Search results for: clinical prediction models

Authors: Wahab Abdul Ghafar, Tao Zhong, Baba Kalan Enamullah

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Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are a robust lateral load resistance structure because of their high flexibility and efficient energy dissipation when subjected to seismic loads. This research investigates the seismic Performance of an innovative infill web strip (IWS-SPSW) and a typical unstiffened steel plate shear wall (USPSW). As a result, two 1:3 scale specimens of an IWS-SPSW and USPSW with a single story and a single bay were built and subjected to a cyclic lateral loading methodology. In the prototype, the beam-to-column connections were accomplished with the assistance of semi-rigid end-plate connectors. IWS-SPSW demonstrated exceptional ductility and shear load-bearing capacity during the testing process, with no cracks or other damage occurring. In addition, the IWS-SPSW could effectively dissipate energy without causing a significant amount of beam-column connection distortion. The shear load-bearing capacity of the USPSW was exceptional. However, it exhibited low ductility, severe infill plate corner ripping, and huge infill web plate cracks. The FE models were created and then confirmed using the experimental data. It has been demonstrated that the infill web strips of an SPSW system can affect the system's high Performance and total energy dissipation. In addition, a parametric analysis was carried out to evaluate the material qualities of the IWS, which can considerably improve the system's seismic performances. These properties include the steel's strength as well as its thickness.

Keywords: steel shear walls, seismic performance, failure mode, hysteresis response, nonlinear finite element analysis, parametric study.

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Authors: Rauha Salam

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In Pakistan, over the past decade, the notion of what counts as a true ‘masculine and feminine’ behaviour has become more complicated with the inspection of social media. Given its strong religious and socio-cultural norms, patriarchal values are entrenched in the local and cultural traditions of the Pakistani society and regulate the social value of gender. However, the increasing use of internet among Pakistani men and women, especially in the form of social media uses by the youth, is increasingly becoming disruptive and challenging to the strict modes of behavioural monitoring and control both at familial and state level. Facebook, being the prime social media communication platform in Pakistan, provide its users a relatively ‘safe’ place to embrace how they want to be perceived by their audience. Moreover, the availability of an array of semiotic resources (e.g. the videos, audios, visuals and gifs) on Facebook makes it possible for the users to create a virtual identity that allows them to describe themselves in detail. By making use of Multimodal Discourse Analysis, I aimed to investigate how men and women in Pakistan construct their gendered identities multimodally (visually and linguistically) through their Facebook posts and how these semiotic modes are interconnected to communicate specific meanings. In case of the female data, the analysis showed an ambivalence as females were found to be conforming to the existing socio-cultural norms of the society and they were also employing social media platforms to deviate from traditional gendered patterns and to voice their opinions simultaneously. Similarly, the male data highlighted the reproduction of the prevalent cultural models of masculinity. However, there were instances in the data that showed a digression from the standard norms and there is a (re)negotiation of the traditional patriarchal representations.

Keywords: Facebook, Gendered Identities, Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Pakistan

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Authors: F. Longo, G. Granello, G. Tecchio, F. Da Porto

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Unreinforced masonry (URM) infill walls are widely used throughout the world, also in seismic prone regions, as partitions in reinforced concrete building frames. Even if they do not represent structural elements, they can dramatically affect both strength and stiffness of RC structures by acting as a diagonal strut, modifying shear and displacements distribution along the building height, with uncertain consequences on structural safety. In the last decades, many refined models have been developed to describe infill walls effect on frame structural behaviour, but generally restricted to in-plane actions. Only very recently some new approaches were implemented to consider in-plane/out-of-plane interaction of URM infill walls in progressive collapse simulations. In the present work, a particularly promising macro-model was adopted for the progressive collapse analysis of infilled RC frames. The model allows to consider the bi-directional interaction in terms of displacement and strength capacity for URM infills, and to remove the infill contribution when the URM wall is supposed to fail during the analysis process. The model was calibrated on experimental data regarding two different URM panels thickness, modelling with particular care the post-critic softening branch. A frame specimen set representing the most common Italian structures was built considering two main normative approaches: a traditional design philosophy, corresponding to structures erected between 50’s-80’s basically designed to support vertical loads, and a seismic design philosophy, corresponding to current criteria that take into account horizontal actions. Non-Linear Static analyses were carried out on the specimen set and some preliminary evaluations were drawn in terms of different performance exhibited by the RC frame when the contemporary effect of the out-of-plane damage is considered for the URM infill.

Keywords: infill Panels macromodels, in plane-out of plane interaction, RC frames, URM infills

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Authors: Mumtaz Khan, Adeel Shahid, Waqas Khan

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Heavy metals presence in water streams is a big danger for aquatic life and ultimately effects human health. Removal of copper (Cu) by ispaghula husk, maize fibre, and maize oil cake from synthetic solution in batch conditions was studied. Different experimental parameters such as contact time, initial solution pH, agitation rate, initial Cu concentration, biosorbent concentration, and biosorbent particle size has been studied to quantify the Cu biosorption. The rate of adsorption of metal ions was very fast at the beginning and became slow after reaching the saturation point, followed by a slower active metabolic uptake of metal ions into the cells. Up to a certain point, (pH=4, concentration of Cu = ~ 640 mg/l, agitation rate = ~ 400 rpm, biosorbent concentration = ~ 0.5g, 3g, 3g for ispaghula husk, maize fiber and maize oil cake, respectively) increasing the pH, concentration of Cu, agitation rate, and biosorbent concentration, increased the biosorption rate; however the sorption capacity increased by decreasing the particle size. At optimized experimental parameters, the maximum Cu biosorption by ispaghula husk, maize fibre and maize oil cake were 86.7%, 59.6% and 71.3%, respectively. Moreover, the results of the kinetics studies demonstrated that the biosorption of copper on ispaghula husk, maize fibre, and maize oil cake followed pseudo-second order kinetics. The results of adsorption were fitted to both the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The Langmuir model represented the sorption process better than Freundlich, and R² value ~ 0.978. Optimizations of physical and environmental parameters revealed, ispaghula husk as more potent copper biosorbent than maize fibre, and maize oil cake. The sorbent is cheap and available easily, so this study can be applied to remove Cu impurities on pilot and industrial scale after certain modifications.

Keywords: biosorption, copper, ispaghula husk, maize fibre, maize oil cake, purification

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Authors: Umukoro Omonigho Simon, Ashaolu David ‘Diya, Aroyewun-Olaleye Temitope Folashade

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The VELMA Action to Reduce Cybercrime (ARC) is an initiative, the first of its kind in Nigeria, designed to identify, rehabilitate and empower repentant cybercrime offenders popularly known as ‘yahoo boys’ in Nigerian parlance. Velma ARC provides social inclusion boot camps with the goal of rehabilitating cybercriminals via psychotherapeutic interventions, improving their IT skills, and empowering them to make constructive contributions to society. This report highlights the psychological interventions provided for participants of the maiden edition of the Velma ARC boot camp and presents the outcomes of these interventions. The boot camp was set up in a hotel premises which was booked solely for the 1 month event. The participants were selected and invited via the Velma online recruitment portal based on an objective double-blind selection process from a pool of potential participants who signified interest via the registration portal. The participants were first taken through psychological profiling (personality, symptomology and psychopathology) before the individual and group sessions began. They were profiled using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory -2- Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), the latest version of its series. Individual psychotherapy sessions were conducted for all participants based on what was interpreted on their profiles. Focus group discussion was held later to discuss a movie titled ‘catch me if you can’ directed by Steven Spielberg, featuring Leonardo De Caprio and Tom Hanks. The movie was based on the true life story of Frank Abagnale, who was a notorious scammer and con artist in his youthful years. Emergent themes from the movie were discussed as psycho-educative parameters for the participants. The overall evaluation of outcomes from the VELMA ARC rehabilitation boot camp stemmed from a disaggregated assessment of observed changes which are summarized in the final report of the clinical psychologist and was detailed enough to infer genuine repentance and positive change in attitude towards cybercrime among the participants. Follow up services were incorporated to validate initial observations. This gives credence to the potency of the psycho-educative intervention provided during the Velma ARC boot camp. It was recommended that support and collaborations from the government and other agencies/individuals would assist the VELMA foundation in expanding the scope and quality of the Velma ARC initiative as an additional requirement for cybercrime offenders following incarceration.

Keywords: Velma-ARC, cybercrime offenders, rehabilitation, Nigeria

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Authors: Umedov Mekhroz, Griaznova Svetlana

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In connection with the growth of oncological diseases, the design of centers for diagnostics and the production of radiopharmaceuticals is the most relevant area of healthcare facilities. The design of new nuclear medicine centers should be carried out from the standpoint of solving the following tasks: the availability of medical care, functionality, environmental friendliness, sustainable development, improving the safety of drugs, the use of which requires special care, reducing the rate of environmental pollution, ensuring comfortable conditions for the internal microclimate, adaptability. The purpose of this article is to substantiate architectural and planning solutions, formulate recommendations and principles for the design of nuclear medicine centers and determine the connections between the production and medical functions of a building. The advantages of combining the production of radiopharmaceuticals and the department of medical care: less radiation activity is accumulated, the cost of the final product is lower, and there is no need to hire a transport company with a special license for transportation. A medical imaging department is a structural unit of a medical institution in which diagnostic procedures are carried out in order to gain an idea of the internal structure of various organs of the body for clinical analysis. Depending on the needs of a particular institution, the department may include various rooms that provide medical imaging using radiography, ultrasound diagnostics, and the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance. The production of radiopharmaceuticals is an object intended for the production of a pharmaceutical substance containing a radionuclide and intended for introduction into the human body or laboratory animal for the purpose of diagnosis, evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment, or for biomedical research. The research methodology includes the following subjects: study and generalization of international experience in scientific research, literature, standards, teaching aids, and design materials on the topic of research; An integrated approach to the study of existing international experience of PET / CT scan centers and the production of radiopharmaceuticals; Elaboration of graphical analysis and diagrams based on the system analysis of the processed information; Identification of methods and principles of functional zoning of nuclear medicine centers. The result of the research is the identification of the design principles of nuclear medicine centers with the functions of the production of radiopharmaceuticals and the department of medical imaging. This research will be applied to the design and construction of healthcare facilities in the field of nuclear medicine.

Keywords: architectural planning solutions, functional zoning, nuclear medicine, PET/CT scan, production of radiopharmaceuticals, radiotherapy

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Authors: Paul Holmes, Mike N. G.

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Foundation-year doctors face increased stress, pressure and uncertainty when starting new rotations throughout their first years of work. This research questionnaire resulted in an induction cheat sheet and induction video that enhanced the Junior doctor's understanding of how to work effectively within the plastic surgery department at NHS Tayside. The objectives and goals were to improve the transition between cohorts of junior doctors in ward 26 at Ninewells Hospital. Before this quality improvement project, the induction pack was 74 pages long and over eight years old. With the support of consultant Mike Ng a new up-to-date induction was created. This involved a questionnaire and cheat sheet being developed. The questionnaire covered clerking, venipuncture, ward pharmacy, theatres, admissions, specialties on the ward, the cardiac arrest trolley, clinical emergencies, discharges and escalation. This audit has three completed cycles between August 2022 and August 2023. The cheat sheet developed a concise two-page A4 document designed for doctors to be able to reference easily and understand the essentials. The document format is a table containing ward layout; specialty; location; physician associate, shift patterns; ward rounds; handover location and time; hours coverage; senior escalation; nights; daytime duties, meetings/MDTs/board meetings, important bleeps and codes; department guidelines; boarders; referrals and patient stream; pharmacy; absences; rota coordinator; annual leave; top tips. The induction video is a 10-minute in-depth explanation of all aspects of the ward. The video explores in more depth the contents of the cheat sheet. This alternative visual format familiarizes the junior doctor with all aspects of the ward. These were provided to all foundation year 1 and 2 doctors on ward 26 at Ninewells Hospital at NHS Tayside Scotland. This work has since been adopted by the General Surgery Department, which extends to six further wards and has improved the effective handing over of the junior doctor’s role between cohorts. There is potential to further expand the cheat sheet to other departments as the concise document takes around 30 minutes to complete by a doctor who is currently on that ward. The time spent filling out the form provides vital information to the incoming junior doctors, which has a significant possibility to improve patient care.

Keywords: induction, junior doctor, handover, plastic surgery

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Authors: Rafika Bayu Kusumandari, Istyarini, Ispen Safrel

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Character education will be more meaningful if carried out since early childhood. This is because early childhood education is the foundation of the formation of character. This study intends to find a model of character education in early childhood based on Javanese culture. In keeping with the focus of the study, long-term goals to be achieved through this research is to find once described the development of a model of character education in early childhood Javanese culture based in Semarang are then applied across early childhood education institutions in Semarang City. The specific objective of the study is: Describe the character models and management education in early childhood Java-based culture in Semarang City. The benefits of this research are; Provide an overview of the model and describe the management of character education in early childhood Java-based culture in Semarang City. Referring to the objectives of the research program was designed with a "Research and Development", meaning that a program of research followed by development programs for improvement or refinement. To produce a prototype model of character education in early childhood Java-based culture in the city, taken systematic measures in the form of the action, reflection, evaluation and innovation by applying qualitative research methods, descriptive, development, experimentation, and evaluation. This study aims to gain in-depth description of the model of character education in early childhood Java-based culture in the city of Semarang. The reason for the use of the use of qualitative methods researcher's knowledge, no study results and empirical research specifically about the model of character education in early childhood Java-based culture in the city of Semarang. On the implementation of character education early childhood adapted to the characteristics of each school and the emphasis of each agency arrangements for early childhood education, culture-based Java. Javanese culture should be introduced early in order not to erode the cultural lost outside the entrance as the era of globalization. In addition, Java is promoting a culture of courtesy and manners are very appropriate for the character formation of children of early age.

Keywords: education character, Javanese culture, childhood, character

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Authors: Claudia Martínez-Araneda, Mariella Gutiérrez, Pedro Gómez, Diego Maldonado, Alejandra Segura, Christian Vidal-Castro

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The purpose of this document is to showcase the preliminary work in developing an EduChatbot-type tool and measuring the effects of its use aimed at providing effective feedback to students in programming courses. This bot, hereinafter referred to as tutorBot+, was constructed based on chatGPT and is tasked with assisting and delivering timely positive feedback to students in the field of computer science at the Universidad Católica de Concepción. The proposed working method consists of four stages: (1) Immersion in the domain of Large Language Models (LLMs), (2) Development of the tutorBot+ prototype and integration, (3) Experiment design, and (4) Intervention. The first stage involves a literature review on the use of artificial intelligence in education and the evaluation of intelligent tutors, as well as research on types of feedback for learning and the domain of chatGPT. The second stage encompasses the development of tutorBot+, and the final stage involves a quasi-experimental study with students from the Programming and Database labs, where the learning outcome involves the development of computational thinking skills, enabling the use and measurement of the tool's effects. The preliminary results of this work are promising, as a functional chatBot prototype has been developed in both conversational and non-conversational versions integrated into an open-source online judge and programming contest platform system. There is also an exploration of the possibility of generating a custom model based on a pre-trained one tailored to the domain of programming. This includes the integration of the created tool and the design of the experiment to measure its utility.

Keywords: assessment, chatGPT, learning strategies, LLMs, timely feedback

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Authors: Caroline Kim

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Scholars have long disputed the relationship between the origins of language and human behavior. Historically, behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner argued that language is one instance of the general stimulus-response phenomenon that characterizes the essence of human behavior. Another, more recent approach argues, by contrast, that language is an innate cognitive faculty and does not arise from behavior, which might develop and reinforce linguistic facility but is not its source. Pinker, among others, proposes that linguistic defects arise from damage to the brain, both congenital and acquired in life. Much of his argument is based on case studies in which damage to the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain results in loss of the ability to produce coherent grammatical expressions when speaking or writing; though affected speakers often utter quite fluent streams of sentences, the words articulated lack discernible semantic content. Pinker concludes on this basis that language is an innate component of specific, classically language-correlated regions of the human brain. Taking a notorious 1970s case of linguistic maladaptation, this paper queries the dominant materialist paradigm of language-correlated regions. Susan “Genie” Wiley was physically isolated from language interaction in her home and beaten by her father when she attempted to make any sort of sound. Though without any measurable resulting damage to the brain, Wiley was never able to develop the level of linguistic facility normally achieved in adulthood. Having received a negative reinforcement of language acquisition from her father and lacking the usual language acquisition period, in adulthood Wiley was able to develop language only at a quite limited level in later life. From a contemporary behaviorist perspective, this case confirms the possibility of language deficiency without brain pathology. Wiley’s potential language-determining areas in the brain were intact, and she was exposed to language later in her life, but she was unable to achieve the normal level of communication skills, deterring socialization. This phenomenon and others like it in the case limited literature on linguistic maladaptation pose serious clinical, scientific, and indeed philosophical difficulties for both of the major competing theories of language acquisition, innateness, and linguistic stimulus-response. The implications of such cases for future research in language acquisition are explored, with a particular emphasis on the interaction of innate capacity and stimulus-based development in early childhood.

Keywords: behaviorism, innateness hypothesis, language, Susan "Genie" Wiley

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Authors: Houda Zouar, Hanane Sarnou

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In the 21st, century the concept of learners' autonomy is crucial. The concept of self-regulated learning has come forward as a result of enabling learners to direct their learning with autonomy towards academic goals achievement. Academic self-regulation is defined as the process by which learners systematically plan, monitor and asses their learning to achieve their academic established goals. In the field of English as a foreign language, teachers emphasise the role of learners’ autonomy to foster the process of English language learning. Consequently, academic self-regulation is considered as a vehicle to enhance autonomy among English language learners. However, not all learners can be equally self-regulators if not well assisted, mainly those novice pupils of basic education. For this matter, understanding the role of teachers in fostering academic self- regulation must be among the preliminary objectives in searching and developing this area. The present research work targets the role of the Algerian middle school teachers in enhancing academic self-regulation and teaching pupils how to learn, besides their role as models in the trajectory of teaching their pupils to become self-regulators. Despite the considerable endeavours in the field of educational setting on Self-Regulated Learning, the literature of the Algerian context indicates confined endeavours to undertake and divulge this notion. To go deeper into this study, a mixed method approach was employed to confirm our hypothesis. For data collection, teachers were observed and addressed by a questionnaire on their role in enhancing academic self- regulation among their pupils. The result of the research indicates that the attempts of middle school Algerian teachers are implicit and limited. This study emphasises the need to prepare English language teachers with the necessary skills to promote autonomous and self-regulator English learners.

Keywords: Algeria, English as a foreign language, middle school, self-regulation, Teachers' role

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Authors: Monika Sogani, Zainab Syed, Adrian C. Fisher

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Pollution of estrogenic compounds has caught the attention of researchers as the slight increase of estrogens in the water bodies has a significant impact on the aquatic system. They belong to a class of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and are able to mimic hormones or interfere with the action of endogenous hormones. The microbial electrochemical remediation system (MERS) is employed here for exploiting an electrophototrophic bacterium for evaluating the capacity of biodegradation of ethinylestradiol hormone (EE2) under anaerobic conditions with power generation. MERS using electro-phototrophic bacterium offers a tailored solution of wastewater treatment in a developing country like India which has a huge solar potential. It is a clean energy generating technology as they require only sunlight, water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide to operate. Its main feature that makes it superior over other technologies is that the main fuel for this MERS is sunlight which is indefinitely present. When grown in light with organic compounds, these photosynthetic bacteria generate ATP by cyclic photophosphorylation and use carbon compounds to make cell biomass (photoheterotrophic growth). These cells showed EE2 degradation and were able to generate hydrogen as part of the process of nitrogen fixation. The two designs of MERS were studied, and a maximum of 88.45% decrease in EE2 was seen in a total period of 14 days in the better design. This research provides a better insight into microbial electricity generation and self-sustaining wastewater treatment facilities. Such new models of waste treatment aiming waste to energy generation needs to be followed and implemented for building a resource efficient and sustainable economy.

Keywords: endocrine disrupting compounds, ethinylestradiol, microbial electrochemical remediation systems, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Abdolhamid Anazadehsayed, Jamal Naser

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An integrated computational fluid dynamics model is developed for a combined simulation of Plateau borders, films, and transitional areas between the film and the Plateau borders to reduce the simplifications and shortcomings of available models for foam drainage in micro-scale. Additionally, the counter-flow related to the Marangoni effect in the transitional area is investigated. The results of this combined model show the contribution of the films, the exterior Plateau borders, and Marangoni flow in the drainage process more accurately since the inter-influence of foam's elements is included in this study. The exterior Plateau borders flow rate can be four times larger than the interior ones. The exterior bubbles can be more prominent in the drainage process in cases where the number of the exterior Plateau borders increases due to the geometry of container. The ratio of the Marangoni counter-flow to the Plateau border flow increases drastically with an increase in the mobility of air-liquid interface. However, the exterior bubbles follow the same trend with much less intensity since typically, the flow is less dependent on the interface of air-liquid in the exterior bubbles. Moreover, the Marangoni counter-flow in a near-wall transition area is less important than an internal one. The influence of air-liquid interface mobility on the average velocity of interior foams is attained with more accuracy with more realistic boundary condition. Then it has been compared with other numerical and analytical results. The contribution of films in the drainage is significant for the mobile foams as the velocity of flow in the film has the same order of magnitude as the velocity in the Plateau border. Nevertheless, for foams with rigid interfaces, film's contribution in foam drainage is insignificant, particularly for the films near the wall of the container.

Keywords: foam, plateau border, film, Marangoni, CFD, bubble

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Authors: Gracia V. Navarro, Maria V. Gonzalez, Carlos G. Reed

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The eudaimonic perspective in philosophy and psychology suggests that a good life is closely related to developing oneself in order to contribute to the well-being and happiness of other people and of the world as a whole. Educational psychology can help to achieve this through the design and validation of educative models. Since 2004, the University of Concepcion and other Chilean universities apply an educative model to train socially responsible professionals, people that in the exercise of their profession contribute to generate equity for the development and assess the impacts of their decisions, opting for those that serve the common good. The main aim is to identify if a relationship exists between achieved learning, attitudes toward social responsibility, self-attribution of socially responsible behavior, value type, professional behavior observed and, participation in a specific model to train socially responsible (SR) professionals. The Achieved Learning and Attitudes Toward Social Responsibility Questionnaire, interview with employers and Values Questionnaire and Self-attribution of SR Behavior Questionnaire is applied to 394 students and graduates, divided into experimental and control groups (trained and not trained under the educative model), in order to identify the professional behavior of the graduates. The results show that students and graduates perceive cognitive, affective and behavioral learning, with significant differences in attitudes toward social responsibility and self-attribution of SR behavior, between experimental and control. There are also differences in employers' perceptions about the professional practice of those who were trained under the model and those who were not. It is concluded that the educative model has an impact on the learning of social responsibility and educates for a full life. It is also concluded that it is necessary to identify mediating variables of the model effect.

Keywords: educative model, good life, professional social responsibility, values

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Authors: Kamyar Maleki Bagherabadi, Torstein Aarseth Bø, Truls Flatberg, Olve Mo

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Hydrogen fuel cells and batteries are one of the promising solutions aligned with carbon emission reduction goals for the marine sector. However, the higher installation and operation costs of hydrogen-based systems compared to conventional diesel gensets raise questions about the appropriate hydrogen tank size, energy, and fuel consumption estimations. Ship designers need methodologies and tools to calculate energy and fuel consumption for different component sizes to facilitate decision-making regarding feasibility and performance for retrofits and design cases. The aim of this work is to compare three alternative modeling approaches for the estimation of energy and fuel consumption with various hydrogen tank sizes, battery capacities, and load-sharing strategies. A fishery vessel is selected as an example, using logged load demand data over a year of operations. The modeled power system consists of a PEM fuel cell, a diesel genset, and a battery. The methodologies used are: first, an energy-based model; second, considering load variations during the time domain with a rule-based Power Management System (PMS); and third, a load variations model and dynamic PMS strategy based on optimization with perfect foresight. The errors and potentials of the methods are discussed, and design sensitivity studies for this case are conducted. The results show that the energy-based method can estimate fuel and energy consumption with acceptable accuracy. However, models that consider time variation of the load provide more realistic estimations of energy and fuel consumption regarding hydrogen tank and battery size, still within low computational time.

Keywords: fuel cell, battery, hydrogen, hybrid power system, power management system

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Authors: Benedictus Asriparusa

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In the area of the oil industry, there is accompanied by associated natural gas. The thing shows that a large amount of energy is being wasted mostly in the developing countries by contributing to the global warming process. This research represents an overview of methods in Minas area employed by these researchers in PT. Chevron Pacific Indonesia to determine ways of measuring and reducing gas flaring and its emission drastically. It provides an approximation includes analytical studies, numerical studies, modeling, computer simulations, etc. Flaring system is the controlled burning of natural gas in the course of routine oil and gas production operations. This burning occurs at the end of a flare stack or boom. The combustion process will release emissions of greenhouse gases such as NO2, CO2, SO2, etc. This condition will affect the air and environment around the industrial area. Therefore, we need a simulation to create the pattern of the dissemination of pollutant. This research paper has being made to see trends in gas flaring model and current developments to predict dominant variable which gives impact to dissemination of pollutant. Fluent models used to simulate the distribution of pollutant gas coming out of the stack. While WRF model output is used to overcome the limitations of the analysis of meteorological data and atmospheric conditions in the study area. This study condition focused on transition season in 2012 at Minas area. The goal of the simulation is looking for the exact time which is most influence towards dissemination of pollutants. The most influence factor divided into two main subjects. It is the quickest wind and the slowest wind. According to the simulation results, it can be seen that quickest wind moves to horizontal way and slowest wind moves to vertical way.

Keywords: flaring system, fluent model, dissemination of pollutant, transition season

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Authors: Rebecca Richards Steed, James Van Derslice, Ken Smith, Richard Medina, Amanda Bakian

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Elucidating gene-environment interactions for heritable disease outcomes is an emerging area of disease research, with genetic studies informing hypotheses for environment and gene interactions underlying some of the most confounding diseases of our time, like autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Geography has thus far played a key role in identifying environmental factors contributing to disease, but its use can be broadened to include genetic and environmental factors that have a synergistic effect on disease. Through the use of family pedigrees and disease outcomes with life-course residential histories, space-time clustering of generations at critical developmental windows can provide further understanding of (1) environmental factors that contribute to disease patterns in families, (2) susceptible critical windows of development most impacted by environment, (3) and that are most likely to lead to an ASD diagnosis. This paper introduces a retrospective case-control study that utilizes pedigree data, health data, and residential life-course location points to find space-time clustering of ancestors with a grandchild/child with a clinical diagnosis of ASD. Finding space-time clusters of ancestors at critical developmental windows serves as a proxy for shared environmental exposures. The authors refer to geographic life-course exposures as geographic legacies. Identifying space-time clusters of ancestors creates a bridge for researching exposures of past generations that may impact modern-day progeny health. Results from the space-time cluster analysis show multiple clusters for the maternal and paternal pedigrees. The paternal grandparent pedigree resulted in the most space-time clustering for birth and childhood developmental windows. No statistically significant clustering was found for adolescent years. These results will be further studied to identify the specific share of space-time environmental exposures. In conclusion, this study has found significant space-time clusters of parents, and grandparents for both maternal and paternal lineage. These results will be used to identify what environmental exposures have been shared with family members at critical developmental windows of time, and additional analysis will be applied.

Keywords: family pedigree, environmental exposure, geographic legacy, medical geography, transgenerational inheritance

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Authors: Alaa Fezai, Anuj Sharma, Wolfgang Mueller-Hirsch, André Zimmermann

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Viscoelastic materials have been widely used in the automotive industry over the last few decades with different functionalities. Besides their main application as a simple and efficient surface damping treatment, they may ensure optimal operating conditions for on-board electronics as thermal interface or sealing layers. The dynamic behavior of viscoelastic materials is generally dependent on many environmental factors, the most important being temperature and strain rate or frequency. Prior to the reliability analysis of systems including viscoelastic layers, it is, therefore, crucial to accurately predict the dynamic and lifetime behavior of these materials. This includes the identification of the dynamic material parameters under critical temperature and frequency conditions along with a precise damage localization and identification methodology. The goal of this work is twofold. The first part aims at applying an inverse viscoelastic material-characterization approach for a wide frequency range and under different temperature conditions. For this sake, dynamic measurements are carried on a single lap joint specimen using an electrodynamic shaker and an environmental chamber. The specimen consists of aluminum beams assembled to adapter plates through a viscoelastic adhesive layer. The experimental setup is reproduced in finite element (FE) simulations, and frequency response functions (FRF) are calculated. The parameters of both the generalized Maxwell model and the fractional derivatives model are identified through an optimization algorithm minimizing the difference between the simulated and the measured FRFs. The second goal of the current work is to guarantee an on-line detection of the damage, i.e., delamination in the viscoelastic bonding of the described specimen during frequency monitored end-of-life testing. For this purpose, an inverse technique, which determines the damage location and size based on the modal frequency shift and on the change of the mode shapes, is presented. This includes a preliminary FE model-based study correlating the delamination location and size to the change in the modal parameters and a subsequent experimental validation achieved through dynamic measurements of specimen with different, pre-generated crack scenarios and comparing it to the virgin specimen. The main advantage of the inverse characterization approach presented in the first part resides in the ability of adequately identifying the material damping and stiffness behavior of soft viscoelastic materials over a wide frequency range and under critical temperature conditions. Classic forward characterization techniques such as dynamic mechanical analysis are usually linked to limitations under critical temperature and frequency conditions due to the material behavior of soft viscoelastic materials. Furthermore, the inverse damage detection described in the second part guarantees an accurate prediction of not only the damage size but also its location using a simple test setup and outlines; therefore, the significance of inverse numerical-experimental approaches in predicting the dynamic behavior of soft bonding layers applied in automotive electronics.

Keywords: damage detection, dynamic characterization, inverse approaches, vibration testing, viscoelastic layers

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Authors: Ahmed Gonnah, Omar Masoud, Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Ahmed ElMosalamy, Abdulrahman Al-Naseem

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Introduction: Fibroadenomas are solid, mobile, and non-tender benign breast lumps, with the highest prevalence amongst young women aged between 15 and 35. Symptoms can include discomfort, and they can become problematic, particularly when they enlarge, resulting in many referrals for biopsies, with fibroadenomas accounting for 30-75% of the cases. Diagnosis is based on triple assessment that involves a clinical examination, ultrasound imaging and mammography, as well as core needle biopsies. Current management includes observation for 6-12 months, with the indication of definitive surgery, in cases that are older than 35 years or with fibroadenoma persistence. Serious adverse effects of surgery might include nipple-areolar distortion, scarring and damage to the breast tissue, as well as the risks associated with surgery and anesthesia, making it a non-feasible option. Methods: A literature search was performed on the databases EMBASE. MEDLINE/PubMed, Google scholar and Ovid, for English language papers published between 1st of January 2000 and 17th of March 2021. A structured protocol was employed to devise a comprehensive search strategy with keywords and Boolean operators defined by the research question. The keywords used for the search were ‘HIFU’, ‘High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound’, ‘Fibroadenoma’, ‘Breast’, ‘Lesion’. This review was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: Recently, a thermal ablative technique, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), was found to be a safe, non-invasive, and technically successful alternative, having displayed promising outcomes in reducing the volume of fibroadenomas, pain experienced by patients, and the length of hospitalization. Quality of life improvement was also evidenced, exhibited by the disappearance of symptoms, and enhanced physical activity post-intervention, in addition to patients’ satisfaction with the cosmetic results and future recommendation of the procedure to other patients. Conclusion: Overall, HIFU is a well-tolerated treatment associated with a low risk of complications that can potentially include erythema, skin discoloration and bruising, with the majority of this self-resolving shortly after the procedure.

Keywords: ultrasound, HIFU, breast, efficacy, side effects, fibroadenoma

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Authors: Sepideh Nikounejad, Mostafa Ghaderi, Nematollah Azizi, Per-Olof Thang, Mohamad Reza Neyestani

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From an educational perspective, an effective and efficient relationship between university and industry can be considered as an important means by which not only both sides are improved but also it brings many advantages and benefits for both parties. It means more specifically, mutual collaboration between universities and industry can not only reduce youth unemployment, but it can improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education settings while providing more qualified people to industrial enterprises. Indeed the lack of effective interaction between Iranian universities and industry has confronted the country and created many challenges include in increasing number of unskillful and unemployed graduates. However, in order to suggest appropriate practical strategies, it is very important to see how this issue has been tackled by Swedish universities, which have had a good background in this collaboration and how they are connected to the industry in particular and labour market in general. The research aims to study and compare the mechanisms, processes, and policies of the current model in the relationships between university and industry in Iran and Sweden. As a qualitative study, grounded theory was applied. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected purposefully and by the snowball sampling method. The findings indicate that despite reported needs from both sides for close collaborations between universities and industries in Iran, current policies and practices, including internship, laboratory, and financial support, need to be revised critically. However, in light of our findings on the Swedish policies and practices for linking universities and industries, some practical strategies will be suggested for the Iranian higher education context. In conclusion, cooperation models between universities and industries in Iran and Sweden will be described.

Keywords: cooperation, higher education, industry, comparative

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Authors: Katie E. Jennings

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The interactions between family dynamics and environmental factors with mental health vulnerability in individuals are well known and are a theme for on-going research and debate. The impact upon mental health issues and forensic issues on family dynamics, experience, and emotional wellbeing cannot be over-Emphasised. For forensic patients with diagnosed mental disorders, these relationships and environments may have also been functionally linked to the development and maintenance of those disorders; with significant adverse childhood experiences being a common feature of many Patient’s histories. Mental health hospitals remove the patient from their home environments and provide treatment outside of these relationships and often outside of the home area. There is, therefore, a major focus on Services ensuring that patients are able to build and maintain relationships with family and friends, requiring services to involve families in Patients' care and treatment wherever possible. There are standards set by Government and clinical bodies that require absolute demonstration of the inclusion of family and friends in all aspects of the care and treatment of forensic patients. For some patients and family members, this push to take on a “role” in care can be unhelpful, extremely stressful, and has constant implications for the potential delicate reparation of relationships. Based on work undertaken for over 20 years in forensic mental health settings, this paper explores the positive psychology approach to a dimensional model to family inclusion in mental health care that learns from family court work and allows for the maintenance of relationships to be at both proximal and Distil levels; to prevent the replication of abuse, decrease the need for falsehoods and assist the recovery of all. The model is based on allowing families to choose to not be involved or be involved in different ways if this is seen to be more helpful. It also allows patients to choose the level of potential involvement that they would find helpful, and for this to be reviewed at a timeframe agreed by all parties, rather than when the next survey is due or the patient has a significant care meeting. This paper is significant as there is a lack of research to support services to use a positive psychology approach to work in this area, the assumption that being asked to be involved must be positive for all seems naïve at best for this patient group. Work relating to the psychology of family can significantly contribute to the development of knowledge in this area. The development of a dimensional model will support choice within families and assist in the development of more honest and open relationships.

Keywords: family dynamics, forensic, mental disorder, positive psychology

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Authors: R. Bakr, M. Elmeligy, A. Ibrahim

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When the building loads are relatively small, challenges are often facing the foundation design especially when inappropriate soil conditions exist. These may be represented in the existence of soft soil in the upper layers of soil while sandy soil or firm cohesive soil exist in the deeper layers. In such cases, the design becomes infeasible if the piles are extended to the deeper layers, especially when there are sandy layers existing at shallower depths underlain by stiff clayey soil. In this research, models of piles terminated in sand underlain by clay soils are numerically simulated by different modelling theories. Finite element software, Plaxis 3-D Foundation was used to evaluate the pile behavior under different loading scenarios. The standard static load test according to ASTM D-1143 was simulated and compared with the real-life loading scenario. The results showed that the pile behavior obtained from the current static load test do not realistically represent that obtained from real-life loading. Attempts were carried out to capture the proper numerical loading scenario that simulates the pile behavior in real-life loading including the long-term effect. A modified method based on this research findings is proposed for the static pile loading tests. Field loading tests were carried out to validate the new method. Results obtained from both numerical and field tests by using the modified method prove that this method is more accurate in predicting the pile behavior in sand soil underlain by clay more than the current standard static load.

Keywords: numerical simulation, static load test, pile behavior, sand underlain with clay, creep

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Authors: Dorothy Chyung

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In the psychiatric interview, the mental status exam begins with an assessment of the patient's appearance, noting aspects such as grooming and hygiene. However, it is not well established whether further examination of a patient's attire can provide further useful information. The popular assumption is that those who are mentally unwell will manifest this in unusual clothing. In the moral treatment of the 19th century, proper clothing was also seen as a pivotal therapeutic concern. This project examines assumptions about clothing, both as a reflection of and treatment for psychopathology. The methodology considers the opinions expressed in 19th century art and journals, as well as asylum rules, in comparison to contemporary psychiatric practice and research evidence. Per moral treatment in the 19th century, self-discipline and a proper environment would cure insanity. Madness was evident in the opposite of these ideals—such as ragged or ‘improper’ clothing—and rules about attire delineated the most correct (i.e. sane) ways to dress. These rules applied not only for the patients but also for staff. Despite these ideals, accusations were made that asylums, in fact, dressed patients to look more mentally unwell and further removed patients’ agency. Current practice in psychiatric hospitals retains remnants of moral treatment. Patients are expected to dress ‘appropriately’ while retaining some choice to build self-esteem, with arguments about safety being used to justify the removal of choice. Meanwhile, staff is expected to dress professionally and as role models, based on the assumption that conservative dress is least pathological. Research on this subject is limited, and there is little evidence that discrete psychiatric diagnoses manifest in the particular dress, nor that conservative dress would result in a reduction in pathology. Dressing unusually has become a privilege granted only to those without association with mental illness.

Keywords: fashion, history of psychiatry, medical humanities, mental health treatment

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Authors: Teresa Roco, Mario Perez Won, Roberto Lemus-Mondaca, Sebastian Pizarro

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This research presents the simultaneous application of high hydrostatic pressure application (HHP) and osmotic dehydration (DO) as a pretreatment to hot –air drying of abalone cubes. The drying time was reduced to 6 hours at 60ºC as compared to the abalone drying by only a 15% NaCl osmotic pretreatment and at an atmospheric pressure that took 10 hours to dry at the same temperature. This was due to the salt and HHP saturation since osmotic pressure increases as water loss increases, thus needing a more reduced time in a convective drying, so water effective diffusion in drying plays an important role in this research. Different working conditions as pressure (350-550 MPa), pressure time ( 5-10 min), salt concentration, NaCl 15% and drying temperature (40-60ºC) will be optimized according to kinetic parameters of each mathematical model (Table 1). The models used for drying experimental curves were those corresponding to Weibull, Logarithmic and Midilli-Kucuk, but the latest one was the best fitted to the experimental data (Figure 1). The values for water effective diffusivity varied from 4.54 – to 9.95x10-9 m2/s for the 8 curves (DO+HHP) whereas the control samples (neither DO nor HHP) varied among 4.35 and 5.60x10-9 m2/s, for 40 and 60°C, respectively and as to drying by osmotic pretreatment at 15% NaCl from 3.804 to 4.36x10-9 m2/s at the same temperatures. Finally as to energy and efficiency consumption values for drying process (control and pretreated samples) it was found that they would be within a range of 777-1815 KJ/Kg and 8.22–19.20% respectively. Therefore, a knowledge concerning the drying kinetic as well as the consumption energy, in addition to knowledge about the quality of abalones subjected to an osmotic pretreatment (DO) and a high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) are extremely important to an industrial level so that the drying process can be successful at different pretreatment conditions and/or variable processes.

Keywords: abalone, convective drying, high pressure hydrostatic, pretreatments, diffusion coefficient

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Authors: Dmitry V. Pasynkov, Ivan A. Egoshin, Alexey A. Kolchev, Ivan V. Kliouchkin

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In most cases, typical cysts are easily recognized at ultrasonography. The specificity of this method for typical cysts reaches 98%, and it is usually considered as gold standard for typical cyst diagnosis. However, it is necessary to have all the following features to conclude the typical cyst: clear margin, the absence of internal echoes and dorsal acoustic enhancement. At the same time, not every breast cyst is typical. It is especially characteristic for protein-contained cysts that may have significant internal echoes. On the other hand, some solid lesions (predominantly malignant) may have cystic appearance and may be falsely accepted as cysts. Therefore we tried to develop the automatic method of cystic and solid breast lesions differentiation. Materials and methods. The input data were the ultrasonography digital images with the 256-gradations of gray color (Medison SA8000SE, Siemens X150, Esaote MyLab C). Identification of the lesion on these images was performed in two steps. On the first one, the region of interest (or contour of lesion) was searched and selected. Selection of such region is carried out using the sigmoid filter where the threshold is calculated according to the empirical distribution function of the image brightness and, if necessary, it was corrected according to the average brightness of the image points which have the highest gradient of brightness. At the second step, the identification of the selected region to one of lesion groups by its statistical characteristics of brightness distribution was made. The following characteristics were used: entropy, coefficients of the linear and polynomial regression, quantiles of different orders, an average gradient of brightness, etc. For determination of decisive criterion of belonging to one of lesion groups (cystic or solid) the training set of these characteristics of brightness distribution separately for benign and malignant lesions were received. To test our approach we used a set of 217 ultrasonic images of 107 cystic (including 53 atypical, difficult for bare eye differentiation) and 110 solid lesions. All lesions were cytologically and/or histologically confirmed. Visual identification was performed by trained specialist in breast ultrasonography. Results. Our system correctly distinguished all (107, 100%) typical cysts, 107 of 110 (97.3%) solid lesions and 50 of 53 (94.3%) atypical cysts. On the contrary, with the bare eye it was possible to identify correctly all (107, 100%) typical cysts, 96 of 110 (87.3%) solid lesions and 32 of 53 (60.4%) atypical cysts. Conclusion. Automatic approach significantly surpasses the visual assessment performed by trained specialist. The difference is especially large for atypical cysts and hypoechoic solid lesions with the clear margin. This data may have a clinical significance.

Keywords: breast cyst, breast solid lesion, differentiation, ultrasonography

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Authors: Serhat Tüzün, Tufan Demirel

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Decision Support Systems (DSS) have been investigated by researchers and technologists for more than 35 years. This paper analyses the developments in the architecture and software of these systems, provides a systematic analysis for different Web-based DSS approaches and Intelligent Decision-making Technologies (IDT), with the suggestion for future studies. Decision Support Systems literature begins with building model-oriented DSS in the late 1960s, theory developments in the 1970s, and the implementation of financial planning systems and Group DSS in the early and mid-80s. Then it documents the origins of Executive Information Systems, online analytic processing (OLAP) and Business Intelligence. The implementation of Web-based DSS occurred in the mid-1990s. With the beginning of the new millennia, intelligence is the main focus on DSS studies. Web-based technologies are having a major impact on design, development and implementation processes for all types of DSS. Web technologies are being utilized for the development of DSS tools by leading developers of decision support technologies. Major companies are encouraging its customers to port their DSS applications, such as data mining, customer relationship management (CRM) and OLAP systems, to a web-based environment. Similarly, real-time data fed from manufacturing plants are now helping floor managers make decisions regarding production adjustment to ensure that high-quality products are produced and delivered. Web-based DSS are being employed by organizations as decision aids for employees as well as customers. A common usage of Web-based DSS has been to assist customers configure product and service according to their needs. These systems allow individual customers to design their own products by choosing from a menu of attributes, components, prices and delivery options. The Intelligent Decision-making Technologies (IDT) domain is a fast growing area of research that integrates various aspects of computer science and information systems. This includes intelligent systems, intelligent technology, intelligent agents, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, neural networks, machine learning, knowledge discovery, computational intelligence, data science, big data analytics, inference engines, recommender systems or engines, and a variety of related disciplines. Innovative applications that emerge using IDT often have a significant impact on decision-making processes in government, industry, business, and academia in general. This is particularly pronounced in finance, accounting, healthcare, computer networks, real-time safety monitoring and crisis response systems. Similarly, IDT is commonly used in military decision-making systems, security, marketing, stock market prediction, and robotics. Even though lots of research studies have been conducted on Decision Support Systems, a systematic analysis on the subject is still missing. Because of this necessity, this paper has been prepared to search recent articles about the DSS. The literature has been deeply reviewed and by classifying previous studies according to their preferences, taxonomy for DSS has been prepared. With the aid of the taxonomic review and the recent developments over the subject, this study aims to analyze the future trends in decision support systems.

Keywords: decision support systems, intelligent decision-making, systematic analysis, taxonomic review

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Authors: Imtiaz Ali, Krishnan Jayaraman, Debes Bhattacharyya

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Soybean concentrate is abundant material and renewable product that is recently been explored as an alternative to conventional formaldehyde based resins in wood based products. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the technical feasibility of manufacturing environment friendly MDF panels from renewable resources. The panels are made by using kenaf bast fibers (KB) as wood substitute and soy based adhesive as bonding material. Second order response surface regression models are used to understand the effects and interactions of resin content (RC) and pressing time (PT) on the mechanical and water soaking properties of kenaf panels. The mechanical and water soaking properties are significantly improved as the RC increased and reached at the highest level at maximum resin loading (12%). The effect of pressing time is significant in the first phase when the pressing time increased from 4 to 6 min; however the effect was not as significant when pressing time further increased to 8 min. The second order regression equations further confirm that the variation in process parameters has strong relationship with the physciomechanical properties. The MDF panels the minimum requirements of internal bond strength, modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity as recommended by US wood MDF standard specifications for G110, G120, G130 and G140 grade MDF panels. However, the thickness swelling results are considerably poorer than the recommended values of general purpose standard requirements. This deficiency can be counterbalanced by the advantage of being formaldehyde free panels made from renewable sources and by making them suitable alternative for less humid environment applications.

Keywords: kenaf, Medium density fibreboard, soy adhesive, mechanical properties, water soaking properties

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Authors: Linneth Nkateko Mabila, Patrick Hulisani Demana, Tebogo Maria Mothiba

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Background: Sustaining adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) over the long term by people, especially children living with Human-Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), requires accurate and consistent monitoring, and this is a particular challenge for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the regularity and punctuality in monthly antiretroviral treatment collections indicate medication adherence to a certain extent since it has been revealed to be a significant determinant of the outcome of ART. Aim: This study assessed and described the pattern of monthly antiretroviral treatment collections among a cohort of virally unsuppressed HIV-positive children initiated and managed on ART in the rural public clinics of Mopani District, Limpopo, and explored the nurses' perceptions and views of the findings. Methods: A facility-based mixed-methods study was conducted to assess the honoring of scheduled monthly treatment collection practices by a cohort of HIV-positive children under 15 years initiated and managed on ART by Nurse Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Treatment (NIMART)-trained professional nurses (PNs) from 01 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 in public PHC clinics of Mopani District Municipality. This was followed by the exploration of the nurses' perceptions and views regarding this issue to share their experiences and knowledge acquired through managing these children on ART. Results: From a total of 7105 analysable visits, only 44% (3134) were honored as scheduled, with 40% (2828) of children presenting to the clinics after the scheduled appointment date – they missed their appointments, and 11% (768) of treatment collections that took place before the scheduled appointment date. This finding was further confirmed by 90% (97) of the nurses, who reported that they have children who miss scheduled appointments in their public clinics. The primary reasons for children missing appointments were related to caregivers' forgetfulness and conflict between the school schedule and the dates of clinic visits. Conclusion: We confirmed a high prevalence of non-adherence to scheduled monthly ART collections and the existence of health system, social, and caregiver-related factors that threaten treatment adherence and proper clinical outcomes. These findings suggest an urgent need for intervention since non-adherence to ARV therapy can be life-threatening to the child and poses the danger of reduced life expectancy.

Keywords: antiretroviral therapy (art), nimart, virally unsuppressed children, missed appointments

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Authors: Ana M. Lara, Manuela Llano, Felipe Gaitán, Rosa H. Bustos, Ana Maria Perdomo-Arciniegas, Ximena Bonilla

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Umbilical cord blood is used as a source of progenitor and stem cells for the regeneration of the hematopoietic and immune system to treat patients with different hematological or non-hematological diseases. This stem cell source represents an advantage over the use of bone marrow or mobilized peripheral blood because it has a lower incidence rate of graft-versus-host disease, probably due to fewer immunological compatibility restrictions. However, its low cellular dose limits its use in pediatric patients. This work proposes the standardization of a cell expansion technique to compensate for the dose of infused cells through the ex-vivo manipulation of hematopoietic progenitor cells from umbilical cord blood before transplantation. The expansion model is carried out through co-cultures with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from bone marrow (BM) and less explored fetal tissues such as Wharton's jelly (WJ) and umbilical cord blood (UCB). Initially, a master cell bank of primary mesenchymal stem cells isolated from different sources was established and characterized following International Society of Cell Therapies (ISCT) indications. Additionally, we assessed the effect of a short 25 Gy cycle of gamma irradiation on cell cycle arrest of mesenchymal cells over the support capacity for the expansion of hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood was evaluated. The results show that co-cultures with MSC from WJ and UCB allow the cellular dose of HSPC to be maximized between 5 and 16 times having a similar support capacity as BM. In addition, was evaluated the hematopoietic stem progenitor cell's HSPC functionality through the evaluation of migration capacity, their differentiation capacity during culture time by flow cytometry to evaluate the expression of membrane markers associated with lineage-committed progenitors, their clonogenic potential, and the evaluation of secretome profile in the expansion process was evaluated. So far, the treatment with gamma irradiation maintains the hematopoietic support capacity of mesenchymal stem cells from the three sources studied compared to treatments without irradiation, favoring the use of fetal tissues that are generally waste to obtain mesenchymal cell lines for ex-vivo expansion systems. With the results obtained, a standardized protocol that will contribute to the development of ex-vivo expansion with MSC on a larger scale will be achieved, enabling its clinical use and expanding its application in adults.

Keywords: ex-vivo expansion, hematopoietic stem cells, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, mesenchymal stem cells, umbilical cord blood

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Authors: G. Stamatopoulou, M. Symeonaki, C. Michalopoulou

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In this work, we study the intergenerational social mobility in Greece, in order to provide up-to-date evidence on the changes in the mobility patterns throughout the years. An analysis for both men and women aged between 25-64 years old is carried out. Three main research objectives are addressed. First, we aim to examine the relationship between the socio-economic status of parents and their children. Secondly, we investigate the evolution of the mobility patterns between different birth cohorts. Finally, the role of education is explored in shaping the mobility patterns. For the analysis, we draw data on both parental and individuals' social outcomes from different national databases. The social class of origins and destination is measured according to the European Socio-Economic Classification (ESeC), while the respondents' educational attainment is coded into categories based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). Applying the Markov transition probability theory, and a range of measures and models, this work focuses on the magnitude and the direction of the movements that take place in the Greek labour market, as well as the level of social fluidity. Three-way mobility tables are presented, where the transition probabilities between the classes of destination and origins are calculated for different cohorts. Additionally, a range of absolute and relative mobility rates, as well as distance measures, are presented. The study covers a large time span beginning in 1940 until 1995, shedding light on the effects of the national institutional processes on the social movements of individuals. Given the evidence on the mobility patterns of the most recent birth cohorts, we also investigate the possible effects of the 2008 economic crisis.

Keywords: cohort analysis, education, Greece, intergenerational mobility, social class

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