Search results for: urban environmental quality

Authors: Fatema Akram, Mohammad Golam Rasul, Mohammad Masud Kamal Khan, Md. Sharif Imam Ibne Amir

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A variety of routing techniques are available to develop surface runoff hydrographs from rainfall. The selection of runoff routing method is very vital as it is directly related to the type of watershed and the required degree of accuracy. There are different modelling softwares available to explore the rainfall-runoff process in urban areas. XPSTORM, a link-node based, integrated storm-water modelling software, has been used in this study for developing surface runoff hydrograph for a Golf course area located in Rockhampton in Central Queensland in Australia. Four commonly used methods, namely SWMM runoff, Kinematic wave, Laurenson, and Time-Area are employed to generate runoff hydrograph for design storm of this study area. In runoff mode of XPSTORM, the rainfall, infiltration, evaporation and depression storage for sub-catchments were simulated and the runoff from the sub-catchment to collection node was calculated. The simulation results are presented, discussed and compared. The total surface runoff generated by SWMM runoff, Kinematic wave and Time-Area methods are found to be reasonably close, which indicates any of these methods can be used for developing runoff hydrograph of the study area. Laurenson method produces a comparatively less amount of surface runoff, however, it creates highest peak of surface runoff among all which may be suitable for hilly region. Although the Laurenson hydrograph technique is widely acceptable surface runoff routing technique in Queensland (Australia), extensive investigation is recommended with detailed topographic and hydrologic data in order to assess its suitability for use in the case study area.

Keywords: ARI, design storm, IFD, rainfall temporal pattern, routing techniques, surface runoff, XPSTORM

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Authors: Manssour Habbash, Srinivasa Rao Idapalapati

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Although writing is a multifaceted task, teaching writing is a demanding task basically for two reasons: Grammar and Syntax. This article provides a method of teaching writing that was found to be effective in improving students’ academic writing composition skill. The article explains the concepts of ‘guided-discovery’ and ‘guided-construction’ upon which a method of teaching writing is grounded and developed. Providing a brief commentary on what the core could mean primarily, the article presents an exposition of understanding and identifying the core and building upon the core that can demonstrate the way a teacher can make use of the concepts in teaching for improving the writing skills of their students. The method is an adaptation of grammar translation method that has been improvised to suit to a student-centered classroom environment. An intervention of teaching writing through this method was tried out with positive outcomes in formal classroom research setup, and in view of the content’s quality that relates more to the classroom practices and also in consideration of its usefulness to the practicing teachers the process and the findings are presented in a narrative form along with the results in tabular form.

Keywords: core of a text, guided construction, guided discovery, theme of a text

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Authors: Farnaz Dehkhoda

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This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of active and receptive music-therapy on anxiety in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy. 184 young adult patients, who were diagnosed with early stage cancer and were undergoing treatment, were divided into three groups. Two groups received music therapy as a parallel treatment and the third group was control group. In active music-therapy, a music specialist helped the patients to play guitar and sing. In the receptive music-therapy, patients preferred pre-recorded music played by MP3 player. The level of anxiety was measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory as pre-test and post-test. ANCOVA revealed that both types of music-therapy reduced anxiety level of patients and the active music-therapy intervention found to be more effective. The results suggest that music-therapy can be applied as an intervention method contemporary with cancer medical treatment, for improving quality of life in cancer patients by reducing their anxiety.

Keywords: Anxiety, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Music-therapy

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Authors: Somayyeh Salari, Marziyeh Nayefi, Mohsen Sari, Mehdi Behgar

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This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of electron beam- irradiated cottonseed meal at a dose of 30 KGy on carcass characteristics and some blood parameters of broiler chicks. Various levels of cottonseed meal (CSM) (0, 12, and 24%, radiation and no radiation) were used with 5 dietary treatments, 4 replicates and 10 birds of each for 42 days in completely randomized design. At 42 d of age, two birds per pen were randomly selected for determination of carcass characteristics and blood parameters. Relative weights of liver, gastrointestinal tract (GI), pancreatic, gizzard and abdominal fat were increased with increasing levels of CSM in the diet (p<0/05). Glucose, cholesterol, HDL, triglyceride, and phosphorous concentrations increased and LDL concentration decreased as the dietary CSM levels increased (p<0/05). But radiation had not significant effect on blood parameters. Electron irradiation seems to be a good procedure to improve the nutritional quality of CSM but it seems higher dose of it was needed to improve blood parameters of chickens.

Keywords: blood parameters, carcass characteristics, cottonseed meal, electron beam

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Authors: K. Power, M. White, B. Dunleavey, E. Comerford, C. Doherty, N. Delanty, R. Corbridge, M. Fitzsimons

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Introduction: Providing people with access to their own healthcare information and engaging them as co-authors of their health record can promote better transparency, trust, and inclusivity in the healthcare system. With the advent of electronic health records, there is a move towards involving patients as partners in their healthcare by providing them with access to their own health data via electronic patient portals (ePortal). For example, a recently developed ePortal to the Irish National Epilepsy Electronic Patient Record (EPR) provides access to summary medical records, tools for Patient Reported Outcomes (PROM), health goal-setting and preparation for clinical appointments. Aim: To determine what people with epilepsy (their families/carers) value about the Irish epilepsy ePortal. Methods: A socio-technical process was employed recruiting 30 families of people with epilepsy who also have an intellectual disability (ID). Family members who are a care partner of the person with epilepsy (PWE) were invited to co-design, develop and implement the ePortal. Family members engaged in usability and utility testing which involved a face to face meeting to learn about the ePortal, register for a user account and evaluate its structure and content. Family members were instructed to login to the portal on at least two separate occasions following the meeting and to complete a self-report evaluation tool during this time. The evaluation tool, based on a Usability Questionnaire (Lewis, 1993), consists of a short assessment of comfort using technology, instructions for using the ePortal and some tasks to complete. Tasks included validating summary record details, assessing ePortal ease of use, evaluation of information presented. Participants were asked for suggestions on how to improve the portal and make it more applicable to PWE who also have an ID. Results: Family members responded positively to the ePortal and valued the ability to share information between clinicians and care partners; use the ePortal as a passport between different healthcare settings (e.g., primary care to hospital). In the context of elderly parents of PWE, the ePortal is valued as a tool for supporting shared care between family members. Participants welcomed the facility to log lists of questions and goals to discuss with the clinician at the next clinical appointment as a means of improving quality of care. Participants also suggested further enhancements to the ePortal such as access to clinic letters which can provide an aide memoir in terms of the careplan agreed with the clinical team. For example, through the ePortal, people could see what investigations or therapies are scheduled. Conclusion: The Epilepsy Patient Portal is accessible via a range of devices such as smartphones and tablets. ePortals have the potential to help personalise care, improve patient involvement in clinical decision making, engage them as quality and safety partners, and help clinicians be more responsive to patient needs. Acknowledgement: The epilepsy ePortal project is part of PISCES, a Lighthouse Project funded by eHealth Ireland and HSE to help build an understanding of the benefits of eHealth technologies in the Irish Healthcare System.

Keywords: electronic patient portal, electronic patient record, epilepsy, intellectual disability, usability testing

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Authors: Muhammad Shoaib

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Every society has a set of beliefs, norms, values, folkways, mores and laws. All the principles, customs, traditions and procedures of societies are directly or indirectly related to the religion of the society and changed with the passage of time by the mediation of democratic values attitudes and mass media influence. The main objective of the present study is to examine the effects of rational thinking values on forgiveness attitude by the mediation of democratic values and mass media attitude among family members. As many other developing settings, Pakistani society is undergoing a rapid and multifaceted social change, in which traditional thinking coexists and often clashes with modern thinking. Rational thinking attitude has great effects on the forgiveness attitude among family members as well as all the members of Pakistani society. For the present study 520 respondents were sampled from two urban areas of Punjab province; Lahore and Faisalabad, through proportionate random sampling technique. A survey method was used as a technique of data collection and an interview schedule was administered to collect information from the respondents. The results support that the net of other factors, favorable democratic values attitudes are positively associated rational thinking attitudes. The results also provide support that all other things equal, mass media attitudes also have a significant positive effect on rational thinking attitudes. Favorable democratic values attitudes have a significant net positive effect and the effect of mass media attitudes is positive and statistically highly significant. It shows that the effects of both democratic values attitudes and mass media attitudes diminish in magnitude when the rational thinking attitudes scale is included. However, the effect of democratic values remains highly significant. In comparison, the effect of mass media attitudes is only marginally significant.

Keywords: rationality, forgiveness, democratic values, mass media, attitudes, Pakistan

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Authors: Aishwarya Venkat, Anastasia Marshak, Ryan B. Simpson, Elena N. Naumova

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Livestock ownership is simultaneously linked to improved nutritional status through increased availability of animal-source protein, and increased risk of enteric infections through higher exposure to contaminated water sources. Agrarian and agro-pastoral households, especially those with cattle, goats, and sheep, are highly dependent on seasonally various environmental conditions, which directly impact nutrition and health. This study explores global spatiotemporally explicit evidence regarding the relationship between livestock ownership, enteric infections, and malnutrition. Seasonal and cyclical fluctuations, as well as mediating effects, are further examined to elucidate health and nutrition outcomes of individual and communal livestock ownership. The US Agency for International Development’s Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund’s Multi-Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) provide valuable sources of household-level information on anthropometry, asset ownership, and disease outcomes. These data are especially important in data-sparse regions, where surveys may only be conducted in the aftermath of emergencies. Child-level disease history, anthropometry, and household-level asset ownership information have been collected since DHS-V (2003-present) and MICS-III (2005-present). This analysis combines over 15 years of survey data from DHS and MICS to study 2,466,257 children under age five from 82 countries. Subnational (administrative level 1) measures of diarrhea prevalence, mean livestock ownership by type, mean and median anthropometric measures (height for age, weight for age, and weight for height) were investigated. Effects of several environmental, market, community, and household-level determinants were studied. Such covariates included precipitation, temperature, vegetation, the market price of staple cereals and animal source proteins, conflict events, livelihood zones, wealth indices and access to water, sanitation, hygiene, and public health services. Children aged 0 – 6 months, 6 months – 2 years, and 2 – 5 years of age were compared separately. All observations were standardized to interview day of year, and administrative units were harmonized for consistent comparisons over time. Geographically weighted regressions were constructed for each outcome and subnational unit. Preliminary results demonstrate the importance of accounting for seasonality in concurrent assessments of malnutrition and enteric infections. Household assets, including livestock, often determine the intensity of these outcomes. In many regions, livestock ownership affects seasonal fluxes in malnutrition and enteric infections, which are also directly affected by environmental and local factors. Regression analysis demonstrates the spatiotemporal variability in nutrition outcomes due to a variety of causal factors. This analysis presents a synthesis of evidence from global survey data on the interrelationship between enteric infections, malnutrition, and livestock. These results provide a starting point for locally appropriate interventions designed to address this nexus in a timely manner and simultaneously improve health, nutrition, and livelihoods.

Keywords: diarrhea, enteric infections, households, livestock, malnutrition, seasonality

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Authors: Utpal Das, Sona Das

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InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice (T2SL) Mid-wave infrared (MWIR) focal plane arrays (FPAs) have recently seen rapid development. However, in small pixel size large format FPAs, the occurrence of high mesa sidewall surface leakage current is a major constraint necessitating proper surface passivation. A simple pixel isolation technique in InAs/GaSb T2SL detector arrays without the conventional mesa etching has been proposed to isolate the pixels by forming a more resistive higher band gap material from the SL, in the inter-pixel region. Here, a single step femtosecond (fs) laser anneal of the T2SL structure of the inter-pixel T2SL regions, have been used to increase the band gap between the pixels by QW-intermixing and hence increase isolation between the pixels. The p-i-n photodiode structure used here consists of a 506nm, (10 monolayer {ML}) InAs:Si (1x10¹⁸cm⁻³)/(10ML) GaSb SL as the bottom n-contact layer grown on an n-type GaSb substrate. The undoped absorber layer consists of 1.3µm, (10ML)InAs/(10ML)GaSb SL. The top p-contact layer is a 63nm, (10ML)InAs:Be(1x10¹⁸cm⁻³)/(10ML)GaSb T2SL. In order to improve the carrier transport, a 126nm of graded doped (10ML)InAs/(10ML)GaSb SL layer was added between the absorber and each contact layers. A 775nm 150fs-laser at a fluence of ~6mJ/cm² is used to expose the array where the pixel regions are masked by a Ti(200nm)-Au(300nm) cap. Here, in the inter-pixel regions, the p+ layer have been reactive ion etched (RIE) using CH₄+H₂ chemistry and removed before fs-laser exposure. The fs-laser anneal isolation improvement in 200-400μm pixels due to spatially selective quantum well intermixing for a blue shift of ~70meV in the inter-pixel regions is confirmed by FTIR measurements. Dark currents are measured between two adjacent pixels with the Ti(200nm)-Au(300nm) caps used as contacts. The T2SL quality in the active photodiode regions masked by the Ti-Au cap is hardly affected and retains the original quality of the detector. Although, fs-laser anneal of p+ only etched p-i-n T2SL diodes show a reduction in the reverse dark current, no significant improvement in the full RIE-etched mesa structures is noticeable. Hence for a 128x128 array fabrication of 8μm square pixels and 10µm pitch, SU8 polymer isolation after RIE pixel delineation has been used. X-n+ row contacts and Y-p+ column contacts have been used to measure the optical response of the individual pixels. The photo-response of these 8μm and other 200μm pixels under a 2ns optical pulse excitation from an Optical-Parametric-Oscillator (OPO), shows a peak responsivity of ~0.03A/W and 0.2mA/W, respectively, at λ~3.7μm. Temporal response of this detector array is seen to have a fast response ~10ns followed typical slow decay with ringing, attributed to impedance mismatch of the connecting co-axial cables. In conclusion, response times of a few ns have been measured in 8µm pixels of a 128x128 array. Although fs-laser anneal has been found to be useful in increasing the inter-pixel isolation in InAs/GaSb T2SL arrays by QW inter-mixing, it has not been found to be suitable for passivation of full RIE etched mesa structures with vertical walls on InAs/GaSb T2SL.

Keywords: band-gap blue-shift, fs-laser-anneal, InAs/GaSb T2SL, Inter-pixel isolation, ns-Response, photodiode array

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Authors: Debajyoti Mukherjee, Arathy B. S., Arpita Sahu, Saranga P. Pogula

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A functional model to mimic the functional correctness of a neural network compute accelerator IP is very crucial for design validation. Neural network workloads are based on a Brain Floating Point (BF-16) data type. The major challenge we were facing was the incompatibility of GCC compilers to the BF-16 datatype, which we addressed with a native BF-16 generator integrated into our functional model. Moreover, working with big GEMM (General Matrix Multiplication) or SpMM (Sparse Matrix Multiplication) Work Loads (Dense or Sparse) and debugging the failures related to data integrity is highly painstaking. In this paper, we are addressing the quality challenge of such a complex neural network accelerator design by proposing a functional model-based scoreboard or software model using SystemC. The proposed functional model executes the assembly code based on the ISA of the processor IP, decodes all instructions, and executes as expected to be done by the DUT. The said model would give a lot of visibility and debug capability in the DUT, bringing up micro-steps of execution.

Keywords: ISA, neural network, Brain Float-16, DUT

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Authors: Jiri F. Urbanek, Jiri Barta, Oldrich Svoboda, Jiri J. Urbanek

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The organizations of European and Czech critical infrastructure have specific position, mission, characteristics and behaviour in European Union and Czech state/ business environments, regarding specific requirements for regional and global security environments. They must respect policy of national security and global rules, requirements and standards in all their inherent and outer processes of supply-customer chains and networks. A controlling is generalized capability to have control over situational policy. This paper aims and purposes are to introduce the controlling as quite new necessary process attribute providing for critical infrastructure is environment the capability and profit to achieve its commitment regarding to the effectiveness of the quality management system in meeting customer/ user requirements and also the continual improvement of critical infrastructure organization’s processes overall performance and efficiency, as well as its societal security via continual planning improvement via DYVELOP modelling.

Keywords: added value, DYVELOP, controlling, environments, process approach

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Authors: Yen-Ku Kuo, Chie-Bein Chen, Jyh-Yi Shih, Kuang-Yi Lin, Chien-Han Peng

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This study is primarily concerned with exploring what factors affect the consumer’s intention of using mobile phone e-book. In developing research structure, we adopted technology acceptance model (TAM) and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) as a foundation. The analysis method of structural equation model (SEM) was used to carry out this study. Subjects were 261 users who are using or used the mobile phone e-book. The findings can be summed up as follows: (1) The subjective norm and job relevance has non-significant and positive influence to the perceived usefulness. This represents now the user are still in a small number and most of them used it in non-work related purpose. (2) The output quality, result demonstrability and perceived ease of use were confirmed to have positive and significant influence to the perceived usefulness. (3) The moderator “innovative diffusion” affects the relationship between the attitude and behavior intention. These findings could be a reference for the practice and future study to make further exploration.

Keywords: mobile phone e-book, technology acceptance model (TAM), innovation diffusion theory (IDT), structural equation model (SEM)

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Authors: Mohamed Chabi

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The project of helping students at risk started at the Math department in the new foundation program at Qatar University in the fall 2012 semester. The purpose was to find ways to help students who were struggling with their math courses Elementary algebra or Precalculus course due to many factors. Department had formed the Committee “students at Risk” at the start of 12-13 to assist struggling students in our math courses to get their studies on track. A mechanism was developed to support students who are at risk using a developed E-Monitoring system. E-Monitoring system was developed to manage automatically all transactions relevant to the students’ attendance, Students ‘‘warning Students’’ grading, etc. E-Monitoring System produce various statistics such as, Overall course statistics, Performance, Students at Risk… to help department to develop a higher quality of education in the Foundation Program at Math department. The mechanism was studies and evaluated. Whatever the cause, the sooner we identify students who are not performing well academically, the sooner we can provide, or direct them to the resources that are available to them. In this paper, we outline the mechanism and its effect on students’ performance. The collected data from various exams shows that students had benefited from the mechanism.

Keywords: students at risk, e-monitoring system, warning students, performance

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Authors: Mohamed Hassan, Rahul Gajbhiye

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The high mobility and gravity override of CO₂ gas can be minimized by generating the CO₂ foam with the aid of surfactant. However, CO₂ is unable to generate the foam/stable foam above its supercritical point (1100 psi, 31°C). These difficulties with CO₂ foam is overcome by adding N₂ in small fraction to enhance the foam generation of CO₂ at supercritical conditions. This study shows how the addition of small quantity of N₂ helps in generating the CO₂ foam and performance of the CO₂/N₂ mixture foam in enhanced oil recovery. To investigate the performance of CO₂/N₂ foam, core-flooding experiments were conducted at elevated pressure and temperature condition (higher than supercritical CO₂ - 50°C and 1500 psi) in sandstone cores. Fluorosurfactant (FS-51) was used as a foaming agent, and n-decane was used as model oil in all the experiments. The selection of foam quality and N₂ fraction was optimized based on foam generation and stability tests. Every gas or foam flooding was preceded by seawater injection to simulate the behavior in the reservoir. The results from the core-flood experiments showed that the CO₂ and CO₂/N₂ foam flooding recovered an additional 34-40% of Original Initial Oil in Place (OIIP) indicating that foam flooding succeeded in producing more oil than pure CO₂ gas injection processes. Additionally, the performance CO₂/N₂ foam injection was better than CO₂ foam injection.

Keywords: CO₂/N₂ foam, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), supercritical CO₂, sweep efficiency

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Authors: Saowaluck Ukrisdawithid

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The thermal conductivity of thermal insulation materials are measured by Heat Flow Meter (HFM) apparatus. The components of uncertainty are complex and difficult on routine measurement by modelling approach. In this study, uncertainty of thermal conductivity measurement was estimated by single laboratory validation approach. The within-laboratory reproducibility was 1.1%. The standard uncertainty of method and laboratory bias by using SRM1453 expanded polystyrene board was dominant at 1.4%. However, it was assessed that there was no significant bias. For sample measurement, the sources of uncertainty were repeatability, density of sample and thermal conductivity resolution of HFM. From this approach to sample measurements, the combined uncertainty was calculated. In summary, the thermal conductivity of sample, polystyrene foam, was reported as 0.03367 W/m·K ± 3.5% (k = 2) at mean temperature 23.5 °C. The single laboratory validation approach is simple key of routine testing laboratory for estimation uncertainty of thermal conductivity measurement by using HFM, according to ISO/IEC 17025-2017 requirements. These are meaningful for laboratory competent improvement, quality control on products, and conformity assessment.

Keywords: single laboratory validation approach, within-laboratory reproducibility, method and laboratory bias, certified reference material

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Authors: Sanja Seljan, Ivan Dunđer

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The paper presents combined automatic speech recognition (ASR) for English and machine translation (MT) for English and Croatian in the domain of business correspondence. The first part presents results of training the ASR commercial system on two English data sets, enriched by error analysis. The second part presents results of machine translation performed by online tool Google Translate for English and Croatian and Croatian-English language pairs. Human evaluation in terms of usability is conducted and internal consistency calculated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, enriched by error analysis. Automatic evaluation is performed by WER (Word Error Rate) and PER (Position-independent word Error Rate) metrics, followed by investigation of Pearson’s correlation with human evaluation.

Keywords: automatic machine translation, integrated language technologies, quality evaluation, speech recognition

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Authors: Mitra Ghiasi, Roghayeh Ghorbani Bousari

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Nowadays, the aim of the organizations is to gain sustainable competitive. So, developing their intellectual capital, encouraging innovation, increasing suitable performance can be done by knowledge management. Knowledge turns into science if knowledge is used to improve decision making, decision quality and make effective decisions. The current research intends to investigate the relationship between cybernetics and knowledge management from the perspective of users who are members of electronic discussion groups (ALA, ALIA). The research methodology is survey method, and it is a type of correlation research. Cybernetics and knowledge management questionnaires used for collecting data. The questionnaire that was designed in electronic format, distributed among two electronic discussion groups during 30 days and completed by 100 members of each electronic discussion groups. The finding of this research showed that although cybernetics has an impact on knowledge management, there is no significant difference between the ALA and ALIA user's view regard to effect of cybernetics on knowledge management. The results also indicated that this conceptual model is consistent with the data collected from the sample.

Keywords: ALA discussion group, ALIA discussion group, cybernetics, knowledge management

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Authors: Sadaf Zahra Usman

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Business Incubation has become a pervasive phenomenon in numerous parts of the world and is seen as a tool for creating a startup ecosystem. The reason for greatest barriers to the advancement of business incubation centers is the need for an entrepreneurial ecosystem and underdeveloped financial assistance and angel investor networks for startup firms. Business incubation helps in creating successful startup ventures by providing administrative support services and assistance in creating their ventures. We identify incubators into three categories: University incubation centers (UICs), Private incubators (PICs), and Government incubator centers (GICs) to measure the influence of different types of business incubation practices and their performance by using a survey questionnaire from incubation managers across Pakistan. The analysis is conducted on eight Business incubators. Results suggest that the quality of incubation centers is extremely important in this regard. The research anticipated helping policymakers, government officials, and incubation management to utilize business incubation more effectively to “hatch” innovation-based entrepreneurial development.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, unemployment, startups, economy, business incubation practice

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Authors: Badino Manuel, Farias Maria Alejandra

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Telemedicine (TM) has the potential to develop efficient and cost-effective means for delivering quality health care services and outcomes, showing equal or, in some cases, better results than in-person treatment. To analyze patient satisfaction with the use of TM becomes relevant because this can affect the results of treatment and the adherence to it. The aim is to assess patient satisfaction with telemedicine for treating substance-related disorders in a mental health service in Córdoba, Argentina. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with substance-related disorders (N=115). A patient satisfaction survey was conducted from December 2021 to March 2022. For a total of 115 participants, 59,1% were male, 38,3% were female and 2,6% non-binary. In relation to educational status, 40% finished university, 39,1% high school, and 20,9 % only primary school. Regarding age, 4,3 % were young, 92,2% were adults, and 3,5% were elderly. Regarding TM treatment, 95,7% reported being satisfied. Furthermore, 85,2% of users declared that they would continueTM treatment, and 14,8% said that they would not resume TM treatment. To conclude, high levels of patient satisfaction contributes to the continuity of TM modality.

Keywords: telemedicine, mental health, substance-related disorders, patient satisfaction

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Authors: ȘercăIanu Mihai, Aldea Mihaela, Iacoboaea Cristina, Luca Oana, Nenciu Ioana

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The emergence and neutralization of illegal waste dumps represent a global concern for waste management ecosystems with a particularly pronounced impact on disadvantaged communities. All over the world, and in this particular case in Romania, a relevant number of people resided in houses lacking any legal forms such as land ownership documents or building permits. These areas are referred to as “informal settlements”. An increasing number of regions and cities in Romania are struggling to manage their waste dumps, especially in the context of increasing poverty and lack of regulation related to informal settlements. An example of such informal settlement can be found at the terminus of Bistra Street in Câlnic, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Reșița in Caras Severin County. The article presents a case study that focuses on employing remote sensing techniques and spatial data to monitor and map illegal waste practices, with subsequent integration into a geographic information system tailored for the Reșița community. In addition, the paper outlines the steps involved in devising strategies aimed at enhancing waste management practices in disadvantaged areas, aligning with the shift toward a circular economy. Results presented in the paper contain a spatial mapping and visualization methodology calibrated with in situ data collection applicable for identifying illegal landfills. The emergence and neutralization of illegal dumps pose a challenge in the field of waste management. These approaches, which prove effective where conventional solutions have failed, need to be replicated and adopted more wisely.

Keywords: waste dumps, waste management, monitoring, GIS, informal settlements

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Authors: Matich Lyubov

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Today roadmaps are becoming commonly used tools for detecting and designing a desired future for companies, states and the international community. The growing popularity of this method puts tasks such as identifying basic roadmapping principles, creation of concepts and determination of the characteristics of the use of roadmaps depending on the objectives as well as restrictions and opportunities specific to the study area on the agenda. However, the system approach, e.g. the elements which are recognized to be major for high-quality roadmapping, remains one of the main fields for improving the methodology and practice of their development as limited research was devoted to the detailed analysis of the roadmaps from the view of system approach. Therefore, this article is an attempt to examine roadmaps from the view of the system analysis, to compare areas, where, as a rule, roadmaps and systems analysis are considered the most effective tools. To compare the structure and composition of roadmaps and systems models the identification of common points between construction stages of roadmaps and system modeling and the determination of future directions for research roadmaps from a systems perspective are of special importance.

Keywords: technology roadmap, roadmapping, systems analysis, system modeling, innovation management

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Authors: M. Sundaram, H. R. Sanath Kumar, A. Ramprakash

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Energy saving is a key sustainability focus area for the Indian telecom industry today. This is especially true in rural India where energy consumption contributes to 70 % of the total network operating cost. In urban areas, the energy cost for network operation ranges between 15-30 %. This expenditure on energy as a result of the lack of grid power availability highlights a potential barrier to telecom industry growth. As a result of this, telecom tower companies switch to diesel generators, making them the second largest consumer of diesel in India, consuming over 2.5 billion litres per annum. The growing cost of energy due to increasing diesel prices and concerns over rising greenhouse emissions have caused these companies to look at other renewable energy options. Even the TRAI (Telecom Regulation Authority of India) has issued a number of guidelines to implement Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in the telecom towers as part of its ‘Implementation of Green Technologies in Telecom Sector’ initiative. Our proposal suggests the implementation of a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) based ‘optimisation controller’ that can not only efficiently utilize the energy from RETs but also help to conserve the power used in the telecom towers. When there are multiple RETs available to supply energy, this controller will pick the optimum amount of energy from each RET based on the availability and feasibility at that point of time, reducing the dependence on diesel generators. For effective maintenance of the towers, we are planing to implement a SCADA based monitoring system along with the ‘optimization controller’.

Keywords: operation costs, consumption of fuel and carbon footprint, implementation of a programmable logic controller (PLC) based ‘optimisation controller’, efficient SCADA based monitoring system

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Authors: Ana Mercedes Vernia Carrasco

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The objective of this work is to reflect through the theoretical framework on the access to the university for the formation of a degree in a teacher of primary education. The University Access Tests in Spain evaluate a series of skills and competencies in writing, which leave aside the sample of another set of skills and tools that this type of test cannot evaluate. In the last years, a very much diversified student body has arrived in the classrooms of the Universities. Nowadays, talking about special education means attending to the changes that are being experienced in this area. At present, the educational model focuses on the reinforcement by the educational institutions so that they form the students according to their personal characteristics and that it is not the students that must adapt to the system. A bibliographic review plus some years of experience in training for the future teacher allows us to make an initial assessment about the lack of rigor in the tests of access to the university. In conclusion, we can say that, although we are not a specialist in the type of Special Educational Needs that can manifest the students, therefore, we understand that teacher today needs training and support to develop their teaching with the best quality possible. These teacher and student needs also imply more institutional support.

Keywords: training, special needs, didactics, music

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Authors: Adeyemi Kamil Hamzah, Abayomi Nathaniel Oyesikun

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Throughout modern history internal strife has burdened Africa most populous nation, Nigeria. The country encompassed more than four hundred ethnic and sub ethnic groups with the different background and identities. This group has not fussed themselves together to emerge as a nation what we have are mere ethnic and religious groups i.e. Hausa/Fulani Igbo Yoruba Ijaw, Ibibio, christian, and Muslim. The source of problematic Nigeria is linked to colonial policy of segmentation, discontent to religion, faith, and ethnicity. The wave of spiral killing among the major ethnic entities with different religious affiliation has brought the process of good governance in the country to its kneel. This paper will place insecurity in Nigeria in context by reviewing the root and rise of ethnic militia. In doing so it will evaluate how the West Africa power house arrive at the point where it is today with all unprecedented unrest from regions that formed Nigeria. Both primary and secondary sources were applied for the quality of this paper. The effects of ethnic militia in realizing and actualizing political stability are equally discussed, recommendations proffered and conclusion given.

Keywords: ethnic, militia, violence, insecurity, democracy

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Authors: Ignatio Madanhire, Charles Mbohwa

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This study explores to improve the resource efficiency, waste water reduction and to reduce losses of raw materials in a beverage making industry. A number of cleaner production technologies were put across in this work. It was also noted that cleaner production technology practices are not only desirable from the environmental point of view, but they also make good economic sense, in their contribution to the bottom line by conserving resources like energy, raw materials and manpower, improving yield as well as reducing treatment/disposal costs. This work is a resource in promoting adoption and implementation of CP in other industries for sustainable development.

Keywords: resource efficiency, beverages, reduce losses, cleaner production, energy, yield

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Authors: Huseyi̇n Das, Bülent Tarim, Sunay Demi̇r, Nurçi̇n Küçükkent, Sevi̇l Cengi̇z, Engi̇n Tülek, Veci̇hi̇ Aksakal

Abstract:

Atak-S laying hens are a high-performance strain obtained by crossing of the Rhode Island Red (RIR) X the Barred Plymouth Rock (BR) and are being produced in the Ankara Poultry Research Institute since 1997. Phenotypic and genetic improving studies are continued for this strain. In this study, 2 from IGF and 1 from IGFBP2, totally 3 different SNP polymorphisms were examined in 200 Atak-S chickens. Genotypes of SNPs were compared using ANOVA to body weight and egg number thorough 32 weeks of age, body weight at sexual maturity, age at sexual maturity and also egg quality traits such as egg shell breaking strength, shell thickness, Haugh unit, albumen index, yolk index, shape index. Only IGF(a) locus was in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, while, the other loci were not. As a result of the performance comparisons to the 3 SNP loci, it was determined that there has a significant association (P<0.05) between only TC genotypes of the IGF(b) locus and body weight at 32 weeks of age, but there was not any association to the other traits.

Keywords: Atak-S, Igf, Igfbp2, single nucleotide polymorphism

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Authors: Soni T. L.

Abstract:

Sustainable environmental stress is a major concern which needs immediate attention. This paper is an attempt to present participatory action research for sustainable agriculture. Being first and best culture, agriculture protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of people, and safeguards the health and welfare of all groups. During course of time agriculture turned to agribusiness, then the values are not safeguarded. Moreover, in today’s busy life many are not taking efforts to take part in agriculture production. Then children are not getting the opportunity to understand agriculture and farming practices. So student initiatives are vital to make them aware. Here the programmes structured by the researcher come under the auspicious of National Service Scheme, a student-centered educational programme, organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. The twin objectives of the study are to examine the role of student initiatives for sustainable agriculture and the role of participatory action research in student initiatives. SWOT analysis is made to study strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The Methodology adopted is Participatory Action Research. The method is participatory in a sense there is collaboration through participation. The method is action, there is lab land experiences which is real. The method is research that there is documented lessons and creation of new knowledge. Plan of action cover measures adopted and strategies taken i.e., bhavana – kalpana – yojana – sadhana. Through the team effort, the team was successful in converting more than 10 hectares of barren land into cultivable land within and outside the campus. Team efforts of students saved a huge amount of labour cost and produced a huge quantity of organic output and the team was also successful in creating 1000 rain pits in the premises of College for rainwater harvesting. The findings include conveyance of the Message: Food Production is superior to Food donation. Moreover, the study fostered good work ethic and social responsibility among students. Students undertake innovative programmes underlying social and environmental issues and participants got increased opportunities to interact with local and less privileged and acquired increased awareness about real-life experiences which make them confident to interact with people and it resulted in the strengthening of social capital- cooperation, team spirit, social commitment among students. Participants promoted sustainable domestic efforts and ultimately environmental protection is ensured. Finally, there is recognition to the team, institution and the researcher at the university level, state level and at the national level. The learned lessons are, if the approach is good, the response is good and success generates success. Participatory action research is empowering experience for practitioners, focusing the combined time, energy and creativity of a committed group we should lead so many programmes which makes the institution centre of excellence. Authorities should take necessary steps for the Inclusion of community development activities in the curriculum. Action research is problem, client and action centered. So, we must adapt and adopt, coordinates and correlates measures which preserve and conserve the environment.

Keywords: participatory action research, student initiatives, sustainable development, sustainability

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Authors: Amirmohammad Dahouri

Abstract:

Each year, more than 795,000 individuals in the United States grieve a stroke, and by 2030, it is predictable that 4% of the U.S. people will have had a stroke. Ischemic stroke, accounting for about 80% of all strokes, is one of the main causes of disability. The goal of stroke rehabilitation is to help patients return to physical and mental functions and relearn the required aids to living everyday life. This flagging has an adverse effect on patients’ quality of life and affects their daily living activities. In recent years, the rehabilitation of ischemic stroke attractions more attention in the world. A review of the rudimentary perceptions of stroke rehabilitation that are price stressing to all specialists who delicacy patients with stroke. Ideas are made for patients on how to functionally manage daily activities after they have qualified for a stroke. It is vital for home healthcare clinicians to understand the process from acute events to medical equilibrium and rehabilitation to adaptation. Different sources such as Pub Med Google Scholar and science direct have been used and various contemporary articles in this era have been analyzed. The care plan must also foundation actual actions to protect against recurrent stroke, as stroke patients are generally at significant risk for further ischemic or hemorrhagic attacks. Here, we review evidence of rehabilitation in treating post-stroke impairment.

Keywords: rehabilitation, stroke, ischemic, hemorrhagic, brain

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Authors: Deba Kumar Sarma, Sanjib Kr. Rajbongshi

Abstract:

Surface finish is an important product quality in machining. At first, experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of the cutting tool nose radius (considering 1mm and 0.65mm) in prediction of surface finish with process parameters of cutting speed, feed and depth of cut. For all possible cutting conditions, full factorial design was considered as two levels four parameters. Commercial Mild Steel bar and High Speed Steel (HSS) material were considered as work-piece and cutting tool material respectively. In order to obtain functional relationship between process parameters and surface roughness, neural network was used which was found to be capable for the prediction of surface roughness within a reasonable degree of accuracy. It was observed that tool nose radius of 1mm provides better surface finish in comparison to 0.65 mm. Also, it was observed that feed rate has a significant influence on surface finish.

Keywords: full factorial design, neural network, nose radius, surface finish

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Authors: James S. Kwame, E. Yakushina, P. Blackwell

Abstract:

The challenges in forming titanium alloys at room temperature are well researched and are linked both to the limitations imposed by the basic crystal structure and their ability to form texture during plastic deformation. One major issue of concern for the sheet forming of titanium alloys is their high sensitivity to surface inhomogeneity. Various machining processes are utilised in preparing sheet hole edges for edge flanging applications. However, the response of edge forming tendencies of titanium to different edge surface finishes is not well investigated. The hole expansion test is used in this project to elucidate the impact of abrasive water jet (AWJ) and electro-discharge machining (EDM) cutting techniques on the edge formability of CP-Ti (Grade 2) and Ti-3Al-2.5V alloys at room temperature. The results show that the quality of the edge surface finish has a major effect on the edge formability of the materials. The work also found that the variations in the edge forming performance are mainly the result of the influence of machining induced edge surface defects.

Keywords: titanium alloys, hole expansion test, edge formability, non-conventional machining

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Authors: Adeolu O. Dairo

Abstract:

Getting the consumer marketing strategy right is a crucial and complex task for firms with a large customer base such as mobile operators in a competitive mobile market. While empirical studies have made efforts to identify key constructs, no geospatial model has been developed to comprehensively assess the viability and interdependency of ground realities regarding the customer, competition, channel and the network quality of mobile operators. With this research, a geo-analytic framework is proposed for strategy formulation and allocation for mobile operators. Firstly, a fuzzy analytic network using a self-organizing feature map clustering technique based on inputs from managers and literature, which depicts the interrelationships amongst ground realities is developed. The model is tested with a mobile operator in the Nigeria mobile market. As a result, a customer-centric geospatial and visualization solution is developed. This provides a consolidated and integrated insight that serves as a transparent, logical and practical guide for strategic, tactical and operational decision making.

Keywords: geospatial, geo-analytics, self-organizing map, customer-centric

Procedia PDF Downloads 167