Search results for: machine learning approach for neurological disorder assessment

Authors: Sara Tokhi Arab, Rozo Noguchi, Tofeal Ahamed

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Drought is a natural disaster that occurs in a region due to a lack of precipitation and high temperatures over a continuous period or in a single season as a consequence of climate change. Precipitation deficits and prolonged high temperatures mostly affect the agricultural sector, water resources, socioeconomics, and the environment. Consequently, it causes agricultural product loss, food shortage, famines, migration, and natural resources degradation in a region. Agriculture is the first sector affected by drought. Therefore, it is important to develop an agricultural drought risk and loss assessment to mitigate the drought impact in the agriculture sector. In this context, the main purpose of this study was to assess yield loss using composite drought indices in the drought-affected vineyards. In this study, the CDI was developed for the years 2016 to 2020 by comprising five indices: the vegetation condition index (VCI), temperature condition index (TCI), deviation of NDVI from the long-term mean (NDVI DEV), normalized difference moisture index (NDMI) and precipitation condition index (PCI). Moreover, the quantitative principal component analysis (PCA) approach was used to assign a weight for each input parameter, and then the weights of all the indices were combined into one composite drought index. Finally, Bayesian regularized artificial neural networks (BRANNs) were used to evaluate the yield variation in each affected vineyard. The composite drought index result indicated the moderate to severe droughts were observed across the Kabul Province during 2016 and 2018. Moreover, the results showed that there was no vineyard in extreme drought conditions. Therefore, we only considered the severe and moderated condition. According to the BRANNs results R=0.87 and R=0.94 in severe drought conditions for the years of 2016 and 2018 and the R= 0.85 and R=0.91 in moderate drought conditions for the years of 2016 and 2018, respectively. In the Kabul Province within the two years drought periods, there was a significate deficit in the vineyards. According to the findings, 2018 had the highest rate of loss almost -7 ton/ha. However, in 2016 the loss rates were about – 1.2 ton/ha. This research will support stakeholders to identify drought affect vineyards and support farmers during severe drought.

Keywords: grapes, composite drought index, yield loss, satellite remote sensing

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Authors: Nia McRae, Robert Wright, Ghalib Bello

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Introduction: Postpartum depression is a prevalent mood disorder that is detrimental to the mental and physical health of mothers and their newborns. Lead (Pb) is a toxic metal that is associated with hormonal imbalance and mental impairments. The hormone changes that accompany pregnancy and childbirth may be exacerbated by Pb and increase new mothers’ susceptibility to postpartum depression. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the only study that investigates the association between prenatal Pb exposure and postpartum depression. Identifying risk factors can contribute to improved prevention and treatment strategies for postpartum depression. Methods: Data was derived from the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stress (PROGRESS) study which is an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort. Postpartum depression was identified by a score of 13 or above on the 10-Item Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) 6-months and 12-months postpartum. Pb was measured in the blood (BPb) in the second and third trimester and in the tibia and patella 1-month postpartum. Quantile regression models were used to assess the relationship between BPb and postpartum depression. Results: BPb in the second trimester was negatively associated with the 80th percentile of depression 6-months postpartum (β: -0.26; 95% CI: -0.51, -0.01). No significant association was found between BPb in the third trimester and depression 6-months postpartum. BPb in the third trimester exhibited an inverse relationship with the 60th percentile (β: -0.23; 95% CI: -0.41, -0.06), 70th percentile (β: -0.31; 95% CI: -0.52, -0.10), and 90th percentile of depression 12-months postpartum (β: -0.36; 95% CI: -0.69, -0.03). There was no significant association between BPb in the second trimester and depression 12-months postpartum. Bone Pb concentrations were not significantly associated with postpartum depression. Conclusion: The negative association between BPb and postpartum depression may support research which demonstrates lead is a nontherapeutic stimulant. Further research is needed to verify these results and identify effect modifiers.

Keywords: depression, lead, postpartum, prenatal

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Authors: Najia Zulfiqar

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Imparting moral education is the need of time, considering the obvious moral decline in society. Recent research shows the downfall of moral competence among university students. The main objective of the present study was to develop moral development intervention strategies for undergraduate students of Sports and Physical Education. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, insight into field-specific moral issues was gained through interviews with 7 subject experts and a focus-group discussion session with 8 students. Two research assistants who were trained in qualitative interviewing collected, transcribed and analyzed data into the MAXQDA software using content and discourse analyses. The identified moral issues in Sports and Physical Education were sports gambling and betting, pay-for-play, doping, coach misconduct, tampering, cultural bias, gender equity/nepotism, bullying/discrimination, and harassment. Next, intervention modules were developed for each moral issue based on hypothetical situations, and followed by guided reflection and dilemma discussion questions. The third moral development strategy was community services that included posture screening, diet plan for different age groups, open fitness ground training, exercise camps for physical fitness, balanced diet awareness camp, gymnastic camp, shoe assessment as per health standards, and volunteering for public awareness at the playground, gymnasium, stadium, park, etc. The intervention modules were given to four subject specialists for expert validation who were from different backgrounds within Sport Sciences. Upon refinement and finalization, four students were presented with these intervention modules and questioned about accuracy, relevance, comprehension, and content organization. Iterative changes were made in the content of the intervention modules to tailor them to the moral development needs of undergraduate students. This intervention will strengthen positive moral values and foster mature decision-making about right and wrong acts. As this intervention is easy to apply as a remedial tool, academicians and policymakers can use this to promote students’ moral development.

Keywords: community service, dilemma discussion, morality, physical education, university students.

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Authors: Assma Azeroual, Karim Afdel, Mohamed El Hajji, Hassan Douzi

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Key frame extraction methods select the most representative frames of a video, which can be used in different areas of video processing such as video retrieval, video summary, and video indexing. In this paper we present a novel approach for extracting key frames from video sequences. The frame is characterized uniquely by his contours which are represented by the dominant blocks. These dominant blocks are located on the contours and its near textures. When the video frames have a noticeable changement, its dominant blocks changed, then we can extracte a key frame. The dominant blocks of every frame is computed, and then feature vectors are extracted from the dominant blocks image of each frame and arranged in a feature matrix. Singular Value Decomposition is used to calculate sliding windows ranks of those matrices. Finally the computed ranks are traced and then we are able to extract key frames of a video. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is robust against a large range of digital effects used during shot transition.

Keywords: FSDWT, key frame extraction, shot detection, singular value decomposition

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Authors: Shashwat, Sandra G. L. Persiani, Yew Wah Wong, Pramod S. Kamath, Avinash H. Anantharam, Hui Ling Aw, Yann Grynberg

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Achieving zero-energy targets in existing buildings is known to be a difficult task, hence targets are addressed at new buildings almost exclusively. Although these ultra-efficient case-studies remain essential to develop future technologies and drive the concepts of Zero-energy, the immediate need to cut the consumption of the existing building stock remains unaddressed. This work aims to present a reliable and straightforward methodology for assessing the potential of energy-efficient upgrading in existing buildings. Public Singaporean school buildings, characterized by low energy use intensity and large roof areas, were identified as potential objects for conversion to highly-efficient buildings with a positive energy balance. A first study phase included the development of a detailed energy model for two case studies (a primary and a secondary school), based on the architectural drawings provided, site-visits and calibrated using measured end-use power consumption of different spaces. The energy model was used to demonstrate compliances or predict energy consumption of proposed changes in the two buildings. As complete energy monitoring is difficult and substantially time-consuming, short-term energy data was collected in the schools by taking spot measurements of power, voltage, and current for all the blocks of school. The figures revealed that the bulk of the consumption is attributed in decreasing order of magnitude to air-conditioning, plug loads, and lighting. In a second study-phase, a number of energy-efficient technologies and strategies were evaluated through energy-modeling to identify the alternatives giving the highest energy saving potential, achieving a reduction in energy use intensity down to 19.71 kWh/m²/y and 28.46 kWh/m²/y for the primary and the secondary schools respectively. This exercise of field evaluation and computer simulation of energy saving potential aims at a preliminary assessment of the positive-energy feasibility enabling future implementation of the technologies on the buildings studied, in anticipation of a broader and more widespread adoption in Singaporean schools.

Keywords: energy simulation, school building, tropical climate, zero energy buildings, positive energy

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Authors: Martin Lauzier, Benjamin Lafreniere-Carrier, Nathalie Delobbe

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Supervisor support is one of the main levers to foster transfer of training. Although past and current studies voice its effects, few have sought to identify the factors that may explain why supervisors offer support to their subordinates when they return from training. Based on Goal Orientation Theory and following the principles of supportive supervision, this study aims to improve our understanding of the factors that influence supervisors’ involvement in the transfer process. More specifically, this research seeks to verify the influence of supervisors’ goal orientation on the adoption of post-training support behaviors. This study also assesses the mediating role of the supervisors’ interest in subordinates’ development on this first relationship. Conducted in two organizations (Canadian: N₁ = 292; Belgian: N₂ = 80), the results of this study revealed three main findings. First, supervisors’ who adopt learning mastery goal orientation also tend to adopt more post-training supportive behaviors. Secondly, regression analyses (using the bootstrap method) show that supervisors' interest in developing their subordinates’ skills mediate the relationship between supervisors’ goal orientation and post-training supportive behaviors. Thirdly, the observed mediation effects are consistent in both samples, regardless of supervisors’ gender or age. Overall, this research is part of the limited number of studies that have focused on the determining factors supervisors’ involvement in the learning transfer process.

Keywords: supervisor support, transfer of training, goal orientation, interest in the development of subordinates’ skills

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Authors: Poornima Khadanga, Gaurav Pawar, Madhavi Rairikar

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Background: The COVID 19 pandemic, with its unparalleled mental health repercussions, has impacted people globally and has catalyzed a Mental Health pandemic among the youth. The detrimental effects on mental health needs to be pondered at the earliest. Aims: To study the behavioral problems among children and adolescents visiting Psychiatry Outpatient Department Tertiary Health Care during COVID pandemic and its correlation with socio-demographic profiles. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted by interviewing 120 participants between 4 to 17 years of age and their parents, visiting Psychiatry OPD. Behavioral problems were assessed using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire and diagnosed by DSM-5. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS-21. Results: Male participants showed significant association with conduct (t=2.36, p=0.02) and hyperactive problems (t=5.07, p<0.05). Increase in screen time showed a positive correlation with conduct problems (r=0.22. p=0.02). Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Disorder (18.3%) was the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric illness. Total difficulty score was significantly associated with difficult temperament (F=68.69, p<0.05). Conclusion: The study brings to light the pattern of behavioral problems that emerged during recent times of uncertainties among the young ones, including those with special needs. The increase in disruptive behaviors with increase screen time needs to be addressed at the earliest.

Keywords: behavioral problems, pandemic, screen time, temperament

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Authors: E. N. R. de Silva

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The main purpose of this research is to set a policy framework for establishing a legal, institutional and social infrastructure that enhances the welfare, health, safety and economic interest of the consumers in Sri Lanka. It will help to develop an approach to continuously and successfully advocate for a consumer protection legal reform agenda and also it is significant as it gives directions to create national consumer protection associations in Sri Lanka. The methodology adopted for this research is purely a qualitative approach and it is generally and specifically categorized. Generally, part of this research looked at the existing laws, regulations and how effective they are in order to protect consumers. It will analyze the consumer protection framework and specially, consumer protection enhanced by the public organizations in Japan. This research offers a model with methods and legal instruments to enforce advocacy group to enhance consumer welfare, also brings out reforms to be made in the national legal framework on consumer welfare.

Keywords: consumer protection association, consumer protection law, consumer welfare, legal framework

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Authors: Sarah Kalaouze, Maxine Iannucelli, Kristen Dunfield

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Children’s implicit beliefs regarding intelligence (i.e., intelligence mindsets) influence their motivation, perseverance, and success. Previous research suggests that the way parents perceive failure influences the development of their child’s intelligence mindsets. We invited 151 children-parent dyads (Age= 5–6 years) to complete a series of difficult puzzles over zoom. We assessed parents’ intelligence and failure mindsets using questionnaires and recorded parents’ person/performance-oriented (e.g., “you are smart” or "you were almost able to complete that one) and process-oriented (e.g., “you are trying really hard” or "maybe if you place the bigger pieces first") failure feedback. We were interested in observing the relation between parental mindsets and the type of feedback provided. We found that parents’ intelligence mindsets were not predictive of the feedback they provided children. Failure mindsets, on the other hand, were predictive of failure feedback. Parents who view failure-as-debilitating provided more person-oriented feedback, focusing on performance and personal ability. Whereas parents who view failure-as-enhancing provided process-oriented feedback, focusing on effort and strategies. Taken all together, our results allow us to determine that although parents might already have a growth intelligence mindset, they don’t necessarily have a failure-as-enhancing mindset. Parents adopting a failure-as-enhancing mindset would influence their children to view failure as a learning opportunity, further promoting practice, effort, and perseverance during challenging tasks. The focus placed on a child’s learning, rather than their performance, encourages them to perceive intelligence as malleable (growth mindset) rather than fix (fixed mindset). This implies that parents should not only hold a growth mindset but thoroughly understand their role in the transmission of intelligence beliefs.

Keywords: mindset(s), failure, intelligence, parental feedback, parents

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Authors: Youssef Chahir, Messaoud Mostefai, Salah Khodja

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This paper presents the development of a 2D visual marker, derived from a recent patented work in the field of numbering systems. The proposed fiducial uses a group of projective invariant straight-line patterns, easily detectable and remotely recognizable. Based on an efficient data coding scheme, the developed marker enables producing a large panel of unique real time identifiers with highly distinguishable patterns. The proposed marker Incorporates simultaneously decimal and binary information, making it readable by both humans and machines. This important feature opens up new opportunities for the development of efficient visual human-machine communication and monitoring protocols. Extensive experiment tests validate the robustness of the marker against acquisition and geometric distortions.

Keywords: visual markers, projective invariants, distance map, level sets

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Authors: Nasrullah khan

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Today business environment is very dynamic and most of organizations are in tough competition for their added values and sustainable hold in market. To achieve such objectives, organizations must have dynamic and creative people as optimized process. To get these people, there should strong human resource management system in organizations. There are multiple approaches have been devised in literature to hire more job relevant and more suitable people. This study proposed an ANP (Analytic Network Process) approach to hire faculty members for a university system. This study consists of two parts. In fist part, a through literature survey and universities interview are conducted in order to find the common criteria for the selection of academic staff. In second part the available candidates are prioritized on the basis of the relative values of these criteria. According to results the GRE & foreign language, GPA and research paper writing were most important factors for the selection of academic staff.

Keywords: creative people, ANP, academic staff, business environment

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Authors: Alicia Greenbank, Efrat Bengio

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The aim of this research was to examine the efficacy of the first course in Israel, whose objective is to train student teachers in the special education department to work cooperatively with parents of children with special needs. Studies often highlight the importance of cooperation between teachers and parents of students with special needs. Israel’s Special Education Law defines parents as complete partners, and the Ministry of Education encourages and even requires that partnership be present. Yet this partnership is difficult to achieve many kindergarten teachers, and teachers have a lot of difficulties establishing and managing a pattern of cooperation with their students’ parents. Often we see different perspectives on the child's development and needs, distrust, lack of appreciation, and communication difficulties on both sides – parents & teachers. The course describes a method of instilling the need for cooperation at an early stage of teacher training-in the teacher training program. 22 students in the special education program for early childhood education in the fourth year of learning took part in the course. The fourth-year is the experiential training year and the first time that students have worked in a school. The course consisted of 14 sessions. Seven parents of students with different disabilities participated at 6 of the sessions. The changes in the students' attitudes towards partnership and their ability to manage this partnership were carried out by examining the reports written by the students before the meetings with the parents and the reflections they wrote after each meeting with the parents and at the end of the course. Three themes emerged from the narrative analysis, corresponding to the three preconditions for joint activities with parents — Approach, Attitude, Appropriate Atmosphere, according to the Four A’s Model. The findings showed that a course combining meetings with parents of children with special needs offers many benefits for teacher training. The course raised student awareness of the question partnership, changed students’ approaches and attitudes towards the parents, stressed the importance of partnership, and provided students with tools for working with parents through the school. Based on the findings of this study, courses in this format can be applied in order to cooperate between teachers and parents, for example, parents of gifted children with special needs.

Keywords: Partnership with parents in special education, parents of children with disabilities, parents of children with special needs, parents’ involvement in special education

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Authors: Masaki Sakai, Tsuyoshi Nakajima, Kazuya Takahashi

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In order to improve the productivity of a factory, it is often the case to create an inference model by collecting and analyzing operational data off-line and then to develop an edge application (EAP) that evaluates the quality of the products or diagnoses machine faults in real-time. To accelerate this development cycle, an edge application framework for the smart factory is proposed, which enables to create and modify EAPs based on prepared inference models. In the framework, the preprocessing component is the key part to make it work. This paper proposes a language for preprocessing of edge applications, called LaPEA, which can flexibly process several sensor data from machines into explanatory variables for an inference model, and proves that it meets the requirements for the preprocessing.

Keywords: edge application framework, edgecross, preprocessing language, smart factory

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Authors: Jessica Gladden

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Yoga has been accepted in the majority of communities in the United States as a method of assisting individuals with improving their physical health. Both community yoga classes and yoga-based therapy have been shown to be highly useful for individual’s mental health. Yoga-based therapy has been supported by research to be an evidence-based practice for individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, and disordered eating and for those experiencing post traumatic stress disorder in the wake of trauma. Many individuals who have experienced trauma, as well as other mental health diagnoses, are either very disconnected from their physical bodies or feel unsafe in their bodies. Yoga can be a method of creating safety and control in the body. This is recommended by some of the leading researchers in trauma therapy as a beginning step towards finding safety in the body in order to begin to work on the additional mental health challenges before addressing other long-term challenges. Unfortunately, yoga for physical and mental health is underutilized in black and brown communities despite the research regarding the benefits. Very few studies have examined the barriers to access to yoga for black, brown, and indigenous individuals. This study interviewed 15 yoga practitioners who identified as black or brown and explored the barriers they see in their communities related to accessing yoga and yoga-based services. Several of the themes reported include not feeling welcome, cost of services, time, and cultural/ religious components. Methods for reducing barriers will also be discussed.

Keywords: yoga, sport, barrier, black

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Authors: Kamal Haider

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Numerical simulations over landing gear of simplified and partially-dressed configurations with closed cavity have been performed to compute aerodynamically and aeroacoustics parameters using commercial engineering software. The objective of numerical computations is two folds. Firstly, to validate experimental data of newly built nose landing gear and secondly perform high-fidelity calculations using CFD/FW-H hybrid approach, as future engineering challenges need more advanced aircraft configurations such as performance noise and efficiency. Both geometries are used for multi-block structured, and unstructured/hybrid meshed to develop some understanding of physics in terms of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) approach is employed to compute surface pressure. Also far-field noise calculations have been generated by Ffowcs-William and Hawking solver. Both results of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics are compared with experimental data.

Keywords: landing gear, computational aeroacoustics, computational aerodynamics, detached eddy simulation

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Authors: Selin Guney, Andres Riquelme

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The traditional bio-economic method for fisheries modeling uses some estimate of the growth parameters and the system carrying capacity from a biological model for the population dynamics (usually a logistic population growth model) which is then analyzed as a traditional production function. The stock dynamic is transformed into a revenue function and then compared with the extraction costs to estimate the maximum economic yield. In this paper, the logistic population growth model for the population is combined with a forecast of the abundance and location of the stock by using a generalized additive model approach. The paper focuses on the Chilean hake population. This method allows for the incorporation of climatic variables and the interaction with other marine species, which in turn will increase the reliability of the estimates and generate better extraction paths for different conservation objectives, such as the maximum biological yield or the maximum economic yield.

Keywords: bio-economic, fisheries, GAM, production

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Authors: Horng-Ji Lai

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The intuitive design features and friendly interface of smartphone attract older adults. In Taiwan, many senior education institutes offer smartphone training courses for older adult learners who are interested in learning this innovative technology. It is expected that the training courses can help them to enjoy the benefits of using smartphone and increase their life satisfaction. Therefore, it is important to investigate the factors that influence older adults’ behavior of using smartphone. The purpose of the research was to develop and test a research model that investigates the factors (self-efficacy, social connection, the need to seek health information, and the need to seek financial information) affecting older adult learners’ Internet behaviour and their life satisfaction with use of smartphone. Also, this research sought to identify the relationship between the proposed variables. Survey method was used to collect research data. A Structural Equation Modeling was performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression for data exploration and model estimation. The participants were 394 older adult learners from smartphone training courses in active aging learning centers located in central Taiwan. The research results revealed that self-efficacy significantly affected older adult learner’ social connection, the need to seek health information, and the need to seek financial information. The construct of social connection yielded a positive influence in respondents’ life satisfaction. The implications of these results for practice and future research are also discussed.

Keywords: older adults, smartphone, internet behaviour, life satisfaction

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Authors: Chieh-Ning Lan, Tzu-Shin Lin, Kun-Hao Lin

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Chinese handwriting skill is one of the basic skills of school-age children in Taiwan, which helps them to learn most academic subjects. Differ from the alphabetic language system, Chinese written language is a logographic script with a complicated 2-dimensional character structure as a morpheme. Visuospatial ability places a great role in Chinese handwriting to maintain good proportion and alignment of these interwoven strokes. In Taiwan, school-age students faced the challenge to recognize and write down Chinese characters, especially in children with written expression difficulties (CWWDs). In this study, we developed an instructional app to help CWWDs practice Chinese handwriting skills, and we aimed to apply the mobile assisted language learning (MALL) system in clinical writing strategies. To understand the feasibility and satisfaction of this auxiliary instructional writing app, we investigated the perceive and value both from school-age students and the clinic therapists, who were the target users and the experts. A group of 8 elementary school children, as well as 8 clinic therapists, were recruited. The school-age students were asked to go through a paper-based instruction and were asked to score the visual expression based on their graphic preference; the clinic therapists were asked to watch an introductive video of this instructional app and complete the online formative questionnaire. In the results of our study, from the perspective of user interface design, school-age students were more attracted to cartoon-liked pictures rather than line drawings or vivid photos. Moreover, compared to text, pictures which have higher semantic transparency were more commonly chosen by children. In terms of the quantitative survey from clinic therapists, they were highly satisfied with this auxiliary instructional writing app, including the concepts such as visual design, teaching contents, and positive reinforcement system. Furthermore, the qualitative results also suggested comprehensive positive feedbacks on the teaching contents and the feasibility of integrating the app into clinical treatments. Interestingly, we found that clinic therapists showed high agreement in approving CWWDs’ writing ability with using orthographic knowledge; however, in the qualitative section, clinic therapists pointed out that CWWDs usually have relative insufficient background knowledge in Chinese character orthographic rules, which because it is not a key-point in conventional handwriting instruction. Also, previous studies indicated that conventional Chinese reading and writing instructions were lacked of utilizing visual-spatial arrangement strategies. Based on the sharing experiences from all participants, we concluded several interesting topics that are worth to dedicate to in the future. In this undergoing app system, improvement and revision will be applied into the system design, and will establish a better and more useful instructional system for CWWDs within their treatments; enlightened by the opinions related to learning content, the importance of orthographic knowledge in Chinese character recognition should be well discussed and involved in CWWDs’ intervention in the future.

Keywords: auxiliary instructional app, children with writing difficulties, Chinese handwriting, orthographic knowledge

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Authors: Soumita Mitra, Santosh Kumar Sarkar

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Hooghly river estuary (HRE), situated at the north eastern part of Bay of Bengal has global significance due to its holiness. It is of immense importance to the local population as it gives perpetual water supply for various activities such as transportation, fishing, boating, bathing etc. to the local people who settled on both the banks of this estuary. This study was done to assess the dissolved and particulate trace metal in the estuary covering a stretch of about 175 Km. The water samples were collected from the surface (0-5 cm) along the salinity gradient and metal concentration were studied both in dissolved and particulate phase using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (GF-AAS) along some physical characteristics such as water temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity and total dissolved solids. Although much significant spatial variation was noticed but little enrichment was found along the downstream of the estuary. The mean concentration of the metals in the dissolved and particulate phase followed the same trend and as follows: Fe>Mn>Cr>Zn>Cu>Ni>Pb. The concentration of the metals in the particulate phase were much greater than that in dissolved phase which was also depicted from the values of the partition coefficient (Kd)(ml mg-1). The Kdvalues ranged from 1.5x105 (in case of Pb) to 4.29x106 (in case of Cr). The high value of Kd for Cr denoted that the metal Cr is mostly bounded with the suspended particulate matter while the least value for Pb signified it presence more in dissolved phase. Moreover, the concentrations of all the studied metals in the dissolved phase were many folds higher than their respective permissible limits assested by WHO 2008, 2009 and 2011. On the other hand, according to Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), Zn, Cu and Ni in the particulate phase lied between ERL and ERM values but Cr exceeded ERM values at all the stations confirming that the estuary is mostly contaminated with the particulate Cr and it might cause frequent adverse effects on the aquatic life. Multivariate statistics Cluster analysis was also performed which separated the stations according to the level of contamination from several point and nonpoint sources. Thus, it is found that the estuarine system is much polluted by the toxic metals and further investigation, toxicological studies should be implemented for full risk assessment of this system, better management and restoration of the water quality of this globally significant aquatic system.

Keywords: dissolved and particulate phase, Hooghly river estuary, partition coefficient, surface water, toxic metals

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Authors: Erzsebet Gulyas

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Our inner world, our imagination, and our way of thinking are invisible and inaudible to others, but they influence our behavior. To investigate the relationship between thinking and language use, we created a test in Hungarian using ideas from the literature. The test prompts participants to make decisions based on visual images derived from the written information presented. There is a correlation (r=0.5) between the test result and the self-assessment of the visual imagery vividness and the visual and verbal components of internal representations measured by self-report questionnaires, as well as with responses to language-use inquiries in the background questionnaire. 56 university students completed the tests, and SPSS was used to analyze the data.

Keywords: imagination, internal representations, verbalization, visualization

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Authors: Ida Fatimawati Adi Badiozaman, Augustus Raymond Segar

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The Covid-19 pandemic transformed teaching contexts at an unprecedented level. Although studies have focused mainly on its impact on students, little is known about how emergency online teaching affects faculty members in higher education. Given that the pandemic has robbed teachers of opportunities for adequate preparation, it is vital to understand how teaching competencies were perceived in the crisis-response transition to online teaching and learning (OTL). Therefore, the study explores how academics perceive their readiness for OTL and what competencies were perceived to be central. Therefore, through a mixed-methods design, the study first explores through a survey how academics perceive their readiness for OTL and what competencies were perceived to be central. Emerging trends from the quantitative data of 330 academics (three public and three private Higher learning institutions) led to the formulation of interview guides for the subsequent qualitative phase. The authors use critical sensemaking (CSM) to analyse interviews with twenty-two teachers (n = 22) (three public; three private HEs) toward understanding the interconnected layers of influences they draw from as they make sense of their teaching competence. The sensemaking process reframed competence and readiness in that agentic competency emerged as crucial in shaping resilience and adaptability during the transition to OTL. The findings also highlight professional learningcriticalto teacher competence: course design, communication, time management, technological competence, and identity (re)construction. The findings highlight opportunities for strategic orientation to change during crisis. Implications for pedagogy and policy are discussed.

Keywords: online teaching, pedagogical competence, agentic competence, agency, technological competence

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Authors: Tianyu Wang, Nikita Karandikar

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The uncertainty around cost, safety, and feasibility of the decarbonized shipping fuels has made it increasingly complex for the shipping companies to set pricing strategies and forecast their freight revenues going forward. The increase in the green fuel surcharges will ultimately influence the automobile’s consumer prices. The auto shipping demand (ton-miles) has been gradually shifting from long-haul to short-sea trade over the past years following the relocation of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) manufacturing to regions such as South America and Southeast Asia. The objective of this paper is twofold: 1) to investigate the car-carriers freight revenue development over the years when the trade pattern is gradually shifting towards short-sea exports 2) to empirically identify the quantitative impact of such trade pattern shifting to mainly freight rate, but also vessel size, fleet size as well as Green House Gas (GHG) emission in Roll on-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) shipping. In this paper, a model of analyzing and forecasting ton-miles and freight revenues for the trade routes of AS-NA (Asia to North America), EU-NA (Europe to North America), and SA-NA (South America to North America) is established by deploying Automatic Identification System (AIS) data and the financial results of a selected car carrier company. More specifically, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WALWIL), the Norwegian Ro-Ro carrier listed on Oslo Stock Exchange, is selected as the case study company in this paper. AIS-based ton-mile datasets of WALWIL vessels that are sailing into North America region from three different origins (Asia, Europe, and South America), together with WALWIL’s quarterly freight revenues as reported in trade segments, will be investigated and compared for the past five years (2018-2022). Furthermore, ordinary‐least‐square (OLS) regression is utilized to construct the ton-mile demand and freight revenue forecasting. The determinants of trade pattern shifting, such as import tariffs following the China-US trade war and fuel prices following the 0.1% Emission Control Areas (ECA) zone requirement after IMO2020 will be set as key variable inputs to the machine learning model. The model will be tested on another newly listed Norwegian Car Carrier, Hoegh Autoliner, to forecast its 2022 financial results and to validate the accuracy based on its actual results. GHG emissions on the three routes will be compared and discussed based on a constant emission per mile assumption and voyage distances. Our findings will provide important insights about 1) the trade-off evaluation between revenue reduction and energy saving with the new ton-mile pattern and 2) how the trade flow shifting would influence the future need for the vessel and fleet size.

Keywords: AIS, automobile exports, maritime big data, trade flows

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Authors: A. P. Attanayake, K. A. P. W. Jayatilaka, L. K. B. Mudduwa, C. Pathirana

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Triggering of β-cell regeneration is a recognized therapeutic strategy for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus. One such approach to foster restoration and regeneration of β-cells is from exogenous natural extracts. The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the β-cell regenerative potentials of the extracts of Spondias pinnata (Linn. f.) Kurz, Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt and Gmelina arborea Roxb. in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Wistar rats were divided in to six groups (n=6); healthy untreated rats, alloxan induced diabetic untreated rats (150 mg/kg, ip), diabetic rats receiving the extracts of S. pinnata (1.0 g/kg), C. grandis (0.75 g/kg), G. arobrea (1.00 g/kg) and diabetic rats receiving glibenclamide (0.5 mg/kg) for 30 days. The assessment of selected biochemical parameters, histopathology and immunohistochemistry in the pancreatic tissue were done on the 30th day. The reduction in the percentage of HbA1C was in the decreasing order of C. grandis (35%), G. arborea (31%) and S. pinnata (29%) in alloxan induced diabetic rats (p< 0.05). The concentration of serum fructosamine, insulin and C-peptide were decreased significantly in a decreasing order of C. grandis (30%, 72%, 51%), G. arborea (25%, 44%, 44%) and S. pinnata (27%, 34%, 24%) in alloxan induced diabetic rats (p < 0.05). The extent of β-cell regeneration was in the decreasing order of C. grandis, G. arborea, S. pinnata reflected through the increased percentage of insulin secreting β-cells in alloxan induced diabetic rats. The extract of C. grandis produced the highest degree of β-cell regeneration demonstrated through an increase in the number of islets and percentage of the insulin secreting β-cells (75%) in the pancreas of diabetic rats (p < 0.05). Further the C. grandis extract produced a significant increase in mean profile diameter in small (118%), average (10%), and large (13%) islets as compared with diabetic control rats respectively. However, statistically significant increase in the islet profile diameter was shown only in average (2%) and large (5%) islets in the G. arborea extract treated rats and large islets (5%) in S. pinnata extract treated diabetic rats (p < 0.05). The β-cell regeneration potency was in the decreasing order of C. grandis (0.75 g/kg), G. arborea (1.00 g/kg) and S. pinnata (1.00 g/kg) in alloxan induced diabetic rats. The three plant extracts may be useful as natural agents of triggering the β-cell regeneration in the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Keywords: alloxan-induced diabetic rats, β-cell regeneration, histopathology, immunohistochemistry

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Authors: Guoliang Fan, Aiping Li, Xuemei Liu, Liyun Xu

Abstract:

The performance of the tightening equipment will decline with the working process in manufacturing system. The main manifestations are the randomness and discretization degree increasing of the tightening performance. To evaluate the degradation tendency of the tightening performance accurately, a complexity measurement approach based on Kolmogorov entropy is presented. At first, the states of performance index are divided for calibrating the discrete degree. Then the complexity measurement model based on Kolmogorov entropy is built. The model describes the performance degradation tendency of tightening equipment quantitatively. At last, a study case is applied for verifying the efficiency and validity of the approach. The research achievement shows that the presented complexity measurement can effectively evaluate the degradation tendency of the tightening equipment. It can provide theoretical basis for preventive maintenance and life prediction of equipment.

Keywords: complexity measurement, Kolmogorov entropy, manufacturing system, performance evaluation, tightening equipment

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Authors: H. E. Budak, B. Arslan-Ilkiz, N. Cakmakci, I. Gocek, U. K. Sahin, H. Acikgoz-Tufan, M. H. Arslan

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to design a novel laundry algorithm for colored textiles which have significant decoloring problem. During the experimental work, bleached knitted single jersey fabric made of 100% cotton and dyed with reactive dyestuff was utilized, since according to a conducted survey textiles made of cotton are the most demanded textile products in the textile market by the textile consumers and for coloration of textiles reactive dyestuffs are the ones that are the most commonly used in the textile industry for dyeing cotton-made products. Therefore, the fabric used in this study was selected and purchased in accordance with the survey results. The fabric samples cut out of this fabric were dyed with different dyeing parameters by using Remazol Brilliant Red 3BS dyestuff in Gyrowash machine at laboratory conditions. From the alternative reactive-dyed cotton fabric samples, the ones that have high tendency to color loss were determined and examined. Accordingly, the parameters of the dyeing process used for these fabric samples were evaluated and the dyeing process which was chosen to be used for causing high tendency to color loss for the cotton fabrics was determined in order to reveal the level of improvement in color loss during this study clearly. Afterwards, all of the untreated fabric samples cut out of the fabric purchased were dyed with the dyeing process selected. When dyeing process was completed, an experimental design was created for the laundering process by using Minitab® program considering temperature, time and mechanical action as parameters. All of the washing experiments were performed in domestic washing machine. 16 washing experiments were performed with 8 different experimental conditions and 2 repeats for each condition. After each of the washing experiments, water samples of the main wash of the laundering process were measured with UV spectrophotometer. The values obtained were compared with the calibration curve of the materials used for the dyeing process. The results of the washing experiments were statistically analyzed with Minitab® program. According to the results, the most suitable washing algorithm to be used in terms of the parameters temperature, time and mechanical action for domestic washing machines for minimizing fabric color loss was chosen. The laundry algorithm proposed in this study have the ability of minimalizing the problem of color loss of colored textiles in washing machines by eliminating the negative effects of the parameters of laundering process on color of textiles without compromising the fundamental effects of basic cleaning action being performed properly. Therefore, since fabric color loss is minimized with this washing algorithm, dyestuff residuals will definitely be lower in the grey water released from the laundering process. In addition to this, with this laundry algorithm it is possible to wash and clean other types of textile products with proper cleaning effect and minimized color loss.

Keywords: color loss, laundry algorithm, textiles, domestic washing process

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Akulov M. A., Zaharov V. O., Jurishhev P. E., Tomskij A. A.

Abstract:

Introduction: Spasticity is a severe consequence of stroke, leading to profound disability, decreased quality of life and decrease of rehabilitation efficacy [4]. Spasticity is often associated with pain syndrome, arising from joint damage of paretic limbs (postural arthropathy) or painful spasm of paretic limb muscles. It is generally accepted that injection of botulinum toxin into a cramped muscle leads to decrease of muscle tone and improves motion range in paretic limb, which is accompanied by pain alleviation. Study aim: To evaluate the change in pain syndrome intensity after incections of botulinum toxin A (Xeomin) in stroke patients with upper limb spasticity. Patients and methods. 21 patients aged 47-74 years were evaluated. Inclusion criteria were: acute stroke 4-7 months before the inclusion into the study, leading to spasticity of wrist and/or finger flexors, elbow flexor or forearm pronator, associated with severe pain syndrome. Patients received Xeomin as monotherapy 90-300 U, according to spasticity pattern. Efficacy evaluation was performed using Ashworth scale, disability assessment scale (DAS), caregiver burden scale and global treatment benefit assessment on weeks 2, 4, 8 and 12. Efficacy criterion was the decrease of pain syndrome by week 4 on PQLS and VAS. Results: The study revealed a significant improvement of measured indices after 4 weeks of treatment, which persisted until the 12 week of treatment. Xeomin is effective in reducing muscle tone of flexors of wrist, fingers and elbow, forearm pronators. By the 4th week of treatment we observed a significant improvement on DAS (р < 0,05), Ashworth scale (1-2 points) in all patients (р < 0,05), caregiver burden scale (р < 0,05). A significant decrease of pain syndrome by the 4th week of treatment on PQLS (р < 0,05) и VAS (р < 0,05) was observed. No adverse effect were registered. Conclusion: Xeomin is an effective treatment of pain syndrome in postural upper limb spasticity after stroke. Xeomin treatment leads to a significant improvement on PQLS and VAS.

Keywords: botulinum toxin, pain syndrome, spasticity, stroke

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Authors: H. R. Fazlollahi

Abstract:

Dark Energy origin is unknown and so describing this mysterious component in large scale structure needs to manipulate our theories in general relativity. Although in most models, dark energy arises from extra terms through modifying Einstein-Hilbert action, maybe its origin traces back to fundamental aspects of ground energy of space-time given in quantum mechanics. Hence, diluting space-time in general relativity with quantum mechanics properties leads to the Karolyhazy relation corresponding energy density of quantum fluctuations of space-time. Through generalized uncertainty principle and an eye to Karolyhazy approach in this study we extend energy density of quantum fluctuations of space-time. Also, the application of this idea is considered in late time evolution and we have shown how extra term in generalized uncertainty principle plays as a plausible interaction term role in suggested model.

Keywords: generalized uncertainty principle, karolyhazy approach, agegraphic dark energy, cosmology

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Authors: Rolla Monib, Chris I. Goodier, Alistair Gibbs

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the key drivers in planning the construction phase for infrastructure projects to reduce project delays. To achieve this aim, the research conducted three case studies using semi-structured and unstructured interviews (n=36). The results conclude that a lack of modularisation awareness is among the key factors attributed to project delays. The current emotive and ill-informed approach to decision-making, coupled with the lack of knowledge regarding appropriate construction method selection, prevents the potential benefits of modularisation being fully realised. To assist with decision-making for the best construction method, the research presents project management tools to help decision makers to choose the most appropriate construction approach through optimising the use of modularisation in EC. A decision-making checklist and diagram are presented in this paper. These checklist tools and diagrams assist the project team in determining the best construction method, taking into consideration the module type.

Keywords: infrastructure, modularization, decision support, decision-making

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Authors: Khamis Al-Gharbi, Said M. Gattoufi, Ali H. Al-Badi, Ali Al-Hashmi

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The case study presents the progression of a project management of Al-Shifa, a healthcare information system in Oman. The case study describes the evolution of the implementation of a healthcare information system tailored to meet the needs of the healthcare units under the supervision of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Oman. A focus group methodology was used for collecting the relevant information from the main project's stakeholders. In addition reports about the project made available for the researchers. The case analysis is made based on the Project Management approach developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The main finding that there was no formal project management approach adopted by the MOH for the development and implementation of the herewith mentioned healthcare information system project. Furthermore, the project had suffered a scope creep in terms of features, cost and time-schedule. The recommendations of the authors, for the rescue of the project from its current dilemma, consist of technological, administrative and human resources development actions.

Keywords: project management, information system, healthcare, Al-Shifa, Oman

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Jin Sung Kim, Hoon Huh

Abstract:

The material properties of OFHC copper film was investigated with the High-Speed Material Micro Testing Machine (HSMMTM) at the high strain rates. The rate-dependent stress-strain curves from the experiment and the Johnson-Cook curve fitting showed large discrepancies as the plastic strain increases since the constitutive model implies no rate-dependent strain hardening effect. A new constitutive model was proposed in consideration of rate-dependent strain hardening effect. The strain rate hardening term in the new constitutive model consists of the strain rate sensitivity coefficients of the yield strength and strain hardening.

Keywords: rate dependent material properties, dynamic constitutive model, OFHC copper film, strain rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 474