Search results for: specific learning disability

Authors: Thomas Suarez, Anne-Sophie Grenouilleau, Erwan Autin, Alexandre Biosse-Duplan, Emmanuelle Blondet, Laurence Chazalette, Marie Coniel, Agnes Dessaigne, Sylvie Lascols, Andrea Lasserre, Candice Legris, Pierre Liot, Aline Metais, Karine Petitprez, Christophe Varlet, Christian Saout

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Background: The role of biological sex and gender identity -whether assigned or chosen- as health determinants are far from a recent discovery: several reports have stressed out how being a woman or a man could affect health on various scales. However, taking it into consideration beyond stereotypes and rigid binary assumptions still seems to be a work in progress. Method: The report is a synthesis on a variety of specific topics, each of which was studied by a specialist from the French National Authority for Health (HAS), through an analysis of existing literature on both healthcare policy construction process and instruments (norms, data analysis, clinical trials, guidelines, and professional practices). This work also implied a policy analysis of French recent public health laws and a retrospective study of guidelines with a gender mainstreaming approach. Results: The analysis showed that though sex and gender were well-known determinants of health, their consideration by both public policy and health operators was often incomplete, as it does not incorporate how sex and gender interact, as well as how they interact with other factors. As a result, the health and social care systems and their professionals tend to reproduce some stereotypical and inadequate habits. Though the data available often allows to take sex and gender into consideration, such data is often underused in practice guidelines and policy formulation. Another consequence is a lack of inclusiveness towards transgender or intersex persons. Conclusions: This report first urges for raising awareness of all the actors of health, in its broadest definition, that sex and gender matter beyond first-look conclusions. It makes a series of recommendations in order to reshape policy construction in the health sector on the one hand and to design public health instruments to make them more inclusive regarding sex and gender on the other hand. The HAS finally committed to integrate sex and gender preoccupations in its workings methods, to be a driving force in the spread of these concerns.

Keywords: biological sex, determinants of health, gender, healthcare policy instruments, social accompaniment

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Authors: Mohd Taufiq bin Azmy, Yahaya Hassan, Shubashini Gnanasan, Loganathan Fahrni

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Inappropriate prescribing in older patients has been associated with resource utilization and adverse drug events (ADE) such as hospitalization, morbidity and mortality. Globally, there is a lack of published data on ADE induced by inappropriate prescribing. Our study is specific to an older population and is aimed at identifying risk factors for ADE and to develop a model that will link ADE to inappropriate prescribing. The design of the study was prospective whereby computerized medical records of 302 hospitalized elderly aged 65 years and above in 3 public hospitals in Malaysia (Hospital Serdang, Hospital Selayang and Hospital Sungai Buloh) were studied over a 7 month period from September 2013 until March 2014. Potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions were determined using the published and validated START-STOPP criteria. Patients who had at least one inappropriate medication were included in Phase II of the study where ADE were identified by local expert consensus panel based on the published and validated Naranjo ADR probability scale. The panel also assessed whether ADE were causal or contributory to current hospitalization. The association between inappropriate prescribing and ADE (hospitalization, mortality and adverse drug reactions) was determined by identifying whether or not the former was causal or contributory to the latter. Rate of ADE avoidability was also determined. Our findings revealed that the prevalence of potential inappropriate prescribing was 58.6%. A total of ADEs were detected in 31 of 105 patients (29.5%) when STOPP criteria were used to identify potentially inappropriate medication; All of the 31 ADE (100%) were considered causal or contributory to admission. Of the 31 ADEs, 28 (90.3%) were considered avoidable or potentially avoidable. After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidity, dementia, baseline activities of daily living function, and number of medications, the likelihood of a serious avoidable ADE increased significantly when a potentially inappropriate medication was prescribed (odds ratio, 11.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.014 - 24.93; p < .001). The medications identified by STOPP criteria, are significantly associated with avoidable ADE in older people that cause or contribute to urgent hospitalization but contributed less towards morbidity and mortality. Findings of the study underscore the importance of preventing inappropriate prescribing.

Keywords: adverse drug events, appropriate prescribing, health services research

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Authors: Sruthi Raveendran

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Developmental dyslexia, characterized by reading difficulties despite normal intelligence, presents a significant challenge for bilingual children navigating languages with varying degrees of orthographic transparency. This study bridges a critical gap in dyslexia interventions for bilingual populations in India by examining how consistency and predictability of letter-sound relationships in a writing system (orthographic transparency) influence the ability to understand and manipulate the building blocks of sound in language (phonological processing). The study employed a computerized visual rhyme-judgment task with concurrent EEG (electroencephalogram) recording. The task compared reaction times, accuracy of performance, and event-related potential (ERP) components (N170, N400, and LPC) for rhyming and non-rhyming stimuli in two orthographies: English (opaque orthography) and Kannada (transparent orthography). As hypothesized, the results revealed advantages in phonological processing tasks for transparent orthography (Kannada). Children with dyslexia were faster and more accurate when judging rhymes in Kannada compared to English. This suggests that a language with consistent letter-sound relationships (transparent orthography) facilitates processing, especially for tasks that involve manipulating sounds within words (rhyming). Furthermore, brain activity measured by event-related potentials (ERP) showed less effort required for processing words in Kannada, as reflected by smaller N170, N400, and LPC amplitudes. These findings highlight the crucial role of orthographic transparency in optimizing reading performance for bilingual children with dyslexia. These findings emphasize the need for language-specific intervention strategies that consider the unique linguistic characteristics of each language. While acknowledging the complexity of factors influencing dyslexia, this research contributes valuable insights into the impact of orthographic transparency on phonological awareness in bilingual children. This knowledge paves the way for developing tailored interventions that promote linguistic inclusivity and optimize literacy outcomes for children with dyslexia.

Keywords: developmental dyslexia, phonological awareness, rhyme judgment, orthographic transparency, Kannada, English, N170, N400, LPC

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Authors: Anita Bela, Marta Juhasz

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Adapting to the always-changing environment comes with complex determinants. The authors are zooming into one aspect only when the current workforce comes with obstacles by being less keen to stay engaged, even short or mid-term, resulting in additional challenges impacting the business performance. Seeing these occurring in practice made the researchers eager to gain a better understanding of the reasons behind. The paper aims to provide an overview of the theoretical background and research methods planned for the different stages of the research. The theoretical part takes the leadership behaviors under lens while the focus is on finding ways to attract and retain those who prefer working under more flexible employment conditions (e.g. contractor, contingent worker, etc.). These are considered as the organizational values and along with the power of people management are having their engaging relevance. The organizational culture (visible or invisible level) is clearly the mirror of the set of shared values guiding all members of the companies towards acceptable behavior. The applied research method, inductive reasoning was selected since the focus and questions raised in this research are results of specific observations made on the employees (various employment types) and leaders of start-ups and corporates. By comparing the similarities and differences, the researchers are hoping to prove the readiness and agility of the start-up culture for the desired leadership behaviours of the current and future workforce against the corporate culture. While exploring the preferences and engaging factors of the 21st-century workforce the data gathering would happen through website analysis – using ATLAS.ti qualitative software – followed by interview sessions where demographics will be collected and preferred leadership behaviors - using the Critical Incident Technique. Moreover, a short engagement survey will be administered to understand the linkage between the organizational culture type and engagement level. To conclude, after gaining theoretical understanding, we will zoom back to the employees to reveal the behaviors to be followed to achieve engagement in an environment where nothing is stable and where the companies always must keep their agile eyes and reactions vivid.

Keywords: leadership behaviours, organizational culture, qualitative analysis, workforce engagement

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Authors: Arega Shumetie Ademe, Belay Kassa, Degye Goshu, Majaliwa Mwanjalolo

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Currently the world economy is suffering from one critical problem, climate change. Some studies done before identified that impact of the problem is region specific means in some part of the world (temperate zone) there is improvement in agricultural performance but in some others like in the tropics there is drastic reduction in crop production and crop income. Climate variability is becoming dominant cause of short-term fluctuation in rain-fed agricultural production and income of developing countries. The purely rain-fed Ethiopian agriculture is the most vulnerable sector to the risks and impacts of climate variability. Thus, this study tried to identify impact of climate variability on crop income of smallholders in Ethiopia. The research used eight rounded unbalanced panel data from 1994- 2014 collected from six villages in the study area. After having all diagnostic tests the research used fixed effect method of regression. Based on the regression result rainfall and temperature deviation from their respective long term averages have negative and significant effect on crop income. Other extreme devastating shocks like flood, storm and frost, which are sourced from climate variability, have significant and negative effect on crop income of households’. Parameters that notify rainfall inconsistency like late start, variation in availability at growing season, and early cessation are critical problems for crop income of smallholder households as to the model result. Given this, impact of climate variability is not consistent in different agro-ecologies of the country. Rainfall variability has similar impact on crop income in different agro-ecology, but variation in temperature affects cold agro-ecology villages negatively and significantly, while it has positive effect in warm villages. Parameters that represent rainfall inconsistency have similar impact in both agro-ecologies and the aggregate model regression. This implies climate variability sourced from rainfall inconsistency is the main problem of Ethiopian agriculture especially the crop production sub-sector of smallholder households.

Keywords: climate variability, crop income, household, rainfall, temperature

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Authors: Sinethemba Yakobi, Lindiwe Zuma, Ofentse Pooe

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Gonococcal infections present a notable public health issue, and the major approach for treatment involves using β-lactam antibiotics that specifically target penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This study examines the influence of flavonoids, namely rutin, on the structural changes of PBP2 in both penicillin-resistant (FA6140) and penicillin-susceptible (FA19) strains. The research clarifies the structural effects of particular mutations, such as inserting an aspartate residue at position 345 (Asp-345a) in the PBP2 protein. The strain FA6140, which is resistant to penicillin, shows specific changes that lead to a decrease in penicillin binding. These mutations, namely P551S and F504L, significantly impact the pace at which acylation occurs and the stability of the strain under high temperatures. Molecular docking analyses investigate the antibacterial activities of rutin and other phytocompounds, emphasizing its exceptional binding affinity and potential as an inhibitor of PBP2. Quercetin and protocatechuic acid have encouraging antibacterial effectiveness, with quercetin displaying characteristics similar to those of drugs. Molecular dynamics simulations offer a detailed comprehension of the interactions between flavonoids and PBP2, highlighting rutin's exceptional antioxidant effects and strong affinity for the substrate binding site. The study's wider ramifications pertain to the pressing requirement for antiviral treatments in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. Flavonoids have a strong affinity for binding to PBP2, indicating their potential as inhibitors to impair cell wall formation in N. gonorrhoeae. Ultimately, this study provides extensive knowledge on the interactions between proteins and ligands, the dynamics of the structure, and the ability of flavonoids to combat penicillin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae bacteria. The verified simulation outcomes establish a basis for creating potent inhibitors and medicinal therapies to combat infectious illnesses.

Keywords: phytochemicals, penicillin-binding protein 2, gonococcal infection, ligand-protein interaction, binding energy, neisseria gonorrhoeae FA19, neisseria gonorrhoeae FA6140, flavonoids

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Authors: Shashi Sharma, V. K. Katiyar, Uaday Singh

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The ability to manipulate magnetic particles in fluid flows by means of inhomogeneous magnetic fields is used in a wide range of biomedical applications including magnetic drug targeting (MDT). In MDT, magnetic carrier particles bounded with drug molecules are injected into the vascular system up-stream from the malignant tissue and attracted or retained at the specific region in the body with the help of an external magnetic field. Although the concept of MDT has been around for many years, however, wide spread acceptance of the technique is still looming despite the fact that it has shown some promise in both in vivo and clinical studies. This is because traditional MDT has some inherent limitations. Typically, the magnetic force is not very strong and it is also very short ranged. Since the magnetic force must overcome rather large hydrodynamic forces in the body, MDT applications have been limited to sites located close to the surface of the skin. Even in this most favorable situation, studies have shown that it is difficult to collect appreciable amounts of the MDCPs at the target site. To overcome these limitations of the traditional MDT approach, Ritter and co-workers reported the implant assisted magnetic drug targeting (IA-MDT). In IA-MDT, the magnetic implants are placed strategically at the target site to greatly and locally increase the magnetic force on MDCPs and help to attract and retain the MDCPs at the targeted region. In the present work, we develop a mathematical model to study the capturing of magnetic nanoparticles flowing in a fluid in an implant assisted cylindrical channel under the magnetic field. A coil of ferromagnetic SS 430 has been implanted inside the cylindrical channel to enhance the capturing of magnetic nanoparticles under the magnetic field. The dominant magnetic and drag forces, which significantly affect the capturing of nanoparticles, are incorporated in the model. It is observed through model results that capture efficiency increases from 23 to 51 % as we increase the magnetic field from 0.1 to 0.5 T, respectively. The increase in capture efficiency by increase in magnetic field is because as the magnetic field increases, the magnetization force, which is attractive in nature and responsible to attract or capture the magnetic particles, increases and results the capturing of large number of magnetic particles due to high strength of attractive magnetic force.

Keywords: capture efficiency, implant assisted-magnetic drug targeting (IA-MDT), magnetic nanoparticles, modelling

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Authors: Joshua Buli, David Pietrowski, Samuel Britton

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Processing SAR data usually requires constraints in extent in the Fourier domain as well as approximations and interpolations onto a planar surface to form an exploitable image. This results in a potential loss of data requires several interpolative techniques, and restricts visualization to two-dimensional plane imagery. The data can be interpolated into a ground plane projection, with or without terrain as a component, all to better view SAR data in an image domain comparable to what a human would view, to ease interpretation. An alternate but computationally heavy method to make use of more of the data is the basis of this research. Pre-processing of the SAR data is completed first (matched-filtering, motion compensation, etc.), the data is then range compressed, and lastly, the contribution from each pulse is determined for each specific point in space by searching the time history data for the reflectivity values for each pulse summed over the entire collection. This results in a per-3D-point reflectivity using the entire collection domain. New advances in GPU processing have finally allowed this rapid projection of acquired SAR data onto any desired reference surface (called backprojection). Mathematically, the computations are fast and easy to implement, despite limitations in SAR phase history data size and 3D-point cloud size. Backprojection processing algorithms are embarrassingly parallel since each 3D point in the scene has the same reflectivity calculation applied for all pulses, independent of all other 3D points and pulse data under consideration. Therefore, given the simplicity of the single backprojection calculation, the work can be spread across thousands of GPU threads allowing for accurate reflectivity representation of a scene. Furthermore, because reflectivity values are associated with individual three-dimensional points, a plane is no longer the sole permissible mapping base; a digital elevation model or even a cloud of points (collected from any sensor capable of measuring ground topography) can be used as a basis for the backprojection technique. This technique minimizes any interpolations and modifications of the raw data, maintaining maximum data integrity. This innovative processing will allow for SAR data to be rapidly brought into a common reference frame for immediate exploitation and data fusion with other three-dimensional data and representations.

Keywords: backprojection, data fusion, exploitation, three-dimensional, visualization

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Authors: Chiara Magliacane

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This project aims to analyse the relationship between the post-conflict Northern Irish environment and youth trauma in deprived areas. Using an anthropological perspective and methodology, the study investigates the possible contribution that a socio-cultural perspective can give to the current research on the field, with a special focus on the role of transgenerational trauma. The recognition of the role that socio-economic determinants have on health is usually a challenge for social researchers. In post-conflict Northern Ireland, the overall lack of research about connections between the social context and youth trauma opens the way to the present project. Anthropological studies on social implications of mental disorders have achieved impressive results in many societies; they show how conditions of sufferance and poverty are not intrinsically given, but are the products of historical processes and events. The continuum of violence and the politics of victimhood sustains a culture of silence and fear in deprived areas; this implies the need of investigating the structural and symbolic violence that lies behind the diffusion of mental suffering. The project refers to these concepts from Medical Anthropology and looks at connections between trauma and social, political and economic structures. Accordingly, the study considers factors such as poverty, unemployment, social inequality and gender and class perspectives. At the same time, the project problematises categories such as youth and trauma. 'Trauma' is currently debated within the social sciences since the 'invention' of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in 1980. Current critics made to its clinical conception show how trauma has been mainly analysed as a memory of the past. On the contrary, medical anthropological research focuses on wider perspectives on society and its structures; this is a new and original approach to the study of youth trauma considering that, to author’s best knowledge, there is no research of this kind regarding Northern Ireland. Methods: Qualitative interviews, participant observation. Expected Impact: Local Northern Ireland organizations, i.e. specific charities that provide mental health support. Ongoing and present connections will ensure they will hear about this research.

Keywords: health and social inequalities, Northern Ireland, structural violence, youth

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Authors: Ayele Tamene

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Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. Tangible heritage e includes buildings and historic places, monuments, artifacts, etc., which are considered worthy of preservation for the future. These include objects significant to the archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specific culture. The research addressed the challenges and prospects of preservation of tangible cultural heritage management in Lake Tana islands; Amahara Regional State. Specifically, the research inquired the major factors which affected tangible cultural heritage management, investigated how communities successfully involved in tangible cultural heritage management, and described the contribution of cultural management to tourism development. It employed qualitative research approaches to grasp the existing condition in the study area. Major techniques of data gathering such as in-depth interview, observation/photographing and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) were used. Related documents collected through secondary sources were examined and analyzed. In Lake Tana Islands precious heritages such as ancient religious manuscripts (written since 9th century), sacral wall paintings, gold and silver Crosses, crowns and prestigious clothes of the various kings of the medieval and the 19th century are found. The study indicated that heritages in Tana islands were affected by both natural and manmade problems. In Lake Tana Islands, movable heritages were looted several times by foreign aggressors, tourists, and local people who serve there. Some heritages were affected by visitors by their camera flash light and hand touch. Most heritages in the Tana islands lacked community ownership and preserved non- professionally which highly affected their originality and authenticity. Therefore, the local community and the regional government should work together in the preservation of these heritage sites and enhance their role for socio-economic development as a center of research and tourist destinations.

Keywords: cultural heritages, heritage preservation, lake Tana heritages, non professional preservation tangible heritages

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Authors: Silvia Benvenuti, Alessandra Cardinali

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In recent years, for instance, in relation to the Covid 19 pandemic and the evidence of climate change, it is becoming quite clear that the development of a young kid into an adult citizen requires a solid scientific background. Citizens are required to exert logical thinking and know the methods of science in order to adapt, understand, and develop as persons. Mathematics sits at the core of these required skills: learning the axiomatic method is fundamental to understand how hard sciences work and helps in consolidating logical thinking, which will be useful for the entire life of a student. At the same time, research shows that the axiomatic study of geometry is a problematic topic for students, even for those with interest in mathematics. With this in mind, the main goals of the research work we will describe are: (1) to show whether non-Euclidean geometries can be a tool to allow students to consolidate the knowledge of Euclidean geometries by developing it in a critical way; (2) to promote the understanding of the modern axiomatic method in geometry; (3) to give students a new perspective on mathematics so that they can see it as a creative activity and a widely discussed topic with a historical background. One of the main issues related to the state-of-the-art in this topic is the shortage of experimental studies with students. For this reason, our aim is to show further experimental evidence of the potential benefits of teaching non-Euclidean geometries at high school, based on data collected from a study started in 2005 in the frame of the Italian National Piano Lauree Scientifiche, continued by a teacher training organized in September 2018, perfected in a pilot study that involved 77 high school students during the school years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. and finally implemented through an experimental study conducted in 2020-21 with 87 high school students. Our study shows that there is potential for further research to challenge current conceptions of the school mathematics curriculum and of the capabilities of high school mathematics students.

Keywords: Non-Euclidean geometries, beliefs about mathematics, questionnaires, modern axiomatic method

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Authors: Mythri G., Manjunath ML, Girish Babu M., Shireen Swaliha Quadri

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Background: The increase in diabetes among the elderly is of concern because in addition to the wide range of traditional diabetes complications, evidence has been growing that diabetes is associated with increased risk of cognitive decline. Aims and Objectives: To find out if there is any association between blood sugar levels and short-term and working memory status in patients of type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in 200 individuals aged between 40-65 years consisting of 100 diagnosed cases of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and 100 non-diabetics from OPD of Mc Gann Hospital, Shivamogga. Rye’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Verbal Fluency Test and Visual Reproduction Test, Working Digit Span Test and Validation Span Test were used to assess short-term and working memory. Fasting and Post Prandial blood sugar levels were estimated. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21. Results: Memory test scores of type 2 diabetics were significantly reduced (p < 0.001) when compared to the memory scores of age and gender matched non-diabetics. Fasting blood sugar levels were found to have a negative correlation with memory scores for all 5 tests: AVLT (r=-0.837), VFT (r=-0.888), VRT(r=-0.787), WDST (r=-0.795) and VST (r=-0.943). Post- Prandial blood sugar levels were found to have a negative correlation with memory scores for all 5 tests: AVLT (r=-0.922), VFT (r=-0.848), VRT(r=-0.707),WDST (r=-0.729) and VST (r=-0.880) Memory scores in all 5 tests were found to be negatively correlated with the FBS and PPBS levels in diabetic patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The decreased memory status in diabetic patients may be due to many factors like hyperglycemia, vascular disease, insulin resistance, amyloid deposition and also some of the factor combine to produce additive effects like, type of diabetes, co-morbidities, age of onset, duration of the disease and type of therapy. These observed effects of blood sugar levels of diabetics on memory status are of potential clinical importance because even mild cognitive impairment could interfere with todays’ activities.

Keywords: diabetes, cognition, diabetes, HRV, respiratory medicine

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Authors: Daral Maesincee, Jompol Thongpaen

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Thus far, most of the decisions made within the walls of Thai higher education (HE) institutions have primarily been supply-oriented. With the current supply-driven, itemized HE financing systems, the nation is struggling to systemically produce high-quality manpower that serves the market’s needs, often resulting in education mismatches and unemployment – particularly in science, technology, and innovation (STI)-related fields. With the COVID-19 pandemic challenges widening the education inequality (accessibility and quality) gap, HE becomes even more unobtainable for underprivileged students, permanently leaving some out of the system. Therefore, Thai HE needs a new financing system that produces the “right people” for the “right occupations” through the “right ways,” regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, and encourages the creation of non-degree courses to tackle these ongoing challenges. The “Demand-Side Financing for Thai Higher Education” policy aims to do so by offering a new paradigm of HE resource allocation via two main mechanisms: i) standardized formula-based unit-cost subsidizations that is specific to each study field and ii) student loan programs that respond to the “demand signals” from the labor market and the students, that are in line with the country’s priorities. Through in-dept reviews, extensive studies, and consultations with various experts, education committees, and related agencies, i) the method of demand signal analysis is identified, ii) the unit-cost of each student in the sample study fields is approximated, iii) the method of budget analysis is formulated, iv) the interagency workflows are established, and v) a supporting information database is created to suggest the number of graduates each HE institution can potentially produce, the study fields and skillsets that are needed by the labor market, the employers’ satisfaction with the graduates, and each study field’s employment rates. By responding to the needs of all stakeholders, this policy is expected to steer Thai HE toward producing more STI-related manpower in order to uplift Thai people’s quality of life and enhance the nation’s global competitiveness. This policy is currently in the process of being considered by the National Education Transformation Committee and the Higher Education Commission.

Keywords: demand-side financing, higher education resource, human capital, higher education

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Authors: Mahdi Allaoua Seklab, Süleyman BaşTürk

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In the quest to enhance coastal environmental health, this study introduces a fully autonomous beach cleaning machine, a breakthrough in leveraging green energy and advanced artificial intelligence for ecological preservation. Designed to operate independently, the machine is propelled by a solar-powered system, underscoring a commitment to sustainability and the use of renewable energy in autonomous robotics. The vehicle's autonomous navigation is achieved through a sophisticated integration of LIDAR and a camera system, utilizing an SSD MobileNet V2 object detection model for accurate and real-time trash identification. The SSD framework, renowned for its efficiency in detecting objects in various scenarios, is coupled with the lightweight and precise highly MobileNet V2 architecture, making it particularly suited for the computational constraints of on-board processing in mobile robotics. Training of the SSD MobileNet V2 model was conducted on Google Colab, harnessing cloud-based GPU resources to facilitate a rapid and cost-effective learning process. The model was refined with an extensive dataset of annotated beach debris, optimizing the parameters using the Adam optimizer and a cross-entropy loss function to achieve high-precision trash detection. This capability allows the machine to intelligently categorize and target waste, leading to more effective cleaning operations. This paper details the design and functionality of the beach cleaning machine, emphasizing its autonomous operational capabilities and the novel application of AI in environmental robotics. The results showcase the potential of such technology to fill existing gaps in beach maintenance, offering a scalable and eco-friendly solution to the growing problem of coastal pollution. The deployment of this machine represents a significant advancement in the field, setting a new standard for the integration of autonomous systems in the service of environmental stewardship.

Keywords: autonomous beach cleaning machine, renewable energy systems, coastal management, environmental robotics

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Authors: Abu S. Mustafa, Mohammad W. Khan, Faraz Shaheed Khan, Nazima Habibi

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Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of worldwide prevalence. There are at least four species and several strains of Brucella that cause human disease. Brucella genomes have very limited variation across strains, which hinder strain identification using classical molecular techniques, including PCR and 16 S rDNA sequencing. The aim of this study was to perform whole genome sequencing of clinical isolates of Brucella and perform bioinformatics and comparative genomics analyses to determine the existence of genetic differences across the isolates of a single Brucella species and strain. The draft sequence data were generated from 15 clinical isolates of Brucella melitensis (biovar 2 strain 63/9) using MiSeq next generation sequencing platform. The generated reads were used for further assembly and analysis. All the analysis was performed using Bioinformatics work station (8 core i7 processor, 8GB RAM with Bio-Linux operating system). FastQC was used to determine the quality of reads and low quality reads were trimmed or eliminated using Fastx_trimmer. Assembly was done by using Velvet and ABySS softwares. The ordering of assembled contigs was performed by Mauve. An online server RAST was employed to annotate the contigs assembly. Annotated genomes were compared using Mauve and ACT tools. The QC score for DNA sequence data, generated by MiSeq, was higher than 30 for 80% of reads with more than 100x coverage, which suggested that data could be utilized for further analysis. However when analyzed by FastQC, quality of four reads was not good enough for creating a complete genome draft so remaining 11 samples were used for further analysis. The comparative genome analyses showed that despite sharing same gene sets, single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions existed across different genomes, which provided a variable extent of diversity to these bacteria. In conclusion, the next generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and comparative genome analysis can be utilized to find variations (point mutations, insertions and deletions) across different genomes of Brucella within a single strain. This information could be useful in surveillance and epidemiological studies supported by Kuwait University Research Sector grants MI04/15 and SRUL02/13.

Keywords: brucella, bioinformatics, comparative genomics, whole genome sequencing

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Authors: Jamie E. Banker

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For many families, pregnancy and the postpartum time are filled with both anticipation and change. For some pregnant or postpartum women, this time is marked by the onset of a mood or anxiety disorder. Experiencing a mood or anxiety disorders during this time of life differs from depression or anxiety at other times of life. Not only because of the physical changes occurring in the mother’s body but also the mental and physical preparation necessary to redefine family roles, responsibilities, and develop new identities in the life transition. The presence of a mood or anxiety disorder can influence the way in which a mother defines herself and can complicate her understanding of her abilities and competencies as a mother. The complexity of experiencing a mood or anxiety disorder in the midst of these changes necessitates specific treatment interventions to match both the symptomatology and psychological adjustments. This study explores the use of narrative family therapy techniques when treating a mother who is experiencing postpartum depression. Externalization is a common technique used in narrative family therapy and can help client’s separate their identity from the problems they are experiencing. This is crucial to a new mom who is in the middle of defining her identity during her transition to parenthood. The goal of this study is to examine how the use of externalization techniques help postpartum women separate their mood and anxiety symptoms from their identity as a mother. An exploratory case study design was conducted in a single setting, private practice therapy office, and explored how a narrative family therapy approach can be used to treat perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. The therapy sessions were audio recorded and transcribed. Constructivism and narrative theory are used as theoretical frameworks and data from the therapy sessions, and a follow-up survey was triangulated and analyzed. During the course of the treatment, the participant reports using the new externalizing labels for her symptoms. Within one month of treatment, the participant reports that she could stop herself from thinking the harmful thoughts faster, and within three months, the harmful thoughts went away. The main themes in this study were building courage and less self-blame. This case highlights the role narrative family therapy can play in the treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and the importance of separating a women’s mood from her identity as a mother. This conceptual framework was beneficial to the postpartum mother when treating perinatal mood and anxiety disorder symptoms.

Keywords: externalizing techniques, narrative family therapy, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, postpartum depression

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Authors: Mohammad Borhani, Ahmad Jamshidzaei, Mehdi Koohsari

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The study of climate has captivated human interest throughout history. In response to this fascination, individuals historically organized their daily activities in alignment with prevailing climatic conditions and seasonal variations. Understanding the elements and specific climatic parameters of each region, such as precipitation, which directly impacts human life, is essential because, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in heavy rainfall in various parts of the world attributed to the effects of climate change. Climate prediction models suggest a future scenario characterized by an increase in severe precipitation events and related floods on a global scale. This is a result of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions causing changes in the natural precipitation patterns. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported global warming in 2001. The average global temperature has shown an increasing trend since 1861. In the 20th century, this increase has been between (0/2 ± 0/6) °C. The present study focused on examining the trend of monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation in Sistan and Baluchestan provinces. The study employed data obtained from 13 precipitation measurement stations managed by the Iran Water Resources Management Company, encompassing daily precipitation records spanning the period from 1997 to 2016. The results indicated that the total monthly precipitation at the studied stations in Sistan and Baluchestan province follows a sinusoidal trend. The highest intense precipitation was observed in January, February, and March, while the lowest occurred in September, October, and then November. The investigation of the trend of seasonal precipitation in this province showed that precipitation follows an upward trend in the autumn season, reaching its peak in winter, and then shows a decreasing trend in spring and summer. Also, the examination of average precipitation indicated that the highest yearly precipitation occurred in 1997 and then in 2004, while the lowest annual precipitation took place between 1999 and 2001. The analysis of the annual precipitation trend demonstrates a decrease in precipitation from 1997 to 2016 in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Keywords: climate change, extreme precipitation, greenhouse gas, trend analysis

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Authors: Nada Mohamed, Abdel Aziz Mohamed

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Climate change in coastal areas is a global issue that can be felt on local scale and will be around for decades and centuries to come to an end; it also has critical risks on the city’s economy, communities, and the natural environment. One of these changes that cause a huge risk on coastal cities is the sea level rise (SLR). SLR is a result of scarcity and reduction in global environmental system. The main cause of climate change and global warming is the countries with high development index (HDI) as Japan and Germany while the medium and low HDI countries as Egypt does not have enough awareness and advanced tactics to adapt with this changes that destroy urban areas and cause loss in land and economy. This is why Climate Resilience is one of the UN sustainable development goals 2030, which is calling for actions to strengthen climate change resilience through mitigation and adaptation. For many reasons, adaptation has received less attention than mitigation and it is only recently that adaptation has become a focal global point of attention. This adaption can be achieved through some actions such as upgrading the use and the design of the land, adjusting business and activities of people, and increasing community understanding of climate risks. To reach the adaption goals, and we have to apply a strategic pathway to Climate Resilience, which is the Urban Bioregionalism Paradigm. Resiliency has been framed as persistence, adaptation, and transformation. Climate Resilience decision support system includes a visualization platform where ecological, social, and economic information can be viewed alongside with specific geographies that's why Urban Bioregionalism is a socio-ecological system which is defined as a paradigm that has potential to help move social attitudes toward environmental understanding and deepen human-environment connections within ecological development. The research aim is to achieve an adaptive integrated urban development model throughout the analyses of tactics and strategies that can be used to adapt urban areas and coastal communities to the challenges of climate changes especially SLR and also simulation model using advanced technological software for a coastal city corridor to elaborates the suitable strategy to apply.

Keywords: climate resilience, sea level rise, SLR, coastal resilience, adaptive development simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Sayani Chatterjee, Kusum Lata Pangtey, Sarita Singh, Harvir Singh

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Biodegradation leads to a systematic alteration of the chemical and physical properties of crude oil showing sequential depletion of n-alkane, cycloalkanes, aromatic which increases its specific gravity, viscosity and the abundance of heteroatom-containing compounds. The biodegradation leads to a change in the molecular fingerprints and geochemical parameters of degraded oils, thus make source and maturity identification inconclusive or ambiguous. Asphaltene is equivalent to the most labile part of the respective kerogen and generally has high molecular weight. Its complex chemical structure with substantial microporous units makes it suitable to occlude the hydrocarbon expelled from the source. The occluded molecules are well preserved by the macromolecular structure and thus prevented from secondary alterations. They retain primary organic geochemical information over the geological time. The present study involves the extraction of this occluded hydrocarbon from the asphaltene cage through mild oxidative degradation using mild oxidative reagents like Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) and Acetic Acid (CH₃COOH) on purified asphaltene of the biodegraded oils of Mansa, Lanwa and Santhal fields in Cambay Basin. The study of these extracted occluded hydrocarbons was carried out for establishing oil to oil and oil to source correlation in the Mehsana block of Cambay Basin. The n-alkane and biomarker analysis through GC and GC-MS of these occluded hydrocarbons show similar biomarker imprint as the normal oil in the area and hence correlatable with them. The abundance of C29 steranes, presence of Oleanane, Gammacerane and 4-Methyl sterane depicts that the oils are derived from terrestrial organic matter deposited in the stratified saline water column in the marine environment with moderate maturity (VRc 0.6-0.8). The oil source correlation study suggests that the oils are derived from Jotana-Warosan Low area. The developed geochemical technique to extract the occluded hydrocarbon has effectively resolved the ambiguity that resulted from the inconclusive fingerprint of the biodegraded oil and the method can be also applied in other biodegraded oils as well.

Keywords: asphaltene, biomarkers, correlation, mild oxidation, occluded hydrocarbon

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Narash Narasimman, Calvin Leong Jia Jun, Raksha Karthik, Paul Englert

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Background: Project Grit, a 12-week youth resilience program implemented by Impart and Spartans Boxing Club, aimed to help at-risk adolescents develop resilience through psychoeducation and mental health techniques for dealing with everyday stressors and adversity. The programme consists of two parts-1.5 hours of group therapy followed by 1 hour of boxing. Due to the novelty of the study, 6 male participants, aged 13 to 18, were recruited to participate in the study. Aim: This case study aims to examine the effectiveness of Project Grit in building resilience among at-risk adolescents. Methods: A case study design was employed to capture the complexity and uniqueness of the intervention, without oversimplifying or generalizing it. A 15-year-old male participant with a history of behavioural challenges, delinquency and gang involvement was selected for the study. Teacher, parent and child versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered to the facilitators, parents and participants respectively before and after the programme. Relevant themes from the qualitative interviews will be discussed. Results: Scores from all raters revealed improvements in most domains of the SDQ. Total difficulties scores across all raters improved from “very high” to “close to average”. High interrater reliability was observed (κ= .81). The participant reported learning methods to effectively deal with his everyday concerns using healthy coping strategies, developing a supportive social network, and building on his self efficacy. Themes from the subject’s report concurred with the improvement in SDQ scores. Conclusions: The findings suggest that Project Grit is a promising intervention for promoting resilience among at-risk adolescents. The teleological behaviourism framework and the combination of sports engagement and future orientation may be particularly effective in fostering resilience among this population. Further studies need to be conducted with a larger sample size to further validate the effectiveness of Project Grit.

Keywords: resilience, project grit, adolescents, at-risk, boxing, future orientation

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Adriana Diaz Triana, Wolfgang Wimmer, Sebastian Glaser, Rainer Pamminger

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SUSTAINEXT is a pioneer initiative in Extremadura, Spain under the EU Biobased industries. SUSTANEXT will scale-up and validate an industrial facility to produce botanical extracts, based on three key pillars. First, the whole valorization of bio-based feedstocks with a zero-waste and zero-emissions ambition. SUSTAINEXT will be deployed with six feedstocks. Three medicinal and aromatic plants (Rosemary, Chamomile, and Lemon verbena) will be locally sourced from disused tobacco fields with installed agri-voltaics; and three underexploited agro-industrial side streams will be further valorized (Olive, artichoke-cardoon, and pomegranate). Second, a dynamic, analytical biorefinery (DYANA) will isolate polyphenol and tri-terpenes from feedstocks in a disruptive and circular way. SUSTAINEXT explores 12 valorization routes (VRs) to extract and purify 46 functional ingredients, of which 13 are new in the market and 12 are newly produced in Europe. Third, the integrated and versatile value chain engages all actors, from feedstocks suppliers to extract users in the industries of food, animal feed, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, chemical performance, soil enhancers and fertilizers. This paper addresses SUTAINEXT activities towards zero impacts and full regulatory compliance. A comprehensive Life Cycle Thinking approach is proposed, with four complementary assessments running iteratively along the project duration (4,5 years). These are the Life Cycle Cost (LCCA), Life Cycle (LCA), Social Life Cycle (S-LCA) and Circularity (CA) assessments. The LCA will help evaluate the feedstock suitability parameters and intrinsic characteristics that quantify the feedstock´s grade for a determined use, and the feedstock´s suitability index for a specific VR. The LCA will also study the emissions, land use change, energy generation and consumption, and other environmental aspects and impacts of the VRs, to identify the most resource efficient and less impactful distribution of products from the circular biorefinery model used in SUSTAINEXT. Challenges to complete the LCA include the definition of the system boundaries, carrying out a robust inventory, and the proper allocation of impacts to the different VRs.

Keywords: biorefinery, botanical extracts, life cycle assessment, valorization routes.

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Authors: Mehran Asadi, Afrand Agah

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In data mining, partitioning is used as a fundamental tool for classification. With the help of partitioning, we study the structure of data, which allows us to envision decision rules, which can be applied to classification trees. In this research, we used online social network dataset and all of its attributes (e.g., Node features, labels, etc.) to determine what constitutes an above average chance of being a divergent node. We used the R statistical computing language to conduct the analyses in this report. The data were found on the UC Irvine Machine Learning Repository. This research introduces the basic concepts of classification in online social networks. In this work, we utilize overfitting and describe different approaches for evaluation and performance comparison of different classification methods. In classification, the main objective is to categorize different items and assign them into different groups based on their properties and similarities. In data mining, recursive partitioning is being utilized to probe the structure of a data set, which allow us to envision decision rules and apply them to classify data into several groups. Estimating densities is hard, especially in high dimensions, with limited data. Of course, we do not know the densities, but we could estimate them using classical techniques. First, we calculated the correlation matrix of the dataset to see if any predictors are highly correlated with one another. By calculating the correlation coefficients for the predictor variables, we see that density is strongly correlated with transitivity. We initialized a data frame to easily compare the quality of the result classification methods and utilized decision trees (with k-fold cross validation to prune the tree). The method performed on this dataset is decision trees. Decision tree is a non-parametric classification method, which uses a set of rules to predict that each observation belongs to the most commonly occurring class label of the training data. Our method aggregates many decision trees to create an optimized model that is not susceptible to overfitting. When using a decision tree, however, it is important to use cross-validation to prune the tree in order to narrow it down to the most important variables.

Keywords: online social networks, data mining, social cloud computing, interaction and collaboration

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Elsayed A. M. Shokr, A. Alhazemi, T. Naser, Talal A. Zuhair, Adel A. Zuhair, Ahmed N. Alshamary, Thamer A. Alanazi, Hosam A. Alanazi

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The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to Pb, Cd, Cu, Mo, Zn, Ni, Mn Co and Cr. is mainly via intake of drinking water being the most important source in most populations. These metals have been extensively studied and their effects on human health regularly reviewed by international bodies such as the WHO. Heavy metals have been used by humans for thousands of years. Although several adverse health effects of heavy metals have been known for a long time, exposure to heavy metals continues, and is even increasing in some parts of the world, in particular in less developed countries, though emissions have declined in most developed countries over the last 100 years. A strong relationship between contaminated drinking water with heavy metals from some of the stations of water shopping in Hail, KSA and chronic diseases such as renal failure, liver cirrhosis, and chronic anemia has been identified in this study. These diseases are apparently related to contaminant drinking water with heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cu, Mo, Zn, Ni, Mn Co and Cr. Renal failure is related to contaminate drinking water with lead and cadmium, liver cirrhosis to copper and molybdenum, and chronic anemia to copper and cadmium. Recent data indicate that adverse health effects of cadmium exposure may occur at lower exposure levels than previously anticipated, primarily in the form of kidney damage but possibly also bone effects and fractures. The general population is primarily exposed to mercury via drinking water being a major source of methyl mercury exposure, and dental amalgam. During the last century lead, cadmium, zinc, iron and arsenic is mainly via intake of drinking water being the most important source in most populations. Long-term exposure to lead, cadmium, zinc, iron and arsenic in drinking-water is mainly related to primarily in the form of kidney damage. Studies of these diseases suggest that abnormal incidence in specific areas is related to toxic materials in the groundwater and thereby led to the contamination of drinking water in these areas.

Keywords: heavy metals, liver functions, kidney functions and chronic renal failure, hail, renal, water

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: A. Hakem, Y. Bouafia

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Characterization of materials used for various mechanical components is of great importance in their design. Several studies were conducted by various authors in order to improve their physical and/or chemical properties in general and mechanical or metallurgical properties in particular. The foundry alloy AlSi7Zn3Cu2Mg is one of the main components constituting the various mechanisms for the implementation of applications and various industrial projects. Obtaining a reliable product is not an easy task; several results proposed by different authors show sometimes results that can contradictory. Due to their high mechanical characteristics, these alloys are widely used in engineering. Silicon improves casting properties and magnesium allows heat treatment. It is thus possible to obtain various degrees of hardening and therefore interesting compromise between tensile strength and yield strength, on one hand, and elongation, on the other hand. These mechanical characteristics can be further enhanced by a series of mechanical treatments or heat treatments. Their light weight coupled with high mechanical characteristics, aluminum alloys are very much used in cars and aircraft industry. The present study is focused on the influence of heat treatments which cause significant micro structural changes, usually hardening by variation of annealing temperatures by increments of 10°C and 20°C on the evolution of the main elastic characteristics, the resistance, the ductility and the structural characteristics of AlSi7Zn3Cu2Mg foundry alloy cast in sand by gravity. These elastic properties are determined in three directions for each specimen of dimensions 200x150x20 mm³ by the ultrasonic method based on acoustic or elastic waves. The hardness, the micro hardness and the structural characteristics are evaluated by a non-destructive method. The aim of this work is to study the hardening ability of AlSi7Zn3Cu2Mg alloy by considering ten states. To improve the mechanical properties obtained with the raw casting, one should use heat treatment for structural hardening; the addition of magnesium is necessary to increase the sensitivity to this specific heat treatment: Treatment followed by homogenization which generates a diffusion of atoms in a substitution solid solution inside a hardening furnace at 500°C during 8h, followed immediately by quenching in water at room temperature 20 to 25°C, then an ageing process for 17h at room temperature and at different annealing temperature (150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 240, 200, 220 and 240°C) for 20h in an annealing oven. The specimens were allowed to cool inside the oven.

Keywords: aluminum, foundry alloy, magnesium, mechanical characteristics, silicon

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Ludmila A. Gavriliuc, Jerry McLarty, Heather E. Kleiner, J. Michael Mathis

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Abstract -- Background: The citrus coumarine Auraptene (Aur) is an effective chemopreventive agent, as manifested in many models of diseases and cancer. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) is an important regulator of genes induced by oxidative stress, such as glutathione S-transferases, heme oxygenase-1, and peroxiredoxin 1, by activating the antioxidant response element (ARE). Genetic and biochemical evidence has demonstrated that glutathione (GSH) and glutathione-dependent enzymes, glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidases (GPs), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are responsible for the control of intracellular reduction-oxidation status and participate in cellular adaptation to oxidative stress. The effect of Aur on the activity of GR, GPs (Se-GP and Se-iGP), and content of GSH in the liver, kidney, and spleen is insufficiently explored. Aim: Our goal was the examination of the Aur influence on the redox-system of GSH in Nrf2 wild type and Nrf2 knockout mice via activation of Nrf2 and ARE. Methods: Twenty female mice, 10 Nrf2 wild-type (WT) and 10 Nrf2 (-/-) knockout (KO), were bred and genotyped for our study. The activity of GR, Se-GP, Se-iGP, GST, G6PD, CytP450 reductase, catalase (Cat), and content of GSH were analyzed in the liver, kidney, and spleen using Spectrophotometry methods. The results of the specific activity of enzymes and the amount of GSH were analyzed with ANOVA and Spearman statistical methods. Results: Aur (200 mg/kg) treatment induced hepatic GST, GR, Se-GP activity and inhibited their activity in the spleen of mice, most likely via activation of the ARE through Nrf2. Activation in kidney Se-GP and G6PD by Aur is also controlled, apparently through Nrf2. Results of the non-parametric Spearman correlation analysis indicated the strong positive correlation between GR and G6PD only in the liver in WT control mice (r=+0.972; p < 0.005) and in the kidney KO control mice (r=+0.958; p < 0.005). The observed low content of GSH in the liver of KO mice indicated an increase in its participation in the neutralization of toxic substances with the absence of induction of GSH-dependent enzymes, such as GST, GR, Se-GP, and Se-iGP. Activation of CytP450 in kidney and spleen and Cat in the liver in KO mice probably revealed another regulatory mechanism for these enzymes. Conclusion: Thereby, obtained results testify that Aur can modulate the activity of genes and antioxidant enzymatic redox-system of GSH, responsible for the control of intracellular reduction-oxidation status.

Keywords: auraptene, glutathione, GST, Nrf2

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Hoorieh Darvishi, Rezaei

Abstract:

Introduction: This study investigates the efficacy of computer-based interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder , specifically targeting communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. The research evaluates novel software applications designed to enhance narrative capabilities and sensory integration through structured, progressive intervention protocols Method: The study evaluated two intervention software programs designed for children with autism, focusing on narrative speech and sensory integration. Twelve children aged 5-11 participated in the two-month intervention, attending three 45-minute weekly sessions, with pre- and post-tests measuring speech, communication, and behavioral outcomes. The narrative speech software incorporated 14 stories using the Cohen model. It progressively reduced software assistance as children improved their storytelling abilities, ultimately enabling independent narration. The process involved story comprehension questions and guided story completion exercises. The sensory integration software featured approximately 100 exercises progressing from basic classification to complex cognitive tasks. The program included attention exercises, auditory memory training (advancing from single to four-syllable words), problem-solving, decision-making, reasoning, working memory, and emotion recognition activities. Each module was accompanied by frequency and pitch-adjusted music that child enjoys it to enhance learning through multiple sensory channels (visual, auditory, and tactile). Conclusion: The results indicated that the use of these software programs significantly improved communication and narrative speech scores in children, while also reducing scores related to repetitive behaviors. Findings: These findings highlight the positive impact of computer-based interventions on enhancing communication skills and reducing repetitive behaviors in children with autism.

Keywords: autism, communication_skills, repetitive_behaviors, sensory_integration

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Authors: Reyhan Tekin Sitrava

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Teachers should have robust and comprehensive content knowledge for effective mathematics teaching. It was explained that content knowledge includes knowing the facts, truths, and concepts; explaining the reasons behind these facts, truths and concepts, and making relationship between the concepts and other disciplines. By virtue of its importance, it will be significant to explore teachers and prospective teachers’ content knowledge related to variety of topics in mathematics. From this point of view, the purpose of this study was to investigate prospective mathematics teachers’ content knowledge. Particularly, it was aimed to reveal the prospective teachers’ knowledge regarding the definition of limit and derivate. To achieve the purpose and to get in-depth understanding, a qualitative case study method was used. The data was collected from 34 prospective mathematics teachers through a questionnaire containing 2 questions. The first question required the prospective teachers to define the limit and the second one required to define the derivative. The data was analyzed using content analysis method. Based on the analysis of the data, although half of the prospective teachers (50%) could write the definition of the limit, nine prospective teachers (26.5%) could not define limit. However, eight prospective teachers’ definition was regarded as partially correct. On the other hand, twenty-seven prospective teachers (79.5%) could define derivative, but seven of them (20.5%) defined it partially. According to the findings, most of the prospective teachers have robust content knowledge on limit and derivative. This result is important because definitions have a virtual role in learning and teaching of mathematics. More specifically, definition is starting point to understand the meaning of a concept. From this point of view, prospective teachers should know the definitions of the concepts to be able to teach them correctly to the students. In addition, they should have knowledge about the relationship between limit and derivative so that they can explain these concepts conceptually. Otherwise, students may memorize the rules of calculating the derivative and the limit. In conclusion, the present study showed that most of the prospective mathematics teachers had enough knowledge about the definition of derivative and limit. However, the rest of them should learn their definition conceptually. The examples of correct, partially correct, and incorrect definition of both concepts will be presented and discussed based on participants’ statements. This study has some implications for instructors. Instructors should be careful about whether students learn the definition of these concepts or not. In order to this, the instructors may give prospective teachers opportunities to discuss the definition of these concepts and the relationship between the concepts.

Keywords: content knowledge, derivative, limit, prospective mathematics teachers

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Bengi Hakguder Taze, Sevcan Unluturk

Abstract:

Şalak apricot (Prunus armeniaca L., cv. Şalak) is a specific variety grown in Igdir, Turkey. The fruit has distinctive properties distinguish it from other cultivars, such as its unique size, color, taste and higher water content. Drying is the widely used method for preservation of apricots. However, fresh consumption is preferred for Şalak apricot instead of drying due to its low dry matter content. Higher amounts of water in the structure and climacteric nature make the fruit sensitive against rapid quality loss during storage. Hence, alternative processing methods need to be introduced to extend the shelf life of the fresh produce. Mild heat (MH) treatment is of great interest as it can reduce the microbial load and inhibit enzymatic activities. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of mild heat treatment on the natural microflora found on Şalak apricot surfaces and some physical quality parameters of the fruit, such as color and firmness. For this purpose, apricot samples were treated at different temperatures between 40 and 60 ℃ for different periods ranging between 10 to 60 min using a temperature controlled water bath. Natural flora on the fruit surfaces was examined using standard plating technique both before and after the treatment. Moreover, any changes in color and firmness of the fruit samples were also monitored. It was found that control samples were initially containing 7.5 ± 0.32 log CFU/g of total aerobic plate count (TAPC), 5.8±0.31 log CFU/g of yeast and mold count (YMC), and 5.17 ± 0.22 log CFU/g of coliforms. The highest log reductions in TAPC and YMC were observed as 3.87-log and 5.8-log after the treatments at 60 ℃ and 50 ℃, respectively. Nevertheless, the fruit lost its characteristic aroma at temperatures above 50 ℃. Furthermore, great color changes (ΔE ˃ 6) were observed and firmness of the apricot samples was reduced at these conditions. On the other hand, MH treatment at 41 ℃ for 10 min resulted in 1.6-log and 0.91-log reductions in TAPC and YMC, respectively, with slightly noticeable changes in color (ΔE ˂ 3). In conclusion, application of temperatures higher than 50 ℃ caused undesirable changes in physical quality of Şalak apricots. Although higher microbial reductions were achieved at those temperatures, temperatures between 40 and 50°C should be further investigated considering the fruit quality parameters. Another strategy may be the use of high temperatures for short time periods not exceeding 1-5 min. Besides all, MH treatment with UV-C light irradiation can be also considered as a hurdle strategy for better inactivation results.

Keywords: color, firmness, mild heat, natural flora, physical quality, şalak apricot

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Hoorieh Darvishi, Rezaei

Abstract:

Introduction: This study investigates the efficacy of computer-based interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder , specifically targeting communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. The research evaluates novel software applications designed to enhance narrative capabilities and sensory integration through structured, progressive intervention protocols Method: The study evaluated two intervention software programs designed for children with autism, focusing on narrative speech and sensory integration. Twelve children aged 5-11 participated in the two-month intervention, attending three 45-minute weekly sessions, with pre- and post-tests measuring speech, communication, and behavioral outcomes. The narrative speech software incorporated 14 stories using the Cohen model. It progressively reduced software assistance as children improved their storytelling abilities, ultimately enabling independent narration. The process involved story comprehension questions and guided story completion exercises. The sensory integration software featured approximately 100 exercises progressing from basic classification to complex cognitive tasks. The program included attention exercises, auditory memory training (advancing from single to four-syllable words), problem-solving, decision-making, reasoning, working memory, and emotion recognition activities. Each module was accompanied by frequency and pitch-adjusted music that child enjoys it to enhance learning through multiple sensory channels (visual, auditory, and tactile). Conclusion: The results indicated that the use of these software programs significantly improved communication and narrative speech scores in children, while also reducing scores related to repetitive behaviors. Findings: These findings highlight the positive impact of computer-based interventions on enhancing communication skills and reducing repetitive behaviors in children with autism.

Keywords: autism, narrative speech, persian, SI, repetitive behaviors, communication

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Authors: Oluwayemisi D. Ishola, Lekan Ajijola

Abstract:

Nigeria faces a demographic challenge characterized by a burgeoning youth population and an escalating fertility rate. A notable decline in the use of modern contraceptives among adolescent girls and young women compounds the challenge. The youthful demographic stands at a critical juncture in the nation's pursuit to fulfill its pledge of achieving a 27% modern contraceptive rate by 2030, embodying the potential to translate this ambitious commitment into a tangible reality. This research undertook a multi-dimensional examination to scrutinize contraceptive ideational disparities among adolescents and young women in Nigeria, with a particular emphasis on ideational factors. The data underpinning this study were drawn from a cross-sectional household survey carried out in the Nigerian states of Edo, Ogun, Plateau, and Niger between October 2019 and January 2020. The survey encompassed 2,857 sexually active women aged 15-24 years. Employing an ideational framework focusing on behavior that accentuates psychosocial factors, the study dissected nine unique ideational variables into three principal domains: social, cognitive, and emotional. Multivariate logistics regression analyses were used to assess associations between ideational elements and contraceptive use within the total sample and specific age brackets (adolescents of 15-19 years and youth of 20-24 years). For this study, a p-value less than 0.05 was considered indicative of statistical significance. The study's results revealed significant associations between the ideational variables and contraceptive use in total sample and among adolescent and youth, ranging from p < .05 to p < .001. The influence of each domain's predictors on Family Planning (FP) manifested variations when assessed separately and across the different age groups. Notably, cognitive and emotional domains were found to be the strongest predictor of contraceptive use when compared with social domains in the general sample and among youth. This study’s findings highlight the complex interplay of social, cognitive, and emotional factors in contraceptive use among young individuals. Understanding these dynamics is crucial in developing effective strategies to overcome barriers and improve access to contraceptive services among young women in Nigeria.

Keywords: adolescents, contraception, ideation, youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 70