Search results for: occupational health management

Authors: Hassan Alsada

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Tank overfill accidents are major concerns for industries handling large volumes of hydrocarbons. Buncefield, Jaipur, Puerto Rico, and West Virginia are just a few accidents with catastrophic consequences. Thus, it is very important for any industry to take the right safety measures for overfill prevention. Moreover, one of the main causative factors in the overfill accidents was inadequate risk analysis and, subsequently, inadequate design. This study aims to provide a full assessment in accordance with the Functional safety standard: “IEC 615 11 – Safety instrumented systems for the process industry” to the tank overfill scenario according to the standard’s Safety Life Cycle (SLC), which includes: the analysis phase, the implementation phase, and the operation phase. The paper discusses in depth the tank overfills Independent Protection Layers (IPLs) with systematic analysis to avoid the safety risks of under-design and the financial risk of facility overdesign. The result shows a clear and systematic assessment in compliance with the standards that can help to assist existing tank overfilling setup or a guide to support designing new storage facilities overfill protection.

Keywords: IEC 61511, PHA, LOPA, process safety, safety, health, environment, safety instrumented systems, safety instrumented function, functional safety, safety life cycle

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Authors: Gheorghe Ionita, Sebastian Brad, Ioan Stefanescu

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In any fusion device, tritium plays a key role both as a fuel component and, due to its radioactivity and easy incorporation, as tritiated water (HTO). As for the ITER project, to reduce the constant potential of tritium emission, there will be implemented a Water Detritiation System (WDS) and an Isotopic Separation System (ISS). In the same time, during operation of fission CANDU reactors, the tritium content increases in the heavy water used as moderator and cooling agent (due to neutron activation) and it has to be reduced, too. In Romania, at the National Institute for Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies (ICIT Rm-Valcea), there is an Experimental Pilot Plant for Tritium Removal (Exp. TRF), with the aim of providing technical data on the design and operation of an industrial plant for heavy water depreciation of CANDU reactors from Cernavoda NPP. The selected technology is based on the catalyzed isotopic exchange process between deuterium and liquid water (LPCE) combined with the cryogenic distillation process (CD). This paper presents an updated review of activities in the field carried out in Romania after the year 2000 and in particular those related to the development and operation of Tritium Removal Experimental Pilot Plant. It is also presented a comparison between the experimental pilot plant and industrial plant to be implemented at Cernavoda NPP. The similarities between the experimental pilot plant from ICIT Rm-Valcea and water depreciation and isotopic separation systems from ITER are also presented and discussed. Many aspects or 'opened issues' relating to WDS and ISS could be checked and clarified by a special research program, developed within ExpTRF. By these achievements and results, ICIT Rm - Valcea has proved its expertise and capability concerning tritium management therefore its competence may be used within ITER project.

Keywords: ITER project, heavy water detritiation, tritium removal, isotopic exchange

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Authors: Daniel Asiamah Ameyaw

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This research attempts to investigate how lecturer evaluation makes a difference in enhancing higher education teaching and learning processes. The research questions to guide this research work states first as, “What are the perspectives on the difference made by evaluating academic teachers in order to enhance higher education teaching and learning processes?” and second, “What are the implications of the findings for Policy and Practice?” Data for this research was collected mainly through interviewing and partly documents review. Data analysis was conducted under the framework of grounded theory. The findings showed that for individual lecturer level, lecturer evaluation provides a continuous improvement of teaching strategies, and serves as source of data for research on teaching. At the individual student level, it enhances students learning process; serving as source of information for course selection by students; and by making students feel recognised in the educational process. At the institutional level, it noted that lecturer evaluation is useful in personnel and management decision making; it assures stakeholders of quality teaching and learning by setting up standards for lecturers; and it enables institutions to identify skill requirement and needs as a basis for organising workshops. Lecturer evaluation is useful at national level in terms of guaranteeing the competencies of graduates who then provide the needed manpower requirement of the nation. Besides, it mentioned that resource allocation to higher educational institution is based largely on quality of the programmes being run by the institution. The researcher concluded, that the findings have implications for policy and practice, therefore, higher education managers are expected to ensure that policy is implemented as planned by policy-makers so that the objectives can successfully be achieved.

Keywords: academic quality, higher education, lecturer evaluation, teaching and learning processes

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Authors: Sakulsri Srisaracam

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Social media has become an important source of information for the public and the media profession. Some social issues raised on social media are picked up by journalists to report on other platforms. This relationship between social media and mainstream media can sometimes drive public debate or stimulate social movements. The question to examine is in what situations can social media conversations raise awareness and stimulate change on public issues. This study addresses the communication patterns of social media conversations driving covert issues into mainstream media and leading to social advocacy movements. In methodological terms, the study findings are based on a content analysis of Facebook, Twitter, news websites and television media reports on three different case studies – saving Bryde’s whale, protests against a government proposal to downsize the Office of Knowledge Management and Development in Thailand, and a dengue fever campaign. These case studies were chosen because they represent issues that most members of the public do not pay much attention to but social media conversations stimulated public debate and calls to action. This study found: 1) Collective social media conversations can stimulate public debate and encourage change at three levels – awareness, public debate, and action of policy and social change. The level depends on the communication patterns of online users and media coverage. 2) Patterns of communication have to be designed to combine social media conversations, online opinion leaders, mainstream media coverage and call to both online and offline action to motivate social change. Thus, this result suggests that social media is a powerful platform for collective communication and setting the agenda on public issues for mainstream media. However, for social change to succeed, social media should be used to mobilize online movements to move offline too.

Keywords: public issues, mainstream media, social media, social movement

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Authors: Marji Umil, Miane Karyle Urolaza, Ian Winston Dale Uy, John Charle Magne Valdez, Karen Elizabeth Valdez, Ervin Charles Valencia, Cheryleen Tan-Chua

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Objective: Distraction techniques can be successful in reducing the anxiety of children during medical procedures. Dental procedures, in particular, are associated with dental anxiety which has been identified as a significant and common problem in children, however, only limited studies were conducted to address such problem. Thus, this study determined the effectiveness of computer video games on the levels of anxiety of children between 5-12 years old scheduled for tooth extraction. Methods: A pre-test post-test quasi-experimental study was conducted involving 30 randomly-assigned subjects, 15 in the experimental and 15 in the control. Subjects in the experimental group played computer video games for a maximum of 15 minutes, however, no intervention was done on the control. The modified Yale Pre-operative Anxiety Scale (m-YPAS) with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.9 was used to assess anxiety at two different points: upon arrival in the clinic (pre-test anxiety) and 15 minutes after the first measurement (post-test anxiety). Paired t-test and ANCOVA were used to analyze the gathered data. Results: Results showed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test anxiety scores of the control group (p=0.0002) which indicates an increased anxiety. A significant difference was also noted between the pre-test and post-test anxiety scores of the experimental group (p=0.0002) which indicates decreased anxiety. Comparatively, the experimental group showed lower anxiety score (p=<0.0001) than the control. Conclusion: The use of computer video games is effective in reducing the pre-operative anxiety among children and can be an alternative non-pharmacological management in giving pre-operative care.

Keywords: play therapy, preoperative anxiety, tooth extraction, video games

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Authors: Tamanda Kamwendo

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The concept of benefit sharing has been a prominent global debate in the world, gaining traction in human research ethics. Despite its prevalence, the concept of benefit sharing is not without controversy over its meaning and justification. This is due to the fact that it lacks a broadly accepted definition and many proponents discuss benefit sharing by arguing for its necessity rather than engaging in critical intellectual engagement with technical issues such as what it implies. What is clear in the literature is that the underlying premise of benefit-sharing is that research involving underprivileged and marginalized people is currently unjust and inequitable because these people are denied access to these gains; thus, benefit-sharing arrangements are required for these research projects to be just and equitable. This paper, therefore, investigates the discourses and justifications behind the concept of benefit sharing to human participants, particularly when dealing with human genomics research. Furthermore, considering that benefit sharing is generally viewed as a transaction between research organizations and research participants, it raises ethical concerns concerning the commodification of human material and undermines the sanctity of the human genome. This is predicated on the idea that research sponsors would be compelled to deliver a minimum set of possible benefits to research participants and communities in exchange for their involvement in the study. There is, therefore, need to protect benefit-sharing practices in international health research by developing a governance legal framework. A legal framework of benefit sharing will also dispel the issue of commodification of human material where human genomic research is done.

Keywords: benefit sharing, human participants, human genomic research, ethical concerns

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Authors: Polycarp Igbojekwe

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The main objective of this study was to determine if emotional labour has become a criterion in performance appraisal, job description, selection, and training schemes in the hotel industry in Nigeria. Our main assumption was that majority of hotel organizations have not built emotional labour into their human resources management schemes. Data were gathered by the use of structured questionnaires designed in Likert format, and interviews. The focus group was managers of the selected hotels. Analyses revealed that majority of the hotels have not built emotional labour into their human resources schemes particularly in the 1, 2, and 3-star hotels. It was observed that service employees of 1, 2, and 3-star hotels have not been adequately trained to perform emotional labour; a critical factor in quality service delivery. Managers of 1, 2, and 3-star hotels have not given serious thought to emotional labour as a critical factor in quality service delivery. The study revealed that suitability of an individual’s characteristics is not being considered as a criterion for selection and performance appraisal for service employees. The implication of this is that, person-job-fit is not seriously considered. It was observed that there has been a disconnect between required emotional competency, its recognition, evaluation, and training. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that selection, training, job description and performance appraisal instruments in use in hotels in Nigeria are inadequate. Human resource implications of the findings in this study are presented. It is recommended that hotel organizations should re-design and plan the emotional content and context of their human resources practices to reflect the emotional demands of front line jobs in the hotel industry and the crucial role emotional labour plays during service encounters.

Keywords: emotional labour, employee selection, job description, performance appraisal, person-job-fit, employee compensation

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Authors: Ashfaq M. Naikwadi

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Decided cases of medical negligence, mostly are not settled in the lower courts. Majority of them reach up to the apex courts. This is mostly due to different interpretations of the term medical negligence. After studying various cases of medical negligence it is found that in most of the cases the doctors/hospitals are not held liable. There are different interpretations of law concerning medical services. Globally the principles deciding medical negligence are same, viz. Legal duty of care - breach of that duty - direct causation resulting in damages. Since ordinary negligence is not punishable by law, doctors/hospitals have defenses to save themselves from liability. Complaints of negligence come to the courts whose judges mostly are not oriented with medical services or health sciences. Matters of medical negligence are decided on the basic principles of reasonableness and prudence or by relying on the expert’s opinion. Deciding reasonableness or prudence is a complex issue in case of medical services. Again expert opinion is also questionable as an expert in case of medical negligence is appointed from the same field and same faculty. There is a chance of favoritism to the doctor/hospital. The concept of vicarious liability is not widely applied to in many of the medical negligence cases. Established cases used as precedents were studied to understand the basic principles in deciding medical negligence. This paper evaluates the present criteria in interpreting medical negligence and concludes with suggesting reforms required to be made in deciding matters of medical negligence under the consumer laws.

Keywords: consumer, doctors, laws, medical negligence

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Authors: Shokoufeh Roudashti, Shahin Bahari, Fakhri Haghi, Habib Zeighami, Ghazal Naderi, Paniz Shirmast

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Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) causes tuberculosis (TB) in humans and animals. Mycobacterium MTBC is one of the most important species of zoonotic pathogens that can be transmitted from cattle to humans. The disease can transmit to human by direct contact with the infected animals, drinking unpasteurized milk and consumption of uncooked meat. The presence of these opportunistic, pathogenic bacteria in bovine milk has emerged as a public-health concern, especially among individuals who consume raw milk. Tuberculosis MTBC is the predominant infectious cause of morbidity and morality worldwide, It is estimated that one third of the world population (approx. 1.8 billion persons) is infected with M. tuberculosis and each year there are 8 million new cases worldwide. The aim of this study, to detect Mycobacterium MTBC in raw milk samples using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Materials and Methods: In the present study, 60 raw milk samples were collected from rural areas in Zanjan, Iran. After extraction of DNAs and using special primers for Is6110 gene as a marker, PCR was applied to detect the presence or non-presence of the related gene. Results: According to the findings of this study, 8 (13.5 %) out of 60 milk samples were positive for Mycobacterium spp (P < 0.1). Conclusions: The Outbreak of genus Mycobacteria spp in milk samples were determined to be relatively high in Zanjan, Iran.

Keywords: Mycobacteria spp, raw milk, PCR, Zanjan

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Authors: Rami S. Alasmari, Abdullah Al Zahrani, Hattan A. Hassani, Hattan A. Hassani, Nawwaf A. Almalky, Abdullah F. Bokhari, Alwalied A. Hafez

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Diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2) is a major chronic condition that is considered common among elderly people, with multiple potential complications that could contribute to falls. However, this concept is not well understood, thus, the aim of this study is to determine whether diabetes is an independent risk factor for falls in elderly. In this observational cross-sectional study, 309 diabetic patients aged 60 or more who visited the primary healthcare centers of the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in Jeddah were chosen via convenience sampling method. To collect the data, Semi-structured Fall Risk Assessment questionnaire and Fall Efficacy Score scale were used. The mean age of the participants was estimated to be 68.5 (SD:7.4) years. Among the participants, 48.2% experienced falling before, and 63.1% of them suffered falls in the past 12-months. The results showed that gait problems were independently associated with a higher likelihood of fall among the elderly patients (OR = 1.98, 95%CI, 1.08 to 3.62, p = 0.026. This paper suggests that diabetes mellitus is an independent fall risk factor among elderly. Therefore, identifying such patients as being at higher risk and prompt referral to a specialist falls clinic is recommended.

Keywords: diabetes, fall, elderly, risk factors

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Authors: Saif Obaid Alkaabi, Nabil Ayad

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Governments constantly seek to offer faster, more secure, efficient and effective services for their citizens. Recent changes and developments to communication services and technologies, mainly due the Internet, have led to immense improvements in the way governments of advanced countries carry out their interior operations Therefore, advances in e-government services have been broadly adopted and used in various developed countries, as well as being adapted to developing countries. The implementation of advances depends on the utilization of the most innovative structures of data techniques, mainly in web dependent applications, to enhance the main functions of governments. These functions, in turn, have spread to mobile and wireless techniques, generating a new advanced direction called m-government. This paper discusses a selection of available m-government applications and several business modules and frameworks in various fields. Practically, the m-government models, techniques and methods have become the improved version of e-government. M-government offers the potential for applications which will work better, providing citizens with services utilizing mobile communication and data models incorporating several government entities. Developing countries can benefit greatly from this innovation due to the fact that a large percentage of their population is young and can adapt to new technology and to the fact that mobile computing devices are more affordable. The use of models of mobile transactions encourages effective participation through the use of mobile portals by businesses, various organizations, and individual citizens. Although the application of m-government has great potential, it does have major limitations. The limitations include: the implementation of wireless networks and relative communications, the encouragement of mobile diffusion, the administration of complicated tasks concerning the protection of security (including the ability to offer privacy for information), and the management of the legal issues concerning mobile applications and the utilization of services.

Keywords: e-government, m-government, system dependability, system security, trust

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Authors: Thouraya Majoul

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Obesity is now a real public health issue throughout the world, and it is well-established that obesity leads to cardiovascular diseases. The prevention and treatment of obesity using nutritional supplements has become a realistic and effective approach. This study was carried out to analyze the incidence of a high-fat diet on rat heart metabolism as well as on fatty acids composition, then to investigate the eventual protective effects of a grape seed extract (GSE). The experimental design consisted of three rat groups subjected to three different conditions; standard (SD), high-fat diet (HFD) and HFD+GSE (HG). We showed that GSE counteracted the effect of HFD on fatty acid composition, namely, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid (ARA), palmitic acid (PA) and palmitoleic acid. Besides, GSE treatment restored HFD-altered metabolic pathways through the recovery of some cardiac enzyme activities such as lipase, glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase. The cardiac lactate level and lactate dehydrogenase activity were also analyzed in relation to HFD and GSE administration. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing the anti-obesity and cardioprotective effects of GSE in relation to fatty acid composition and some cardiac enzymes, supporting its role as a therapeutic agent of obesity.

Keywords: Grape seed extract, phenolic, obesity, cardioprotective, lipotoxicity, energy metabolism

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Authors: Umedov Mekhroz, Griaznova Svetlana

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The quality of life and well-being of patients, staff and visitors are central to the delivery of health care. Architecture and design are becoming an integral part of the healing and recovery approach. The most significant point that can be implemented in hospital buildings is the therapeutic value of the artificial environment, the design and integration of plants to bring the natural world into the healthcare environment. The hospital environment should feel like home comfort. The techniques that therapeutic architecture uses are very cheap, but provide real benefit to patients, staff and visitors, demonstrating that the difference is not in cost but in design quality. The best environment is not necessarily more expensive - it is about special use of light and color, rational use of materials and flexibility of premises. All this forms innovative concepts in modern hospital architecture, in new construction, renovation or expansion projects. The aim of the study is to identify the methods and principles of therapeutic architecture. The research methodology consists in studying and summarizing international experience in scientific research, literature, standards, methodological manuals and project materials on the research topic. The result of the research is the development of graphic-analytical tables based on the system analysis of the processed information; 3d visualization of hospital interiors based on processed information.

Keywords: therapeutic architecture, healthcare interiors, sustainable design, materials, color scheme, lighting, environment.

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Authors: Ahmed Zahran

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Bifidobacterium breve ATCC 15700, Bifidobacterium adolescents ATCC 15704 and Bifidobacterium longum ATCC 15707 were tested for their growth, acid production, bile tolerance, antibiotic resistance and adherence to columnar epithelial cells of the small intestine of goat. The growth of all studied species was determined in the MRSL medium. B.longum 15707 was the most active species in comparison with the other two species; it was also more resistant to bile acids. The adhesion of the studied species to the columnar epithelial cells was studied. All the studied species showed some degree of adhesion; however, B.longum adhered more than the other two species. This species was resistant to four types of antibiotics and was sensitive to chloramphenicol 30 µg. The activity of Bifidobacterium species in soymilk was evaluated by measuring the development of titratalle acidity. B.longum 15707 was the most active species in terms of growth and activity of soymilk. So, soymilk containing bifidobacteria could be added to goat milk to produce acceptable functional soy yogurt, using the ratio of (1:4) soy milk to goat milk. This product could be of unique health benefits, especially in the case of high cholesterol levels and replenishment of intestinal flora after antibiotic therapy.

Keywords: bifidobacteria physiological properties, soy milk, goat milk, attachment epithelial cells, columnar tissues, probiotic food

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Authors: Moslem Taheri Soodejani, Mohammad Hassan Lotfi

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Introduction: The outbreak of Covid-19 disease is an international public health concern. Therefore, the analysis of information related to mortality and disability due to COVID-19 is considered important, so the present study was designed and conducted with the aim of assessing COVID-19 Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in Yazd. Methods: In Yazd province, all suspected cases of Covid-19 that would be referred to central hospitals in order to get confirmed through PCR or CT scan tests were recruited to our study. The fatality data of Covid- 19 was gathered from the forensic medicine organization. The Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) combines in one measure years of life lost (YLL), the loss of healthy life due to premature mortality and years of life lived with disability (YLD), the loss of healthy life because of disease and disability. Results: The total burden of COVID-19 was 23,472 years. The number of years lost due to premature death was 23385 and the number of years of life with disability due to COVID-19 was estimated to be 87 years. The disease burden was 12992 years for men and 10480 years for women. The overall incidence of COVID-19 was 1411 per 100,000, of which 1419 in men and 1402 in women per 100,000. Conclusion: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic affected a large population and the residents of Yazd Province lost many years of their lives due to this disease.

Keywords: DALY, covid- 19, Yazd, Iran

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Authors: C. V. Nnamani, O. L. Adedeji

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The contemporary global economic meltdown has devastating effect on the Nigerian’s economy and its frantic search for alternative source of national revenue aside from oil and gas has become imperative for economic emancipation for Nigerians. Apicultural entrepreneurship could provide a source of livelihood if the basic knowledge of those plant genetic resources needed by bees is made available. A palynological evaluation of those palynotaxa which honey bees forage for pollen and nectar was carried out after standard acetolysis method. Results showed that the honey samples were highly diversified and rich in honey plants. A total of 9544.3 honey pollen, consisting of 39 honey plants belonging to 21 plant families and distributed within 38 genera were identified excluding 238 unidentified pollen grains. Data from the analysis equally revealed that Elaeis guineensis Jacq, Anacardium occidentale L, Diospyros mespiliformis Hochist xe ADC, Alchornea cordifolia Muell, Arg, Daniella oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch & Dalz, Irvingia wombolu Okafor ex Baill, Treculia africana Decne, Nauclea latifolia Smith and Crossopteryx febrifuga Afzil ex Benth were the predominant honey plants. It provided a guide to the optimal utilization of floral resources by honeybees in these regions, showing the opportunity and amazing potentials for apiculture entrepreneurship of these palytaxa. Most of these plants are rare, threatened and endangered. It calls for urgent conservation techniques and step by all players. Critical awareness creation to ensure farmers knowledge of these palynotaxa to ensure proper understanding and attendance boost from them as economic empowerment is needed.

Keywords: palynotaxa, acetolysis, enterprise, livelihood, Nigeria

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Authors: A. Cagnacci, D. F. Barattini, E. Casolati, M. Mangrella, E. Piccolo, S. Rosu, L. C. Pătrașcu

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This Triple study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of polycarbophil vaginal gel (PCV) in treating symptoms of vaginal atrophy (VA) in peri- and post-menopausal women. Women in peri- (n=29) and postmenopause (n=54) diagnosed with VA were progressively enrolled and treated once a day for 30 days. Thereafter, those wishing to continue (n=73) received the PCV treatment for an additional 180 days. The vaginal health index (VHI) and vaginal dryness, irritation, and pain at intercourse, along with treatment safety, were evaluated at baseline, 30 days of treatment, and after additional 180 days. At baseline, the VHI (p<0.056) and VAS of vaginal dryness (p=0.0001,) irritation (p=0.002), and pain at intercourse (p=0.0001) were worse in postmenopausal women than in perimenopausal women. VHI and VA symptoms improved in all women, and after 30 days of PCV administration, they were similar between peri-and postmenopausal women. After an additional 180 days of treatment, VHI further increased (p=0.0001), VAS of all symptoms (P=0.0001) and the Global Symptom Score (P=0.0001) further decreased. The treatment was safe. Treatment with PCV improves VA symptoms in both peri- and post-menopausal women. Prolongation of treatment up to 6 months increases the efficacy of treatment with no side effects.

Keywords: late menopausal transition, postmenopause, polycarbophil, sexuality, vaginal dryness

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Authors: Reihaneh Mahdavishahri, Dumayi Gutierrez

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Emotionally focused couple therapy (EFCT) is one of the most effective and evidence-based approaches to couple therapy. Yet, literature is scarce of its effective application with trans and non-binary couples. It is estimated that 1.4 million trans adults live in the United Stated, with about 40% of these individuals experiencing serious psychological distress within the past month. Trans and nonbinary adults are significantly likely to experience discrimination, harassment, family rejection, and relationship challenges throughout the course of their lives. As systemic therapists, applying an informed lens when working with trans and nonbinary couples can contribute to providing effective mental health care to these individuals. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, intersectional, and culturally informed application of EFCT with trans and nonbinary couples. We will address the current literature on applications of EFCT with diverse couples, EFCT’s strengths and limitations on cultural humility, and the gaps within current systems of care for trans and nonbinary couples. We will then provide an adaptive application of EFCT to help trans, and nonbinary couples recover from potential attachment injuries in their relationships, intersecting gender minority stressors, and achieve healing and restoration in their interpersonal dynamics.

Keywords: attachment, culturally informed care, emotionally focused couple therapy, trans and nonbinary couples

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Authors: Hengki Eko Putra, Dennish Ari Putro, Tri Wahyu Hadi, Edi Riawan, Junnaedhi Dewa Gede, Aditia Rojali, Fariza Dian Prasetyo, Yudhistira Satya Pribadi, Dita Fatria Andarini, Mila Khaerunisa, Raditya Hanung Prakoswa

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Catastrophe risk management can only be done if we are able to calculate the exposed risks. Jakarta is an important city economically, socially, and politically and in the same time exposed to severe floods. On the other hand, flood risk calculation is still very limited in the area. This study has calculated the risk of flooding for Jakarta using 2-Dimensional Model ANUGA. 2-Dimensional model ANUGA and 1-Dimensional Model HEC-RAS are used to calculate the risk of flooding from 13 major rivers in Jakarta. ANUGA can simulate physical and dynamical processes between the streamflow against river geometry and land cover to produce a 1-meter resolution inundation map. The value of streamflow as an input for the model obtained from hydrological analysis on rainfall data using hydrologic model HEC-HMS. The probabilistic streamflow derived from probabilistic rainfall using statistical distribution Log-Pearson III, Normal and Gumbel, through compatibility test using Chi Square and Smirnov-Kolmogorov. Flood event on 2007 is used as a comparison to evaluate the accuracy of model output. Property damage estimations were calculated based on flood depth for 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years return period against housing value data from the BPS-Statistics Indonesia, Centre for Research and Development of Housing and Settlements, Ministry of Public Work Indonesia. The vulnerability factor was derived from flood insurance claim. Jakarta's flood loss estimation for the return period of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years, respectively are Rp 1.30 t; Rp 16.18 t; Rp 16.85 t; Rp 21.21 t; Rp 24.32 t; and Rp 24.67 t of the total value of building Rp 434.43 t.

Keywords: 2D hydrodynamic model, ANUGA, flood, flood modeling

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Authors: Aniekan Peter, ECS Naidu, Edidiong Akang, U. Offor, R. Kalhapure, A. A. Chuturgoon, T. Govender, O. O. Azu

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Introduction: Nano-drugs are novel innovations in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, especially resistant strains of the virus in their sanctuary sites: testis and the brain. There are safety concerns to be addressed to achieve the full potential of this new drug delivery system. Aim of study: Our study was designed to investigate toxicity profile of Tenofovir Nanoparticle (TDF-N) synthesized by University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) Nano-team for prevention and treatment of HIV infection. Methodology: Ten adult male Sprague-Dawley rats maintained at the Animal House of the Biomedical Resources Unit UKZN were used for the study. The animals were weighed and divided into two groups of 5 animal each. Control animals (A) were administered with normal saline. Therapeutic dose (4.3 mg/kg) of TDF-N was administered to group B. At the end of four weeks, animals were weighed and sacrificed. Liver and kidney were removed fixed in formal saline, processed and stained using H/E, PAS and MT stains for light microscopy. Serum was obtained for renal function test (RFT), liver function test (LFT) and full blood count (FBC) using appropriate analysers. Cellular measurements were done using ImageJ and Leica software 2.0. Data were analysed using graph pad 6, values < 0.05 were significant. Results: We reported no histological alterations in the liver, kidney, FBC, LFT and RFT between the TDF-N animals and saline control. There were no significant differences in weight, organo-somatic index and histological measurements in the treatment group when compared with saline control. Conclusion/recommendations: TDF-N is not toxic to the liver, kidney and blood cells in our study. More studies using human subjects is recommended.

Keywords: tenofovir nanoparticles, liver, kidney, blood cells

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Authors: Suneet Jagdev

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17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the world leaders in September 2015 at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. These goals were adopted by UN member states to promote prosperity, health and human rights while protecting the planet. Around the same time, the Government of India launched the Smart City Initiative to speed up development of state of the art infrastructure and services in 100 cities with a focus on sustainable and inclusive development. These cities are meant to become role models for other cities in India and promote sustainable regional development. This paper examines goals set under the Smart City Initiative and evaluates them in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals, using case studies of selected Smart Cities in India. The study concludes that most Smart City projects at present actually consist of individual solutions to individual problems identified in a community rather than comprehensive models for complex issues in cities across India. Systematic, logical and comparative analysis of important literature and data has been done, collected from government sources, government papers, research papers by various experts on the topic, and results from some online surveys. Case studies have been used for a graphical analysis highlighting the issues of migration, ecology, economy and social equity in these Smart Cities.

Keywords: housing, migration, smart cities, sustainable development goals, urban infrastructure

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Authors: Jyoti Agrawal

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Introduction: Renal diseases in children and young adult can be difficult to diagnose early as it may present only with few symptoms, tends to have different course than adult and respond variously to different treatment. The pattern of renal disease in children is different from developing countries as compared to developed countries. Methods: This study was a hospital based prospective observational study carried from March, 2014 to February 2015 at BP Koirala institute of health sciences. Patients with renal disease, both inpatient and outpatient from birth to 14 years of age were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of renal disease was be made on clinical and laboratory criteria. Results: Total of 120 patients were enrolled in our study which contributed to 3.74% % of total admission. The commonest feature of presentation was edema (75%), followed by fever (65%), hypertension (60%), decreased urine output (45%) and hematuria (25%). Most common diagnosis was acute glomerulonephritis (40%) followed by Nephrotic syndrome (25%) and urinary tract infection (25%). Renal biopsy was done for 10% of cases and most of them were steroid dependent nephrotic syndrome. 5% of our cases expired because of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, sepsis and acute kidney injury. Conclusion: Renal disease contributes to a large part of hospital pediatric admission as well as mortality and morbidity to the children.

Keywords: glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, renal disease, urinary tract infection

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Authors: Dimpy Shah

Abstract:

The global economy has substantially changed in last three decades. Now almost all markets are transparent and visible for global customers. The corporates are now no more reliant on local markets for trade. The information technology revolution has changed business dynamics and marketing practices of corporate. The markets are divided into two different formats: traditional and virtual. In very short span of time, many e-commerce portals have captured global market. This strategy is well supported by global delivery system of multinational logistic companies. Now the markets are dealing with global supply chain networks, which are more demand driven and customer oriented. The corporate have realized importance of supply chain integration and marketing in this competitive environment. The Indian markets are also significantly affected with all these changes. In terms of population, India is in second place after China. In terms of demography, almost half of the population is of youth. It has been observed that the Indian youth are more inclined towards e-commerce and prefer to buy goods from web portal. Initially, this trend was observed in Indian service sector, textile and electronic goods and now further extended in other product categories. The FMCG companies have also recognized this change and started integration of their supply chain with e-commerce platform. This paper attempts to understand contemporary marketing practices of corporate in e-commerce business in Indian food and beverages segment and also tries to identify innovative marketing practices for proper execution of their strategies. The findings are mainly focused on supply chain re-integration and brand building strategies with proper utilization of social media.

Keywords: FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), ISCM (Integrated supply chain management), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), traditional and virtual formats

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Authors: Fateme Afkhami, Mohsen Ehsanpour, Majid Afkhami, Maryam Ehsanpour

Abstract:

Normal reference ranges of biochemical parameters are considered important for assessing and monitoring the health status of sea turtles. For this means, serum biochemistry determinations were analyzed in normal adult nesting and foraging hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). Blood samples were collected in March–April during nesting season and December-November in the foraging season. Plasma biochemistry values, except for creatinine and lipase were significant between the two periods. FBS, cholesterol, triglycerides, ALP (alkaline phosphatase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase), bilirubin, total protein, LDH (lactate dehydrogenase), CK (creatine kinase) and amylase were significantly higher in nesting season than foraging season (P<0.05). On the other hand urea, ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and albumin in the nesting season were significantly lower than foraging season (P<0.05). It was concluded that the nesting E. imbricata showed significant variation in their biochemical profile due to reproductive output. This study has produced working reference intervals useful for hawksbill turtles for future conservation and rehabilitation projects in the Persian Gulf and may be of assistance in similar programs worldwide.

Keywords: plasma biochemistry, nesting, foraging, hawksbill turtles, Persian Gulf

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Authors: Krzysztof Malczewski

Abstract:

PET is widely applied scanning procedure in medical imaging based research. It delivers measurements of functioning in distinct areas of the human brain while the patient is comfortable, conscious and alert. This article presents the new compression sensing based super-resolution algorithm for improving the image resolution in clinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners. The issue of motion artifacts is well known in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies as its side effect. The PET images are being acquired over a limited period of time. As the patients cannot hold breath during the PET data gathering, spatial blurring and motion artefacts are the usual result. These may lead to wrong diagnosis. It is shown that the presented approach improves PET spatial resolution in cases when Compressed Sensing (CS) sequences are used. Compressed Sensing (CS) aims at signal and images reconstructing from significantly fewer measurements than were traditionally thought necessary. The application of CS to PET has the potential for significant scan time reductions, with visible benefits for patients and health care economics. In this study the goal is to combine super-resolution image enhancement algorithm with CS framework to achieve high resolution PET output. Both methods emphasize on maximizing image sparsity on known sparse transform domain and minimizing fidelity.

Keywords: PET, super-resolution, image reconstruction, pattern recognition

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Authors: Mishell Vaca, Gema Gonzales, Francisco Quiroz

Abstract:

Heavy metals present in wastewater constitute a danger for living beings in general. In Ecuador, one of the sources of contamination is artisanal mining whose liquid effluents, in many of the cases without prior treatment, are discharged to the surrounding rivers. Lead is a pollutant that accumulated in the body causes severe health effects. Nowadays, there are several treatment methods to reduce this pollutant. The aim of this study is to reduce the concentration of lead II through the use of a porous material formed by a matrix of chitosan, in which hydroxyapatite and moringa particles smaller than 53 um are suspended. These materials are not toxic to the environment, and each one adsorbs metals independently, so the synergic effect between them will be evaluated. The synthesized material has a cylindrical design that allows increasing the surface area, which is expected to have greater capacity of adsorption. It has been determined that the best conditions for its preparation are to dissolve the chitosan in 1% v/v acetic acid with a pH = 5, then the hydroxyapatite and moringa are added to the mixture with magnetic stirring. This suspension is frozen, lyophilized and finally dried. In order to evaluate the performance of the synthesized material, synthetic solutions of lead are prepared at different concentrations, and the percentage of removal is evaluated. It is expected to have an effluent whose lead content is less than 0.2 mg/L which is the limit maximum allowable according to established environmental standards.

Keywords: adsorption, chitosan, hydroxyapatite, lead, moringa, water treatment

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Authors: Bernardo C. P. Albuquerque, Darym J. F. Campos

Abstract:

Increasing our ability to solve complex engineering problems is directly related to the processing capacity of computers. By means of such equipments, one is able to fast and accurately run numerical algorithms. Besides the increasing interest in numerical simulations, probabilistic approaches are also of great importance. This way, statistical tools have shown their relevance to the modelling of practical engineering problems. In general, statistical approaches to such problems consider that the random variables involved follow a normal distribution. This assumption tends to provide incorrect results when skew data is present since normal distributions are symmetric about their means. Thus, in order to visualize and quantify this aspect, 9 statistical distributions (symmetric and skew) have been considered to model a hypothetical slope stability problem. The data modeled is the friction angle of a superficial soil in Brasilia, Brazil. Despite the apparent universality, the normal distribution did not qualify as the best fit. In the present effort, data obtained in consolidated-drained triaxial tests and saturated direct shear tests have been modeled and used to analytically derive the probability density function (PDF) of the safety factor of a hypothetical slope based on Mohr-Coulomb rupture criterion. Therefore, based on this analysis, it is possible to explicitly derive the failure probability considering the friction angle as a random variable. Furthermore, it is possible to compare the stability analysis when the friction angle is modelled as a Dagum distribution (distribution that presented the best fit to the histogram) and as a Normal distribution. This comparison leads to relevant differences when analyzed in light of the risk management.

Keywords: statistical slope stability analysis, skew distributions, probability of failure, functions of random variables

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Authors: Sakinah Abdullah, Rosna Mat Taha

Abstract:

Antioxidants are compounds that protect cells against the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen, superoxide, peroxyl radicals, and peroxynitrite which result in oxidative stress leading to cellular damage. Natural antioxidant are in high demand because of their potential in health promotion and disease prevention and their improved safety and consumer acceptability. Plants are rich sources of natural antioxidant. Dioscorea alata L. known as 'ubi badak' in Malaysia were well known for their antioxidant content, but this plant was seasonal. Thus, tissue culture technique was used to mass propagate this plant. In the present work, a comparative study between in vitro (from tissue culture) and in vivo (from intact plant) samples of Dioscorea alata L. for their antioxidant potential by 2,2-diphenil -1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity method and their total phenolic and flavonoid contents were carried out. All samples had better radical scavenging activity but in vivo samples had the strongest radical scavenging activity compared to in vitro samples. Furthermore, tubers from in vivo samples showed the greatest free radical scavenging effect and comparatively greater phenolic content than in vitro samples.

Keywords: Dioscorea alata, tissue culture, antioxidant, in vivo, in vitro, DPPH

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Authors: I. Iroka, L. Mgidlana, J. Willoughby, S. Dhlamini, P. Nxumalo, S. Sefadi, A. Mthembu, E. Gerber, E. Brits

Abstract:

Introduction: Nephroblastoma is a common paediatric tumor with good survival rates when diagnosed and treated early. Method: This retrospective study aimed to describe the patients with nephroblastoma seen at Universitas Academic Hospital Complex between the years 2000 and 2020. Results: In the study period, there were 207 patients identified. The patient profile had slightly more male than female patients; the median age was under four years of age. The study found a median delay of one month between symptom onset and diagnosis; a common cause was a delay in seeking care. Patients diagnosed and treated more than a month after symptoms started had poorer survival rates. There was a higher rate of Stage IV disease compared to similar studies in South Africa. Good preoperative histology and no relapse had good survival rates.. Patients from Lesotho had longer delays and presented with more severe diseases than the South African cohort. Conclusion: Early identification and treatment lead to better outcomes. Health-seeking behaviour, misdiagnosis, and referral delays might contribute to the long delays. A targeted study for patients from Lesotho is recommended.

Keywords: nephroblastoma, South Africa, Lesotho, developing country

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Authors: Mohd Tariq, Shyamal K. Nandi, Indra D. Bhatt

Abstract:

Paris polyphylla Smith (Family- Liliaceae; English name-Love apple: Local name- Satuwa) is an important folk medicinal herb of the Indian subcontinent, being a source of number of bioactive compounds for drug formulation. The rhizomes are widely used as antihelmintic, antispasmodic, digestive stomachic, expectorant and vermifuge, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, heart and vascular malady, anti-fertility and sedative. Keeping in view of this, the species is being constantly removed from nature for trade and various pharmaceuticals purpose, as a result, the availability of the species in its natural habitat is decreasing. In this context, it would be pertinent to conserve this species and reintroduce them in its natural habitat. Predictive distribution modelling of this species was performed in Western Himalayan Region. One such recent method is Ecological Niche Modelling, also popularly known as Species distribution modelling, which uses computer algorithms to generate predictive maps of species distributions in a geographic space by correlating the point distributional data with a set of environmental raster data. In case of P. polyphylla, and to understand its potential distribution zones and setting up of artificial introductions, or selecting conservation sites, and conservation and management of their native habitat. Among the different districts of Uttarakhand (28°05ˈ-31°25ˈ N and 77°45ˈ-81°45ˈ E) Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal and some parts of Bageshwar, 'Maximum Entropy' (Maxent) has predicted wider potential distribution of P. polyphylla Smith. Distribution of P. polyphylla is mainly governed by Precipitation of Driest Quarter and Mean Diurnal Range i.e., 27.08% and 18.99% respectively which indicates that humidity (27%) and average temperature (19°C) might be suitable for better growth of Paris polyphylla.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, Indian Himalayan region, Paris polyphylla, predictive distribution modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 316