods to assess system (PCB) reliability. Nowadays OEM, PCB manufacturers and scientists are working together in a close relationship in order to develop predictive models for PCB reliability and lifetime. To achieve that goal, it is fundamental to characterize precisely base materials (laminates, electrolytic copper, …), in order to understand failure mechanisms and simulate PCB aging under environmental constraints by means of finite element method for example. The laminates are woven composites and have thus an orthotropic behaviour. The in-plane properties can be measured by combining classical uniaxial testing and digital image correlation. Nevertheless, the out-of-plane properties cannot be evaluated due to the thickness of the laminate (a few hundred of microns). It has to be noted that the knowledge of the out-of-plane properties is fundamental to investigate the lifetime of high density printed circuit boards. A homogenization method combining analytical and numerical approaches has been developed in order to obtain the complete elastic orthotropic behaviour of a woven composite from its precise 3D internal structure and its experimentally measured in-plane elastic properties. Since the mechanical properties of the resin surrounding the fibres are unknown, an inverse method is proposed to estimate it. The methodology has been applied to one laminate used in hyperfrequency spatial applications in order to get its elastic orthotropic behaviour at different temperatures in the range [-55°C; +125°C]. Next; numerical simulations of a plated through hole in a double sided PCB are performed. Results show the major importance of the out-of-plane properties and the temperature dependency of these properties on the lifetime of a printed circuit board. Acknowledgements—The support of the French ANR agency through the Labcom program ANR-14-LAB7-0003-01, support of CNES, Thales Alenia Space and Cimulec is acknowledged.

Keywords: homogenization, orthotropic behaviour, printed circuit board, woven composites

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Authors: Noury Bakrim

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Translatability is one of Walter Benjamin’s most influential notions, it is somehow representing the philosophy of language and history of what we might call and what we indeed coined as ‘the other German Speaking Modernity’ which could be shaped as a parallel thought form to the Marxian-Hegelian philosophy of history, the one represented by the school of Frankfurt. On the other hand, we should consider the influence of the plural German speaking identity and the Nietzschian and Goethean heritage, this last being focused on a positive will of power: the humanised human being. Having in perspective the benjaminian notion of translatability (Übersetzbarkeit), to be defined as an internal permanent hermeneutical possibility as well as a phenomenological potential of a translation relation, we are in fact touching this very double limit of both historical and linguistic reason. By life component, we mean the changing conditions of genetic and neurolinguistic post-partum functions, to be grasped as an individuation beyond the historical determinism and teleology of an event. It is, so to speak, the retrospective/introspective canettian auto-fiction, the benjaminian crystallization of the language experience in the now-time of writing/transmission. Furthermore, it raises various questioning points when it comes to translatability, they are basically related to psycholinguistic separate poles, the fatherly ladino Spanish and the motherly Vienna German, but relating more in particular to the permanent ontological quest of a world loss/belonging. Another level of this quest would be the status of Veza Canetti-Taubner Calderón, german speaking Author, Canetti’s ‘literary wife’, writer’s love, his inverted logos, protective and yet controversial ‘official private life partner’, the permanence of the jewish experience in the exiled german language. It sheds light on a traumatic relation of an inadequate/possible language facing the reconstruction of an oral life, the unconscious split of the signifier and above all on the frustrating status of writing in Canetti’s work : Using a suffering/suffered written German to save his remembered acquisition of his tongue/mother tongue by saving the vanishing spoken multilingual experience. While Canetti’s only novel ‘Die Blendung’ designates that fictional referential dynamics focusing on the nazi worldless horizon: the figure of Kien is an onomastic signifier, the anti-Canetti figure, the misunderstood legacy of Kant, the system without thought. Our postulate would be the double translatability of his auto-fiction inventing the bios oral signifier basing on the new praxemes created by Canetti’s german as observed in the English, French translations of his memory corpus. We aim at conceptualizing life component and translatability as two major features of a german speaking modernity.

Keywords: translatability, language biography, presentification, bioeme, life Order

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Authors: Ogunlesi Olufunso, John Ogunsola, Omolade Oladele, Benjamin Emikpe

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Context: Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease that affects poultry production, leading to economic losses. Garlic is known for medicinal properties and has been used as a natural remedy for various diseases. This study aims to investigate the prophylactic effect of garlic inclusion in the feed of commercial broilers with coccidiosis. Research Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the possible effect of garlic meal inclusion in poultry feed on the body weight gain of commercial broilers and to investigate it's therapeutic effect on broilers with coccidiosis. Methodology: The study conducted a case-control study for eight weeks with One hundred Arbor acre commercial broilers separated into five (5) groups from day-old, where 6,000 Eimeria oocysts were orally inoculated into each broiler in the different groups. Feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, oocyt shedding rate, histopathology and erythrocyte indices were assessed. Findings: The inclusion of garlic meal in the broilers' diet resulted in an improved feed conversion ratio, decreased oocyst counts, reduced diarrhoeic fecal spots, decreased susceptibility to coccidial infection, and increased packed cell volume (PCV). Theoretical Importance: This study contributes to the understanding of the prophylactic effect of garlic supplementation, including its antiparasitic properties on commercial broilers with coccidiosis. It highlights the potential use of non-conventional feed additives or ayurvedic herb and spices in the treatment of poultry diseases. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The study collected data on feed intake, body weight gain, oocyst shedding rate, histopathological observations, and erythrocyte indices. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance and Duncan's Multiple range Test. Questions Addressed: The study addressed the possible effect of garlic meal inclusion in poultry feed on the body weight gain of broilers and its therapeutic effect on broilers with coccidiosis. Conclusion: The study concludes that garlic inclusion in the feed of broilers has a prophylactic effect, including antiparasitic properties, resulting in improved feed conversion ratio, reduced oocyst counts and increased PCV.

Keywords: broilers, eimeria spp, garlic, Ibadan

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Authors: Federico Garrido, Mostafa El Hayani, Ahmed Shams

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The exploration of the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in architecture is still embryonic, however, its latent capacity to change design disciplines is significant. 'Synthetic Classism' is a research project that questions the underlying aspects of classically organized architecture not just in aesthetic terms but also from a geometrical and morphological point of view, intending to generate new architectural information using historical examples as source material. The main aim of this paper is to explore the uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in architectural design while creating a coherent narrative to be contained within a design process. The purpose is twofold: on one hand, to develop and train machine learning algorithms to produce architectural information of small pavilions and on the other, to synthesize new information from previous architectural drawings. These algorithms intend to 'interpret' graphical information from each pavilion and then generate new information from it. The procedure, once these algorithms are trained, is the following: parting from a line profile, a synthetic 'front view' of a pavilion is generated, then using it as a source material, an isometric view is created from it, and finally, a top view is produced. Thanks to GAN algorithms, it is also possible to generate Front and Isometric views without any graphical input as well. The final intention of the research is to produce isometric views out of historical information, such as the pavilions from Sebastiano Serlio, James Gibbs, or John Soane. The idea is to create and interpret new information not just in terms of historical reconstruction but also to explore AI as a novel tool in the narrative of a creative design process. This research also challenges the idea of the role of algorithmic design associated with efficiency or fitness while embracing the possibility of a creative collaboration between artificial intelligence and a human designer. Hence the double feature of this research, both analytical and creative, first by synthesizing images based on a given dataset and then by generating new architectural information from historical references. We find that the possibility of creatively understand and manipulate historic (and synthetic) information will be a key feature in future innovative design processes. Finally, the main question that we propose is whether an AI could be used not just to create an original and innovative group of simple buildings but also to explore the possibility of fostering a novel architectural sensibility grounded on the specificities on the architectural dataset, either historic, human-made or synthetic.

Keywords: architecture, central pavilions, classicism, machine learning

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Authors: David Ofosu-Hamilton, John K. E. Edumadze

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Universities have come to recognize the role Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills plays in the daily activities of tertiary students. The ability to use ICT – essentially, computers and their diverse applications – are important resources that influence an individual’s economic and social participation and human capital development. Our society now increasingly relies on the Internet, and the Cloud as a means to communicate and disseminate information. The educated individual should, therefore, be able to use ICT to create and share knowledge that will improve society. It is, therefore, important that universities require incoming students to demonstrate a level of computer proficiency or trained to do so at a minimal cost by deploying advanced educational technologies. The training and standardized assessment of all in-coming first-year students of the University of Cape Coast in Information Technology Skills (ITS) have become a necessity as students’ most often than not highly overestimate their digital skill and digital ignorance is costly to any economy. The one-semester course is targeted at fresh students and aimed at enhancing the productivity and software skills of students. In this respect, emphasis is placed on skills that will enable students to be proficient in using Microsoft Office and Google Apps for Education for their academic work and future professional work whiles using emerging digital multimedia technologies in a safe, ethical, responsible, and legal manner. The course is delivered in blended mode - online and self-paced (student centered) using Alison’s free cloud-based tutorial (Moodle) of Microsoft Office videos. Online support is provided via discussion forums on the University’s Moodle platform and tutor-directed and assisted at the ICT Centre and Google E-learning laboratory. All students are required to register for the ITS course during either the first or second semester of the first year and must participate and complete it within a semester. Assessment focuses on Alison online assessment on Microsoft Office, Alison online assessment on ALISON ABC IT, Peer assessment on e-portfolio created using Google Apps/Office 365 and an End of Semester’s online assessment at the ICT Centre whenever the student was ready in the cause of the semester. This paper, therefore, focuses on the digital culture approach of hybrid teaching, learning and paperless examinations and the possible adoption by other courses or programs at the University of Cape Coast.

Keywords: assessment, blended, cloud, paperless

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Authors: Veronica Onyemauwa

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This research work examines the socio-ethical issues embedded in resource management and wealth creation in Nigeria, using Akwa Ibom State as a case study. The work is poised to proffer answers to the problematic questions raised, “why is the wealth of Akwa Ibom State not prudently managed, and wastages curbed in order to cater for the satisfaction of the indigent citizens, as Jesus Christ did in the feeding of five thousand people (John 6:12) ? Could ethical and responsible resource management not solve the paradox of poverty stricken people of Akwa Ibom in a rich economy? What ought to be done to better the lot of Akwa Ibomites? The research adopts phenomenological and sociological research methodology with primary and secondary sources of information to explore the socio-ethical issues embedded in resource management and wealth creation in Akwa Ibom State. Findings revealed that, reckless exploitation and mismanagement of the rich natural and human resources of Akwa Ibom State have spelt doom to the economic progress and survival of Akwa Ibomites in particular and Nigerians in general. Hence, hunger and poverty remain adversaries to majority of the people. Again, the culture of diversion of funds and squandermania institutionalized within the confine of Akwa Ibom State government, deter investment in economic enterprises, job and wealth creation that would have yielded economic dividends for Akwa Ibomites. These and many other unwholesome practices are responsible for the present deplorable condition of Akwa Ibom State in particular and Nigerian society in general. As a way out of this economic quagmire, it is imperative that, every unwholesome practice within the State be tackled more proactively and innovatively in the interest of the masses through responsible resource management and wealth creation. It is believed that, an effective leadership, a statesman with vision and commitment would transform the abundant resources to achieve meaningful development, create wealth and reduce poverty. Ethical leadership is required in all the tiers of government and public organizations to transform resources into more wealth. Thus, this paper advocates for ethics of virtue: a paradigm shift from exploitative leadership style to productive leadership style; change from atomistic human relation to corporative human relation; change from being subsistence to abundant in other to maximize the available resources in the State. To do otherwise is unethical and lack moral justification.

Keywords: corrective, mismanagement, resources, virtue ethics

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Authors: Anjali Sadanand, R. V. Nagarajan

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Architecture morphs with advances in technology and the roof, wall, and floor as basic elements of a building, follow in redefining themselves over time. Their contribution is bound by time and held by design principles that deal with function, sturdiness, and beauty. Architecture engages with people to give joy through its form, material, design structure, and spatial qualities. This paper attempts to re-interpret John Ruskin’s “Seven lamps of Architecture” in the context of the architecture of the modern and present period. The paper focuses on the “wall” as an element of study in this context. Four of Ruskin’s seven lamps will be discussed, namely beauty, truth, life, and memory, through examples of architecture ranging from modernism to contemporary architecture of today. The study will focus on the relevance of Ruskin’s principles to the “wall” in specific, in buildings of different materials and over a range of typologies from all parts of the world. Two examples will be analyzed for each lamp. It will be shown that in each case, there is relevance to the significance of Ruskin’s lamps in modern and contemporary architecture. Nature to which Ruskin alludes to for his lamp of “beauty” is found in the different expressions of interpretation used by Corbusier in his Villa Stein façade based on proportion found in nature and in the direct expression of Toyo Ito in his translation of an understanding of the structure of trees into his façade design of the showroom for a Japanese bag boutique. “Truth” is shown in Mies van der Rohe’s Crown Hall building with its clarity of material and structure and Studio Mumbai’s Palmyra House, which celebrates the use of natural materials and local craftsmanship. “Life” is reviewed with a sustainable house in Kerala by Ashrams Ravi and Alvar Aalto’s summer house, which illustrate walls as repositories of intellectual thought and craft. “Memory” is discussed with Charles Correa’s Jawahar Kala Kendra and Venturi’s Vana Venturi house and discloses facades as text in the context of its materiality and iconography. Beauty is reviewed in Villa Stein and Toyo Ito’s Branded Retail building in Tokyo. The paper thus concludes that Ruskin’s Lamps can be interpreted in today’s context and add richness to meaning to the understanding of architecture.

Keywords: beauty, design, facade, modernism

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Authors: Christian Ihwiwhu, Nnamdi Obioha, Udeme John, Edward Bobade, Oghenerunor Bekibele, Adedeji Awujoola, Ibi-Ada Itotoi

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Understanding the complexity in the distribution of hydrocarbon in a simple structure with flow baffles and connectivity issues is critical in targeting and developing the remaining pay in a mature asset. Subtle facies changes (heterogeneity) can have a drastic impact on reservoir fluids movement, and this can be crucial to identifying sweet spots in mature fields. This study aims to evaluate selected reservoirs in Ovhor Field, Niger Delta, Nigeria, with the objective of optimising production from the field by targeting undeveloped oil reserves, bypassed pay, and gaining an improved understanding of the selected reservoirs to increase the company’s reservoir limits. The task at the Ovhor field is complicated by poor stratigraphic seismic resolution over the field. 3-D geological (sedimentology and stratigraphy) interpretation, use of results from quantitative interpretation, and proper understanding of production data have been used in recognizing flow baffles and undeveloped compartments in the field. The full field 3-D model has been constructed in such a way as to capture heterogeneities and the various compartments in the field to aid the proper simulation of fluid flow in the field for future production prediction, proper history matching and design of good trajectories to adequately target undeveloped oil in the field. Reservoir property models (porosity, permeability, and net-to-gross) have been constructed by biasing log interpreted properties to a defined environment of deposition model whose interpretation captures the heterogeneities expected in the studied reservoirs. At least, two scenarios have been modelled for most of the studied reservoirs to capture the range of uncertainties we are dealing with. The total original oil in-place volume for the four reservoirs studied is 157 MMstb. The cumulative oil and gas production from the selected reservoirs are 67.64 MMstb and 9.76 Bscf respectively, with current production rate of about 7035 bopd and 4.38 MMscf/d (as at 31/08/2019). Dynamic simulation and production forecast on the 4 reservoirs gave an undeveloped reserve of about 3.82 MMstb from two (2) identified oil restoration activities. These activities include side-tracking and re-perforation of existing wells. This integrated approach led to the identification of bypassed oil in some areas of the selected reservoirs and an improved understanding of the studied reservoirs. New wells have/are being drilled now to test the results of our studies, and the results are very confirmatory and satisfying.

Keywords: facies, flow baffle, bypassed pay, heterogeneities, history matching, reservoir limit

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Authors: Robert John Godby

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To be responsive now and in the future, workplaces must address the demands of multicultural teams as they become more common elements of the global labor force. This is especially the case for aged care due to the aging population, industry growth and migrant recruitment. This research identifies influences on and improvements for learning in these environments. Its unique contribution is to illuminate how culturally diverse workplaces can work and learn together more effectively. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather data about this topic in two phases. Firstly, the research methods included a survey of 102 aged care workers around Australia from two multi-site aged care organisations. The questionnaire elicited both quantitative and qualitative data about worker characteristics and perspectives on working and learning in aged care. Secondly, a case study of one aged care worksite was formulated drawing on worksite information and interviews with workers. A review of the literature suggests that learning in multicultural work environments is influenced by three main factors: 1) the individual workers themselves, 2) their interaction with each other and 3) the environment in which they work. There are various accounts of these three factors, how they are manifested and how they lead to a change in workers’ disposition, knowledge, or expertise when confronted with new circumstances. The study has found that a key individual factor influencing learning is cultural background. Their unique view of the world was shown to affect their approach to both their work and co-working. Interactional factors suggest that the high requirement for collaboration in aged care positively supports learning in this context; however, it can be hindered by cultural bias and spoken accent. The study also found that environmental factors, such as disruptions caused by the pandemic, were another key influence. For example, the need to wear face masks hindered the communication needed for workplace learning. This was especially challenging due to the diverse language backgrounds and abilities within the teams. Potential improvements for learning in multicultural aged care work environments were identified. These include more frequent and structured inter-peer learning (e.g. buddying), communication training (e.g. English language usage for both native and non-native speaking workers) and support for cross-cultural habitude (e.g. recognizing and adapting to cultural differences). Workplace learning in cross-cultural aged care environments is an area that is not extensively dealt with in the literature. This study addresses this gap and holds the potential to contribute practical insights to aged care and other diverse industries.

Keywords: cross-cultural learning, learning in aged care, migrant learning, workplace learning

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Authors: Bernard Ewuoso

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Introduction: Induction of labor (IOL) usually involves the patient moving between antenatal, labor, and postnatal wards. Delay in IOL has been defined as delay in the time it takes a woman to wait for induction after her cervix is assessed to be favorable. Opinions vary on the acceptable time the patient is allowed to wait for once the cervix is adjudged ripe for induction. What has been considered a benchmark is a delay of up to 12 hours. There is evidence that delay in IOL is associated with adverse outcomes. Aim: To determine the number of women experiencing delay in induction of labor and their outcomes. Method: This audit was retrospective and observational. It included women who had induction of labor in the month of October 2023 in two hospitals. Clinical data was collected from electronic medical records into an Excel sheet for analysis. Women had cervical ripening as inpatient or outpatient. The primary objective was to determine the number of women experiencing delay in induction of labor, while the secondary objective was to outcome these women. Result: 136 women had IOL. The least percentage of data retrieved for any parameter was 80%. The mean gestational age at IOL was 278.26 days. The mean waiting time was 905.34mins. Seventy-five women had their IOL at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), fifty-seven at St. John’s Hospital (SJH), and three women were transferred from RIE to SJH. The preferred method of cervical ripening was balloon closely followed by prostaglandin. Twenty-seven women did not require cervical ripening and had their process started with amniotomy. Prostaglandin was the method of choice of cervical ripening at RIE, while balloon was preferred in SJH. Of the thirty-five women found to be suitable for outpatient cervical ripening, thirteen had outpatient ripening. There was a significant increase in the number of women undergoing outpatient cervical ripening at RIE from 10.5% in April 2022 to 42.9%. The preferred method for outpatient cervical ripening at the RIE was balloon, while it was prostaglandin for SJH. These were contradictory to the preferred method of inpatient cervical ripening at both centers. The average waiting time for IOL at RIE, 1166.92mins, is more than double that of SJH, 442.93mins, and far exceed 12hours, which is the proposed benchmark. The waiting time tends to be shorter with prostaglandin. Out of the women that had outpatient cervical ripening 63.6% had to wait for more than 12hrs before being induced while it was 36.1% for women that had inpatient cervical ripening. Overall, 38.5% women waited for more than 12 hours before having their induction. A lesser proportion of the women who waited for more than 12 hours had caesarean section, assisted vaginal delivery, and postpartum hemorrhage, whereas a greater proportion had spontaneous vaginal delivery and intrapartum or postpartum infection. Conclusion: A significant number of the women included in the study experienced delay in their induction process, and this was associated with an increased occurrence of intrapartum or postpartum infection. Outpatient cervical ripening contributed to delay.

Keywords: delay in induction of labor, inpatient, outpatient, intrapartum, postpartum, infection

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Authors: Regis Pochon, Nicolas Stefaniak, Veronique Baltazart, Pamela Gobin

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Anxiety is known to have an impact on working memory. In reasoning or memory tasks, individuals with anxiety tend to show longer response times and poorer performance. Furthermore, there is a memory bias for negative information in anxiety. Given the crucial role of working memory in lexical learning, anxious students may encounter more difficulties in learning to read and spell. Anxiety could even affect an earlier learning, that is the activation of phonological representations, which are decisive for the learning of reading and writing. The aim of this study is to compare the access to phonological representations of beginning readers and writers according to their level of anxiety, using an auditory lexical decision task. Eighty students of 6- to 9-years-old completed the French version of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and were then divided into four anxiety groups according to their total score (Low, Median-Low, Median-High and High). Two set of eighty-one stimuli (words and non-words) have been auditory presented to these students by means of a laptop computer. Stimuli words were selected according to their emotional valence (positive, negative, neutral). Students had to decide as quickly and accurately as possible whether the presented stimulus was a real word or not (lexical decision). Response times and accuracy were recorded automatically on each trial. It was anticipated a) longer response times for the Median-High and High anxiety groups in comparison with the two others groups, b) faster response times for negative-valence words in comparison with positive and neutral-valence words only for the Median-High and High anxiety groups, c) lower response accuracy for Median-High and High anxiety groups in comparison with the two others groups, d) better response accuracy for negative-valence words in comparison with positive and neutral-valence words only for the Median-High and High anxiety groups. Concerning the response times, our results showed no difference between the four groups. Furthermore, inside each group, the average response times was very close regardless the emotional valence. Otherwise, group differences appear when considering the error rates. Median-High and High anxiety groups made significantly more errors in lexical decision than Median-Low and Low groups. Better response accuracy, however, is not found for negative-valence words in comparison with positive and neutral-valence words in the Median-High and High anxiety groups. Thus, these results showed a lower response accuracy for above-median anxiety groups than below-median groups but without specificity for the negative-valence words. This study suggests that anxiety can negatively impact the lexical processing in young students. Although the lexical processing speed seems preserved, the accuracy of this processing may be altered in students with moderate or high level of anxiety. This finding has important implication for the prevention of reading and spelling difficulties. Indeed, during these learnings, if anxiety affects the access to phonological representations, anxious students could be disturbed when they have to match phonological representations with new orthographic representations, because of less efficient lexical representations. This study should be continued in order to precise the impact of anxiety on basic school learning.

Keywords: anxiety, emotional valence, childhood, lexical access

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Authors: Liane J. Ioannou, Jonathan Serpell, Joanne Dean, Cino Bendinelli, Jenny Gough, Dean Lisewski, Julie Miller, Win Meyer-Rochow, Stan Sidhu, Duncan Topliss, David Walters, John Zalcberg, Susannah Ahern

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Background: The occurrence of thyroid cancer is increasing throughout the developed world, including Australia and New Zealand, and since the 1990s has become the fastest increasing malignancy. Following the success of a number of institutional databases that monitor outcomes after thyroid surgery, the Australian and New Zealand Endocrine Surgeons (ANZES) agreed to auspice the development of a bi-national thyroid cancer registry. Objectives: To establish a bi-national population-based clinical quality registry with the aim of monitoring and improving the quality of care provided to patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer in Australia and New Zealand. Patients and Methods: The Australian and New Zealand Thyroid Cancer Registry (ANZTCR) captures clinical data for all patients, over the age of 18 years, diagnosed with thyroid cancer, confirmed by histopathology report, that have been diagnosed, assessed or treated at a contributing hospital. Data is collected by endocrine surgeons using a web-based interface, REDCap, primarily via direct data entry. Results: A multi-disciplinary Steering Committee was formed, and with operational support from Monash University the ANZTCR was established in early 2017. The pilot phase of the registry is currently operating in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, with over 30 sites expected to come on board across Australia and New Zealand in 2018. A modified-Delphi process was undertaken to determine the key quality indicators to be reported by the registry, and a minimum dataset was developed comprising information regarding thyroid cancer diagnosis, pathology, surgery, and 30-day follow up. Conclusion: There are very few established thyroid cancer registries internationally, yet clinical quality registries have shown valuable outcomes and patient benefits in other cancers. The establishment of the ANZTCR provides the opportunity for Australia and New Zealand to further understand the current practice in the treatment of thyroid cancer and reasons for variation in outcomes. The engagement of endocrine surgeons in supporting this initiative is crucial. While the pilot registry has a focus on early clinical outcomes, it is anticipated that future collection of longer-term outcome data particularly for patients with the poor prognostic disease will add significant further value to the registry.

Keywords: thyroid cancer, clinical registry, population health, quality improvement

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Authors: John Acire, Wilfred Lajul, Ogwang Tom

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Using a qualitative research technique, this study investigates the influence of Early Childhood Education (ECE) on learning outcomes in lower primary schools in Gulu City, Uganda. The study, which is based on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of human learning, fills gaps in the current literature on the influence of ECE on learning outcomes. The aims of the study include analyzing the state of learning outcomes, investigating ECE practices, and determining the influence of these practices on learning outcomes in lower primary schools. The findings highlight the critical significance of ECE in promoting children's overall development. Nursery education helps children improve their handwriting, reading abilities, and general cognitive development. Children who have received nursery education have improved their abilities to handle pencils, form letters, and engage in social interactions, highlighting the significance of fine motor skills and socializing. Despite the good elements, difficulties in implementing ECE practices were found, such as differences in teaching styles, financial limits, and potential weariness due to prolonged school hours. The study suggests focused interventions to improve the effectiveness of ECE practices, ensure their connection with educational goals and maximize their influence on children's development. The study's findings show that respondents agree on the importance of nursery education in supporting holistic development, socialization, language competency, and conceptual comprehension. Challenges in nursery education, such as differences in teaching techniques and insufficient resources, highlight the need for comprehensive measures to address these challenges. Furthermore, parental engagement in home learning activities was revealed as an important factor affecting early education outcomes. Children who were engaged at home performed better in lower primary, emphasizing the value of a supportive family environment. Finally, the report suggests measures to enhance parental participation, changes in teaching methods through retraining, and age-appropriate enrolment. Future studies might concentrate on the involvement of parents, ECE policy practice, and the influence of ECE teachers on lower primary school learning results. These ideas are intended to help create a more favorable learning environment by encouraging holistic development and preparing children for success in succeeding academic levels.

Keywords: early childhood education, learning outcomes in lower primary schools, early childhood education practices, how ECE practices influence learning outcomes in lower primary schools

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Authors: Sina Abadzadesahraei, Stephen Déry, John Rex

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Climate research has repeatedly identified strong associations between anthropogenic emissions of ‘greenhouses gases’ and observed increases of global mean surface air temperature over the past century. Studies have also demonstrated that the degree of warming varies regionally. Canada is not exempt from this situation, and evidence is mounting that climate change is beginning to cause diverse impacts in both environmental and socio-economic spheres of interest. For example, northeastern British Columbia (BC), whose climate is controlled by a combination of maritime, continental and arctic influences, is warming at a greater rate than the remainder of the province. There are indications that these changing conditions are already leading to shifting patterns in the region’s hydrological cycle, and thus its available water resources. Coincident with these changes, northeastern BC is undergoing rapid development for oil and gas extraction: This depends largely on subsurface hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), which uses enormous amounts of freshwater. While this industrial activity has made substantial contributions to regional and provincial economies, it is important to ensure that sufficient and sustainable water supplies are available for all those dependent on the resource, including ecological systems. In this turn demands a comprehensive understanding of how water in all its forms interacts with landscapes, the atmosphere, and of the potential impacts of changing climatic conditions on these processes. The aim of this study is therefore to characterize and quantify all components of the water budget in the small watershed of Coles Lake (141.8 km², 100 km north of Fort Nelson, BC), through a combination of field observations and numerical modelling. Baseline information will aid the assessment of the sustainability of current and future plans for freshwater extraction by the oil and gas industry, and will help to maintain the precarious balance between economic and environmental well-being. This project is a perfect example of interdisciplinary research, in that it not only examines the hydrology of the region but also investigates how natural gas operations and growth can affect water resources. Therefore, a fruitful collaboration between academia, government and industry has been established to fulfill the objectives of this research in a meaningful manner. This project aims to provide numerous benefits to BC communities. Further, the outcome and detailed information of this research can be a huge asset to researchers examining the effect of climate change on water resources worldwide.

Keywords: northeastern British Columbia, water resources, climate change, oil and gas extraction

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Authors: Vadim Allheily, Rudiger Schmitt, Lionel Merlat, Gildas L'Hostis

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Inflight devices are nowadays major actors in both military and civilian landscapes. Among others, missiles, mortars, rockets or even drones this last decade are increasingly sophisticated, and it is today of prior manner to develop always more efficient defensive systems from all these potential threats. In this frame, recent High Energy Laser weapon prototypes (HEL) have demonstrated some extremely good operational abilities to shot down within seconds flying targets several kilometers off. Whereas test outcomes are promising from both experimental and cost-related perspectives, the deterioration process still needs to be explored to be able to closely predict the effects of a high-energy laser irradiation on typical structures, heading finally to an effective design of laser sources and protective countermeasures. Laser matter interaction researches have a long history of more than 40 years at the French-German Research Institute (ISL). Those studies were tied with laser sources development in the mid-60s, mainly for specific metrology of fast phenomena. Nowadays, laser matter interaction can be viewed as the terminal ballistics of conventional weapons, with the unique capability of laser beams to carry energy at light velocity over large ranges. In the last years, a strong focus was made at ISL on the interaction process of laser radiation with metal targets such as artillery shells. Due to the absorbed laser radiation and the resulting heating process, an encased explosive charge can be initiated resulting in deflagration or even detonation of the projectile in flight. Drones and Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) are of outmost interests in modern warfare. Those aerial systems are usually made up of polymer-based composite materials, whose complexity involves new scientific challenges. Aside this main laser-matter interaction activity, a lot of experimental and numerical knowledge has been gathered at ISL within domains like spectrometry, thermodynamics or mechanics. Techniques and devices were developed to study separately each aspect concerned by this topic; optical characterization, thermal investigations, chemical reactions analysis or mechanical examinations are beyond carried out to neatly estimate essential key values. Results from these diverse tasks are then incorporated into analytic or FE numerical models that were elaborated, for example, to predict thermal repercussion on explosive charges or mechanical failures of structures. These simulations highlight the influence of each phenomenon during the laser irradiation and forecast experimental observations with good accuracy.

Keywords: composite materials, countermeasure, experimental work, high-energy laser, laser-matter interaction, modeling

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Authors: Jafar S. Noori, Jan Romano-deGea, Maria Dimaki, John Mortensen, Winnie E. Svendsen

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Pesticides have been intensively used in agriculture to control weeds, insects, fungi, and pest. One of the most commonly used pesticides is glyphosate. Glyphosate has the ability to attach to the soil colloids and degraded by the soil microorganisms. As glyphosate led to the appearance of resistant species, the pesticide was used more intensively. As a consequence of the heavy use of glyphosate, residues of this compound are increasingly observed in food and water. Recent studies reported a direct link between glyphosate and chronic effects such as teratogenic, tumorigenic and hepatorenal effects although the exposure was below the lowest regulatory limit. Today, pesticides are detected in water by complicated and costly manual procedures conducted by highly skilled personnel. It can take up to several days to get an answer regarding the pesticide content in water. An alternative to this demanding procedure is offered by electrochemical measuring techniques. Electrochemistry is an emerging technology that has the potential of identifying and quantifying several compounds in few minutes. It is currently not possible to detect glyphosate directly in water samples, and intensive research is underway to enable direct selective and quantitative detection of glyphosate in water. This study focuses on developing and modifying a sensor chip that has the ability to selectively measure glyphosate and minimize the signal interference from other compounds. The sensor is a silicon-based chip that is fabricated in a cleanroom facility with dimensions of 10×20 mm. The chip is comprised of a three-electrode configuration. The deposited electrodes consist of a 20 nm layer chromium and 200 nm gold. The working electrode is 4 mm in diameter. The working electrodes are modified by creating molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) using electrodeposition technique that allows the chip to selectively measure glyphosate at low concentrations. The modification included using gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm functionalized with 4-aminothiophenol. This configuration allows the nanoparticles to bind to the working electrode surface and create the template for the glyphosate. The chip was modified using electrodeposition technique. An initial potential for the identification of glyphosate was estimated to be around -0.2 V. The developed sensor was used on 6 different concentrations and it was able to detect glyphosate down to 0.5 mgL⁻¹. This value is below the accepted pesticide limit of 0.7 mgL⁻¹ set by the US regulation. The current focus is to optimize the functionalizing procedure in order to achieve glyphosate detection at the EU regulatory limit of 0.1 µgL⁻¹. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to modify miniaturized sensor electrodes with functionalized nanoparticles for glyphosate detection.

Keywords: pesticides, glyphosate, rapid, detection, modified, sensor

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Authors: Fabienne Fel, Eric Griette

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Reshoring, whether concerning back-reshoring or near-reshoring, is a quite recent phenomenon. Despite the economic and political interest of this topic, academic research questioning determinants of reshoring remains rare. Our paper aims at contributing to fill this gap. In order to better understand the reasons for reshoring, we conducted a study among 280 French firms during spring 2016, three-quarters of which sourced, or source, in China. 105 firms in the sample have reshored all or part of their Chinese production or supply in recent years, and we aimed to establish a typology of the motives that drove them to this decision. We asked our respondents about the history of their Chinese supplies, their current reshoring strategies, and their motivations. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 22 and SPAD 8. Our results show that change in commercial and financial terms with China is the first motive explaining the current reshoring movement from this country (it applies to 54% of our respondents). A change in corporate strategy is the second motive (30% of our respondents); the reshoring decision follows a change in companies’ strategies (upgrading, implementation of a CSR policy, or a 'lean management' strategy). The third motive (14% of our sample) is a mere correction of the initial offshoring decision, considered as a mistake (under-estimation of hidden costs, non-quality and non-responsiveness problems). Some authors emphasize that developing a short supply chain, involving geographic proximity between design and production, gives a competitive advantage to companies wishing to offer innovative products. Admittedly 40% of our respondents indicate that this motive could have played a part in their decision to reshore, but this reason was not enough for any of them and is not an intrinsic motive leading to leaving Chinese suppliers. Having questioned our respondents about the importance given to various problems leading them to reshore, we then performed a Principal Components Analysis (PCA), associated with an Ascending Hierarchical Classification (AHC), based on Ward criterion, so as to point out more specific motivations. Three main classes of companies should be distinguished: -The 'Cost Killers' (23% of the sample), which reshore their supplies from China only because of higher procurement costs and so as to find lower costs elsewhere. -The 'Realists' (50% of the sample), giving equal weight or importance to increasing procurement costs in China and to the quality of their supplies (to a large extend). Companies being part of this class tend to take advantage of this changing environment to change their procurement strategy, seeking suppliers offering better quality and responsiveness. - The 'Voluntarists' (26% of the sample), which choose to reshore their Chinese supplies regardless of higher Chinese costs, to obtain better quality and greater responsiveness. We emphasize that if the main driver for reshoring from China is indeed higher local costs, it is should not be regarded as an exclusive motivation; 77% of the companies in the sample, are also seeking, sometimes exclusively, more reactive suppliers, liable to quality, respect for the environment and intellectual property.

Keywords: China, procurement, reshoring, strategy, supplies

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Authors: Nicola S. Schutte, John M. Malouff

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Introduction: Curiosity is a positive emotion and motivational state that consists of the desire to know. Curiosity consists of several related dimensions, including a desire for exploration, deprivation sensitivity, and stress tolerance. Creativity involves generating novel and valuable ideas or products. How curiosity may prompt greater creativity remains to be investigated. The phenomena of flow may link curiosity and creativity. Flow is characterized by intense concentration and absorption and gives rise to optimal performance. Objective of Study: The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the phenomenon of flow may link curiosity with creativity. Methods and Design: Fifty-seven individuals from Australia (45 women and 12 men, mean age of 35.33, SD=9.4) participated. Participants were asked to design a program encouraging residents in a local community to conserve water and to record the elements of their program in writing. Participants were then asked to rate their experience as they developed and wrote about their program. Participants rated their experience on the Dimensional Curiosity Measure sub-scales assessing the exploration, deprivation sensitivity, and stress tolerance facets of curiosity, and the Flow Short Scale. Reliability of the measures as assessed by Cronbach's alpha was as follows: Exploration Curiosity =.92, Deprivation Sensitivity Curiosity =.66, Stress Tolerance Curiosity =.93, and Flow=.96. Two raters independently coded each participant’s water conservation program description on creativity. The mixed-model intraclass correlation coefficient for the two sets of ratings was .73. The mean of the two ratings produced the final creativity score for each participant. Results: During the experience of designing the program, all three types of curiosity were significantly associated with the flow. Pearson r correlations were as follows: Exploration Curiosity and flow, r =.68 (higher Exploration Curiosity was associated with more flow); Deprivation Sensitivity Curiosity and flow, r =.39 (higher Deprivation Sensitivity Curiosity was associated with more flow); and Stress Tolerance Curiosity and flow, r = .44 (more stress tolerance in relation to novelty and exploration was associated with more flow). Greater experience of flow was significantly associated with greater creativity in designing the water conservation program, r =.39. The associations between dimensions of curiosity and creativity did not reach significance. Even though the direct relationships between dimensions of curiosity and creativity were not significant, indirect relationships through the mediating effect of the experience of flow between dimensions of curiosity and creativity were significant. Mediation analysis using PROCESS showed that flow linked Exploration Curiosity with creativity, standardized beta=.23, 95%CI [.02,.25] for the indirect effect; Deprivation Sensitivity Curiosity with creativity, standardized beta=.14, 95%CI [.04,.29] for the indirect effect; and Stress Tolerance Curiosity with creativity, standardized beta=.13, 95%CI [.02,.27] for the indirect effect. Conclusions: When engaging in an activity, higher levels of curiosity are associated with greater flow. More flow is associated with higher levels of creativity. Programs intended to increase flow or creativity might build on these findings and also explore causal relationships.

Keywords: creativity, curiosity, flow, motivation

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Authors: Aaron Derner

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Unlike the histories of France, the UK, or even Spain, the Russian colonial past often dissolves before the seemingly more salient Cold War figurations or Soviet dissolution. The obvious explanation behind Caucasian states’ roles—that of Russian-propped governments obeying the whims of their patron—is but the latest instance of such oversight. Where the results of colonial social and cultural interactions are indelibly stamped across France, Algeria, and every other former (and current) French holding, so to are the Muscovite and Russian colonial ambitions embedded within the modern politics and cultures of both Russia and the Caucasus. Russian colonial artefacts are enhanced and perhaps granted an additional social explanatory edge over those of the ‘typical’ colonizers, by the cyclical adoration for and noisy rejection of European cultural markers over the centuries, along with the somewhat unusual composition of the Cossacks: Russia’s main agents of colonialization within the Caucasian frontier. The story of Russia and Chechnya, of all the Caucasus, is of the manufacture of social and individual identity through “modes of subjectification” inherent within the region’s colonial history and driven by the triangular interactions between three main groups: the Cossacks, the Caucasian Mountain Tribes, and the Russian Metropol. Together, interactions between these social groups worked to shape and transform the lifestyles and institutional pathologies that constitute the Russian and Chechen states and the politics between them. At the core of this (Western) state-building is the simultaneous and seemingly contradictory desire to be more Western and emulate Western cultural and political practices while also desperately grasping for a uniquely Russian identity. This sits somewhat ironically against the backdrop that Russia hosted a frontier-based settler society and had established that distinctly European feature of settler colonialism early in its history—arguably establishing a claim to being the most “colonial” of the colonial powers. There is no doubt that these forces worked to shape contemporary Russian political and social identity—apparent in the mythic popularity of the Cossack in Russian literature, politics, and academic discourse. What needs to be expanded from the current narrative, however, is that beyond the Cossack identity’s attractiveness on the grounds of its tones of freedom and resistance to unjust authority, the identity is rooted in the imperial ambitions and colonial experiences of the Russian state, and is, therefore, a direct marker of domination and subjectification. Adding an unusual dimension to this not-uncommon cultural progression, the Russian state needed to colonize both the Caucases and the Russian Cossacks, appropriating them in much the same way they appropriated the Circassian mountain tribes. The focus of this paper is not to tell yet another story of how one culture entered an area to overpower another but how a ‘powerful,’ ‘modern,’ ‘Western(ish)’ culture was profoundly and continually changed through its contact with a group of tribal ‘savages’ and ‘braves.’

Keywords: Russia, chechnya, subjectification, caucasus, cossacks, Ukraine

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Authors: Medine Demir, Volker John

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Fluid equations in a rotating frame of reference have a broad class of important applications in meteorology and oceanography, especially in the large-scale flows considered in ocean and atmosphere, as well as many physical and industrial applications. The Coriolis and the centripetal forces, resulting from the rotation of the earth, play a crucial role in such systems. For such applications it may be required to solve the system in complex three-dimensional geometries. In recent years, the Navier--Stokes equations in a rotating frame have been investigated in a number of papers using the classical inf-sup stable mixed methods, like Taylor-Hood pairs, to contribute to the analysis and the accurate and efficient numerical simulation. Numerical analysis reveals that these classical methods introduce a pressure-dependent contribution in the velocity error bounds that is proportional to some inverse power of the viscosity. Hence, these methods are optimally convergent but small velocity errors might not be achieved for complicated pressures and small viscosity coefficients. Several approaches have been proposed for improving the pressure-robustness of pairs of finite element spaces. In this contribution, a pressure-robust space discretization of the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations in a rotating frame of reference is considered. The discretization employs divergence-free, $H^1$-conforming mixed finite element methods like Scott--Vogelius pairs. However, this approach might come with a modification of the meshes, like the use of barycentric-refined grids in case of Scott--Vogelius pairs. However, this strategy requires the finite element code to have control on the mesh generator which is not realistic in many engineering applications and might also be in conflict with the solver for the linear system. An error estimate for the velocity is derived that tracks the dependency of the error bound on the coefficients of the problem, in particular on the angular velocity. Numerical examples illustrate the theoretical results. The idea of pressure-robust method could be cast on different types of flow problems which would be considered as future studies. As another future research direction, to avoid a modification of the mesh, one may use a very simple parameter-dependent modification of the Scott-Vogelius element, the pressure-wired Stokes element, such that the inf-sup constant is independent of nearly-singular vertices.

Keywords: navier-stokes equations in a rotating frame of refence, coriolis force, pressure-robust error estimate, scott-vogelius pairs of finite element spaces

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Authors: Barun Chakrabarti, Evangelos Kalamaras, Vladimir Yufit, Xinhua Liu, Billy Wu, Nigel Brandon, C. T. John Low

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In this work, we perform electrophoretic deposition of activated carbon on a number of substrates to prepare symmetrical coin cells for supercapacitor applications. From several recipes that involve the evaluation of a few solvents such as isopropyl alcohol, N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), or acetone to binders such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and charging agents such as magnesium chloride, we display a working means for achieving supercapacitors that can achieve 100 F/g in a consistent manner. We then adapt this EPD method to deposit reduced graphene oxide on SGL 10AA carbon paper to achieve cathodic materials for testing in a hydrogen/vanadium flow battery. In addition, a self-supported hierarchical carbon nano-fibre is prepared by means of electrospray deposition of an iron phthalocyanine solution onto a temporary substrate followed by carbonisation to remove heteroatoms. This process also induces a degree of nitrogen doping on the carbon nano-fibres (CNFs), which allows its catalytic performance to improve significantly as detailed in other publications. The CNFs are then used as catalysts by attaching them to graphite felt electrodes facing the membrane inside an all-vanadium flow battery (Scribner cell using serpentine flow distribution channels) and efficiencies as high as 60% is noted at high current densities of 150 mA/cm². About 20 charge and discharge cycling show that the CNF catalysts consistently perform better than pristine graphite felt electrodes. Following this, we also test the CNF as an electro-catalyst in the hydrogen/vanadium flow battery (cathodic side as mentioned briefly in the first paragraph) facing the membrane, based upon past studies from our group. Once again, we note consistently good efficiencies of 85% and above for CNF modified graphite felt electrodes in comparison to 60% for pristine felts at low current density of 50 mA/cm² (this reports 20 charge and discharge cycles of the battery). From this preliminary investigation, we conclude that the CNFs may be used as catalysts for other systems such as vanadium/manganese, manganese/manganese and manganese/hydrogen flow batteries in the future. We are generating data for such systems at present, and further publications are expected.

Keywords: electrospinning, carbon nano-fibres, all-vanadium redox flow battery, hydrogen-vanadium fuel cell, electrocatalysis

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Authors: Cristina Fernandez, Felix Amparano, John Tumberger, Stephani Stancil, Sarah Hampl, Brooke Sweeney, Amy R. Beck, Helena H Laroche, Jared Tucker, Eileen Chaves, Sara Gould, Matthew Lindquist, Lora Edwards, Renee Arensberg, Meredith Dreyer, Jazmine Cedeno, Alleen Cummins, Jennifer Lisondra, Katie Cox, Kelsey Dean, Rachel Perera, Nicholas A. Clark

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Background: Adolescents with obesity are at higher risk of disordered eating than the general population. Detection of eating disorders (ED) is difficult. Screening questionnaires may aid in early detection of ED. Our team’s prior efforts focused on increasing ED screening rates to ≥90% using a validated 10-question adolescent binge eating disorder screening questionnaire (ADO-BED). This aim was achieved. We then aimed to improve treatment plan initiation of patients ≥12 years of age who screen positive for BED within our WMC from 33% to 70% within 12 months. Methods: Our WMC is within a tertiary-care, free-standing children’s hospital. A3, an improvement framework, was used. A multidisciplinary team (physicians, nurses, registered dietitians, psychologists, and exercise physiologists) was created. The outcome measure was documentation of treatment plan initiation of those who screen positive (goal 70%). The process measure was ADO-BED screening rate of WMC patients (goal ≥90%). Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle 1 included provider education on current literature and treatment plan initiation based upon ADO-BED responses. PDSA 2 involved increasing documentation of treatment plan and retrain process to providers. Pre-defined treatment plans were: 1) repeat screen in 3-6 months, 2) resources provided only, or 3) comprehensive multidisciplinary weight management team evaluation. Run charts monitored impact over time. Results: Within 9 months, 166 patients were seen in WMC. Process measure showed sustained performance above goal (mean 98%). Outcome measure showed special cause improvement from mean of 33% to 100% (n=31). Of treatment plans provided, 45% received Plan 1, 4% Plan 2, and 46% Plan 3. Conclusion: Through a multidisciplinary improvement team approach, we maintained sustained ADO-BED screening performance, and, prior to our 12-month timeline, achieved our project aim. Our efforts may serve as a model for other multidisciplinary WMCs. Next steps may include expanding project scope to other WM programs.

Keywords: obesity, pediatrics, clinic, eating disorder

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Authors: Nicholas McNamara, John Brookes, Michael Williams, Manish Mathew, Elizabeth Brookes, Tristan Yan, Paul Bannon

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Objective: Pericardial effusions are an uncommon but potentially fatal complication after cardiac surgery. The goal of this study was to describe the incidence and risk factors associated with the development of pericardial effusion requiring drainage after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). Methods: A retrospective analysis was undertaken using prospectively collected data. All adult patients who underwent CABG at our institution between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2018 were included. Pericardial effusion was diagnosed using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) performed for clinical suspicion of pre-tamponade or tamponade. Drainage was undertaken if considered clinically necessary and performed via a sub-xiphoid incision, pericardiocentesis, or via re-sternotomy at the discretion of the treating surgeon. Patient demographics, operative characteristics, anticoagulant exposure, and postoperative outcomes were examined to identify those variables associated with the development of pericardial effusion requiring drainage. Tests of association were performed using the Fischer exact test for dichotomous variables and the Student t-test for continuous variables. Logistic regression models were used to determine univariate predictors of pericardial effusion requiring drainage. Results: Between January 1st, 2017, and December 31st, 2018, a total of 408 patients underwent CABG at our institution, and eight (1.9%) required drainage of pericardial effusion. There was no difference in age, gender, or the proportion of patients on preoperative therapeutic heparin between the study and control groups. Univariate analysis identified preoperative atrial arrhythmia (37.5% vs 8.8%, p = 0.03), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (47% vs 56%, p = 0.04), longer cardiopulmonary bypass (130 vs 84 min, p < 0.01) and cross-clamp (107 vs 62 min, p < 0.01) times, higher drain output in the first four postoperative hours (420 vs 213 mL, p <0.01), postoperative atrial fibrillation (100% vs 32%, p < 0.01), and pleural effusion requiring drainage (87.5% vs 12.5%, p < 0.01) to be associated with development of pericardial effusion requiring drainage. Conclusion: In this study, the incidence of pericardial effusion requiring drainage was 1.9%. Several factors, mainly related to preoperative or postoperative arrhythmia, length of surgery, and pleural effusion requiring drainage, were identified to be associated with developing clinically significant pericardial effusions. High clinical suspicion and low threshold for transthoracic echo are pertinent to ensure this potentially lethal condition is not missed.

Keywords: coronary artery bypass, pericardial effusion, pericardiocentesis, tamponade, sub-xiphoid drainage

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Authors: D. Courault, L. Hossard, V. Demarez, E. Ndikumana, D. Ho Tong Minh, N. Baghdadi, F. Ruget

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In the global change context, efficient management of the available resources has become one of the most important topics, particularly for sustainable crop development. Timely assessment with high precision is crucial for water resource and pest management. Rice cultivated in Southern France in the Camargue region must face a challenge, reduction of the soil salinity by flooding and at the same time reduce the number of herbicides impacting negatively the environment. This context has lead farmers to diversify crop rotation and their agricultural practices. The objective of this study was to evaluate this crop diversity both in crop systems and in agricultural practices applied to rice paddy in order to quantify the impact on the environment and on the crop production. The proposed method is based on the combined use of crop models and multispectral data acquired from the recent Sentinel 2 satellite sensors launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) within the homework of the Copernicus program. More than 40 images at fine spatial resolution (10m in the optical range) were processed for 2016 and 2017 (with a revisit time of 5 days) to map crop types using random forest method and to estimate biophysical variables (LAI) retrieved by inversion of the PROSAIL canopy radiative transfer model. Thanks to the high revisit time of Sentinel 2 data, it was possible to monitor the soil labor before flooding and the second sowing made by some farmers to better control weeds. The temporal trajectories of remote sensing data were analyzed for various rice cultivars for defining the main parameters describing the phenological stages useful to calibrate two crop models (STICS and SAFY). Results were compared to surveys conducted with 10 farms. A large variability of LAI has been observed at farm scale (up to 2-3m²/m²) which induced a significant variability in the yields simulated (up to 2 ton/ha). Observations on more than 300 fields have also been collected on land use. Various maps were elaborated, land use, LAI, flooding and sowing, and harvest dates. All these maps allow proposing a new typology to classify these paddy crop systems. Key phenological dates can be estimated from inverse procedures and were validated against ground surveys. The proposed approach allowed to compare the years and to detect anomalies. The methods proposed here can be applied at different crops in various contexts and confirm the potential of remote sensing acquired at fine resolution such as the Sentinel2 system for agriculture applications and environment monitoring. This study was supported by the French national center of spatial studies (CNES, funded by the TOSCA).

Keywords: agricultural practices, remote sensing, rice, yield

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Authors: Aitor Bilbao, Dragos Axinte, John Billingham

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The inverse problem in Energy Beam (EB) Processes consists of defining the control parameters, in particular the 2D beam path (position and orientation of the beam as a function of time), to arrive at a prescribed solution (freeform surface). This inverse problem is well understood for conventional machining, because the cutting tool geometry is well defined and the material removal is a time independent process. In contrast, EB machining is achieved through the local interaction of a beam of particular characteristics (e.g. energy distribution), which leads to a surface-dependent removal rate. Furthermore, EB machining is a time-dependent process in which not only the beam varies with the dwell time, but any acceleration/deceleration of the machine/beam delivery system, when performing raster paths will influence the actual geometry of the surface to be generated. Two different EB processes, Abrasive Water Machining (AWJM) and Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA), are studied. Even though they are considered as independent different technologies, both can be described as time-dependent processes. AWJM can be considered as a continuous process and the etched material depends on the feed speed of the jet at each instant during the process. On the other hand, PLA processes are usually defined as discrete systems and the total removed material is calculated by the summation of the different pulses shot during the process. The overlapping of these shots depends on the feed speed and the frequency between two consecutive shots. However, if the feed speed is sufficiently slow compared with the frequency, then consecutive shots are close enough and the behaviour can be similar to a continuous process. Using this approximation a generic continuous model can be described for both processes. The inverse problem is usually solved for this kind of process by simply controlling dwell time in proportion to the required depth of milling at each single pixel on the surface using a linear model of the process. However, this approach does not always lead to the good solution since linear models are only valid when shallow surfaces are etched. The solution of the inverse problem is improved by using a discrete adjoint optimization algorithm. Moreover, the calculation of the Jacobian matrix consumes less computation time than finite difference approaches. The influence of the dynamics of the machine on the actual movement of the jet is also important and should be taken into account. When the parameters of the controller are not known or cannot be changed, a simple approximation is used for the choice of the slope of a step profile. Several experimental tests are performed for both technologies to show the usefulness of this approach.

Keywords: abrasive waterjet machining, energy beam processes, inverse problem, pulsed laser ablation

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Authors: Girija Madhavanprabhakaran, Frincy Franacis, Sheeba Elizabeth John

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Introduction: A wide range of prenatal genetic screening is introduced with increasing incidences of congenital anomalies even in low-risk pregnancies and is an emerging standard of care. Being frontline caretakers, the role and responsibilities of nurses and midwives are critical as they are working along with couples to provide evidence-based supportive educative care. The increasing genetic disorders and advances in prenatal genetic screening with limited genetic counselling facilities urge nurses and midwifery nurses with essential competencies to help couples to take informed decision. Objective: This integrative literature review aimed to explore nurse midwives’ knowledge and role in prenatal screening and genetic counselling competency and the challenges faced by them to cater to all pregnant women to empower their autonomy in decision making and ensuring psychological comfort. Method: An electronic search using keywords prenatal screening, genetic counselling, prenatal counselling, nurse midwife, nursing education, genetics, and genomics were done in the PUBMED, SCOPUS and Medline, Google Scholar. Finally, based on inclusion criteria, 8 relevant articles were included. Results: The main review results suggest that nurses and midwives lack essential support, knowledge, or confidence to be able to provide genetic counselling and help the couples ethically to ensure client autonomy and decision making. The majority of nurses and midwives reported inadequate levels of knowledge on genetic screening and their roles in obtaining family history, pedigrees, and providing genetic information for an affected client or high-risk families. The deficiency of well-recognized and influential clinical academic midwives in midwifery practice is also reported. Evidence recommended to update and provide sound educational training to improve nurse-midwife competence and confidence. Conclusion: Overcoming the challenges to achieving informed choices about fetal anomaly screening globally is a major concern. Lack of adequate knowledge and counselling competency, communication insufficiency, need for education and policy are major areas to address. Prenatal nurses' and midwives’ knowledge on prenatal genetic screening and essential counselling competencies can ensure services to the majority of pregnant women around the globe to be better-informed decision-makers and enhances their autonomy, and reduces ethical dilemmas.

Keywords: challenges, genetic counselling, prenatal screening, prenatal counselling

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Authors: Nada R. Abuknesha, John P. Morgan, Andrew J. Searle

Abstract:

Information regarding post-mortem interval (PMI) in criminal investigations is vital to establish a time frame when reconstructing events. PMI is defined as the time period that has elapsed between the occurrence of death and the discovery of the corpse. Adipocere, commonly referred to as ‘grave-wax’, is formed when post-mortem adipose tissue is converted into a solid material that is heavily comprised of fatty acids. Adipocere is of interest to forensic anthropologists, as its formation is able to slow down the decomposition process. Therefore, analysing the changes in the patterns of fatty acids during the early decomposition process may be able to estimate the period of burial, and hence the PMI. The current study concerned the investigation of the fatty acid composition and patterns in buried pig fat tissue. This was in an attempt to determine whether particular patterns of fatty acid composition can be shown to be associated with the duration of the burial, and hence may be used to estimate PMI. The use of adipose tissue from the abdominal region of domestic pigs (Sus-scrofa), was used to model the human decomposition process. 17 x 20cm piece of pork belly was buried in a shallow artificial grave, and weekly samples (n=3) from the buried pig fat tissue were collected over an 11-week period. Marker fatty acids: palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1n-9) and linoleic (C18:2n-6) acid were extracted from the buried pig fat tissue and analysed as fatty acid methyl esters using the gas chromatography system. Levels of the marker fatty acids were quantified from their respective standards. The concentrations of C16:0 (69.2 mg/mL) and C18:1n-9 (44.3 mg/mL) from time zero exhibited significant fluctuations during the burial period. Levels rose (116 and 60.2 mg/mL, respectively) and fell starting from the second week to reach 19.3 and 18.3 mg/mL, respectively at week 6. Levels showed another increase at week 9 (66.3 and 44.1 mg/mL, respectively) followed by gradual decrease at week 10 (20.4 and 18.5 mg/mL, respectively). A sharp increase was observed in the final week (131.2 and 61.1 mg/mL, respectively). Conversely, the levels of C18:2n-6 remained more or less constant throughout the study. In addition to fluctuations in the concentrations, several new fatty acids appeared in the latter weeks. Other fatty acids which were detectable in the time zero sample, were lost in the latter weeks. There are several probable opportunities to utilise fatty acid analysis as a basic technique for approximating PMI: the quantification of marker fatty acids and the detection of selected fatty acids that either disappear or appear during the burial period. This pilot study indicates that this may be a potential semi-quantitative methodology for determining the PMI. Ideally, the analysis of particular fatty acid patterns in the early stages of decomposition could be an additional tool to the already available techniques or methods in improving the overall processes in estimating PMI of a corpse.

Keywords: adipocere, fatty acids, gas chromatography, post-mortem interval

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: John Hardy

Abstract:

A range of future-oriented intelligence techniques is commonly used by states to assess their national security and develop strategies to detect and manage threats, to develop and sustain capabilities, and to recover from attacks and disasters. Although homeland security organizations use future's intelligence tools to generate scenarios and simulations which inform their planning, there have been relatively few studies of the methods available or their applications for homeland security purposes. This study presents an assessment of one category of strategic intelligence techniques, termed Multi-Path Futures Analyses (MPFA), and how it can be applied to three distinct tasks for the purpose of analyzing homeland security issues. Within this study, MPFA are categorized as a suite of analytic techniques which can include effects-based operations principles, general morphological analysis, multi-path mapping, and multi-criteria decision analysis techniques. These techniques generate multiple pathways to potential futures and thereby generate insight into the relative influence of individual drivers of change, the desirability of particular combinations of pathways, and the kinds of capabilities which may be required to influence or mitigate certain outcomes. The study assessed eighteen uses of MPFA for homeland security purposes and found that there are five key applications of MPFA which add significant value to analysis. The first application is generating measures of success and associated progress indicators for strategic planning. The second application is identifying homeland security vulnerabilities and relationships between individual drivers of vulnerability which may amplify or dampen their effects. The third application is selecting appropriate resources and methods of action to influence individual drivers. The fourth application is prioritizing and optimizing path selection preferences and decisions. The fifth application is informing capability development and procurement decisions to build and sustain homeland security organizations. Each of these applications provides a unique perspective of a homeland security issue by comparing a range of potential future outcomes at a set number of intervals and by contrasting the relative resource requirements, opportunity costs, and effectiveness measures of alternative courses of action. These findings indicate that MPFA enhances analysts’ ability to generate tangible measures of success, identify vulnerabilities, select effective courses of action, prioritize future pathway preferences, and contribute to ongoing capability development in homeland security assessments.

Keywords: homeland security, intelligence, national security, operational design, strategic intelligence, strategic planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 139