Search results for: confidence interval lengths

Authors: Ana Jurkeviciute, Larisa Grigorieva, Ksenia Moskvinа

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Oil shale alkylresorcinols are formed as a by-product in oil shale processing. They are unique raw material for chemical industry. Polycondensation resins obtaining is one of the worthwhile directions of oil shale alkylresorcinols use. These resins are widely applied in many branches of industry such as wood-working, metallurgic, tire, rubber products, construction etc. Possibility of resins obtaining using overall alkylresorcinols will allow to cheapen finished products on their base and to widen the range of resins offered on the market. Synthesis of polycondensation resins on the basis of alkylresorcinols was conducted by several methods in the process of investigations. In the formulations a part of resorcinol was replaced by fractions of oil shale alkylresorcinols containing different amount of 5-methylresorcinol (40-80 mass %). Some resins were modified by aromatic alkene at the stage of synthesis. Thermal stability and degradation behavior of resins were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) method both in an inert nitrogen environment and in an oxidative environment of air. TGA integral curves were obtained and processed in dynamic mode for interval of temperatures from 25 to 830 °C. Rate of temperature rise was 5°C/min, gas flow rate - 50 ml/min. Resins power for carbonization was evaluated by carbon residue. Physical-chemical parameters of the resins were determined. Content of resorcinol and 5-methylresorcinol not reacted in the process of synthesis were determined by gas chromatography method.

Keywords: resorcinol, oil shale alkylresorcinols, aromatic alkene, polycondensation resins, modified resins

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Authors: Yael Leibovitch

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Teaching academic writing is a source of concern for secondary schools. Many students struggle to meet the basic standards of literacy while teacher confidence in this arena remains low. These issues are compounded by the conventionally prescriptive character of writing instruction, which fails to engage student writers. At the same time, a growing body of research on dialogic teaching has highlighted the powerful role of talk in student learning. With the intent of enhancing pedagogical capability, this paper shares finding from a co-inquiry case study that investigated how teachers think about and negotiate classroom discourse to position students as effective academic writers and thinkers. Using a range of qualitative methods, this project closely documents the iterative collaboration of educators as they sought to create more opportunities for dialogic engagement. More specifically, it triangulates both teacher and student data regarding the efficacy of interdependent thinking and collaborative reasoning as organizing principals for literacy learning. Findings indicate that a dialogic teaching repertoire helps to develop the cognitive and metacognitive skills of adolescent writers. In addition, they underscore the importance of sustained professional collaboration to the uptake of new writing pedagogies.

Keywords: dialogic teaching, writing, teacher professional development, student literacy

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Authors: A. S. Lourens, B. Du Plooy

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Across the world, initiatives have been introduced to encourage women to enter into and remain in engineering fields. However, research has shown that many women leave engineering or suffer a loss of self-esteem and self-confidence compared to their male counterparts. To address this problem, a South African comprehensive university developed a self-leadership intervention pilot study in 2013, aimed at improving the self-efficacy of its female engineering students and increasing retention rates. This paper is a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretive study of the rationale and operational aspects of the Women in Engineering Leadership Association’s (WELA) self-leadership workshop. The objectives of this paper are to provide a framework for the design of a self-leadership workshop and to provide insight into the process of developing such a workshop specifically for women engineering students at a South African university. Finally, the paper proposes an evaluation process for the pilot workshop, which also provides a framework to improve future workshops. It is anticipated that the self-leadership development framework will be applicable to other higher education institutions wishing to improve women engineering student’s feelings of self-efficacy and therefore retention rates of women in engineering.

Keywords: co-curricular interventions, self-efficacy, self-leadership, women in engineering

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Authors: Muhammad Atif Randhawa, Mahreen Akhtar, Sidrah

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In this paper, Jamun (Syzygium cumini; Myrtaceae) drink enriched with jamun pulp and seed was assessed for different physicochemical parameters (titratable acidity, pH, TSS, ascorbic acid, and total sugars and reducing sugars) and phytochemical aspects at every 15 days interval till 60 days storage period. Jamun pulp both with seed and without seed were used at levels of 7, 10 and 13 percent to prepare jamun drink in six combinations; T1 (7% pulp without seed), T2 (10% pulp without seed), T3 (13% pulp without seed), T4 (7% pulp with seed), T5 (10% pulp with seed), T6 (13% pulp with seed). Storage period resulted decrease in pH (4.18 to 4.08) and ascorbic acid (21.92%) significantly along with phenolic contents (6.13 to 4.85g of GAE/kg) and antioxidant activity (70.68 to 48.62 percent) within treatments. All treatments showed significant increases in total sugars (11.59 to 11.80%), reducing sugars (2.30 to 2.50%), TSS (12.2 to 13.32 °B) and acidity (0.23% to 0.31%) during storage. Treatments T3, T5 and T6 showed best results in terms of all physicochemical parameters during storage. Statistically significant differences were obtained among sensory parameters as a function of pulp type and concentration, while treatment T5 (10% pulp with seed) obtained highest score (7.16) in terms of all sensory parameters. It can be concluded that nutrient rich jamun drink can be prepared as an attempt to add value to the underutilized jamun fruit of Pakistan.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, Jamun beverage, physicochemical, storage

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Adriana B. Ribeiro, Camila B. Araujo, Frank L. Bueno, Luiz Eduardo V. Silva, Caroline V. Fortes, Helio C. Salgado, Rubens Fazan Jr., Claudia H. L. da Silva

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Denture-related stomatitis (DRS) has recently been associated with deleterious cardiovascular effects, including hypertension. This study evaluated salivary parameters, blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV), before and after DRS treatment in edentulous patients (n=14). Collection of unstimulated and stimulated saliva, as well as blood pressure (BP) measurements and electrocardiogram recordings were performed before and after 10 days of DRS treatment. The salivary flow (mL/min) was found similar at both times while pH was smaller (more neutral) after treatment (7.3 ± 2.2 vs. 7.1 ± 0.24). Systolic BP (mmHg) showed a trend, but not a significant reduction after DRS treatment (158 ± 25.68 vs. 148 ± 16,72, p=0,062) while diastolic BP was found similar in both times (86 ± 13.93 and 84 ± 9.38). Overall HRV, measured by standard deviation of RR intervals was not affected by DRS treatment (24 ± 4 vs 18 ± 2 ms), but differences of successive RR intervals (an index of parasympathetic cardiac modulation) increased after the treatment (26 ± 4 vs 19 ± 2 ms). Moreover, another index of vagal modulation of the heart, the power of RR interval spectra at high-frequency, was also markedly higher after DRS treatment (236 ± 63 vs 135 ± 32 ms²). Such findings strongly suggest that DRS is linked to an autonomic imbalance with sympathetic overactivity, which is markedly deleterious, increasing cardiovascular risk and the incidence of diseases such as hypertension. Acknowledgment: This study is supported by FAPESP, CNPq.

Keywords: biofilm, denture stomatitis, HRV, blood pressure

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Authors: Rosy Joseph

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From an algebraic point of view, Semirings provide the most natural generalization of group theory and ring theory. In the absence of additive inverse in a semiring, one had to impose a weaker condition on the semiring, i.e., the additive cancellative law to study interesting structural properties. In many practical situations, fuzzy numbers are used to model imprecise observations derived from uncertain measurements or linguistic assessments. In this connection, a special class of fuzzy numbers whose shape is symmetric with respect to a vertical line called the symmetric fuzzy numbers i.e., for α ∈ (0, 1] the α − cuts will have a constant mid-point and the upper end of the interval will be a non-increasing function of α, the lower end will be the image of this function, is suitable. Based on this description, arithmetic operations and a ranking technique to order the symmetric fuzzy numbers were dealt with in detail. Wherein it was observed that the structure of the class of symmetric fuzzy numbers forms a commutative semigroup with cancellative property. Also, it forms a multiplicative monoid satisfying sub-distributive property.In this paper, we introduce the algebraic structure, sub-distributive semiring and discuss its various properties viz., ideals and prime ideals of sub-distributive semiring, sub-distributive ring of difference etc. in detail. Symmetric fuzzy numbers are visualized as an illustration.

Keywords: semirings, subdistributive ring of difference, subdistributive semiring, symmetric fuzzy numbers

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Authors: Marzieh Khedmati, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt

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Vegetative Filter Strips (VFS) are used for controlling the volume of runoff and decreasing contaminant concentrations in runoff before entering water bodies. Many studies have investigated the role of VFS in sediment and nutrient removal, but little is known about their efficiency for the removal of emerging contaminants such as antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Vegetative Filter Strip Modeling System (VFSMOD) was used to simulate the efficiency of VFS in this regard. Several studies demonstrated the ability of VFSMOD to predict reductions in runoff volume and sediment concentration moving through the filters. The objectives of this study were to calibrate the VFSMOD with experimental data and assess the efficiency of the model in simulating the filter behavior in removing ARGs (ermB) and tylosin. The experimental data were obtained from a prior study conducted at the University of Nebraska (UNL) Rogers Memorial Farm. Three treatment factors were tested in the experiments, including manure amendment, narrow grass hedges and rainfall events. Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) was defined as the filter efficiency and the related experimental and model values were compared to each other. The VFS Model generally agreed with the experimental results and as a result, the model was used for predicting filter efficiencies when the runoff data are not available. Narrow Grass Hedges (NGH) were shown to be effective in reducing tylosin and ARGs concentration. The simulation showed that the filter efficiency in removing ARGs is different for different soil types and filter lengths. There is an optimum length for the filter strip that produces minimum runoff volume. Based on the model results increasing the length of the filter by 1-meter leads to higher efficiency but widening beyond that decreases the efficiency. The VFSMOD, which was proved to work well in estimation of VFS trapping efficiency, showed confirming results for ARG removal.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance genes, emerging contaminants, narrow grass hedges, vegetative filter strips, vegetative filter strip modeling system

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Authors: Mulugeta Gurum Gerechal

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In this piece of study, food safety questions and potential health risks make this as one of the most serious environmental concerns. Then, the levels of essential and non-essential heavy metals concentration were studied in Onion, Carrot, Swiss chard and Lettuce vegetables and compared the permissible levels with international guidelines for safe food. The concentration of Fe was found in the higher concentrations compared to other metals analyzed or significantly different at 95% confidence level than the rest metals studied in this study. However, the levels of the concentration of Cd and Pb exceeded the permissible level set by WHO specifications in water samples, Cd and Pb exceeded the permissible level set by FAO/WHO specifications in all vegetable samples collected from Adiahferom River Fe and Cu were also found below the recommended levels. The higher concentration of Pb and Cd above the permissible level in vegetables used for human food may pose health risk to consumer. However, the Fe hasn’t any health effect they take on from the Adiahferom body River. Mostly, the levels of metals in similar vegetable samples differed between the three sampling site, that may be due to variation in sources and processes of contaminations.

Keywords: Adiahferom, turbidity, temperature, physico-chemical, assessment

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Authors: Showkat Ahmad Lone, Ahmadur Rahman, Ariful Islam

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The major assumption in accelerated life tests (ALT) is that the mathematical model relating the lifetime of a test unit and the stress are known or can be assumed. In some cases, such life–stress relationships are not known and cannot be assumed, i.e. ALT data cannot be extrapolated to use condition. So, in such cases, partially accelerated life test (PALT) is a more suitable test to be performed for which tested units are subjected to both normal and accelerated conditions. This study deals with estimating information about failure times of items under step-stress partially accelerated life tests using progressive failure-censored hybrid data with random removals. The life data of the units under test is considered to follow exponential life distribution. The removals from the test are assumed to have binomial distributions. The point and interval maximum likelihood estimations are obtained for unknown distribution parameters and tampering coefficient. An optimum test plan is developed using the D-optimality criterion. The performances of the resulting estimators of the developed model parameters are evaluated and investigated by using a simulation algorithm.

Keywords: binomial distribution, d-optimality, multiple censoring, optimal design, partially accelerated life testing, simulation study

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Authors: Chih Hung Shih

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Eyewitness identification is one of the efficient information to identify suspects during criminal investigation. However eyewitness identification is improved frequently, inaccurate and plays vital roles in wrongful convictions. Most eyewitness misidentifications are made during police criminal investigation stage and then accepted by juries. Four failure investigation case studies in Taiwan are conduct to demonstrate how misidentifications are caused during the police investigation context. The result shows that there are several common grounds among these cases: (1) investigators lacked for knowledge about eyewitness memory so that they couldn’t evaluate the validity of the eyewitnesses’ accounts and identifications, (2) eyewitnesses were always asked to filter out several suspects during the investigation, and received investigation information which contaminated the eyewitnesses’ memory, (3) one to one live individual identifications were made in most of cases, (4) eyewitness identifications were always used to support the hypotheses of investigators, and exaggerated theirs powers when conform with the investigation lines, (5) the eyewitnesses’ confidence didn’t t reflect the validity of their identifications , but always influence the investigators’ beliefs for the identifications, (6) the investigators overestimated the power of the eyewitness identifications and ignore the inconsistency with other evidence. Recommendations have been proposed for future academic research and police practice of eyewitness identification in Taiwan.

Keywords: criminal investigation, eyewitness identification, investigative bias, investigative failures

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Authors: Raghad Dwaik

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It is well known in language acquisition literature that a mere understanding of a reading text is not enough to help students build proficiency in comprehension. Students should rather follow understanding by attempting to express what has been understood by pushing their competence to the limit. Learners' attempt to push their competence was given the term "comprehensible output" by Swain (1985). Teachers in large classes, however, find it sometimes difficult to give all students a chance to communicate their views or to share their ideas during the short class time. In most cases, students who are outgoing dominate class discussion and get more opportunities for practice which leads to ignoring the shy students totally while helping the good ones become better. This paper presents the idea of using Google Classroom features of posting and commenting to allow students who hesitate to participate in class discussions about a reading text to write their views on the wall of a Google Classroom and share them later after they have received feedback and comments from classmates. Such attempts lead to developing their proficiency through additional practice in comprehensible output and to enhancing their confidence in themselves and their views. It was found that virtual classroom interaction would help students maintain vocabulary, use more complex structures and focus on meaning besides form.

Keywords: learning groups, reading TESOL, Google Classroom, comprehensible output

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Authors: E. A. Kiridi, A. O. Ogunlela

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The control of ammonia build-up and its by-product is a limiting factor for a successful commercial aquaculture in a developing country like Nigeria. The technology for an advanced treatment of fish tank effluent is uneconomical to local fish farmers which have led to indiscriminate disposal of aquaculture wastewater, thereby increasing the concentrations of these nitrogenous compound and other contaminants in surface and groundwater above the permissible level. Phytoremediation using water lettuce could offer cheaper and sustainable alternative. On the first day of experimentation, approximately 100 g of water lettuce were replicated in four hydroponic units containing aquaculture effluents. The water quality parameters measured were concentration of ammonium–nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), nitrite-nitrogen (NO₂^--N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃^--N), and phosphate–phosphorus (PO₄^3--P). Others were total suspended solids (TSS), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and biomass value. At phytoremediation intervals of 7, 14, 21 and 28 days, the biomass recorded were 361.2 g, 498.7 g, 561.2 g, and 623.7 g. Water lettuce was able to reduce the pollutant concentration of all the selected parameter. The percentage reduction of pH ranged from 3.9% to 14.4%, EC from 49.8% to 96.2%, TDS from 50.4% to 96.2%, TSS from 38.3% to 81.7%, NH₄⁺-N from 38.9% to 90.7%, NO₂^--N from 0% to 74.9%, NO₃^--N from 63.2% to 95.9% and PO₄^3--P from 0% to 76.3%. At 95% confidence level, the analysis of variance shows that F(critical) is less than F(cal) and p < 0.05; therefore, it can be concluded statistically that the inequality between the pre-treatment and post-treatment values are significant. This suggests the potency of water lettuce for remediation of aquaculture effluent.

Keywords: aquaculture effluent, nitrification, phytoremediation, water lettuce

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Authors: Nooshin Salari, Viliam Makis, Jane Doe

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This paper presents a maintenance policy for a system consisting of two units. Unit 1 is gradually deteriorating and is subject to soft failure. Unit 2 has a general lifetime distribution and is subject to hard failure. Condition of unit 1 of the system is monitored periodically and it is considered as failed when its deterioration level reaches or exceeds a critical level N. At the failure time of unit 2 system is considered as failed, and unit 2 will be correctively replaced by the next inspection epoch. Unit 1 or 2 are preventively replaced when deterioration level of unit 1 or age of unit 2 exceeds the related preventive maintenance (PM) levels. At the time of corrective or preventive replacement of unit 2, there is an opportunity to replace unit 1 if its deterioration level reaches the opportunistic maintenance (OM) level. If unit 2 fails in an inspection interval, system stops operating although unit 1 has not failed. A mathematical model is derived to find the preventive and opportunistic replacement levels for unit 1 and preventive replacement age for unit 2, that minimize the long run expected average cost per unit time. The problem is formulated and solved in the semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) framework. Numerical example is provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed model and the comparison of the proposed model with an optimal policy without opportunistic maintenance level for unit 1 is carried out.

Keywords: condition-based maintenance, opportunistic maintenance, preventive maintenance, two-unit system

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Ujjval J. Solanki, Prof.(Dr.) P.J. Gundaliya, Prof.M.D. Barasara

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The application of Falling Weight Deflectometer is to evaluate structural performance of the flexible pavement. The exercise of back calculation is required to know the modulus of elasticity of existing in-service pavement. The process of back calculation needs in-depth field experience for the input of range of modulus of elasticity of bituminous, granular and subgrade layer, and its required number of trial to find such matching moduli with the observed FWD deflection on the field. The study carried out at Barnala-Mansa State Highway Punjab-India using FWD before and after overlay; the deflections obtained at 0 on the load cell, 300, 600, 900,1200, 1500 and 1800 mm interval from the load cell these seven deflection results used to calculate Surface Curvature Index (SCI), Base damage Index (BDI), Base curvature index (BCI). This SCI, BCI and BDI indices are useful to predict the structural performance of in-service pavement and also useful to identify homogeneous section for condition assessment. The SCI, BCI and BDI range are determined for before and after overlay the range of SCI 520 to 51 BDI 294 to 63 BCI 83 to 0.27 for old pavement and SCI 272 to 23 BDI 228 to 28, BCI 25.85 to 4.60 for new pavement. It also shows good correlation with back calculated modulus of elasticity of all the three layer.

Keywords: back calculation, base damage index, base curvature index, FWD (Falling Weight Deflectometer), surface curvature index

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Authors: Fatemeh Havas Beigi

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The purpose of this study is to identify the objectives of a multicultural curriculum for the primary education period from the perspective of ethnic teachers and education experts and cultural professionals. The research paradigm is interpretive, the research approach is qualitative, the research strategy is content analysis, the sampling method is purposeful and it is a snowball, and the sample of informants in the research for Iranian ethnic teachers and experts until the theoretical saturation was estimated to be 67 people. The data collection tools used were based on semi-structured interviews and individual interviews and focal interviews were used to collect information. The data format was also in audio format and the first period coding and the second coding were used to analyze the data. Based on data analysis 11 Objective: Paying attention to ethnic equality, expanding educational opportunities and justice, peaceful coexistence, anti-ethnic and racial discrimination education, paying attention to human value and dignity, accepting religious diversity, getting to know ethnicities and cultures, promoting teaching-learning, fostering self-confidence, building national unity, and developing cultural commonalities for a multicultural curriculum were identified.

Keywords: objective, multicultural curriculum, connect, elementary education period

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Authors: Elham Zarenezhad, Ali Zarenezhad, Mehdi Mardkhoshnood

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We described the synthesis and biological study of O-oxime ethers having a-amino acid residues as new analogs of IPS-339. In this synthesis, the reaction of fluorene O-oxime with epichlorohydrin or epibromohydrin afforded the corresponding O-oxime ether adducts. The N-alkylation of valine amino acid with O-oxime ether adducts led to the synthesis of new analogs of IPS-339. The cardiovascular properties of the compound have been studied. In this regard, six clinically healthy same sex mongrel dogs were examined. The dogs were randomly divided into 3 groups of two members. 1 groups received 2 mg kg-1 body weight of compound (2-(3-(9H-fluoren-9-ylideneaminooxy)-2- hydroxypropylamino)-3-methylbutanoic acid) intravenously, whereas group 2 and 3 received only DMSO–water (distil.) and propranolol (Inderal) (2 mg kg-1), respectively. The electrocardiograph (ECG) was recorded with lead II. The recording was run successively by 5 min time interval on each dog before, simultaneously, and after compound infusion. Data after administration were taken from normal sinus beats that were closely related to the arrhythmias whenever they occurred. In general, no detectable arrhythmia was observed in all ECG records regardless of increasing the heart rate that likely caused by stress origin from invasive procedure just after infusion. Compound diminished the heart rate during study especially at 20th minute compared to propranolol as a reference drug. Compound (2-(3-(9H-fluoren-9-ylideneaminooxy)-2- hydroxypropylamino)-3-methylbutanoic acid) was the most effective compound with remarkable ability in declining of the heart rate.

Keywords: electrocardiograph (ECG), cardiovascular, IPS-339, dogs

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Authors: James Kinsella

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There is currently very little understanding of how the interaction between in- vestors, consumers, the firms (agents) affect a) the transmission of information, and b) the creation and transfer of value and wealth between these two groups. Employing scholarly ideas from multiple research areas (behavioural finance, emotional finance, econo-biology, and game theory) we develop a conceptual the- oretic model (the ‘bow-tie’ model) as a framework for considering this interaction. Our bow-tie model views information transfer, value and wealth creation, and transfer through the lens of “investor-consumer connection facilitated through the communicative medium of the ‘firm’ (agents)”. We confront our bow-tie model with theoretical and practical examples. Next, we utilise consumer and business confidence data alongside index data, to conduct quantitative analy- sis, to support our bow-tie concept, and to introduce the concept of “investor- consumer connection”. We highlight the importance of information persuasiveness, knowledge, and emotional categorization of characteristics in facilitating a communicative relationship between investors, consumers, and the firm (agents), forming academic and practical applications of the conceptual bow-tie model, alongside applications to wider instances, such as those seen within the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keywords: behavioral finance, emotional finance, economy-biology, social mood

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Authors: R. Ruslee, H. Gollee

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Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a commonly used technique in rehabilitation and often associated with rapid muscle fatigue which becomes the limiting factor in its applications. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects on the onset of fatigue of conventional synchronous stimulation, as well as asynchronous stimulation that mimic voluntary muscle activation targeting different motor units which are activated sequentially or randomly via multiple pairs of stimulation electrodes. We investigate three different approaches with various electrode configurations, as well as different patterns of stimulation applied to the gastrocnemius muscle: Conventional Synchronous Stimulation (CSS), Asynchronous Sequential Stimulation (ASS) and Asynchronous Random Stimulation (ARS). Stimulation was applied repeatedly for 300 ms followed by 700 ms of no-stimulation with 40 Hz effective frequency for all protocols. Ten able-bodied volunteers (28±3 years old) participated in this study. As fatigue indicators, we focused on the analysis of Normalized Fatigue Index (NFI), Fatigue Time Interval (FTI) and pre-post Twitch-Tetanus Ratio (ΔTTR). The results demonstrated that ASS and ARS give higher NFI and longer FTI confirming less fatigue for asynchronous stimulation. In addition, ASS and ARS resulted in higher ΔTTR than conventional CSS. In this study, we proposed a randomly distributed stimulation method for the application of FES and investigated its suitability for reducing muscle fatigue compared to previously applied methods. The results validated that asynchronous stimulation reduces fatigue, and indicates that random stimulation may improve fatigue resistance in some conditions.

Keywords: asynchronous stimulation, electrode configuration, functional electrical stimulation (FES), muscle fatigue, pattern stimulation, random stimulation, sequential stimulation, synchronous stimulation

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Authors: Janice Cheong, Tan Seying

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The growing years in adolescence are often a tumultuous time for both the individual and family; this is especially so for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Social Communication Disorder (SCD). Tea Club, which is adapted from the PEERS® for Young Adults, seeks to address some of the social challenges faced by Singaporean adolescents with ASD/SCD while navigating social situations. Tea club (hybrid) consists of face-to-face sessions and virtual sessions. These sessions work with both the adolescent and their parents to tackle the individual's difficulties with social skills, empathy, and loneliness. Prior to the group intervention, both participants and their parents scored on the Test of Adolescent Social Skills Knowledge (TASSK) and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), respectively. The session was spread across four months. At the end of the group based intervention, participants’ and parents’ scores were collected again and compared. Inputs on the programme and participant’s confidence in socialization were also gathered from both participants and their parents and looked at thematically. The findings highlight some of the challenges faced by teens with ASD in Singapore and the benefits of the intervention. Parental sentiments are also examined and discussed.

Keywords: adolescence autism, group intervention, social communication disorder, social skills

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Authors: Oscar Maina Irungu

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Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Mtwapa Town, Kilifi County are at high risk of HIV infection. Probability sample surveys to determine HIV prevalence among MSM in Mtwapa are needed to inform prevention and care services. Methods: In 2013, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among MSM aged 18-24 years old, using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Mtwapa. Consenting MSM were tested for HIV (fingerstick rapid test). Population-based prevalence and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using RDS Analysis Tool (RDSAT). Results: Among 274 MSM, the median age was 20 years (IQR: 19-23 years). Fifty percent of MSM reported not selling sex, while 13.2 % reported sex work as their “main occupation”, and another 28.4 % reported selling sex in the past two months (but not as their main occupation).Overall HIV prevalence was 19.2 % (CI: 12.2-23.6%). HIV prevalence was higher among MSM who reported sex work as their main occupation (28.3%,CI: 12.1-42.3%) or selling sex in the past two months (26.6 %, CI: 17.2-35.7 %),than among MSM who did not sell sex (11.6%,CI: 7.0-18.1%). Conclusion: HIV prevalence among MSM were high than among Kilifi’s general population aged 15-64 years (8.8%; 2010 KAIS) and highest in male sex workers. Health programs need to address concerns and modify services to meet needs of diverse subgroups of MSM. We recommend continued, periodic surveillance to monitor HIV prevalence among MSM in Mtwapa, and expansion to other areas in Kenya.

Keywords: power point, Kenya, homosexuality, sex

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: M. Z. Raqab, Debasis Kundu, M. A. Meraou

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In this paper, we have analyzed maximum precipitation data during a particular period of time obtained from different stations in the Global Historical Climatological Network of the USA. One important point to mention is that some stations are shut down on certain days for some reason or the other. Hence, the maximum values are recorded by excluding those readings. It is assumed that the number of stations that operate follows zero-truncated Poisson random variables, and the daily precipitation follows a lognormal random variable. We call this model a compound truncated Poisson lognormal model. The proposed model has three unknown parameters, and it can take a variety of shapes. The maximum likelihood estimators can be obtained quite conveniently using Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. Approximate maximum likelihood estimators are also derived. The associated confidence intervals also can be obtained from the observed Fisher information matrix. Simulation results have been performed to check the performance of the EM algorithm, and it is observed that the EM algorithm works quite well in this case. When we analyze the precipitation data set using the proposed model, it is observed that the proposed model provides a better fit than some of the existing models.

Keywords: compound Poisson lognormal distribution, EM algorithm, maximum likelihood estimation, approximate maximum likelihood estimation, Fisher information, skew distribution

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Authors: Majid Gharaipour Abbasabad

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This research is studying the effects that various densities of Zeatin, and BA hormones may have on the scale of transformation of plant nodes to new shoots, among seedlings produced by seed germination, and also surveys the amount of produced shoots and their lengths, inside the specific Olive seed lab medium (OM). It is also concerned with the effects that various densities of IBA hormone, and inoculating the shoots with Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 can have on shoots' root production. This is a totally random research, and each attendance group has had three occurrences, and ten samples per a hectare. The average amounts have been compared using Duncan's test method, which was done in 5% level. The results indicated that the highest rate of transformation of micro samples to shoots happened in the seed germination environments, containing Zetain with 5 mg, and also 15 mg per a liter densities. (respectively, 95% and 94%), while the highest rate of plants' stem production ,in micro samples, happened in the lab medium environments with 5mg per a liter Zetain density (4.5). In lab medium environments with 15 mg Zetain per liter, a decrease was observed in the number of produced stems (3.88). According to the produced stems' lenght, the longest stem length was observed in environments with 5 mg and also 15 mg per a liter Zetain, and 25 mg per a liter BA densities (respectively, 8.45 cm, 45.66 cm, 8.53 cm). Meanwhile, the lowest amount of transformation of micro samples to shoots, the lowest number of produced shoots, and the shortest shoots were observed in the environments without any hormones (respectively, 3.32 cm, 1.13, 19.66%). The results of root production in Olive indicated that attendance groups which were exposed to different hormones did not vary, and Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 had no effect on them, as well. The lowest root's growth rate (22%) happened in environments without any hormones and also, in environment with Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 (19.66%). The largest number of roots was observed in the environments, containing Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 plus IBA (10 mg/l) and Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 plus IBA (10 mg/l), (respectively, 8.46 and 8.70), which had a significant difference with environments merely containing 10 mg and 20 mg of IBA per a litre (respectively, 3.06 and 3.2). So it can be concluded that even though Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 had no impact on root's growth among shoots, it had an impact on the number of produced roots. It should be noted that even when the environment contained merely Agrobacterium Rhizogenez A4 without any hormones, only (1.16) roots were produced, which is significantly different from the attendance group with hormones (1.06).

Keywords: olive-effect of hormones-germination of seed, densities of zeatin, BA hormones, agriculture

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Authors: Bhavesh Dadhich, Fenil Bamnoliya, Akshita Swaminathan

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This project aims to design a system to generate energy from flowing wind due to the motion of a vehicle on the road or from the flow of wind in compact areas to utilize the wasteful energy into a useful one. It is envisaged through a design and aerodynamic performance improvement of a Savonius vertical axis wind turbine rotor and used in an integrated system with a Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) that can generate a good amount of electrical energy. Aerodynamic calculations are performed numerically using Computational Fluid Dynamics software, and TENG's performance is evaluated analytically. The Turbine's coefficient of power is validated with published results for an inlet velocity of 7 m/s with a Tip Speed Ratio of 0.75 and found to reasonably agree with that of experiment results. The baseline design is modified with a new blade arc angle and rotor position angle based on the recommended parameter ranges suggested by previous researchers. Simulations have been performed for different T.S.R. values ranging from 0.25 to 1.5 with an interval of 0.25 with two applicable free stream velocities of 5 m/s and 7m/s. Finally, the newly designed VAWT CFD performance results are used as input for the analytical performance prediction of the triboelectric nanogenerator. The results show that this approach could be feasible and useful for small power source applications.

Keywords: savonius turbine, power, overlap ratio, tip speed ratio, TENG

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Authors: Eylem Tas

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This empirical study aims to explore the development of students' entrepreneurial skills through problem-based learning within the context of university-industry collaborations (UICs) in curriculum co-design and co-delivery (CDD). The research question guiding this study is: "How do problem-based learning and university-industry collaborations influence the development of students' entrepreneurial skills in the context of curriculum co-design and co-delivery?” To address this question, the study was conducted in a big city in Germany and involved interviews with stakeholders from various industries, including the private sector, government agencies (govt), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These stakeholders had established collaborative partnerships with the targeted university for projects encompassing entrepreneurial development aspects in CDD. The study sought to gain insights into the intricacies and subtleties of UIC dynamics and their impact on fostering entrepreneurial skills. Qualitative content analysis, based on Mayring's guidelines, was employed to analyze the interview transcriptions. Through an iterative process of manual coding, 442 codes were generated, resulting in two main sections: "the role of problem-based learning and UIC in fostering entrepreneurship" and "challenges and requirements of problem-based learning within UIC for systematical entrepreneurship development.” The chosen experimental approach of semi-structured interviews was justified by its capacity to provide in-depth perspectives and rich data from stakeholders with firsthand experience in UICs in CDD. By enlisting participants with diverse backgrounds, industries, and company sizes, the study ensured a comprehensive and heterogeneous sample, enhancing the credibility of the findings. The first section of the analysis delved into problem-based learning and entrepreneurial self-confidence to gain a deeper understanding of UIC dynamics from an industry standpoint. It explored factors influencing problem-based learning, alignment of students' learning styles and preferences with the experiential learning approach, specific activities and strategies, and the role of mentorship from industry professionals in fostering entrepreneurial self-confidence. The second section focused on various interactions within UICs, including communication, knowledge exchange, and collaboration. It identified key elements, patterns, and dynamics of interaction, highlighting challenges and limitations. Additionally, the section emphasized success stories and notable outcomes related to UICs' positive impact on students' entrepreneurial journeys. Overall, this research contributes valuable insights into the dynamics of UICs and their role in fostering students' entrepreneurial skills. UICs face challenges in communication and establishing a common language. Transparency, adaptability, and regular communication are vital for successful collaboration. Realistic expectation management and clearly defined frameworks are crucial. Responsible data handling requires data assurance and confidentiality agreements, emphasizing the importance of trust-based relationships when dealing with data sharing and handling issues. The identified key factors and challenges provide a foundation for universities and industrial partners to develop more effective UIC strategies for enhancing students' entrepreneurial capabilities and preparing them for success in today's digital age labor market. The study underscores the significance of collaborative learning and transparent communication in UICs for entrepreneurial development in CDD.

Keywords: collaborative learning, curriculum co-design and co-delivery, entrepreneurial skills, problem-based learning, university-industry collaborations

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Authors: M. S. Gadala, Khaled Ahmed, Elasadig Mahdi

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In this paper, we introduced a gradient-based inverse solver to obtain the missing boundary conditions based on the readings of internal thermocouples. The results show that the method is very sensitive to measurement errors, and becomes unstable when small time steps are used. The artificial neural networks are shown to be capable of capturing the whole thermal history on the run-out table, but are not very effective in restoring the detailed behavior of the boundary conditions. Also, they behave poorly in nonlinear cases and where the boundary condition profile is different. GA and PSO are more effective in finding a detailed representation of the time-varying boundary conditions, as well as in nonlinear cases. However, their convergence takes longer. A variation of the basic PSO, called CRPSO, showed the best performance among the three versions. Also, PSO proved to be effective in handling noisy data, especially when its performance parameters were tuned. An increase in the self-confidence parameter was also found to be effective, as it increased the global search capabilities of the algorithm. RPSO was the most effective variation in dealing with noise, closely followed by CRPSO. The latter variation is recommended for inverse heat conduction problems, as it combines the efficiency and effectiveness required by these problems.

Keywords: inverse analysis, function specification, neural net works, particle swarm, run-out table

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Grace O. Babarinde, Adegoke O.Gabriel, Rahman Akinoso, Adekanye Bosede R.

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Health risks associated with the use of synthetic chemicals to control post-harvest losses in fruit calls for use of natural biodegradable compounds. The potential of Piper guineense as postharvest preservative for Roma tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was investigated. Freshly harvested red tomato (200 g) was dipped into five concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% w/v) of P. guineense aqueous extract, while untreated fruits served as control. The samples were stored under refrigeration and analysed at 5-day interval for physico-chemical properties. P. guineense essential oil (EO) was characterised using GC-MS and its tomato preservative potential was evaluated. Percentage weight loss (PWL) in extract-treated tomato ranged from 0.0-0.68% compared to control (0.3-19.97%) during storage. Values obtained for firmness ranged from 8.23-16.88 N and 8.4 N in extract-treated and control. pH reduced from 5.4 to 4.5 and 3.7 in extract-treated and untreated samples, respectively. Highest value of Total Soluble Solid (1.8 °Brix) and maximum retention of Ascorbic acid (13.0 mg/100 g) were observed in 4% P. guineense-treated samples. Predominant P. guineense EO components were zingiberene (9.9%), linalool (10.7%), β-caryophyllene (12.6%), 1, 5-Heptadiene, 6-methyl-2-(4-methyl-3-cyclohexene-l-yl) (16.4%) and β-sesquiphellandrene (23.7%). Tomatoes treated with EO had lower PWL (5.2%) and higher firmness (14.2 N) than controls (15.3% and 11.9 N) respectively. The result indicates that P. guineense can be incorporated in to post harvest technology of Roma tomato fruit.

Keywords: aqueous extract, essential oil, piper guineense, Roma tomato, storage condition

Procedia PDF Downloads 476

Authors: Talita Veldsman, Elzette Fritz

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Many children attending special education present with sensory integration difficulties that hamper their learning and behaviour. These learners can benefit from therapeutic interventions as part of their classroom curriculum that can address sensory development and allow for holistic development to take place. A research study was conducted by utilizing socio-drama as a therapeutic intervention in the classroom in order to develop sensory integration skills. The use of socio-drama as therapeutic intervention proved to be a successful multi-disciplinary approach where education and psychology could build a bridge of growth and integration. The paper describes how socio-drama was used in the classroom and how these sessions were designed. The research followed a qualitative approach and involved six Afrikaans-speaking children attending special secondary school in the age group 12-14 years. Data collection included observations during the session, reflective art journals, semi-structured interviews with the teacher and informal interviews with the adolescents. The analysis found improved self-confidence, better social relationships, sensory awareness and self-regulation in the participants after a period of a year.

Keywords: education, sensory integration, sociodrama, classroom intervention, psychology

Procedia PDF Downloads 577

Authors: Arezoo Fallahi

Abstract:

We aimed at investigating the association between health beliefs and exercise behavior in infertile women who were at risk of developing osteoporosis. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Sanandaj city, west of Iran in 2018. From 35 comprehensive healthcare centers, 483 infertile women were included in the study through convenience sampling. Standardized face-to-face interviews were conducted using established, reliable instruments for the assessment of exercise behavior behavior and health beliefs. Logistic regression models were applied to assess the association between exercise behavior and health beliefs. Estimates were adjusted for age, job status, income, literacy, and duration and type of infertility. We reported estimated logits and Odds Ratios (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Employed women compared to housewives had substantially higher odds of adopting exercise behavior behaviors (OR=3.19, 95% CI=1.53-6.66, p<0.01). Moreover, the odds of exercise behavior adoption increased with self-efficacy (OR=1.35, 95% CI=1.20-1.52, p<0.01), and decreased with perceived barriers (OR=0.90, 95% CI=0.84-0.97, p<0.01). It is essential to increase perceived self-efficacy and reduce perceived barriers to promote EB in infertile women. Consequently, health professionals should develop or adopt appropriate strategies to decrease barriers and increase self-efficacy to enhance exercise behavior in this group of women.

Keywords: infertility, women, exercise, osteoporosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Sungmin Park, Gyungmok Nam, Seungpyo Woo, Young Choi, Sangheon Park, Sang-Hee Yoon

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Puncturing human skin with microneedles is critically important for microneedle-mediate drug delivery. Despite of extensive efforts in the past decades, the scale-up fabrication of sharp-tipped and high-aspect-ratio microneedles, especially made of biodegradable polymers, is still a long way off. Here, we present a UV dose insensitive and cost-effective microfabrication method for the biodegradable polymer microneedles with sharp tips and long lengths which can pierce human skin with low insertion force. The biodegradable polymer microneedles are fabricated with the polymer solution casting where a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA, 50:50) solution is coated onto a SU-8 mold prepared with a reverse, ramped, and rotational (R3) UV exposure. The R3 UV exposure is modified from the multidirectional UV exposure both to suppress UV reflection from the bottom surface without anti-reflection layers and to optimize solvent concentration in the SU-8 photoresist, therefore achieving robust (i.e., highly insensitive to UV dose) and cost-effective fabrication of biodegradable polymer microneedles. An optical model for describing the spatial distribution of UV irradiation dose of the R3 UV exposure is also developed to theoretically predict the microneedle geometry fabricated with the R3 UV exposure and also to demonstrate the insensitiveness of microneedle geometry to UV dose. In the experimental characterization, the microneedles fabricated with the R3 UV exposure are compared with those fabricated with a conventional method (i.e., multidirectional UV exposure). The R3 UV exposure-based microfabrication reduces the end-tip radius by a factor of 5.8 and the deviation from ideal aspect ratio by 74.8%, compared with conventional method-based microfabrication. The PLGA microneedles fabricated with the R3 UV exposure pierce full-thickness porcine skins successfully and are demonstrated to completely dissolve in PBS (phosphate-buffered saline). The findings of this study will lead to an explosive growth of the microneedle-mediated drug delivery market.

Keywords: R³ UV exposure, optical model, UV dose, reflection, solvent concentration, biodegradable polymer microneedle

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Eko Budi Santoso, Kazia Laturette, Stanislaus Adnanto Mastan

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This study aims to examine the association between disclosure of social responsibility and tax aggressiveness in developing countries, namely Thailand. This is due to the increasing trend of disclosure of social responsibility in developing countries, even though this disclosure of information is still voluntary. On the other hand, developing countries have low taxation rate and investor protection infrastructures that allow the disclosure of social responsibility to be used opportunistically as a tool to fool the attainment of interests. This study also examines the role of assurance on the association between corporate social responsibility disclosure and tax aggressiveness. The assurance aims to provide confidence that the disclosure of social responsibility by the company is valid. This research builds an index to measure the disclosure of social responsibility based on the rules issued by the innovative Global Reporting. The results of the study are based on a sample of publicly traded companies in Thailand, which showed a positive association between disclosure of corporate social responsibility and tax aggressiveness, but it was further discovered that these results were mitigated by the existence of assurance against disclosure of corporate social responsibility. The results of this study indicate that the disclosure of corporate social responsibility can show that the company cares about the issue of social responsibility but does not automatically make the company as one that holds ethical values ​​in its business practices.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility disclosure, tax aggressiveness, sustainability assurance, business ethics

Procedia PDF Downloads 148