Search results for: living polymerization

Authors: C. Makwana, S. R. Dave

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Arsenic is toxic to almost all living cells. Its contamination in natural sources affects the growth of microorganisms. The presence of arsenic is associated with various human disorders also. The attempt of this sort of study provides information regarding the performance of our isolated microorganisms in the presence of Arsenic, which have ample scope for bioremediation. Six isolates were selected from the polluted sample of industrial zone Vatva, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, out of which two were Thermophilic organisms. The thermophilic exopolysaccharide (EPS) producing Bacillus was used for microbial enhance oil recovery (MEOR) and in the bio beneficiation. Inorganic arsenic primarily exists in the form of arsenate or arsenite. This arsenic resistance isolate was capable of transforming As +3 to As+5. This isolate would be useful for arsenic remediation standpoint from aquatic systems. The study revealed that the thermophilic microorganism was growing at 55 degree centigrade showed considerable remediation property. The results on the growth and enzyme catalysis would be discussed in response to Arsenic remediation.

Keywords: aquatic systems, thermophilic, exopolysacchride, arsenic

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Authors: Olga A. Gnatyuk

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The article is devoted to the phenomenon of interference that occurs in the case of the Russian-Spanish language contact. The questions of the definition of the term and levels, as well as prerequisites of interference occurrence, are considered. Interference, which is an essential part of bilingualism, may become apparent at different linguistic levels. Interference is especially evident in oral speech. The article reviews some examples of grammatical interference in Russian-Spanish bilingualism of Russian immigrants living in Spain. According to the results of the research, some cases of mother-tongue interference in Russian-Speaking Spanish language learners’ speech were revealed. Special attention is paid to such key spheres of grammatical interference as articles, personal pronouns, gender, and number of nouns. In the research, the drop of a link-verb, as well as its usage in some incorrect form, are observed in Russian immigrants’ speech. Conclusions are drawn that in the Spanish language, interference errors appear because of a consequence of both the absence in the Russian language of certain phenomena and categories of the Spanish language and the discrepancy of the linguistic systems of the two languages.

Keywords: bilingualism, interference, grammatical interference, Russian language, Spanish language

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Authors: Yang Chen

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The property-led regeneration has played an important role in the process of rapid urbanization during the past twenty years in China, but it is also been criticized unsustainable as it always focuses on the economic aspect and overlooks the social issues, especially it has exacerbated the residential segregation in the inner city. Based on author’s studying the area around Nanjing railway station, this paper demonstrates that residential segregation indeed exists in the inner city through synthetic analysis on patterns of residents’ living, consumption and welfare, and to some extent, the segregation distribution characteristics represent in a concentric ring model. According to author’s further investigation on the property right and age of the dwelling buildings, the housing-commercialization-led regeneration is defined as the mainspring of the segregation. To solve these problems, the system of sustainable community should be established in both policy and practice, above all, well-designed public facilities including green infrastructure will be appropriate to promote the residential integration and sustainable development in contemporary China.

Keywords: China, dynamic mechanism, residential segregation, sustainable regeneration

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Authors: Amy Clark

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To date, the focus of feminist research surrounding men looking at women, with the analysis of how women make sense of looks between women remains limited and scattered. Drawing upon ethnographic data obtained from an on-going research project, this presentation delves into the embodied experiences of female exercisers within a UK ‘working-class’ gym. By exploring the women’s own accounts of their living, breathing and sensing bodies as they exercise, the researcher attempts to understand how they make sense of the gym space, their embodied selves as well as broader constructions of the gendered body. Utilising a feminist phenomenological approach, this research examines the social-structural position of women in a patriarchal system of gender relations, whilst simultaneously acknowledging and analysing the structural, cultural, and historical forces and location, upon individual lived body experiences and gendered embodiment. The discussion is provided on how the gym can be identified as a sexually objectifying environment, and how women make sense and interpret specific ‘gazes’ encountered within the gym.

Keywords: embodiment, feminism, gazes, sociology

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Authors: Surajbhan Sevda

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Metal containing wastewater is generated in large quintiles due to rapid industrialization. Generally, the metal present in wastewater is not biodegradable and can be accumulated in living animals, humans and plant tissue, causing disorder and diseases. The conventional metal recovery methods include chemical, physical and biological methods, but these are chemical and energy intensive. The recent development in microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology provides a new approach for metal recovery; this technology offers a flexible platform for both reduction and oxidation reaction oriented process. The use of MFCs will be a new platform for more efficient and low energy approach for metal recovery from the wastewater. So far metal recover was extensively studied using chemical, physical and biological methods. The MFCs present a new and efficient approach for removing and recovering metals from different wastewater, suggesting the use of different electrode for metal recovery can be a new efficient and effective approach.

Keywords: metal recovery, microbial fuel cell, wastewater, bioelectricity

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Authors: Kurt S. Candilas

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This study is a critical analysis of the work of Robert Frost, 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'. It subjects the literary piece into a qualitative analysis using the critical theory of mimesis. In effect, this study is proposed to find out and shed light on the mimetic feature of the poem’s textuality. Generally, it aims to analyze the poem’s deeper meaning in the context of the reality of life from birth to death. For the most part, this critical analysis discerns, investigates, and highlights the features which present the imitation of life in detail and from a deeper view. Based on the result of analysis, it shows that Frost has portrayed the cycle of life from birth to midst life as about proving oneself to others as far as achievements and accomplishments are concerned; secondly, at some point of one’s life, successes and achievements are just one’s perfect signature of living. As Frost discloses his poem, his message of the reality of life from birth to death is clear enough, that nothing is going to last forever.

Keywords: Nothing Gold Can Stay, mimesis, birth, death

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Authors: Christa Fricke, Sibylle Meyer, Gert G. Wagner

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Our research focuses on the question of whether assistive and social robotics could pose a promising strategy to support the independent living of elderly people and potentially relieve relatives of any anxieties. To answer the question of how elderly people perceive the potential of robotics, we analysed the data from the Berlin Aging Study BASE-II (https://www.base2.mpg.de/de) (N=1463) and data from the German SYMPARTNER study (http://www.sympartner.de) (N=120) and compared those to a control group made up of people younger than 30 years (BASE II: N=241; SYMPARTNER: N=30). BASE-II is a cohort study of people living in Berlin, Germany. The sample covers more than 2200 cases; a questionnaire on the use and acceptance of assistive and social robots was carried out with a sub-sample of 1463 respondents in 2015. The SYMPARTNER study was done by SIBIS institute of Social Research, Berlin and included a total of 120 persons between the ages of 60 and 87 in Berlin and the rural German federal state of Thuringia. Both studies included a control group of persons between the ages of 20 and 35 (BASE II: N=241; SYMPARTNER: N=30). Additional data, representative for the whole population in Germany, will be surveyed in fall 2017 (Survey “Technikradar” [technology radar] by the National Academy of Science and Engineering). Since this survey is including some identical questions as BASE-II/SYMPARTNER, comparative results can be presented at 20th International Conference on Social Robotics in New York 2018. The complexity of the data gathered in BASE-II and SYMPARTNER, encompassing detailed socio-economic background characteristics as well as personality traits such as the personal attitude to risk taking, locus of control and Big Five, proves highly valuable and beneficial. Results show that participants’ expressions of resentment against robots are comparatively low. Participants’ personality traits play a role, however the effect sizes are small. Only 15 percent of participants received domestic robots with great scepticism. Participants aged older than 70 years expressed greatest rejection of the robotic assistant. The effect sizes however account for only a few percentage points. Overall, participants were surprisingly open to the robot and its usefulness. The analysis also shows that men’s acceptance of the robot is generally greater than that of women (with odds ratios of about 0.6 to 0.7). This applies to both assistive robots in the private household and in care environments. Men expect greater benefits of the robot than women. Women tend to be more sceptical of their technical feasibility than men. Interview results prove our hypothesis that men, in particular of the age group 60+, are more accustomed to delegate household chores to women. A delegation to machines instead of humans, therefore, seems palpable. The answer to the title question of this planned presentation is: social and assistive robots at home robots are not only accepted by men – but by fewer women than men.

Keywords: acceptance, care, gender, household

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Authors: Edda E. Falcone, Cinzia Federico, Sergio Bellomo, Lorenzo Brusca, Manfredi Longo, Walter D’Alessandro

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Although trace metals are an essential element for living beings, they can become toxic at high concentrations. Their potential toxicity is related not only to the total content in the environment but mostly upon their bioavailability. Volcanoes are important natural metal emitters and they can deeply affect the quality of air, water and soils, as well as the human health. Trace metals tend to accumulate in the tissues of living organisms, depending on the metal contents in food, air and water and on the exposure time. Birds are considered as bioindicators of interest, because their feathers directly reflects the metals uptake from the blood. Birds are exposed to the atmospheric pollution through the contact with rainfall, dust, and aerosol, and they accumulate metals over the whole life cycle. We report on the first data combining the rainfall metal content in three different areas of Mt Etna, variably fumigated by the volcanic plume, and the metal contents in the feathers of pigeons, collected in the same areas. Rainfall samples were collected from three rain gauges placed at different elevation on the Eastern flank of the volcano, the most exposed to airborne plume, filtered, treated with HNO₃ Suprapur-grade and analyzed for Fe, Cr, Co, Ni, Se, Zn, Cu, Sr, Ba, Cd and As by ICP-MS technique, and major ions by ion chromatography. Feathers were collected from single individuals, in the same areas where the rain gauges were installed. Additionally, some samples were collected in an urban area, poorly interested by the volcanic plume. The samples were rinsed in MilliQ water and acetone, dried at 50°C until constant weight and digested in a mixture of 2:1 HNO₃ (65%) - H₂O₂ (30%) Suprapur-grade for 25-50 mg of sample, in a bath at near-to-boiling temperature. The solutions were diluted up to 20 ml prior to be analyzed by ICP-MS. The rainfall samples most contaminated by the plume were collected at close distance from the summit craters (less than 6 km), and show lower pH values and higher concentrations for all analyzed metals relative to those from the sites at lower elevation. Analyzed samples are enriched in both metals directly emitted by the volcanic plume and transported by acidic gases (SO₂, HCl, HF), and metals leached from the airborne volcanic ash. Feathers show different patterns in the different sites related to the exposure to natural or anthropogenic pollutants. They show abundance ratios similar to rainfall for lithophile elements (Ba, Sr), whereas are enriched in Zn and Se, known for their antioxidant properties, probably as adaptive response to oxidative stress induced by toxic metal exposure. The pigeons revealed a clear heterogeneity of metal uptake in the different parts of the volcano, as an effect of volcanic plume impact. Additionally, some physiological processes can modify the fate of some metals after uptake and this offer some insights for translational studies.

Keywords: bioindicators, environmental pollution, feathers, trace metals, volcanic plume

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Authors: Vesna Pungercar, Florian Musso

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Identifying materials that can substitute rare or expensive natural resources is one of the key challenges for improving resource efficiency in the building sector. With a growing world population and rising living standards, more and more salt is produced as waste through seawater desalination and potash mining processes. Unfortunately, most of the salt is directly disposed of into nature, where it causes environmental pollution. On the other hand, salt is affordable, is used therapeutically in various respiratory treatments, and can store humidity and heat. It was, therefore, necessary to determine salt materials already in use in building construction and their hygrothermal properties. This research aims to identify salt materials from different scientific branches and historically, to investigate their properties and prioritize the most promising salt materials for indoor applications in a thermal envelope. This was realized through literature review and classification of salt materials into three groups (raw salt materials, composite salt materials, and processed salt materials). The outcome of this research shows that salt has already been used as a building material for centuries and has a potential for future applications due to its hygrothermal properties in a thermal envelope.

Keywords: salt, building material, hygrothermal properties, environment

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Authors: Hadis Mahmoodsalehi, Elham Shakoor, Maryam Koushkie Jahromi

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Background and aims: Given the importance of health promotion in elderly and attention to health factors including physical activity and self-image reinforcing, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between exercise attitude and performance with self-image concept in elderly men. Methods: In this descriptive–correlational study, 50 different daily exercise activities of the elderly men living in Iran (mean age: 60.94 years) were selected through simple sampling method. Participants completed a questionnaire regarding exercise attitude and performance and Beck self-image concept. Pearson correlation test was used for analysis of the data. Results: The results showed the significant correlation between optimism and exercise performance (p = 0.012) and exercise attitude (p = 0.005). Conclusion: Findings show that exercise performance and attitude are associated positively with optimism in elderly women. So, increasing exercise or improving attitude toward exercise can lead to improving optimism.

Keywords: elderly, exercise performance and attitude, self-image, descriptive–correlational study

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Authors: Lilian Nantume Wampande

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Group-based strategies in the delivery of HIV care have opened up new avenues not only for meaningful participation for HIV positive people but also platforms for deconstruction and reconstruction of knowledge about living with the virus. Yet the contributions of such strategies among patients who live in high risk areas are still not explored. This case study research assessed the impact of HIV support networks on sexual health outcomes of HIV positive out-of-school adolescents residing in fishing islands of Kalangala in Uganda. The study population was out-of-school adolescents living with HIV and their sexual partners (n=269), members of their households (n=80) and their health service providers (n=15). Data were collected via structured interviews, observations and focus group discussions between August 2016 and March 2017. Data was then analyzed inductively to extract key themes related to the approaches and outcomes of the groups’ activities. The study findings indicate that support groups unite HIV positive adolescents in a bid for social renegotiation to achieve change but individual constraints surpass the groups’ intentions. Some adolescents for example reported increased fear which led to failure to cope, sexual violence, self-harm and denial of status as a result of the high expectations placed on them as members of the support groups. Further investigations around this phenomenon show that HIV networks play a monotonous role as information sources for HIV positive out-of-school adolescents which limit their creativity to seek information elsewhere. Results still indicate that HIV adolescent groups recognize the complexity of long-term treatment and stay in care leading to improved immunity for the majority yet; there is still scattered evidence about how effective they are among adolescents at different phases in the disease trajectory. Nevertheless, the primary focus of developing adolescent self-efficacy and coping skills significantly address a range of disclosure difficulties and supports autonomy. Moreover, the peer techniques utilized in addition to the almost homogeneous group characteristics accelerates positive confidence, hope and belongingness. Adolescent HIV-support groups therefore have the capacity to both improve and/or worsen sexual health outcomes for a young adolescent who is out-of-school. Communication interventions that seek to increase awareness about ‘self’ should therefore be emphasized more than just fostering collective action. Such interventions should be sensitive to context and gender. In addition, facilitative support supervision done by close and trusted health care providers, most preferably Village Health Teams (who are often community elected volunteers) would help to follow-up, mentor, encourage and advise this young adolescent in matters involving sexuality and health outcomes. HIV/AIDS prevention programs have extended their efforts beyond individual focus to those that foster collective action, but programs should rekindle interpersonal level strategies to address the complexity of individual behavior.

Keywords: adolescent, HIV, support groups, Uganda

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Authors: Sidra Jawed

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The accessibility constructs and the body privilege discourse has been a major problem while dealing with health inequities and inaccessibility. The inherent problem in this arbitrary view of disability is that disability would never be the productive way of living. For past thirty years, disability activists have been working to differentiate ‘impairment’ from ‘disability’ and probing for more understanding of limitation imposed by society, this notion is ultimately known as the Social Model of Disability. The vulnerable population as disability community remains marginalized and seen relentlessly fighting to highlight the importance of social factors. It does not only constitute physical architectural barriers and famous blue symbol of access to the healthcare but also invisible, intangible barriers as attitudes and behaviours. Conventionally the idea of ‘disability’ has been laden with prejudiced perception amalgamating with biased attitude. Equity in contemporary setup necessitates the restructuring of organizational structure. Apparently simple, the complex interplay of disability and contemporary healthcare set up often ends up at negotiating vital components of basic healthcare needs. The role of society is indispensable when it comes to people with disability (PWD), everything from the access to healthcare to timely interventions are strongly related to the set up in place and the attitude of healthcare providers. It is vital to understand the association between assumptions and the quality of healthcare PWD receives in our global healthcare setup. Most of time the crucial physician-patient relationship with PWD is governed by the negative assumptions of the physicians. The multifaceted, troubled patient-physicians’ relationship has been neglected in past. To compound it, insufficient work has been done to explore physicians’ perspective about the disability and access to healthcare PWD have currently. This research project is directed towards physicians’ perspective on the intersection of health and access of healthcare for PWD. The principal aim of the study is to explore the perception of disability in family medicine physicians, highlighting the underpinning of medical perspective in healthcare institution. In the quest of removing barriers, the first step must be to identify the barriers and formulate a plan for future policies, involving all the stakeholders. There would be semi-structured interviews to explore themes as accessibility, medical training, construct of social model and medical model of disability, time limitations, financial constraints. The main research interest is to identify the obstacles to inclusion and marginalization continuing from the basic living necessities to wide health inequity in present society. Physicians point of view is largely missing from the research landscape and the current forum of knowledge with regards to physicians’ standpoint. This research will provide policy makers with a starting point and comprehensive background knowledge that can be a stepping stone for future researches and furthering the knowledge translation process to strengthen healthcare. Additionally, it would facilitate the process of knowledge translation between the much needed medical and disability community.

Keywords: disability, physicians, social model, accessibility

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Authors: Marie Oslène Honorat

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Porto Belo is a neighborhood in the city of Foz do Iguaçu / PR, located in the Vila C region of Brazil. It is a project that addresses the question of the dirt generated by the neighborhood community about how they dispose and recycle domestic waste. This project aimed at raising awareness among residents, on how important it is to preserve the environment and take care, especially of the space in which we are located. Living this way manages to minimize the exploitation of natural resources, soil and water pollution. After collecting information about what one saw, we questioned some people in the neighborhood to find out about selective collection, recycling, and the separation and final destination of garbage. From the study, it was possible to verify the importance of placing more trash cans on neighborhood streets, where garbage is discarded, and the importance of promoting environmental education to improve the environment and quality of life. The methodology used in this research was a qualitative methodology that seeks the principle of transforming reality through investigation.

Keywords: awareness, recycling, selective collection, waste disposal

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Authors: O. J. Akinsola, Yinan Zheng, Rose Anorlu, F. T. Ogunsola, Lifang Hou, Robert Leo-Murphy

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Cervical Cancer (CC) is the 2nd most common cancer among women living in low and middle-income countries, with no associated symptoms during formative periods. With the advancement and innovative medical research, there are numerous preventive measures being utilized, but the incidence of cervical cancer cannot be truncated with the application of only screening tests. The mortality associated with this invasive cervical cancer can be nipped in the bud through the important role of early-stage detection. This study research selected an array of different top features selection techniques which was aimed at developing a model that could validly diagnose the risk factors of cervical cancer. A retrospective clinic-based cohort study was conducted on 178 HIV-associated cervical cancer patients in Lagos University teaching Hospital, Nigeria (U54 data repository) in April 2022. The outcome measure was the automated prediction of the HIV-associated cervical cancer cases, while the predictor variables include: demographic information, reproductive history, birth control, sexual history, cervical cancer screening history for invasive cervical cancer. The proposed technique was assessed with R and Python programming software to produce the model by utilizing the classification algorithms for the detection and diagnosis of cervical cancer disease. Four machine learning classification algorithms used are: the machine learning model was split into training and testing dataset into ratio 80:20. The numerical features were also standardized while hyperparameter tuning was carried out on the machine learning to train and test the data. Logistic Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN). Some fitting features were selected for the detection and diagnosis of cervical cancer diseases from selected characteristics in the dataset using the contribution of various selection methods for the classification cervical cancer into healthy or diseased status. The mean age of patients was 49.7±12.1 years, mean age at pregnancy was 23.3±5.5 years, mean age at first sexual experience was 19.4±3.2 years, while the mean BMI was 27.1±5.6 kg/m2. A larger percentage of the patients are Married (62.9%), while most of them have at least two sexual partners (72.5%). Age of patients (OR=1.065, p<0.001**), marital status (OR=0.375, p=0.011**), number of pregnancy live-births (OR=1.317, p=0.007**), and use of birth control pills (OR=0.291, p=0.015**) were found to be significantly associated with HIV-associated cervical cancer. On top ten 10 features (variables) considered in the analysis, RF claims the overall model performance, which include: accuracy of (72.0%), the precision of (84.6%), a recall of (84.6%) and F1-score of (74.0%) while LR has: an accuracy of (74.0%), precision of (70.0%), recall of (70.0%) and F1-score of (70.0%). The RF model identified 10 features predictive of developing cervical cancer. The age of patients was considered as the most important risk factor, followed by the number of pregnancy livebirths, marital status, and use of birth control pills, The study shows that data mining techniques could be used to identify women living with HIV at high risk of developing cervical cancer in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries.

Keywords: associated cervical cancer, data mining, random forest, logistic regression

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Authors: Bassam Istanbouli

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Organizations are living in a very competitive and dynamic environment which is constantly changing. In order to achieve a high level of service, the products and processes of these organizations need to be flexible and evolvable. If the supply chains are not modular and well designed, changes can bring combinatorial effects to most areas of a company from its management, financial, documentation, logistics and its information structure. Applying the normalized system’s concept to segments of the supply chain may help in reducing those ripple effects, but it may also increase lead times. Lead times are important and can become a decisive element in gaining customers. Industries are always under the pressure in providing good quality products, at competitive prices, when and how the customer wants them. Most of the time, the customers want their orders now, if not yesterday. The above concept will be proven by examining lead times in a manufacturing example before and after applying normalized systems concept to that segment of the chain. We will then show that although we can minimize the combinatorial effects when changes occur, the lead times will be increased.

Keywords: supply chain, lead time, normalization, modular

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Authors: Alex Lundy

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As the suburban landscape has evolved over time, it has been slowly stripped down to the absolute bare essentials of housing. This has resulted in the loss of core elements of the built environment which previously supported community no longer being present in most neighborhoods. As a result, this work will explore how current and past designers have successfully introduced these concepts in similar settings, in an effort to re-implement them into the contemporary subdivision. Ultimately, this will result in a reimagining suburban design through elements like identity, adaptability, place, and social spaces to improve community interaction and cohesion. Overall, this thesis asserts that contemporary subdivisions don’t support the growing need for community in daily life and should be improved through the implementation of historical neighborhood design and select modern urban concepts to better suit living needs.

Keywords: suburbia, community, social connection, identity, adaptability, neighborhood, place, unity, leasure, social ties, third place, learning from history

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Authors: Usman Khan

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The article discusses mass migration, which has been a problem throughout history. People moved for a variety of reasons, including better job opportunities, prosperous, healthy lifestyles, and other basic needs. This research focuses on the issues and challenges that immigrants face when they arrive at their destination countries especially Saudi Arab. Among these issues are the Kapala system, irregular salaries, living conditions, document seizure, and so on. The primary data sources for this qualitative anthropological study include in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). The research was carried out in the villages of Zulam and Shagokas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dir Lower District. The article concludes by stating that the agents and employers treated labor migrants/workers inhumanely. Throughout the process, they have been subjected to severe exploitation and suffering. Finally, the migrants sent back remittances that aided the region's economic and infrastructure development.

Keywords: Migration, Exploitation, labour, Middle East, Kafala and Tanazol System.

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Authors: Maureen Kamau, Gulnaz Mohamoud, Adelaide Lusambili, Njeri Nyanja

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Life expectancy has increased over the last century amongst older individuals, and in particular, those 60 years and over. The World Health Organization estimates that the world's population of persons over 60 years will rise to 22 per cent by the year 2050. Ageing is associated with increasing disability, multiple chronic conditions, and an increase in the use of health services. These multiple chronic conditions are managed with polypharmacy. Polypharmacy has numerous adverse effects including non-adherence, poor compliance to the various medications, reduced appetite, and risk of fall. Studies on polypharmacy and ageing are few and poorly understood especially in low and middle - income countries. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of older people towards polypharmacy. A qualitative study of 15 patients aged 60 years and above, taking more than five medications per day were conducted at the Aga Khan University using Semi-structured in-depth interviews. Three interviews were pilot interviews, and data analysis was performed on 12 interviews. Data were analyzed using NVIVO 12 software. A thematic qualitative analysis was carried out guided by Braun and Clarke (2006) framework. Themes identified; - knowledge of their co-morbidities and of the medication that older persons take, sources of information about medicines, and storage of the medication, experiences and attitudes of older patients towards polypharmacy both positive and negative, older peoples beliefs and their coping mechanisms with polypharmacy. The study participants had good knowledge on their multiple co-morbidities, and on the medication they took. The patients had positive attitudes towards medication as it enhanced their health and well-being, and enabled them to perform their activities of daily living. There was a strong belief among older patients that the medications were necessary for their health. All these factors enhanced compliance to the multiple medication. However, some older patients had negative attitudes due to the pill burden, side effects of the medication, and stigma associated with being ill. Cost of healthcare was a concern, with most of the patients interviewed relying on insurance to cover the cost of their medication. Older patients had accepted that the medication they were prescribed were necessary for their health, as it enabled them to complete their activities of daily living. Some concerns about the side effects of the medication arose, and brought about the need for patient education that would ensure that the patients are aware of the medications they take, and potential side effects. The effect that the COVID 19 pandemic had in the healthcare of the older patients was evident by the number of the older patients avoided coming to the hospital during the period of the pandemic. The relationship with the primary care physician and the older patients is an important one, especially in LMICs such as Kenya, as many of the older patients trusted the doctors wholeheartedly to make the best decision about their health and about their medication. Prescription review is important to avoid the use of potentially inappropriate medication.

Keywords: polypharmacy, older patients, multiple chronic conditions, Kenya, Africa, qualitative study, indepth interviews, primary care

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Authors: L. Bikulciene, E. Venskaityte, G. Jarusevicius

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Non-stationary and nonlinear signals generated by living complex systems defy traditional mechanistic approaches, which are based on homeostasis. Previous our studies have shown that the evaluation of the interactions of physiological signals by using special analysis methods is suitable for observation of physiological processes. It is demonstrated the possibility of using deep physiological model, based interpretation of the changes of the human body’s functional states combined with an application of the analytical method based on matrix theory for the physiological signals analysis, which was applied on high risk cardiac patients. It is shown that evaluation of cardiac signals interactions show peculiar for each individual functional changes at the onset of hemodynamic restoration procedure. Therefore we suggest that the alterations of functional state of the body, after patients overcome surgery can be complemented by the data received from the suggested approach of the evaluation of functional variables interactions.

Keywords: cardiac diseases, complex systems theory, ECG analysis, matrix analysis

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Authors: D. Pinto, L. Castro, M. L. Cruzat, S. Barros, J. Gironás, C. Oberli, M. Torres, C. Escauriaza, A. Cipriano

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Flash floods, together with landslides, are a common natural threat for people living in mountainous regions and foothills. One way to deal with this constant menace is the use of Early Warning Systems, which have become a very important mitigation strategy for natural disasters. In this work, we present our proposal for a pilot Flash Flood Early Warning System for Santiago, Chile, the first stage of a more ambitious project that in a future stage shall also include early warning of landslides. To give a context for our approach, we first analyze three existing Flash Flood Early Warning Systems, focusing on their general architectures. We then present our proposed system, with main focus on the decision support system, a system that integrates empirical models and fuzzy expert systems to achieve reliable risk estimations.

Keywords: decision support systems, early warning systems, flash flood, natural hazard

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Authors: Chengyuan Zhu, Zhu Wang

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With the strategy of Rural Rejuvenation proposed in China, the rural has become the focus of all works today. In addition to the support of industry and policy, the rural planning and construction which is the space dependence of Rural Rejuvenation are also very crucial. Based on an analysis of the case of Yangdun Village in Deqing County, this paper summarizes village existing resources and construction status quo. It tries to illuminate the micro-activated organic renewal strategies and methods, based on ecological landscape, history context, industry development and living life requirements. It takes advantage of industrial linkage and then asks for the coordination of both spatial and industrial planning, the revival and remodeling of the rural image can be achieved through shaping the of architectural and landscape nodes as well as the activation of street space.

Keywords: rural construction, rural human settlements, micro-activation, organic renewal

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Authors: Prosper Kudzanai Mushauri

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In issues of anomalous experiences commonly referred to as madness or mental illness, attempts have been made to deal with it so that people manage to live their lives in a more functional way. It is in this stance that psychiatry has sort of portraying itself as seeking to ameliorate perturbations which individuals live with via nosological systems and use of medicine to anomalous experiences. It is from this hegemony that has led to the untold harm which people living with madness have endured from antique to contemporary life. The paper reflects via a literature review on the history of psychiatry and argues that it is akin to contemporary psychiatry to be involved in iatrogenic acts. As antique psychiatry meddled with gory issues of inhumanity, deceit and mass murders which some of those the contemporary psychiatry has not weaned itself from such diabolical acts. The objective of the paper is to suggest to psychiatry that it has not comported to the mores of psychological ethics. In doing this, the paper hopes that psychiatry will reflect and reform its curricular and praxis so that it comports to ethical standards in psychological science in ameliorating anomalous experiences.

Keywords: nosology, psychiatry, madness, diagnosis, eugenics

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Authors: JingWei Yu, Hong Yang Yu

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At present, the increasingly serious air pollution in various cities of China has made people pay more attention to the air quality index(hereinafter referred to as AQI) of their living areas. To face this situation, it is of great significance to predict air pollution in heavily polluted areas. In this paper, based on the time series model of LSTM, a spatiotemporal prediction model of PM2.5 concentration in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, is established. The model fully considers the temporal variability and spatial distribution characteristics of PM2.5 concentration. The spatial correlation of air quality at different locations is based on the Air quality status of other nearby monitoring stations, including AQI and meteorological data to predict the air quality of a monitoring station. The experimental results show that the method has good prediction accuracy that the fitting degree with the actual measured data reaches more than 0.7, which can be applied to the modeling and prediction of the spatial and temporal distribution of regional PM2.5 concentration.

Keywords: LSTM, PM2.5, neural networks, spatio-temporal prediction

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Authors: Nabin Prasad Joshi, Samiksha Neupane

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Since its emergence in December 2019, Corona Virus disease has impacted several countries, affecting many people. The first cases were recorded in Wuhan, China, between December 2019 and January 2020. Italy is one of the affected countries in Europe. The relations between India and Nepal have reverted to the pre-pandemic period as both countries have open borders. The study focused on the overall psychosocial impact among covid-19 survivors in their life what are the changes they are facing after covid also how are their relations with friends and relatives after they have covid in different municipalities of Kathmandu valley, where people from different regions are living in rent and have their own houses. Support from friends and family during a pandemic can prevent it if it is strong enough. Nonetheless, there were risk factors for psychosocial damage, including a lack of or insufficient family and social support, psychiatric assistance, and inadequate insurance or compensation. Poorer mental health outcomes were inversely correlated with social rejection or isolation.

Keywords: stress, anxiety, depression, Kathmandu

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Authors: Panida Jongsuksomsakul

Abstract:

This study of the ‘happiness’ and ‘sustainability’ in the community of Donkeaw, Amphoe Mae Rim, Chiang Mai Province during the non-election period in Thailand, noted that their happiness levels are in the middle-average range. This was found using a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative methods (N = 386, α = 0.05). The study explores indicators for six aspects of well-being and happiness, including, good local governance, administrative support for the health system that maintains people’s mental and physical health, environment and weather, job security and a regular income aids them in managing a sustainable lifestyle. The impact of economic security and community relationships on social and cultural capital, and the way these aspects impact on the life style of the community, affects the sustainable well-being of people. Moreover, living with transparency and participatory communication led to diverse rewards in many areas.

Keywords: communication, happiness, well-being, Donkeaw community, social and cultural capital

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Authors: Luísa P. Cruz-Lopes, Artur Figueirinha, Isabel Brás, Bruno Esteves

Abstract:

Portugal is an important wine and olive oil producer, activities which generate a high quantity of residues commonly called grape stalks and olive cake, respectively. In this work grape stalks and olive cake were used as lignocellulosic adsorbents for wastewater containing lead treatment. To attain a better knowledge of the factors that could influence the quality of the treated wastewater, a chemical characterization of the materials used in the treatment was done. To access the ecotoxicological safety of the treated wastewater, several tests were performed. The results of the toxicity test show that the samples leachate has a mild effect on the living models tested. The tests performed in lemna and bacteria were the most sensible to toxicity effects of the samples. The results obtained in this work evidenced the importance of use of simple and fast toxicity tests to predict impacts in the environment.

Keywords: chemical composition, lignocellulosic residues, ecotoxicological safety, wastewater

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Authors: Rakesh Namdeti

Abstract:

The liquid waste-wastewater- is essentially the water supply of the community after it has been used in a variety of applications. In recent years, heavy metal concentrations, besides other pollutants, have increased to reach dangerous levels for the living environment in many regions. Among the heavy metals, Lead has the most damaging effects on human health. It can enter the human body through the uptake of food (65%), water (20%), and air (15%). In this background, certain low-cost and easily available biosorbent was used and reported in this study. The scope of the present study is to remove Lead from its aqueous solution using Olea EuropaeaResin as biosorbent. The results showed that the biosorption capacity of Olea EuropaeaResin biosorbent was more for Lead removal. The Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models were used to describe the biosorption equilibrium of Lead Olea EuropaeaResin biosorbent, and the biosorption followed the Langmuir isotherm. The kinetic models showed that the pseudo-second-order rate expression was found to represent well the biosorption data for the biosorbent.

Keywords: novel biosorbent, central composite design, Lead, isotherms, kinetics

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Authors: Nhi Phuoc Thuc Le

Abstract:

Cross-cultural adaptability —one’s readiness to interact with people who are different from oneself or to adapt to living in another culture— is essential to the well-being and experience of international students. This research was set out to find the correlation between certain personality traits of international students and their likelihood to adapt to the U.S., the host culture. The study used Qualtrics, an online survey, to investigate the relationships between international students’ social self-efficacy, ego-resiliency, cultural intelligence, Big Five personality traits and cross-cultural adaptability (sociocultural and psychological adaptability). The data were analysed with the software SPSS. The findings of this quantitative study show that high scores in ego-resiliency, social self-efficacy, cultural intelligence and personality traits (including extraversion, agreeableness, intellect and conscientiousness) are correlated with better cross-cultural adaptation. Meanwhile, the Big-Five trait neuroticism is correlated with lower cross-cultural adaptability. Such insight is suggested to help international students be better prepared for an immersion into the US culture.

Keywords: Big Five, cross-cultural adaptability, cultural intelligence, ego-resiliency, international students, personality, self-efficacy

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Authors: Naphaporn Sapsopha

Abstract:

Aging population has been growing rapidly in Thailand due to several factors – namely, the declining size of the average Thai family, changing family structure, higher survival rates of women, and job migration patterns – there are fewer working-age citizens who are able to care for and support their aging family members. When a family can no longer provide for their elders, the responsibility shifts to the government. Many non-profit institutional care facilities for older adults have already been established, but having such institutions are not enough. In addition to the provisions that a reliable shelter can provide, older adults also need efficient social services, physical wellness, and mental health, all of which are crucial for successful aging. Yet, to date, there is no consensus or a well-accepted definition of what constitutes successful aging. The issue is further complicated by cultural expectations, and the gendered experience of the older adults. These issues need to be better understood to promote effective care and wellness. This qualitative research investigates the relationship between institutional care and successful aging among the institutionalized Thai older adults at a non-profit facility in Bangkok, Thailand. Specifically, it examines: a) How do institutionalized older adults define successful aging?, b) What factors do they believe contribute to successful aging?, and c) Do their beliefs vary by gender? Data was collected using a phenomenological research approach that included focus groups and in-depth interviews using open-ended questions, conducted on 10 institutionalized older adults (5 men and 5 women) ages 60 or over. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using grounded theory methodology. The participants aged between 70-91 years old, and they varied in terms of gender, education, occupation, and life background. The results revealed that Thai institutionalized older adults viewed successful aging as a result of multiple interrelated factors: maintaining physical health, good mental and cognitive abilities. Remarkably, the participants identified as successful aging include independence for self-care and financial support, adhering to moral principles and religious practice, seeing the success of their loved ones, and making social contributions to their community. In addition, three primary themes were identified as a coping strategy to age successfully: self-acceptance by being sufficient and satisfied with all aspects of life, preparedness and adaptation for every stage of life, and self-esteem by maintaining their self. These beliefs are shared across gender and age differences. However, participants highlighted the importance of the interrelationship among these attributes similar to the need for a secure environment, the thoughtfulness and social support of institutional care in order to maintain positive attitude and well-being. With highly increased Thai aging population, many of these older adults will find themselves living in the institutional care; therefore, it is important to intensively understand how older adults viewed successful aging, what constituted successful aging and what could be done to promote it. Interventions to enhance successful aging may include meaningful practice and along with an effective coping strategy in order to lead a better quality of life those living in institutional care.

Keywords: institutional care, older adults, self-acceptant, successful aging

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Authors: Belakhdar Salah Brahim

Abstract:

The Urban management is a major element of social control of public space and thus the functioning of society. As such, it is a key element of a social conception of sustainable development. Also, it is a cross-cutting sector that relies on land management, infrastructure management, habitat management, management of social services, the management of economic development, etc. This study aims to study how urban management focusing on the study of problems related to urban waste management in developing countries. It appears from the study that the city management is to improve infrastructure and urban services in order to increase the city's development and improve living conditions in cities. It covers various aspects including management of urban space, economic management, administrative management, asset management or infrastructure and finally waste management. Environmental management is important because it solves the pollution problems of life and preserve resources for future generations. Changing perceptions of waste has led to the definition of new policies for integrated waste management requirements appropriate to the urban site.

Keywords: urbanization, urban management, environmental management, waste management

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