Search results for: flash flood guidance
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1370

Search results for: flash flood guidance

350 Nursing Experience in Improving Physical and Mental Well-Being of a Patient with Premature Menopause Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia in Nursing-Led Multi-Discipline Care

Authors: Huang Chiung Chiu

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This article is about the nursing experience of assisting an outpatient with premature menopause, osteoporosis and sarcopenia through a multi-discipline care model. The nursing period is from September 22nd, 2020, to December 7th, 2020, collecting data through interviews with the patient, observation, and physical assessment. It was found that the main health problems were insufficient nutrition, less physical need, insomnia, and potentially dangerous falls. As an outpatient nurse, the author observed that in recent years, the age group of women with premature menopause, osteoporosis and sarcopenia had shifted downward. Integrated multi-disciplinary interventions were provided upon the initial diagnosis of osteoporosis and sarcopenia. Under the outpatient care setting, the collaborative team works between the doctors, nutritionists, osteoporosis educators, rehabilitates, physical therapists and other specialized teams were applied to provide individualized, integrated multi-disciplinary care. Through empathy and the establishment of attentive care, companionship and trust, we discussed care plans and treatment guidelines with the case, providing accurate, complete disease information and feedback education to strengthen the patient’s knowledge and motivation for exercise. Nursing guidance regarding the dietary nutrition and adjustment of daily routine was provided to increase the self-care ability, improve the health problems of muscle weakness and insomnia, and prevent falls. For patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis and sarcopenia, it is recommended that the nurses coordinate the multi-discipline integrated care model, adjust patients’ lifestyle and diet, and establish a regular exercise plan so that the cases can be evaluated holistically to improve the quality of care and physical and mental comfort.

Keywords: multi-discipline care model, premature menopause, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, insomnia

Procedia PDF Downloads 100
349 Revealing the Urban Heat Island: Investigating its Spatial and Temporal Changes and Relationship with Air Quality

Authors: Aneesh Mathew, Arunab K. S., Atul Kumar Sharma

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The uncontrolled rise in population has led to unplanned, swift, and unsustainable urban expansion, causing detrimental environmental impacts on both local and global ecosystems. This research delves into a comprehensive examination of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, India. It centers on the spatial and temporal distribution of UHI and its correlation with air pollutants. Conducted across summer and winter seasons from 2001 to 2021 in Bangalore and Hyderabad, this study discovered that UHI intensity varies seasonally, peaking in summer and decreasing in winter. The annual maximum UHI intensities range between 4.65 °C to 6.69 °C in Bengaluru and 5.74 °C to 6.82 °C in Hyderabad. Bengaluru particularly experiences notable fluctuations in average UHI intensity. Introducing the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI), the study indicates a consistent strong UHI effect in both cities, significantly impacting living conditions. Moreover, hotspot analysis demonstrates a rising trend in UHI-affected areas over the years in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This research underscores the connection between air pollutant concentrations and land surface temperature (LST), highlighting the necessity of comprehending UHI dynamics for urban environmental management and public health. It contributes to a deeper understanding of UHI patterns in swiftly urbanizing areas, providing insights into the intricate relationship between urbanization, climate, and air quality. These findings serve as crucial guidance for policymakers, urban planners, and researchers, facilitating the development of innovative, sustainable strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of uncontrolled expansion while promoting the well-being of local communities and the global environment.

Keywords: urban heat island effect, land surface temperature, air pollution, urban thermal field variance index

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348 A Review: The Impact of Core Quality the Empirical Review of Critical Factors on the Causes of Delay in Road Constructions Projects in the GCC Countries

Authors: Sulaiman Al-Hinai, Setyawan Widyarto

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The aim of this study is to identify the critically dominating factors on the delays of road constructions in the GCC countries and their effects on project delivery in Arab countries. Towards the achieved of the objectives the study used the empirical literature from the all relevant online sources and database as many as possible. The findings of this study have summarized and short listed of the success factors in the two categories such as internal and external factors have caused to be influenced to delay of road constructions in the Arab regions. However, in the category of internal factors, there are 63 factors short listed from seven group of factors which has revealed to effects on the delay of road constructions especially, the consultant related factors, the contractor related factors, designed related factors, client related factors, labor related factors, material related issues, equipment related issues respectively. Moreover, for external related factors are also considered to summarized especially natural disaster (flood, hurricanes and cyclone etc.), conflict, war, global financial crisis, compensation delay to affected property owner, price fluctuated, unexpected ground conditions (soil and high-water level), changing of government regulations and laws, delays in obtaining permission from municipality, loss of time by traffic control and restrictions at job site, problem with inhabitant of community, delays in providing service from utilities (water and electricity’s) and accident during constructions accordingly. The present study also concluded the effects of above factors which has delay road constructions through increasing of cost and overrun it, taken overtime, creating of disputes, going for lawsuits, finally happening of abandon of projects. Thus, the present study has given the following recommendations to overcome of above problems by increasing of detailed site investigations, ensure careful monitoring and regular meetings, effective site management, collaborative working and effective coordination’s, proper and comprehensive planning and scheduling and ensure full and intensive commitment from all parties accordingly.

Keywords: Arab GCC countries, critical success factors, road constructions delay, project management

Procedia PDF Downloads 106
347 Hydro-Meteorological Vulnerability and Planning in Urban Area: The Case of Yaoundé City in Cameroon

Authors: Ouabo Emmanuel Romaric, Amougou Armathe

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Background and aim: The study of impacts of floods and landslides at a small scale, specifically in the urban areas of developing countries is done to provide tools and actors for a better management of risks in such areas, which are now being affected by climate change. The main objective of this study is to assess the hydrometeorological vulnerabilities associated with flooding and urban landslides to propose adaptation measures. Methods: Climatic data analyses were done by calculation of indices of climate change within 50 years (1960-2012). Analyses of field data to determine causes, the level of risk and its consequences on the area of study was carried out using SPSS 18 software. The cartographic analysis and GIS were used to refine the work in space. Then, spatial and terrain analyses were carried out to determine the morphology of field in relation with floods and landslide, and the diffusion on the field. Results: The interannual changes in precipitation has highlighted the surplus years (21), the deficit years (24) and normal years (7). Barakat method bring out evolution of precipitation by jerks and jumps. Floods and landslides are correlated to high precipitation during surplus and normal years. Data field analyses show that populations are conscious (78%) of the risks with 74% of them exposed, but their capacities of adaptation is very low (51%). Floods are the main risk. The soils are classed as feralitic (80%), hydromorphic (15%) and raw mineral (5%). Slope variation (5% to 15%) of small hills and deep valley with anarchic construction favor flood and landslide during heavy precipitation. Mismanagement of waste produce blocks free circulation of river and accentuate floods. Conclusion: Vulnerability of population to hydrometeorological risks in Yaoundé VI is the combination of variation of parameters like precipitation, temperature due to climate change, and the bad planning of construction in urban areas. Because of lack of channels for water to circulate due to saturation of soils, the increase of heavy precipitation and mismanagement of waste, the result are floods and landslides which causes many damages on goods and people.

Keywords: climate change, floods, hydrometeorological, vulnerability

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346 Resilient Design Solutions for Megathermal Climates of the Global South

Authors: Bobuchi Ken-Opurum

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The impacts of climate change on urban settlements is growing. In the global south, communities are even more vulnerable and suffer there is an increased vulnerability from due to climate change disasters such as flooding and high temperatures. This is primarily due to high intensity rainfall, low-lying coasts, inadequate infrastructure, and limited resources. According to the Emergency Events Database, floods were the leading cause of disaster -based deaths in the global south between 2006 and 2015. This includes deaths from heat stress related health outcomes. Adapting to climate vulnerabilities is paramount in reducing the significant redevelopment costs from climate disasters. Governments and urban planners provide top-down approaches such as evacuation, and disaster and emergency communication. While they address infrastructure and public services, they are not always able to address the immediate and critical day to day needs of poor and vulnerable populations. There is growing evidence that some bottom-up strategies and grassroots initiatives of self-build housing such as in urban informal settlements are successful in coping and adapting to hydroclimatic impacts. However, these research findings are not consolidated and the evaluation of the resilience outcomes of the bottom-up strategies are limited. Using self-build housing as a model for sustainable and resilient urban planning, this research aimed to consolidate the flood and heat stress resilient design solutions, analyze the effectiveness of these solutions, and develop guidelines and methods for adopting these design solutions into mainstream housing in megathermal climates. The methodological approach comprised of analyses of over 40 ethnographic based peer reviewed literature, white papers, and reports between the years 2000 and 2019 to identify coping strategies and grassroots initiatives that have been applied by occupants and communities of the global south. The results of the research provide a consolidated source and prioritized list of the best bottom-up strategies for communities in megathermal climates to improve the lives of people in some of the most vulnerable places in the world.

Keywords: resilient, design, megathermal, climate change

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345 A Qualitative Study into the Success and Challenges in Embedding Evidence-Based Research Methods in Operational Policing Interventions

Authors: Ahmed Kadry, Gwyn Dodd

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There has been a growing call globally for police forces to embed evidence-based policing research methods into police interventions in order to better understand and evaluate their impact. This research study highlights the success and challenges that police forces may encounter when trying to embed evidence-based research methods within their organisation. 10 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with police officers and staff at Greater Manchester Police (GMP) who were tasked with integrating evidence-based research methods into their operational interventions. The findings of the study indicate that with adequate resources and individual expertise, evidence-based research methods can be applied to operational work, including the testing of initiatives with strict controls in order to fully evaluate the impact of an intervention. However, the findings also indicate that this may only be possible where an operational intervention is heavily resourced with police officers and staff who have a strong understanding of evidence-based policing research methods, attained for example through their own graduate studies. In addition, the findings reveal that ample planning time was needed to trial operational interventions that would require strict parameters for what would be tested and how it would be evaluated. In contrast, interviewees underscored that operational interventions with the need for a speedy implementation were less likely to have evidence-based research methods applied. The study contributes to the wider literature on evidence-based policing by providing considerations for police forces globally wishing to apply evidence-based research methods to more of their operational work in order to understand their impact. The study also provides considerations for academics who work closely with police forces in assisting them to embed evidence-based policing. This includes how academics can provide their expertise to police decision makers wanting to underpin their work through evidence-based research methods, such as providing guidance on how to evaluate the impact of their work with varying research methods that they may otherwise be unaware of.  

Keywords: evidence based policing, evidence-based practice, operational policing, organisational change

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344 Cooperative Agents to Prevent and Mitigate Distributed Denial of Service Attacks of Internet of Things Devices in Transportation Systems

Authors: Borhan Marzougui

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Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is moving ahead with the implementation of the leader’s vision in exploring all avenues that may bring better security and safety services to the community. Smart transport means using smart technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things). This technology continues to affirm its important role in the context of Information and Transportation Systems. In fact, IoT is a network of Internet-connected objects able to collect and exchange different data using embedded sensors. With the growth of IoT, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks is also growing exponentially. DDoS attacks are the major and a real threat to various transportation services. Currently, the defense mechanisms are mainly passive in nature, and there is a need to develop a smart technique to handle them. In fact, new IoT devices are being used into a botnet for DDoS attackers to accumulate for attacker purposes. The aim of this paper is to provide a relevant understanding of dangerous types of DDoS attack related to IoT and to provide valuable guidance for the future IoT security method. Our methodology is based on development of the distributed algorithm. This algorithm manipulates dedicated intelligent and cooperative agents to prevent and to mitigate DDOS attacks. The proposed technique ensure a preventive action when a malicious packets start to be distributed through the connected node (Network of IoT devices). In addition, the devices such as camera and radio frequency identification (RFID) are connected within the secured network, and the data generated by it are analyzed in real time by intelligent and cooperative agents. The proposed security system is based on a multi-agent system. The obtained result has shown a significant reduction of a number of infected devices and enhanced the capabilities of different security dispositives.

Keywords: IoT, DDoS, attacks, botnet, security, agents

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343 Building Atmospheric Moisture Diagnostics: Environmental Monitoring and Data Collection

Authors: Paula Lopez-Arce, Hector Altamirano, Dimitrios Rovas, James Berry, Bryan Hindle, Steven Hodgson

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Efficient mould remediation and accurate moisture diagnostics leading to condensation and mould growth in dwellings are largely untapped. Number of factors are contributing to the rising trend of excessive moisture in homes mainly linked with modern living, increased levels of occupation and rising fuel costs, as well as making homes more energy efficient. Environmental monitoring by means of data collection though loggers sensors and survey forms has been performed in a range of buildings from different UK regions. Air and surface temperature and relative humidity values of residential areas affected by condensation and/or mould issues were recorded. Additional measurements were taken through different trials changing type, location, and position of loggers. In some instances, IR thermal images and ventilation rates have also been acquired. Results have been interpreted together with environmental key parameters by processing and connecting data from loggers and survey questionnaires, both in buildings with and without moisture issues. Monitoring exercises carried out during Winter and Spring time show the importance of developing and following accurate protocols for guidance to obtain consistent, repeatable and comparable results and to improve the performance of environmental monitoring. A model and a protocol are being developed to build a diagnostic tool with the goal of performing a simple but precise residential atmospheric moisture diagnostics to distinguish the cause entailing condensation and mould generation, i.e., ventilation, insulation or heating systems issue. This research shows the relevance of monitoring and processing environmental data to assign moisture risk levels and determine the origin of condensation or mould when dealing with a building atmospheric moisture excess.

Keywords: environmental monitoring, atmospheric moisture, protocols, mould

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342 Analyzing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Clinicians’ Perceptions of Resuscitation and Escalation Decision-Making Processes: Cross-Sectional Survey of Hospital Clinicians in the United Kingdom

Authors: Michelle Hartanto, Risheka Suthantirakumar

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Introduction Staff redeployment, increased numbers of acutely unwell patients requiring resuscitation decision-making conversations, visiting restrictions, and varying guidance regarding resuscitation for patients with COVID-19 disrupted clinicians’ management of resuscitation and escalation decision-making processes. While it was generally accepted that the COVID-19 pandemic disturbed numerous aspects of the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) process in the United Kingdom, a process which establishes a patient’s CPR status and treatment escalation plans, the impact of the pandemic on clinicians’ attitudes towards these resuscitation and decision-making conversations was unknown. This was the first study to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinicians’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards the ReSPECT process. Methods A cross-sectional survey of clinicians at one acute teaching hospital in the UK was conducted. A questionnaire with a defined five-point Likert scale was distributed and clinicians were asked to recall their pre-pandemic views on ReSPECT and report their current views at the time of survey distribution (May 2020, end of the first COVID-19 wave in the UK). Responses were received from 171 clinicians, and self-reported views before and during the pandemic were compared. Results Clinicians reported they found managing ReSPECT conversations more challenging during the pandemic, especially when conducted over the telephone with relatives, and they experienced an increase in negative emotions before, during, and after conducting ReSPECT conversations. Our findings identified that due to the pandemic there was now a need for clinicians to receive training and support in conducting resuscitation and escalation decision-making conversations over the telephone with relatives and managing these processes.

Keywords: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, COVID-19 pandemic, DNACPR discussion, education, recommended summary plan for emergency care and treatment, resuscitation order

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341 Challenges, Chances and Possibilities during the Change Management Process of the National Defence Academy Vienna

Authors: Georg Ebner

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The National Defence Academy, an element of the Austrian Ministry of Defence, is undergoing a transition process leading the Academy towards a new target structure that is currently being developed. In so doing, in addition to a subject-oriented approach, also an employee-oriented process was introduced. This process was initiated by the Ministry of Defence and should lead the National Defence Academy into a new constellation. During this process, the National Defence Academy worked in very special adapted World Café sessions. The “change manager” dealed with very different issues. They took the data feedback from the sessions and prepared with the feedback and information from the guidance the next session. So they got various information and a very different picture around the academy. It was very helpful to involve most of the employees of the academy during this process and to take their knowledge and wisdom. The process himself started with very different feelings and ended with great consent. A very interesting part of this process was also that the commander and his deputy worked together during all of this sessions and they answered all questions from the employees in time. The adapted World Café phases were necessary to deal with the information of the staff and to implement these absolutely needful data into this process. In cooperation with the responsible Headquarters, the first items resulting from the World Café phases could already be fed back to the employees and be implemented. The staff-oriented process is currently supported via a point of contact, through which the staff can contribute ideas as well, but also by the active information policy on the part of the Headquarters. The described change process makes innovative innovations possible. So far, in the event of change processes staff members have been entrusted only with the concrete implementation plan and tied into the process when the respective workplaces were to be re-staffed. The procedure described here can be seen as food-for-thought for further change processes. The findings of this process are that a staff oriented process can lead an organisation into a new era of thinking and working. This process has shown, that a lot of innovative ideas can also take place in a ministry. This process can be a background for a lot of change management processes in ministries and governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Keywords: both directions approach, change management, knowledge database, transformation process, World Cafe

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340 Mathematical Toolbox for editing Equations and Geometrical Diagrams and Graphs

Authors: Ayola D. N. Jayamaha, Gihan V. Dias, Surangika Ranathunga

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Currently there are lot of educational tools designed for mathematics. Open source software such as GeoGebra and Octave are bulky in their architectural structure. In addition, there is MathLab software, which facilitates much more than what we ask for. Many of the computer aided online grading and assessment tools require integrating editors to their software. However, there are not exist suitable editors that cater for all their needs in editing equations and geometrical diagrams and graphs. Some of the existing software for editing equations is Alfred’s Equation Editor, Codecogs, DragMath, Maple, MathDox, MathJax, MathMagic, MathFlow, Math-o-mir, Microsoft Equation Editor, MiraiMath, OpenOffice, WIRIS Editor and MyScript. Some of them are commercial, open source, supports handwriting recognition, mobile apps, renders MathML/LaTeX, Flash / Web based and javascript display engines. Some of the diagram editors are GeoKone.NET, Tabulae, Cinderella 1.4, MyScript, Dia, Draw2D touch, Gliffy, GeoGebra, Flowchart, Jgraph, JointJS, J painter Online diagram editor and 2D sketcher. All these software are open source except for MyScript and can be used for editing mathematical diagrams. However, they do not fully cater the needs of a typical computer aided assessment tool or Educational Platform for Mathematics. This solution provides a Web based, lightweight, easy to implement and integrate solution of an html5 canvas that renders on all of the modern web browsers. The scope of the project is an editor that covers equations and mathematical diagrams and drawings on the O/L Mathematical Exam Papers in Sri Lanka. Using the tool the students can enter any equation to the system which can be on an online remote learning platform. The users can also create and edit geometrical drawings, graphs and do geometrical constructions that require only Compass and Ruler from the Editing Interface provided by the Software. The special feature of this software is the geometrical constructions. It allows the users to create geometrical constructions such as angle bisectors, perpendicular lines, angles of 600 and perpendicular bisectors. The tool correctly imitates the functioning of rulers and compasses to create the required geometrical construction. Therefore, the users are able to do geometrical drawings on the computer successfully and we have a digital format of the geometrical drawing for further processing. Secondly, we can create and edit Venn Diagrams, color them and label them. In addition, the students can draw probability tree diagrams and compound probability outcome grids. They can label and mark regions within the grids. Thirdly, students can draw graphs (1st order and 2nd order). They can mark points on a graph paper and the system connects the dots to draw the graph. Further students are able to draw standard shapes such as circles and rectangles by selecting points on a grid or entering the parametric values.

Keywords: geometrical drawings, html5 canvas, mathematical equations, toolbox

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339 Research on Hangzhou Commercial Center System Based on Point of Interest Data

Authors: Chen Wang, Qiuxiao Chen

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With the advent of the information age and the era of big data, urban planning research is no longer satisfied with the analysis and application of traditional data. Because of the limitations of traditional urban commercial center system research, big data provides new opportunities for urban research. Therefore, based on the quantitative evaluation method of big data, the commercial center system of the main city of Hangzhou is analyzed and evaluated, and the scale and hierarchical structure characteristics of the urban commercial center system are studied. In order to make up for the shortcomings of the existing POI extraction method, it proposes a POI extraction method based on adaptive adjustment of search window, which can accurately and efficiently extract the POI data of commercial business in the main city of Hangzhou. Through the visualization and nuclear density analysis of the extracted Point of Interest (POI) data, the current situation of the commercial center system in the main city of Hangzhou is evaluated. Then it compares with the commercial center system structure of 'Hangzhou City Master Plan (2001-2020)', analyzes the problems existing in the planned urban commercial center system, and provides corresponding suggestions and optimization strategy for the optimization of the planning of Hangzhou commercial center system. Then get the following conclusions: The status quo of the commercial center system in the main city of Hangzhou presents a first-level main center, a two-level main center, three third-level sub-centers, and multiple community-level business centers. Generally speaking, the construction of the main center in the commercial center system is basically up to standard, and there is still a big gap in the construction of the sub-center and the regional-level commercial center, further construction is needed. Therefore, it proposes an optimized hierarchical functional system, organizes commercial centers in an orderly manner; strengthens the central radiation to drive surrounding areas; implements the construction guidance of the center, effectively promotes the development of group formation and further improves the commercial center system structure of the main city of Hangzhou.

Keywords: business center system, business format, main city of Hangzhou, POI extraction method

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338 Dynamic Modeling of the Impact of Chlorine on Aquatic Species in Urban Lake Ecosystem

Authors: Zhiqiang Yan, Chen Fan, Yafei Wang, Beicheng Xia

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Urban lakes play an invaluable role in urban water systems such as flood control, water supply, and public recreation. However, over 38% of the urban lakes have suffered from severe eutrophication in China. Chlorine that could remarkably inhibit the growth of phytoplankton in eutrophic, has been widely used in the agricultural, aquaculture and industry in the recent past. However, little information has been reported regarding the effects of chlorine on the lake ecosystem, especially on the main aquatic species.To investigate the ecological response of main aquatic species and system stability to chlorine interference in shallow urban lakes, a mini system dynamic model was developed based on the competition and predation of main aquatic species and total phosphorus circulation. The main species of submerged macrophyte, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, spiroggra and total phosphorus in water and sediment were used as variables in the model,while the interference of chlorine on phytoplankton was represented by an exponential attenuation equation. Furthermore, the eco-exergy expressing the development degree of ecosystem was used to quantify the complexity of the shallow urban lake. The model was validated using the data collected in the Lotus Lake in Guangzhoufrom1 October 2015 to 31 January 2016.The correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR) and index of agreement (IOA) were calculated to evaluate accuracy and reliability of the model.The simulated values showed good qualitative agreement with the measured values of all components. The model results showed that chlorine had a notable inhibitory effect on Microcystis aeruginos,Rachionus plicatilis, Diaphanosoma brachyurum Liévin and Mesocyclops leuckarti (Claus).The outbreak of Spiroggra.spp. inhibited the growth of Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara, leading to a gradual decrease of eco-exergy and the breakdown of ecosystem internal equilibria. This study gives important insight into using chlorine to achieve eutrophication control and understand mechanism process.

Keywords: system dynamic model, urban lake, chlorine, eco-exergy

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337 Physical Planning Strategies for Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness in Coastal Region of Andhra Pradesh, India

Authors: Thimma Reddy Pothireddy, Ramesh Srikonda

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India is prone to natural disasters such as Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides frequently due to its geographical considerations. It has become a persistent phenomenon as observed in last ten decades. The recent survey indicates that about 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities with reference to Richard scale, over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is vulnerable to drought. Climate change is likely to be perceived through the experience of extreme weather events. There is growing societal concern about climate change, given the potential impacts of associated natural hazards such as cyclones, flooding, earthquakes, landslides etc. The recent natural calamities such as Cyclone Hudhud had crossed the land at Northern cost of AP, Vishakapatanam on 12 Oct’2014 with a wind speed ranging between 175 – 200 kmph and the records show that the tidal waves were reached to the height of 14mts and above; and it alarms us to have critical focus on planning issues so as to find appropriate solutions. The existing condition is effective is in terms of institutional set up along with responsive management mechanism of disaster mitigation but considerations at settlement planning level to allow mitigation operations are not adequate. This paper deals to understand the response to climate change will possibly happen through adaptation to climate hazards and essential to work out an appropriate mechanism and disaster receptive settlement planning for responding to natural (and climate-related) calamities particularly to cyclones and floods. The statistics indicate that 40 million hectares flood prone (5% of area), and 1853 kmts of cyclone prone coastal length in India so it is essential and crucial to have appropriate physical planning considerations to improve preparedness and to operate mitigation measures effectively to minimize the loss and damage. Vijayawada capital region which is susceptible to cyclonic and floods has been studied with respect to trajectory analysis to work out risk vulnerability and to integrated disaster mitigation physical planning considerations.

Keywords: meta analysis, vulnerability index, physical planning, trajectories

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336 Dental Students' Acquired Knowledge of the Pre-Contemplation Stage of Change

Authors: S. Curtin, A. Trace

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Introduction: As patients can often be ambivalent about or resistant to any change in their smoking behavior the traditional ‘5 A’ model may be limited as it assumes that patients are ready and motivated to change. However, there is a stage model that is helpful to give guidance for dental students: the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). This model allows students to understand the tasks and goals for the pre-contemplation stage. The TTM was introduced in early stages as a core component of a smoking cessation programme that was integrated into a Behavioral Science programme as applied to dentistry. The aim of the present study is to evaluate and illustrate the students’ current level of knowledge from the questions the students generated in order to engage patients in the tasks and goals of the pre-contemplation stage. Method: N=47 responses of fifth-year undergraduate dental students. These responses were the data set for this study and related to their knowledge base of appropriate questions for a dentist to ask at the pre-contemplation stage of change. A deductive -descriptive analysis was conducted on the data. The goals and tasks of the pre-contemplation stage of the TTM provided a template for this deductive analysis. Results: 51% of students generated relevant, open, exploratory questions for the pre-contemplation stage, whilst 100% of students generated closed questions. With regard to those questions appropriate for the pre-contemplation stage, 19% were open and exploratory, while 66% were closed questions. A deductive analysis of the open exploratory questions revealed that 53% of the questions addressed increased concern about the current pattern of behavior, 38% of the questions concerned increased awareness of a need for change and only 8% of the questions dealt with the envisioning of the possibility of change. Conclusion: All students formulated relevant questions for the pre-contemplation stage, and half of the students generated the open, exploratory questions that increased patients’ awareness of the need to change. More training is required to facilitate a shift in the formulation from closed to open questioning, especially given that, traditionally, smoking cessation was modeled on the ‘5 As’, and that the general training for dentists supports an advisory and directive approach.

Keywords: behaviour change, pre-contemplation stage, trans-theoretical model, undergraduate dentistry students

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335 Importance of Assessing Racial Trauma after George Floyd in Children of Color in Schools

Authors: Gabriela Macera DiFilippo

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The world watched in disbelief as George Floyd was killed by a policeman. The images from the scene were made more memorable by Mr. Floyd’s pleas and cries for his mother. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum. Weeks and months after the protests, global interest in learning about tackling systemic racism erupted. One must wonder how school children of color viewed and processed this trauma. This study will examine the kinds of trauma experienced by children of color and the opportunity for school mental health providers to support these children. This study used literature searches that were previously conducted for proven and practical assessment methods that can help deal with racial trauma for children. As part of the assessment, trauma symptoms experienced by children of color were summarized and characterized in a non-imperial manner. The research was also will be done in practical ways to make adequate and effective mental health services available in schools and lessen the stigma. This research study found that there is a need to provide an analysis of the ongoing racial trauma of children of color after the death of George Floyd. Impactful and appropriate assessment methods, such as surveys, were presented to all school professionals. Lastly, this paper attempted to provide mental health professionals with the tools to screen and provide guidance based on unequivocal, unbiased methods for helping these children. There is a need for both schools and community leaders to ensure that every child has access to mental health care and is being assessed for their overall well-being. There is a need to educate the communities about racial trauma and its impact on individuals, especially children. School mental health professionals are encouraged to offer and educate schools and communities about racial trauma awareness, its importance, and ways to cope with it in different settings. The delivery of these informed services should focus on behavioral health and must be sensitive to children of color and different ways of self-care.

Keywords: trauma, children, black psychology, students

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334 A Study on the Urban Design Path of Historical Block in the Ancient City of Suzhou, China

Authors: Yan Wang, Wei Wu

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In recent years, with the gradual change of Chinese urban development mode from 'incremental development' to 'stock-based renewal', the urban design method of ‘grand scene’ in the past could only cope with the planning and construction of incremental spaces such as new towns and new districts, while the problems involved in the renewal of the stock lands such as historic blocks of ancient cities are more complex. 'Simplified' large-scale demolition and construction may lead to the damage of the ancient city's texture and the overall cultural atmosphere; thus it is necessary to re-explore the urban design path of historical blocks in the conservation context of the ancient city. Through the study of the cultural context of the ancient city of Suzhou in China and the interpretation of its current characteristics, this paper explores the methods and paths for the renewal of historical and cultural blocks in the ancient city. It takes No. 12 and No. 13 historical blocks in the ancient city of Suzhou as examples, coordinating the spatial layout and the landscape and shaping the regional characteristics to improve the quality of the ancient city's life. This paper analyses the idea of conservation and regeneration from the aspects of culture, life, business form, and transport. Guided by the planning concept of ‘block repair and cultural infiltration’, it puts forward the urban design path of ‘conservation priority, activation and utilization, organic renewal and strengthening guidance’, with a view to continuing the cultural context and stimulating the vitality of ancient city, so as to realize the integration of history, modernity, space and culture. As a rare research on urban design in the scope of Suzhou ancient city, the paper expects to explore the concepts and methods of urban design for the historic blocks on the basis of the conservation of the history, space, and culture and provides a reference for other similar types of urban construction.

Keywords: historical block, Suzhou ancient city, stock-based renewal, urban design

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333 Palestine Smart Tourism Augmented Reality Mobile Application

Authors: Murad Al-Rajab, Sherin Hazboun, Azhar Al-Hamamreh, Nirmeen Odeh, Siham Halaseh

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Tourism is considered an important sector for most countries, while maintaining good tourism attractions can promote national economic development. The State of Palestine is historically considered a wealthy country full of many archaeological places. In the city of Bethlehem, for example, the Church of the Nativity is the most important touristic site, but it does not have enough technology development to attract tourists. In this paper, we propose a smart mobile application named “Pal-STAR” (Palestine Smart Tourist Augmented Reality) as an innovative solution which targets tourists and assists them to make a visit inside the Church of the Nativity. The application will use augmented reality and feature a virtual tourist guide showing views of the church while providing historical information in a smart, easy, effective and user-friendly way. The proposed application is compatible with multiple mobile platforms and is considered user friendly. The findings show that this application will improve the practice of the tourism sector in the Holy Land, it will also increase the number of tourists visiting the Church of the Nativity and it will facilitate access to historical data that have been difficult to obtain using traditional tourism guidance. The value that tourism adds to a country cannot be denied, and the more technological advances are incorporated in this sector, the better the country’s tourism sector can be served. Palestine’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism in many of its main cities, despite several limitations, and technological development is needed to enable this sector to flourish. The proposed mobile application would definitely have a good impact on the development of the tourism sector by creating an Augmented Reality environment for tourists inside the church, helping them to navigate and learn about holy places in a non-traditional way, using a virtual tourist guide.

Keywords: smartphones, tourism, tourists guide, augmented reality, Palestine

Procedia PDF Downloads 145
332 Development of an Implicit Coupled Partitioned Model for the Prediction of the Behavior of a Flexible Slender Shaped Membrane in Interaction with Free Surface Flow under the Influence of a Moving Flotsam

Authors: Mahtab Makaremi Masouleh, Günter Wozniak

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This research is part of an interdisciplinary project, promoting the design of a light temporary installable textile defence system against flood. In case river water levels increase abruptly especially in winter time, one can expect massive extra load on a textile protective structure in term of impact as a result of floating debris and even tree trunks. Estimation of this impulsive force on such structures is of a great importance, as it can ensure the reliability of the design in critical cases. This fact provides the motivation for the numerical analysis of a fluid structure interaction application, comprising flexible slender shaped and free-surface water flow, where an accelerated heavy flotsam tends to approach the membrane. In this context, the analysis on both the behavior of the flexible membrane and its interaction with moving flotsam is conducted by finite elements based solvers of the explicit solver and implicit Abacus solver available as products of SIMULIA software. On the other hand, a study on how free surface water flow behaves in response to moving structures, has been investigated using the finite volume solver of Star CCM+ from Siemens PLM Software. An automatic communication tool (CSE, SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine) and the implementation of an effective partitioned strategy in form of an implicit coupling algorithm makes it possible for partitioned domains to be interconnected powerfully. The applied procedure ensures stability and convergence in the solution of these complicated issues, albeit with high computational cost; however, the other complexity of this study stems from mesh criterion in the fluid domain, where the two structures approach each other. This contribution presents the approaches for the establishment of a convergent numerical solution and compares the results with experimental findings.

Keywords: co-simulation, flexible thin structure, fluid-structure interaction, implicit coupling algorithm, moving flotsam

Procedia PDF Downloads 368
331 A Comprehensive Study of a Hybrid System Integrated Solid Oxide Fuel cell, Gas Turbine, Organic Rankine Cycle with Compressed air Energy Storage

Authors: Taiheng Zhang, Hongbin Zhao

Abstract:

Compressed air energy storage become increasingly vital for solving intermittency problem of some renewable energies. In this study, a new hybrid system on a combination of compressed air energy storage (CAES), solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), gas turbine (GT), and organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is proposed. In the new system, excess electricity during off-peak time is utilized to compress air. Then, the compressed air is stored in compressed air storage tank. During peak time, the compressed air enters the cathode of SOFC directly instead of combustion chamber of traditional CAES. There is no air compressor consumption of SOFC-GT in peak demand, so SOFC- GT can generate power with high-efficiency. In addition, the waste heat of exhaust from GT is recovered by applying an ORC. Three different organic working fluid (R123, R601, R601a) of ORC are chosen to evaluate system performance. Based on Aspen plus and Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software, energy and exergoeconomic analysis are used to access the viability of the combined system. Besides, the effect of two parameters (fuel flow and ORC turbine inlet pressure) on energy efficiency is studied. The effect of low-price electricity at off-peak hours on thermodynamic criteria (total unit exergy cost of products and total cost rate) is also investigated. Furthermore, for three different organic working fluids, the results of round-trip efficiency, exergy efficiency, and exergoeconomic factors are calculated and compared. Based on thermodynamic performance and exergoeconomic performance of different organic working fluids, the best suitable working fluid will be chosen. In conclusion, this study can provide important guidance for system efficiency improvement and viability.

Keywords: CAES, SOFC, ORC, energy and exergoeconomic analysis, organic working fluids

Procedia PDF Downloads 105
330 Study on the Influence of Different Lengths of Tunnel High Temperature Zones on Train Aerodynamic Resistance

Authors: Chong Hu, Tiantian Wang, Zhe Li, Ourui Huang, Yichen Pan

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When the train is running in a high geothermal tunnel, changes in the temperature field will cause disturbances in the propagation and superposition of pressure waves in the tunnel, which in turn have an effect on the aerodynamic resistance of the train. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the changes in the lengths of the high-temperature zone of the tunnel on the aerodynamic resistance of the train, clarifying the evolution mechanism of aerodynamic resistance of trains in tunnels with high ground temperatures. Firstly, moving model tests of trains passing through wall-heated tunnels were conducted to verify the reliability of the numerical method in this paper. Subsequently, based on the three-dimensional unsteady compressible RANS method and the standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model, the change laws of the average aerodynamic resistance under different high-temperature zone lengths were analyzed, and the influence of frictional resistance and pressure difference resistance on total resistance at different times was discussed. The results show that as the length of the high-temperature zone LH increases, the average aerodynamic resistance of a train running in a tunnel gradually decreases; when LH = 330 m, the aerodynamic resistance can be reduced by 5.7%. At the moment of maximum resistance, the total resistance, differential pressure resistance, and friction resistance all decrease gradually with the increase of LH and then remain basically unchanged. At the moment of the minimum value of resistance, with the increase of LH, the total resistance first increases and then slowly decreases; the differential pressure resistance first increases and then remains unchanged, while the friction resistance first remains unchanged and then gradually decreases, and the ratio of the differential pressure resistance to the total resistance gradually increases with the increase of LH. The results of this paper can provide guidance for scholars who need to investigate the mechanism of aerodynamic resistance change of trains in high geothermal environments, as well as provide a new way of thinking for resistance reduction in non-high geothermal tunnels.

Keywords: high-speed trains, aerodynamic resistance, high-ground temperature, tunnel

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329 Interdigitated Flexible Li-Ion Battery by Aerosol Jet Printing

Authors: Yohann R. J. Thomas, Sébastien Solan

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Conventional battery technology includes the assembly of electrode/separator/electrode by standard techniques such as stacking or winding, depending on the format size. In that type of batteries, coating or pasting techniques are only used for the electrode process. The processes are suited for large scale production of batteries and perfectly adapted to plenty of application requirements. Nevertheless, as the demand for both easier and cost-efficient production modes, flexible, custom-shaped and efficient small sized batteries is rising. Thin-film, printable batteries are one of the key areas for printed electronics. In the frame of European BASMATI project, we are investigating the feasibility of a new design of lithium-ion battery: interdigitated planar core design. Polymer substrate is used to produce bendable and flexible rechargeable accumulators. Direct fully printed batteries lead to interconnect the accumulator with other electronic functions for example organic solar cells (harvesting function), printed sensors (autonomous sensors) or RFID (communication function) on a common substrate to produce fully integrated, thin and flexible new devices. To fulfill those specifications, a high resolution printing process have been selected: Aerosol jet printing. In order to fit with this process parameters, we worked on nanomaterials formulation for current collectors and electrodes. In addition, an advanced printed polymer-electrolyte is developed to be implemented directly in the printing process in order to avoid the liquid electrolyte filling step and to improve safety and flexibility. Results: Three different current collectors has been studied and printed successfully. An ink of commercial copper nanoparticles has been formulated and printed, then a flash sintering was applied to the interdigitated design. A gold ink was also printed, the resulting material was partially self-sintered and did not require any high temperature post treatment. Finally, carbon nanotubes were also printed with a high resolution and well defined patterns. Different electrode materials were formulated and printed according to the interdigitated design. For cathodes, NMC and LFP were efficaciously printed. For anodes, LTO and graphite have shown to be good candidates for the fully printed battery. The electrochemical performances of those materials have been evaluated in a standard coin cell with lithium-metal counter electrode and the results are similar with those of a traditional ink formulation and process. A jellified plastic crystal solid state electrolyte has been developed and showed comparable performances to classical liquid carbonate electrolytes with two different materials. In our future developments, focus will be put on several tasks. In a first place, we will synthesize and formulate new specific nano-materials based on metal-oxyde. Then a fully printed device will be produced and its electrochemical performance will be evaluated.

Keywords: high resolution digital printing, lithium-ion battery, nanomaterials, solid-state electrolytes

Procedia PDF Downloads 226
328 Image Based Landing Solutions for Large Passenger Aircraft

Authors: Thierry Sammour Sawaya, Heikki Deschacht

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In commercial aircraft operations, almost half of the accidents happen during approach or landing phases. Automatic guidance and automatic landings have proven to bring significant safety value added for this challenging landing phase. This is why Airbus and ScioTeq have decided to work together to explore the capability of image-based landing solutions as additional landing aids to further expand the possibility to perform automatic approach and landing to runways where the current guiding systems are either not fitted or not optimum. Current systems for automated landing often depend on radio signals provided by airport ground infrastructure on the airport or satellite coverage. In addition, these radio signals may not always be available with the integrity and performance required for safe automatic landing. Being independent from these radio signals would widen the operations possibilities and increase the number of automated landings. Airbus and ScioTeq are joining their expertise in the field of Computer Vision in the European Program called Clean Sky 2 Large Passenger Aircraft, in which they are leading the IMBALS (IMage BAsed Landing Solutions) project. The ultimate goal of this project is to demonstrate, develop, validate and verify a certifiable automatic landing system guiding an airplane during the approach and landing phases based on an onboard camera system capturing images, enabling automatic landing independent from radio signals and without precision instrument for landing. In the frame of this project, ScioTeq is responsible for the development of the Image Processing Platform (IPP), while Airbus is responsible for defining the functional and system requirements as well as the testing and integration of the developed equipment in a Large Passenger Aircraft representative environment. The aim of this paper will be to describe the system as well as the associated methods and tools developed for validation and verification.

Keywords: aircraft landing system, aircraft safety, autoland, avionic system, computer vision, image processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 73
327 Analysis of Extreme Rainfall Trends in Central Italy

Authors: Renato Morbidelli, Carla Saltalippi, Alessia Flammini, Marco Cifrodelli, Corrado Corradini

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The trend of magnitude and frequency of extreme rainfalls seems to be different depending on the investigated area of the world. In this work, the impact of climate change on extreme rainfalls in Umbria, an inland region of central Italy, is examined using data recorded during the period 1921-2015 by 10 representative rain gauge stations. The study area is characterized by a complex orography, with altitude ranging from 200 to more than 2000 m asl. The climate is very different from zone to zone, with mean annual rainfall ranging from 650 to 1450 mm and mean annual air temperature from 3.3 to 14.2°C. Over the past 15 years, this region has been affected by four significant droughts as well as by six dangerous flood events, all with very large impact in economic terms. A least-squares linear trend analysis of annual maximums over 60 time series selected considering 6 different durations (1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h) showed about 50% of positive and 50% of negative cases. For the same time series the non-parametrical Mann-Kendall test with a significance level 0.05 evidenced only 3% of cases characterized by a negative trend and no positive case. Further investigations have also demonstrated that the variance and covariance of each time series can be considered almost stationary. Therefore, the analysis on the magnitude of extreme rainfalls supplies the indication that an evident trend in the change of values in the Umbria region does not exist. However, also the frequency of rainfall events, with particularly high rainfall depths values, occurred during a fixed period has also to be considered. For all selected stations the 2-day rainfall events that exceed 50 mm were counted for each year, starting from the first monitored year to the end of 2015. Also, this analysis did not show predominant trends. Specifically, for all selected rain gauge stations the annual number of 2-day rainfall events that exceed the threshold value (50 mm) was slowly decreasing in time, while the annual cumulated rainfall depths corresponding to the same events evidenced trends that were not statistically significant. Overall, by using a wide available dataset and adopting simple methods, the influence of climate change on the heavy rainfalls in the Umbria region is not detected.

Keywords: climate changes, rainfall extremes, rainfall magnitude and frequency, central Italy

Procedia PDF Downloads 218
326 The Use of Space Syntax in Urban Transportation Planning and Evaluation: Limits and Potentials

Authors: Chuan Yang, Jing Bie, Yueh-Lung Lin, Zhong Wang

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Transportation planning is an academic integration discipline combining research and practice with the aim of mobility and accessibility improvements at both strategic-level policy-making and operational dimensions of practical planning. Transportation planning could build the linkage between traffic and social development goals, for instance, economic benefits and environmental sustainability. The transportation planning analysis and evaluation tend to apply empirical quantitative approaches with the guidance of the fundamental principles, such as efficiency, equity, safety, and sustainability. Space syntax theory has been applied in the spatial distribution of pedestrian movement or vehicle flow analysis, however rare has been written about its application in transportation planning. The correlated relationship between the variables of space syntax analysis and authentic observations have declared that the urban configurations have a significant effect on urban dynamics, for instance, land value, building density, traffic, crime. This research aims to explore the potentials of applying Space Syntax methodology to evaluate urban transportation planning through studying the effects of urban configuration on cities transportation performance. By literature review, this paper aims to discuss the effects that urban configuration with different degrees of integration and accessibility have on three elementary components of transportation planning - transportation efficiency, transportation safety, and economic agglomeration development - via intensifying and stabilising the nature movements generated by the street network. And then the potential and limits of Space Syntax theory to study the performance of urban transportation and transportation planning would be discussed in the paper. In practical terms, this research will help future research explore the effects of urban design on transportation performance, and identify which patterns of urban street networks would allow for most efficient and safe transportation performance with higher economic benefits.

Keywords: transportation planning, space syntax, economic agglomeration, transportation efficiency, transportation safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 170
325 Making a Resilient Livable City: Explorations of Smart Management Mechanism for Aging Society’s Disaster Prevention

Authors: Wei-Kuang Liu, Ya-Hsu Chiang

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In the coming of an aging society, the issues of living quality, health care, and social security for the elderly have been gradually taken seriously. In order to maintain favorable living condition, urban societies are also facing the challenge of disasters caused by extreme climate change. However, in the practice of disaster prevention, elderly people are always weak due to their physiological conditions. That is to say, in the planning of resilient urbanism, the aging society is relatively in need of more care. Thus, this research aims to map areas where have high-density elderly population and fragile environmental condition in Taiwan, and to understand the actual situation of disaster prevention management in these areas, so as to provide suggestions for the development of intellectual resilient urban management. The research takes the cities of Taoyuan and Taichung as examples for explorations. According to GIS mapping of areas with high aging index, high-density population and high flooding potential, the communities of Sihai and Fuyuan in Taoyuan and the communities of Taichang and Nanshih in Taichung are highlighted. In these communities, it can be found that there are more elderly population and less labor population with high-density living condition. In addition, they are located in the areas where they have experienced severe flooding in the recent past. Based on a series of interviews with community organizations, there is only one community out of the four using flood information mobile app and Line messages for the management of disaster prevention, and the others still rely on the traditional approaches that manage the works of disaster prevention by their community security patrol teams and community volunteers. The interview outcome shows that most elderly people are not interested in learning the use of intellectual devices. Therefore, this research suggests to keep doing the GIS mapping of areas with high aging index, high-density population and high flooding potential for grasping the high-risk communities and to help develop smart monitor and forecast systems for disaster prevention practice in these areas. Based on case-study explorations, the research also advises that it is important to develop easy-to-use bottom-up and two-way immediate communication mechanism for the management of aging society’s disaster prevention.

Keywords: aging society, disaster prevention, GIS, resilient, Taiwan

Procedia PDF Downloads 102
324 ROSgeoregistration: Aerial Multi-Spectral Image Simulator for the Robot Operating System

Authors: Andrew R. Willis, Kevin Brink, Kathleen Dipple

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This article describes a software package called ROS-georegistration intended for use with the robot operating system (ROS) and the Gazebo 3D simulation environment. ROSgeoregistration provides tools for the simulation, test, and deployment of aerial georegistration algorithms and is available at github.com/uncc-visionlab/rosgeoregistration. A model creation package is provided which downloads multi-spectral images from the Google Earth Engine database and, if necessary, incorporates these images into a single, possibly very large, reference image. Additionally a Gazebo plugin which uses the real-time sensor pose and image formation model to generate simulated imagery using the specified reference image is provided along with related plugins for UAV relevant data. The novelty of this work is threefold: (1) this is the first system to link the massive multi-spectral imaging database of Google’s Earth Engine to the Gazebo simulator, (2) this is the first example of a system that can simulate geospatially and radiometrically accurate imagery from multiple sensor views of the same terrain region, and (3) integration with other UAS tools creates a new holistic UAS simulation environment to support UAS system and subsystem development where real-world testing would generally be prohibitive. Sensed imagery and ground truth registration information is published to client applications which can receive imagery synchronously with telemetry from other payload sensors, e.g., IMU, GPS/GNSS, barometer, and windspeed sensor data. To highlight functionality, we demonstrate ROSgeoregistration for simulating Electro-Optical (EO) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image sensors and an example use case for developing and evaluating image-based UAS position feedback, i.e., pose for image-based Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) applications.

Keywords: EO-to-EO, EO-to-SAR, flight simulation, georegistration, image generation, robot operating system, vision-based navigation

Procedia PDF Downloads 87
323 Decades of Educational Excellence: Case Studies of Successful Family-Owned Higher Educational Institutions

Authors: Maria Luz Macasinag

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This study aims to determine and to examine critically successful family-owned higher educational institutions towards identifying the attributes and practices that may likely have led to their success. This research is confined to private, non-sectarian, family-owned higher institutions of learning that have been operating for more than fifty years, had only one founder and had at least two transitions in terms of generation. The criteria for selecting family-owned universities to be part of the cases under investigation include institutions (1) with increasing enrollment over the past five years, with level III accreditation status, (3) with good performance in the Board examinations in most of its programs and (4) with high employability of graduates. The study uses the multiple case study method. A model based on the cross-case analysis of the attributes and practices of all the case studies of successful family- owned higher institutions of learning is the output. The paper provides insights to current and future school owners and administrators in the management of their institutions for competitiveness, sustainability and advancement. This research encourages the evaluation of how the ideas that may lead to the success of schools owned by families in developing a sense of community, a reciprocal relationship among colleagues, the students and other stakeholders will result to the attainment of the vision and mission of the school. The study is beneficial to entrepreneurs and to business students whose know-how may provide insights that would be helpful in guiding prospective school owners. The commission on higher education and the Department of Education stand to benefit from this academic paper for the guidance that they provide to family-owned educational institutions. Banks and other financial institutions may find valuable ideas from this academic paper for the purpose of providing financial assistance to colleges and universities that are family-owned. Researchers in the field of educational management and administration may be able to extract from this study related topics for future research.

Keywords: administration practices, attributes, family-owned schools, success factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 253
322 Factors Affecting Visual Environment in Mine Lighting

Authors: N. Lakshmipathy, Ch. S. N. Murthy, M. Aruna

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The design of lighting systems for surface mines is not an easy task because of the unique environment and work procedures encountered in the mines. The primary objective of this paper is to identify the major problems encountered in mine lighting application and to provide guidance in the solution of these problems. In the surface mining reflectance of surrounding surfaces is one of the important factors, which improve the vision, in the night hours. But due to typical working nature in the mines it is very difficult to fulfill these requirements, and also the orientation of the light at work site is a challenging task. Due to this reason machine operator and other workers in a mine need to be able to orient themselves in a difficult visual environment. The haul roads always keep on changing to tune with the mining activity. Other critical area such as dumpyards, stackyards etc. also change their phase with time, and it is difficult to illuminate such areas. Mining is a hazardous occupation, with workers exposed to adverse conditions; apart from the need for hard physical labor, there is exposure to stress and environmental pollutants like dust, noise, heat, vibration, poor illumination, radiation, etc. Visibility is restricted when operating load haul dumper and Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) vehicles resulting in a number of serious accidents. one of the leading causes of these accidents is the inability of the equipment operator to see clearly people, objects or hazards around the machine. Results indicate blind spots are caused primarily by posts, the back of the operator's cab, and by lights and light brackets. The careful designed and implemented, lighting systems provide mine workers improved visibility and contribute to improved safety, productivity and morale. Properly designed lighting systems can improve visibility and safety during working in the opencast mines.

Keywords: contrast, efficacy, illuminance, illumination, light, luminaire, luminance, reflectance, visibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 338
321 Good Practices for Model Structure Development and Managing Structural Uncertainty in Decision Making

Authors: Hossein Afzali

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Increasingly, decision analytic models are used to inform decisions about whether or not to publicly fund new health technologies. It is well noted that the accuracy of model predictions is strongly influenced by the appropriateness of model structuring. However, there is relatively inadequate methodological guidance surrounding this issue in guidelines developed by national funding bodies such as the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) and The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK. This presentation aims to discuss issues around model structuring within decision making with a focus on (1) the need for a transparent and evidence-based model structuring process to inform the most appropriate set of structural aspects as the base case analysis; (2) the need to characterise structural uncertainty (If there exist alternative plausible structural assumptions (or judgements), there is a need to appropriately characterise the related structural uncertainty). The presentation will provide an opportunity to share ideas and experiences on how the guidelines developed by national funding bodies address the above issues and identify areas for further improvements. First, a review and analysis of the literature and guidelines developed by PBAC and NICE will be provided. Then, it will be discussed how the issues around model structuring (including structural uncertainty) are not handled and justified in a systematic way within the decision-making process, its potential impact on the quality of public funding decisions, and how it should be presented in submissions to national funding bodies. This presentation represents a contribution to the good modelling practice within the decision-making process. Although the presentation focuses on the PBAC and NICE guidelines, the discussion can be applied more widely to many other national funding bodies that use economic evaluation to inform funding decisions but do not transparently address model structuring issues e.g. the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) in Australia or the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.

Keywords: decision-making process, economic evaluation, good modelling practice, structural uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 165