Search results for: factors influence

Authors: Yazan Al-Kofahi, Jamal Alqawasmi.

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In this study, a comprehensive literature review (SLR) was conducted, with the main goal of assessing the existing literature about how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL) models are used in sustainable architecture applications and issues including thermal comfort satisfaction, energy efficiency, cost prediction and many others issues. For this reason, the search strategy was initiated by using different databases, including Scopus, Springer and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria were used by two research strings related to DL, ML and sustainable architecture. Moreover, the timeframe for the inclusion of the papers was open, even though most of the papers were conducted in the previous four years. As a paper filtration strategy, conferences and books were excluded from database search results. Using these inclusion and exclusion criteria, the search was conducted, and a sample of 59 papers was selected as the final included papers in the analysis. The data extraction phase was basically to extract the needed data from these papers, which were analyzed and correlated. The results of this SLR showed that there are many applications of ML and DL in Sustainable buildings, and that this topic is currently trendy. It was found that most of the papers focused their discussions on addressing Environmental Sustainability issues and factors using machine learning predictive models, with a particular emphasis on the use of Decision Tree algorithms. Moreover, it was found that the Random Forest repressor demonstrates strong performance across all feature selection groups in terms of cost prediction of the building as a machine-learning predictive model.

Keywords: machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, sustainable building

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Authors: Sara Mohammad Atef Sabaika

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Background: The development of factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitor and hemophilic arthropathy in patients with hemophilia A (PWHA) are a great challenge for hemophilia care. Both genetic and environmental factors led to complications in PWHA. The development of inhibitory antibodies is usually induced by the immune response. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), one of the cytokines, might contribute to its polymorphism. Aim: Study the association between tumor necrosis alpha level and genotypes in pediatric patients with hemophilia A and its relation to inhibitor development and joint status. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sufficient number of PWHA attending the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Unit, Pediatric department in Menoufia University hospital. The clinical parameters, FVIII, FVIII inhibitor, and serum TNF-α level were assessed. The genotyping of −380G > A TNF-α gene polymorphism was performed using real time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Among the 50 PWHA, 28 (56%) were identified as severe PWHA. The FVIII inhibitor was identified in 6/28 (21.5%) of severe PWHA. There was a significant correlation between serum TNF-α level and the development of inhibitor (p = 0:043). There was significant correlation between polymorphisms of −380G > A TNF-α gene and hemophilic arthropathy development (p = 0:645). Conclusion: The prevalence of FVIII inhibitor in severe PWHA in Menoufia was 21.5%. The frequency of replacement therapy is a risk factor for inhibitor development. Serum TNF-α level and its gene polymorphism might be used to predict inhibitor development and joint status in pediatric patients with hemophilia A.

Keywords: hemophilic arthropathy, TNF alpha., patients witb hemophilia A PWHA, inhibitor

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Authors: Sun-Jin Han, Deuck Hang Lee, Hyo-Eun Joo, Hyun Kang, Kang Su Kim

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In pretensioned concrete members, the transfer length region is existed, in which the stress in prestressing strand is developed due to the bond mechanism with surrounding concrete. The stress of strands in the transfer length zone is smaller than that in the strain plateau zone, so-called effective prestress, therefore the web-shear strength in transfer length region is smaller than that in the strain plateau zone. Although the transfer length is main key factor in the shear design, a few analytical researches have been conducted to investigate the transfer length. Therefore, in this study, a theoretical approach was used to estimate the transfer length. The bond stress developed between the strands and the surrounding concrete was quantitatively calculated by using the Thick-Walled Cylinder Model (TWCM), based on this, the transfer length of strands was calculated. To verify the proposed model, a total of 209 test results were collected from the previous studies. Consequently, the analysis results showed that the main influencing factors on the transfer length are the compressive strength of concrete, the cover thickness of concrete, the diameter of prestressing strand, and the magnitude of initial prestress. In addition, the proposed model predicted the transfer length of collected test specimens with high accuracy. Acknowledgement: This research was supported by a grant(17TBIP-C125047-01) from Technology Business Innovation Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

Keywords: bond, Hoyer effect, prestressed concrete, prestressing strand, transfer length

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Authors: Uche A. Nnawulezi

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Undoubtedly, despite all efforts made to achieve overall peace through the application of the principles of international humanitarian law, crimes against mankind which are of unprecedented concern to the whole world have remained unabated. The fall back on war as a technique for settling disputes between nations, individuals, countries and ethnic groups with accompanying toll of deaths and destruction of properties have remained a conspicuous component of human history. Indeed, to control this conduct of warfare and the dehumanization of individuals, a body of law aimed at regulating the impacts of conflicts and hostilities in the theater of war has become necessary. Thus, it is to examine the conditions in which international humanitarian law will apply and also to determine the extent of the challenges of new progressions of warfare that this study is undertaken. All through this examination, we grasped doctrinal approach wherein we used text books, journals, international materials and supposition of law specialists in the field of international humanitarian law. This paper shall examine the distinctive factors responsible for the rebelliousness to the rules of International Humanitarian Law and furthermore, shall proffer possible courses of action that will address the challenges of new technologies of warfare all over the world. Essentially, the basic proposals made in this paper if totally utilized may go far in ensuring a sufficient standard in the application of the rules of international humanitarian law as it relates to an increasingly frequent phenomenon of contemporary developments in technologies of warfare which has in recent past, made it more difficult for the most ideal application of the rules of international humanitarian law. This paper deduces that for a sustainable global peace to be achieved, the rules of International Humanitarian Law as it relates to the utilization of new technologies of warfare should be completely clung to and should be made a strict liability offense. Likewise, this paper further recommends the introduction of domestic criminal law punishment of serious contraventions of the rules of international humanitarian law.

Keywords: international, humanitarian law, new technologies, warfare

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Authors: Inseon Ryoo, Soo Chin Kim, Hyena Jung, Sangil Suh

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Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical significance of hyper-intense signal thyroid incidentalomas on the time of flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) using correlation study with ultrasound (US). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 3,505 non-contrast TOF-MRA performed at an institution between September 2014 and May 2017. Two radiologists correlated the thyroid incidentalomas detected on TOF-MRA with US features which was obtained within three months interval between MRA and US examinations in consensus method. Results: The prevalence of hyper-intense signal thyroid nodules incidentally detected on TOF-MRA was 1.2% (43/3505). Among them, 35 people (81.4%) underwent US examinations, and total 45 hyper-intense signal thyroid nodules were detected on US exams. Of these 45 nodules, 35 nodules (72.9%) were categorized as benign (K-TIRADS category 2) on US exams. Fine needle aspiration was performed on 9 nodules according to the indications recommended by Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology. All except one high-suspicious thyroid nodule were confirmed as benign (Bethesda 2) on cytologic exams. One high-suspicious nodule on US showed a non-diagnostic result (Bethesda 1) on cytologic exam. However, this nodule collapsed after aspiration of thick colloid material. Conclusions: Our study showed that the most hyper-intense signal thyroid nodules detected on TOF-MRA were benign. Therefore, if a hyper-intense signal incidentaloma is found on TOF-MRA, further evaluation, especially invasive biopsy of the nodules could be suspended unless the patient had other symptoms or clinical factors suggesting the need for further evaluation.

Keywords: incidentaloma, thyroid nodule, TOF MR angiography, ultrasound

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Authors: Ilaha Rzayeva, Emin Alasgarov, Orkhan Karim-Zada

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This study attempts to consider the linkage between management and computer sciences in order to develop the software named “IntelSymb” as a demo application to prove data analysis of non-energy* fields’ diversification, which will positively influence on energy dependency mitigation of countries. Afterward, we analyzed 18 years of economic fields of development (5 sectors) of 13 countries by identifying which patterns mostly prevailed and which can be dominant in the near future. To make our analysis solid and plausible, as a future work, we suggest developing a gateway or interface, which will be connected to all available on-line data bases (WB, UN, OECD, U.S. EIA) for countries’ analysis by fields. Sample data consists of energy (TPES and energy import indicators) and non-energy industries’ (Main Science and Technology Indicator, Internet user index, and Sales and Production indicators) statistics from 13 OECD countries over 18 years (1995-2012). Our results show that the diversification of non-energy industries can have a positive effect on energy sector dependency (energy consumption and import dependence on crude oil) deceleration. These results can provide empirical and practical support for energy and non-energy industries diversification’ policies, such as the promoting of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), services and innovative technologies efficiency and management, in other OECD and non-OECD member states with similar energy utilization patterns and policies. Industries, including the ICT sector, generate around 4 percent of total GHG, but this is much higher — around 14 percent — if indirect energy use is included. The ICT sector itself (excluding the broadcasting sector) contributes approximately 2 percent of global GHG emissions, at just under 1 gigatonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2eq). Ergo, this can be a good example and lesson for countries which are dependent and independent on energy, and mainly emerging oil-based economies, as well as to motivate non-energy industries diversification in order to be ready to energy crisis and to be able to face any economic crisis as well.

Keywords: energy policy, energy diversification, “IntelSymb” software, renewable energy

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Authors: Roshanim Koris, Norashidah Mohamed Nor, Sharifah Azizah Haron, Normaz Wana Ismail, Syed Mohamed Aljunid Syed Junid, Amrizal Muhammad Nur, Asrul Akmal Shafie, Suraya Yusuff, Namaitijiang Maimaiti

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An ageing population has huge implications for virtually every aspect of Malaysian societies. The elderly consume a greater volume of healthcare facilities not because they are older, but because of they are sick. The chronic comorbidities and deterioration of cognitive ability would lead the elderly’s health to become worst. This study aims to provide a comprehensive estimate of the direct and indirect costs of health care used in a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling elderly with dementia and as well as the determinants of healthcare cost. A survey using multi-stage random sampling techniques recruited a final sample of 2274 elderly people (60 years and above) in the state of Johor, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was used to measure the cognitive capability among the elderly. Only the elderly with a score less than 19 marks were selected for further analysis and were classified as dementia. By using a two-part model findings also indicate household income and education level are variables that strongly significantly influence the healthcare cost among elderly with dementia. A number of visits and admission are also significantly affect healthcare expenditure. The comorbidity that highly influences healthcare cost is cancer and seeking the treatment in private facilities is also significantly affected the healthcare cost among the demented elderly. The level of dementia severity is not significant in determining the cost. This study is expected to attract the government's attention and act as a wake-up call for them to be more concerned about the elderly who are at high risk of having chronic comorbidities and cognitive problems by providing more appropriate health and social care facilities. The comorbidities are one of the factor that could cause dementia among elderly. It is hoped that this study will promote the issues of dementia as a priority in public health and social care in Malaysia.

Keywords: ageing population, dementia, elderly, healthcare cost, healthcare utiliztion

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Authors: Pramoda Karunarathna, Hemamalie Gunatilaka

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This study is based on experiences of Sri Lankan lesbian and gay workers’ career in the corporate sector, which include both manufacturing and service sectors. The study has started with the intention of shedding light on a grey area to observe the negative effects on lesbian and gay workers and their experiences while they are employed in the Sri Lankan corporate sector. In order to understand the experiences of lesbian and gay workers while they are at work within the corporate sector, the study seeks to address four questions. First research question is about the challenges faced by lesbian and gay workers while they are at work, and the second research question looks at their career patterns. Third research question seeks to address the behavior at work, and the fourth research question looks at the influence of class, religion, and cultural aspects on the career of lesbian and gay workers. Methodologically, the research was based on semi-structured interviews with nine participants (five gay men and four lesbian women) having work experience in the corporate sector and residing in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. The research found that the participants have gone through the process of developing sexual identity; gay men possess more feminine characteristics, while lesbian women possess more masculine characteristics. Further, their identity gets revealed in different ways, such as through the curriculum vitae, at the interviews, through the attire and behavior, and with the use of social media. The study also found that lesbian and gay workers experience discrimination due to violation of hierarchical power difference by other employees and marginalization, verbal and nonverbal abuse by other men at work are common experiences. Another finding is that lesbian and gay workers adopt strategies for survival at work, and they prefer the NGO sector to the corporate sector. In contrast, even within the corporate sector, advertising is preferred by lesbian and gay workers. Some of the Sri Lankan corporate sector organizations, especially multinational organizations, have initiated diversity training, and it might lead to making these organisations lesbian and gay-friendly workplaces in the future. It is also found that nearly 44 percent of the participants do not have a religion, and it is due to the rejection of deviant behaviours by most of the religions. In conclusion, lesbian and gay workers experience discrimination at work in the Sri Lankan corporate sector with an exception to the companies relating to advertising and non-governmental organisations is the sector that these workers prefer the most.

Keywords: lesbian workers, gay workers, Sri Lankan corporate sector, discrimination

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Authors: Alison Ryan, Himani Chhabra, Mohammed Dungarwalla, Judith Jones

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Background: Impacted and ectopic teeth present in 1-2% of orthodontic patients and often require joint surgical and orthodontic management. The authors present two patients undergoing orthodontic treatment, where the impacted teeth, in a hopeless position, spontaneously erupted during the period of cessation of general anaesthetic lists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patient information: A healthy 11-year-old boy was referred to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for the management of a mesioangular impacted LR7. The patient was seen by the joint oral surgery/orthodontic team, who planned for the removal of the LR7 under general anaesthetic. A healthy 13-year-old boy was referred to the same Department and team for surgical extraction of unerupted and buccally impacted UL3 and UR3 under general anaesthetic. Management and outcome: The majority of elective dental-alveolar work ceased as a result of the global pandemic. On resumption of activity, the first patient was reviewed in July 2021. The LR7 had spontaneously erupted in a favourable position, and following MDT review, a decision was made to forgo any further surgical intervention. The second patient was reviewed in July 2021. The UL3 had clinically erupted, and there was radiographic evidence of favourable movement of UR3. Due to the nature of the patient’s malocclusion, the decision was made to proceed with the extractions as previously planned. Key Learning Points: Severely impacted teeth do have a prospect of spontaneous eruption or alignment without clinical intervention, and current literature states the initial location, axial inclination, degree of root formation, and relation of the impacted tooth to adjacent teeth roots may influence spontaneous eruption. There is potential to introduce a period of observation to account for this possibility in the developing dentition, with the aim of reducing the unnecessary need for surgical intervention. This could help prevent episodes of general anaesthetic and allocate theatre space more appropriately.

Keywords: spontaneous eruption, impaction, observation, hopeless position, surgical, orthodontic, change in treatment plan

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Authors: Catalina Iticescu, Lucian P. Georgescu, Mihaela Timofti, Gabriel Murariu, Catalina Topa

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In the field of environmental protection in the EU and also in Romania, strict and clear rules are imposed that are respected. Among those, mandatory municipal wastewater treatment is included. Our study involved Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant (MWWTP) of Galati. MWWTP began its activity by the end of 2011 and technology is one of the most modern used in the EU. Moreover, to our knowledge, it is the first technology of this kind used in the region. Until commissioning, municipal wastewater was discharged directly into the Danube without any treatment. Besides the benefits of depollution, a new problem has arisen: the accumulation of increasingly large sewage sludge. Therefore, it is extremely important to find economically feasible and environmentally friendly solutions. One of the most feasible methods of disposing of sewage sludge is their use on agricultural land. Sewage sludge can be used in agriculture if monitored in terms of physicochemical properties (pH, nutrients, heavy metals, etc.), in order not to contribute to pollution in soils and not to affect chemical and biological balances, which are relatively fragile. In this paper, 16 physico-chemical parameters were monitored. Experimental testings were realised on waste water samples, sewage sludge results and treated water samples. Testing was conducted with electrochemichal methods (pH, conductivity, TDS); parameters N-total (mg/L), P-total (mg/L), N-NH4 (mg/L), N-NO2 (mg/L), N-NO3 (mg/L), Fe-total (mg/L), Cr-total (mg/L), Cu (mg/L), Zn (mg/L), Cd (mg/L), Pb (mg/L), Ni (mg/L) were determined by spectrophotometric methods using a spectrophotometer NOVA 60 and specific kits. Analyzing the results, we concluded that Sewage sludges, although containing heavy metals, are in small quantities and will not affect the land on which they will be deposited. Also, the amount of nutrients contained are appreciable. These features indicate that the sludge can be safely used in agriculture, with the advantage that they represent a cheap fertilizer. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation – UEFISCDI, PNCDI III project, 79BG/2017, Efficiency of the technological process for obtaining of sewage sludge usable in agriculture, Efficient.

Keywords: municipal wastewater, physico-chemical properties, sewage sludge, technology

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Authors: Radin Siti Aishah Radin A Rahman, Norasmah Othman, Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie, Hariyaty Ab. Wahid

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The recent instability in economy was found to be influencing the situation in Malaysia whether directly or indirectly. Taking that into consideration, the government needs to find the best approach to balance its citizen’s socio-economic strata level urgently. Through education platform is among the efforts planned and acted upon for the purpose of balancing the effects of the influence, through the exposure of social entrepreneurial activity towards youth especially those in higher institution level. Armed with knowledge and skills that they gained, with the support by entrepreneurial culture and environment while in campus; indirectly, the students will lean more on making social entrepreneurship as a career option when they graduate. Following the issues of marketability and workability of current graduates that are becoming dire, research involving how far the willingness of student to create social innovation that contribute to the society without focusing solely on personal gain is relevant enough to be conducted. With that, this research is conducted with the purpose of identifying the level of entrepreneurial intention and social entrepreneurship among higher institution students in Malaysia. Stratified random sampling involves 355 undergraduate students from five public universities had been made as research respondents and data were collected through surveys. The data was then analyzed descriptively using min score and standard deviation. The study found that the entrepreneurial intention of higher education students are on moderate level, however it is the contrary for social entrepreneurship activities, where it was shown on a high level. This means that while the students only have moderate level of willingness to be a social entrepreneur, they are very committed to created social innovation through the social entrepreneurship activities conducted. The implication from this study can be contributed towards the higher institution authorities in prediction the tendency of student in becoming social entrepreneurs. Thus, the opportunities and facilities for realizing the courses related to social entrepreneurship must be created expansively so that the vision of creating as many social entrepreneurs as possible can be achieved.

Keywords: entrepreneurial intention, higher education institutions (HEIs), social entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurial activity, gender

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Authors: Aliaa M. El-Borai, Ehab A. Beltagy, Eman E. Gadallah, Samy A. ElAssar

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Bioremediation technology is now used for treatment instead of traditional metal removal methods. A strain was isolated from Marsa Alam, Red sea, Egypt showed high resistance to high lead concentration and was identified by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique as Halomonas sp. ES015. Medium optimization was carried out using Plackett-Burman design, and the most significant factors were yeast extract, casamino acid and inoculums size. The optimized media obtained by the statistical design raised the removal efficiency from 84% to 99% from initial concentration 250 ppm of lead. Moreover, Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to study the relationship between yeast extract concentration, casamino acid concentration and inoculums size. The optimized medium increased removal efficiency to 97% from initial concentration 500 ppm of lead. Immobilized Halomonas sp. ES015 cells on sponge cubes, using optimized medium in loop bioremediation column, showed relatively constant lead removal efficiency when reused six successive cycles over the range of time interval. Also metal removal efficiency was not affected by flow rate changes. Finally, the results of this research refer to the possibility of lead bioremediation by free or immobilized cells of Halomonas sp. ES015. Also, bioremediation can be done in batch cultures and semicontinuous cultures using column technology.

Keywords: bioremediation, lead, Box–Behnken, Halomonas sp. ES015, loop bioremediation, Plackett-Burman

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Authors: Wei Wang, Martin Chen

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The reconstitution behaviours of nutritional products could impact user experience. Reconstitution issues such as lump formation and white flecks sticking to bottles surfaces could be very unappealing for the consumers in milk preparation. The controlling steps in dissolving instant milk powders include wetting, swelling, sinking, dispersing, and dissolution as in the literature. Each stage happens simultaneously with the others during milk preparation, and it is challenging to isolate and measure each step individually. This study characterized three adult nutritional products for different properties including particle size, density, dispersibility, stickiness, and capillary wetting to understand the relationship between powder physical properties and their reconstitution behaviours. From the results, the formation of clumps can be caused by different factors limiting the critical steps of powder reconstitution. It can be caused by small particle size distribution, light particle density limiting powder wetting, or the rapid swelling and dissolving of particle surface materials to impede water penetration in the capillary channels formed by powder agglomerates. For the grain or white flecks formation in milk preparation, it was believed to be controlled by dissolution speed of the particles after dispersion into water. By understanding those relationship between fundamental powder structure and their user experience in reconstitution, this information provides us new and multiple perspectives on how to improve the powder characteristics in the commercial manufacturing.

Keywords: characterization, dairy nutritional powder, physical property, reconstitution

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Authors: Jyoti Brahma

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Folk epics of India are found in various Indian languages. The study of folk epics and its importance in folkloristic study in India came into prominence only during the nineteenth century. The British administrators and missionaries collected and documented folk epics from various parts of the country. The paper is an attempt to investigate how colonial outpost appears to penetrate the interiors of Indian land and society and triggered off the Indian Renaissance. It takes into account the compositions of the epics of India and the attention it received during the nineteenth century, which in turn gave, rise to the national consciousness shaping the culture of India. Composed as oral traditions these folk epics are now seen as repositories of historical consciousness whereas in earlier times societies without literacy were said to be without history. So, there is an urgent need to re-examine the British impact on Indian literary traditions. The Bhakti poets through their nuanced responses in their efforts to change the behavior of Indian society gives us the perfect example of deferment in the clear cut distinction between the folk and the classical in the context of India. It evades a pure categorization and classification of the classical and constitutes part of the folk traditions of the cultural heritage of India. Therefore, the ethical question of what is ontologically known as ordinary discourse in the case of the “folk” forms metaphors and folk language gains importance once more. The paper also thus seeks simultaneously to outline the significant factors responsible for shaping the destiny of folklore in South India particularly the four political states of the Indian Union: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, what could be termed as South Indian “cultural zones”.

Keywords: colonial, folk, folklore, tradition

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Authors: Norshima Humaidi, Saif Hussein Abdallah Alghazo

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Cybersecurity threat have become a serious issue recently, and one of the cause is because human error, which is usually constituted by carelessness, ignorance, and failure to practice cybersecurity behaviour adequately. Using a data from a quantitative survey, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis was used to determine the factors that affect cybersecurity protective behaviour (CPB). This study adapts cybersecurity protective behaviour model by focusing on two constructs that can enhance CPB: manager’s information security competencies (MISI) and procedural information security countermeasure (PCM) awareness. Theory of leadership competencies were adapted to measure user’s perception towards competencies among security managers/leader in the organization. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) testing shows that all the measurement items of each constructs were adequate in their validity individually based on their factor loading value. Moreover, each constructs are valid based on their parameter estimates and statistical significance. The quantitative research findings show that PCM awareness strongly influences CPB compared to MISI. Meanwhile, MISI was significantlyPCM awarenss. This study believes that the research findings can contribute to human behaviour in IS studies and are particularly beneficial to policy makers in improving organizations’ strategic plans in information security, especially in this new era. Most organizations spend time and resources to provide and establish strategic plans of information security; however, if employees are not willing to comply and practice information security behaviour appropriately, then these efforts are in vain.

Keywords: cybersecurity, protection behaviour, information security, information security competencies, countermeasure awareness

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Authors: S. V. Ukwungwu, A. J. Abbas, G. G. Nasr

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The increasing high price of natural gas and oil with attendant increase in energy demand on world markets in recent years has stimulated interest in recovering residual oil saturation across the globe. In order to meet the energy security, efforts have been made in developing new technologies of enhancing the recovery of oil and gas, utilizing techniques like CO2 flooding, water injection, hydraulic fracturing, surfactant flooding etc. Surfactant flooding however optimizes production but poses risk to the environment due to their toxic nature. Amongst proven records that have utilized other type of bacterial in producing biosurfactants for enhancing oil recovery, this research uses a technique to combine biosurfactants that will achieve a scale of EOR through lowering interfacial tension/contact angle. In this study, three biosurfactants were produced from three Bacillus species from freeze dried cultures using sucrose 3 % (w/v) as their carbon source. Two of these produced biosurfactants were screened with the TEMCO Pendant Drop Image Analysis for reduction in IFT and contact angle. Interfacial tension was greatly reduced from 56.95 mN.m-1 to 1.41 mN.m-1 when biosurfactants in cell-free culture (Bacillus licheniformis) were used compared to 4. 83mN.m-1 cell-free culture of Bacillus subtilis. As a result, cell-free culture of (Bacillus licheniformis) changes the wettability of the biosurfactant treatment for contact angle measurement to more water-wet as the angle decreased from 130.75o to 65.17o. The influence of microbial treatment on crushed rock samples was also observed by qualitative wettability experiments. Treated samples with biosurfactants remained in the aqueous phase, indicating a water-wet system. These results could prove that biosurfactants can effectively change the chemistry of the wetting conditions against diverse surfaces, providing a desirable condition for efficient oil transport in this way serving as a mechanism for EOR. The environmental friendly effect of biosurfactants applications for industrial purposes play important advantages over chemically synthesized surfactants, with various possible structures, low toxicity, eco-friendly and biodegradability.

Keywords: bacillus, biosurfactant, enhanced oil recovery, residual oil, wettability

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Authors: Michelle Odudu

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Ghana and Nigeria are known for their high levels of Occupational Fraud in public offices. The governments of both countries have emphasised their commitment to reducing the losses caused to the state by pledging their allegiance to the counter-fraud agencies to help tackle Occupational Fraud. Yet it seems that the prosecution of such cases is ineffective as high-profile fraudsters can operate with immunity and their cases remain unprosecuted. This research project was based on in-depth examinations of 50 occupational fraud cases involving high-profile individuals in both countries. In doing so, it established the characteristics of those who were prosecuted; the extent to which prosecutions were effectively managed; the barriers to effective prosecutions; and the similarities or differences between the occurrences in both countries. The aim of the project is to examine the practice of and barriers to prosecution of large-scale occupational fraud of those in senior public positions in Ghana and Nigeria. The study drew on the experiences of stakeholders such as defence and prosecution barristers, academics, and fraud analysts via semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. 13 interviews were conducted in Ghana and in Nigeria, where respondents were recruited using a snowball approach. Questionnaires were physically distributed: 20 of the staff at EOCO and 10 to NGO staff in Ghana; 6 and 5 came back, respectively. The empirical data collected suggests that there is no lack of will on the agencies’ part to at least commence proceedings. However, various impediments hamper a successful completion of prosecution. Challenges were more evident in Nigeria, where agencies are less effective at retrieving stolen assets and changing social norms. This is further compounded by several cultural and political factors, which create limitations leaving many cases ‘still pending’.

Keywords: comparative, prosecution, punishment, international, whitecollar, fraud

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Authors: Arwa Alzughaibi

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Human Motion detection is a challenging task due to a number of factors including variable appearance, posture and a wide range of illumination conditions and background. So, the first need of such a model is a reliable feature set that can discriminate between a human and a non-human form with a fair amount of confidence even under difficult conditions. By having richer representations, the classification task becomes easier and improved results can be achieved. The Aim of this paper is to investigate the reliable and accurate human motion detection models that are able to detect the human motions accurately under varying illumination levels and backgrounds. Different sets of features are tried and tested including Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG), Deformable Parts Model (DPM), Local Decorrelated Channel Feature (LDCF) and Aggregate Channel Feature (ACF). However, we propose an efficient and reliable human motion detection approach by combining Histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) and local phase quantization (LPQ) as the feature set, and implementing search pruning algorithm based on optical flow to reduce the number of false positive. Experimental results show the effectiveness of combining local phase quantization descriptor and the histogram of gradient to perform perfectly well for a large range of illumination conditions and backgrounds than the state-of-the-art human detectors. Areaunder th ROC Curve (AUC) of the proposed method achieved 0.781 for UCF dataset and 0.826 for CDW dataset which indicates that it performs comparably better than HOG, DPM, LDCF and ACF methods.

Keywords: human motion detection, histograms of oriented gradient, local phase quantization, local phase quantization

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Authors: Rotem Mashkov, Noam Shoval

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In an age when a tourist’s gaze is more focused on the daily lives of locals, it is evident that local food markets are being rediscovered. Traditional urban markets succeed in reinventing themselves as a space for consumption, recreation, and culture, enabling authentic experiences and interpersonal interactions with the local culture. Alongside this, the pressure of tourism development may result in commercialization and retail gentrification to the point of losing the sense of local identity. The issue of finding a balance between tourism development and the preservation of unique local features is at the heart of this study and is being tested using the case of the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. The research question—how merchants respond to tourism development in the Mahane Yehuda food market— focuses on local traders, a group of players who are usually absent from the research arenas, although they influence tourism development as well as influenced by it. Three main research methods were integrated into this study. The first two methods, a survey of articles survey and comparative mapping of the business mix, were used to characterize the changes in the Mahane Yehuda market both consciously and physically. The third research method, involving in-depth interviews with merchants, was used to examine the traders' attitudes and responses to tourism development. The findings indicate that there has been a turnaround in the market image over the past decade and a half. Additionally, there has been a significant physical change in the business mix, reflected by a decline of 15% in the number of stalls selling food products and delicacies. The data from the interviews on the traders’ attitudes towards tourism development were inconclusive; there were disagreements among the traders about the economic contribution of tourism development in relation to their dependence on the tourism industry. However, there was a consensus on the need for authentic elements in the marketplace. The findings of the study also indicate a strong link between the merchants’ response to tourism development and their stall ownership status as the merchant could exercise their position in various ways depending on the possession type.

Keywords: business mix, Jerusalem, local food markets, Mahane Yehuda market, merchants’ attitude, ownership status, retail gentrification, tourism development, traditional urban markets

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Authors: Dewi Indah Irianti

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Introduction: Street children include one of the populations at risk of HIV infection. Their vulnerability to these situations is increased by their lack of understanding of the changes associated with adolescence, the lack of knowledge and skills which could help them to make healthy choices. Social integration increased AIDS knowledge among migrant workers in Thailand. Although social integration has been incorporated into health research in other areas, it has received less attention in AIDS prevention research. This factor has not been integrated into models for HIV prevention. Objectives: The goal of this review is to summarize available knowledge about factors related to HIV/AIDS knowledge and to examine whether social integration was reviewed among street children. Methodology: This study performed a systematic search for English language articles published between January 2006 and March 2016 using the following keywords in various combination: street children, HIV/AIDS knowledge and social integration from the following bibliographic databases: Scopus, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, EBSCOhost, Sage Publication, Clinical Key, Google Web, and Google Scholar . Results: A total of 10 articles met the inclusion criteria were systematically reviewed. This study reviews the existing quantitative and qualitative literature regarding the HIV/AIDS knowledge of street children in many countries. The study locations were Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The most determinants associated with HIV/AIDS knowledge among street children are age and sex. In this review, social integration that may be associated with HIV/AIDS knowledge among street children has not been investigated. Conclusion: To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study found that there is no research examining the relationship of social integration with the HIV knowledge among street children. This information may assist in the development of relevant strategies and HIV prevention programs to improve HIV knowledge and decrease risk behaviors among street children.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS knowledge, review, social integration, street children

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Authors: Jailan Mohamed El Demerdash

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Millennials are a distinctive and dominant consumer group whose behavior, preferences and purchase decisions are broadly explored but not fully understood yet. Making up the largest market segment in the world, and in Egypt, they have the power to reinvent the hospitality industry and contribute to forming prospective demand for green hotels by showing willingness to adopting their environmental-friendly practices. The current study aims to enhance better understanding of Millennials' perception about sustainable initiatives and to increase the prediction power of their intentions regarding green hotel practices in Egypt. In doing so, the study is exploring the relation among different factors; Millennials' environmental awareness, their acceptance of green practices and their willingness to pay more for them. Millennials' profile, their preferences and environmental decision-making process are brought under light to stimulate actions of hospitality decision-makers and hoteliers. Bearing in mind that responsible consumerism is depending on understanding the different influences on consumption. The study questionnaire was composed of four sections and it was distributed to random Egyptian travelers' blogs and Facebook groups, with approximately 8000 members. Analysis of variance test (ANOVA) was used to examine the study variables. The findings indicated that Millennials' environmental awareness will not be a significant factor in their acceptance of hotel green practices, as well as, their willingness to pay more for them. However, Millennials' acceptance of the level of hotel green practices will have an impact on their willingness to pay more. Millennials were found to have a noticeable level of environmental awareness but lack commitment to tolerating hotel green practices and their associated high prices.

Keywords: millennials, environment, awareness, paying more

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Authors: F. Arslan, S.D. Guven, A. Özcan, H. Vatansev, Ö. Taşgin

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Weight, hypertension and dyslipidemia control and increased physical activity are required for the treatment of metabolic syndrome (METS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of core exercise, reflexology and intake chrome picolinate on METS. This study comprised a twelve-week randomized controlled trial. A total of 25 university workers with metabolic risk factors participated in this study voluntarily. They were randomly divided into three groups: Those undertaking a core exercise program (n=7), reflexology intervention group (n=8) and intake chrome group (n=10). The subjects took part in a core exercise program for one hour per day, three days a week and a reflexology interfered for thirty minutes per day, one days a week and chrome group took chrome picolinate every day in week for twelve weeks. The components of metabolic syndrome were analyzed before and after the completion of all the intervention. There were significant differences at pre-prandial blood glucose in the core exercise group and at systolic blood pressure in chrome group after the twelve week interventions (p < 0.005). While High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) excluding the components of METS decreased after the interventions on the all groups; levels of HDL and the other components of METS decreased in reflexology group. There was a clear response to the twelve-week interventions in terms of METS control. Besides, the reflexology intervention should not be applied to individuals with low HDL levels and core exercise and intake chrome picolinate suggested to improve the components of METS.

Keywords: blood pressure, body mass index, exercise, METS, pre-prandial blood glucose

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Authors: Tim Steinhaus, Christian Beidl

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Urban air quality and climate protection are two major challenges for future mobility systems. Despite the steady reduction of pollutant emissions from vehicles over past decades, local immission load within cities partially still reaches heights, which are considered hazardous to human health. Although traffic-related emissions account for a major part of the overall urban pollution, modeling the exact interaction remains challenging. In this paper, a novel approach for the determination of the emission-immission interaction on the basis of neural network modeling for traffic induced NO2-immission load within a near-traffic hot-spot scenario is presented. In a detailed sensitivity analysis, the significance of relevant influencing variables on the prevailing NO2 concentration is initially analyzed. Based on this, the generation process of the model is described, in which not only environmental influences but also the vehicle fleet composition including its associated segment- and certification-specific real driving emission factors are derived and used as input quantities. The validity of this approach, which has been presented in the past, is re-examined in this paper using updated data on vehicle emissions and recent immission measurement data. Within the framework of a final scenario analysis, the future development of the immission load is forecast for different developments in the vehicle fleet composition. It is shown that immission levels of less than half of today’s yearly average limit values are technically feasible in hot-spot situations.

Keywords: air quality, emission, emission-immission-interaction, immission, NO2, zero impact

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Authors: Zhao Cai-qi, Ma Jun

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Twin steel plates-concrete composite shear walls are composed of a pair of steel plate layers and a concrete layer sandwiched between them, which have the characteristics of both reinforced concrete shear walls and steel plate shear walls. Twin steel plates-composite shear walls contain very high ultimate bearing capacity and ductility, which have great potential to be applied in the super high-rise buildings and special structures. In this paper, we analyzed the basic characteristics and stress mechanism of the twin steel plates-composite shear walls. Specifically, we analyzed the effects of the steel plate thickness, wall thickness and concrete strength on the bearing capacity of the twin steel plates-composite shear walls. The analysis results indicate that：（1）the initial shear stiffness and ultimate shear-carrying capacity is not significantly affected by the thickness of concrete wall but by the class of concrete,（2）both factors significantly impact the shear distribution of the shear walls in ultimate shear-carrying capacity. The technique of twin steel plates-composite shear walls has been successfully applied in the construction of a 88-meter Huge Statue of Buddha located in Hunan Province, China. The analysis results and engineering experiences showed that the twin steel plates-composite shear walls have great potential for future research and applications.

Keywords: twin steel plates-concrete composite shear wall, huge statue of Buddha, shear capacity, initial lateral stiffness, overturning moment bearing

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Authors: Tariq Mahmood, Faiza Lehrasab, Faraz Akrim, Muhammad Sajid nadeem, Muhammad Mushtaq, Unza waqar, Ayesha Sheraz, Shaista Andleeb

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Brown bear (Ursus arctos), a member of the family Ursidae, is distributed in a wide range of habitats in North America, Europe and Asia. Suspectedly, the global distribution range of brown bears is decreasing at the moment due to various factors. The carnivore species is categorized as ‘Least Concern’ globally by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, there are some fragmented, small populations that are on the verge of extinction, as is in Pakistan, where the species is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’, with a declining population trend. Importantly, the global historical distribution range of brown bears is undocumented. Therefore, in the current study, we reconstructed and estimated the historical distribution range of brown bears using QGIS software and also analyzed the network of protected areas in the past and current ranges of the species. Results showed that brown bear was more widely distributed in historic times, encompassing 52.6 million km² area as compared to their current distribution of 38.8 million km², resulting in a total range contraction of up to approximately 28 %. In the past, a total of N = 62,234 protected Areas, covering approximately 3.89 million km² were present in the distribution range of the species, while now a total of N= 33,313 Protected Areas, covering approximately 2.75 million km² area, are present in the current distribution range of the brown bear. The brown bear distribution range in the protected areas has also contracted by 1.15 million km² and the total percentage reduction of PAs is 29%.

Keywords: brown bear, historic distribution, range contraction, protected areas

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Authors: Kamila Troper, Pedro Mestre, Maria Lurdes Menano, Joana Mendonça, Maria João Costa, Sandra Demel

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Introduction: Visual impairment is a problem that has an influence on hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. Although it is possible for a Visually Impaired person to do most jobs, the right training, technological assistance, and emotional support are essential. Ergonomics be able to solve many of the problems/issues with the relative ease of positioning, lighting and design of the workplace. A little forethought can make a tremendous difference to the ease with which a person with an impairment function. Objectives: Review the main ergonomic adaptation measures reported in the literature in order to promote better working conditions and safety measures for the visually impaired. Methodology: This was an exploratory-descriptive, qualitative literature systematic review study. The main databases used were: PubMed, BIREME, LILACS, with articles and studies published between 2000 and 2021. Results: Based on the principles of the theoretical references of ergonomic analysis of work, the main restructuring of the physical space of the workstations were: Accessibility facilities and assistive technologies; A screen reader that captures information from a computer and sends it in real-time to a speech synthesizer or Braille terminal; Installations of software with voice recognition, Monitors with enlarged screens; Magnification software; Adequate lighting, magnifying lenses in addition to recommendations regarding signage and clearance of the places where the visually impaired pass through. Conclusions: Employability rates for people with visual impairments(both those who are blind and those who have low vision)are low and continue to be a concern to the world and for researchers as a topic of international interest. Although numerous authors have identified barriers to employment and proposed strategies to remediate or circumvent those barriers, people with visual impairments continue to experience high rates of unemployment.

Keywords: ergonomic adaptations, visual impairments, ergonomic analysis of work, systematic review

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Authors: Radheshyam Yadav, Ramakrishna Wusirika

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Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) Fungi are ubiquitous in soil and often very critical for crop yield and agriculture sustainability, and this has motivated the agricultural practices to support and promote PGPB and AM Fungi in agriculture. PGPB can be involved in a range of processes that affect Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) transformations in soil and thus influence nutrient availability and uptake to the plants. A field study with two wheat cultivars, HD-3086, and HD-2967 was performed in Malwa region, Bathinda of Punjab, India, to evaluate the effect of native and non-native PGPB alone and in combination with AM fungi as an inoculant on wheat grain yield, nutrient uptake and soil health parameters (dehydrogenase, urease, β‐glucosidase). Our results showed that despite an early insignificant increase in shoot length, plants treated with PGPB (Bacillus sp.) and AM Fungi led to a significant increase in shoot growth at maturity, aboveground biomass, nitrogen (45% - 40%) and phosphorus (40% - 34%) content in wheat grains relative to untreated control plants. Similarly, enhanced grain yield and nutrients uptake i.e. copper (27.15% - 36.25%) iron (43% - 53%) and zinc (44% - 47%) was recorded in PGPB and AM Fungi treated plants relative to untreated control. Overall, inoculation with native PGPB alone and in combination with AM Fungi provided benefits to enhance grain yield, wheat biofortification, and improved soil fertility, despite this effect varied depending on different PGPB isolates and wheat cultivars. These field study results provide evidence of the benefits of agricultural practices involving native PGPB and AM Fungi to the plants. These native strains and AM Fungi increased accumulations of copper, iron, and zinc in wheat grains, enhanced grain yield, and soil fertility.

Keywords: AM Fungi, biofortification, PGPB, soil microbial enzymes

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Authors: Xin Qi Dong, Melissa Simon

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Aims: Elder mistreatment and suicidal ideation are important public health concerns among aging populations. This study will examine the association between elder mistreatment and suicidal ideation among Chinese older adults in the USA. Methods: Guided by a community-based participatory research approach, in this study we conducted in-person interviews with Chinese older adults aged 60 years and older in the Greater Chicago area from 2011 to 2013. Elder mistreatment was assessed by a 10-item instrument derived from the Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (H-S/EAST) and the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS). Suicidal ideation was assessed by the ninth item of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Geriatric Mental State Examination-Version A (GMS-A). Results: Overall, 3,159 Chinese older adults participated in this study, and their mean age was 72.8 years. After controlling for age, gender, education, income, medical comorbidities, depressive symptoms, and social support, elder mistreatment was significantly associated with 2-week suicidal ideation (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.52--4.01) and 12-month suicidal ideation (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.62--3.73). With respect to gender differences, the study found that the association remained significant for older women but not for older men after adjusting for all confounding factors. Conclusion: As the largest epidemiology study conducted among Chinese older adults in the USA, this study suggests that elder mistreatment is significantly associated with 2-week and 12-month suicidal ideation in older women but not in older men. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to explore the mechanisms through which elder mistreatment links with suicidal ideation.

Keywords: suicidal ideation, elder abuse, family violence, Asian health equity

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Authors: A. Bajek, J. Skopinska-Wisniewska, A. Rynkiewicz, A. Jundzill, M. Bodnar, A. Marszalek, T. Drewa

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Traumatic injury and age-related degenerative diseases associated with cartilage are major health problems worldwide. The articular cartilage is comprised of a relatively small number of cells, which have a relatively slow rate of turnover. Therefore, damaged articular cartilage has a limited capacity for self-repair. New clinical methods have been designed to achieve better repair of injured cartilage. However, there is no treatment that enables full restoration of it. The aim of this study was to evaluate how collagen gel with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and collagen gel alone will influence on the hip cartilage repair after injury. Collagen type I was isolated from rats’ tails and cross-linked with N-hydroxysuccinimide in 24-hour process. MSCs were isolated from rats’ bone marrow. The experiments were conducted according to the guidelines for animal experiments of Ethics Committee. Fifteen 8-week-old Wistar rats were used in this study. All animals received hip joint surgery with a total of 30 created cartilage defects. Then, animals were randomly divided into three groups and filled, respectively, with collagen gel (group 1), collagen gel cultured with MSCs (group II) or left untreated as a control (control group). Immunohistochemy and radiological evaluation was carried out 11 weeks post implantation. It has been proved that the surface of the matrix is non-toxic, and its porosity promotes cell adhesion and growth. However, the in vivo regeneration process was poor. We observed the low integration rate of biomaterial. Immunohistochemical evaluation of cartilage after 11 weeks of treatment showed low II and high X collagen expression in two tested groups in comparison to the control one, in which we observed the high II collagen expression. What is more, after radiological analysis, we observed the best regeneration process in control group. The biomaterial construct and mesenchymal stem cells, as well as the use of the biomaterial itself was not sufficient to regenerate the hip cartilage surfaces. These results suggest that the collagen gel based biomaterials, even with MSCs, are not satisfactory in repar of hip cartilage defect. However, additional evaluation is needed to confirm these results.

Keywords: collafen gel, MSCs, cartilage repair, hip cartilage

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Authors: Zhang Lei, Zhao Qingrong, Wang Chen, Zhang Sufang, Zhang Hanguo

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Larch is the main afforestation and timber tree species in Northeast China, and drought is one of the main factors limiting the growth of Larch and other organisms in Northeast China. In order to further explore the mechanism of Larch drought resistance, PEG was used to simulate drought stress. The full-length sequencing of Larch embryogenic callus under PEG simulated drought stress was carried out by combining Illumina-Hiseq and SMRT-seq. A total of 20.3Gb clean reads and 786492 CCS reads were obtained from the second and third generation sequencing. The de-redundant transcript sequences were predicted by lncRNA, 2083 lncRNAs were obtained, and the target genes were predicted, and a total of 2712 target genes were obtained. The de-redundant transcripts were further screened, and 1654 differentially expressed genes (DEGs )were obtained. Among them, different DEGs respond to drought stress in different ways, such as oxidation-reduction process, starch and sucrose metabolism, plant hormone pathway, carbon metabolism, lignin catabolic/biosynthetic process and so on. This study provides basic full-length sequencing data for the study of Larch drought resistance, and excavates a large number of DEGs in response to drought stress, which helps us to further understand the function of Larch drought resistance genes and provides a reference for in-depth analysis of the molecular mechanism of Larch drought resistance.

Keywords: larch, drought stress, full-length transcriptome sequencing, differentially expressed genes

Procedia PDF Downloads 167