Search results for: enterprise architecture implementation methodology

Authors: Malika Souada, Juanita Rausch, Benjamin Guinot, Christine Bugajny

Abstract:

The increase of global commerce and tourism makes the shipping sector an important contributor of atmospheric pollution. Both, airborne particles and gaseous pollutants have negative impact on health and climate. This is especially the case in port cities, due to the proximity of the exposed population to the shipping emissions in addition to other multiple sources of pollution linked to the surrounding urban activity. The objective of this study is to determine the concentrations of fine particles (immission), specifically PM2.5, PM1, PM0.3, BC and sulphates, in a context where maritime passenger traffic plays an important role (port area of Bordeaux centre). The methodology is based on high temporal resolution measurements of pollutants, correlated with meteorological and ship movements data. Particles and gaseous pollutants from seven maritime passenger ships were sampled and analysed during the docking, manoeuvring and berthing phases. The particle mass measurements were supplemented by measurements of the number concentration of ultrafine particles (<300 nm diameter). The different measurement points were chosen by taking into account the local meteorological conditions and by pre-modelling the dispersion of the smoke plumes. The results of the measurement campaign carried out during the summer of 2021 in the port of Bordeaux show that the detection of concentrations of particles emitted by ships proved to be punctual and stealthy. Punctual peaks of ultrafine particle concentration in number (P#/m3) and BC (ng/m3) were measured during the docking phases of the ships, but the concentrations returned to their background level within minutes. However, it appears that the influence of the docking phases does not significantly affect the air quality of Bordeaux centre in terms of mass concentration. Additionally, no clear differences in PM2.5 concentrations between the periods with and without ships at berth were observed. The urban background pollution seems to be mainly dominated by exhaust and non-exhaust road traffic emissions. However, temporal high-resolution measurements suggest a probable emission of gaseous precursors responsible for the formation of secondary aerosols related to the ship activities. This was evidenced by the high values of the PM1/BC and PN/BC ratios, tracers of non-primary particle formation, during periods of ship berthing vs. periods without ships at berth. The research findings from this study provide robust support for port area air quality assessment and source apportionment.

Keywords: characterization, fine particulate matter, harbour air quality, shipping impacts

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Jeong-Min Son, Jeong-Hee Eum, Jin-Kyu Min, Uk-Je Sung, Ju-Eun Kim

Abstract:

While various environmental problems are severe due to climate change, especially in cities where population and development are concentrated, urban thermal environment problems such as heat waves and tropical nights are particularly worsening. Accordingly, the Korean government provides basic data related to the urban thermal environment to support each local government in effectively establishing policies to cope with heat waves. However, the basic data related to the thermal environment provided by the government has limitations in establishing a regional thermal adaptation plan with a minimum unit of cities, counties, and districts. In addition, the urban heat environment perceived by people differs in each region and space. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare practical measures that can be used to establish regional-based policies for heat wave adaptation by identifying people’s heat perception in the entire city. This study aims to develop a mobile phone application (APP) to gather people’s thermal sensation information and create Korea’s first thermal map based on this information. In addition, through this APP, citizens directly propose thermal adaptation policies, and urban planners and policymakers accept citizens' opinions, so this study provides a tool to solve local thermal environment problems. To achieve this purpose, first, the composition and contents of the app were discussed by examining various existing apps and cases for citizen participation and collection of heat information. In addition, factors affecting human thermal comfort, such as spatial, meteorological, and demographic factors, were investigated to construct the APP system. Based on these results, the basic version of the APP was developed. Second, the living lab methodology was adopted to gather people’s heat perception using the developed app to conduct overall evaluation and feedback of people on the APP. The people participating in the living lab were selected as those living in Daegu Metropolitan City, which is located in South Korea and annually records high temperatures. The user interface was improved through the living lab to make the app easier to use and the thermal map was modified. This study expects to establish high-resolution thermal maps for effective policies and measures and to solve local thermal environmental problems using the APP. The collected information can be used to evaluate spatial, meteorological, and demographic characteristics that affect the perceived heat of citizens. In addition, it is expected that the research can be expanded by gathering thermal information perceived by citizens of foreign cities as well as other cities in South Korea through the APP developed in this study.

Keywords: mobile application, living lab, thermal map, climate change adaptation

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Authors: Zabihullah Mahdi, Khwaja Naweed Seddiqi

Abstract:

Afghanistan is located in a tectonically complex and dynamic area, surrounded by rocks that originated on the mother continent of Gondwanaland. The northern Afghanistan basin, which runs along the country's northern border, has the potential for petroleum generation and accumulation. The Amu Darya basin has the largest petroleum potential in the region. Sedimentation occurred in the Amu Darya basin from the Jurassic to the Eocene epochs. Kashkari oil field is located in northern Afghanistan's Amu Darya basin. The field structure consists of a narrow northeast-southwest (NE-SW) anticline with two structural highs, the northwest limb being mild and the southeast limb being steep. The first oil production well in the Kashkari oil field was drilled in 1976, and a total of ten wells were drilled in the area between 1976 and 1979. The amount of original oil in place (OOIP) in the Kashkari oil field, based on the results of surveys and calculations conducted by research institutions, is estimated to be around 140 MMbbls. The objective of this study is to increase recoverable oil reserves in the Kashkari oil field through the implementation of low-salinity water flooding (LSWF) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. The LSWF involved conducting a core flooding laboratory test consisting of four sequential steps with varying salinities. The test commenced with the use of formation water (FW) as the initial salinity, which was subsequently reduced to a salinity level of 0.1%. Afterwards, the numerical simulation model of core scale oil recovery by LSWF was designed by Computer Modelling Group’s General Equation Modeler (CMG-GEM) software to evaluate the applicability of the technology to the field scale. Next, the Kahskari oil field simulation model was designed, and the LSWF method was applied to it. To obtain reasonable results, laboratory settings (temperature, pressure, rock, and oil characteristics) are designed as far as possible based on the condition of the Kashkari oil field, and several injection and production patterns are investigated. The relative permeability of oil and water in this study was obtained using Corey’s equation. In the Kashkari oilfield simulation model, three models: 1. Base model (with no water injection), 2. FW injection model, and 3. The LSW injection model were considered for the evaluation of the LSWF effect on oil recovery. Based on the results of the LSWF laboratory experiment and computer simulation analysis, the oil recovery increased rapidly after the FW was injected into the core. Subsequently, by injecting 1% salinity water, a gradual increase of 4% oil can be observed. About 6.4% of the field, is produced by the application of the LSWF technique. The results of LSWF (salinity 0.1%) on the Kashkari oil field suggest that this technology can be a successful method for developing Kashkari oil production.

Keywords: low salinity water flooding, immiscible displacement, kashkari oil field, twophase flow, numerical reservoir simulation model

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Authors: Ramzi Bekri Umer

Abstract:

Aim: This study attempts to investigate the causes and difficulties with women’s incarceration as well as threat for their reintegration after release from prison with emphasis on the correctional facility of Haramaya city. Method and Methodology: Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed in this study; key informant interviews and participant observation were utilized to gather qualitative data, while crosssectional and descriptive research designs were used to gather quantitative data. Findings: This study shows that the women's incarceration was caused by their family histories, genderbased violence, illiteracy, and socioeconomic issues. The principal charges made against the female culprits were theft, vandalism, murder, and moral perversion. A poor quality of life in prison, concerns about family dissolution, emotional instability, financial difficulties, and a lack of spirituality were the main causes of unhappiness for the women behind bars, while social stigma, mistrust, and retaliation fears were the main obstacles to the women's ability to reintegrate into their families and communities. Theoretical Importance: This study involves incarcerated women at correctional center of Haramaya who committed various types of crimes. The local government sectors and non-governmental organization will gain from the study in order to create workable plans to reduce women's criminality and the growing number of female lawbreakers. Local communities and other governmental and nongovernmental partners will be able to support gender equality initiatives that seek to eradicate gender-based violence and discrimination, which worsen the criminality of women. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The quantitative and qualitative data were collected prospectively from a sample of 100 women prisoners. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas, thematic analysis, were used for qualitative data. Question Answered: 1. What are the main causes women’s imprisonment in Haramaya city correctional facility. 2. What are the main obstacles of the women's ability to reintegrate into their families and communities after released from incarceration. Conclusion: The study concludes that incarcerated women experience a tremendous impact on their daily life. It highlights the importance of addressing factors such as family backgrounds, gender-based violence, illiteracy and socio-economic problem to decrease the number of women imprisonment. Detention environment, fear for family breakup, financial hardship and deprivation of spiritual life are the major sources of distress among the incarcerated women.

Keywords: Ethiopia, women prisoner, incarceration, reintegration

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Authors: Pardis Moslemzadeh Tehrani

Abstract:

Due to the emergence of blockchain technology and the benefits of cryptocurrencies, intelligent or smart contracts are gaining traction. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming our lives, and it is being embraced by a wide range of sectors. Smart contracts, which are at the heart of blockchains, incorporate AI characteristics. Such contracts are referred to as "smart" contracts because of the underlying technology that allows contracting parties to agree on terms expressed in computer code that defines machine-readable instructions for computers to follow under specific situations. The transmission happens automatically if the conditions are met. Initially utilised for financial transactions, blockchain applications have since expanded to include the financial, insurance, and medical sectors, as well as supply networks. Raw material acquisition by suppliers, design, and fabrication by manufacturers, delivery of final products to consumers, and even post-sales logistics assistance are all part of supply chains. Many issues are linked with managing supply chains from the planning and coordination stages, which can be implemented in a smart contract in a blockchain due to their complexity. Manufacturing delays and limited third-party amounts of product components have raised concerns about the integrity and accountability of supply chains for food and pharmaceutical items. Other concerns include regulatory compliance in multiple jurisdictions and transportation circumstances (for instance, many products must be kept in temperature-controlled environments to ensure their effectiveness). Products are handled by several providers before reaching customers in modern economic systems. Information is sent between suppliers, shippers, distributors, and retailers at every stage of the production and distribution process. Information travels more effectively when individuals are eliminated from the equation. The usage of blockchain technology could be a viable solution to these coordination issues. In blockchains, smart contracts allow for the rapid transmission of production data, logistical data, inventory levels, and sales data. This research investigates the legal and technical advantages and disadvantages of AI-blockchain technology in the supply chain business. It aims to uncover the applicable legal problems and barriers to the use of AI-blockchain technology to supply chains, particularly in the food industry. It also discusses the essential legal and technological issues and impediments to supply chain implementation for stakeholders, as well as methods for overcoming them before releasing the technology to clients. Because there has been little research done on this topic, it is difficult for industrial stakeholders to grasp how blockchain technology could be used in their respective operations. As a result, the focus of this research will be on building advanced and complex contractual terms in supply chain smart contracts on blockchains to cover all unforeseen supply chain challenges.

Keywords: blockchain, supply chain, IoT, smart contract

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Authors: Nur Fareza Mustapha

Abstract:

Solutions to policy problems need to be curated to the local context, taking into account the trajectory of the local development path to ensure its efficacy. For Kuala Lumpur, rapid urbanization and migration into the city for the past few decades have increased the demand for housing to accommodate a growing urban population. As a critical factor affecting housing affordability, land supply constraints have been attributed to intensifying market pressures, which grew in tandem with the demands of urban development, along with existing institutional constraints in the governance of land. While demand-side pressures are inevitable given the fixed supply of land, supply-side constraints in regulations distort markets and if addressed inappropriately, may lead to mistargeted policy interventions. Given Malaysia’s historical development, regulatory barriers for land may originate from the British colonial period, when many aspects of the current laws governing tenure were introduced and formalized, and henceforth, became engrained in the system. This research undertakes a postcolonial institutional analysis approach to uncover the causal mechanism driving the evolution of land tenure systems in post-colonial Kuala Lumpur. It seeks to determine the sources of these shifts, focusing on the incentives and bargaining positions of actors during periods of institutional flux/change. It aims to construct a conceptual framework to further this understanding and to elucidate how this historical trajectory affects current access to urban land markets for housing. Archival analysis is used to outline and analyse the evolution of land tenure systems in Kuala Lumpur while stakeholder interviews are used to analyse its impact on the current urban land market, with a particular focus on the provision of and access to affordable housing in the city. Preliminary findings indicate that many aspects of the laws governing tenure that were introduced and formalized during the British colonial period have endured until the present day. Customary rules of tenure were displaced by rules following a European tradition, which found legitimacy through a misguided interpretation of local laws regarding the ownership of land. Colonial notions of race and its binary view of native vs. non-natives have also persisted in the construction and implementation of current legislation regarding land tenure. More concrete findings from this study will generate a more nuanced understanding of the regulatory land supply constraints in Kuala Lumpur, taking into account both the long and short term spatial and temporal processes that affect how these rules are created, implemented and enforced.

Keywords: colonial discourse, historical institutionalism, housing, land policy, post-colonial city

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Authors: Sandra Biewers Grimm

Abstract:

International studies such as Pisa have shown an increasing social inequality in the education system, which is determined in particular by social origin and migration status. This is especially the case in the Luxembourg school system, which creates challenges for many young people due to the multilingualism in the country. While the international and also the national debate on education in the immediate aftermath of the publications of the Pisa results mainly focused on the further development of school-based learning venues and formal educational processes, it initially remained largely unclear what role exactly out-of-school learning venues and non-formal and informal learning processes could play in this further development. This has changed in the meantime. Both in the political discourses and in the scientific disciplines, those voices have become louder that draw attention to the important educational function and the enormous educational potential of out-of-school learning places as a response to the crisis of the formal education system and more than this. Youth work as an actor and approach of non-formal education is particularly in demand here. Due to its principles of self-education, participation and openness, it is considered to have a special potential in supporting the acquisition of important key competencies. In this context, the study "Educational experiences in non-formal settings" at CCY takes a differentiated look behind the scenes of education-oriented youth work and describes on the basis of empirical data what and how young people learn in youth centers and which significance they attach to these educational experiences for their subjective life situation. In this sense, the aim of the study is to reconstruct the subjective educational experiences of young people in Open Youth Work as well as to explore the value that these experiences have for young people. In doing so, it enables scientifically founded conclusions about the educational potential of youth work from the user's perspective. Initially, the study focuses on defining the concept of education in the context of non-formal education and thus sets a theoretical framework for the empirical analysis. This socio-educational term of education differs from the relevant conception of education in curricular, formal education as the acquisition of knowledge. It also differs from the operationalization of education as competence, or the differentiation into cultural, social and personal or into factual, social or methodological competence, which is often used in the European context and which has long been interpreted as a "social science reading of the question of education" (XX). Now the aim is to define a "broader" concept of education that goes beyond the normative and educational policy dimensions of a "non-formal education" and includes the classical socio-educational dimensions. Furthermore, the study works with different methods of empirical social research: In addition to ethnographic observation and an online survey, group discussions were conducted with the young people. The presentation gives an insight into the context, the methodology and the results of this study.

Keywords: non-formal education, youth research, qualitative research, educational theory

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Authors: Kadhim Alabady

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Background: Autism poses a particularly large public health challenge and an inspiring lifelong challenge for many families; it is a lifelong challenge of a different kind. Purpose: Therefore, it is important to understand what the key challenges are and how to improve the lives of children who are affected with autism in Dubai. Method: In order to carry out this research we have used a qualitative methodology. We performed structured in–depth interviews and focus groups with mental health professionals working at: Al Jalila hospital (AJH), Dubai Autism Centre (DAC), Dubai Rehabilitation Centre for Disabilities, Latifa hospital, Private Sector Healthcare (PSH). In addition to that, we conducted quantitative approach to estimate ASD prevalence or incidence data due to lack of registry. ASD estimates are based on research from national and international documents. This approach was applied to increase the validity of the findings by using a variety of data collection techniques in order to explore issues that might not be highlighted through one method alone. Key findings: Autism is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Dubai Autism Center estimates it affects 1 in 146 births (0.68%). If we apply these estimates to the total number of births in Dubai for 2014, it is predicted there would be approximately 199 children (of which 58 were Nationals and 141 were Non–Nationals) suffering from autism at some stage. 16.4% of children (through their families) seek help for ASD assessment between the age group 6–18+. It is critical to understand and address factors for seeking late–stage diagnosis, as ASD can be diagnosed much earlier and how many of these later presenters are actually diagnosed with ASD. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a public health concern in Dubai. Families do not consult GPs for early diagnosis for a variety of reasons including cultural reasons. Recommendations: Effective school health strategies is needed and implemented by nurses who are qualified and experienced in identifying children with ASD. There is a need for the DAC to identify and develop a closer link with neurologists specializing in Autism, to work alongside and for referrals. Autism can be attributed to many factors, some of those are neurological. Currently, when families need their child to see a neurologist they have to go independently and search through the many that are available in Dubai and who are not necessarily specialists in Autism. Training of GP’s to aid early diagnosis of Autism and increase awareness. Since not all GP’s are trained to make such assessments increasing awareness about where to send families for a complete assessment and the necessary support. There is an urgent need for an adult autism center for when the children leave the safe environment of the school at 18 years. These individuals require a day center or suitable job training/placements where appropriate. There is a need for further studies to cover the needs of people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, autism, pervasive developmental disorders, incidence

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Authors: Archil Undilashvili, Ketevan Stvilia, Dustin Gilbreath, Giorgi Dzneladze, Gordon Charchward

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Introduction: In recent years, diverse types of wheelchairs, both local production and imported, have been made available on the Georgian market for wheelchair users. Some types of wheelchairs are sold together with a service package, while the others, including the State Program, Supported locally-produced ones, don’t provide adjustment and maintenance service packages to users. Within the USAID Physical Rehabilitation Project in Georgia, a study was conducted to assess the impact of the wheelchair service provision in line with the WHO guidelines on the health and overall satisfaction of wheelchair users in Georgia. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in May 2021. A structured questionnaire was used for telephone interviews that, along with socio-demographic characteristics, included questions for assessment of accessibility, availability, timeliness, cost and quality of wheelchair services received. Out of 1060 individuals listed in the census of wheelchair users, 752 were available for interview, with an actual response rate of 73.4%. 552 wheelchair users (31%) or their caregivers (69%) agreed to participate in the survey. In addition to using descriptive statistics, the study used multivariate matching of wheelchair users who received wheelchair services and who did not (control group). In addition, to evaluate satisfaction with service provision, respondents were asked to assess services. Findings: The majority (67%) of wheelchair users included in the survey were male. The average age of participants was 43. The three most frequently named reasons for using a wheelchair were cerebral palsy (29%), followed by stroke (18%), and amputation (12%). Users have had their current chair for four years on average. Overall, 60% of respondents reported that they were assessed before providing a wheelchair, but only half of them reported that their preferences and needs were considered. Only 13% of respondents had services in line with WHO guidelines and only 22% of wheelchair users had training when they received their current chair. 16% of participants said they had follow-up services, and 41% received adjustment services after receiving the chair. A slight majority (56%) of participants were satisfied with the quality of service provision and the service provision overall. Similarly, 55% were satisfied with the accessibility of service provision. A slightly larger majority (61%) were satisfied with the timeliness of service provision. The matching analysis suggests that users that received services in line with WHO guidelines were more satisfied with their chairs (the difference 17 point/0-100 scale) and they were four percentage points less likely to have health problems attributed to the chair. The regression analysis provides a similar finding of a 21 point increase in satisfaction attributable to services. Conclusion: The provision of wheelchair services in line with WHO guidelines and with follow-up services is likely to have a positive impact on the daily lives of wheelchair users in Georgia. Wheelchair services should be institutionalized as a standard component of wheelchair provision in Georgia.

Keywords: physical rehabilitation, wheelchair users, persons with disabilities, wheelchair production

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Authors: Mark Opmeer

Abstract:

The fruitful relationship between cultural heritage and digital technology is evident. Due to the development of user-friendly software, an increasing amount of heritage scholars use ict for their research activities. As a result, the implementation of information technology for heritage planning has become a research objective in itself. During the last decades, we have witnessed a growing debate and literature about the importance of computer technologies for the field of cultural heritage and ecotourism. Indeed, implementing digital technology in support of these domains can be very fruitful for one’s research practice. However, due to the rapid development of new software scholars may find it challenging to use these innovations in an appropriate way. As such, this contribution seeks to explore the interplay between geospatial technologies (geo-ict), civic engagement and cultural heritage and tourism. In this article, we discuss our findings on the use of geo-ict in support of civic participation, cultural heritage and sustainable tourism development in the southern Italian district of Brindisi. In the city of Latiano, three workshops were organized that involved local members of the community to distinguish and discuss interesting points of interests (POI’s) which represent the cultural significance and identity of the area. During the first workshop, a so called mappa della comunità was created on a touch table with collaborative mapping software, that allowed the participators to highlight potential destinations for tourist purposes. Furthermore, two heritage-based itineraries along a selection of identified POI’s was created to make the region attractive for recreants and tourists. These heritage-based itineraries reflect the communities’ ideas about the cultural identity of the region. Both trails were subsequently implemented in a dedicated mobile application (app) and was evaluated using a mixed-method approach with the members of the community during the second workshop. In the final workshop, the findings of the collaboration, the heritage trails and the app was evaluated with all participants. Based on our conclusions, we argue that geospatial technologies have a significant potential for involving local communities in heritage planning and tourism development. The participants of the workshops found it increasingly engaging to share their ideas and knowledge using the digital map of the touch table. Secondly, the use of a mobile application as instrument to test the heritage-based itineraries in the field was broadly considered as fun and beneficial for enhancing community awareness and participation in local heritage. The app furthermore stimulated the communities’ awareness of the added value of geospatial technologies for sustainable tourism development in the area. We conclude this article with a number of recommendations in order to provide a best practice for organizing heritage workshops with similar objectives.

Keywords: civic engagement, geospatial technologies, tourism development, cultural heritage

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Authors: Zabihullah Mahdi, Khwaja Naweed Seddiqi

Abstract:

Afghanistan is located in a tectonically complex and dynamic area, surrounded by rocks that originated on the mother continent of Gondwanaland. The northern Afghanistan basin, which runs along the country's northern border, has the potential for petroleum generation and accumulation. The Amu Darya basin has the largest petroleum potential in the region. Sedimentation occurred in the Amu Darya basin from the Jurassic to the Eocene epochs. Kashkari oil field is located in northern Afghanistan's Amu Darya basin. The field structure consists of a narrow northeast-southwest (NE-SW) anticline with two structural highs, the northwest limb being mild and the southeast limb being steep. The first oil production well in the Kashkari oil field was drilled in 1976, and a total of ten wells were drilled in the area between 1976 and 1979. The amount of original oil in place (OOIP) in the Kashkari oil field, based on the results of surveys and calculations conducted by research institutions, is estimated to be around 140 MMbbls. The objective of this study is to increase recoverable oil reserves in the Kashkari oil field through the implementation of low-salinity water flooding (LSWF) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. The LSWF involved conducting a core flooding laboratory test consisting of four sequential steps with varying salinities. The test commenced with the use of formation water (FW) as the initial salinity, which was subsequently reduced to a salinity level of 0.1%. Afterward, the numerical simulation model of core scale oil recovery by LSWF was designed by Computer Modelling Group’s General Equation Modeler (CMG-GEM) software to evaluate the applicability of the technology to the field scale. Next, the Kahskari oil field simulation model was designed, and the LSWF method was applied to it. To obtain reasonable results, laboratory settings (temperature, pressure, rock, and oil characteristics) are designed as far as possible based on the condition of the Kashkari oil field, and several injection and production patterns are investigated. The relative permeability of oil and water in this study was obtained using Corey’s equation. In the Kashkari oilfield simulation model, three models: 1. Base model (with no water injection), 2. FW injection model, and 3. The LSW injection model was considered for the evaluation of the LSWF effect on oil recovery. Based on the results of the LSWF laboratory experiment and computer simulation analysis, the oil recovery increased rapidly after the FW was injected into the core. Subsequently, by injecting 1% salinity water, a gradual increase of 4% oil can be observed. About 6.4% of the field is produced by the application of the LSWF technique. The results of LSWF (salinity 0.1%) on the Kashkari oil field suggest that this technology can be a successful method for developing Kashkari oil production.

Keywords: low-salinity water flooding, immiscible displacement, Kashkari oil field, two-phase flow, numerical reservoir simulation model

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

Abstract:

The present study focuses on conducting a socio-economic assessment of groundwater contamination by arsenic and iron and explores the feasibility of rainwater harvesting (RWH) as an alternative water source in the Amdanga Block of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. The region is plagued by severe groundwater contamination, primarily due to excessive concentrations of arsenic and iron, which pose significant health risks to the local population. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of water samples collected from different locations within the Amdanga Block and socio-economic surveys conducted among the affected communities. The results reveal alarmingly high levels of arsenic and iron contamination in the groundwater, surpassing the World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian government's permissible limits. This contamination significantly impacts the health and well-being of the local population, leading to a range of health issues such as skin The water samples are analyzed for arsenic and iron levels, while the surveys gather data on water usage patterns, health conditions, and socio-economic factors. lesions, respiratory disorders, and gastrointestinal problems. Furthermore, the socio-economic assessment highlights the vulnerability of the affected communities due to limited access to safe drinking water. The findings reveal the adverse socio-economic implications, including increased medical expenditures, reduced productivity, and compromised educational opportunities. To address these challenges, the study explores the feasibility of rainwater harvesting as an alternative source of clean water. RWH systems have the potential to mitigate groundwater contamination by providing a sustainable and independent water supply. The assessment includes evaluating the rainwater availability, analyzing the infrastructure requirements, and estimating the potential benefits and challenges associated with RWH implementation in the study area. The findings of this study contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the socio-economic impact of groundwater contamination by arsenic and iron, emphasizing the urgency to address this critical issue in the Amdanga Block. The feasibility assessment of rainwater harvesting serves as a practical solution to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply, reducing the dependency on contaminated groundwater sources. The study's results can inform policymakers, researchers, and local stakeholders in implementing effective mitigation measures and promoting the adoption of rainwater harvesting as a viable alternative in similar arsenic and iron-contaminated regions.

Keywords: contamination, rainwater harvesting, groundwater, sustainable water supply

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Authors: Enrico Dorigatti

Abstract:

The growing pile of hazardous e-waste produced especially by those developed and wealthy countries gets relentlessly bigger, composed of the EEDs (Electric and Electronic Device) that are often thrown away although still well functioning, mainly due to (programmed) obsolescence. As a consequence, e-waste has taken, over the last years, the shape of a frightful, uncontrollable, and unstoppable phenomenon, mainly fuelled by market policies aiming to maximize sales—and thus profits—at any cost. Against it, governments and organizations put some efforts in developing ambitious frameworks and policies aiming to regulate, in some cases, the whole lifecycle of EEDs—from the design to the recycling. Incidentally, however, such regulations sometimes make the disposal of the devices economically unprofitable, which often translates into growing illegal e-waste trafficking—an activity usually undertaken by criminal organizations. It seems that nothing, at least in the near future, can stop the phenomenon of e-waste production and accumulation. But while, from a practical standpoint, a solution seems hard to find, much can be done regarding people's education, which translates into informing and promoting good practices such as reusing and repurposing. This research argues that circuit bending—an activity rooted in neo-materialist philosophy and post-digital aesthetic, and based on repurposing EEDs into novel music instruments and sound generators—could have a great potential in this. In particular, it asserts that circuit bending could expose ecological, environmental, and social criticalities related to the current market policies and economic model. Not only thanks to its practical side (e.g., sourcing and repurposing devices) but also to the artistic one (e.g., employing bent instruments for ecological-aware installations, performances). Currently, relevant literature and debate lack interest and information about the ecological aspects and implications of the practical and artistic sides of circuit bending. This research, therefore, although still at an early stage, aims to fill in this gap by investigating, on the one side, the ecologic potential of circuit bending and, on the other side, its capacity of sensitizing people, through artistic practice, about e-waste-related issues. The methodology will articulate in three main steps. Firstly, field research will be undertaken—with the purpose of understanding where and how to source, in an ecologic and sustainable way, (discarded) EEDs for circuit bending. Secondly, artistic installations and performances will be organized—to sensitize the audience about environmental concerns through sound art and music derived from bent instruments. Data, such as audiences' feedback, will be collected at this stage. The last step will consist in realising workshops to spread an ecologically-aware circuit bending practice. Additionally, all the data and findings collected will be made available and disseminated as resources.

Keywords: circuit bending, ecology, sound art, sustainability

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Authors: Preetinder Kaur Randhawa

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The rural areas can be differentiated from urban areas in terms of their economic activities as rural areas are primarily involved in agricultural sector and provide natural resources whereas, urban areas are primarily involved in infrastructure sector and provide manufacturing services. Census of India defines a Census Town as an area which satisfies the following three criteria i.e. population exceeds 5000, at least 75 percent of male population engaged in non-agricultural sector and minimum population density of 400 persons per square kilometers. Urban areas can be attributed to the improvement of transport facilities, the massive decline in agricultural, especially male workers and workers shift to non-agricultural activities. This study examines the pattern, process of rural areas transformed into urban areas/ census town. The study has analyzed the various factors which are responsible for land transformation as well as the socio-economic transformation of the village population. Nilpur (CT) which belongs to Rajpura Tehsil in Patiala district, Punjab has been selected for the present study. The methodology adopted includes qualitative and quantitative research design, methods based on secondary data. Secondary data has been collected from unpublished revenue record office of Rajpura Tehsil and Primary Census Abstract of Patiala district, Census of India 2011. The results have showed that rate of transformation of a village to census town in Rajpura Tehsil has been one of highest among other villages. The census town has evolved through the evolutionary process of human settlement which grows in size, population and physical development. There must be a complete economic transformation and attainment of high level of technological development. Urban design and construction of buildings and infrastructure can be carried out better and faster and can be used to aid human habitation with the enhancement of quality of life. The study has concluded that in the selected area i.e Nilpur (CT) literacy rate has increased to 72.1 percent in year 2011 from 67.6 percent in year 2001. Similarly non-agricultural work force has increased to 95.2 percent in year 2011 from 81.1 percent in year 2001. It is very much clear that the increased literacy rate has put a positive impact on the involvement of non-agricultural workers have enhanced. The study has concluded that rural-urban linkages are important tools for understanding complexities of people livelihood and their strategies which involve mobility migration and the diversification of income sources and occupations.

Keywords: Census Town, India, Nilpur, Punjab

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Authors: Eyosiyas Aga

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The development of information communication technology has transformed the paper-based mapping and land registration processes to a computerized and networked system. The computerization and networking of real property information system play a vital role in good governance and sustainable development of emerging countries through cost effective, easy and accessible service delivery for the customer. The efficient, transparent and sustainable real property system is becoming the basic infrastructure for the urban development thus improve the data management system and service delivery in the organizations. In Ethiopia, the real property administration is paper based as a result, it confronted problems of data management, illegal transactions, corruptions, and poor service delivery. In order to solve this problem and to facilitate real property market, the implementation of web-based real property updating system is crucial. A web-based real property updating is one of the automation (computerizations) methods to facilitate data sharing, reduce time and cost of the service delivery in real property administration system. In additions, it is useful for the integration of data onto different information systems and organizations. This system is designed by combining open source software which supported by open Geo-spatial consortium. The web-based system is mainly designed by using open source software with the help of open Geo-spatial Consortium. The Open Geo-spatial Consortium standards such as the Web Feature Service and Web Map Services are the most widely used standards to support and improves web-based real property updating. These features allow the integration of data from different sources, and it can be used to maintain consistency of data throughout transactions. The PostgreSQL and Geoserver are used to manage and connect a real property data to the flex viewer and user interface. The system is designed for both internal updating system (municipality); which is mainly updating of spatial and textual information, and the external system (customer) which focus on providing and interacting with the customer. This research assessed the potential of open source web applications and adopted this technology for real property updating system in Ethiopia through simple, cost effective and secured way. The system is designed by combining and customizing open source software to enhance the efficiency of the system in cost effective way. The existing workflow for real property updating is analyzed to identify the bottlenecks, and the new workflow is designed for the system. The requirement is identified through questionnaire and literature review, and the system is prototype for the study area. The research mainly aimed to integrate human resource with technology in designing of the system to reduce data inconsistency and security problems. In additions, the research reflects on the current situation of real property administration and contributions of effective data management system for efficient, transparent and sustainable urban development in Ethiopia.

Keywords: cadaster, real property, sustainable, transparency, web feature service, web map service

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Deden Misbahudin Muayyad, Lavlimatria Esya

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Up to the month of June 2015, Indonesia has 12 Islamic Commercial Banks, 22 Islamic Business Unit, 327 offices in 33 provinces. The initial purpose of the establishment of Islamic financial institutions is to achieve and the welfare of the people in this world and in the hereafter. To realize these goals, the Islamic financial institutions in every kind of aspect of product development and in terms of operations should be based on maqashid sharia, namely keeping the faith, keep the soul, keep the sense, maintain the property, keeping the offspring. To see whether Islamic banking grounded in maqasid sharia, the Islamic banking performance measurements based on the principles of maqasid sharia. Banking performance measurement is not only focusing on profit and other financial measures, but put other values of banks reflects the size of the benefit of non-profit in accordance with the bank's objectives. The measurement using the measurement of financial performance called maqasid sharia index. Maqasid syariah index is a model of Islamic banking performance measurement in accordance with the objectives and characteristics of Islamic banking. Maqasid syariah index was developed based on three main factors, namely the education of individuals, the creation of justice, the achievement of well-being, where the three factors were in accordance with the common goal of maqasid sharia is achieving prosperity and avoid evil. Maqasid syariah index shows that maqasid sharia approach can be a strategic alternative approach to describe how good the performance of the banking system and it can be implemented in the comprehensive policy strategy. This study uses a model of performance measurement framework based on maqasid syariah, in addition to financial performance measures that already exist. Methods to develop the idea of a performance measurement framework of Islamic banking by maqasid sharia is the Sekaran method. Operationally, the methods have now able to describe the elements that will be measured by this study. This is done by observing the behavior of the dimensions illustrated through a concept that has been set. These dimensions translate into derivative elements that can be observed and more scalable, so it can establish measurement indices. This research is descriptive quantitative. Techniques are being made to collect data in this paper is by using purposive sampling method, with 12 Islamic Commercial Banks that qualify as research samples. The financial data taken at 12 banks was sourced from the annual financial statements the period 2008 to 2012 with consideration of the database and ease of access to data. The ratio measured in this study only 7 ratio used in determining the performance of Islamic banking, namely: four ratio refers to the sharia objectives related to education. three ratio while again referring to sharia objectives related to the achievement of welfare. While other ratios associated with justice can not be used in this study because of the limited data used. Total overall calculation of performance indicators and performance ratios on each goal for each bank describes the maqasid syariah index.

Keywords: Islamic banking, Maslahah, maqashid syariah, maqashid syariah index

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Authors: Usha S. Adiga, Sachidanada Adiga

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Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most common non-communicable diseases which imposes a large economic burden on the global health-care system. Cost of illness studies in India have assessed the health care cost of DM, but have certain limitations due to lack of standardization of the methods used, improper documentation of data, lack of follow up, etc. The objective of the study was to estimate the cost of illness of uncomplicated versus complicated type 2 diabetes mellitus in Coastal Karnataka, India. The study also aimed to find out the trend of cost of illness of the disease over a decade. Methodology: A prevalence based bottom-up approach study was carried out in two tertiary care hospitals located in Coastal Karnataka after ethical approval. Direct Medical costs like annual laboratory costs, pharmacy cost, consultation charges, hospital bed charges, surgical /intervention costs of 238 diabetics and 340 diabetic patients respectively from two hospitals were obtained from the medical record sections. Patients were divided into six groups, uncomplicated diabetes, diabetic retinopathy(DR), nephropathy(DN), neuropathy(DNeu), diabetic foot(DF), and ischemic heart disease (IHD). Different costs incurred in 2008 and 2017 in these groups were compared, to study the trend of cost of illness. Kruskal Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test were used to compare median costs between the groups and Spearman's correlation test was used for correlation studies. Results: Uncomplicated patients had significantly lower costs (p <0.0001) compared to other groups. Patients with IHD had highest Medical expenses (p < 0.0001), followed by DN and DF (p < 0.0001 ). Annual medical costs incurred were 1.8, 2.76, 2.77, 1.76, and 4.34 times higher in retinopathy, nephropathy, diabetic foot, neuropathy and IHD patients as compared to the cost incurred in managing uncomplicated diabetics. Other costs also showed a similar pattern of rising. A positive correlation was observed between the costs incurred and duration of diabetes, a negative correlation between the glycemic status and cost incurred. The cost incurred in the management of DM in 2017 was found to be elevated 1.4 - 2.7 times when compared to that in 2008. Conclusion: It is evident from the study that the economic burden due to diabetes mellitus is substantial. It poses a significant financial burden on the healthcare system, individual and society as a whole. There is a need for the strategies to achieve optimal glycemic control and operationalize regular and early screening methods for complications so as to reduce the burden of the disease.

Keywords: COI, diabetes mellitus, a bottom up approach, economics

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Authors: Amit Das

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Background and significance of the study: Generally investors and market forecasters use financial statement for investigation while it awakens contribute to investing. The main vicinity of financial accounting and reporting practices recommends a few basic financial performance indicators, namely, return on capital employed, return on assets and earnings per share, which is associated considerably with share prices. It is principally true in case of Indian pharmaceutical companies also. Share investing is intriguing a financial risk in addition to investors look for those financial evaluations which have noteworthy shock on share price. A crucial intention of financial statement analysis and reporting is to offer information which is helpful predominantly to exterior clients in creating credit as well as investment choices. Sound financial performance attracts the investors automatically and it will increase the share price of the respective companies. Keeping in view of this, this research work investigates the impact of financial performance indicators on share price of pharmaceutical companies in India which is listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange. Methodology: This research work is based on secondary data collected from moneycontrol database on September 28, 2015 of top 101 pharmaceutical companies in India. Since this study selects four financial performance indicators purposively and availability in the database, that is, earnings per share, return on capital employed, return on assets and net profits as independent variables and one dependent variable, share price of 101 pharmaceutical companies. While analysing the data, correlation statistics, multiple regression technique and appropriate test of significance have been used. Major findings: Correlation statistics show that four financial performance indicators of 101 pharmaceutical companies are associated positively and negatively with its share price and it is very much significant that more than 80 companies’ financial performances are related positively. Multiple correlation test results indicate that financial performance indicators are highly related with share prices of the selected pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, multiple regression test results illustrate that when financial performances are good, share prices have been increased steadily in the Bombay stock exchange and all results are statistically significant. It is more important to note that sensitivity indices were changed slightly through financial performance indicators of selected pharmaceutical companies in India. Concluding statements: The share prices of pharmaceutical companies depend on the sound financial performances. It is very clear that share prices are changed with the movement of two important financial performance indicators, that is, earnings per share and return on assets. Since 101 pharmaceutical companies are listed in the Bombay stock exchange and Sensex are changed with this, it is obvious that Government of India has to take important decisions regarding production and exports of pharmaceutical products so that financial performance of all the pharmaceutical companies are improved and its share price are increased positively.

Keywords: financial performance indicators, share prices, pharmaceutical companies, India

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Authors: Adesuwa Omorede, Rufai Haruna Kilu

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Affective motivation (motivation that is emotionally laden usually related to affect, passion, emotions, moods) in the workplace stimulates individuals to reinforce, persist and commit to their task, which leads to the individual and organizational performance. This leads individuals to reach goals especially in situations where task are highly challenging and hostile. In such situations, individuals are more disposed to be more creative, innovative and see new opportunities from the loopholes in their workplace. However, when individuals feel displaced and less important, an adverse reaction may suffice which may be detrimental to the organization and its performance. One sector where affective motivation is eminently present and relevant, is the mining industry. Due to its intense work environment; mostly dominated by men and masculinity cultures; and deliberate exclusion of women in this environment which, makes the women working in these environments to feel marginalized. In Ghana, the mining industry is mostly seen as a very physical environment especially underground and mostly considerd as 'no place for a woman'. Despite the fact that these women feel less 'needed' or 'appreciated' in such environments, they still have to juggle between intense work shifts; face violence and other health risks with their families, which put a strain on their affective motivational reaction. Beyond these challenges, however, several mining companies in Ghana today are working towards providing a fair and equal working situation for both men and women miners, by recognizing them as key stakeholders, as well as including them in the stages of mining projects from the planning and designing phase to the evaluation and implementation stage. Drawing from the psychology and gender literature, this study takes a narrative approach to identify and understand the shifting gender dynamics within the mine works in Ghana, occasioning a change in background disposition of miners, which leads to more women taking up mine jobs in the country. In doing so, a qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews from Ghana. Several women working within the mining industries in Ghana shared their experiences and how they felt and still feel in their workplace. In addition, archival documents were gathered to support the findings. The results suggest a change in enrolment regimes in a mining and technology university in Ghana, making room for a more gender equal enrolments in the university. A renowned university that train and feed mine work professional into the industry. The results further acknowledge gender equal and diversity recruitment policies and initiatives among the mining companies of Ghana. This study contributes to the psychology and gender literature by highlighting the hindrances women face in the mining industry as well as highlighting several of their affective reactions towards gender inequality. The study also provides several suggestions for decision makers in the mining industry of what can be done in the future to reduce the gender inequality gap within the industry.

Keywords: affective motivation, gender shape shifting, mining industry, women miners

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: George Charkoftakis, Panagiotis Liosatos, Nicolas-Alexander Tatlas, Dimitrios Goustouridis, Stelios M. Potirakis

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E-maintenance is a relatively new concept, generally referring to maintenance management by monitoring assets over the Internet. One of the key links in the chain of an e-maintenance system is data acquisition and transmission. Specifically for the case of a fleet of heavy-duty vehicles, where the main challenge is the diversity of the vehicles and vehicle-embedded self-diagnostic/reporting technologies, the design of the data acquisition and transmission unit is a demanding task. This clear if one takes into account that a heavy-vehicles fleet assortment may range from vehicles with only a limited number of analog sensors monitored by dashboard light indicators and gauges to vehicles with plethora of sensors monitored by a vehicle computer producing digital reporting. The present work proposes an adaptable internet of things (IoT) sensor node that is capable of addressing this challenge. The proposed sensor node architecture is based on the increasingly popular single-board computer – expansion boards approach. In the proposed solution, the expansion boards undertake the tasks of position identification by means of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), cellular connectivity by means of 3G/long-term evolution (LTE) modem, connectivity to on-board diagnostics (OBD), and connectivity to analog and digital sensors by means of a novel design of expansion board. Specifically, the later provides eight analog plus three digital sensor channels, as well as one on-board temperature / relative humidity sensor. The specific device offers a number of adaptability features based on appropriate zero-ohm resistor placement and appropriate value selection for limited number of passive components. For example, although in the standard configuration four voltage analog channels with constant voltage sources for the power supply of the corresponding sensors are available, up to two of these voltage channels can be converted to provide power to the connected sensors by means of corresponding constant current source circuits, whereas all parameters of analog sensor power supply and matching circuits are fully configurable offering the advantage of covering a wide variety of industrial sensors. Note that a key feature of the proposed sensor node, ensuring the reliable operation of the connected sensors, is the appropriate supply of external power to the connected sensors and their proper matching to the IoT sensor node. In standard mode, the IoT sensor node communicates to the data center through 3G/LTE, transmitting all digital/digitized sensor data, IoT device identity, and position. Moreover, the proposed IoT sensor node offers WiFi connectivity to mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) equipped with an appropriate application for the manual registration of vehicle- and driver-specific information, and these data are also forwarded to the data center. All control and communication tasks of the IoT sensor node are performed by dedicated firmware. It is programmed with a high-level language (Python) on top of a modern operating system (Linux). Acknowledgment: This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH—CREATE—INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK- 01359, IntelligentLogger).

Keywords: IoT sensor nodes, e-maintenance, single-board computers, sensor expansion boards, on-board diagnostics

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Nursyafiq Ali Shibramulisi, Nor Farah Fauzi, Nur Azniza Zawin Anuar, Nurul Atikah Azmi, Janice Hew Pei Fang

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Background: Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD) among dental personnel have been underestimated and under-reported worldwide and specifically in Malaysia. The problem will arise and progress slowly over time, as it results from accumulated injury throughout the period of work. Several risk factors, such as repetitive movement, static posture, vibration, and adapting poor working postures, have been identified to be contributing to WRMSD in dental practices. Dental personnel is at higher risk of getting this problem as it is their working nature and core business. This would cause pain and dysfunction syndrome among them and result in absence from work and substandard services to their patients. Methodology: A cross-sectional study involving 19 government dental clinics in Perak was done over the period of 3 months. Those who met the criteria were selected to participate in this study. Malay version of the Self-Reported Nordic Musculoskeletal Discomfort Form was used to identify the prevalence of WRMSD, while the intensity of pain in the respective regions was evaluated using a 10-point scale according to ‘Pain as The 5ᵗʰ Vital Sign’ by MOH Malaysia and later on were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics, including mean and SD and median and IQR, were used for numerical data. Categorical data were described by percentage. Pearson’s Chi-Square Test and Spearman’s Correlation were used to find the association between the prevalence of WRMSD and other socio-demographic data. Results: 159 dentists, 73 dental therapists, 26 dental lab technicians, 81 dental surgery assistants, and 23 dental attendants participated in this study. The mean age for the participants was 34.9±7.4 and their mean years of service was 9.97±7.5. Most of them were female (78.5%), Malay (71.3%), married (69.6%) and right-handed (90.1%). The highest prevalence of WRMSD was neck (58.0%), followed by shoulder (48.1%), upper back (42.0%), lower back (40.6%), hand/wrist (31.5%), feet (21.3%), knee (12.2%), thigh 7.7%) and lastly elbow (6.9%). Most of those who reported having neck pain scaled their pain experiences at 2 out of 10 (19.5%), while for those who suffered upper back discomfort, most of them scaled their pain experience at 6 out of 10 (17.8%). It was found that there was a significant relationship between age and pain at neck (p=0.007), elbow (p=0.027), lower back (p=0.032), thigh (p=0.039), knee (p=0.001) and feet (p=0.000) regions. Job position also had been found to be having a significant relationship with pain experienced at the lower back (p=0.018), thigh (p=0.011), knee, and feet (p=0.000). Conclusion: The prevalence of WRMSD among dental personnel in Perak was found to be high. Age and job position were found to be having a significant relationship with pain experienced in several regions. Intervention programs should be planned and conducted to prevent and reduce the occurrence of WRMSD, as all harmful or unergonomic practices should be avoided at all costs.

Keywords: WRMSD, ergonomic, dentistry, dental

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Authors: C. Villamizar, M. Serrato

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In the pursuit of athletic performance, the role of physical training which is determined by a number of charges or taxes on physiological stress and musculoskeletal systems of the human body generated by the intensity and duration is fundamental. Given the physical demands of these activities both training and competitive must take into account the optimal relationship with a straining process recovery post favoring the process of overcompensation which aims to facilitate the return and rising energy potential and protein synthesis also of different tissues. Allowing muscle function returns to baseline or pre-exercise states. If this recovery process is not performed or is not allowed in a proper way, will result in an increased state of fatigue. Active recovery, is one of the strategies implemented in the sport for a return to pre-exercise physiological states. However, there are some adverse assumptions regarding the negative effects, as is the possibility of increasing the degradation of muscle glycogen and thus delaying the synthesis thereof. For them, it is necessary to investigate what would be the effects generated application made at different times after the effort. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of active recovery post effort made at three different times: immediately, at 12 and 24 hours on biochemical markers creatine kinase in youth soccer player’s categories. A randomized controlled trial with allocation to three groups was performed: A. active recovery immediately after the effort; B. active recovery performed at 12 hours after the effort; C. active recovery made at 24 hours after the effort. This study included 27 subjects belonging to a Colombian soccer team of the second division. Vital signs, weight, height, BMI, the percentage of muscle mass, fat mass percentage, personal medical history, and family were valued. The velocity, explosive force and Creatin Kinase (CK) in blood were tested before and after interventions. SAFT 90 protocol (Soccer Field specific Aerobic Test) was applied to participants for generating fatigue. CK samples were taken one hour before the application of the fatigue test, one hour after the fatigue protocol and 48 of the initial CK sample. Mean age was 18.5 ± 1.1 years old. Improvements in jumping and speed recovery the 3 groups (p < 0.05), but no statistically significant differences between groups was observed after recuperation. In all participants, there was a significant increment of CK when applied SAFT 90 in all the groups (median 103.1-111.1). The CK measurement after 48 hours reflects a recovery in all groups, however the group C, a decline below baseline levels of -55.5 (-96.3 /-20.4) which is a significant find. Other research has shown that CK does not return quickly to their baseline, but our study shows that active recovery favors the clearance of CK and also to perform recovery 24 hours after the effort generates higher clearance of this biomarker.

Keywords: active recuperation, creatine phosphokinase, post training, young soccer players

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Authors: Dmitry Kukushkin

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Lineaments form complex grids on Earth's surface. Currently, one particular object of study for many researchers is the analysis and geological interpretation of maps of lineament density in an attempt to locate various geological structures. But lineament grids are made up of global, regional and local components, and this superimposition of lineament grids of various scales (global, regional, and local) renders this method less effective. Besides, the erosion processes and the erosional resistance of rocks lying on the surface play a significant role in the formation of lineament grids. Therefore, specific lineament density map is characterized by poor contrast (most anomalies do not exceed the average values by more than 30%) and unstable relation with local geological structures. Our method allows to confidently determine the location and boundaries of local geological structures that are likely to contain mineral deposits. Maps of the fields of lineament distortion (residual specific density) created by our method are characterized by high contrast with anomalies exceeding the average by upward of 200%, and stable correlation to local geological structures containing mineral deposits. Our method considers a lineament grid as a general lineaments field – surface manifestation of stress and strain fields of Earth associated with geological structures of global, regional and local scales. Each of these structures has its own field of brittle dislocations that appears on the surface of its lineament field. Our method allows singling out local components by suppressing global and regional components of the general lineaments field. The remaining local lineament field is an indicator of local geological structures.The following are some of the examples of the method application: 1. Srednevilyuiskoye gas condensate field (Yakutia) - a direct proof of the effectiveness of methodology; 2. Structure of Astronomy (Taimyr) - confirmed by the seismic survey; 3. Active gold mine of Kadara (Chita Region) – confirmed by geochemistry; 4. Active gold mine of Davenda (Yakutia) - determined the boundaries of the granite massif that controls mineralization; 5. Object, promising to search for hydrocarbons in the north of Algeria - correlated with the results of geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys. For both Kadara and Davenda, the method demonstrated that the intensive anomalies of the local lineament fields are consistent with the geochemical anomalies and indicate the presence of the gold content at commercial levels. Our method of suppression of global and regional components results in isolating a local lineament field. In early stages of a geological exploration for oil and gas, this allows determining boundaries of various geological structures with very high reliability. Therefore, our method allows optimization of placement of seismic profile and exploratory drilling equipment, and this leads to a reduction of costs of prospecting and exploration of deposits, as well as acceleration of its commissioning.

Keywords: lineaments, mineral exploration, oil and gas, remote sensing

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Authors: Joseph M. Rich, Vinay A. Duddalwar, Assad A. Oberai

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Prostate adenocarcinoma is the most common cancer in males, with osseous metastases as the commonest site of metastatic prostate carcinoma (mPC). Treatment monitoring is based on the evaluation and characterization of lesions on multiple imaging studies, including Computed Tomography (CT). Monitoring of the osseous disease burden, including follow-up of lesions and identification and characterization of new lesions, is a laborious task for radiologists. Deep learning algorithms are increasingly used to perform tasks such as identification and segmentation for osseous metastatic disease and provide accurate information regarding metastatic burden. Here, nnUNet was used to produce a model which can segment CT scan images of prostate adenocarcinoma vertebral bone metastatic lesions. nnUNet is an open-source Python package that adds optimizations to deep learning-based UNet architecture but has not been extensively combined with transfer learning techniques due to the absence of a readily available functionality of this method. The IRB-approved study data set includes imaging studies from patients with mPC who were enrolled in clinical trials at the University of Southern California (USC) Health Science Campus and Los Angeles County (LAC)/USC medical center. Manual segmentation of metastatic lesions was completed by an expert radiologist Dr. Vinay Duddalwar (20+ years in radiology and oncologic imaging), to serve as ground truths for the automated segmentation. Despite nnUNet’s success on some medical segmentation tasks, it only produced an average Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.31 on the USC dataset. DSC results fell in a bimodal distribution, with most scores falling either over 0.66 (reasonably accurate) or at 0 (no lesion detected). Applying more aggressive data augmentation techniques dropped the DSC to 0.15, and reducing the number of epochs reduced the DSC to below 0.1. Datasets have been identified for transfer learning, which involve balancing between size and similarity of the dataset. Identified datasets include the Pancreas data from the Medical Segmentation Decathlon, Pelvic Reference Data, and CT volumes with multiple organ segmentations (CT-ORG). Some of the challenges of producing an accurate model from the USC dataset include small dataset size (115 images), 2D data (as nnUNet generally performs better on 3D data), and the limited amount of public data capturing annotated CT images of bone lesions. Optimizations and improvements will be made by applying transfer learning and generative methods, including incorporating generative adversarial networks and diffusion models in order to augment the dataset. Performance with different libraries, including MONAI and custom architectures with Pytorch, will be compared. In the future, molecular correlations will be tracked with radiologic features for the purpose of multimodal composite biomarker identification. Once validated, these models will be incorporated into evaluation workflows to optimize radiologist evaluation. Our work demonstrates the challenges of applying automated image segmentation to small medical datasets and lays a foundation for techniques to improve performance. As machine learning models become increasingly incorporated into the workflow of radiologists, these findings will help improve the speed and accuracy of vertebral metastatic lesions detection.

Keywords: deep learning, image segmentation, medicine, nnUNet, prostate carcinoma, radiomics

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Authors: G. C. Santini, C. Potrich, L. Lunelli, L. Vanzetti, S. Marasso, M. Cocuzza, C. Pederzolli

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The relevance of circulating miRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers for several pathologies is nowadays undoubtedly clear, as they have been found to have both diagnostic and prognostic value able to add fundamental information to patients’ clinical picture. The availability of these data, however, relies on a time-consuming process spanning from the sample collection and processing to the data analysis. In light of this, strategies which are able to ease this procedure are in high demand and considerable effort have been made in developing Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices able to speed up and standardise the bench work. In this context, a very promising polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microdevice which integrates the processing of the biological sample, i.e. purification of extracellular miRNAs, and reverse transcription was previously developed in our lab. In this study, we aimed at the improvement of the miRNA extraction performances of this micro device by increasing the ability of its surface to absorb extracellular miRNAs from biological samples. For this purpose, we focused on the modulation of two properties of the material: roughness and charge. PDMS surface roughness was modulated by casting with several templates (terminated with silicon oxide coated by a thin anti-adhesion aluminum layer), followed by a panel of curing conditions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to estimate changes at the nanometric scale. To introduce modifications in surface charge we functionalized PDMS with different mixes of positively charged 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilanes (APTMS) and neutral poly(ethylene glycol) silane (PEG). The surface chemical composition was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the number of exposed primary amines was quantified with the reagent sulfosuccinimidyl-4-o-(4,4-dimethoxytrityl) butyrate (s-SDTB). As our final end point, the adsorption rate of all these different conditions was assessed by fluorescence microscopy by incubating a synthetic fluorescently-labeled miRNA. Our preliminary analysis identified casting on thermally grown silicon oxide, followed by a curing step at 85°C for 1 hour, as the most efficient technique to obtain a PDMS surface roughness in the nanometric scaleable to trap miRNA. In addition, functionalisation with 0.1% APTMS and 0.9% PEG was found to be a necessary step to significantly increase the amount of microRNA adsorbed on the surface, therefore, available for further steps as on-chip reverse transcription. These findings show a substantial improvement in the extraction efficiency of our PDMS microdevice, ultimately leading to an important step forward in the development of an innovative, easy-to-use and integrated system for the direct purification of less abundant circulating microRNAs.

Keywords: circulating miRNAs, diagnostics, Lab-on-a-chip, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)

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Authors: J. Woźniak-Holecka, T. Holecki, S. Jaruga

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Spa treatment is an important area of the health care system in Poland due to the increasing needs of the population and the context of historical conditions for this form of therapy. It extends the range of financing possibilities of the outlets and increases the potential of spa services, which is very important in the context of demographic and epidemiological changes. The main advantages of spa treatment services include its relatively wide availability, low risk of side effects, good patient tolerance, long-lasting curative effect and a relatively low cost. In addition, patients should be provided with a proper diet and enable participation in health education and health promotion classes aimed at health problems consistent with the treatment profile. Challenges for global health care systems include a sharp increase in spending on benefits, dynamic development of health technologies and growing social expectations. This requires extending the competences of health resort facilities for health promotion. Within each type of health resort institutions in Poland, nutritional education services are implemented, aimed at creating and consolidating proper eating habits. Choosing the right diet can speed up recovery or become one of the methods to alleviate the symptoms of chronic diseases. During spa treatment patient learns the principles of rational nutrition and adequate dietotherapy to his diseases. The aim of the project is to assess the frequency and quality of nutritional education provided to patients in health resort facilities in a nationwide perspective. The material for the study will be data obtained as part of an in-depth interview conducted among Heads of Nutrition Departments of selected institutions. The use of nutritional education in a health resort may be an important goal of implementing the state health policy as a useful tool to reduce the risk of diet-related diseases. Recognizing nutritional education in health resort institutions as a type of full-value health service can be effective system support for health policy, including seniors, due to demographic changes currently occurring in the Polish population. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase the interest and motivation of patients to follow the recommendations of nutritional education, because it will bring tangible benefits for the long-term effects of therapy and care should be taken for the form and methodology of nutrition education implemented in health resort institutions. Finally it is necessary to construct an educational offer in terms of selected groups of patients with the highest health needs: the elderly and the disabled. In conclusion, it can be said that the system of nutritional education implemented in polish health resort institutions should be subjected to global changes and strong systemic correction.

Keywords: health care system, nutritional education, public health, spa and treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Sudipto Jana

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Background and significance of the study: Banking industry performs as a catalyst for industrial growth and agricultural growth, however, as well involves the existence and welfare of the citizens. The banking system in India was described by unmatched growth and the recreation of bunch making in the pre-liberalization era. At the time of financial sector reforms Reserve Bank of India issued a regulatory norm concerning capital adequacy, income recognition, asset classification and provisioning that have increasingly precede meeting by means of the international paramount performs. Bank management ceaselessly manages the triumph, effectiveness, productivity and performance of the bank as good performance, high productivity and efficiency authorizes the triumph of the bank management targets as well as aims of bank. In a comparable move toward performance of any economy depends upon the expediency and effectiveness of its financial system of nation establishes its economic growth indicators. Profitability and productivity are the most important relevant parameters of any banking group. Keeping in view of this, this study examines the profitability and productivity performance of the selected public sector banks in India. Methodology: This study is based on secondary data obtained from Reserve Bank of India database for the periods between 2006 and 2015. This study purposively selects four types of commercial banks, namely, State Bank of India, United Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Allahabad Bank. In order to analyze the performance with relation to profitability and productivity, productivity performance indicators in terms of capital adequacy ratio, burden ratio, business per employee, spread per employee and advances per employee and profitability performance indicators in terms of return on assets, return on equity, return on advances and return on branch have been considered. In the course of analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation statistics and multiple regression have been used. Major findings: Descriptive statistics indicate that productivity performance of State Bank of India is very satisfactory than other public sector banks in India. But management of productivity is unsatisfactory in case of all the public sector banks under study. Correlation statistics point out that profitability of the public sector banks are strongly positively related with productivity performance in case of all the public sector banks under study. Multiple regression test results show that when profitability increases profit per employee increases and net non-performing assets decreases. Concluding statements: Productivity and profitability performance of United Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Punjab National Bank are unsatisfactory due to poor management of asset quality as well as management efficiency. It needs government’s interference so that profitability and productivity performance are increased in the near future.

Keywords: India, productivity, profitability, public sector banks

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Authors: Oliver Fuo

Abstract:

One of the central features of post-apartheid constitutional reform was the establishment of local government as a distinct sphere of government in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Local government, constituted by about 279 wall-to-wall municipalities, have legislative and executive powers vested in democratically elected municipal councils to govern areas within their jurisdiction subject only to limits imposed by the Constitution. In addition, unlike the past where municipalities merely played a service delivery role, they are now mandated to realise an expanded developmental mandate – pursue social justice and sustainable development; contribute, together with national and provincial government, to the realisation of socio-economic rights entrenched in the Bill of Rights; and facilitate public participation in local governance. In order to finance their developmental programmes, municipalities receive equitable allocations from national government and have legal powers to generate additional finances by charging rates on property and imposing surcharges on services provided. In addition to its general obligation to foster public participation in local governance, the law requires municipalities to facilitate public participation in their budgeting processes. This requirement is generally consistent with recent trends in local government democratic reforms which call for inclusive budget planning and implementation whereby citizens, civil society and NGOs participate in the allocation of resources. This trend is best captured in the concept of participatory budgeting. This paper specifically analyses the legal and policy framework for participatory budgeting at the local government level in South Africa. Using Borbet South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Others v Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality 2014 (5) SA 256 (ECP) as an example, this paper argues that the legal framework for participatory budgeting creates an illusory right for citizens to participate in municipal budgeting processes. This challenge is further compounded by the barrenness of the jurisprudence of courts that interpret the obligation of municipalities in this regard. It is submitted that the wording of s 27(4) of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 53 of 2003 - which expressly stipulates that non-compliance by a municipality with a provision relating to the budget process or a provision in any legislation relating to the approval of a budget-related policy, does not affect the validity of an annual or adjustments budget – is problematic as it seems to trivialise the obligation to facilitate public participation in budgeting processes. It is submitted that where this provision is abused by municipal officials, this could lead to the sidelining of the real interests of communities in local budgets. This research is based on a critical and integrated review of primary and secondary sources of law.

Keywords: courts and jurisprudence, local government law, participatory budgeting, South Africa

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Authors: Henning Lahmann, Benjamyn I. Scott, Bart Custers

Abstract:

Suboptimal adoption of AI in defence organisations carries risks for the protection of the freedom, safety, and security of society. Despite the vast opportunities that defence AI-technology presents, there are also a variety of ethical, legal, and societal concerns. To ensure the successful use of AI technology by the military, ethical, legal, and societal aspects (ELSA) need to be considered, and their concerns continuously addressed at all levels. This includes ELSA considerations during the design, manufacturing and maintenance of AI-based systems, as well as its utilisation via appropriate military doctrine and training. This raises the question how defence organisations can remain strategically competitive and at the edge of military innovation, while respecting the values of its citizens. This paper will explain the set-up and share preliminary results of a 4-year research project commissioned by the National Research Council in the Netherlands on the ethical, legal, and societal aspects of AI in defence. The project plans to develop a future-proof, independent, and consultative ecosystem for the responsible use of AI in the defence domain. In order to achieve this, the lab shall devise a context-dependent methodology that focuses on the ‘analysis’, ‘design’ and ‘evaluation’ of ELSA of AI-based applications within the military context, which include inter alia unmanned aircraft. This is bolstered as the Lab also recognises and complements the existing methods in regards to human-machine teaming, explainable algorithms, and value-sensitive design. Such methods will be modified for the military context and applied to pertinent case-studies. These case-studies include, among others, the application of autonomous robots (incl. semi- autonomous) and AI-based methods against cognitive warfare. As the perception of the application of AI in the military context, by both society and defence personnel, is important, the Lab will study how these perceptions evolve and vary in different contexts. Furthermore, the Lab will monitor – as they may influence people’s perception – developments in the global technological, military and societal spheres. Although the emphasis of the research project is on different forms of AI in defence, it focuses on several case studies. One of these case studies is on unmanned aircraft, which will also be the focus of the paper. Hence, ethical, legal, and societal aspects of unmanned aircraft in the defence domain will be discussed in detail, including but not limited to privacy issues. Typical other issues concern security (for people, objects, data or other aircraft), privacy (sensitive data, hindrance, annoyance, data collection, function creep), chilling effects, PlayStation mentality, and PTSD.

Keywords: autonomous weapon systems, unmanned aircraft, human-machine teaming, meaningful human control, value-sensitive design

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Authors: Raja Lahiani

Abstract:

'Locksley Hall' is a poem that Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) published in 1842. It is believed to be his first attempt to face as a poet some of the most painful of his experiences, as it is a study of his rising out of sickness into health, conquering his selfish sorrow by faith and hope. So far, in Victorian scholarship as in modern criticism, 'Locksley Hall' has been studied and approached as a canonical Victorian English poem. The aim of this project is to prove that some strategies of translation were used in this poem in such a way as to guarantee its assimilation into the English canon and hence efface to a large extent its Arabic roots. In its relationship with its source text, 'Locksley Hall' is at the same time mimetic and imitative. As part of the terminology used in translation studies, ‘imitation’ means almost the exact opposite of what it means in ordinary English. By adopting an imitative procedure, a translator would do something totally different from the original author, wandering far and freely from the words and sense of the original text. An imitation is thus aimed at an audience which wants the work of the particular translator rather than the work of the original poet. Hallam Tennyson, the poet’s biographer, asserts that 'Locksley Hall' is a simple invention of place, incidents, and people, though he notes that he remembers the poet claiming that Sir William Jones’ prose translation of the Mu‘allaqat (pre-Islamic poems) gave him the idea of the poem. A comparative work would prove that 'Locksley Hall' mirrors a great deal of Tennyson’s biography and hence is not a simple invention of details as asserted by his biographer. It would be challenging to prove that 'Locksley Hall' shares so many details with the Mu‘allaqat, as declared by Tennyson himself, that it needs to be studied as an imitation of the Mu‘allaqat of Imru’ al-Qays and ‘Antara in addition to its being a poem in its own right. Thus, the main aim of this work is to unveil the imitative and mimetic strategies used by Tennyson in his composition of 'Locksley Hall.' It is equally important that this project researches the acculturating assimilative tools used by the poet to root his poem in its Victorian English literary, cultural and spatiotemporal settings. This work adopts a comparative methodology. Comparison is done at different levels. The poem will be contextualized in its Victorian English literary framework. Alien details related to structure, socio-spatial setting, imagery and sound effects shall be compared to Arabic poems from the Mu‘allaqat collection. This would determine whether the poem is a translation, an adaption, an imitation or a genuine work. The ultimate objective of the project is to unveil in this canonical poem a new dimension that has for long been either marginalized or ignored. By proving that 'Locksley Hall' is an imitation of classical Arabic poetry, the project aspires to consolidate its literary value and open up new gates of accessing it.

Keywords: comparative literature, imitation, Locksley Hall, Lord Alfred Tennyson, translation, Victorian poetry

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