Search results for: full scale tests

Authors: Muhammad Asim

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, contraceptive use, South Asia, women autonomy

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Authors: Ann P. Daunic, Nancy Corbett

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Background and Significance: Researchers emphasize the role that motivation, self-esteem, and self-regulation play in children’s early adjustment to the school culture, including skills such as identifying their own feelings and understanding the feelings of others. As social-emotional growth, academic learning, and successful integration within culture and society are inextricably connected, the Social-Emotional Learning Foundations (SELF) curriculum was designed to integrate social-emotional learning (SEL) instruction within early literacy instruction (specifically, reading) for Kindergarten and first-grade students at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties. Storybook reading is a typically occurring activity in the primary grades; thus SELF provides an intervention that is both theoretically and practically sound. Methodology: The researchers will report on findings from the first two years of a three-year study funded by the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to evaluate the effects of the SELF curriculum versus “business as usual” (BAU). SELF promotes the development of self-regulation by incorporating instructional strategies that support children’s use of SEL related vocabulary, self-talk, and critical thinking. The curriculum consists of a carefully coordinated set of materials and pedagogy designed specifically for primary grade children at early risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties. SELF lessons (approximately 50 at each grade level) are organized around 17 SEL topics within five critical competencies. SELF combines whole-group (the first in each topic) and small-group lessons (the 2nd and 3rd in each topic) to maximize opportunities for teacher modeling and language interactions. The researchers hypothesize that SELF offers a feasible and substantial opportunity within the classroom setting to provide a small-group social-emotional learning intervention integrated with K-1 literacy-related instruction. Participating target students (N = 876) were identified by their teachers as potentially at risk for emotional or behavioral issues. These students were selected from 122 Kindergarten and 100 first grade classrooms across diverse school districts in a southern state in the US. To measure the effectiveness of the SELF intervention, the researchers asked teachers to complete assessments related to social-emotional learning and adjustment to the school culture. A social-emotional learning related vocabulary assessment was administered directly to target students receiving small-group instruction. Data were analyzed using a 3-level MANOVA model with full information maximum likelihood to estimate coefficients and test hypotheses. Major Findings: SELF had significant positive effects on vocabulary, knowledge, and skills associated with social-emotional competencies, as evidenced by results from the measures administered. Effect sizes ranged from 0.41 for group (SELF vs. BAU) differences in vocabulary development to 0.68 for group differences in SEL related knowledge. Conclusion: Findings from two years of data collection indicate that SELF improved outcomes related to social-emotional learning and adjustment to the school culture. This study thus supports the integration of SEL with literacy instruction as a feasible and effective strategy to improve outcomes for K-1 students at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Keywords: Socio-cultural context for learning, social-emotional learning, social skills, vocabulary development

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Authors: Mohammad Abu-Taleb

Abstract:

The final report of the Royal Commission into Australian financial services misconduct, released in February 2019, has had a significant impact on the financial advice industry. The recommendations released in the Commissioner’s final report include changes to ongoing fee arrangements, a new disciplinary system for financial advisers, and mandatory reporting of compliance concerns. This thesis aims to explore the impact of the Royal Commission’s recommendations on the operating model of financial advice firms in terms of advice products, processes, delivery models, and customer segments. Also, this research seeks to investigate whether the Royal Commission’s outcome has accelerated the use of enhanced technology solutions within the operating model of financial advice firms. And to identify the key challenges confronting financial advice firms whilst implementing the Commissioner’s recommendations across their operating models. In order to achieve the objectives of this thesis, a qualitative research design has been adopted through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 24 financial advisers and managers who are engaged in the operation of financial advice services. The study used the thematic analysis approach to interpret the qualitative data collected from the interviews. The findings of this thesis reveal that customer-centric operating models will become more prominent across the financial advice industry in response to the Commissioner’s final report. And the Royal Commission’s outcome has accelerated the use of advice technology solutions within the operating model of financial advice firms. In addition, financial advice firms have started more than before using simpler and more automated web-based advice services, which enable financial advisers to provide simple advice in a greater scale, and also to accelerate the use of robo-advice models and digital delivery to mass customers in the long term. Furthermore, the study identifies process and technology changes as, long with technical and interpersonal skills development, as the key challenges encountered financial advice firms whilst implementing the Commissioner’s recommendations across their operating models.

Keywords: hayne royal commission, financial planning advice, operating model, advice products, advice processes, delivery models, customer segments, digital advice solutions

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Authors: Engy Shokry, Giancarlo La Marca, Maria Luisa Della Bona

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Newborn screening for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) relies on quantification of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone using enzyme immunoassays. These assays, in spite of being rapid, readily available and easy to perform, its reliability was found questionable due to lack of selectivity and specificity resulting in large number of false-positives, consequently family anxiety and associated hospitalization costs. To improve specificity of conventional 17α-hydroxyprogesterone screening which may experience false transient elevation in preterm, low birth weight or acutely ill neonates, steroid profiling by LC-MS/MS as a second-tier test was implemented. Unlike the previously applied LC-MS/MS methods, with the disadvantage of requiring a relatively high number of blood drops. Since newborn screening tests are increasing, it is necessary to minimize the sample volume requirement to make the maximum use of blood samples collected on filter paper. The proposed new method requires just one 3.2 mm dried blood spot (DBS) punch. Extraction was done using methanol: water: formic acid (90:10:0.1, v/v/v) containing deuterium labelled internal standards. Extracts were evaporated and reconstituted in 10 % acetone in water. Column switching strategy for on-line sample clean-up was applied to improve the chromatographic run. The first separative step retained the investigated steroids and passed through the majority of high molecular weight impurities. After the valve switching, the investigated steroids are back flushed from the POROS® column onto the analytical column and separated using gradient elution. Found quantitation limits were 5, 10 and 50 nmol/L for 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione and cortisol respectively with mean recoveries of between 98.31-103.24 % and intra-/ inter-assay CV% < 10 % except at LLOQ. The method was validated using standard addition calibration and isotope dilution strategies. Reference ranges were determined by analysing samples from 896 infants of various ages at the time of sample collection. The method was also applied on patients with confirmed CAH. Our method represents an attractive combination of low sample volume requirement, minimal sample preparation time without derivatization and quick chromatography (5 min). The three steroid profile and the concentration ratios (17OHP + androstenedione/cortisol) allowed better screening outcomes of CAH reducing false positives, associated costs and anxiety.

Keywords: congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, cortisol, LC-MS/MS

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Authors: Silvia Miele, Patrice Rusconi, Harriet Tenenbaum

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An increasingly multi-ethnic Europe has been pushing citizens’ boundaries on who should be entitled and to what extent to practise their own diversity. Indeed, according to a Standard Eurobarometer survey conducted in 2017, immigration is seen by Europeans as the most serious issue facing the EU, and a third of respondents reported they do not feel comfortable interacting with migrants from outside the EU. Many of these come from Muslim countries, accounting for 4.9% of Europe population in 2016. However, the figure is projected to rise up to 14% by 2050. Additionally, political debates have increasingly focused on Muslim immigrants, who are frequently portrayed as difficult to integrate, while nationalist parties across Europe have fostered the idea of insuperable cultural differences, creating an atmosphere of hostility. Using a 3 X 3 X 2 between-subjects design, it was investigated how people reason about endorsing religious and non-religious rights to minorities. An online survey has been administered to university students of three different countries (Italy, Spain and the UK) via Qualtrics, presenting hypothetical scenarios through a vignette methodology. Each respondent has been randomly allocated to one of the three following conditions: Christian, Muslim or non-religious (vegan) target. Each condition entailed three questions about children self-determination rights to exercise some control over their own lives and 3 questions about children nurturance rights of care and protection. Moreover, participants have been required to further elaborate on their answers via free-text entries and have been asked about their contact and quality of contact with the three targets, and to self-report religious, national and ethnic identification. Answers have been recorded on a Likert scale of 1-5, 1 being "not at all", 5 being "very much". A two-way ANCOVA will be used to analyse answers to closed-ended questions, while free-text answers will be coded and data will be dichotomised based on Social Cognitive Domain Theory for four categories: moral, social conventional and psychological reasons, and analysed via ANCOVAs. This study’s findings aim to contribute to the implementation of educational interventions and speak to the introduction of governmental policies on human rights.

Keywords: children's rights, Europe, migration, minority

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Authors: Joseph Dodson, Robert Roth, Alexander Hodakowski, Leah Greenfield, Melissa Porterhouse, Natalie Maltby, Rachel Sadowsky

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Introduction: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, countless research publications were released regarding SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, suggested treatments, and vaccine safety and efficacy. Daily publication of research became overwhelming for health professionals and the general public to stay informed. To address this problem, a group of 70 students across the four colleges at Rush University created the “Rush University COVID-19 Journal Club.” To broaden the available audience, the journal club then expanded to social media. Methods: Easily accessible and understandable summaries of the research were written by students and sent to faculty sponsors for feedback. Following the revision, summaries were published weekly on the Rush University COVID-19 Journal Club website for clinicians and students to use for reference. An Instagram page was then created, and information was further condensed into succinct posts to address COVID-19 “FAQs.” Next, a survey was distributed to followers of the Instagram page with questions meant to assess the effectiveness of the platform and gain feedback. A 5-point Likert scale was used as the primary question format. Results: The Instagram page accrued 749 followers and posted 52 unique posts over a 2 year period. Preliminary results from the surveys demonstrate that over 80% of respondents strongly agree that the Instagram posts 1) are an effective platform for the public presentation of factual COVID-19-related information; 2) provide relevant and valuable information; 3) provide information that is clear, concise, and can be easily understood. Conclusion: These results suggest that the Rush COVID-19 Journal Club was able to successfully create a social media presence and convey information without sacrificing scholarly integrity. Other academic institutions may benefit from the application of this model to help students and clinicians with the interpretation and evaluation of research topics with large bodies of evidence.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, public health, social media, SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, SARS-CoV-2 variants

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Authors: Mahshid Arabi

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With the rapid expansion of digital technologies and the internet, information security has become a critical priority for organizations and individuals. The widespread use of digital tools such as smartphones and internet networks facilitates the storage of vast amounts of data, but simultaneously, vulnerabilities and security threats have significantly increased. The aim of this study is to examine and analyze modern methods of information security management and to develop a comprehensive model to counteract threats and information misuse. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, including both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Initially, a systematic review of previous articles and research in the field of information security was conducted. Then, using the Delphi method, interviews with 30 information security experts were conducted to gather their insights on security challenges and solutions. Based on the results of these interviews, a comprehensive model for information security management was developed. The proposed model includes advanced encryption techniques, machine learning-based intrusion detection systems, and network security protocols. AES and RSA encryption algorithms were used for data protection, and machine learning models such as Random Forest and Neural Networks were utilized for intrusion detection. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model, T-Test and ANOVA statistical tests were employed, and results were measured using accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity indicators of the models. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the impact of various variables on information security. The findings of this study indicate that the comprehensive proposed model reduced cyber-attacks by an average of 85%. Statistical analysis showed that the combined use of encryption techniques and intrusion detection systems significantly improves information security. Based on the obtained results, it is recommended that organizations continuously update their information security systems and use a combination of multiple security methods to protect their data. Additionally, educating employees and raising public awareness about information security can serve as an effective tool in reducing security risks. This research demonstrates that effective and up-to-date information security management requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach, including the development and implementation of advanced techniques and continuous training of human resources.

Keywords: data protection, digital technologies, information security, modern management

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Authors: Zafer Sakka, Husain Al-Khaiat

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Due to social and economic considerations, owners all over the world desire to keep and use existing structures, including aging ones. However, these structures, especially those that are dear, need accurate condition assessment, and proper safety evaluation. More than half of the budget spent on construction activities in developed countries is related to the repair and maintenance of these reinforced concrete (R/C) structures. Also, periodical evaluation and assessment of relatively old concrete structures are vital and imperative. If the evaluation and assessment of structural components of a particular aging R/C structure reveal that repairs are essential for these components, these repairs should not be delayed. Delaying the repairs has the potential of losing serviceability of the whole structure and/or causing total failure and collapse of the structure. In addition, if repairs are delayed, the cost of maintenance will skyrocket as well. It can also be concluded from the above that the assessment of existing needs to receive more consideration and thought from the structural engineering societies and professionals. Ten major existing structures in Kuwait city that were constructed in the 1970s were assessed for structural reliability and integrity. Numerous concrete samples were extracted from the structural systems of the investigated buildings. This paper presents the results of the compressive strength tests that were conducted on the extracted cores. The results are compared for the buildings’ columns and beams elements and compared with the design strengths. The collected data were statistically analyzed. The average compressive strengths of the concrete cores that were extracted from the ten buildings had a large variation. The lowest average compressive strength for one of the buildings was 158 kg/cm². This building was deemed unsafe and economically unfeasible to be repaired; accordingly, it was demolished. The other buildings had an average compressive strengths fall in the range 215-317 kg/cm². Poor construction practices were the main cause for the strengths. Although most of the drawings and information for these buildings were lost during the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, however, information gathered indicated that the design strengths of the beams and columns for most of these buildings were in the range of 280-400 kg/cm². Following the study, measures were taken to rehabilitate the buildings for safety. The mean compressive strength for all cores taken from beams and columns of the ten buildings was 256.7 kg/cm². The values range was 139 to 394 kg/cm². For columns, the mean was 250.4 kg/cm², and the values ranged from 137 to 394 kg/cm². However, the mean compressive strength for the beams was higher than that of columns. It was 285.9 kg/cm², and the range was 181 to 383 kg/cm². In addition to the concrete cores that were extracted from the ten buildings, the 28-day compressive strengths of more than 24,660 concrete cubes were collected from a major ready-mixed concrete supplier in Kuwait. The data represented four different grades of ready-mix concrete (250, 300, 350, and 400 kg/cm²) manufactured between the year 2003 and 2018. The average concrete compressive strength for the different concrete grades (250, 300, 350 and 400 kg/cm²) was found to be 318, 382, 453 and 504 kg/cm², respectively, and the coefficients of variations were found to be 0.138, 0.140, 0.157 and 0.131, respectively.

Keywords: concrete compressive strength, concrete structures, existing building, statistical analysis.

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Authors: A. Y. Purnama, N. Yasufuku

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The bridge structure is a building that has to be maintained, especially for the elastomeric bearing. The girder of the bridge needs to be lifted upward to maintain this elastomeric bearing, that needs high cost. Nowadays, integral abutment bridges are becoming popular. The integral abutment bridge is less costly because the elastomeric bearings are eliminated, which reduces the construction cost and maintenance costs. However, when this elastomeric bearing removed, the girder movement due to environmental thermal forces directly support by pile foundation, and it needs to be considered in the design. In case of pile foundation in a stiff soil, in the top area of the pile cannot move freely due to the fixed condition by soil stiffness. Pre-bored pile system can be used to increase the flexibility of pile foundation using a pre-bored hole that filled with elastic materials, but the behavior of soil-pile interaction and soil response due to this system is still rarely explained. In this paper, an experimental study using small-scale laboratory model test conducted in a half size model. Single flexible pile model embedded in sandy soil with the pre-bored ring, which filled with the filler material. The testing box made from an acrylic glass panel as observation area of the pile shaft to monitor the displacement of the pile during the lateral loading. The failure behavior of the soil inside the pre-bored ring and around the pile shaft was investigated to determine the point of pile rotation and the movement of this point due to the pre-bored ring system along the pile shaft. Digital images were used to capture the deformations of the soil and pile foundation during the loading from the acrylic glass on the side of the testing box. The results were presented in the form of lateral load resistance charts against the pile shaft displacement. The failure pattern result also established due to the cyclic lateral loading. The movement of the rotational point was measured due to the pre-bored system filled with appropriate filler material. Based on the findings, design considerations for pre-bored pile system due to cyclic lateral loading can be introduced.

Keywords: failure behavior, pre-bored pile system, cyclic lateral loading, sandy soil

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Authors: Mengistu Tulu Balcha, Endale Gadisa Motuma

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The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of leadership styles on employees’ organizational commitments in Ambo Woreda public organizations. The study was guided by a Descriptive survey and correlation research design of the quantitative method. By using simple random sampling techniques, 80 participants of employees and by purposive sampling technique, 32 leaders were involved in research from five purposely selected Woreda public organizations without a non-response rate. Two separate instruments adopted from previous studies, namely the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), which has 36 items and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), which has 12 items, were used as a data instrument tool. These items were rated by using a five-point Likert-scale. The survey data was processed by using an SPSS (version 27). Descriptive statistics to calculate mean and standard deviations of leaders’ and employees’ responses to leadership styles dominantly practiced in order to determine their perceptions, MLQ of leaders’ and employees’ responses (independent sample), and multiple linear regressions were used to calculate the effect of leadership styles on organizational commitment. The findings of the study show that the leadership style dominantly practiced in Ambo Woreda public organizations was more transactional than transformational and followed by laissez-faire. The level of EOC was ranked as continuance commitment and had the highest mean score, followed by normative commitment and then affective commitment. There is a strong, positive and significant relationship between leadership style dimensions and employees’ organizational commitment. Leadership styles were found statistically significant to predict employee commitment and there was a significant linear relationship between independent variables and dependent variables. Out of the three leadership variables, the transactional leadership style has the highest contribution, followed by the transformational leadership style, whereas the laissez-faire leadership style has the least contribution in predicting employees’ organizational commitment. Finally, the researcher forwarded possible recommendations for Ambo Woreda public organizational leaders and employees to work on improving leadership styles and employees’ commitment collaboratively.

Keywords: organizations, employee, relations, commitments, style

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Authors: Emmanuelle Merat, Arnaud Aubert, Sophie Cambos, Francis Vial, Patrick Beau

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Basically, consumers are sensitive to many stimuli when applying a cream: brand, packaging and indeed formulation compositions. Many studies demonstrated the influence of some stimuli such as brand, packaging, formula color and odor (e.g. in make-up applications). Those parameters influence perceived quality of the product. The objective of this work is to further investigate the relationship between nude skincare basic compositions with different textures and consumer experience. A tentative final step will be to connect the consumer feelings with key ingredients in the compositions. A new approach was developed to better understand touch-related subjective experience in consumers based on a combination of methods: sensory analysis with ten experts, preference mapping on one hundred female consumers and emotional assessments on thirty consumers (verbal and non-verbal through prosody and gesture monitoring). Finally, a methodology based on ‘sensorial trip’ (after olfactory, haptic and musical stimuli) has been experimented on the most interesting textures with 10 consumers. The results showed more or less impact depending on compositions and also on key ingredients. Three types of formulation particularly attracted the consumer: an aqueous gel, an oil-in-water emulsion, and a patented gel-in-oil formulation type. Regarding these three formulas, the preferences were both revealed through sensory and emotion tests. One was recognized as the most innovative in consumer sensory test whereas the two other formulas were discriminated in emotions evaluation. The positive emotions were highlighted especially in prosody criteria. The non-verbal analysis, which corresponds to the physical parameters of the voice, showed high pitch and amplitude values; linked to positive emotions. Verbatim, verbal content of responses (i.e., ideas, concepts, mental images), confirmed the first conclusion. On the formulas selected for their positive emotions generation, the ‘sensorial trip’ provided complementary information to characterize each emotional profile. In the second step, dedicated to better understand ingredients power, two types of ingredients demonstrated an obvious input on consumer preference: rheology modifiers and emollients. As a conclusion, nude cosmetic compositions with well-chosen textures and ingredients can positively stimulate consumer emotions contributing to capture their preference. For a complete achievement of the study, a global approach (Asia, America territories...) should be developed.

Keywords: sensory, emotion, cosmetic formulations, ingredients' influence

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Authors: Muhammad Asim

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, modern contraceptive use, South Asia, women autonomy

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Authors: Márcia Afonso, Marisa Dinis-Almeida, Cristina Fael

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Climate change, namely precipitation patterns alteration, has led to extreme conditions such as floods and droughts. In turn, excessive construction has led to the waterproofing of the soil, increasing the surface runoff and decreasing the groundwater recharge capacity. The permeable pavements used in areas with low traffic lead to a decrease in the probability of floods peaks occurrence and the sediments reduction and pollutants transport, ensuring rainwater quality improvement. This study aims to evaluate the porous asphalt performance, developed in the laboratory, with addition of cellulosic fibres. One of the main objectives of cellulosic fibres use is to stop binder drainage, preventing its loss during storage and transport. Comparing to the conventional porous asphalt the cellulosic fibres addition improved the porous asphalt performance. The cellulosic fibres allowed the bitumen content increase, enabling retention and better aggregates coating and, consequently, a greater mixture durability. With this solution, it is intended to develop better practices of resilience and adaptation to the extreme climate changes and respond to the sustainability current demands, through the eco-friendly materials use. The mix design was performed for different size aggregates (with fine aggregates – PA1 and with coarse aggregates – PA2). The percentage influence of the fibres to be used was studied. It was observed that overall, the binder drainage decreases as the cellulose fibres percentage increases. It was found that the PA2 mixture obtained most binder drainage relative to PA1 mixture, irrespective of the fibres percentage used. Subsequently, the performance was evaluated through laboratory tests of indirect tensile stiffness modulus, water sensitivity, permeability and permanent deformation. The stiffness modulus for the two mixtures groups (with and without cellulosic fibres) presented very similar values between them. For the water sensitivity test it was observed that porous asphalt containing more fine aggregates are more susceptible to the water presence than mixtures with coarse aggregates. The porous asphalt with coarse aggregates have more air voids which allow water to pass easily leading to ITSR higher values. In the permeability test was observed that asphalt porous without cellulosic fibres presented had lower permeability than asphalt porous with cellulosic fibres. The resistance to permanent deformation results indicates better behaviour of porous asphalt with cellulosic fibres, verifying a bigger rut depth in porous asphalt without cellulosic fibres. In this study, it was observed that porous asphalt with bitumen higher percentages improve the performance to permanent deformation. This fact was only possible due to the bitumen retention by the cellulosic fibres.

Keywords: binder drainage, cellulosic fibres, permanent deformation, porous asphalt

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Authors: Ola Jon Mork, Lars Andre Giske, Emil Bjørlykhaug

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Stabilization of critical processes in order to have the right quality of the products, more efficient production and smoother flow is a key issue in lean production. This paper presents how simulation of key welding processes can stabilize complicated welding processes in small scale production, and how simulation can impact the entire production concept seen from the perspective of lean production. First, a field study was made to learn the production processes in the factory, and subsequently the field study was transformed into a value stream map to get insight into each operation, the quality issues, operation times, lead times and flow of materials. Valuable practical knowledge of how the welding operations were done by operators, appropriate tools and jigs, and type of robots that could be used, was collected. All available information was then implemented into a simulation environment for further elaboration and development. Three researchers, the management of the company and skilled operators at the work floor where working on the project over a period of eight months, and a detailed description of the process was made by the researchers. The simulation showed that simulation could solve a number of technical challenges, the robot program can be tuned in off line mode, and the design and testing of the robot cell could be made in the simulator. Further on the design of the product could be optimized for robot welding and the jigs could be designed and tested in simulation environment. This means that a key issue of lean production can be solved; the welding operation will work with almost 100% performance when it is put into real production. Stabilizing of one key process is critical to gain control of the entire value chain, then a Takt Time can be established and the focus can be directed towards the next process in the production which should be stabilized. Results show that industrial parameters like welding time, welding cost and welding quality can be defined on the simulation stage. Further on, this gives valuable information for calculation of the factories business performance, like manufacturing volume and manufacturing efficiency. Industrial impact from simulation is more efficient implementation of lean manufacturing, since the welding process can be stabilized. More research should be done to gain more knowledge about simulation as a tool for implementation of lean, especially where there complex processes.

Keywords: simulation, lean, stabilization, welding process

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Authors: Mohan Bilikallahalli Sannathimmappa, Vinod Nambiar, Rajeev Aravindakshan

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Background: Image-based teaching-learning module is innovative student-centered andragogy. The objective of our study was to explore medical students’ perception of effectiveness of image-based learning strategy in promoting their lifelong learning skills and evaluate its impact on improving students’ exam grades. Methods: A prospective single-cohort study was conducted on undergraduate medical students of the academic year 2021-22. The image-based teaching-learning module was assessed through pretest, posttest, and exam grades. Students’ feedback was collected through a predesigned questionnaire on a 3-point Likert Scale. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient test. In-Course Exam-4 results were compared with In-Course Exams 1, 2, and 3. Correlation coefficients were worked out wherever relevant to find the impact of the exercise on grades. Data were collected, entered into Microsoft Excel, and statistically analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results: In total, 127 students were included in the study. The posttest scores of the students were significantly high (24.75±) as compared to pretest scores (8.25±). Students’ opinion towards the effectiveness of image-based learning in promoting their lifelong learning skills was overwhelmingly positive (Cronbach’s alpha for all items was 0.756). More than 80% of the students indicated image-based learning was interesting, encouraged peer discussion, and helped them to identify, explore, and revise key information and knowledge improvement. Nearly 70% expressed image-based learning enhanced their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Nine out of ten students recommended image-based learning module for future topics. Conclusion: Overall, Image-based learning was found to be effective in achieving undergraduate medical students learning outcomes. The results of the study are in favor of the implementation of Image-based learning in Microbiology courses. However, multicentric studies are required to authenticate our study findings.

Keywords: active learning, knowledge, medical education, microbes, problem solving

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Authors: Saeed Bagherifam, Trevor Brown, Chris Fellows, Ravi Naidu

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Over the last century, rapid urbanization, industrial emissions, and mining activities have resulted in widespread contamination of the environment by heavy metal(loid)s. Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid belonging to group 15 of the periodic table, which occurs naturally at low concentrations in soils and the earth’s crust, although concentrations can be significantly elevated in natural systems as a result of dispersion from anthropogenic sources, e.g., mining activities. Bioavailability is the fraction of a contaminant in soils that is available for uptake by plants, food chains, and humans and therefore presents the greatest risk to terrestrial ecosystems. Numerous attempts have been made to establish in situ and ex-situ technologies of remedial action for remediation of arsenic-contaminated soils. In situ stabilization techniques are based on deactivation or chemical immobilization of metalloid(s) in soil by means of soil amendments, which consequently reduce the bioavailability (for biota) and bioaccessibility (for humans) of metalloids due to the formation of low-solubility products or precipitates. This study investigated the effectiveness of two different types of synthetic manganese and iron oxides (birnessite and goethite) for stabilization of As in a soil spiked with 1000 mg kg⁻¹ of As and treated with 10% dosages of soil amendments. Birnessite was made using HCl and KMnO₄, and goethite was synthesized by the dropwise addition of KOH into Fe(NO₃) solution. The resulting contaminated soils were subjected to a series of chemical extraction studies including sequential extraction (BCR method), single-step extraction with distilled (DI) water, 2M HNO₃ and simplified bioaccessibility extraction tests (SBET) for estimation of bioaccessible fractions of As in two different soil fractions ( < 250 µm and < 2 mm). Concentrations of As in samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results showed that soil with birnessite reduced bioaccessibility of As by up to 92% in both soil fractions. Furthermore, the results of single-step extractions revealed that the application of both birnessite and Goethite reduced DI water and HNO₃ extractable amounts of arsenic by 75, 75, 91, and 57%, respectively. Moreover, the results of the sequential extraction studies showed that both birnessite and goethite dramatically reduced the exchangeable fraction of As in soils. However, the amounts of recalcitrant fractions were higher in birnessite, and Goethite amended soils. The results revealed that the application of both birnessite and goethite significantly reduced bioavailability and the exchangeable fraction of As in contaminated soils, and therefore birnessite and Goethite amendments might be considered as promising adsorbents for stabilization and remediation of As contaminated soils.

Keywords: arsenic, bioavailability, in situ stabilisation, metalloid(s) contaminated soils

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Authors: Afsheen Masood, Sumaira Rashid, Shama Mazahir

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The main aim of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of a culturally adapted management program The Stepping Stones Positive Parenting Program (Tripple P; SSTP) for caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders and Down syndrome. Positive psychology has catered new dimensions to the traditional perspectives of parenting. The current study was designed to determine the adoptions of positive parenting elements such as parenting styles, parental satisfaction, parental competency, and management of parental stress in alignment with behavioral problems of children with special needs after their parents get trained on Positive Parenting Techniques. This research study was devised in liaison with rehabilitation institute that is extending services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome. A Quasi experimental research design was employed with pre-test, post-test control group study in order to evaluate the changes in parenting patterns of parents with children (with Autism and Down syndrome). Caregivers of children diagnosed with Autism and Down syndrome between the age ranges of 25 to 45 years, n=20 from autism group and 20 from Down syndrome group (while their children with special needs in the age ranges of 8 to 14 years) participated in the current research. Parenting scale encompassing areas of parental efficacy, parental satisfaction was used in addition to Parenting Stress Index (SF), indigenously developed Child Behavior Problems Checklist and demographic sheet. Findings revealed statistically significant improvement for caregivers in intervention group from pretest to posttest situation. There was considerable decrease in reported mean behavioral issues of children with Down syndrome when parents in experimental group started practicing Positive Parenting Techniques with their special needs children. This change was somehow not recorded in parents of children with autism. Thus these findings establish the efficacy of culturally adapted parenting program that is evidence based and is established in western empirical research. This carries significant implication for practitioners in special needs domain and for school psychologists in Pakistan.

Keywords: Autism and Parenting, Downsyndrome and Parenting , Positive Parenting, Stepping Stone Positive Parenting Program, Mangement of Behavioral Problems with positive parenting

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Authors: Chen-Jung Chen, Yi-Chang Chen

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While traditional virtual reality and augmented reality only allow for small movement learning and cannot provide a truly immersive teaching experience to give it the illusion of movement, the new technology of both content creation and immersive interactive simulation of the metaverse can just reach infinite close to the natural teaching situation. However, the mixed reality virtual classroom of metaverse has not yet explored its theory, and it is rarely implemented in the situational simulation teaching of nursing education. Therefore, in the first year, the study will intend to use grounded theory and case study methods and in-depth interviews with nursing education and information experts. Analyze the interview data to investigate the uniqueness of metaverse development. The proposed analysis will lead to alternative theories and methods for the development of nursing education. In the second year, it will plan to integrate the metaverse virtual situation simulation technology into the alternate teaching strategy in the pediatric nursing technology course and explore the nursing students' use of this teaching method as the construction of personal technology and experience. By leveraging the unique features of distinct teaching platforms and developing processes to deliver alternative teaching strategies in a nursing technology teaching environment. The aim is to increase learning achievements without compromising teaching quality and teacher-student relationships in the post-pandemic era. A descriptive and convergent mixed methods design will be employed. Sixty third-grade nursing students will be recruited to participate in the research and complete the pre-test. The students in the experimental group (N=30) agreed to participate in 4 real-time mixed virtual situation simulation courses in self-practice after class and conducted qualitative interviews after each 2 virtual situation courses; the control group (N=30) adopted traditional practice methods of self-learning after class. Both groups of students took a post-test after the course. Data analysis will adopt descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and qualitative content analysis. This study addresses key issues in the virtual reality environment for teaching and learning within the metaverse, providing valuable lessons and insights for enhancing the quality of education. The findings of this study are expected to contribute useful information for the future development of digital teaching and learning in nursing and other practice-based disciplines.

Keywords: metaverse, post-pandemic era, online virtual classroom, immersive teaching

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Authors: Kimberly Samaha

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In order to attract new types of investors into the emerging Bio-Economy, a new set of metrics and measurement system is needed to better quantify the environmental, social and economic impacts of circular zero-waste design. The Bio-Hub Ecosystem model was developed to address a critical area of concern within the global energy market regarding the use of biomass as a feedstock for power plants. Lack of an economically-viable business model for bioenergy facilities has resulted in the continuation of idled and decommissioned plants. In particular, the forestry-based plants which have been an invaluable outlet for woody biomass surplus, forest health improvement, timber production enhancement, and especially reduction of wildfire risk. This study looked at repurposing existing biomass-energy plants into Circular Zero-Waste Bio-Hub Ecosystems. A Bio-Hub model that first targets a ‘whole-tree’ approach and then looks at the circular economics of co-hosting diverse industries (wood processing, aquaculture, agriculture) in the vicinity of the Biomass Power Plants facilities. It proposes not only models for integration of forestry, aquaculture, and agriculture in cradle-to-cradle linkages of what have typically been linear systems, but the proposal also allows for the early measurement of the circularity and impact of resource use and investment risk mitigation, for these systems. Typically, life cycle analyses measure environmental impacts of different industrial production stages and are not integrated with indicators of material use circularity. This concept paper proposes the further development of a new set of metrics that would illustrate not only the typical life-cycle analysis (LCA), which shows the reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but also the zero-waste circularity measures of mass balance of the full value chain of the raw material and energy content/caloric value. These new measures quantify key impacts in making hyper-efficient use of natural resources and eliminating waste to landfills. The project utilized traditional LCA using the GREET model where the standalone biomass energy plant case was contrasted with the integration of a jet-fuel biorefinery. The methodology was then expanded to include combinations of co-hosts that optimize the life cycle of woody biomass from tree to energy, CO₂, heat and wood ash both from an energy/caloric value and for mass balance to include reuse of waste streams which are typically landfilled. The major findings of both a formal LCA study resulted in the masterplan for the first Bio-Hub to be built in West Enfield, Maine. Bioenergy facilities are currently at a critical juncture where they have an opportunity to be repurposed into efficient, profitable and socially responsible investments, or be idled and scrapped. If proven as a model, the expedited roll-out of these innovative scenarios can set a new standard for circular zero-waste projects that advance the critical transition from the current ‘take-make-dispose’ paradigm inherent in the energy, forestry and food industries to a more sustainable bio-economy paradigm where waste streams become valuable inputs, supporting local and rural communities in simple, sustainable ways.

Keywords: bio-economy, biomass energy, financing, metrics

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Authors: Rashmi Uchil, A. H. Sequeira

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Post-liberalization era in India has seen an unprecedented growth of mergers, both domestic as well as cross-border deals. Indian organizations have slowly begun appreciating this inorganic method of growth. However, all is not well as is evidenced in the lowering value creation of organizations after mergers. Several studies have identified that organizational culture is one of the key factors that affects the success of mergers. But very few studies have been attempted in this realm in India. The current study attempts to identify the factors in the organizational culture variable that may be unique to India. It also focuses on the difference in the impact of organizational culture on merger of organizations in the manufacturing and service sectors in India. The study uses a mixed research approach. An exploratory research approach is adopted to identify the variables that constitute organizational culture specifically in the Indian scenario. A few hypotheses were developed from the identified variables and tested to arrive at the Grounded Theory. The Grounded Theory approach used in the study, attempts to integrate the variables related to organizational culture. Descriptive approach is used to validate the developed grounded theory with a new empirical data set and thus test the relationship between the organizational culture variables and the success of mergers. Empirical data is captured from merged organizations situated in major cities of India. These organizations represent significant proportions of the total number of organizations which have adopted mergers. The mix of industries included software, banking, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and financial services. Mixed sampling approach was adopted for this study. The first phase of sampling was conducted using the probability method of stratified random sampling. The study further used the non-probability method of judgmental sampling. Adequate sample size was identified for the study which represents the top, middle and junior management levels of the organizations that had adopted mergers. Validity and reliability of the research instrument was ensured with appropriate tests. Statistical tools like regression analysis, correlation analysis and factor analysis were used for data analysis. The results of the study revealed a strong relationship between organizational culture and its impact on the success of mergers. The study also revealed that the results were unique to the extent that they highlighted a marked difference in the manner of internalization of change of organizational culture after merger by the organizations in the manufacturing sector. Further, the study reveals that the organizations in the service sector internalized the changes at a slower rate. The study also portrays the industries in the manufacturing sector as more proactive and can contribute to a change in the perception of the said organizations.

Keywords: manufacturing industries, mergers, organizational culture, service industries

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Authors: Madre Paarlber, Alwiena Blignaut

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Background: Medication administration errors remains a global patient safety problem targeted by the WHO (World Health Organization), yet research on this matter is sparce within the South African context. Objective: The aim was to explore and describe nurses’ (medication administrators) perceptions regarding medication administration safety-related culture, incidence, causes, and reporting in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, and to determine any relationships between perceived variables concerned with medication safety (safety culture, incidences, causes, reporting of incidences, and reasons for non-reporting). Method: A quantitative research design was used through which self-administered online surveys were sent to 768 nurses (medication administrators) (n=217). The response rate was 28.26%. The survey instrument was synthesised from the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture, the Registered Nurse Forecasting (RN4CAST) survey, a survey list prepared from a systematic review aimed at generating a comprehensive list of medication administration error causes and the Medication Administration Error Reporting Survey from Wakefield. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the validity and reliability of the survey. Descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis were used to analyse quantitative data. Relationships and correlations were identified between items, subscales and biographic data by using Spearmans’ Rank correlations, T-Tests and ANOVAs (Analysis of Variance). Nurses reported on their perceptions of medication administration safety-related culture, incidence, causes, and reporting in the Gauteng Province. Results: Units’ teamwork deemed satisfactory, punitive responses to errors accentuated. “Crisis mode” working, concerns regarding mistake recording and long working hours disclosed as impacting patient safety. Overall medication safety graded mostly positively. Work overload, high patient-nurse ratios, and inadequate staffing implicated as error-inducing. Medication administration errors were reported regularly. Fear and administrative response to errors effected non-report. Non-report of errors’ reasons was affected by non-punitive safety culture. Conclusions: Medication administration safety improvement is contingent on fostering a non-punitive safety culture within units. Anonymous medication error reporting systems and auditing nurses’ workload are recommended in the quest of improved medication safety within Gauteng Province private hospitals.

Keywords: incidence, medication administration errors, medication safety, reporting, safety culture

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Authors: Tanveer Ahmed Choudhury

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Background: Bangladesh is one of the largest deltas in the world, with high population density and high rates of poverty and illiteracy. 80% of the country is on low-lying floodplains, leaving the country one of the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change: sea level rise, cyclones and storms, salinity intrusion, rising temperatures and heavy monsoon downpours. Such climatic events already limit Economic Development in the country. Although Bangladesh has had little responsibility in contributing to global climatic change, it is vulnerable to both its direct and indirect impacts. Real threats include reduced agricultural production, worsening food security, increased incidence of flooding and drought, spreading disease and an increased risk of conflict over scarce land and water resources. Currently, 8.3 million Bangladeshis live in cyclone high risk areas. However, by 2050 this is expected to grow to 20.3 million people, if proper adaptive actions are not taken. Under a high emissions scenario, an additional 7.6 million people will be exposed to very high salinity by 2050 compared to current levels. It is also projected that, an average of 7.2 million people will be affected by flooding due to sea level rise every year between 2070-2100 and If global emissions decrease rapidly and adaptation interventions are taken, the population affected by flooding could be limited to only about 14,000 people. To combat the climate change adverse effects, Bangladesh government has initiated many adaptive measures specially in infrastructure and renewable energy sector. Government is investing huge money and initiated many projects which have been proved very success full. Objectives: The objective of this paper is to describe some successful measures initiated by Bangladesh government in its effort to make the country a Climate Resilient. Methodology: Review of operation plan and activities of different relevant Ministries of Bangladesh government. Result: The following initiative projects, programs and activities are considered as best practices for Climate Change adaptation successes for Bangladesh: 1. The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL); 2. Climate Change and Health Promotion Unit (CCHPU); 3. The Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF); 4. Community Climate Change Project (CCCP); 5. Health, Population, Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP, 2011-2016)- "Climate Change and Environmental Issues"; 6. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh and WHO Collaboration; - National Adaptation Plan. -"Building adaptation to climate change in health in least developed countries through resilient WASH". 7. COP-21 “Climate and health country profile -2015 Bangladesh. Conclusion: Due to a vast coastline, low-lying land and abundance of rivers, Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change. Having extensive experience with facing natural disasters, Bangladesh has developed a successful adaptation program, which led to a significant reduction in casualties from extreme weather events. In a low income country setting, Bangladesh had successfully adapted various projects and initiatives to combat future Climate Change challenges.

Keywords: climate, change, success, Bangladesh

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Authors: Dau Lal Bohra, Sradha Vyas

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Bird species are already showing climate-related changes in the dates they migrate and breed, and in the timing of other key life-history events. Treats of feeding managements raptors have performed important ecological, traditional and aesthetic functions throughout the Indian subcontinent. The declines in India result from elevated adult and juvenile mortality, and low breeding success. The widespread and rapid pattern of declines, i.e. in all areas irrespective of habitat or protection status suggest that persecution through shooting or poisoning, whilst important at a local scale, are unlikely to have caused the declines. A mass killing of several species of vultures in the Indian subcontinent over the last two decades is largely blamed on the presence of a drug. Veterinary diclofenac caused an unprecedented decline in South Asia’s Gyps vulture populations, with some species declining by more than 97% between 1992 and 2007. Veterinary diclofenac causes renal failure in vultures, and killed tens of millions of such birds in the Indian sub-continent. The drug was finally banned there for veterinary purposes in 2006. This drug is now ‘a global problem’ threatening many vulnerable birds of prey. Recently, stappe eagles are also susceptible to veterinary diclofenac, effectively increasing the potential threat level, and the risks for European biodiversity. Steppe eagles are closely related with golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetus), imperial eagles (Aquila heliaca) and Spanish imperial eagles (Aquila adalberti), and all these species scavenge opportunistically on carcasses throughout their range. The Spanish imperial eagle, considered Vulnerable at global level, is now particularly at risk, due to the availability of diclofenac in Spain. These findings strengthen the case for banning veterinary diclofenac across. From year 2011 to 2014 more than 300 hundred birds dead in jorbeer, Bikaner. Now, with unequivocal evidence that this veterinary drug can cause a much wider impact on Europe´s biodiversity, it is time for action – please ban diclofenac human brand also in multi-dose vial from market.

Keywords: mortility, prey of birds, diclofenac, Rajasthan

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Authors: Kumar Gular, Viswanathan S., Mastour Saeed Alshahrani, Ravi Shankar Reddy, Jaya Shanker Tedla, Snehil Dixit, Ajay Prasad Gautam, Venkata Nagaraj Kakaraparthi, Devika Rani Sangadala

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Background: Despite trunk control’s significant contribution to improving various functional activity components, the independent effect of trunk performance on quality of life is yet to be estimated in stroke survivors. Ascertaining the correlation between trunk control and self-reported quality of life while evaluating the effect of demographic and clinical characteristics on their relationship will guide concerned healthcare professionals in designing ideal rehabilitation protocols during the late sub-acute stroke stage of recovery. The aims of the present research were to (1) investigate the associations of trunk performance with self-rated quality of life and (2) evaluate if age, body mass index (BMI), and clinical characteristics mediate the relationship between trunk motor performance and perceived quality of life in the sub-acute stroke population. Methods: Trunk motor functions and quality of life among the late sub-acute stroke population aged 57.53 ± 6.42 years were evaluated through the trunk Impairment Scale (TIS) and Stroke specific quality of life (SSQOL) questionnaire, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficients and mediation analysis were performed to elucidate the relationship of trunk motor function with quality of life and determine the mediation impact of demographic and clinical characteristics on their association, respectively. Results: The current study observed significant correlations between trunk motor functions (TIS) and quality of life (SSQOL) with r=0.68 (p<0.001). Age, BMI, and type of stroke were detected as potential mediating factors in the association between trunk performance and quality of life. Conclusion: Validated associations between trunk motor functions and perceived quality of life among the late sub-acute stroke population emphasize the importance of comprehensive evaluation of trunk control. Rehabilitation specialists should focus on appropriate strategies to enhance trunk performance anticipating the potential effects of age, BMI, and type of stroke to improve health-related quality of life in stroke survivors.

Keywords: sub-acute stroke, quality of life, functional independence, trunk control

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Authors: Hing Hao Chan, Thomas Richard, Masood Mostofi

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The mining industry relies on an estimate of rock strength at several stages of a mine life cycle: mining (excavating, blasting, tunnelling) and processing (crushing and grinding), both very energy-intensive activities. An effective comminution design that can yield significant dividends often requires a reliable estimate of the material rock strength. Common laboratory tests such as rod, ball mill, and uniaxial compressive strength share common shortcomings such as time, sample preparation, bias in plug selection cost, repeatability, and sample amount to ensure reliable estimates. In this paper, the authors present a methodology to derive an estimate of the rock strength from drilling data recorded while coring with a diamond core head. The work presented in this paper builds on a phenomenological model of the bit-rock interface proposed by Franca et al. (2015) and is inspired by the now well-established use of the scratch test with PDC (Polycrystalline Diamond Compact) cutter to derive the rock uniaxial compressive strength. The first part of the paper introduces the phenomenological model of the bit-rock interface for a diamond core head that relates the forces acting on the drill bit (torque, axial thrust) to the bit kinematic variables (rate of penetration and angular velocity) and introduces the intrinsic specific energy or the energy required to drill a unit volume of rock for an ideally sharp drilling tool (meaning ideally sharp diamonds and no contact between the bit matrix and rock debris) that is found well correlated to the rock uniaxial compressive strength for PDC and roller cone bits. The second part describes the laboratory drill rig, the experimental procedure that is tailored to minimize the effect of diamond polishing over the duration of the experiments, and the step-by-step methodology to derive the intrinsic specific energy from the recorded data. The third section presents the results and shows that the intrinsic specific energy correlates well to the uniaxial compressive strength for the 11 tested rock materials (7 sedimentary and 4 igneous rocks). The last section discusses best drilling practices and a method to estimate the rock strength from field drilling data considering the compliance of the drill string and frictional losses along the borehole. The approach is illustrated with a case study from drilling data recorded while drilling an exploration well in Australia.

Keywords: bit-rock interaction, drilling experiment, impregnated diamond drilling, uniaxial compressive strength

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Authors: Siobhan Hegarty, Michael Bloomfield, Kim Entholt, Dorothy Williams, Helen Kennerley

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Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) confers greater risk of poor outcomes than does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Despite this, the current treatment guidelines for CPTSD aim to reduce only the ‘core’ symptoms of re-experiencing, hyper-vigilance and avoidance, while not addressing the Disturbances of Self Organisation (DSO) symptoms that distinguish this novel diagnosis from PTSD. The Recovering from Child Abuse Programme (RCAP) is a group protocol, based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Preliminary evidence suggests the program is effective at reducing DSO symptoms. This pilot study is the first to investigate the potential effectiveness of the RCAP for the specific treatment of CPTSD. This study was conducted as a service evaluation in a secondary care, traumatic stress service. Treatment was delivered once a week, in two-hour sessions, to ten existing female CPTSD patients of the service, who had experienced sexual abuse in childhood. The programme was administered by two therapists and two additional facilitators, following the RCAP protocol manual. Symptom severity was measured before the administration of therapy and was tracked across a range of measures (International Trauma Questionnaire; Patient Health Questionnaire; Community Assessment of Psychic Experience; Work and Social Adjustment Scale) at five time points, over the course of treatment. Qualitative appraisal of the programme was gathered via weekly feedback forms and from audio-taped recordings of verbal feedback given during group sessions. Preliminary results suggest the programme causes a slight reduction in CPTSD and depressive symptom severity and preliminary qualitative analysis suggests that the RCAP is both helpful and acceptable to group members. Final results and conclusions will follow completed thematic analysis of results.

Keywords: Child sexual abuse, Cognitive behavioural therapy, Complex post-traumatic stress disorder, Recovering from child abuse programme

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Authors: Ahmed Torad

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Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent musculoskeletal condition characterized by pain and functional impairment. While various rehabilitation approaches have been employed, the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) compared to traditional rehabilitation exercises remains unclear. Objective: This randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the effects of HIIT and traditional rehabilitation exercises on pain reduction, functional improvement, and quality of life in individuals with knee OA. Methods: A total of 120 participants diagnosed with knee OA were randomly allocated into two groups: the HIIT group (n=60) and the traditional rehabilitation group (n=60). The HIIT group participated in a 12-week supervised program consisting of high-intensity interval exercises, while the traditional rehabilitation group followed a conventional physiotherapy regimen. Outcome measures included visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) at baseline and after the intervention period. Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in pain scores, functional outcomes (WOMAC), and quality of life (SF-36) after 12 weeks of intervention. However, the HIIT group demonstrated superior pain reduction (p<0.001), functional improvement (p<0.001), and physical health-related quality of life (p=0.002) compared to the traditional rehabilitation group. No significant differences were observed in mental health-related quality of life between the two groups. Conclusion: High-intensity interval training appears to be a more effective rehabilitation approach than traditional exercises for individuals with knee osteoarthritis, resulting in greater pain reduction, improved function, and enhanced physical health-related quality of life. These findings suggest that HIIT may represent a promising intervention strategy for managing knee OA and enhancing the overall well-being of affected individuals.

Keywords: knee osteoarthritis, high-intensity interval training, traditional rehabilitation exercises, randomized controlled trial, pain reduction, functional improvement, quality of life

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Authors: Luís R. Silva, Catarina Bento, Ana C. Gonçalves, Fábio Jesus, Branca M. Silva

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Nowadays, the general population is more and more concerned about nutrition and the health implications of an unbalanced diet. Current knowledge regarding the health benefits and antioxidant properties of certain foods such as fruits and vegetables has gained the interest of both the general public and scientific community. Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) is one of the most consumed fruits worldwide, with low sugar contents and a broad range of nutrients essential to the normal functioning of the body. Six different peach cultivars from the Fundão region in Portugal were evaluated regarding their phenolic composition by LC-DAD and biological activity. The prepared extracts’ capacity to scavenge free-radicals was tested through the stable free radical DPPH• and nitric oxide (•NO). Additionally, antidiabetic potential and protective effects against peroxyl radical (ROO•) induced damage to erythrocytes were also tested. LC-DAD analysis allowed the identification of 17 phenolic compounds, among which 5-O-caffeoylquinic acids and 3-O-caffeoylquinic acids are pointed out as the most abundant. Regarding the antioxidant activity, all cultivars displayed concentration-dependent free-radical scavenging activity against both nitrogen species and DPPH•. In respect to α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, Royal Magister and Royal Glory presented the highest inhibitory activity (IC50 = 11.7 ± 1.4 and 17.1 ± 1.7 μg/mL, respectively), nevertheless all six cultivars presented higher activity than the control acarbose. As for the protective effect of Royal Lu extract on the oxidative damage induced in erythrocytes by ROO•, the results were quite promising showing inhibition IC50 values of 110.0 ± 4.5 μg/mL and 83.8 ± 6.5 μg/mL for hemolysis and hemoglobin oxidation, respectively. The demonstrated activity is of course associated to the peaches’ phenolic profile, rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids with high hydrogen donating capacity. These compounds have great industrial interest for the manufacturing of natural products. The following step would naturally be the extraction and isolation from the plant tissues and large-scale production through biotechnology techniques.

Keywords: antioxidants, functional food, phenolic compounds, peach

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Authors: Nasser Alsadoun

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Today's companies in Saudi Arabian capital market must comply with strict criteria and adhere to rigid corporate governance rules and continuous disclosure requirements. Unlike other regulators in the region, decision makers of the Capital Market Authority (hereafter CMA) of Saudi Arabia believes that the announcements of economic sanctions and penalties for non-compliance firms will foster more effective regulatory compliance and hence improve the quality of financial reporting. An implied argument put forward by the opponents, however, states that such penalties are unnecessary and stated to be onerous for non-compliance firms. Over that last years, the CMA has publicly announced several economic fines levied on some listed companies for their failing to comply with corporate governance and continuous disclosure regulation clauses, with the amount of fine levied ranges between 50,000 SR to 100,000 SR for each failing. Economic theory suggests that rational investors make decisions based on a cost-benefit principal. The regulatory intervention made by CMA on the announcement of economic sanctions has been costly to the society (economy) hoping that it improves the transparency of financial statements. It is argued, therefore, that threat of regulators and economic sanctions will provide incentives for firms’ managers to report more relevant and reliable accounting information, and the benefit of such announcements is likely to be reflected in the context of the quality of the financial reports. Yet, the economic consequences of the revealed fines announcement for non-compliance firms in Saudi Arabian market have not been examined. Thus, this study attempts to empirically examine whether market participants are pricing the supposed benefits of rigid governance and disclosure rules in the Saudi market. The study employs an event study methodology to assess the impact of CMA economic sanctions announcements on the market price of non-compliance firms. The study also estimates and examines bid–ask spread behavior of violated firms around the CMA announcements. The findings indicate that the CMA fines announcements for failing to comply with governance and disclosure rules do not appear to play any significant role in securities pricing. In addition, tests of bid-ask behavior does not indicate any significant increases in information asymmetry surrounding these announcements. While the CMA has developed many goals to increase the awareness of listed companies with the best governance and disclosure practices, it seems they have to develop more goals to improve market efficiency and increase investors and public awareness.

Keywords: governance and disclosure violations, financial reporting quality, regulatory intervention, market efficiency

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Authors: M. Budakoglu, M. Karaman

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Lake Acıgöl is located in area with limited influences from urban and industrial pollution sources, there is nevertheless a need to understand all potential lithological and anthropogenic sources of priority contaminants in this closed basin. This study discusses vertical and horizontal distribution pattern of major, trace elements of recent lake sediments to better understand their current geochemical analog with lithological units in the Lake Acıgöl basin. This study also provides reliable background levels for the region by the detailed surfaced lithological units data. The detail results of surface, subsurface and shallow core sediments from these relatively unperturbed ecosystems, highlight its importance as conservation area, despite the high-scale industrial salt production activity. While P2O5/TiO2 versus MgO/CaO classification diagram indicate magmatic and sedimentary origin of lake sediment, Log(SiO2/Al2O3) versus Log(Na2O/K2O) classification diagrams express lithological assemblages of shale, iron-shale, vacke and arkose. The plot between TiO2 vs. SiO2 and P2O5/TiO2 vs. MgO/CaO also supports the origin of the primary magma source. The average compositions of the 20 different lithological units used as a proxy for geochemical background in the study area. As expected from weathered rock materials, there is a large variation in the major element content for all analyzed lake samples. The A-CN-K and A-CNK-FM ternary diagrams were used to deduce weathering trends. Surface and subsurface sediments display an intense weathering history according to these ternary diagrams. The most of the sediments samples plot around UCC and TTG, suggesting a low to moderate weathering history for the provenance. The sediments plot in a region clearly suggesting relative similar contents in Al2O3, CaO, Na2O, and K2O from those of lithological samples.

Keywords: Lake Acıgöl, recent lake sediment, geochemical speciation of major and trace elements, heavy metals, Denizli, Turkey

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