Search results for: design and technology education

Authors: Jelena Zivkovic, Haidar Mohammed, Elaf Saeed

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Student affairs services play a critical role in contributing to the wholistic development and success of students as they progress through their academic careers. The study encompasses a multifaceted examination of student affairs service offerings amongst 10 private and 3 public Baghdad universities. Student affairs administrators (13) were surveyed along with over 300 students to determine university-sponsored services and student satisfaction and awareness. The student affairs service research findings varied significantly between private and public institutions and those that followed a national and international curriculum. Universities need to persist to adapt to changing demographics and technological advancements to enhance students' personal and academic successes, and student affairs services are key to preparing graduates to thrive in a diverse global world.

Keywords: student affairs, student success, higher education, Iraq, universities, Baghdad

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Rakesh Mishra

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India’s Demography has always amazed the world because of its unprecedented outcomes in the presence of multifaceted socioeconomic and geographical characteristics. Being the first one to implement family panning in 1952, it occupies 2nd largest population of the world, with some of its state like Uttar Pradesh contributing 5th largest population to the world population surpassing Brazil. Being the one with higher in number it is more prone to the demographic disparity persisting into its territories brought upon by the inequalities in availability, accessibility and attainability of socioeconomic and various other resources. Fifth goal of Millennium Development Goal emphasis to improve maternal and child health across the world as Children’s development is very important for the overall development of society and the best way to develop national human resources is to take care of children. The target is to reduce the infant deaths by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. Child health status depends on the care and delivery by trained personnel, particularly through institutional facilities which is further associated with the status of the mother. However, delivery in institutional facilities and delivery by skilled personnel are rising slowly in India. The main objective of the present study is to measure the child health status on based on the educational and occupational background of the women in India. Study indicates that women education plays a very crucial role in deciding the health of the new born care and access to family planning, but the women autonomy indicates to have mixed results in different states of India. It is observed that rural women are 1.61 times more likely to exclusive breastfed their children compared to urban women. With respect to Hindu category, women belonging to other religious community were 21 percent less likely to exclusive breastfed their child. Taking scheduled caste as reference category, the odds of exclusive breastfeeding is found to be decreasing in comparison to other castes, and it is found to be significant among general category. Women of high education status have higher odds of using family planning methods in most of the southern states of India. By and large, girls and boys are about equally undernourished. Under nutrition is generally lower for first births than for subsequent births and consistently increases with increasing birth order for all measures of nutritional status. It is to be noted that at age 12-23 months, when many children are being weaned from breast milk, 30 percent of children are severely stunted and around 21 percent are severely underweight. So, this paper presents the evidence on the patterns of prevailing child health status in India and its states with reference to the mother socioeconomics and biological characteristics and examines trends in these, and discusses plausible explanations.

Keywords: immunization, exclusive breastfeeding, under five mortality, binary logistic regression, ordinal regression and life table

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Authors: Yuliang Liu, Thomas Lavallee, Mary Weishaar, Gretchen Fricke, Huaibo Xin

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The longitudinal study was designed to investigate the impacts of the International Training Program in Pedagogy (ITPP) at a midwestern institution in the United States on the visiting scholars from China from 2012-18. The study used the survey research method and involved 48 visiting scholars from Northwest Normal University in China in those eight ITPP cohorts. The results of both quantitative and qualitative data were critically examined and indicated both types of data sources revealed similar findings. It was found that the ITPP has significantly affected all scholars' instruction in China. International implications resulted from the study.

Keywords: international training program in pedagogy, visiting scholars, survey research method, International implications

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Authors: Zhidong Zhang, Zhi-Chao Zhang, Georgiana Duarte

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This study explored early adolescents’ anxious and depressed syndromes in Northeast China. Specifically, the study examined anxious and depressed behaviors and the relationship to education environments. The purpose is to examine how the elements of educational environments and the early adolescents’ behaviors as independent variables influence and possibly predict the early adolescents’ anxious/depressed problems. Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA), was the instrument, used in collection of data. A stratified sampling method was utilized to collect data from 2532 participants in seven schools. The results indicated that several background variables influenced anxious/depressed problem. Specifically, age, grade, sports activities and hobbies had a relationship with the anxious/depressed variable.

Keywords: anxious/depressed problems, CBCL, empirically-based assessment, internalizing problems

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Authors: Annika J. Meyer, Tom Piechotta

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have increasingly become vital tools in various applications, including surveillance, search and rescue, and environmental monitoring. One common approach to ensure redundant communication systems when flying beyond visual line of sight is for UAVs to employ multiple mobile data modems by different providers. Although widely adopted, this approach suffers from several drawbacks, such as high costs, added weight and potential increases in signal interference. In light of these challenges, this paper proposes a communication framework intermeshing mobile networks and LoRa (Long Range) technology—a low-power, long-range communication protocol. LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) is commonly used in Internet of Things applications, relying on stationary gateways and Internet connectivity. This paper, however, utilizes the underlying LoRa protocol, taking advantage of the protocol’s low power and long-range capabilities while ensuring efficiency and reliability. Conducted in collaboration with the Potsdam Fire Department, the implementation of mobile network technology in combination with the LoRa protocol in small UAVs (take-off weight < 0.4 kg), specifically designed for search and rescue and area monitoring missions, is explored. This research aims to test the viability of LoRa as an additional redundant communication system during UAV flights as well as its intermeshing with the primary, mobile network-based controller. The methodology focuses on direct UAV-to-UAV and UAV-to-ground communications, employing different spreading factors optimized for specific operational scenarios—short-range for UAV-to-UAV interactions and long-range for UAV-to-ground commands. This explored use case also dramatically reduces one of the major drawbacks of LoRa communication systems, as a line of sight between the modules is necessary for reliable data transfer. Something that UAVs are uniquely suited to provide, especially when deployed as a swarm. Additionally, swarm deployment may enable UAVs that have lost contact with their primary network to reestablish their connection through another, better-situated UAV. The experimental setup involves multiple phases of testing, starting with controlled environments to assess basic communication capabilities and gradually advancing to complex scenarios involving multiple UAVs. Such a staged approach allows for meticulous adjustment of parameters and optimization of the communication protocols to ensure reliability and effectiveness. Furthermore, due to the close partnership with the Fire Department, the real-world applicability of the communication system is assured. The expected outcomes of this paper include a detailed analysis of LoRa's performance as a communication tool for UAVs, focusing on aspects such as signal integrity, range, and reliability under different environmental conditions. Additionally, the paper seeks to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness and operational efficiency of using a single type of communication technology that reduces UAV payload and power consumption. By shifting from traditional cellular network communications to a more robust and versatile cellular and LoRa-based system, this research has the potential to significantly enhance UAV capabilities, especially in critical applications where reliability is paramount. The success of this paper could pave the way for broader adoption of LoRa in UAV communications, setting a new standard for UAV operational communication frameworks.

Keywords: LoRa communication protocol, mobile network communication, UAV communication systems, search and rescue operations

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Authors: Anik Sarminingsih, Krishna V. Pradana

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The failure of flood control system can be caused by various factors, such as not considering the uncertainty of designed flood causing the capacity of the flood control system is exceeded. The presence of the uncertainty factor is recognized as a serious issue in hydrological studies. Uncertainty in hydrological analysis is influenced by many factors, starting from reading water elevation data, rainfall data, selection of method of analysis, etc. In hydrological modeling selection of models and parameters corresponding to the watershed conditions should be evaluated by the hydraulic model in the river as a drainage channel. River cross-section capacity is the first defense in knowing the reliability of the flood control system. Reliability of river capacity describes the potential magnitude of flood risk. Case study in this research is Wulan River in Central Java. This river occurring flood almost every year despite some efforts to control floods such as levee, floodway and diversion. The flood-affected areas include several sub-districts, mainly in Kabupaten Kudus and Kabupaten Demak. First step is analyze the frequency of discharge observation from Klambu weir which have time series data from 1951-2013. Frequency analysis is performed using several distribution frequency models such as Gumbel distribution, Normal, Normal Log, Pearson Type III and Log Pearson. The result of the model based on standard deviation overlaps, so the maximum flood discharge from the lower return periods may be worth more than the average discharge for larger return periods. The next step is to perform a hydraulic analysis to evaluate the reliability of river capacity based on the flood discharge resulted from several methods. The selection of the design flood discharge of flood control system is the result of the method closest to bankfull capacity of the river.

Keywords: design flood, hydrological model, reliability, uncertainty, Wulan river

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Authors: Christine Winberg, James Garraway

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Many key university documents, such as vision and mission statements and strategic plans, are aspirational and future-oriented. There is a wide range of future-oriented methods that are used in planning applications, ranging from mathematical modelling to expert opinions. Many of these methods have limitations, and planners using these tools might, for example, make the technical-rational assumption that their plans will unfold in a logical and inevitable fashion, thus underestimating the many complex forces that are at play in planning for an unknown future. This is the issue that this study addresses. The overall project aim was to assist a new university of technology in developing appropriate responses to its social responsibility, graduate employability and research missions in its strategic plan. The specific research question guiding the research activities and approach was: how might the use of innovative future-oriented planning tools enable or constrain a strategic planning process? The research objective was to engage collaborating groups in the use of an innovative tool to develop and assess future scenarios, for the purpose of developing deeper understandings of possible futures and their challenges. The scenario planning tool chosen was ‘fictive scripting’, an analytical technique derived from Technology Forecasting and Innovation Studies. Fictive scripts are future projections that also take into account the present shape of the world and current developments. The process thus began with a critical diagnosis of the present, highlighting its tensions and frictions. The collaborative groups then developed fictive scripts, each group producing a future scenario that foregrounded different institutional missions, their implications and possible consequences. The scripts were analyzed with a view to identifying their potential contribution to the university’s strategic planning exercise. The unfolding fictive scripts revealed a number of insights in terms of unexpected benefits, unexpected challenges, and unexpected consequences. These insights were not evident in previous strategic planning exercises. The contribution that this study offers is to show how better choices can be made and potential pitfalls avoided through a systematic foresight exercise. When universities develop strategic planning documents, they are looking into the future. In this paper it is argued that the use of appropriate tools for future-oriented exercises, can help planners to understand more fully what achieving desired outcomes might entail, what challenges might be encountered, and what unexpected consequences might ensue.

Keywords: fictive scripts, scenarios, strategic planning, technological forecasting

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Authors: Syena Moltaji, Stephanie Posa, Sander Hitzig, Amanda Mayo, Heather Baltzer

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Purpose: To critically assess deficits following thumb amputation and delineate elements of an ideal thumb prosthesis from the end-user perspective. Methods: This was a qualitative study based on grounded theory. End-user stakeholder groups of thumb amputees and prosthetists were interviewed. Transcripts were reviewed whole first for familiarity. Data coding was then performed by two individual authors. Coded units were grouped by similarity and reviewed to reach a consensus. Codes were then analyzed for emergent themes by each author. A consensus meeting was held with all authors to finalize themes. Results: Three patients with traumatic thumb amputation and eight prosthetists were interviewed. Seven themes emerged. First was the significant impact of losing a thumb, in which codes of functional impact, mental impact, and occupational impact were included. The second theme was the unique nature of each thumb amputee, including goals, readiness for prosthesis, nature of the injury, and insurance. The third emergent theme was cost, surrounding government funding, insurability, and prosthetic pricing. The fourth theme was patient frustration, which included mismatches of prosthetic expectations and realities, activity limitations, and causes of devices abandonment. Themes five and six surrounded the strengths and weaknesses of current prosthetics, respectively. Theme seven was the ideal design for a thumb prosthetic, including abilities, suspension, and materials. Conclusions: Representative data from stakeholders mapped the current status of thumb prosthetics. Preferences for an ideal thumb prosthetic emerged, with suggestions for a simple, durable design. The ability to oppose, grasp and sense pressure was reported as functional priorities. Feasible cost and easy fitting emerged as systemic objectives. This data will be utilized in the development of a sensate thumb prosthetic.

Keywords: smart thumb, thumb prosthetic, sensate prosthetic, amputation

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Authors: Erteki̇n Kotbaş

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Teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is on the front burner of many countries in the world, in particular for English language teaching departments that train EFL teachers. Under the head of motivational theories in foreign language education, there are numerous researches in literature. However; researches comprising English language self-efficacy and teachers’ learning goal orientation which has a positive impact on learning teachings skills are scarce. Examination of these English language self-efficacy beliefs and learning goal orientations of pre-service EFL teachers may broaden the horizons, considering the importance of self-efficacy and goal orientation on learning and teaching activities. At this juncture, present study aims to investigate the strong relationship between English language self efficacy and teachers’ learning goal orientation from Turkish context in addition to teacher students’ grade factor.

Keywords: English language, learning goal orientation, self efficacy, pre-service teachers

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Authors: Naina Deshmukh

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With the wide production, consumption, and disposal of pesticides in the world, the concerns over their human and environmental health impacts are rapidly growing. Among developing treatment technologies, Ultrasonication, as an emerging and promising technology for the removal of pesticides in the aqueous environment, has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. The degradation of acephate in aqueous solutions was investigated under the influence of ultrasound irradiation (20 kHz) in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts titanium dioxide (TiO2) and Zinc oxide (ZnO). The influence of various factors such as amount of catalyst (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 g/l), initial acephate concentration (100, 200, 300, 400 mg/l), and pH (3, 5, 7, 9, 11) were studied. The optimum catalyst dose was found to be 1 g/l of TiO2 and 1.25 g/l of ZnO for acephate at 100 mg/l, respectively. The maximum percentage degradation of acephate was observed at pH 11 for catalysts TiO2 and ZnO, respectively.

Keywords: ultrasonic degradation, acephate, TiO2, ZnO, heterogeneous catalyst

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Authors: Mohammad A. Alolayan, John S. Evans, James K. Hammitt

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The value of statistical life has been estimated for a middle eastern country with high economical subsidization system. In this study, in-person interviews were conducted on a stratified random sample to estimate the value of mortality risk. Double-bounded dichotomous choice questions followed by open-ended question were used in the interview to investigate the willingness to pay of the respondent for mortality risk reduction. High willingness to pay was found to be associated with high income and education. Also, females were found to have lower willingness to pay than males. The estimated value of statistical life is larger than the ones estimated for western countries where taxation system exists. This estimate provides a baseline for monetizing the health benefits for proposed policy or program to the decision makers in an eastern country. Also, the value of statistical life for a country in the region can be extrapolated from this this estimate by using the benefit transfer method.

Keywords: mortality, risk, VSL, willingness-to-pay

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Authors: Jaroslav Masek, Juraj Camaj, Eva Nedeliakova

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The paper is focused on the operational model for transport the single wagon consignments on railway network by using two different models of train formation. The paper gives an overview of possibilities of improving the quality of transport services. Paper deals with two models used in problematic of train formatting - time continuously and time discrete. By applying these models in practice, the transport company can guarantee a higher quality of service and expect increasing of transport performance. The models are also applicable into others transport networks. The models supplement a theoretical problem of train formation by new ways of looking to affecting the organization of wagon flows.

Keywords: train formation, wagon flows, marshalling yard, railway technology

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Authors: Ilgin Gökaşar, Saman Ghaffarian

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The need for fast processed big data of transportation ridership (eg., smartcard data) and traffic operation (e.g., traffic detectors data) which requires a lot of computational power is incontrovertible in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Nowadays cloud computing is one of the important subjects and popular information technology solution for data processing. It enables users to process enormous measure of data without having their own particular computing power. Thus, it can also be a good selection for transportation big data processing as well. This paper intends to examine how the cloud computing can enhance transportation big data process with contrasting its advantages and disadvantages, and discussing cloud computing features.

Keywords: big data, cloud computing, Intelligent Transportation Systems, ITS, traffic data processing

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Authors: Shan-e-Fatima, Mushtaq Khan, Syed Imran Hussian

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Plasma arc welding technology is used for welding SS-304L with A-36. Two different optimize butt welded joints were produced by using austenitic filler alloy E-309L and with direct fusion at 45 A, 2mm/sec by keeping plasma gas flow rate at 0.5LPM. Microstructure analysis of the weld bead was carried out. The results reveal complex heterogeneous microstructure in austenitic base filler alloy sample where as full martensite was found in directly fused sample.

Keywords: fusion zone microstructure, stainless steel, low carbon steel, plasma arc welding

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Authors: Matt Vellkorn, Mara Sarinski

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The field of advanced diagnostics is a very rapidly changing one. A new technology that has not been fully used yet are resistotrons. A resistotron is a physical device thatis used to detect the presence of low energy alpha particles. It has been used for many years in nuclear physics as an alpha particle detector. Since they are used in nuclear physics, they have to be accurate. They have to be able to differentiate between alpha particles and other types of radiation. The resistotrons are primarily used for safety. They are used in areas where people or animals can get exposed to radiation. A typical example is in the treatment of nuclear waste. As it is with any nuclear physics instrument, a resistotron has to be very accurate and reliable. In the past, the instrument was very expensive because they were made out of copper. Today, they are made out of brass. The main difference is that brass is much less expensive than copper.

Keywords: biosensors, resistotrons, biophysics, diagnostics

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Emine Umran Topcu

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In both urban design and architecture, the primary goal is considered to be looking for ways in which people feel and think about space and place. Humans, in general, see a place as security and space as freedom and feel attached to place and long for space. Contemporary urban design manifests itself by addressing basic physical and psychological human needs. Not much attention is paid to transcendence. There seems to be a gap in the hierarchy of human needs. Usually, social aspects of public space are addressed through urban design. More personal and intimately scaled needs of an individual are neglected. How does built form contribute to an individual’s growth, contemplation, and exploration? In other words, a greater meaning in the immediate environment. Architects love to talk about meaning, poetics, attachment and other ethereal aspects of space that are not visible attributes of places. This paper aims at describing spirituality through built form with a personal experience of Kamppi Chapel of Helsinki. Experience covers various modes through which a person unfolds or constructs reality. Perception, sensation, emotion, and thought can be counted as for these modes. To experience is to get to know. What can be known is a construct of experience. Feelings and thoughts about space and place are very complex in human beings. They grow out of life experiences. The author had the chance of visiting Kamppi Chapel in April 2017, out of which the experience grew. The Kamppi Chapel is located on the South side of the busy Narinnka Square in central Helsinki. It offers a place to quiet down and compose oneself in a most lively urban space. With its curved wooden facade, the small building looks more like a museum than a chapel. It can be called a museum for contemplation. With its gently shaped interior, it embraces visitors and shields them from the hustle bustle of the city outside. Places of worship in all faiths signify sacred power. The author, having origins in a part of the world where domes and minarets dominate the cityscape, was impressed by the size and the architectural visibility of the Chapel. Anyone born and trained in such a tradition shares the inherent values and psychological mechanisms of spirituality, sacredness and the modest realities of their environment. Spirituality in all cultural traditions has not been analyzed and reinterpreted in new conceptual frameworks. Fundamentalists may reject this positivist attitude, but Kamppi Chapel as it stands does not look like it has a say like “I’m a model to be followed”. It just faces the task of representing a religious facility in an urban setting largely shaped by modern urban planning, which seems to the author as looking for a new definition of individual status. The quest between the established and the new is the demand for modern efficiency versus dogmatic rigidity. The architecture here has played a very promising and rewarding role for spirituality. The designers have been the translators for human desire for better life and aesthetic environment for an optimal satisfaction of local citizens and the visitors alike.

Keywords: architecture, Kamppi Chapel, spirituality, urban

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Authors: Ratnawati Mohd Asraf, Hazlina Abdullah

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Numerous studies on boys’ performance relative to girls’ have been conducted around the globe. However, little has been done in relation to the literacy of primary school boys in the Malaysian context. This paper discusses the results of a study that sought to determine the literacy performance of Grades 1, 2, and 3 primary school students in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Data on approximately 85,000 students from each grade level were obtained from the Ministry of Education Malaysia, which conducts national screening on literacy and numeracy, or LINUS, in all government primary schools. Teachers’ views were also sought through focus group interviews and journal entries. The results show that although there is an overall improvement in literacy performance in the Malay language among the students as they go into Grades 2 and 3, girls are found to outperform boys in every screening for all grade levels.

Keywords: boys’ underperformance, literacy, literacy performance, reading

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Authors: Layla Mujahed

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Amman, the capital of Jordan, is the main political, economic, social and cultural center of Jordan and beyond. The city faces multitude demographic challenges related to the unstable political situation in the surrounded countries. It has regional and local migrants who left their homes to find better life in the capital. This resulted with random and unequaled population distribution. Some districts have high population and pressure on the infrastructure and services more than other districts.Government works to resolve this challenge in compliance with 100 Cities Resilience Framework (CRF). Amman participated in this framework as a member in December 2014 to work in achieving the four goals: health and welfare, infrastructure and utilities, economy and education as well as administration and government.  Previous research studies lack in studying Amman resilient work in neighborhood scale and the population growth as resilient challenge. For that, this study focuses on Al-Thahabiah neighborhood in Shafa Badran district in Amman. This paper studies the reasons and drivers behind this population growth during the selected period in this area then provide strategies to improve the resilient work in neighborhood scale. The methodology comprises of primary and secondary data. The primary data consist of interviews with chief officer in the executive part in Great Amman Municipality and resilient officer. The secondary data consist of papers, journals, newspaper, articles and book’s reading. The other part of data consists of maps and statistical data which describe the infrastructural and social situation in the neighborhood and district level during the studying period. Based upon those data, more detailed information will be found, e.g., the centralizing position of population and the provided infrastructure for them. This will help to provide these services and infrastructure to other neighborhoods and enhance population distribution. This study develops an analytical framework to assess urban demographical time series in accordance with the criteria of CRF to make accurate detailed projections on the requirements for the future development in the neighborhood scale and organize the human requirements for affordable quality housing, employment, transportation, health and education in this neighborhood to improve the social relations between its inhabitants and the community. This study highlights on the localization of resilient work in neighborhood scale and spread the resilient knowledge related to the shortage of its research in Jordan. Studying the resilient work from population growth challenge perspective helps improve the facilities provide to the inhabitants and improve their quality of life.

Keywords: city resilience framework, demography, population growth, stakeholders, urban resilience

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Authors: Jorn Fricke, Frans Melissen

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Citizens in urban areas are prone to increased levels of stress due to urbanization, inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services, and environmental degradation. Moreover, communities are fragile and subject to shocks and stresses through various social and political processes. A loss of (a sense of) community is often seen as related to increasing political and civic disintegration. Feelings of community can manifest themselves in various ways but underlying all these manifestations is the need for trust between people. One of the main drivers of trust between individuals is (shared) experiences. It is these shared experiences that may play an important role in building resilience, i.e., the ability of a community and its members to adapt to and deal with stresses, as well as ensure the ongoing development of a community. So far, experience design, as a discipline and academic field, has mainly focused on designing products or services. However, people-to-people experiences are the ones that play a pivotal role in building inclusiveness, safety, and resilience in communities. These experiences represent challenging objects of design as they develop in an interactive space of spontaneity, serendipity, and uniqueness that is based on intuition, freedom of expression, and interaction. Therefore, there is a need for research to identify which elements are required in designing the social and physical environment (or ‘experience scape’) to increase the chance for people-to-people experiences to be successful and what elements are required for these experiences to help in building resilience in urban communities that can resist shocks and stresses. By means of a comparative case study approach in urban areas in Germany and the Netherlands, using a range of qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, storytelling techniques, and life stories, this research identifies relevant actors and their roles in creating building blocks of optimal experience scrapes for building resilience in communities.

Keywords: community development, experiences, experience scapes, resilience

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Authors: Sahand Golmohammadi, Sana Hosseini Shirazi

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Because the status and mechanical parameters of discontinuities in the rock mass are included in the calculations, various methods of rock engineering classification are often used as a starting point for the design of different types of structures. The Q-system is one of the most frequently used methods for stability analysis and determination of support systems of underground structures in rock, including tunnel. In this method, six main parameters of the rock mass, namely, the rock quality designation (RQD), joint set number (Jn), joint roughness number (Jr), joint alteration number (Ja), joint water parameter (Jw) and stress reduction factor (SRF) are required. In this regard, in order to achieve a reasonable and optimal design, identifying the effective parameters for the stability of the mentioned structures is one of the most important goals and the most necessary actions in rock engineering. Therefore, it is necessary to study the relationships between the parameters of a system and how they interact with each other and, ultimately, the whole system. In this research, it has attempted to determine the most effective parameters (key parameters) from the six parameters of rock mass in the Q-system using the rock engineering system (RES) method to improve the relationships between the parameters in the calculation of the Q value. The RES system is, in fact, a method by which one can determine the degree of cause and effect of a system's parameters by making an interaction matrix. In this research, the geomechanical data collected from the water conveyor tunnel of Azad Dam were used to make the interaction matrix of the Q-system. For this purpose, instead of using the conventional methods that are always accompanied by defects such as uncertainty, the Q-system interaction matrix is coded using a technique that is actually a statistical analysis of the data and determining the correlation coefficient between them. So, the effect of each parameter on the system is evaluated with greater certainty. The results of this study show that the formed interaction matrix provides a reasonable estimate of the effective parameters in the Q-system. Among the six parameters of the Q-system, the SRF and Jr parameters have the maximum and minimum impact on the system, respectively, and also the RQD and Jw parameters have the maximum and minimum impact on the system, respectively. Therefore, by developing this method, we can obtain a more accurate relation to the rock mass classification by weighting the required parameters in the Q-system.

Keywords: Q-system, rock engineering system, statistical analysis, rock mass, tunnel

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Authors: Horea-Serban Raluca-Ioana, Istrate Marinela

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The first part of the paper analyzes the dynamics of the total fertility rate both at the national and regional level, pointing out the regional disparities in the distribution of this indicator. At the same time, we also focus on the collapse of the number of live births, on the changes in the fertility rate by birth rank, as well as on the failure of acquiring the desired number of children. The second part of the study centres upon a survey applied to urban families with 3 and more than 3 offspring. The preliminary analysis highlights the fact that an increased fertility (more than 3rd rank) is triggered by the parents’ above the average material condition and superior education. The current situation of Romania, which is still passing through a period of relatively rapid demographic changes, marked by numerous convulsions, requires a new approach, in compliance with the recent interpretations appropriate to a new post-transitional demographic regime.

Keywords: fertility rate, family size intention, third birth rank, regional disparities

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Authors: Margarita Zavala, Gabriel Chavira, José González, Jorge Orozco, Julio Rolón, Roberto Pichardo

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Adolescence is a neuralgic stage in the formation of every human being, generally this stage is when the middle school level is studied. In 2006, Mexico incorporated 'mentoring' space to assist students in their integration and participation in life. In public middle schools, it is sometimes difficult to be aware of situations that affect students because of the number of them and traditional records management. With this, they lose the opportunity to provide timely support as a preventive way. In order to provide this support, it is required to know the students by detecting the relevant information that has greater impact on their learning process. This research is looking to check if it is possible to identify student’s relevant information to detect when it is at risk, and then to propose a model to manage in a proper way such information.

Keywords: adolescence, mentoring, middle school students, mentoring system support

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili

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The paper discusses economic policy of Georgia aiming to increase national competitiveness as well as the tools and means which will help to improve the competitiveness of the country. The sectors of the economy, in which the country can achieve the competitive advantage, are studied. It is noted that the country’s economic policy plays an important role in obtaining and maintaining the competitive advantage - authority should take measures to ensure high level of education; scientific and research activities should be funded by the state; foreign direct investments should be attracted mainly in science-intensive industries; adaptation with the latest scientific achievements of the modern world and deepening of scientific and technical cooperation. Stable business environment and export oriented strategy is the basis for the country’s economic growth. As the outcome of the research, the paper suggests the strategy for improving competitiveness in Georgia; recommendations are provided based on relevant conclusions.

Keywords: competitive advantage, competitiveness, competitiveness improvement strategy, competitiveness of Georgia

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Authors: Maroua Sbiti, Karim Beddiar, Djaoued Beladjine, Romuald Perrault

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Productivity is decreasing in construction compared to the manufacturing industry. It seems that the sector is suffering from organizational problems and have low maturity regarding technological advances. High international competition due to the growing context of globalization, complex projects, and shorter deadlines increases these challenges. Field employees are more exposed to coordination problems than design officers. Execution collaboration is then a major issue that can threaten the cost, time, and quality completion of a project. Initially, this paper will try to identify field professional requirements as to address building management process weaknesses such as the unreliability of scheduling, the fickleness of monitoring and inspection processes, the inaccuracy of project’s indicators, inconsistency of building documents and the random logistic management. Subsequently, we will focus our attention on providing solutions to improve scheduling, inspection, and hours tracking processes using emerging lean tools and field mobility applications that bring new perspectives in terms of cooperation. They have shown a great ability to connect various field teams and make informations visual and accessible to planify accurately and eliminate at the source the potential defects. In addition to software as a service use, the adoption of the human resource module of the Enterprise Resource Planning system can allow a meticulous time accounting and thus make the faster decision making. The next step is to integrate external data sources received from or destined to design engineers, logisticians, and suppliers in a holistic system. Creating a monolithic system that consolidates planning, quality, procurement, and resources management modules should be our ultimate target to build the construction industry supply chain.

Keywords: lean, last planner system, field mobility applications, construction productivity

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Authors: M. Isabel Santos, Ana Breda, Ana Margarida Almeida

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Research on academic abilities of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) underlines the importance of mathematics interventions. Yet the proposal of digital applications for children and youth with ASD continues to attract little attention, namely, regarding the development of mathematical reasoning, being the use of the digital technologies an area of great interest for individuals with this disorder and its use is certainly a facilitative strategy in the development of their mathematical abilities. The use of digital technologies can be an effective way to create innovative learning opportunities to these students and to develop creative, personalized and constructive environments, where they can develop differentiated abilities. The children with ASD often respond well to learning activities involving information presented visually. In this context, we present the digital Learning Environment on Mathematics for Autistic children (LEMA) that was a research project conducive to a PhD in Multimedia in Education and was developed by the Thematic Line Geometrix, located in the Department of Mathematics, in a collaboration effort with DigiMedia Research Center, of the Department of Communication and Art (University of Aveiro, Portugal). LEMA is a digital mathematical learning environment which activities are dynamically adapted to the user’s profile, towards the development of mathematical abilities of children aged 6–12 years diagnosed with ASD. LEMA has already been evaluated with end-users (both students and teacher’s experts) and based on the analysis of the collected data readjustments were made, enabling the continuous improvement of the prototype, namely considering the integration of universal design for learning (UDL) approaches, which are of most importance in ASD, due to its heterogeneity. The learning strategies incorporated in LEMA are: (i) provide options to custom choice of math activities, according to user’s profile; (ii) integrates simple interfaces with few elements, presenting only the features and content needed for the ongoing task; (iii) uses a simple visual and textual language; (iv) uses of different types of feedbacks (auditory, visual, positive/negative reinforcement, hints with helpful instructions including math concept definitions, solved math activities using split and easier tasks and, finally, the use of videos/animations that show a solution to the proposed activity); (v) provides information in multiple representation, such as text, video, audio and image for better content and vocabulary understanding in order to stimulate, motivate and engage users to mathematical learning, also helping users to focus on content; (vi) avoids using elements that distract or interfere with focus and attention; (vii) provides clear instructions and orientation about tasks to ease the user understanding of the content and the content language, in order to stimulate, motivate and engage the user; and (viii) uses buttons, familiarly icons and contrast between font and background. Since these children may experience little sensory tolerance and may have an impaired motor skill, besides the user to have the possibility to interact with LEMA through the mouse (point and click with a single button), the user has the possibility to interact with LEMA through Kinect device (using simple gesture moves).

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, digital technologies, inclusion, mathematical abilities, mathematical learning activities

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Authors: Praneeth Puvvula

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Autonomy in has become increasingly common in modern automotive cars. There are 5 levels of autonomy as defined by SAE. This paper focuses on a SAE level 2 feature which, by definition, is able to control the vehicle longitudinally and laterally at the same time. The system keeps the vehicle centred with in the lane by detecting the lane boundaries while maintaining the vehicle speed. As with the features from SAE level 1 to level 3, the primary responsibility of dynamic driving task lies with the driver. This will need monitoring techniques to ensure the driver is always engaged even while the feature is active. This paper focuses on the these techniques, which would help the safe usage of the feature and provide appropriate warnings to the driver.

Keywords: autonomous driving, safety, adas, automotive technology

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Authors: Zoja Raud, Valery Vodovozov

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The paper focuses on the distance laboratory organisation for training the electrical engineering staff and students in the fields of electrical drive and power electronics. To support online knowledge acquisition and professional enhancement, new challenges in remote education based on an active learning approach with self-assessment have been emerged by the authors. Following the literature review and explanation of the improved assessment methodology, the concept and technological basis of the labs arrangement are presented. To decrease the gap between the distance study of the up-to-date equipment and other educational activities in electrical engineering, the improvements in the following-up the learners’ progress and feedback composition are introduced. An authoring methodology that helps to personalise knowledge acquisition and enlarge Web-based possibilities is described. Educational management based on self-assessment is discussed.

Keywords: advanced training, active learning, distance learning, electrical engineering, remote laboratory, self-assessment

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Authors: Astrid de Leeuw, Pierre Valois

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Environmental education is the key to enhancing or changing students’ ways of thinking and acting in order to create an environmentally robust future for all. The present study investigates the beliefs of 812 primary school students, which merit consideration when developing educational interventions. Results of multiple regression analyses reveal that educational interventions should focus on promoting students’ feelings of control over pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). For example, schools could provide recycling bins on the premises. Furthermore, it is critical to develop positive attitudes in students by stressing the various benefits of PEB for keeping our planet clean and protecting wildlife. Unfortunately, our results indicate that students believe that PEB is boring and annoying. Suggestions are offered for making PEB more interesting and relevant. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness of interventions based on the present results.

Keywords: pro-environmental behavior, primary school students, theory of planned behavior, beliefs, educational interventions

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Authors: Mamta Jat

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Background: The increased longevity has resulted in the increase in the percentage of the global population aged 60 years or over. With this “demographic transition” towards ageing, “epidemiologic transition” is also taking place characterised by growing share of non-communicable diseases in the overall disease burden. So, many of the older adults are ageing with chronic disease and high levels of frailty which often results in lower levels of quality of life. Although frailty may be increasingly common in older adults, prevention or, at least, delay the onset of late-life adverse health outcomes and disability is necessary to maintain the health and functional status of the ageing population. This is an effort using SAGE data to assess levels of frailty and its socio-demographic correlates and its relation with quality of life in LMICs of India, China, Ghana, Mexico, Russia and South Africa in a comparative perspective. Methods: The data comes from multi-country Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE), consists of nationally representative samples of older adults in six low and middle-income countries (LMICs): China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation and South Africa. For our study purpose, we will consider only 50+ year’s respondents. The logistic regression model has been used to assess the correlates of frailty. Multinomial logistic regression has been used to study the effect of frailty on QOL (quality of life), controlling for the effect of socio-economic and demographic correlates. Results: Among all the countries India is having highest mean frailty in males (0.22) and females (0.26) and China with the lowest mean frailty in males (0.12) and females (0.14). The odds of being frail are more likely with the increase in age across all the countries. In India, China and Russia the chances of frailty are more among rural older adults; whereas, in Ghana, South Africa and Mexico rural residence is protecting against frailty. Among all countries china has high percentage (71.46) of frail people in low QOL; whereas Mexico has lowest percentage (36.13) of frail people in low QOL.s The risk of having low and middle QOL is significantly (p<0.001) higher among frail elderly as compared to non–frail elderly across all countries with controlling socio-demographic correlates. Conclusion: Women and older age groups are having higher frailty levels than men and younger aged adults in LMICs. The mean frailty scores demonstrated a strong inverse relationship with education and income gradients, while lower levels of education and wealth are showing higher levels of frailty. These patterns are consistent across all LMICs. These data support a significant role of frailty with all other influences controlled, in having low QOL as measured by WHOQOL index. Future research needs to be built on this evolving concept of frailty in an effort to improve quality of life for frail elderly population, in LMICs setting.

Keywords: Keywords: Ageing, elderly, frailty, quality of life

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Authors: Claire Williams

Abstract:

Randomised controlled Trials (RCTs) of efficacy are still perceived as the gold standard for the generation of evidence, and whilst advances in data collection methods are well developed, this progress has not been matched for the reporting of adverse events (AEs). Assessment and reporting of AEs in clinical trials are fraught with human error and inefficiency and are extremely time and resource intensive. Recent research conducted into the quality of reporting of AEs during clinical trials concluded it is substandard and reporting is inconsistent. Investigators commonly send reports to sponsors who are incorrectly categorised and lacking in critical information, which can complicate the detection of valid safety signals. In our presentation, we will describe an electronic data capture system, which has been designed to support clinical trial processes by reducing the resource burden on investigators, improving overall trial efficiencies, and making trials safer for patients. This proprietary technology was developed using expertise proven in the delivery of the world’s first prospective, phase 3b real-world trial, ‘The Salford Lung Study, ’ which enabled robust safety monitoring and reporting processes to be accomplished by the remote monitoring of patients’ EHRs. This technology enables safety alerts that are pre-defined by the protocol to be detected from the data extracted directly from the patients EHR. Based on study-specific criteria, which are created from the standard definition of a serious adverse event (SAE) and the safety profile of the medicinal product, the system alerts the investigator or study team to the safety alert. Each safety alert will require a clinical review by the investigator or delegate; examples of the types of alerts include hospital admission, death, hepatotoxicity, neutropenia, and acute renal failure. This is achieved in near real-time; safety alerts can be reviewed along with any additional information available to determine whether they meet the protocol-defined criteria for reporting or withdrawal. This active surveillance technology helps reduce the resource burden of the more traditional methods of AE detection for the investigators and study teams and can help eliminate reporting bias. Integration of multiple healthcare data sources enables much more complete and accurate safety data to be collected as part of a trial and can also provide an opportunity to evaluate a drug’s safety profile long-term, in post-trial follow-up. By utilising this robust and proven method for safety monitoring and reporting, a much higher risk of patient cohorts can be enrolled into trials, thus promoting inclusivity and diversity. Broadening eligibility criteria and adopting more inclusive recruitment practices in the later stages of drug development will increase the ability to understand the medicinal products risk-benefit profile across the patient population that is likely to use the product in clinical practice. Furthermore, this ground-breaking approach to AE detection not only provides sponsors with better-quality safety data for their products, but it reduces the resource burden on the investigator and study teams. With the data taken directly from the source, trial costs are reduced, with minimal data validation required and near real-time reporting enables safety concerns and signals to be detected more quickly than in a traditional RCT.

Keywords: more comprehensive and accurate safety data, near real-time safety alerts, reduced resource burden, safer trials

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