Search results for: incontinence quality of life questionnaire

Authors: Zeinab Aliyas, Diba Mahboubi

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Leisure walking is known as one of the most common types of physical activity that perform in purpose of recreation or health, which in turn may affect resident’s health. In the recent years, promoting leisure walking activity in neighborhood areas become as one of the important issues regarding promoting mental and physical health, however; the level of physical inactivity is rising in many societies including Iran. As it was proven that the tendency to walk out of choice is not encouraging among Iranian people. Hence; understanding the main concern of residents regarding walking activity in their neighborhoods can help in increasing the tendency to do leisure activity among residents. Built environment, social and individual factors are known as the main factors that affect decision to walk, in this regard, the study aimed to investigate the influence of personal and social factors that prevent residents to walk for recreation or exercise in their neighborhoods. Hence the fear of crime and personal barriers were examined in the current research as social and personal factors respectively. To collect the required data, 500 questionnaires by using systematic sampling were distributed from March to May 2016 in four residential neighborhoods of Bandar Abbas in Iran out which 411 questionnaire turned out to be qualified to be used in the study. The Smart-PLS was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that personal and fear of crime both have significant influence on the level of recreation and exercise walking in the neighborhood areas. The study found that fear of crime has the higher influence on exercise and recreational walking behavior in comparison to individual factors. It was revealed that social factors such as fear of crime in the neighborhoods might be more important than the personal reason for walking optionally in the surrounding environment. The finding of this study can help urban and health researcher to know the significant influence of fear of crime and individual attitudes on the level of leisure walking activity, in addition, the findings of the study suggest that urban planners and designers, as well as public health promoters, need to highly consider the contribution of neighborhoods' social environment variables as well as individual variables to promote walking behavior changes among adult population.

Keywords: exercise walking, fear of crime, neighborhood, personal barriers, recreation walking

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Authors: Ahmed Altalb

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Fertilizers are natural materials, or industrial contain nutrients, which help to improve soil fertility and is considered (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) is important elements for the growth of crops properly. Fertilization is necessary in order to improve the quality of agricultural products and the recovery in agricultural activities. The use of organic fertilizers and chemical lead to reduce the loss of nutrients in agricultural soils, and this leads to an increase in the production of agricultural crops. Fertilizers are one of the key factors in the increase of agricultural production as well as other factors such as irrigation and improved seeds and Prevention and others; the fertilizers will continue to be a cornerstone of the agriculture in order to produce the food to feed of world population. The use of fertilizers has become commonplace today, especially the chemical fertilizers for the development of agricultural production, due to the provision of nutrients for plants and in high concentrations and easily dissolves in water and ease of use. The choose the right type of fertilizer depends on the soil type and the type of crop. In this subject, find the relationship between the agricultural extension and the optimal use of fertilizers. The extension plays the important role in the advise and educate of farmers in how they optimal use the fertilizers in a scientific way. This article aims to identify the concept the fertilizers. Identify the role of fertilizers in increasing the agricultural production, identify the role of agricultural extension in the optimal use of fertilizers and rural development.

Keywords: agricultural, extension, fertilizers, production

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Authors: Karla Peitl Miller, Leomar Bravin Porto, Kaitto Correa Fraga, Nataniele Eler Mendes

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This paper presents the evaluation and study of a real reinforced concrete structure of a fertilizer storage building, constructed on a Vale’s Port at Brazil, which has been recently under refurbishment. Data that will be shared and commented aim to show how wrong choices in project concepts allied to a very high aggressive environment lead to a fast track degradation, incurring on a hazardous condition associated with huge and expensive treatment for repair and guarantee of minimum performance conditions and service life. It will be also shown and discussed all the covered steps since pathological manifestations first signs were observed until the complete revitalization and reparation planning would be drawn. The conclusions of the work easily explicit the importance of professional technical qualification, the importance of minimum requirements for design and structural reforms, and mainly, the importance of good inspection and diagnostic engineering continuous work.

Keywords: durability, reinforced concrete repair, structural inspection, diagnostic engineering

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Authors: Yuan Jie Kelvin Lu, Amin Chegenizadeh

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Asphalt pavement itself is a mixture made up of mainly aggregates, binders, and fillers that acts as a composition used for pavement construction. An experimental program was setup to determine the fatigue performance test of Asphalt with three different grades of conventional binders. Asphalt specimen has achieved the maximum optimum bulk density and air voids with a consistent bulk density of 2.3 t/m3, with an air void of 5% ± 0.5, before loading into the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tested (AMPT) for fatigue test. The number of cycles is defined as the point where phase angle drops, which is caused by the formation of cracks due to the increasing micro cracks when asphalt is undergoing repeated cycles of loading. Thus, the data collected are analyzed using the drop of phase angle as failure criteria. Based in the data analyzed, it is evident that the fatigue life of asphalt lies on the grade of binder. The result obtained shows that all specimens do experience a drop in phase angle due to macro cracks in the asphalt specimen.

Keywords: asphalt binder, AMPT, CX test, simplified – viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD)

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Marwa Mamdouh Shaban, Nagat Saied Habib, Shireen Ezz El-Din Taha, Eman Mahmoud Seif El-Naser

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Background: Dental nurses and dentists were constantly exposed to a number of specific work related health risk factors which develop and intensify with years. Awareness regarding these work-related health risk factors and implementation of preventive health care measures could provide a safe work environment for all dental nurses and dentists. Aim of the study: to assess the work-related health risk factors among dental nurses and dentists and preventive health care measures applied among dental nurses and dentists. Research design: A descriptive design was utilized. Sample: Convenience sample of 50 dental nurses and 150 dentists were included in the current study. Setting: This study was conducted at the dental clinics at faculty of oral and dental medicine, Al-Kasr Al Ainy Hospital. Tools of data collection: Three tools were developed, tested for clarity, and feasibility: a-Socio-demographic data sheet, b-Work-related health risk factors questionnaire, and c-structured observational checklist. Results: The most common work risk factors prevailing among dental nurses were emotional exhaustion (82%), low back pain (76%) and latex allergy (62%) and the most common work risk factors prevailing among dentists were percutaneous exposure incident (100%), emotional exhaustion (100%) and low back pain (93.3%). Also, statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.274, at p = 0.045) between the incidence of chemical health risk factors and application of chemical preventive measures among dental nurses. A statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.177, at p = 0.030) between the incidences of mechanical health risk factors among dentists and application of mechanical preventive measures. Conclusion: The studied dental nurses and dentists exposed to many work related health risk factors as latex allergy, percutaneous exposure incidents, low back pain and emotional exhaustion related to inappropriate application of preventive health care measures. Recommendation: Raise awareness of dental nurses and dentists about work-related health risk factors, design and implement health education program for preventive health care measures.

Keywords: work-related risk factors, preventive measures, nurses, dentists

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Sara Ibn El Ahrache, Tajje-eddine Rachidi, Hassan Badir, Abderrahmane Sbihi

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Recently, there has been increasing confidence for a favorable usage of big data drawn out from the huge amount of information deposited in a cloud computing system. Data kept on such systems can be retrieved through the network at the user’s convenience. However, the data that users send include private information, and therefore, information leakage from these data is now a major social problem. The usage of secret sharing schemes for cloud computing have lately been approved to be relevant in which users deal out their data to several servers. Notably, in a (k,n) threshold scheme, data security is assured if and only if all through the whole life of the secret the opponent cannot compromise more than k of the n servers. In fact, a number of secret sharing algorithms have been suggested to deal with these security issues. In this paper, we present a Mapreduce implementation of Shamir’s secret sharing scheme to increase its performance and to achieve optimal security for cloud data. Different tests were run and through it has been demonstrated the contributions of the proposed approach. These contributions are quite considerable in terms of both security and performance.

Keywords: cloud computing, data security, Mapreduce, Shamir's secret sharing

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Authors: Thi Hai Anh Nguyen, Pantea Aria

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Tiki is one of the leading e-commerce companies in Viet Nam. Since the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 has been spreading around the world. Thanks to this pandemic, the Tiki platform has many strengths and has faced many threats. Customer behaviour was forecasted to change during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the investigation is (1) Identifying factors affecting online consumer behaviour of Tiki in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, (2) Measuring the level of impact of these factors, and (3) Recommendations for Tiki to improve its business strategy for the next stage. This research studies eight factors and collected 378 online surveys for analysis. Using SPSS software identified five factors (product, price, reliability, and web design) positively influencing customer behaviour. COVID-19 factor does not impact significantly Tiki’s customer behaviour. This research conducted some qualitative interviews to understand shopping experiences and customers’ expectations. One of these interviews’ main points is that Tiki’s customers have high trust in the Tiki brand and its high-quality products. Based on the results, the Tiki corporation should secure its core value. Tiki’s employees and logistics systems should be well-trained and optimized to improve customer experiences.

Keywords: COVID-19, e-commerce, impact, pandemic, Vietnam

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Fidel Lòpez Saca, Carlos Avilés-Cruz, Miguel Magos-Rivera, José Antonio Lara-Chávez

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Automated object recognition and identification systems are widely used throughout the world, particularly in assembly lines, where they perform quality control and automatic part selection tasks. This article presents the design and implementation of an object recognition system in an assembly line. The proposed shapes-color recognition system is based on deep learning theory in a specially designed convolutional network architecture. The used methodology involve stages such as: image capturing, color filtering, location of object mass centers, horizontal and vertical object boundaries, and object clipping. Once the objects are cut out, they are sent to a convolutional neural network, which automatically identifies the type of figure. The identification system works in real-time. The implementation was done on a Raspberry Pi 3 system and on a Jetson-Nano device. The proposal is used in an assembly course of bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. The results presented include studying the efficiency of the recognition and processing time.

Keywords: deep-learning, image classification, image identification, industrial engineering.

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Authors: Fekkak Bouazza, Menaa Mohamed, Loukriz Abdelhamid, Krim Mohamed L.

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This paper presents modeling and control strategy for the grid connected wind turbine system based on Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG). The considered system is based on back-to-back converter topology. The Grid Side Converter (GSC) achieves the DC bus voltage control and unity power factor. The Machine Side Converter (MSC) assures the PMSG speed control. The PMSG is used as a variable speed generator and connected directly to the turbine without gearbox. The pitch angle control is not either considered in this study. Further, Optimal Tip Speed Ratio (OTSR) based MPPT control strategy is used to ensure the most energy efficiency whatever the wind speed variations. A filter (L) is put between the GSC and the grid to reduce current ripple and to improve the injected power quality. The proposed grid connected wind system is built under MATLAB/Simulink environment. The simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed topology and performance of its control strategies.

Keywords: wind, grid, PMSG, MPPT, OTSR

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Authors: S. K. Maanju, K. Saha, Sonam Yadav

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Rapid urbanization growth and multi-faceted regional level industrialization is posing serious threat to natural groundwater resource in State of Rajasthan which constitute major semi-arid part of India. The groundwater resources of the State are limited and cannot withstand the present rate of exploitation for quite a long time. Recharging of groundwater particularly in the western part, where annual precipitation does not exceed a few centimeters, is extremely slow and cannot replenish the exploited quantum. Hence, groundwater in most of the parts of this region has become an exhausting resource. In major parts water table is lowering down rapidly and continuously. The human beings of this semi-arid region are used to suffering from extreme climatic conditions of arid to semi-arid nature and acute shortage of water. The quality of groundwater too in many areas of this region is not up to the standards prescribed by the health organizations like WHO and BIS. This semi-arid region is one of the highly fluoride contaminated area of India as well as have excess, nitrates, sulphates, chlorides and total dissolved solids at various locations. Therefore, concerted efforts are needed towards sustainable development of groundwater in this State of India.

Keywords: Rajasthan, water, exploitation, sustainable, development and resource

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Authors: Muhittin Fatih Demirhan, Sibel Alapala Demirhan

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Agriculture, is also regarded as the primary activity area in all economies. When international comparisons are made Turkey has comparative advantages in agricultural potential. However, it is diffi cult to say that Turkey's agricultural productivity and use of technology is well developed in terms of sufficieny. Turkey, in terms of agricultural production, is one of the rare self-sufficient countries, but for supplying excessive demand of its domesticproduction to foreign markets to obtain the necessary income it is rather insufficient. On the basis of wrong policies implemented during the crisis and found that bottlenecks in agriculture and animal husbandry or agriculture policies of the IMF and World Bank are imposed on countries like Turkey. The IMF and the World Bank, the reduction of support in the agricultural and livestock Turkey, is known to put pressure for the abolition. Under these circumstances, our farmers, livestock producers and breeders of, not a chance to compete in the same market with EU producers. Animal products that capture the productivity levels of developed countries, seems to be our chance to compete with the quality and hygiene criteria. Thus, the discussion of the issue must be raised as for the sector's contribution to the economy in terms of further increasing production of the existing potential in mobilization.

Keywords: agricultural development, animal production, competition, economic crisis, food supply

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Authors: Abhinav Srivastava, Hima Harode, Chandan Kumar Saha

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The principal ingredient of an optical fiber is quartz glass. The quality of the optical fiber decreases if impure foreign substances are attached to its preform surface. If residual strain inside a preform is significant, it cracks with a small impact during drawing or transporting. Furthermore, damages and unevenness on the surface of an optical fiber base material break the fiber during drawing. The present work signifies that chlorine pre-treatment enhances mechanical properties of the optical fiber glass. FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) results show that chlorine gas chemically modifies the structure of silica clad; chlorine is known to soften glass. Metallic impurities on the preform surface likely formed volatile metal chlorides due to chlorine pretreatment at elevated temperature. The chlorine also acts as a drying agent, and therefore the preform surface is anticipated to be water deficient and supposedly avoids particle adhesion on the glass surface. The Weibull analysis of long length tensile strength demarcates a substantial shift in its knee. The higher dynamic fatigue n-value also indicated surface crack healing.

Keywords: mechanical strength, optical fiber glass, FTIR, Weibull analysis

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Authors: Naima Nur, Safa Islam, Saeema Islam, Md. Faridul Alam

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Background: The worldwide increase in pediatric presumptive tuberculosis (TB) is the most life-threatening challenge in effectively controlling TB. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of presumptive TB and the factors associated with it. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and November 2013 at ICDDR-Bangladesh. Two hundred twelve pulmonary and extra-pulmonary specimens were collected from 84 suspected pediatric patients diagnosed with TB based on their clinical symptoms/radiological findings. Presumptive TB and confirmed TB were considered presumptive TB and non-presumptive TB and were isolated by smear-microscopy, culture, and GeneXpert. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between outcome and predictor variables. Results: The proportion of presumptive TB was 85.7%, and 14.3% of non-presumptive TB. In presumptive TB, vaccine scars, family TB history, and school-going children were 16.6%, 33.3%, and 56.9%, respectively. In contrast, vaccine scars and family TB history were 8.3%, and school-going children were 58.3% in non-presumptive TB. Significant factors did not appear in the logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: Despite the high proportion of presumptive TB, there was no statistically significant between presumptive TB and non-presumptive TB.

Keywords: presumptive tuberculosis, confirmed tuberculosis, patient's characteristics, diagnosis

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Authors: Sven Weidner

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In the last two decades, US-American Independent Cinema has been faced with numerous metamorphoses. With regard to style, content, film aesthetics and themes a large array is offered. And as a consequence of the increasing influence of the world wide web and absolutely new ways of production opportunities alter the indie-film scene fundamentally. While in the 90s many independent films were situated in urban spaces -for instance, films of Jim Jarmusch, Abel Ferrara or Quentin Tarantino- there is a tendency from the 2000s years on to go to rural America. Jeff Nichols, Debra Granik or Matthew Porterfield can be named. Suburbia the symbol of the American Dream and in particular of an emerging prosperity after the Second World War is an essential theme with some independent directors; among them indie icons Todd Solondz and Todd Haynes. Based on selected films of both of them the paper explores the formal and aesthetic structures (narrative, drama, montage, lighting, sound, color) of the pictures and how suburbia, its people, and its "perfect" families are shown and unmasked in all facets. Films are: "Happiness" (1998), "Life During Wartime" (2009) and "Far From Heaven" (2002).

Keywords: US-independent cinema, Suburbia, film history, film analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: Ebrahim Fataei, Seyed Ali Hosseini, Zahra Arabi, Habib farhadi, Mehdi Aalipour Erdi, Seiied Taghi Seiied Safavian

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Solid waste production is an integral part of human life and management of waste require full scientific approach and essential planning. The allocation of most management cost to collection and transportation and also the necessity of operational efficiency in this system, by limiting time consumption, and on the other hand optimum collection system and transportation is the base of waste design and management. This study was done to optimize the exits collection and transportation system of solid waste in Meshkinshahr city. So based on the analyzed data of municipal solid waste components in seven zones of Meshkinshahr city, and GIS software, applied to design storage place based on origin recycling and a route to collect and transport. It was attempted to represent an appropriate model to store, collect and transport municipal solid waste. The result shows that GIS can be applied to locate the waste container and determine a waste collection direction in an appropriate way.

Keywords: municipal solid waste management, transportation, optimizing, GIS, Iran

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Authors: Manuela Nayantara Jeyaraj

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PostgreSQL is an Object-Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS) with an architecture that ensures optimal quality data management. But due to the shading growth of similar ORDBMS, PostgreSQL has not been renowned among the database user community. Despite having its features and in-built functionalities shadowed, PostgreSQL renders a vast range of utilities for data manipulation and hence calling for it to be upheld more among users. But introducing PostgreSQL in order to stimulate its advantageous features among users, mandates endorsing learn-ability as an add-on as the target groups considered consist of both amateur as well as professional PostgreSQL users. The scope of this paper deliberates providing easy contemplation of query formulations and flows through a visual editor designed according to user interface principles that standby to support every aspect of making PostgreSQL learn-able by self-operation and creation of queries within the visual editor. This paper tends to scrutinize the importance of choosing PostgreSQL as the working database environment, the visual perspectives that influence human behaviour and ultimately learning, the modes in which learn-ability can be provided via visualization and the advantages reaped by the implementation of the proposed system features.

Keywords: database, learn-ability, PostgreSQL, query, visual-editor

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Authors: Beverly Redman

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With the Theatre Season of 2020-2021 cancelled due to COVID-19 at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN, USA, faculty directors found themselves scrambling to create theatre production opportunities for their students in the Department of Theatre. Redman, Chair of the Department, found her community to be suffering from anxieties brought on by a confluence of issues: the global-scale Covid-19 Pandemic, the United States’ Black Lives Matter protests erupting in cities all across the country and the coming Presidential election, arguably the most important and most contentious in the country’s history. Redman wanted to give her students the opportunity to speak not only on these issues but also to be able to record who they were at this time in their personal lives, as well as in this broad socio-political context. She also wanted to invite them into an experience of feeling empathy, too, at a time when empathy in this world seems to be sorely lacking. Returning to a mode of Devising Theatre she had used with community groups in the past, in which storytelling and re-enactment of participants’ life events combined with oral history documentation practices, Redman planned The Shared Breath Project. The process involved three months of workshops, in which participants alternated between theatre exercises and oral history collection and documentation activities as a way of generating original material for a theatre production. The goal of the first half of the project was for each participant to produce a solo piece in the form of a monologue after many generations of potential material born out of gammes, improvisations, interviews and the like. Along the way, many film and audio clips recorded the process of each person’s written documentation—documentation prepared by the subject him or herself but also by others in the group assigned to listen, watch and record. Then, in the second half of the project—and only once each participant had taken their own contributions from raw improvisatory self-presentations and through the stages of composition and performative polish, participants then exchanged their pieces. The second half of the project involved taking on each other’s words, mannerisms, gestures, melodic and rhythmic speech patterns and inhabiting them through the rehearsal process as their own, thus the title, The Shared Breath Project. Here, in stage two the acting challenges evolved to be those of capturing the other and becoming the other through accurate mimicry that embraces Denis Diderot’s concept of the Paradox of Acting, in that the actor is both seeming and being simultaneous. This paper shares the carefully documented process of making the live-streamed theatre production that resulted from these workshops, writing processes and rehearsals, and forming, The Shared Breath Project, which ultimately took the students’ Realist, life-based pieces and edited them into a single unified theatre production. The paper also utilizes research on the Paradox of Acting, putting a Post-Structuralist spin on Diderot’s theory. Here, the paper suggests the limitations of inhabiting the other by allowing that the other is always already a thing impenetrable but nevertheless worthy of unceasing empathetic, striving and delving in an epoch in which slow, careful attention to our fellows is in short supply.

Keywords: otherness, paradox of acting, oral history theatre, devised theatre, political theatre, community-based theatre, peoples’ theatre

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Authors: Shobha Ramalingam

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The majority of the infrastructure projects are affected by time overrun, resulting in project delays and subsequently cost overruns. Time overrun may vary from a few months to as high as five or more years, placing the project viability at risk. One of the probable reasons noted in the literature for this outcome in projects is due to poor productivity. Researchers contend that productivity in construction has only marginally increased over the years. While studies in the literature have extensively focused on time and cost parameters in projects, there are limited studies that integrate time and cost with productivity to assess project performance. To this end, a study was conducted to understand the project delay factors concerning cost, time and productivity. A case-study approach was adopted to collect rich data from a nuclear power plant project site for two months through observation, interviews and document review. The data were analyzed using three different approaches for a comprehensive understanding. Foremost, a root-cause analysis was performed on the data using Ishikawa’s fish-bone diagram technique to identify the various factors impacting the delay concerning time. Based on it, a questionnaire was designed and circulated to concerned executives, including project engineers and contractors to determine the frequency of occurrence of the delay, which was then compiled and presented to the management for a possible solution to mitigate. Second, a productivity analysis was performed on select activities, including rebar bending and concreting through a time-motion study to analyze product performance. Third, data on cost of construction for three years allowed analyzing the cost performance using earned value management technique. All three techniques allowed to systematically and comprehensively identify the key factors that deter project performance and productivity loss in the construction of the nuclear power plant project. The findings showed that improper planning and coordination between multiple trades, concurrent operations, improper workforce and material management, fatigue due to overtime were some of the key factors that led to delays and poor productivity. The findings are expected to act as a stepping stone for further research and have implications for practitioners.

Keywords: earned value analysis, time performance, project costs, project delays, construction productivity

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Authors: Nam Kyu Kim, Hee Jun Cha, Jae Jin Seo, Dong Jun Won

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Output power of a photovoltaic (PV) generator depends on incident solar irradiance. If the clouds pass or the climate condition is bad, the PV output fluctuates frequently. When PV generator is connected to the grid, these fluctuations adversely affect power quality. Thus, ramp rate control with battery energy storage system (BESS) is needed to reduce PV output fluctuations. At the same time, for effective BESS operation and sizing the optimal BESS capacity, managing state of charge (SOC) is the most important part. In addition, managing SOC helps to avoid violating the SOC operating range of BESS when performing renewable integration (RI) continuously. As PV and BESS increase, the SOC management of BESS will become more important in the future. This paper presents the SOC management algorithm which helps to operate effectively BESS, and has focused on method to manage SOC while reducing PV output fluctuations. A simulation model is developed in PSCAD/EMTDC software. The simulation results show that the SOC is maintained within the operating range by adjusting the output distribution according to the SOC of the BESS.

Keywords: battery energy storage system, ramp rate control, renewable integration, SOC management

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Authors: Jefferson S. Galanza, Jewel An Mischelle R.Camcam, Alyssa Karryl C. Co, Stephanie P. De Guzman, Jet Jet K. Dongui-is, Rodolfo Dane C. Frias, Ovelle C. Jueco, Harvey L. Matbagan, Victoria Luzette T. Rillon, Christelle Romyna H. Saruca, Jeanette Roma M. Villasper

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Background: Amidst numerous studies conducted on learning styles of students from a variety of courses, levels and school, a recent study recommended a great need for research on learning styles of student nurses. Moreover, related literatures have not been found exploring both the learning and teaching style of student nurses. Aims: The study aimed to determine the learning and teaching styles of student nurses and if there is an association between them. It also intended to discover whether student nurses are unimodal or multimodal in their styles and identified which faculty teaching style affords maximum outcome for student’s learning styles. Methods: Quantitative Descriptive-Correlational design was used. Participants were randomly selected 312 student nurses at School of Nursing X, Baguio City, Philippines. The questionnaire utilized a modified version of an adopted tool from Fleming’s VARK learning style version 7.2 (Visual, Auditory, Reader/Writer, Kinaesthetic) and Grasha’s teaching styles (Formal Authority, Demonstrator, Facilitator, Delegator). SPSS 19 was used for statistical treatment of data, where Chi square was used for the correlation of unimodal learning and teaching styles. Results/Finding: Majority of student nurses’ learning style is Kinesthetic and their teaching style is Demonstrator, which was also found to be significantly associated. Moreover, 8 out of 10 students are Unimodal in their learning and teaching modalities. In general, their preferred faculty teaching style is similar to their teaching style, which supports the concept, that teachers teach the way they learn. Conclusion: Study concludes that student nurses’ learning styles and teaching styles are varied, which exemplifies the uniqueness of every learner.This diversity in styles provided more evidence that a variety of mode of teaching and learning should be used by faculty and students to increase learning outcome and academic achievement. Recommendation: Future studies could be carried out in various schools of nursing utilizing faculty as respondents. Conduct assessment of learning style at the onset of classes/clinical placements so that faculty will become aware of the diversity of learners leading them to deliver diverse teaching methods.

Keywords: learning, learning styles, teaching styles, student nurses

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Authors: Sophie Huck, Knut Linke

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This study will examine how IT practitioners can be motivated for IT studies and which kind of support they need during their occupational studies. Within this research project, the challenge of supporting students being engaged in business for several years arose. Here, it is especially important to successfully guide them through their studies. The problem of this group is that they finished their school education years ago. In order to gather first experiences, preliminary e-learning courses were introduced and tested with a group of users studying General Management. They had to work with these courses and have been questioned later on about their approach to the different methods. Moreover, a second group of potential students was interviewed with the help of online questionnaires to give information about their expectations regarding extra occupational studies. We also want to present best practices and cases in e-education in the subarea of mathematics and distance learning. Within these cases and practices, we use state of the art systems and technologies in e-education to find a way to increase teaching quality and the success of students. Our research indicated that the first group of enrolled students appreciated the new preliminary e-learning courses. The second group of potential students was convinced of this way of learning as a significant component of extra occupational studies. It can be concluded that this part of the project clarified the acceptance of the e-learning strategy by both groups and led to satisfactory results with the enrolled students.

Keywords: e-learning evaluation, self-learning, virtual classroom, virtual learning environments

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: A. Ballard

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The ability to track goods and products en route in the delivery system, in the warehouse, and on the top floor is a huge advantage to shippers and retailers. Recently the emergence of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has enabled this better than ever before. However, a significant problem exists in that RFID technology depends on the quality of the information stored for each tagged product. Because of the profusion of names for colours, it is very difficult to ascertain that stored values are recognised by all users who view the product visually. This paper reports the findings of a study in which 50 consumers and 50 logistics workers were shown colour swatches and asked to choose the name of the colour from a multiple choice list. They were then asked to match consumer products, including toasters, jumpers, and toothbrushes, with the identifying inventory information available for each one. The findings show that the ability to match colours was significantly stronger with the color swatches than with the consumer products and that while logistics professionals made more frequent correct identification than the consumers, their results were still unsatisfactorily low. Based on these findings, a proposed universal model of colour identification numbers has been developed.

Keywords: consumer preferences, supply chain logistics, radio frequency identification, RFID, colour preference

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Luv Sharma

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Sex determination has been the most intriguing puzzle for forensic pathologists and anthropologists, for which efforts have been made for a long. Sexual dimorphism is well established in the adult pelvis, and it is known to provide the highest level of information about sexual dimorphism. This study was conducted to know whether this dimorphism exists in fetal bones or not. A total of 34 pairs of fetal pelvis bones (22 males and 12 Females), ages ranging from 4 months to full term, were collected from unidentified dead fetuses brought to the Department of Forensic Medicine for routine medicolegal autopsies to study for sexual dimorphism in the Department of Anatomy, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak. Samples were divided into 2 age groups, and various metric parameters were recorded with the help of a digital vernier caliper. Data obtained was subjected to descriptive and discriminant functional analysis. Results of Descriptive and Discriminant Functional Analysis showed that sex determination can be done with 100% accuracy by using different combinations of parameters of fetal ilium. This study illustrates that sexual dimorphism exists from early fetal life after mid-pregnancy; it can be clearly established by discriminant functional analysis.

Keywords: Ilium, fetus, sex determination, morphometric

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Authors: Kadir Mokrane, Souag Doudja

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In Algeria, one of the Mediterranean countries, water resources are limited and unevenly distributed in space and in time. Boumerdes, coastal town of Algeria, known for its farming and fishing activities. The region is also known for its semi-arid climate and a large water deficit. In order to preserve the quality of water bodies and to reduce withdrawals in the natural environment, it is necessary to seek alternative supplies. The reuse of treated wastewater seems to be a good alternative, especially for irrigation. In the framework of sustainable development, it is imperative to rationalize the use of water resources conventional and unconventional. That is why the re-use agricultural of by-products of the treatment is an alternative expected to preserve the environment and promotion of the agricultural sector. The present work aims, to search for the possibility of reuse of treated wastewater, and sludge resulting from treatment plant of the city of Boumerdes in agriculture, through the analysis of physical, chemical and bacteriological on the samples, and the continuous monitoring of the evolution of several elements during the period of study extended over 12 months, and then, the comparison of these test results to standards and guidelines established in the framework of irrigation and land application.

Keywords: treated water, sewage sludge, recycling, agriculture

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Authors: S. MacDonald, A. Manuel, R. Law, N. Bandruak, A. Dubrowski, V. Curran, J. Smith-Young, K. Simmons, A. Warren

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High fidelity human patient simulation has been used for many years by health sciences education programs to foster critical thinking, engage learners, improve confidence, improve communication, and enhance psychomotor skills. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on the use of high fidelity human patient simulation to foster teamwork among nursing, medicine and pharmacy undergraduate students. This study compared the impact of high fidelity and low fidelity simulation education on teamwork among nursing, medicine and pharmacy students. For the purpose of this study, two innovative teaching scenarios were developed based on the care of an adult patient experiencing acute anaphylaxis: one high fidelity using a human patient simulator and one low fidelity using case based discussions. A within subjects, pretest-posttest, repeated measures design was used with two-treatment levels and random assignment of individual subjects to teams of two or more professions. A convenience sample of twenty-four (n=24) undergraduate students participated, including: nursing (n=11), medicine (n=9), and pharmacy (n=4). The Interprofessional Teamwork Questionnaire was used to assess for changes in students’ perception of their functionality within the team, importance of interprofessional collaboration, comprehension of roles, and confidence in communication and collaboration. Student satisfaction was also assessed. Students reported significant improvements in their understanding of the importance of interprofessional teamwork and of the roles of nursing and medicine on the team after participation in both the high fidelity and the low fidelity simulation. However, only participants in the high fidelity simulation reported a significant improvement in their ability to function effectively as a member of the team. All students reported that both simulations were a meaningful learning experience and all students would recommend both experiences to other students. These findings suggest there is merit in both high fidelity and low fidelity simulation as a teaching and learning approach to foster teamwork among undergraduate nursing, medicine and pharmacy students. However, participation in high fidelity simulation may provide a more realistic opportunity to practice and function as an effective member of the interprofessional health care team.

Keywords: acute anaphylaxis, high fidelity human patient simulation, low fidelity simulation, interprofessional education

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Authors: Nikhilesh Singh, Shishir Gaur, Anitha K. Sharma

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Climate change and anthropogenic stress have severely affected ecosystems all over the globe. Indian rivers are under immense pressure, facing challenges like pollution, encroachment, extreme fluctuation in the flow regime, local ignorance and lack of coordination between stakeholders. To counter all these issues a holistic river rejuvenation plan is needed that tests, innovates and implements sustainable solutions in the river space for sustainable river management. Smart Laboratory for Clean Rivers (SLCR) an Indo-Danish collaboration project, provides a living lab setup that brings all the stakeholders (government agencies, academic and industrial partners and locals) together to engage, learn, co-creating and experiment for a clean and sustainable river that last for ages. Just like every mega project requires piloting, SLCR has opted for a small catchment of the Varuna River, located in the Middle Ganga Basin in India. Considering the integrated approach of river rejuvenation, SLCR embraces various techniques and upgrades for rejuvenation. Likely, maintaining flow in the channel in the lean period, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a proven technology. In SLCR, Floa-TEM high-resolution lithological data is used in MAR models to have better decision-making for MAR structures nearby of the river to enhance the river aquifer exchanges. Furthermore, the concerns of quality in the river are a big issue. A city like Varanasi which is located in the last stretch of the river, generates almost 260 MLD of domestic waste in the catchment. The existing STP system is working at full efficiency. Instead of installing a new STP for the future, SLCR is upgrading those STPs with an IoT-based system that optimizes according to the nutrient load and energy consumption. SLCR also advocate nature-based solutions like a reed bed for the drains having less flow. In search of micropollutants, SLCR uses fingerprint analysis involves employing advanced techniques like chromatography and mass spectrometry to create unique chemical profiles. However, rejuvenation attempts cannot be possible without involving the entire catchment. A holistic water management plan that includes storm management, water harvesting structure to efficiently manage the flow of water in the catchment and installation of several buffer zones to restrict pollutants entering into the river. Similarly, carbon (emission and sequestration) is also an important parameter for the catchment. By adopting eco-friendly practices, a ripple effect positively influences the catchment's water dynamics and aids in the revival of river systems. SLCR has adopted 4 villages to make them carbon-neutral and water-positive. Moreover, for the 24×7 monitoring of the river and the catchment, robust IoT devices are going to be installed to observe, river and groundwater quality, groundwater level, river discharge and carbon emission in the catchment and ultimately provide fuel for the data analytics. In its completion, SLCR will provide a river restoration manual, which will strategise the detailed plan and way of implementation for stakeholders. Lastly, the entire process is planned in such a way that will be managed by local administrations and stakeholders equipped with capacity-building activity. This holistic approach makes SLCR unique in the field of river rejuvenation.

Keywords: sustainable management, holistic approach, living lab, integrated river management

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Charintorn Suwannawong, Tananpon Yavilas, Sopida Boonaneksap, Chotika Viriyarattanasak, Chairath Tangduangdee

Abstract:

With increasing aging population and health conscious consumers, the demand for health promoting products such as functional foods, dietary supplements, and nutraceutical products has continuously increased in Thailand. Nevertheless, the strategic framework for regulatory functional food developments in Thailand is still unclear. The objective of this study was to survey stakeholders’ perspectives on three scopes, consisting of 1) the current status 2) obstacles, and 3) future trend for the development and production of functional foods in Thailand. A survey was conducted by interviewing ten experts from governmental organization, industrial sector and academic institute. The obtained results show that there is no established definition for functional foods in Thailand. There is a variety of raw materials that are capable to be potential ingredients for functional food production in Thailand and exported to global market. However, the scaling up technology into a commercial production is limited. Moreover, there is a need to establish the infrastructures, such as testing laboratory, and regulatory standards for quality control and ensuring product safety. This information is useful for government in the development of the strategic framework and policy statement on improvement of functional food industry in Thailand.

Keywords: functional foods, interview, perspective, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Aboul-Nasr Amal, Sabry Soraya, Sabra Mayada

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The effects of phosphorus amendments and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi Glomus intraradices on the sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), chemical composition and percent of volatile oil, and metal accumulation in plants and its availability in soil were investigated in field experiment at two seasons 2012 and 2013 under contaminated soil with Pb and Cu. The content of essential oil and shoot and root dry weights of sweet basil was increased by the application of mineral phosphorus as compared to control. Inoculation with AM fungi reduced the metal concentration in shoot, recording a lowest value of (33.24, 18.60 mg/kg) compared to the control (46.49, 23.46 mg/kg) for Pb and Cu, respectively. Availability of Pb and Cu in soil were decreased after cultivation in all treatments compared to control. However, metal root concentration increased with the inoculation, with highest values of (30.15, 39.25 mg/kg)compared to control (22.01, 33.57mg/kg) for Pb and Cu, respectively. The content of linalool and methyl chavicol in basil oil was significantly increased in all treatments compared to control. We can thus conclude that the AM-sweet basil symbiosis could be employed as an approach to bioremediate polluted soils and enhance the yield and maintain the quality of volatile oil of sweet basil plants.

Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, heavy metals, sweet basil, oil composition

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Twinkle Sara Joseph

Abstract:

Virtual reality technology has emerged as a revolutionary power that can transform the education sector in many ways. VR environments can break the boundaries of the traditional classroom setting by immersing the students in realistic 3D environments where they can interact with virtual characters without fearing being judged. Communication skills are essential for every profession, and studies suggest the importance of implementing basic-level communication courses at both the school and graduate levels. Interpersonal communication is a skill that gains prominence as it is required in every profession. Traditional means of training have limitations for trainees as well as participants. The fear of being judged, the audience interaction, and other factors can affect the performance of a participant in a traditional classroom setting. Virtual reality offers a unique opportunity for its users to participate in training that does not set any boundaries that prevent the participants from performing in front of an audience. Specialised applications designed in VR headsets offer a range of training and exercises for participants without any time, space, or audience limitations. The present study aims at measuring the effectiveness of VR training in improving interpersonal communication skills among students. The study uses a mixed-method approach, in which a pre-and post-test will be designed to measure effectiveness. A preliminary selection process involving a questionnaire and a screening test will identify suitable candidates based on their current communication proficiency levels. Participants will undergo specialised training through the VR application Virtual Speech tailored for interpersonal communication and public speaking, designed to operate without the traditional constraints of time, space, or audience. The training's impact will subsequently be measured through situational exercises to engage the participants in interpersonal communication tasks, thereby assessing the improvement in their skills. The significance of this study lies in its potential to provide empirical evidence supporting VR technology's role in enhancing communication skills, thereby offering valuable insights for integrating VR-based methodologies into educational frameworks to prepare students more effectively for their professional futures.

Keywords: virtual reality, VR training, interpersonal communication, communication skills, 3D environments

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: M. Van Zyl, M. H. A. Combrinck, E. J. Spamer

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Due to the need for higher education in South Africa, the country experiences a rapid growth in open distance learning, especially in rural areas. It is difficult for people to enrol fulltime at contact universities, owing to work and financial constraints. The Unit for Open Distance Learning (UODL) at the North-West University (NWU), Potchefstroom campus, South Africa was established in 2013 with its main function to deliver open distance learning programmes to 30 000 students from the Faculties of Education Sciences, Theology and Health Sciences. With the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs), the NWU and UODL are now able to deliver lectures to students concurrently at 60 regional open learning centres across Southern Africa as well as to an unlimited number of individuals with Internet access worldwide. Although IWBs are not new, our initiative is to use them more extensively in order to create more contact between lecturers and students. To be able to ensure and enhance quality education it is vital to determine students’ perceptions on the delivery of programmes by means of IWBs. Therefore, the aim of the study is to explore students’ perceptions for the use of IWBs in the delivery of programmes in terms of Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance.

Keywords: interactive white board, open distance learning, technology, transactional learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 449