Search results for: privatising higher education

Authors: Donald G. Danmeier, Gian Marco Pizzo, Matthew Brennan

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Although wetlands have been proposed as a green alternative to manage coastal flood hazards because of their capacity to adapt to sea level rise and provision of multiple ecological and social co-benefits, they are often overlooked due to challenges in quantifying the uncertainty and naturally, variability of these systems. This objective of this study was to quantify wave attenuation provided by a natural marsh surrounding a large oil refinery along the US Gulf Coast that has experienced steady erosion along the shoreward edge. The vegetation module of the SWAN was activated and coupled with a hydrodynamic model (DELFT3D) to capture two-way interactions between the changing water level and wavefield over the course of a storm event. Since the marsh response to relative sea level rise is difficult to predict, a range of future marsh morphologies is explored. Numerical results were examined to determine the amount of wave attenuation as a function of marsh extent and the relative contributions from white-capping, depth-limited wave breaking, bottom friction, and flexing of vegetation. In addition to the coupled DELFT3D-SWAN modeling of a storm event, an uncoupled SWAN-VEG model was applied to a simplified bathymetry to explore a larger experimental design space. The wave modeling revealed that the rate of wave attenuation reduces for higher surge but was still significant over a wide range of water levels and outboard wave heights. The results also provide insights to the minimum marsh extent required to fully realize the potential wave attenuation so the changing coastal hazards can be managed.

Keywords: green infrastructure, wave attenuation, wave modeling, wetland

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Bella Japoshvili, Zhanetta Shubitidze, Ani Bikashvili, Sophio Gabelashvili, Marina Gioshvili, Levan Mumladze

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Paravani and Saghamo Lakes are oligotrophic lentic systems located in Javakheti plateau (South Georgia) at 2073 m and 1996 m a.s.l. respectively. Javakheti plateau is known as a lakes region as there are located almost 60 small and medium size lakes. Paravani Lake is the biggest lake by its surface area in Georgia, 37 km 2. The Saghamo Lake is smaller and its surface area consists 4.58 km2. These two lakes are connected with Paravani River, because of this the main hydrobiological and ichthyological features are the same. More than 15-30 years were not studied macroinvertebrates of these lakes. Even the existing information is lack and very limited. The aim of our study was to identify main macroinvertebrate groups inhabiting both lakes and to compare obtaining results to existing information. Our investigation was carried out during 2014 and 2015, in 3 seasons of the year, in winter because of severe condition samples were not taken. Kick-net and Petersen grab were used for material collecting, 4 sites from Paravani Lake and 3–from Saghamo Lake were sampled. Collected invertebrates were fixed in ethanol and late taken to the laboratory, where organisms were identified to the lowest taxon possible, usually family. By our results identified 14 taxa for Paravani Lake and 12 taxa for Saghamo Lake. Our results differ from previous information; for Saghamo Lake previously 13 taxa and for Paravani Lake 12 taxa were described. The percentage of the groups also differ from existing information. Our investigation showed that in Paravani Lake most abundant are Apmhipoda, Hydrachnidae, and Hemiptera, in our samples the number of individuals for those 3 taxa was more than thousand, in each. For Saghamo Lake numerous taxon was Amphipoda-36.3%, following by Ephemeroptera-11.37%, Chironomidae-10.5% and Hydrachnidae-7.03% respectively. We also identified the dominant taxon for all studied seasons. Autumn is the period when the diversity of macroinvertebrates are higher in both lakes.

Keywords: Georgia, lakes, macroinvertebrates, monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Judith Stein, Elfriede Friedmann

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The injection of a drug into the vitreous body for the treatment of retinal diseases like wet aged-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common medical intervention worldwide. We develop mathematical models for drug transport in the vitreous body of a human eye to analyse the impact of different rheological models of the vitreous on drug distribution. In addition to the convection diffusion equation characterizing the drug spreading, we use porous media modeling for the healthy vitreous with a dense collagen network and include the steady permeating flow of the aqueous humor described by Darcy's law driven by a pressure drop. Additionally, the vitreous body in a healthy human eye behaves like a viscoelastic gel through the collagen fibers suspended in the network of hyaluronic acid and acts as a drug depot for the treatment of retinal diseases. In a completely liquefied vitreous, we couple the drug diffusion with the classical Navier-Stokes flow equations. We prove the global existence and uniqueness of the weak solution of the developed initial-boundary value problem describing the drug distribution in the healthy vitreous considering the permeating aqueous humor flow in the realistic three-dimensional setting. In particular, for the drug diffusion equation, results from the literature are extended from homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions to our mixed boundary conditions that describe the eye with the Galerkin's method using Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and trace theorem. Because there is only a small effective drug concentration range and higher concentrations may be toxic, the ability to model the drug transport could improve the therapy by considering patient individual differences and give a better understanding of the physiological and pathological processes in the vitreous.

Keywords: coupled PDE systems, drug diffusion, mixed boundary conditions, vitreous body

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Tugba Bayoglu

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Aerodynamic parameter estimation is very crucial in missile design phase, since accurate high fidelity aerodynamic model is required for designing high performance and robust control system, developing high fidelity flight simulations and verification of computational and wind tunnel test results. However, in literature, there is not enough missile aerodynamic parameter identification study for three main reasons: (1) most air to air missiles cannot fly with constant speed, (2) missile flight test number and flight duration are much less than that of fixed wing aircraft, (3) variation of the missile aerodynamic parameters with respect to Mach number is higher than that of fixed wing aircraft. In addition to these challenges, identification of aerodynamic parameters for high wind angles by using classical estimation techniques brings another difficulty in the estimation process. The reason for this, most of the estimation techniques require employing polynomials or splines to model the behavior of the aerodynamics. However, for the missiles with a large variation of aerodynamic parameters with respect to flight variables, the order of the proposed model increases, which brings computational burden and complexity. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to solve nonlinear aerodynamic parameter identification problem for a supersonic air to air missile by using Artificial Neural Networks. The method proposed will be tested by using simulated data which will be generated with a six degree of freedom missile model, involving a nonlinear aerodynamic database. The data will be corrupted by adding noise to the measurement model. Then, by using the flight variables and measurements, the parameters will be estimated. Finally, the prediction accuracy will be investigated.

Keywords: air to air missile, artificial neural networks, open loop simulation, parameter identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Stefanache Stefania, Ioana R. Podina

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Background: Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) are revolutionizing education and healthcare by offering cost-effective, adaptable, and portable solutions. Research on the Uncanny Valley effect (UVE) involves various embodied agents, including ECAs. Achieving the optimal level of anthropomorphism, no consensus on how to overcome the uncanniness problem. Objectives: This systematic review aims to identify the user characteristics, agent features, and context factors that influence the UVE. Additionally, this review provides recommendations for creating effective ECAs and conducting proper experimental studies. Methods: We conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. We included quantitative, peer-reviewed studies that examined human-ECA interaction. We identified 17,122 relevant records from ACM Digital Library, IEE Explore, Scopus, ProQuest, and Web of Science. The quality of the predictors, mediators, and moderators adheres to the guidelines set by prior systematic reviews. Results: Based on the included studies, it can be concluded that females and younger people perceive the ECA as more attractive. However, inconsistent findings exist in the literature. ECAs characterized by extraversion, emotional stability, and agreeableness are considered more attractive. Facial expressions also play a role in the UVE, with some studies indicating that ECAs with more facial expressions are considered more attractive, although this effect is not consistent across all studies. Few studies have explored contextual factors, but they are nonetheless crucial. The interaction scenario and exposure time are important circumstances in human-ECA interaction. Conclusions: The findings highlight a growing interest in ECAs, which have seen significant developments in recent years. Given this evolving landscape, investigating the risk of the UVE can be a promising line of research.

Keywords: human-computer interaction, uncanny valley effect, embodied conversational agent, systematic review

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Afshin Azari, Farzad Peiravian, Nazila Yousefi

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Introduction: Community pharmacies have been always played an important role in public health. Therefore, having a decent service provided by these pharmacies is of paramount importance for the healthcare system. The issue of pharmacy ownership and its possible impact on the quality of services and amount of violations has been argued for many years, and there are different opinions around this debate. Since, so far, no scientific research has been performed to investigate this issue in Iran, this study aimed to examine the differences between these two types of pharmacies ownership in terms of violations and service quality. Method: This study investigates the impact of two different kinds of pharmacy ownership (pharmacists and non-pharmacist’s ownership) on the pharmacies’ amount of violations and services quality. Pharmacies’ amount of violations was examined using “pharmacy inspection reports” between September 2018 and September 2019, in their distinguishable categories: minor, major and critical violations. Then, service quality was examined using a questionnaire from the perspective of pharmacy customers. Results: Considering violations, there was no evidence to prove a significant relationship between critical violations and major violations with the type of pharmacy ownership. However, in minor violations, the average of violations was higher in pharmacies owned by pharmacists in comparison to their non-pharmacist owned counterparts. Regarding service quality, the results showed that there is no significant relationship between the quality of service and the type of pharmacy ownership. Discussion and Conclusion: In this study, no significant relationship was found between the amount of violations and the type of pharmacy ownership. This could indicate that the pharmacy ownership would not influence the rate of violations. Considering that more inspections have been carried out in non-pharmacist owned pharmacies, it can be concluded that these pharmacies are more under control, and in fact, this monitoring has reduced violations in these pharmacies. The quality of services in the two types of pharmacies were not significantly different from each other, and this shows that non-pharmacist-owned pharmacies also try to maintain the desired level of service in competition with their competitors.

Keywords: pharmacy ownership, quality of service, violation, community pharmacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Rocio Herrero Romero, Lucie Cluver, James Hall, Janina Steinert

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Educational delay and non-completion are major policy concerns in South Africa. However, little research has focused on predictors for educational delay amongst adolescents in disadvantaged areas. This study has two aims: first, to use data integration approaches to compare the educational delay of 599 adolescents aged 16 to 18 from disadvantaged communities to national and provincial representative estimates in South Africa. Second, the paper also explores predictors for educational delay by comparing adolescents out of school (n=64) and at least one year behind (n=380), with adolescents in the age-appropriate grade or higher (n=155). Multinomial logistic regression models using self-report and administrative data were applied to look for significant associations of risk and protective factors. Significant risk factors for being behind (rather than in age-appropriate grade) were: male gender, past grade repetition, rural location and larger school size. Risk factors for being out of school (rather than in the age-appropriate grade) were: past grade repetition, having experienced problems concentrating at school, household poverty, and food insecurity. Significant protective factors for being in the age-appropriate grade (rather than out of school) were: living with biological parents or grandparents and access to school counselling. Attending school in wealthier communities was a significant protective factor for being in the age-appropriate grade (rather than behind). Our results suggest that both personal and contextual factors –family and school- predicted educational delay. This study provides new evidence to the significant effects of personal, family, and school characteristics on the educational outcomes of adolescents from disadvantaged communities in South Africa. This is the first longitudinal and quantitative study to systematically investigate risk and protective factors for post-compulsory educational outcomes amongst South African adolescents living in disadvantaged communities.

Keywords: disadvantaged communities, quantitative analysis, school delay, South Africa

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Authors: Silvija Šiljeg, Ivan Marić, Ante Šiljeg

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The accessibility of urban green spaces (UGS) is an integral element in the quality of life. Due to rapid urbanization, UGS studies have become a key element in urban planning. The potential benefits of space for its inhabitants are frequently analysed. A functional transport network system and the optimal spatial distribution of urban green surfaces are the prerequisites for maintaining the environmental equilibrium of the urban landscape. An accessibility analysis was conducted as part of the Urban Green Belts Project (UGB). The development of a GIS database for Zadar was the first step in generating the UGS accessibility indicator. Data were collected using the supervised classification method of multispectral LANDSAT images and manual vectorization of digital orthophoto images (DOF). An analysis of UGS accessibility according to the ANGst standard was conducted in the first phase of research. The accessibility indicator was generated on the basis of seven objective measurements, which included average UGS surface per capita and accessibility according to six functional levels of green surfaces. The generated indicator was compared with subjective measurements obtained by conducting a survey (718 respondents) within statistical units. The collected data reflected individual assessments and subjective evaluations of UGS accessibility. This study highlighted the importance of using objective and subjective measures in the process of understanding the accessibility of urban green surfaces. It may be concluded that when evaluating UGS accessibility, residents emphasize the immediate residential environment, ignoring higher UGS functional levels. It was also concluded that large areas of UGS within a city do not necessarily generate similar satisfaction with accessibility. The heterogeneity of output results may serve as guidelines for the further development of a functional UGS city network.

Keywords: urban green spaces (UGS), accessibility indicator, subjective and objective measurements, Zadar

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Sepideh Mohammadi

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Iran is a country that boasts of ethnic diversity, comprising various groups such as Turks, Lors, Arabs, Baluchs, Persians, Kurds, Gliks, Azaris, and Tabaris. The majority of people in Iran are Persians and as such, the Persian language is the official language of the country. However, it is also a common language among different ethnic groups. It is worth noting that there is a longstanding history of coexistence and cultural relations between the Turkic and Lor ethnic groups. The purpose of this article is to study the range of intercultural sensitivities of Turks and Lor peoples to identify the state of intercultural competence and reduce conflicts in the direction of cultural policy. It is important to gain insight into the mutual perceptions of Lor and Turkic people towards each other. Understanding these perceptions can greatly aid in fostering stronger relationships and promoting effective communication between the two ethnic groups. The study employed a qualitative content analysis approach to gather data using a semi-structured interview tool. The participants consisted of ten individuals from the Lor ethnic and ten individuals from the Turk ethnic. According to Milton Bennett's six-stage model, our findings reveal that the Turkish and Lor ethnic groups tend to exhibit higher intercultural sensitivity in the second stage, which consists of defense against differences. Both groups tend to emphasize the differences between them, and the notion of "us and the other" holds significant importance for them. It is important to acknowledge that both the Turk and Lor ethnicities consist of various clans, which significantly shape intercultural relations between them. A common stereotype in this regard is that the Turks of Tabriz province often do not recognize the Turks of other provinces of the country as their own. Moreover, our study indicates that an increase in interaction and communication between the Lor and Turk ethnic groups may lead to a reduction in cultural sensitivities between them.

Keywords: intercultural communication, intercultural sensitivity, Iran, Lor, Turk

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Authors: Bekan Bogale, Tsegaye Girma Asere, Tilahun Yai, Fekadu Melak

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Aims: To study photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye on cuprous oxide/graphene nanocomposite. Background: Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles are among the metal oxides that demonstrated photocatalytic activity. However, the stability of Cu2O nanoparticles due to the fast recombination rate of electron/hole pairs remains a significant challenge in their photocatalytic applications. This, in turn, leads to mismatching of the effective bandgap separation, tending to reduce the photocatalytic activity of the desired organic waste (MB). To overcome these limitations, graphene has been combined with cuprous oxides, resulting in cuprous oxide/graphene nanocomposite as a promising photocatalyst. Objective: In this study, Cu2O/graphene nanocomposite was synthesized and evaluated for its photocatalytic performance of methylene blue (MB) dye degradation. Method: Cu2O/graphene nanocomposites were synthesized from graphite powder and copper nitrate using the facile sol-gel method. Batch experiments have been conducted to assess the applications of the nanocomposites for MB degradation. Parameters such as contact time, catalyst dosage, and pH of the solution were optimized for maximum MB degradation. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by using UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, and SEM. The photocatalytic performance of Cu2O/graphene nanocomposites was compared against Cu2O nanoparticles for cationic MB dye degradation. Results: Cu2O/graphene nanocomposite exhibits higher photocatalytic activity for MB degradation (with a degradation efficiency of 94%) than pure Cu2O nanoparticles (67%). This has been accomplished after 180 min of irradiation under visible light. The kinetics of MB degradation by Cu2O/graphene composites can be demonstrated by the second-order kinetic model. The synthesized nanocomposite can be used for more than three cycles of photocatalytic MB degradation. Conclusion: This work indicated new insights into Cu2O/graphene nanocomposite as high-performance in photocatalysis to degrade MB, playing a great role in environmental protection in relation to MB dye.

Keywords: methylene blue, photocatalysis, cuprous oxide, graphene nanocomposite

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Authors: Mohammad Zaeimzade

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The development of communication technologies is clearly and rapidly moving towards reducing the distance between the virtual and real worlds. Of course, living in a two-spatial or two-globalized world or any other interpretation that means mixing real and virtual life is still relevant and debatable. In the present age of communication, where social networks have transformed the message equation and turned the audience out of passivity and turned into a user. Platforms have penetrated widely in various aspects of human life, from culture and education and economy. Among the messengers, Instagram, which is one of the most extensive image-based interactive networks, plays a significant role in the new economic life. It doesn't need much explanation that the era of thinking of every messenger as a non-insulating conductor that is just a neutral load has passed. Every messenger has its own economic, political and of course security background, Instagram is no exception to this rule and of course it leaves its effects in bio-economics as well. Iran, as the 19th largest economy in the world, has not been unaffected by new platforms, including Instagram, and their consequences in the economy. Generally, in the policy-making space, there are two simple and inflexible pessimistic or optimistic views on this issue, and each of the holders of these views usually have their own one-dimensional policy recommendations regarding how to deal with Instagram. Prescriptions that are usually very different and sometimes contradictory. In this article, we show that this confusion of policymakers is the result of not accurately describing the reality of its effect, and the reason for this inaccurate description is the existence of a conflict of interests in the eyes of describers and researchers. In this article, we first take a look at the main indicators of the Iranian economy, estimate the role of the digital economy in Iran's economic growth, then study the conflicting descriptions of the Instagram-based digital economy, the statistics that show the tolerance of economic users of Instagram in Iran. 300 thousand to 9 million have been estimated. Finally, we take a look at the government's actions in this matter, especially in the context of street riots in October and November 2022. And we suggest an intermediate idea.

Keywords: digital economy, instagram, conflict of interest, social networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Claire B. Salvedia, Enrico P. Supangco, Francisco B. Eligado, Renato Sa Vega, Antonio A. Rayos

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The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of probiotic feeding on weight gain, blood biochemical and hematological indices of crossbred dairy goat kids. Sixteen (16) crossbred Anglo-Nubian x Saanen dairy goat kids, 3 to 4 months old, ranging from 19 to 23kg were randomly assigned into four treatments fed with 5x109 cfu/ml probiotic supplements; Treatment 1 – control; Treatment 2 – lactic acid bacteria (L. plantarum BS and P. acidilactici 3G3); treatment 3 – S. cerevisiae 2030; Treatment 4 – multi-strain probiotics (L. plantarum BS, P. acidilactici 3G3, and S.cerevisiae 2030). Feed ration provided daily for each of the experimental animals were composed of 1kg mixed concentrate feed ((Leucaena leucocephala dried leaves and pollard), and 4 kg fresh Pennisetum purpureum and Gliciridia sepium leaves (50:50). The experimental feeding trial lasted for 9 weeks. Result revealed that treatments fed with probiotics had significantly (P≤0.05) higher weight gain compared to the control. Significant effect on plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) and triglyceride were noted during 30th and 60th day of probiotic feeding. White blood cell counts were significantly affected by probiotic feeding during the 60th day. Concentrations of glucose and cholesterol remained unchanged throughout the experimental period. The findings suggests, under the condition of the experiment, that live probiotic feeding could have a significant role in improving weight gain and metabolism of crossbred dairy goat kids.

Keywords: probiotics, weight gain, blood biochemical indices, crossbred dairy goat kids

Procedia PDF Downloads 466

Authors: Saule Shazhanbayeva, Denise van der Merwe

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Study hypothesis: Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Kyzylorda’s Biology teachers can use STEM-integrated learning to improve students' problem-solving ability and responsibility as global citizens. The significance of this study is to indicate how the use of STEM integrative learning during Biology lessons could contribute to forming globally-minded students who are responsible community members. For the purposes of this study, worldview is defined as a view that is broader than the country of Kazakhstan, allowing students to see the significance of their scientific contributions to the world as global citizens. The context of worldview specifically indicates that most students have never traveled outside of their city or region within Kazakhstan. In order to broaden student understanding, it is imperative that students are exposed to different world views and contrasting ideas within the educational setting of Biology as the science being used for the research. This exposure promulgates students understanding of the significance they have as global citizens alongside the obligations which would rest on them as scientifically minded global citizens. Integrative learning should be Biological Science - with Technology and engineering in the form of problem-solving, and Mathematics to allow improved problem-solving skills to develop within the students of Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) of Kyzylorda. The school's vision is to allow students to realise their role as global citizens and become responsible community members. STEM allows integrations by combining four subject skills to solve topical problems designed by educators. The methods used are based on qualitative analysis: for students’ performance during a problem-solution scenario; and Biology teacher interviews to ascertain their understanding of STEM implementation and willingness to integrate it into current lessons. The research indicated that NIS is ready for a shift into STEM lessons to promote globally responsible students. The only additional need is for proper STEM integrative lesson method training for teachers.

Keywords: global citizen, STEM, Biology, high-school

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Authors: Bujar Ismaili, Bahti Ismajli, Venhar Ismaili, Skender Ramadani

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In Kosovo, the problem with the electricity supply is huge and does not meet the demands of consumers. Older thermal power plants, which are regarded as big environmental polluters, produce most of the energy. Our experiment is based on the production of electricity using the closed method that does not affect environmental pollution by using waste as fuel that is considered to pollute the environment. The experiment was carried out in the village of Godanc, municipality of Shtime - Kosovo. In the experiment, a production line based on the production of electricity and central heating was designed at the same time. The results are the benefits of electricity as well as the release of temperature for heating with minimal expenses and with the release of 0% gases into the atmosphere. During this experiment, coal, plastic, waste from wood processing, and agricultural wastes were used as raw materials. The method utilized in the experiment allows for the release of gas through pipes and filters during the top-to-bottom combustion of the raw material in the boiler, followed by the method of gas filtration from waste wood processing (sawdust). During this process, the final product is obtained - gas, which passes through the carburetor, which enables the gas combustion process and puts into operation the internal combustion machine and the generator and produces electricity that does not release gases into the atmosphere. The obtained results show that the system provides energy stability without environmental pollution from toxic substances and waste, as well as with low production costs. From the final results, it follows that: in the case of using coal fuel, we have benefited from more electricity and higher temperature release, followed by plastic waste, which also gave good results. The results obtained during these experiments prove that the current problems of lack of electricity and heating can be met at a lower cost and have a clean environment and waste management.

Keywords: energy, heating, atmosphere, waste, gasification

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Authors: D. Nkazi, S. E. Iyuke, J. Mulopo

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Increasing global energy demand as well as air quality concerns have in recent years led to the search for alternative clean fuels to replace fossil fuels. One such alternative is the blending of petrol with ethanol, which has numerous advantages such ethanol’s ability to act as oxygenate thus reducing the carbon monoxide emissions from the exhaust of internal combustion engines of vehicles. However, the hygroscopic nature of ethanol is a major concern in obtaining a perfectly homogenized petrol-ethanol fuel. This problem has led to the study of ways of homogenizing the petrol-ethanol mixtures. During the blending process, volumes fraction of ethanol and petrol were studied with respect to the depth within the storage container to confirm homogenization of the blend and time of storage. The results reveal that the density of the mixture was constant. The binodal curve of the ternary diagram shows an increase of homogeneous region, indicating an improved of interaction between water and petrol. The concentration distribution in the reactor showed proof of cavitation formation since in both directions, the variation of concentration with both time and distance was found to be oscillatory. On comparing the profiles in both directions, the concentration gradient, diffusion flux, and energy and diffusion rates were found to be higher in the vertical direction compared to the horizontal direction. It was therefore concluded that ultrasonication creates cavitation in the mixture which enhances mass transfer and mixing of ethanol and petrol. The horizontal direction was found to be the diffusion rate limiting step which proposed that the blender should have a larger height to diameter ratio. It is, however, recommended that further studies be done on the rate-limiting step so as to have actual dimensions of the reactor.

Keywords: ultrasonication, petrol, ethanol, concentration

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Authors: Rajrupa Ghosh, Abhijit Mitra

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Future use of animal protein sources in prawn feeds is expected to be considerably reduced as a consequence of increasing economical, environmental and safety issues. Of main concern has been the use of expensive marine protein sources, such as fish meal which often results in fouling of water quality and disease outbreak in cultured species. To determine prawn capacity to use practical feeds with plant proteins as replacement ingredients to animal protein sources, 8-months growth trial was conducted in two sets of ponds using juvenile (0.02 gm) Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Among the two sets, one set (comprising of three ponds) is experimental pond included formulated feed prepared with 30% Porteresia coarctata dust along with other general ingredients and another set (comprising of another three ponds) is control pond with commercial feed. Mean final weight, percent weight gain, final net yield, feed conversion ratio and survival were evaluated. Higher condition index values, survival rate and gain in prawn weight were observed in experimental pond compared to control pond. Low FCR values were observed in the experimental pond than the control pond. Evaluation of production parameters at the end of the study demonstrated significant differences (P ≥ 0.05) among two ponds. The variation may be attributed to specially formulated plant based feed that not only boosted up the growth of prawns, but also upgraded the ambient aquatic health. These results indicate that fish meal can be replaced with algal protein sources in diets without affecting prawn growth and production.

Keywords: macrobrachium rosenbergii, porteresia coarctata, Indian sundarbans, feed

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Authors: Rajat Jain, Himanshu Pandey, Somesh Mehta, Pravin P. Patil

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Formula SAE cars are the student designed and fabricated formula prototype cars, designed according to SAE INTERNATIONAL design rules which compete in the various national and international events. This paper shows a FEM based comparative study of free vibration analysis of different mode shapes of a formula prototype car chassis frame. Tubing sections of different diameters as per the design rules are designed in such a manner that the desired strength can be achieved. Natural frequency of first five mode was determined using finite element analysis method. SOLIDWORKS is used for designing the frame structure and SOLIDWORKS SIMULATION and ANSYS WORKBENCH 16.2 are used for the modal analysis. Mode shape results of ANSYS and SOLIDWORKS were compared. Fixed –fixed boundary conditions are used for fixing the A-arm wishbones. The simulation results were compared for the validation of the study. First five modes were compared and results were found within the permissible limits. The AISI4130 (CROMOLY- chromium molybdenum steel) material is used and the chassis frame is discretized with fine quality QUAD mesh followed by Fixed-fixed boundary conditions. The natural frequency of the chassis frame is 53.92-125.5 Hz as per the results of ANSYS which is found within the permissible limits. The study is concluded with the light weight and compact chassis frame without compensation with strength. This design allows to fabricate an extremely safe driver ergonomics, compact, dynamically stable, simple and light weight tubular chassis frame with higher strength.

Keywords: FEM, modal analysis, formula SAE cars, chassis frame, Ansys

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: M. M. Rahman, A. Liu, A. Frostegard, J. Frostegard

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The human immune system plays an essential role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and atherosclerosis. Our earlier studies showed that major immunocompetent cells including T cells are activated by phosphorylcholine epitope. Further, we have determined for the first time in a clinical cohort that antibodies against phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) are negatively and independently associated with the development of atherosclerosis and thus a low risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is still unknown whether activated T cells play a role in anti-PC production. Here we aim to clarify the role of T cells in anti-PC production. B cell alone, or with CD3 T, CD4 T or with CD8 T cells were cultured in polystyrene plates to examine anti-PC IgM production. In addition to mixed B cell with CD3 T cell culture, B cells with CD3 T cells were also cultured in transwell co-culture plates. Further, B cells alone and mixed B cell with CD3 T cell cultures with or without anti-HLA 2 antibody were cultured for 6 days. Anti-PC IgM was detected by ELISA in independent experiments. More than 8 fold higher levels of anti-PC IgM were detected by ELISA in mixed B cell with CD3 T cell cultures in comparison to B cells alone. After the co-culture of B and CD3 T cells in transwell plates, there were no increased antibody levels indicating that B and T cells need to interact to augment anti-PC IgM production. Furthermore, anti-PC IgM was abolished by anti-HLA 2 blocking antibody in mixed B and CD3 T cells culture. In addition, the lack of increased anti-PC IgM in mixed B with CD8 T cells culture and the increased levels of anti-PC in mixed B with CD4 T cells culture support the role of helper T cell for the anti-PC IgM production. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases, but anti-PC IgM is a protection marker for atherosclerosis development. Understanding the mechanism involved in the anti-PC IgM regulation could play an important role in strategies to raise anti-PC IgM. Studies suggest that anti-PC is T-cell independent antibody, but our study shows the major role of T cell in anti-PC IgM production. Activation of helper T cells by immunization could be a possible mechanism for raising anti-PC levels.

Keywords: anti-PC, atherosclerosis, aardiovascular diseases, phosphorylcholine

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Authors: Neslihan Sahin Celik, Ali Eraslan

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As a result of PISA (Program for International Student Assessments) survey that tests how well students can apply the knowledge and skills they have learned at school to real-life challenges, the new and redesigned mathematics education programs in many countries emphasize the necessity for the students to face complex and multifaceted problem situations and gain experience in this sense allowing them to develop new skills and mathematical thinking to prepare them for their future life after school. At this point, mathematical models and modeling approaches can be utilized in the analysis of complex problems which represent real-life situations in which students can actively participate. In particular, model eliciting activities that bring about situations which allow the students to create solutions to problems and which involve mathematical modeling must be used right from primary school years, allowing them to face such complex, real-life situations from early childhood period. A qualitative study was conducted in a university foundation primary school in the city center of a big province in 2013-2014 academic years. The participants were 4th grade students in a primary school. After a four-week preliminary study applied to a fourth-grade classroom, three students included in the focus group were selected using criterion sampling technique. A focus group of three students was videotaped as they worked on the Crime Problem. The conversation of the group was transcribed, examined with students’ written work and then analyzed through the lens of Blum and Ferri’s modeling processing cycle. The results showed that primary fourth-grade students can successfully work with model eliciting problem while they encounter some difficulties in the modeling processes. In particular, they developed new ideas based on different assumptions, identified the patterns among variables and established a variety of models. On the other hand, they had trouble focusing on problems and occasionally had breaks in the process.

Keywords: primary school, modeling, mathematical modeling, crime problem

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Authors: K. D. Candido, A. Lissounov, I. Knezevic, N. Knezevic

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Background: The most commonly performed pain procedures in the USA is Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injections (LESI). There are three main types of these procedures: transforaminal (TF), interlaminar (IL) and caudal injections. It is expected for TF injections to have better outcomes than IL injections, based on the recently published systematic review. The studies presented in that review used a midline IL approach, but those with parasagittal IL approach were not taken into consideration. Our aim is to emphasize the efficacy of the lateral parasagittal (paramedian) IL approach in this review. Methods: We included five studies in this systematic review, which compared Parasagittal-IL (PIL) with either Midline-IL (MIL) or TF LESI. Total of 296 patients who had undergone different types of LESI were observed across the five studies, and the average pain and functional improvements were calculated and compared among groups. Results: Pain and function improvements with PIL approach is superior on 12 months follow up to MIL approach (53.4% vs. 14.7%) and (55% vs. 27.7%), respectively. A 12 months follow-up results between PIL and TF shows a near equivalent effectiveness for pain (58.9% vs. 63.2%) and function improvement (47.3% vs. 48.1%). An average follow-up of 17.1 days have shown better short-term pain relief for PIL than TF approach (45.8% vs. 19.2%), respectively. Number of repeated injections is lower for PIL injections than MIL. Number of weeks between 1st and 2nd injections: PIL averaged 15.8 weeks and MIL averaged 9.7 weeks. Third LESI injection is more common in TF group (30%) than PIL group (18.8%). Conclusion: Higher complication rates are associated with TF injections for which FDA7 issued an official warning. We have recorded better outcomes in pain and function improvement of Parasagittal-IL LESI as compared to midline-IL injection, in the presented systematic review. Parasagittal and TF injections have equivalent efficacy in Pain and Function improvements thus we advocate for Parasagittal-IL approach consideration as an alternative for TF injections.

Keywords: parasagital approach, lumbar, back pain, epidural steroid injection

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Authors: Shwadhin Sharma

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As there has been increasing focus on the shorter attention span of the millennials students, there is a relative absence of instructional tools on behavioral assessments in learning information technology skills within the information systems field and textbooks. This study uses project-based learning in which students gain knowledge and skills related to information technology by working on an extended project that allows students to find a real business problem design information systems based on information collected from the company and develop an information system that solves the problem of the company. Eighty students from two sections of the same course engage in the project from the first week of the class till the sixteenth week of the class to deliver a small business information system that allows them to employ all the skills and knowledge that they learned in the class into the systems they are creating. Computer Information Systems related courses are often difficult to understand and process especially for the Under Representative Minorities students who have limited computer or information systems related (academic) experiences. Project-based learning demands constant attention of the students and forces them to apply knowledge learned in the class to a project that helps retaining knowledge. To make sure our assumption is correct, we started with a pre-test and post-test to test the students learning (of skills) based on the project. Our test showed that almost 90% of the students from the two sections scored higher in post-test as compared to pre-test. Based on this premise, we conducted a further survey that measured student’s job-search preparation, knowledge of data analysis, involved with the course, satisfaction with the course, student’s overall reaction the course and students' ability to meet the traditional learning goals related to the course.

Keywords: project-based learning, job-search preparation, satisfaction with course, traditional learning goals

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: S. Archsana, Vajira Balasuriya

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In Trincomalee of Sri Lanka, a post-conflict area, resettlement projects and policy initiatives are taking place to improve the wealth of the rural communities through promoting economic activities by way of encouraging the rural women to opt to commence and operate Micro and Small Scale (MSS) businesses. This study attempts to identify the manner in which the institutional environment could facilitate these MSS businesses owned and operated by women in the rural environment. The respondents of this study are the beneficiaries of the Divi Neguma Development Training Program (DNDTP); a project designed to aid women owned MSS businesses, in Trincomalee district. 96 women business operators, who had obtained financing facilities from the DNDTP, are taken as the sample based on fixed interval random sampling method. The study reveals that primary challenges encountered by 82% of the women business operators are lack of initial capital followed by 71% initial market finding and 35% access to technology. The low level of education and language barriers are the constraints in accessing support agencies/service providers. Institutional support; specifically management and marketing services, have a significant relationship with wealth augmentation. Institutional support at the setting-up stage of businesses are thin whereas terms and conditions of the finance facilities are perceived as ‘too challenging’. Although diversification enhances wealth of the rural women business operators, assistance from the institutional framework to prepare financial reports that are required for business expansion is skinny. The study further reveals that institutional support is very much weak in terms of providing access to new technology and identifying new market networks. A mechanism that could facilitate the institutional framework to support the rural women business operators to access new technology and untapped market segments, and assistance in preparation of legal and financial documentation is recommended.

Keywords: business facilitation, institutional support, rural women business operators, wealth augmentation

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Authors: Donna Erika E. De Jesus

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Introduction: Cardiac arrest occurs when abrupt cessation of cardiac function results in loss of effective circulation and complete cardiovascular collapse. For every minute of cardiac arrest without early intervention (cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR], defibrillation), chances of survival drop by 7-10%. It is crucial that CPR be initiated within 4-6 minutes to avoid brain death. Most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur in a residential setting where access to trained personnel and equipment is not readily available, resulting in poor victim outcomes. Methods: This is a descriptive study done from August to November 2021 using a prospective cohort design. Participants of the study include adult patients aged 18 years and above brought to the emergency room who suffered from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Out of the total 102 cases of OHCA, 63 participants were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Results: 43 were male patients, comprising the majority at 73.02%. Hypertension was identified as the top co-morbidity, followed by diabetes mellitus, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Medical causes of arrest were identified in 96.83% of the cases. 90.48% of cardiac arrests occurred at home. Only 26 patients (41.27%) received pre-hospital intervention prior to ER arrival, which comprised only hands-only CPR. Twenty-three of which were performed by individuals with background knowledge of CPR. 60.32% were brought via self-conduction, the remainder by ambulances, which were noted to have no available equipment necessary to provide proper resuscitation. The average travel time from dispatch to ER arrival is 20 minutes. Conclusion: Overall survival of OHCA in our local setting remains dismal, as a return of spontaneous circulation was not achieved in any of the patients. The small number of patients having pre-hospital CPR indicates the need for emphasis on training and community education.

Keywords: out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, basic life support, emergency medical services

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Authors: Iacopo Testi, Diego Pajarito, Nicoletta Roberto, Carmen Greco

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Today, a consistent segment of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this proportion will vastly increase in the next decades. Therefore, understanding the key trends in urbanization, likely to unfold over the coming years, is crucial to the implementation of sustainable urban strategies. In parallel, the daily amount of digital data produced will be expanding at an exponential rate during the following years. The analysis of various types of data sets and its derived applications have incredible potential across different crucial sectors such as healthcare, housing, transportation, energy, and education. Nevertheless, in city development, architects and urban planners appear to rely mostly on traditional and analogical techniques of data collection. This paper investigates the prospective of the data science field, appearing to be a formidable resource to assist city managers in identifying strategies to enhance the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of our urban areas. The collection of different new layers of information would definitely enhance planners' capabilities to comprehend more in-depth urban phenomena such as gentrification, land use definition, mobility, or critical infrastructural issues. Specifically, the research results correlate economic, commercial, demographic, and housing data with the purpose of defining the youth economic discomfort index. The statistical composite index provides insights regarding the economic disadvantage of citizens aged between 18 years and 29 years, and results clearly display that central urban zones and more disadvantaged than peripheral ones. The experimental set up selected the city of Rome as the testing ground of the whole investigation. The methodology aims at applying statistical and spatial analysis to construct a composite index supporting informed data-driven decisions for urban planning.

Keywords: data science, spatial analysis, composite index, Rome, urban planning, youth economic discomfort index

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Amirhossein Lotfi, Huaizhong Li, Dzung Viet Dao

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Interest in natural fiber-reinforced composites (NFRC) is progressively growing both in terms of academia research and industrial applications thanks to their abundant advantages such as low cost, biodegradability, eco-friendly nature and relatively good mechanical properties. However, their widespread use is still presumed as challenging because of the specificity of their non-homogeneous structure, limited knowledge on their machinability characteristics and parameter settings, to avoid defects associated with the machining process. The present work is aimed to investigate the effect of the cutting tool geometry and material on the drilling-induced delamination, thrust force and hole quality produced when drilling a fully biodegradable flax/poly (lactic acid) composite laminate. Three drills with different geometries and material were used at different drilling conditions to evaluate the machinability of the fabricated composites. The experimental results indicated that the choice of cutting tool, in terms of material and geometry, has a noticeable influence on the cutting thrust force and subsequently drilling-induced damages. The lower value of thrust force and better hole quality was observed using high-speed steel (HSS) drill, whereas Carbide drill (with point angle of 130^o) resulted in the highest value of thrust force. Carbide drill presented higher wear resistance and stability in variation of thrust force with a number of holes drilled, while HSS drill showed the lower value of thrust force during the drilling process. Finally, within the selected cutting range, the delamination damage increased noticeably with feed rate and moderately with spindle speed.

Keywords: natural fiber reinforced composites, delamination, thrust force, machinability

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Sheikh Omar Sillah

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Introduction: Monitoring is an important means of ensuring the smooth implementation and quality of clinical trials. For many years, traditional site monitoring approaches have been critical in detecting data errors but not optimal in identifying fabricated and implanted data as well as non-random data distributions that may significantly invalidate study results. The objective of this paper was to provide recommendations based on best statistical monitoring practices for detecting data-integrity issues suggestive of fabrication and implantation early in the study conduct to allow implementation of meaningful corrective and preventive actions. Methodology: Electronic bibliographic databases (Medline, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) were used for the literature search, and both qualitative and quantitative studies were sought. Search results were uploaded into Eppi-Reviewer Software, and only publications written in the English language from 2012 were included in the review. Gray literature not considered to present reproducible methods was excluded. Results: A total of 18 peer-reviewed publications were included in the review. The publications demonstrated that traditional site monitoring techniques are not efficient in detecting data anomalies. By specifying project-specific parameters such as laboratory reference range values, visit schedules, etc., with appropriate interactive data monitoring, statistical monitoring can offer early signals of data anomalies to study teams. The review further revealed that statistical monitoring is useful to identify unusual data patterns that might be revealing issues that could impact data integrity or may potentially impact study participants' safety. However, subjective measures may not be good candidates for statistical monitoring. Conclusion: The statistical monitoring approach requires a combination of education, training, and experience sufficient to implement its principles in detecting data anomalies for the statistical aspects of a clinical trial.

Keywords: statistical monitoring, data anomalies, clinical trials, traditional monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Yin Ma, Xun Wang, Kelsey Austin

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Purpose – Building upon career construction theory and the conservation of resources theory, we developed a moderated mediation model to examine how the perceived university support impact students’ career adapting responses, namely, crystallization, exploration, decision and preparation, via the mediator career adaptability and moderator perceived parental support. Design/methodology/approach – The multi-stage sampling strategy was employed and survey data were collected. Structural equation modeling was used to perform the analysis. Findings – Perceived university support could directly promote students’ career adaptability, and promote three career adapting responses, namely, exploration, decision and preparation. It could also impact four career adapting responses via mediation effect of career adaptability. Its impact on students’ career adaptability can greatly increase when students’ receive parental related career support. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional design limits causal inference. Conducted in China, our findings should be cautiously interpreted in other countries due to cultural differences. Practical implications – University support is vital to students’ career adaptability and supports from parents can enhance this process. University-home collaboration is necessary to promote students’ career adapting responses. For students, seeking and utilizing as much supporting resources as possible is vital for their human resources development. On an organizational level, universities could benefit from our findings by introducing the practices which ask students to rate the career-related courses and encourage them to chat with parents regularly. Originality/ value – Using recently developed scale, current work contributes to the literature by investigating the impact of multiple contextual factors on students’ career adapting response. It also provide the empirical support for the role of human intervention in fostering career adapting responses.

Keywords: career adapability, university and parental support, China studies, sociology of education

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Neda Zamani

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The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of training courses and their limitations using the CIPP model. The investigations were done on Isfahan Refinery as a case study. From a purpose point of view, the present paper is included among applied research and from a data gathering point of view, it is included among descriptive research of the field type survey. The population of the study included participants in training courses, their supervisors and experts of the training department. Probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) was used as the sampling method. The sample size for participants in training courses included 195 individuals, 30 supervisors and 11 individuals from the training experts’ group. To collect data, a questionnaire designed by the researcher and a semi-structured interview was used. The content validity of the data was confirmed by training management experts and the reliability was calculated through 0.92 Cronbach’s alpha. To analyze the data in descriptive statistics aspect (tables, frequency, frequency percentage and mean) were applied, and inferential statistics (Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon tests, Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the significance of the opinion of the groups) have been applied. Results of the study indicated that all groups, i.e., participants, supervisors and training experts, absolutely believe in the importance of training courses; however, participants in training courses regard content, teacher, atmosphere and facilities, training process, managing process and product as to be in a relatively appropriate level. The supervisors also regard output to be at a relatively appropriate level, but training experts regard content, teacher and managing processes as to be in an appropriate and higher than average level.

Keywords: training courses, limitations of training effectiveness, CIPP model, Isfahan oil refinery company

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: K. D. Rajatha, S. Rajendra Prasad, N. Nethra

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Aeroponics is one of the advanced techniques to cultivate plants without soil with minimal water and nutrient consumption. This is the technology which could bring the vertical growth in agriculture. It is an eco-friendly approach widely used for commercial cultivation of vegetables to obtain the supreme quality and yield. In this context, to harvest potentiality of the technology, an experiment was designed to evaluate the suitability of the aeroponics method over the conventional method for hybrid seed production of tomato. The experiment was carried out under Completely Randomized Design with Factorial (FCRD) concept with three replications during the year 2017-18 at UAS, GKVK Bengaluru. Nutrients and pH were standardized; among the six different nutrient solutions, the crop performance was better in Hoagland’s solution with pH between 5.5-7. The results of the present study revealed that between TAG1F and TAG2F parental lines, TAG1F performed better in both the methods of seed production. Among the methods, aeroponics showed better performance for the quality parameters except for plant spread, due to better availability of nutrients and aeration, huge root biomass in aeroponics. Aeroponics method showed significantly higher plant length (124.9 cm), plant growth rate (0.669), seedling survival rate (100%), early flowering (27.5 days), highest fruit weight (121.5 g), 100 seed weight (0.373 g) and total seed yield plant⁻¹ (11.68 g) compared to the conventional method. By providing the best environment for plant growth, the genetically best possible plant could be grown, thus complete potentiality of the plant could be harvested. Hence, aeroponics could be a promising tool for quality and healthy hybrid seed production throughout the year within protected cultivation.

Keywords: aeroponics, Hoagland’s solution, hybrid seed production, Lycopersicon esculentum

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Devadrita Dey Sarkar

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Oxidosqualene cyclase is a membrane bound enzyme in which helps in the formation of steroid scaffold in higher organisms. In a highly selective cyclization reaction oxidosqualene cyclase forms LANOSTEROL with seven chiral centres starting from the linear substrate 2,3-oxidosqualene. In humans OSC in cholesterol biosynthesis it represents a target for the discovery of novel anticholesteraemic drugs that could complement the widely used statins. The enzyme oxidosqualene: lanosterol cyclase (OSC) represents a novel target for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. OSC catalyzes the cyclization of the linear 2,3-monoepoxysqualene to lanosterol, the initial four-ringed sterol intermediate in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. OSC also catalyzes the formation of 24(S), 25-epoxycholesterol, a ligand activator of the liver X receptor. Inhibition of OSC reduces cholesterol biosynthesis and selectively enhances 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol synthesis. Through this dual mechanism, OSC inhibition decreases plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and prevents cholesterol deposition within macrophages. The recent crystallization of OSC identifies the mechanism of action for this complex enzyme, setting the stage for the design of OSC inhibitors with improved pharmacological properties for cholesterol lowering and treatment of atherosclerosis. While studying and designing the inhibitor of oxidosqulene cyclase, I worked on the pdb id of 1w6k which was the most worked on pdb id and I used several methods, techniques and softwares to identify and validate the top most molecules which could be acting as an inhibitor for oxidosqualene cyclase. Thus, by partial blockage of this enzyme, both an inhibition of lanosterol and subsequently cholesterol formation as well as a concomitant effect on HMG-CoA reductase can be achieved. Both effects complement each other and lead to an effective control of cholesterol biosynthesis. It is therefore concluded that 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclase plays a crucial role in the regulation of intracellular cholesterol homeostasis. 2,3-Oxidosqualene cyclase inhibitors offer an attractive approach for novel lipid-lowering agents.

Keywords: anticholesteraemic, crystallization, statins, homeostasis

Procedia PDF Downloads 334