Search results for: dusit area workplace
8345 The Synergistic Effects of Using Silicon and Selenium on Fruiting of Zaghloul Date Palm (Phoenix dectylifera L.)
Authors: M. R. Gad El- Kareem, A. M. K. Abdel Aal, A. Y. Mohamed
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During 2011 and 2012 seasons, Zaghloul date palms received four sprays of silicon (Si) at 0.05 to 0.1% and selenium (Se) at 0.01 to 0.02%. Growths, nutritional status, yield as well as physical and chemical characteristics of the fruits in response to application of silicon and selenium were investigated. Single and combined applications of silicon at 0.05 to 0.1% and selenium at 0.01 to 0.02% was very effective in enhancing the leaf area, total chlorophylls, percentages of N, P, and K in the leaves, yield, bunch weight as well as physical and chemical characteristics of the fruits in relative to the check treatment. Silicon was superior to selenium in this respect. Combined application was favourable than using each alone in this connection. Treating Zaghloul date palms four times with a mixture of silicon at 0.05% + selenium at 0.01% resulted in an economical yield and producing better fruit quality.Keywords: date palms, Zaghloul, silicon, selenium, leaf area
Procedia PDF Downloads 3918344 Comparison Analysis on the Safety Culture between the Executives and the Operators: Case Study in the Aircraft Manufacturer in Taiwan
Authors: Wen-Chen Hwang, Yu-Hsi Yuan
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According to the estimation made by researchers of safety and hygiene, 80% to 90% of workplace accidents in enterprises could be attributed to human factors. Nevertheless, human factors are not the only cause for accidents; instead, happening of accidents is also closely associated with the safety culture of the organization. Therefore, the most effective way of reducing accident rate would be to improve the social and the organizational factors that influence organization’s safety performance. Overview the present study is to understand the current level of safety culture in manufacturing enterprises. A tool for evaluating safety culture matching the needs and characteristics of manufacturing enterprises was developed by reviewing literature of safety culture, and taking the special backgrounds of the case enterprises into consideration. Expert validity was also implied for developing the questionnaire. Moreover, safety culture assessment was conducted through the practical investigation of the case enterprises. Total 505 samples were involved, 53 were executives and 452 were operators. The result of this study in comparison of the safety culture level between the executives and the operators was reached the significant level in 8 dimensions: Safety Commitment, Safety System, Safety Training, Safety Involvement, Reward and Motivation, Communication and Reporting, Leadership and Supervision, Learning and Changing. In general, the overall safety culture were executive level higher than operators level (M: 74.98 > 69.08; t=2.87; p < 0.01).Keywords: questionnaire survey, safety culture, t-test, media studies
Procedia PDF Downloads 3158343 Climatic Roots of Piracy in Red Sea
Authors: Nasser Karami
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Piracy in the North West of Indian Ocean and the Red Sea has become a global crisis in recent years. Pirates of this area are often very poor people from the Horn of Africa and the western coast of the Red Sea. Climatic and geographical evidence suggests that poverty and destruction of social structures in the region have directly relation to prolonged-drought. Indeed, after the seventies (more than 40 years ago) due to the long-term drought in the region, all political, economic and social structures had declined. Spread of terrorism, violent extremism and of course piracy, are main effects of climate change and drought of this regression. It is disturbing to say the climatic documents say that because of global climate change, severe drought will continue in this region. This mean that the dangers worse than piracy threatens the future of this area. Forty-year data that has assessed in this study indicate that there is direct relationship between spread of drought and piracy in the Red Sea.Keywords: climate, poverty, climate change, drought, piracy in red sea
Procedia PDF Downloads 4988342 The Effects of Fertilizer in the Workplace on Male Infertility: About Workers of Unit NPK in Complex Fertial Annaba
Authors: B. Loukil, L. Mallem, M. S. Boulakoud
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Inorganic fertilizers consist mainly of salts of ammonium nitrate, phosphate and potassium, the combination of primary nutrients NPK including secondary and micro nutrients are essential for plant growth, used for intensive agriculture, ranching, and horticultural crops, to increase soil fertility and ensure sustainable crop production. The manufacture of fertilizers is generally at a high temperature and high pressure, in the presence of several highly hazardous chemicals, dust and gases. These products are absorbed high in the airway, increasing the airway resistance thereby adversely affecting the pulmonary functions of workers. A study was conducted on 34 employees, especially exposed to nitrate derivatives. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed to all employees in the unit. The workers were divided into two groups according to age. Several hormonal parameters Assay were measured. The results of the questionnaire have detected a fertility problem, Concerning the hormones a significant reduction in the concentration of testosterone in both groups and LH in the group aged 30 to 40 year were noted compared to the control. However, an increase in the concentration of prolactin in both groups compared to the control. There was a significant decrease in FSH in the group aged 30 to 40 always in compared with the control group.Keywords: fertilizers, healthy worker, risk, fertility
Procedia PDF Downloads 3998341 Comparison of Computer Software for Swept Path Analysis on Example of Special Paved Areas
Authors: Ivana Cestar, Ivica Stančerić, Saša Ahac, Vesna Dragčević, Tamara Džambas
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On special paved areas, such as road intersections, vehicles are usually moving through horizontal curves with smaller radii and occupy considerably greater area compared to open road segments. Planning procedure of these areas is mainly an iterative process that consists of designing project elements, assembling those elements to a design project, and analyzing swept paths for the design vehicle. If applied elements do not fulfill the swept path requirements for the design vehicle, the process must be carried out again. Application of specialized computer software for swept path analysis significantly facilitates planning procedure of special paved areas. There are various software of this kind available on the global market, and each of them has different specifications. In this paper, comparison of two software commonly used in Croatia (Auto TURN and Vehicle Tracking) is presented, their advantages and disadvantages are described, and their applicability on a particular paved area is discussed. In order to reveal which one of the analyszed software is more favorable in terms of swept paths widths, which one includes input parameters that are more relevant for this kind of analysis, and which one is more suitable for the application on a certain special paved area, the analysis shown in this paper was conducted on a number of different intersection types.Keywords: software comparison, special paved areas, swept path analysis, swept path input parameters
Procedia PDF Downloads 3218340 The Importance of Development Evaluation to Preterm Children in Remote Area
Authors: Chung-Yuan Wang, Min Hsu, Bo-Ya Juan, Hsiv Ching Lin, Hsveh Min Lin, Hsiu-Fang Yeh
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The success of Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) system attracts widespread praise from the international society. However, the availability of medical care in a emote area is limited. Without the convenient public transportation system and mature social welfare policy, these people are difficult to regain their health and prevent disability. Preterm children have more risk to get development delay. Preterm children in a remote area have the human right to get rehabilitation resources as those in the city area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to show the importance of development screening to preterm children in a remote area and a tract the government to notice the issue. In Pingtung, children who are suspected development delay would be suggested to take a skillful screening evaluation in our hospital. Those preterm children (within 1-year-old) visited our pediatric clinic would also be referred to take the development evaluation. After the physiatrist’s systemic evaluation, the subjects would be scheduled to take the development evaluation. Gross motor, fine motor, speech comprehension/expression and mental study were included. The evaluation was in-charged by a physical therapist, occupational therapy, speech therapist and pediatric psychologist. The tools were Peabody developmental scale, Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III) and Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R). In 2013, 459 children received the service in our hospital. Among these children, fifty-seven were noted with preterm baby history (gestation within 37 weeks). Thirty-six of these preterm children, who had never receive development evaluation, were included in this study. Thirty-six subjects (twenty-six male and ten female) were included. Nineteen subjects were found development delay. Six subjects were found suspected development delay. In gross motor, six subjects were development delay and eight were suspected development delay. In fine motor, five subjects were development delay and three were suspected development delay. In speech, sixteen subjects were development delay and six were suspected development delay. In our study, through the provision of development evaluation service, 72.2% preterm baby were found their development delay or suspected delay. They need further early intervention rehabilitation service. We made their parents realize that when development delay was recognized at the early stage, they are often reversible. No only the patients but also their families were improved their health status. The number of the subjects was limited in our study. Further study might be needed. Compared with 770 physical therapist (PT) and 370 occupational therapy (OT) in Taipei, there are only 108 PT and 54 OT in Pingtung. Further, there are much fewer therapists working on the field of pediatric rehabilitation. Living healthy is a human's right, no matter where does he live. For those development delay children in remote area, particularly preterm children, early detection, and early intervention rehabilitation service could play an important role in decreasing their disability and improving their quality of life. Through this study, we suggest the government to add more national resources on the development evaluation to preterm children in a remote area.Keywords: development, early intervention, preterm children, rehabilitation
Procedia PDF Downloads 4388339 Identifying Neighborhoods at Potential Risk of Food Insecurity in Rural British Columbia
Authors: Amirmohsen Behjat, Aleck Ostry, Christina Miewald, Bernie Pauly
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Substantial research has indicated that socioeconomic and demographic characteristics’ of neighborhoods are strong determinants of food security. The aim of this study was to develop a Food Insecurity Neighborhood Index (FINI) based on the associated socioeconomic and demographic variables to identify the areas at potential risk of food insecurity in rural British Columbia (BC). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique was used to calculate the FINI for each rural Dissemination Area (DA) using the food security determinant variables from Canadian Census data. Using ArcGIS, the neighborhoods with the top quartile FINI values were classified as food insecure. The results of this study indicated that the most food insecure neighborhood with the highest FINI value of 99.1 was in the Bulkley-Nechako (central BC) area whereas the lowest FINI with the value of 2.97 was for a rural neighborhood in the Cowichan Valley area. In total, 98.049 (19%) of the rural population of British Columbians reside in high food insecure areas. Moreover, the distribution of food insecure neighborhoods was found to be strongly dependent on the degree of rurality in BC. In conclusion, the cluster of food insecure neighbourhoods was more pronounced in Central Coast, Mount Wadington, Peace River, Kootenay Boundary, and the Alberni-Clayoqout Regional Districts.Keywords: neighborhood food insecurity index, socioeconomic and demographic determinants, principal component analysis, Canada census, ArcGIS
Procedia PDF Downloads 1698338 Prospectivity Mapping of Orogenic Lode Gold Deposits Using Fuzzy Models: A Case Study of Saqqez Area, Northwestern Iran
Authors: Fanous Mohammadi, Majid H. Tangestani, Mohammad H. Tayebi
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This research aims to evaluate and compare Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based fuzzy models for producing orogenic gold prospectivity maps in the Saqqez area, NW of Iran. Gold occurrences are hosted in sericite schist and mafic to felsic meta-volcanic rocks in this area and are associated with hydrothermal alterations that extend over ductile to brittle shear zones. The predictor maps, which represent the Pre-(Source/Trigger/Pathway), syn-(deposition/physical/chemical traps) and post-mineralization (preservation/distribution of indicator minerals) subsystems for gold mineralization, were generated using empirical understandings of the specifications of known orogenic gold deposits and gold mineral systems and were then pre-processed and integrated to produce mineral prospectivity maps. Five fuzzy logic operators, including AND, OR, Fuzzy Algebraic Product (FAP), Fuzzy Algebraic Sum (FAS), and GAMMA, were applied to the predictor maps in order to find the most efficient prediction model. Prediction-Area (P-A) plots and field observations were used to assess and evaluate the accuracy of prediction models. Mineral prospectivity maps generated by AND, OR, FAP, and FAS operators were inaccurate and, therefore, unable to pinpoint the exact location of discovered gold occurrences. The GAMMA operator, on the other hand, produced acceptable results and identified potentially economic target sites. The P-A plot revealed that 68 percent of known orogenic gold deposits are found in high and very high potential regions. The GAMMA operator was shown to be useful in predicting and defining cost-effective target sites for orogenic gold deposits, as well as optimizing mineral deposit exploitation.Keywords: mineral prospectivity mapping, fuzzy logic, GIS, orogenic gold deposit, Saqqez, Iran
Procedia PDF Downloads 1218337 A Study of Factors Affecting the Elapsed Time of Housing Renewal Project Implementation in Seoul
Authors: In Su Na, Gunwon Lee, Seiyong Kim
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This study analyzed the effect of area variables and economic variables on the length of each period of the project in order to analyze the effect of agreement rate on project implementation in housing renewal projects. In conclusion, as can be seen from these results, a low agreement rate may not translate into project promotion, and a higher agreement rate may not translate into project delay. The expectation of the policy is that the lower the agreement rate, the more projects would be promoted, but that is not the actual effect. From a policy consistency viewpoint, changing the agreement rate frequently, depending on the decision of the public, is not reasonable. The policy of using agreement rate as a necessary condition for project implementation should be reconsidered.Keywords: Area and Economic Variables, Elapsed time, Housing Renewal Project
Procedia PDF Downloads 4568336 Asynchronous Low Duty Cycle Media Access Control Protocol for Body Area Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Yasin Ghasemi-Zadeh, Yousef Kavian
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Wireless body area networks (WBANs) technology has achieved lots of popularity over the last decade with a wide range of medical applications. This paper presents an asynchronous media access control (MAC) protocol based on B-MAC protocol by giving an application for medical issues. In WBAN applications, there are some serious problems such as energy, latency, link reliability (quality of wireless link) and throughput which are mainly due to size of sensor networks and human body specifications. To overcome these problems and improving link reliability, we concentrated on MAC layer that supports mobility models for medical applications. In the presented protocol, preamble frames are divided into some sub-frames considering the threshold level. Actually, the main reason for creating shorter preambles is the link reliability where due to some reasons such as water, the body signals are affected on some frequency bands and causes fading and shadowing on signals, therefore by increasing the link reliability, these effects are reduced. In case of mobility model, we use MoBAN model and modify that for some more areas. The presented asynchronous MAC protocol is modeled by OMNeT++ simulator. The results demonstrate increasing the link reliability comparing to B-MAC protocol where the packet reception ratio (PRR) is 92% also covers more mobility areas than MoBAN protocol.Keywords: wireless body area networks (WBANs), MAC protocol, link reliability, mobility, biomedical
Procedia PDF Downloads 3698335 A Study on the Motivational Factors of Women Entrepreneurship
Authors: Gladys Oppong, Saumya Singh, Pramod Pathak
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Women entrepreneurship has started establishing itself globally. Despite various social hurdles, Indian women have proved their strength in the area of entrepreneurship. Rising pattern of women entrepreneurship in Indian context make it significant to know the reason behind it. It’s a normal perception that women with financially strong backgrounds are highly motivated to progress in the area of entrepreneurship while lack of money becomes a major restraint for others. The proposed study attempts to identify the motivational factors for becoming women entrepreneur. The research work is to be conducted on women entrepreneurs. For this purpose, factor analysis will be used. The study has identified a set of motivational factors namely family business, social status, education and qualification, self-fulfillment and achievement among others that give momentum to the women to become an entrepreneur. The outcome of the study will be helpful in developing women entrepreneurship in India.Keywords: women entrepreneurship, motivation, family business, social status
Procedia PDF Downloads 3458334 Hydrodynamics of Selected Ethiopian Rift Lakes
Authors: Kassaye Bewketu Zellelew
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The Main Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes suffer from water level fluctuations due to several natural and anthropocentric factors. Lakes located at terminal positions are highly affected by the fluctuations. These fluctuations are disturbing the stability of ecosystems, putting very serious impacts on the lives of many animals and plants around the lakes. Hence, studying the hydrodynamics of the lakes was found to be very essential. The main purpose of this study is to find the most significant factors that contribute to the water level fluctuations and also to quantify the fluctuations so as to identify lakes that need special attention. The research method included correlations, least squares regressions, multi-temporal satellite image analysis and land use change assessment. The results of the study revealed that much of the fluctuations, specially, in Central Ethiopian Rift are caused by human activities. Lakes Abiyata, Chamo, Ziway and Langano are declining while Abaya and Hawassa are rising. Among the studied lakes, Abiyata is drastically reduced in size (about 28% of its area in 1986) due to both human activities (most dominant ones) and natural factors. The other seriously affected lake is Chamo with about 11% reduction in its area between 1986 and 2010. Lake Abaya was found to be relatively stable during this period (showed only a 0.8% increase in its area). Concerned bodies should pay special attention to and take appropriate measures on lakes Abiyata, Chamo and Hawassa.Keywords: correlations, hydrodynamics, lake level fluctuation, landsat satellite images
Procedia PDF Downloads 2658333 "Good" Discretion Among Private Sector Street Level Bureaucrats
Authors: Anna K. Wood, Terri Friedline
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In April and May 2020, the private banking industry approved over 1.7 million emergency small business loans, totaling over $650 billion in federal relief funds as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since the program’s rollout, the extensive evidence of discriminatory lending and misuse of funds has been revealed by investigative journalism and academic studies. This study is based on 41 interviews with frontline banking industry professionals conducted during the days and weeks of the PPP rollout, presenting a real-time narrative of the program rollout through the eyes of those in the role of a street-level bureaucrat. We present two themes from this data about the conditions under which these frontline workers experienced the PPP: Exigent Timelines and Defaulting to Existing Workplace Norms and Practices. We analyze these themes using literature on street-level organizations, bureaucratic discretion, and the differences between public and private sector logic. The results of this study present new directions for theorizing sector-level differences in street-level bureaucratic discretion in the context of mixed-sector collaboration on public service delivery, particularly under conditions of crisis and urgency.Keywords: street level bureaucracy, social policy, bureaucratic discretion, public private partnerships
Procedia PDF Downloads 1048332 Forest Fire Burnt Area Assessment in a Part of West Himalayan Region Using Differenced Normalized Burnt Ratio and Neural Network Approach
Authors: Sunil Chandra, Himanshu Rawat, Vikas Gusain, Triparna Barman
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Forest fires are a recurrent phenomenon in the Himalayan region owing to the presence of vulnerable forest types, topographical gradients, climatic weather conditions, and anthropogenic pressure. The present study focuses on the identification of forest fire-affected areas in a small part of the West Himalayan region using a differential normalized burnt ratio method and spectral unmixing methods. The study area has a rugged terrain with the presence of sub-tropical pine forest, montane temperate forest, and sub-alpine forest and scrub. The major reason for fires in this region is anthropogenic in nature, with the practice of human-induced fires for getting fresh leaves, scaring wild animals to protect agricultural crops, grazing practices within reserved forests, and igniting fires for cooking and other reasons. The fires caused by the above reasons affect a large area on the ground, necessitating its precise estimation for further management and policy making. In the present study, two approaches have been used for carrying out a burnt area analysis. The first approach followed for burnt area analysis uses a differenced normalized burnt ratio (dNBR) index approach that uses the burnt ratio values generated using the Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) band and Near Infrared (NIR) bands of the Sentinel-2 image. The results of the dNBR have been compared with the outputs of the spectral mixing methods. It has been found that the dNBR is able to create good results in fire-affected areas having homogenous forest stratum and with slope degree <5 degrees. However, in a rugged terrain where the landscape is largely influenced by the topographical variations, vegetation types, tree density, the results may be largely influenced by the effects of topography, complexity in tree composition, fuel load composition, and soil moisture. Hence, such variations in the factors influencing burnt area assessment may not be effectively carried out using a dNBR approach which is commonly followed for burnt area assessment over a large area. Hence, another approach that has been attempted in the present study utilizes a spectral mixing method where the individual pixel is tested before assigning an information class to it. The method uses a neural network approach utilizing Sentinel-2 bands. The training and testing data are generated from the Sentinel-2 data and the national field inventory, which is further used for generating outputs using ML tools. The analysis of the results indicates that the fire-affected regions and their severity can be better estimated using spectral unmixing methods, which have the capability to resolve the noise in the data and can classify the individual pixel to the precise burnt/unburnt class.Keywords: categorical data, log linear modeling, neural network, shifting cultivation
Procedia PDF Downloads 548331 Hotel Customers’ Attitudes towards Service Marketing Mix, Service Behavior, and Perceived Brand Value
Authors: Trikhun Rotkasem
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This research paper aimed to investigate hotel customers’ attitudes towards the service marketing, service behavior and perceived brand value. The focus of the study was on the Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University’s hotel. It is a small hotel which aims to provide service to mainly university’s guests. A simple random sampling technique was conducted to obtain a sample group that included 200 respondents. The research question was established as follows: What are customers’ attitudes towards the service marketing mix of hotel customers? The findings revealed the respondents’ attitudes towards the service marketing mix indicated high level in the area of product, place or distribution channel, people, and physical evidence, whereas, the respondents’ attitude towards the service marketing mix indicated medium level in the area of price, promotion, and process.Keywords: marketing mix, perceived brand value, service behavior, hotel customers
Procedia PDF Downloads 4428330 Demographic Component Role in Rural Development in the Region of Bucovina
Authors: Morar (Bumbu) Nicoleta Ileana
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Located in the northeastern part of Romania in a cross-border area, Bucovina region, due to historical events that took place here, is characterized by the cohabitation in the same area of a significant number of ethnic communities, represented in 54% by rural population. In addition to providing the natural, economic history and decision makers, the demographic component is responsible for the region's development trajectory to which it belongs. The influence that people exert on rural development is shown by the values of the different demographic indicator. This study will analyze the demographic indicators obtained against a strong database, emphasizing the indicators that favor the rural development of the region and those that prevent it. The study is useful in defining the rightful directions that rural economic development can focus on, also representing an important tool in developing strategies for the development of rural settlements of Bucovina region.Keywords: Bucovina, development directions, demographic indicators, rural development
Procedia PDF Downloads 2968329 Impact of Integrated Watershed Management Programme Based on Four Waters Concept: A Case Study of Sali Village, Rajasthan State of India
Authors: Garima Sharma, R. N. Sharma
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Integrated watershed management programme based on 'Four Water Concept' was implemented in Sali village, in Jaipur District, Rajasthan State of India . The latitude 26.7234486 North and longitude 75.023876 East are the geocoordinate of the Sali. 'Four Waters Concept' is evolved by integrating the 'Four Waters', viz. rain water, soil moisture, ground water and surface water This methodology involves various water harvesting techniques to prevent the runoff of water by treatment of catchment, proper utilization of available water harvesting structures, renovation of the non-functional water harvesting structures and creation of new water harvesting structures. The case study included questionnaire survey from farmers and continuous study of village for two years. The total project area is 6153 Hac, and the project cost is Rs. 92.25 million. The sanctioned area of Sali Micro watershed is 2228 Hac with an outlay of Rs. 10.52 million. Watershed treatment activities such as water absorption trench, continuous contour trench, field bunding, check dams, were undertaken on agricultural lands for soil and water conservation. These measures have contributed in preventing runoff and increased the perennial availability of water in wells. According to the survey, water level in open wells in the area has risen by approximately 5 metres after the introduction of water harvesting structures. The continuous availability of water in wells has increased the area under irrigation and helped in crop diversification. Watershed management activities have brought the changes in cropping patterns and crop productivity. It helped in transforming 567 Hac culturable waste land into culturable arable land in the village. The farmers of village have created an additional income from the increased crop production. The programme also assured the availability of water during peak summers for the day to day activities of villagers. The outcomes indicate that there is positive impact of watershed management practices on the water resource potential as well the crop production of the area. This suggests that persistent efforts in this direction may lead to sustainability of the watershed.Keywords: four water concept, groundwater potential, irrigation potential, watershed management
Procedia PDF Downloads 3588328 Mineral Chemistry of Extraordinary Ilmenite from the Gabbroic Rocks of Abu Ghalaga Area, Eastern Desert, Egypt: Evidence to Metamorphic Modification
Authors: Yaser Maher Abdel Aziz Hawa
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An assemblage of Mn-bearing ilmenite, titanomagnetite (4-17 vol.%) and subordinate chalcopyrite, pyrrhptite and pyrite is present as dissiminations in gabbroic rocks of Abu Ghalaga area, Eastern Desert, Egypt. The neoproterozoic gabbroic rocks encompasses these opaques are emplaced during oceanic island arc stage which represents the Nubian shield of Egypt. However, some textural features of these opaques suggest a relict igneous. The high Mn (up to 5.8 MnO%, 1282% MnTiO3) and very low Mg contents (0.21 MgO%, 0.82 MgTiO3) are dissimilar to those of any igneous ilmenite of tholeiitic rocks. Most of these ilmenites are associated mostly with metamorphic hornblende. Hornblende thermometry estimate crystallization of about 560°C. the present study suggests that the ilmenite under consideration has been greatly metamorphically modified, having lost Mg and gained Mn by diffusion.Keywords: titanomagnetite, Ghalaga, ilmenite, chemistry
Procedia PDF Downloads 3288327 Sentinel-2 Based Burn Area Severity Assessment Tool in Google Earth Engine
Authors: D. Madhushanka, Y. Liu, H. C. Fernando
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Fires are one of the foremost factors of land surface disturbance in diverse ecosystems, causing soil erosion and land-cover changes and atmospheric effects affecting people's lives and properties. Generally, the severity of the fire is calculated as the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) index. This is performed manually by comparing two images obtained afterward. Then by using the bitemporal difference of the preprocessed satellite images, the dNBR is calculated. The burnt area is then classified as either unburnt (dNBR<0.1) or burnt (dNBR>= 0.1). Furthermore, Wildfire Severity Assessment (WSA) classifies burnt areas and unburnt areas using classification levels proposed by USGS and comprises seven classes. This procedure generates a burn severity report for the area chosen by the user manually. This study is carried out with the objective of producing an automated tool for the above-mentioned process, namely the World Wildfire Severity Assessment Tool (WWSAT). It is implemented in Google Earth Engine (GEE), which is a free cloud-computing platform for satellite data processing, with several data catalogs at different resolutions (notably Landsat, Sentinel-2, and MODIS) and planetary-scale analysis capabilities. Sentinel-2 MSI is chosen to obtain regular processes related to burnt area severity mapping using a medium spatial resolution sensor (15m). This tool uses machine learning classification techniques to identify burnt areas using NBR and to classify their severity over the user-selected extent and period automatically. Cloud coverage is one of the biggest concerns when fire severity mapping is performed. In WWSAT based on GEE, we present a fully automatic workflow to aggregate cloud-free Sentinel-2 images for both pre-fire and post-fire image compositing. The parallel processing capabilities and preloaded geospatial datasets of GEE facilitated the production of this tool. This tool consists of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to make it user-friendly. The advantage of this tool is the ability to obtain burn area severity over a large extent and more extended temporal periods. Two case studies were carried out to demonstrate the performance of this tool. The Blue Mountain national park forest affected by the Australian fire season between 2019 and 2020 is used to describe the workflow of the WWSAT. This site detected more than 7809 km2, using Sentinel-2 data, giving an error below 6.5% when compared with the area detected on the field. Furthermore, 86.77% of the detected area was recognized as fully burnt out, of which high severity (17.29%), moderate-high severity (19.63%), moderate-low severity (22.35%), and low severity (27.51%). The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest Park, California, the USA, which is affected by the Cameron peak fire in 2020, is chosen for the second case study. It was found that around 983 km2 had burned out, of which high severity (2.73%), moderate-high severity (1.57%), moderate-low severity (1.18%), and low severity (5.45%). These spots also can be detected through the visual inspection made possible by cloud-free images generated by WWSAT. This tool is cost-effective in calculating the burnt area since satellite images are free and the cost of field surveys is avoided.Keywords: burnt area, burnt severity, fires, google earth engine (GEE), sentinel-2
Procedia PDF Downloads 2358326 Analysis of Cycling Accessibility on Chengdu Tianfu Greenway Based on Improved Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Method: A Case Study of Jincheng Greenway
Authors: Qin Zhu
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Under the background of accelerating the construction of Beautiful and Livable Park City in Chengdu, the Tianfu greenway system, as an important support system for the construction of parks in the whole region, its accessibility is one of the key indicators to measure the effectiveness of the greenway construction. In recent years, cycling has become an important transportation mode for residents to go to the greenways because of its low-carbon, healthy and convenient characteristics, and the study of greenway accessibility under cycling mode can provide reference suggestions for the optimization and improvement of greenways. Taking Jincheng Greenway in Chengdu City as an example, the Baidu Map Application Programming Interface (API) and questionnaire survey was used to improve the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method from the three dimensions of search threshold, supply side and demand side, to calculate the cycling accessibility of the greenway and to explore the spatial matching relationship with the population density, the number of entrances and the comprehensive attractiveness. The results show that: 1) the distribution of greenway accessibility in Jincheng shows a pattern of "high in the south and low in the north, high in the west and low in the east", 2) the spatial match between greenway accessibility and population density of the residential area is imbalanced, and there is a significant positive correlation between accessibility and the number of selectable greenway access points in residential areas, as well as the overall attractiveness of greenways, with a high degree of match. On this basis, it is proposed to give priority to the mismatch area to alleviate the contradiction between supply and demand, optimize the greenway access points to improve the traffic connection, enhance the comprehensive quality of the greenway and strengthen the service capacity, to further improve the cycling accessibility of the Jincheng Greenway and improve the spatial allocation of greenway resources.Keywords: accessibility, Baidu maps API, cycling, greenway, 2SFCA
Procedia PDF Downloads 868325 The Long – Term Effects of a Prevention Program on the Number of Critical Incidents and Sick Leave Days: A Decade Perspective
Authors: Valerie Isaak
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Background: This study explores the effectiveness of refresher training sessions of an intervention program at reducing the employees’ risk of injury due to patient violence in a forensic psychiatric hospital. Methods: The original safety intervention program that consisted of a 3 days’ workshop was conducted in the maximum-security ward of a psychiatric hospital in Israel. Ever since the original intervention, annual refreshers were conducted, highlighting one of the safety elements covered in the original intervention. The study examines the effect of the intervention program along with the refreshers over a period of 10 years in four wards. Results: Analysis of the data demonstrates that beyond the initial reduction following the original intervention, refreshers seem to have an additional positive long-term effect, reducing both the number of violent incidents and the number of actual employee injuries in a forensic psychiatric hospital. Conclusions: We conclude that such an intervention program followed by refresher training would promote employees’ wellbeing. A healthy work environment is part of management’s commitment to improving employee wellbeing at the workplace.Keywords: wellbeing, violence at work, intervention program refreshers, public sector mental healthcare
Procedia PDF Downloads 1378324 The Stereotypes of Female Roles in TV Drama of Taiwan and Japan
Authors: Ya Ting Tang
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Social learning theory has told us that the cognitions of gender roles come from learning. Thus, the images of gender roles which media describes will shape our cognitions. Taiwan and Japan are both in the East Asian cultural Sphere, and more or less influenced by the traditional Chinese culture. But our social structure and changes must be different. Others, the study also concerns that, with the rise of female consciousness in society, whether the female stereotype in drama of Taiwan and Japan are improved. This research first uses content analysis to analyze drama of Taiwan and Japan in 2003 and 2013 on how to shape female roles. Then use text analysis to conduct a qualitative analysis. Result of this study showed that drama on how to depict women indeed have changed, women are no longer just talk about love, but can serve as president or doctor, and show its mettle in the workplace. In Japanese drama, the female roles have diverse occupation than Taiwanese drama, and not just a background character set. But in most Taiwanese drama, female roles are given a career, but it always put emphasis on women emotionally. To include, although the stereotype in the drama of Taiwan and Japan are improved, female will still be derided due to their ages, love or marriage situations. Taiwanese drama must depict the occupation of female more diverse and let the female roles have more space to play, rather than focusing on romance which women of any occupation can have.Keywords: female images, stereotype, TV drama, gender roles
Procedia PDF Downloads 2788323 Maximaxing the Usage of Solar Energy in an Area of Low Peak Sunlight Hours
Authors: Ohabuiro John Uwabunkeonye
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Source of green energy is becoming a concern in developing countries where most energy source in use emits high level of carbon (IV) oxide which contributes to global warming. More so, even with the generation of energy from fossil fuel, the electricity supply is still very inadequate. Therefore, this paper examines different ways of designing and installing photovoltaic (PV) system in terms of optimal sizing of PV array and battery storage in an area of very low peak sunlight hours (PSH) and inadequate supply of electricity from utility companies. Different sample of Peak sunlight hour for selected areas in Nigeria are considered and the lowest of it all is taken. Some means of ensuring that the available solar energy is harnessed properly and converted into electrical energy are discussed for usage in such areas as mentioned above.Keywords: green energy, fossil fuel, peak sunlight hour, photovoltaic
Procedia PDF Downloads 6428322 Distribution and Densities of Anopheles Mosquito in El Obied Town, Sudan
Authors: Adam Musa Adam Eissa
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Environmental and weather changes especially rainfall affects the distribution and densities of mosquitoes. This work was carried out to study the distribution and densities of mosquitoes adults and larvae in a total of five selected stations in El Obied Town. A cross-sectional survey of Anopheline mosquito larval habitats was conducted. The survey was conducted during the dry season (January 2013). Larvae were collected by using the standard dipping technique, while adult stages were collected by rearing larvae in cage, because the density of adults Anopheles mosquito per room was zero by using spray sheet method by using Permethrin pesticide 25%E.C, during the study period. The results revealed that (2347) Anopheline mosquito larvae were found and collected from only one station. All of which (2347) larvae (100%) were classified as probably Anopheles Squamosus. The study also showed that, a number of 81 adults (100%) Anopheline mosquito were classified as probably Anopheles Squamosus. Anopheles Squamosus were found only in the shallow pond water habitat in Alrahma west area of El Obied, the mean Anopheline density in the study area for larvae was 0.313 per dip while the mean density of adult was 0 per room. The high mosquito larval density in Alrahma west area indicated that, this part of El Obied Town is at risk of mosquito-borne diseases including malaria. This study recommended to apply the control program against mosquito at this part of the Town.Keywords: anopheles, squamosus, Alrahma, distribution
Procedia PDF Downloads 2858321 Fatigue in Association with Road Crashes Among Healthcare Workers in Malaysia
Authors: Sharifah Liew, Azlihanis Abdul Hadi, Nurul Shahida Mohd Saffe, Azhar Hamzah, Maslina Musa
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Fatigue is a common health problem among healthcare workers, ranging from ambulance drivers to specialist doctors. In Malaysia, majority of healthcare workers prefer to commute to work by their own vehicle compared to public transport. Thus, exposed to risk on the road while commuting to work. The aim of the study is to find out the effects of fatigue on road crashes among healthcare workers while they commute to work. The research conducted using the semi-quantitative approach based on self- reported questionnaires. In total, five hundred and fifty-one healthcare workers from selected five hospitals were involved in this study. Results showed significant differences between crash involvement, travelling distance and time to and from work among healthcare workers. Most of the participants (37%) reported that causes of road crashes were due to fatigue, sleepiness and microsleep while driving to and back from work. In addition, there were significant differences between fatigue and road crashes and near misses. This research suggests that the hospitals’ management may need to review their staffs’ job scopes and workloads to overcome the fatigue problems and, consider their feedback when designing work schedules and investigate staff commuting distance from home to workplace and vice-versa.Keywords: fatigue, healthcare, road crashes, near misses, Malaysia
Procedia PDF Downloads 728320 Information Technology and Occupational Safety and Health
Authors: Muhammad Afiq Anaqi Bin Baharudin, Muhammad Izamuddin Bin Mohd Nasir, Syarifuddin Bin Sujuanda, Muhammad Syahmi Rusyaidi Bin Sham Suddin, Danish Hakimi Bin Kamaruzaman, Muhammad Haqimi Nazim Bin Hasmanizam, Mohammad Akmal Zakwan Bin Amran, Muhammad Alparizi Bin Latif
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By improving efficiency and production, information technology (IT) has transformed working environments, but it has also created new threats to occupational safety and health (OSH). This study evaluates the literature that has already been written on the subject of IT and OSH, identifies major findings and discussion points, and highlights gaps in the material that call for additional research. The study's findings, which look at how IT affects OSH in a sizable multinational organization, are also presented in the report. According to the report, IT poses a number of OSH problems, such as ergonomic dangers, eye strain, dangers related to cybersecurity, and psychological hazards. The report suggests using tactics like providing comfortable workstations, encouraging a healthy balance between work and life, and putting strong cybersecurity safeguards in place to reduce these dangers. The implications of these findings for OSH and IT are discussed in the paper's conclusion, and it emphasizes the need for more study and action to address these dangers and promote healthy and secure working environments in the age of digitization.Keywords: information technology, occupational safety and health (OSH), ergonomic, hazards, workplace.
Procedia PDF Downloads 1288319 Smart Security Concept in the East Mediterranean: Anti Asymmetrical Area Denial (A3D)
Authors: Serkan Tezgel
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The two qualities of the sea, as a medium of transportation and as a resource, necessitate maritime security for economic stability and good order at sea. The borderless nature of the sea makes it one of the best platforms to contribute to regional peace and international order. For this reason, the establishment of maritime security in East Mediterranean will enhance the security-peace-democracy triangle in the region. This paper proposes the application of the Smart Security Concept in the East Mediterranean. Smart Security aims to secure critical infrastructure, such as hydrocarbon platforms, against asymmetrical threats. The concept is based on Anti Asymmetrical Area Denial (A3D) which necessitates limiting freedom of action of maritime terrorists and piracy by founding safe and secure maritime areas through sea lines of communication using short range capabilities. Smart Security is a regional maritime cooperation concept for the narrow seas. Cooperation and interoperability are essential attributes of this regional security concept. Therefore, multinational excellence centers such as Multinational Maritime Security Center of Excellence-Aksaz in Turkey, which will determine necessary capabilities and plan/coordinate workshops, training and exercises, are bound to be the principal characteristic of Smart Security concept and similar regional concepts. Smart Security, a crucial enabler of energy and regional security, can provide an enduring approach for operating in the challenging environment of narrow seas and for countering asymmetrical threats.Keywords: security, cooperation, asymmetrical, area denial
Procedia PDF Downloads 8038318 Stress Variation of Underground Building Structure during Top-Down Construction
Authors: Soo-yeon Seo, Seol-ki Kim, Su-jin Jung
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In the construction of a building, it is necessary to minimize construction period and secure enough work space for stacking of materials during the construction especially in city area. In this manner, various top-down construction methods have been developed and widely used in Korea. This paper investigates the stress variation of underground structure of a building constructed by using SPS (Strut as Permanent System) known as a top-down method in Korea through an analytical approach. Various types of earth pressure distribution related to ground condition were considered in the structural analysis of an example structure at each step of the excavation. From the analysis, the most high member force acting on beams was found when the ground type was medium sandy soil and a stress concentration was found in corner area.Keywords: construction of building, top-down construction method, earth pressure distribution, member force, stress concentration
Procedia PDF Downloads 3068317 Evaluation of Groundwater Quality in North-West Region of Punjab, India
Authors: Jeevan Jyoti Mohindroo, Umesh Kumar Garg
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The district of Tarntaran is located25 km south of Amritsar city in Punjab State of Northwestern India. It is 5059 Sq. Km in area. It is surrounded by Amritsar in the North, Kapurthala in the East, and Ferozepur in the South and Pakistan in the West. Patti Town is a municipal council of the Tarntaran district of the Indian state of Punjab, located 45 km from Amritsar its geographical coordinates are 310 16' 51" north to 740 51' 25" East Longitude. The town spreads over an area of 50sq. Km. Moisture content is very less in the air, falling within the semiarid region and frequently facing water scarcity as well as water quality problems. The major sources of employment are agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry engaging almost 80% of the workforce. Water samples are collected from 400 locations in 20 villages on the Patti –Khem Karan highway with 20 samples from each village, and were subjected to analysis of chemical characteristics. The type of water that predominates in the study area is Ca-Mg-HCO3 type, based on hydro-chemical analysis. Besides, suitability of water for irrigation is evaluated based on the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate, sodium percent and salinity hazard. Other Physico-chemical parameters such as pH, TDS, conductance, etc. were also determined using a water analysis kit. Analysis of water samples for heavy metal analysis was also carried out in the present study.Keywords: groundwater, chemical classification, SAR, RSC, USSL diagram
Procedia PDF Downloads 1978316 An Empirical Study on Employees’ Theft Behavior in Insurance Industry
Authors: B. Khorsandi Talab, M. Kordi
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It is highly deplorable that every year, theft behavior among employees of the insurance industry is growing throughout the world. A very significant source of contraction (despite many costly technological and widespread security measures) needs to be addressed and prevented. Employee and agent theft cannot be ignored as it causes significant losses to employers. This study investigates the workplace factors that affect the insurance employee and agent theft behavior. Although identifying theft is difficult, this study will help employers to further understand employees’ theft behavior. This study was conducted in two service small and medium organizations (two branches of insurance companies) in ALBORZ’s capital city, KARAJ. Data has been collected via questionnaire from 30 employees and agents consisting employees and supervisors of branches and agencies. According to the results, it must be acknowledged that compensation, organizational justice, internal control systems, penalties and personal characteristics were associated with employees' theft behavior, it is despite the fact that, no effect could be assumed for organizational ethics and requirement in this case. Nevertheless, poor financial status cannot be considered as the driving factor in pushing employees to steal property as well as increasing their theft behavior. As mentioned earlier, the purpose of this study was to determine the factors contributing to employees’ theft (insurance employees and agencies) behavior in insurance organizations in Karaj.Keywords: service theft, employee theft behavior, work theft, insurance agency, SMEs
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