Search results for: individual monitoring

Authors: Ni'mal Baroya, Andrei Ramani, Irma Prasetyowati

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The access to reproduction health services, including with safe and effective contraception were human rights regardless of social stratum and residence. In addition to individual factors, family and contextual factors were also believed to be the cause in the use of contraceptive methods. This study aimed to assess the determinants of long-term contraceptive methods (LTCM) by considering all the factors at either the individual level or contextual level. Thereby, this study could provide basic information for program development of prevalence enhancement of MKJP in East Java. The research, which used cross-sectional design, utilized Riskesdas 2013 data, particularly in East Java Province for further analysis about multilevel modeling of MKJP application. The sample of this study consisted of 20.601 married women who were not in pregnant that were drawn by using probability sampling following the sampling technique of Riskesdas 2013. Variables in this study were including the independent variables at the individual level that consisted of education, age, occupation, access to family planning services (KB), economic status and residence. As independent variables in district level were the Human Development Index (HDI, henceforth as IPM) in each districts of East Java Province, the ratio of field officers, the ratio of midwives, the ratio of community health centers and the ratio of doctors. As for the dependent variable was the use of Long-Term Contraceptive Method (LTCM or MKJP). The data were analyzed by using chi-square test and Pearson product moment correlation. The multivariable analysis was using multilevel logistic regression with 95% of Confidence Interval (CI) at the significance level of p < 0.05 and 80% of strength test. The results showed a low CPR LTCM was concentrated in districts in Madura Island and the north coast. The women which were 25 to 35 or more than 35 years old, at least high school education, working, and middle-class social status were more likely to use LTCM or MKJP. The IPM and low PLKB ratio had implications for poor CPR LTCM / MKJP.

Keywords: multilevel, long-term contraceptive methods, east java, contextual factor

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Authors: Ella Zahra

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Sea urchins are keystone species in many global benthic ecosystems. The concentration of microplastics (MPs) in sea urchin organs was quantified in 120 individuals of 2 different species and from 4 sites across the Greek island Lipsi, with special interest in the differences between the native Arbacia lixula and the invasive Diadema setosum. Over 93% of MPs observed in both species were fibrous. MP abundance was found to correlate with exposure to open sea and harsh prevailing winds, irrespective of proximity to urban activities. The MP abundance in the invasive species was not found to be significantly dependent on site. Interestingly, the smaller native species contained significantly larger sized MPs than the invasive, possibly as a result of a greater feeding rate in A. lixula individuals. Sexually immature urchins may also have a higher feeding rate, giving rise to the negative correlation between gonad index and MPs per individual. The size of MPs ranged from 10µm to 24210µm, heavily skewed towards smaller particles. Few differences in colour were noted between the species and sites. MPs were detected in 100% of the samples with abundance ranging from 19.27 ± 6.77 to 26.83 ± 8.15 items per individual, or 3.55 ± 3.73 to 7.34 ± 10.51 items per gram of wet organ weight. This high value could lead to health risks in East Asia and the Mediterranean, where sea urchin is widely consumed, due to toxins adsorbed to the MPs.

Keywords: microplastics, plastic pollution, invertebrate ecology, invasive marine species

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Authors: Neslihan Beyazit, Sahin Bayraktar, Cahit Demetgul

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Transition metal ions have an important role in biochemistry and biomimetic systems and may provide the basis of models for active sites of biological targets. The presence of copper(II), iron(II) and zinc(II) is crucial in many biological processes. Tetradentate N2O2 donor Schiff base ligands are well known to form stable transition metal complexes and these complexes have also applications in clinical and analytical fields. In this study, we present salient structural features and the details of cathecholase activity of Fe(II) complex of a new Schiff Base ligand. A new asymmetrical N2O2 donor Schiff base ligand and its Fe(II) complex were synthesized by condensation of 4-nitro-1,2 phenylenediamine with 6-formyl-7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-2-methylbenzopyran-4-one and by using an appropriate Fe(II) salt, respectively. Schiff base ligand and its metal complex were characterized by using FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, UV-Vis, elemental analysis and magnetic susceptibility. In order to determine the kinetics parameters of catechol oxidase-like activity of Schiff base Fe(II) complex, the oxidation of the 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (3,5-DTBC) was measured at 25°C by monitoring the increase of the absorption band at 390-400 nm of the product 3,5-di-tert-butylcatequinone (3,5-DTBQ). The compatibility of catalytic reaction with Michaelis-Menten kinetics also investigated by the method of initial rates by monitoring the growth of the 390–400 nm band of 3,5-DTBQ as a function of time. Kinetic studies showed that Fe(II) complex of the new N2O2 donor Schiff base ligand was capable of acting as a model compound for simulating the catecholase properties of type-3 copper proteins.

Keywords: catecholase activity, Michaelis-Menten kinetics, Schiff base, transition metals

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Authors: Mark White

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The best practices for owners and urban planners to manage tsunami risk have evolved during the last fifty years, and related technical advances have created opportunities for them to obtain better performance than in earlier cataclysmic tsunami inundations. This basic pattern is illustrated at Hilo Bay, the waterfront area of Hilo, Hawaii, an urban seaport which faces the most severe tsunami hazard of the Hawaiian archipelago. Since April 1, 1946, Hilo Bay has endured tsunami waves with a maximum water height exceeding 2.5 meters following four severe earthquakes: Unimak Island (Mw 8.6, 6.1 m) in 1946; Valdiva (Mw 9.5, the largest earthquake of the 20th century, 10.6 m) in 1960; William Prince Sound (Mw 9.2, 3.8 m) in 1964; and Kalapana (Mw 7.7, the largest earthquake in Hawaii since 1868, 2.6 m) in 1975. Ignoring numerous smaller tsunamis during the same time frame, these four cataclysmic tsunamis have caused property losses in Hilo to exceed $1.25 billion and more than 150 deaths. It is reasonable to foresee another cataclysmic tsunami inundating the urban core of Hilo in the next 50 years, which, if unchecked, could cause additional deaths and losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Urban planners and individual owners are now in a position to reduce these losses in the next foreseeable tsunami that generates maximum water heights between 2.5 and 10 meters in Hilo Bay. Since 1946, Hilo planners and individual owners have already created buffer zones between the shoreline and its historic downtown area. As these stakeholders make inevitable improvements to the built environment along and adjacent to the shoreline, they should incorporate new methods for better managing the obvious tsunami risk at Hilo. At the planning level, new manmade land forms, such as tsunami parks and inundation reservoirs, should be developed. Individual owners should require their design professionals to include sacrificial seismic and tsunami fuses that will perform well in foreseeable severe events and that can be easily repaired in the immediate aftermath. These investments before the next cataclysmic tsunami at Hilo will yield substantial reductions in property losses and fatalities.

Keywords: hilo, tsunami parks, reservoirs, fuse systems, risk managment

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Authors: Jadon Matthiasa, Cindy Donga, Ali Al Jibouria, Hsin Kuo

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The environmental impact of emissions from the Covanta Waste-to-Energy facility in Burnaby, BC, was comprehensively evaluated, focusing on the dispersion of air pollutants and the subsequent assessment of heavy metal contamination in surrounding soils. A Gaussian Plume Model, implemented in MATLAB, was utilized to simulate the dispersion of key pollutants to understand their atmospheric behaviour and potential deposition patterns. The MATLAB code developed for this study enhanced the accuracy of pollutant concentration predictions and provided capabilities for visualizing pollutant dispersion in 3D plots. Furthermore, the code could predict the maximum concentration of pollutants at ground level, eliminating the need to use the Ranchoux model for predictions. Complementing the modelling approach, empirical soil sampling and analysis were conducted to evaluate heavy metal concentrations in the vicinity of the facility. This integrated methodology underscored the importance of computational modelling in air pollution assessment and highlighted the necessity of soil analysis to obtain a holistic understanding of environmental impacts. The findings emphasized the effectiveness of current emissions controls while advocating for ongoing monitoring to safeguard public health and environmental integrity.

Keywords: air emissions, Gaussian Plume Model, MATLAB, soil contamination, air pollution monitoring, waste-to-energy, pollutant dispersion visualization, heavy metal analysis, environmental impact assessment, emission control effectiveness

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Authors: Zanib Nafees, Amir Razaghizad, Ibtisam Mahmoud, Abhinav Sharma, Renzo Cecere

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More than one million surgeries are performed each year in Canada, resulting in more than 100,000 associated serious adverse events (SAEs) per year. These are defined as unintended injuries or complications that adversely affect the well-being of patients. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of digital health interventions that have the potential to assist, monitor, and educate patients—facilitating self-care following post-operative discharge. Among digital health, interventions are interactive-voice response technologies (IVRs), which have been shown to be highly effective in certain medical settings. Although numerous IVR-based interventions have been developed, their effectiveness and utility remain unclear, notably in post-operative settings. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic or scoping reviews have evaluated this topic to date. Thus, the objective of this scoping review protocol is to systematically map and explore the literature and evidence describing and examining IVR tools, implementation, evaluation, outcome, and experience for post-operative patients. The focus will be primarily on the evaluation of baseline performance status, clinical assessment, treatment outcomes, and patient management, including self-management and self-monitoring. The objective of this scoping review is to assess the extent of the literature to direct future research efforts by identifying gaps and limitations in the literature and to highlight relevant determinants of positive outcomes in the emerging field of IVR monitoring for health outcomes in post-operative patients.

Keywords: digital healthcare technologies, post-surgery, interactive voice technology, interactive voice response

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Authors: Riana V. Ramanantsalama, Aristide Andrianarimisa, Achille P. Raselimanana, Steven M. Goodman

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Few details are available on the consumption of ectoparasites, specifically bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae), by their chiropteran hosts while grooming. Such details could provide information on the dynamics of host-parasite interactions. This study presents data on ectoparasite ingestion rates for an endemic Malagasy fruit bat (Pteropodidae: Rousettus madagascariensis) occupying a cave day roost colony in northern Madagascar. Using quantified behavioral analyses, grooming and associated ingestion rates were measured from infrared videos taken in close proximity to day-roosting bats. The recorded individual bats could be visually identified to age (adult, juvenile) and sex (male, female), allowing analyses of the proportion of time these different classes allocated to consuming ectoparasites via auto-grooming (self) or allo-grooming (intraspecific) per 10 min video recording session. These figures could then be extrapolated to estimates of individual daily consumption rates. Based on video recordings, adults spent significantly more time auto-grooming and allo-grooming than juveniles. The latter group was not observed consuming ectoparasites. Grooming rates and the average number of ectoparasites consumed per day did not differ between adult males and females. The mean extrapolated number consumed on a daily basis for individual adults was 37 ectoparasites. When these figures are overlaid on the estimated number of adult Rousettus occurring at the roost site during the dry season, the projected daily consumption rate was 57,905 ectoparasites. To the best knowledge of the authors of this study, the details presented here represent the first quantified data on bat consumption rates of their ectoparasites, specifically dipterans. These results provide new insights into host-parasite predation dynamics. More research is needed to explore the mechanism zoonotic diseases isolated from bat flies might be transmitted to their bat hosts, specifically those pathogens that can be communicated via an oral route.

Keywords: diptera, host-parasite interactions, Madagascar, nycteribiidae, pteropodidae, Rousettus madagascariensis

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Authors: Eyob Seife, Molla Alemayaehu, Tesfalem Teshome, Bereket Seyoum, Behailu Getachew

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Globally, immunization averts between 2 and 3 million deaths yearly, but Vaccine-Preventable Diseases still account for more in Sub-Saharan African countries and takes the majority of under-five deaths yearly, which indicates the need for consistent and on-time information to have evidence-based decision so as to save lives of these vulnerable groups. However, ensuring data of sufficient quality and promoting an information-use culture at the point of collection remains critical and challenging, especially in remote areas where the Ararso district is selected based on a hypothesis of there is a difference in reported and recounted immunization data consistency. Data quality is dependent on different factors where organizational, behavioral, technical and contextual factors are the mentioned ones. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted on September 2022 in the Ararso district. The study used the world health organization (WHO) recommended data quality self-assessment (DQS) tools. Immunization tally sheets, registers and reporting documents were reviewed at 4 health facilities (1 health center and 3 health posts) of primary health care units for one fiscal year (12 months) to determine the accuracy ratio, availability and timeliness of reports. The data was collected by trained DQS assessors to explore the quality of monitoring systems at health posts, health centers, and at the district health office. A quality index (QI), availability and timeliness of reports were assessed. Accuracy ratios formulated were: the first and third doses of pentavalent vaccines, fully immunized (FI), TT2+ and the first dose of measles-containing vaccines (MCV). In this study, facility-level results showed poor timeliness at all levels and both over-reporting and under-reporting were observed at all levels when computing the accuracy ratio of registration to health post reports found at health centers for almost all antigens verified. A quality index (QI) of all facilities also showed poor results. Most of the verified immunization data accuracy ratios were found to be relatively better than that of quality index and timeliness of reports. So attention should be given to improving the capacity of staff, timeliness of reports and quality of monitoring system components, namely recording, reporting, archiving, data analysis and using information for decisions at all levels, especially in remote and areas.

Keywords: accuracy ratio, ararso district, quality of monitoring system, regular immunization program, timeliness of reports, Somali region-Ethiopia

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Authors: Ritika Chaturvedi

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Introduction: Sexual objectification, characterized by the reduction of an individual to a mere object of sexual desire, remains a pervasive societal issue with profound repercussions on individual well-being. Such experiences, often rooted in systemic and cultural norms, have long-lasting implications for mental and emotional health. This study aims to explore the intricate relationship between experiences of sexual objectification and insidious trauma, further investigating the potential moderating effects of overexcitability as proposed by Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration. Methodology: The research involved a comprehensive cohort of 204 women, spanning ages from 18 to 65 years. Participants were tasked with completing self-administered questionnaires designed to capture their experiences with sexual objectification. Additionally, the questionnaire assessed symptoms indicative of insidious trauma and explored overexcitability across five distinct domains: emotional, intellectual, psychomotor, sensory, and imaginational. Employing advanced statistical techniques, including multiple regression and moderation analysis, the study sought to decipher the intricate interplay among these variables. Findings: The study's results revealed a compelling positive correlation between experiences of sexual objectification and the onset of symptoms indicative of insidious trauma. This correlation underscores the profound and detrimental effects of sexual objectification on an individual's psychological well-being. Interestingly, the moderation analyses introduced a nuanced understanding, highlighting the differential roles of various overexcitability. Specifically, emotional, intellectual, and sensual overexcitability were found to exacerbate trauma symptomatology. In contrast, psychomotor overexcitability emerged as a protective factor, demonstrating a mitigating influence on the relationship between sexual objectification and trauma. Implications: The study's findings hold significant implications for a diverse array of stakeholders, encompassing mental health practitioners, educators, policymakers, and advocacy groups. The identified moderating effects of overexcitability emphasize the need for tailored interventions that consider individual differences in coping and resilience mechanisms. By recognizing the pivotal role of overexcitability in modulating the traumatic consequences of sexual objectification, this research advocates for the development of more nuanced and targeted support frameworks. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of continued research endeavors to unravel the intricate mechanisms and dynamics underpinning these relationships. Such endeavors are crucial for fostering the evolution of informed, evidence-based interventions and strategies aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of sexual objectification and promoting holistic well-being.

Keywords: sexual objectification, insidious trauma, emotional overexcitability, intellectual overexcitability, sensual overexcitability, psychomotor overexcitability, imaginational overexcitability

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Authors: Valmir Baloshi, Fran Gjoka, Nehat Çollaku, Elvin Toromani

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As a sediment production mechanism, soil erosion is the main environmental threat to the Bovilla watershed, including the decline of water quality of the Bovilla reservoir that provides drinking water to Tirana city (the capital of Albania). Therefore, an experiment with 25 erosion plots for soil erosion monitoring has been set up since June 2017. The aim was to determine the soil loss on plot and watershed scale in Bovilla watershed (Tirana region) for implementation of soil and water protection measures or payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs. The results of erosion monitoring for the period June 2017 - May 2018 showed that the highest values of surface runoff were noted in bare land of 38829.91 liters on slope of 74% and the lowest values in forest land of 12840.6 liters on slope of 64% while the highest values of soil loss were found in bare land of 595.15 t/ha on slope of 62% and lowest values in forest land of 18.99 t/ha on slope of 64%. These values are much higher than the average rate of soil loss in the European Union (2.46 ton/ha/year). In the same sloping class, the soil loss was reduced from orchard or bare land to the forest land, and in the same category of land use, the soil loss increased with increasing land slope. It is necessary to conduct chemical analyses of sediments to determine the amount of chemical elements leached out of the soil and end up in the reservoir of Bovilla. It is concluded that PES programs should be implemented for rehabilitation of sub-watersheds Ranxe, Vilez and Zall-Bastar of the Bovilla watershed with valuable conservation practices.

Keywords: ANOVA, Bovilla, land cover, slope, soil loss, watershed management

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Authors: Niveen Hassan-Abbas, Tammie Ronen-Rosenbaum

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Background and purpose: 'Flourishing in marriage' is a concept refers to married individuals’ high positivity ratio regarding their marriage, namely greater reported positive than negative emotions. The study proposes a different approach to marriage which emphasizes the place of the individual himself as largely responsible for his personal flourishing within marriage. Accordingly, the individual's desire to preserve and strengthen his marriage largely determines the marital behavior in a way that will contribute to his marriage success (Actor Effect), regardless the contribution of his or her partner to his marriage success (Partner Effect). Another assumption was that flourishing in marriage could be achieved by two separate processes, where capitalization support increases the positive marriage's evaluations and accommodation decreases the negative one. A theoretical model was constructed, whereby individuals who were committed to their marriage were hypothesized as employing self-control skills by way of two dynamic processes. First, individual’s higher degree of 'capitalization supportive responses' - supportive responses to the partner's sharing of positive personal experiences - was hypothesized as increasing one’s positive evaluations of marriage and thereby one’s positivity ratio. Second, individual’s higher degree of 'accommodation' responses - the ability during conflict situations to control the impulse to respond destructively and instead to respond constructively - was hypothesized as decreasing one’s negative evaluations of marriage and thereby increasing one’s positivity ratio. Methods: Participants were 156 heterosexual Arab couples from different regions of Israel. The mean period of marriage was 10.19 (SD=7.83), ages were 31.53 years for women (SD=8.12) and 36.80 years for men (SD=8.07). Years of education were 13.87 for women (SD=2.84) and 13.23 years for men (SD=3.45). Each participant completed seven questionnaires: socio-demographic, self-control skills, commitment, capitalization support, accommodation, marital quality, positive and negative affect. Using statistical analyses adapted to dyadic research design, firstly descriptive statistics were calculated and preliminary tests were performed. Next, dyadic model based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The assumption according to which flourishing in marriage can be achieved by two processes was confirmed. All of the Actor Effect hypotheses were confirmed. Participants with higher self-control used more capitalization support and accommodation responses. Among husbands, unlike wives, these correlations were stronger when the individual's commitment level was higher. More capitalization supportive responses were found to increase positive evaluations of marriage, and greater spousal accommodation was found to decrease negative evaluations of marriage. High positive evaluations and low negative evaluations were found to increase positivity ratio. Not according to expectation, four partner effect paths were found significant. Conclusions and Implications: The present findings coincide with the positive psychology approach that emphasizes human strengths. The uniqueness of this study is its proposal that individuals are largely responsible for their personal flourishing in marriage. This study demonstrated that marital flourishing can be achieved by two processes, where capitalization increases the positive and accommodation decreases the negative. Practical implications include the need to construct interventions that enhance self-control skills for employment of capitalizing responsiveness and accommodation processes.

Keywords: accommodation, capitalization support, commitment, flourishing in marriage, positivity ratio, self-control skills

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Authors: Okay Gunes

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In this article, for the first time in the literature for this subject we propose a new method for the measuring of well-being inequality through a model composed of superimposing satisfaction waves. The displacement of households’ satisfactory state (i.e. satisfaction) is defined in a satisfaction string. The duration of the satisfactory state for a given period of time is measured in order to determine the relationship between utility and total satisfactory time, itself dependent on the density and tension of each satisfaction string. Thus, individual cardinal total satisfaction values are computed by way of a one-dimensional form for scalar sinusoidal (harmonic) moving wave function, using satisfaction waves with varying amplitudes and frequencies which allow us to measure well-being inequality. One advantage to using satisfaction waves is the ability to show that individual utility and consumption amounts would probably not commute; hence it is impossible to measure or to know simultaneously the values of these observables from the dataset. Thus, we crystallize the problem by using a Heisenberg-type uncertainty resolution for self-adjoint economic operators. We propose to eliminate any estimation bias by correlating the standard deviations of selected economic operators; this is achieved by replacing the aforementioned observed uncertainties with households’ perceived uncertainties (i.e. corrected standard deviations) obtained through the logarithmic psychophysical law proposed by Weber and Fechner.

Keywords: Heisenberg uncertainty principle, superimposing satisfaction waves, Weber–Fechner law, well-being inequality

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Authors: Jurica Hižak

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Getting to know the agents, i.e., identifying the free riders in a population, can be considered one of the main challenges in establishing cooperation. An ordinary memory-one agent such as Tit-for-tat may learn “who is who” in the population through direct interactions. Past experiences serve them as a landmark to know with whom to cooperate and against whom to retaliate in the next encounter. However, this kind of learning is risky and expensive. A cheaper and less painful way to detect free riders may be achieved by gossiping. For this reason, as part of this research, a special type of Tit-for-tat agent was designed – a “Gossip-Tit-for-tat” agent that can share data with other agents of its kind. The performances of both strategies, ordinary Tit-for-tat and Gossip-Tit-for-tat, against Always-defect have been compared in the finite-game framework of the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma via the Moran process. Agents were able to move in a random-walk fashion, and they were programmed to play Prisoner’s Dilemma each time they met. Moreover, at each step, one randomly selected individual was eliminated, and one individual was reproduced in accordance with the Moran process of selection. In this way, the size of the population always remained the same. Agents were selected for reproduction via the roulette wheel rule, i.e., proportionally to the relative fitness of the strategy. The absorption probability was calculated after the population had been absorbed completely by cooperators, which means that all the states have been occupied and all of the transition probabilities have been determined. It was shown that gossip increases absorption probabilities and therefore enhances the evolution of cooperation in the population.

Keywords: cooperation, gossip, indirect reciprocity, Moran process, prisoner’s dilemma, tit-for-tat

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Authors: Harris Niavis, Dimitra Politaki

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The manufacturing industry was collecting vast amounts of data for monitoring product quality thanks to the advances in the ICT sector and dedicated IoT infrastructure is deployed to track and trace the production line. However, industries have not yet managed to unleash the full potential of these data due to defective data collection methods and untrusted data storage and sharing. Blockchain is gaining increasing ground as a key technology enabler for Industry 4.0 and the smart manufacturing domain, as it enables the secure storage and exchange of data between stakeholders. On the other hand, AI techniques are more and more used to detect anomalies in batch and time-series data that enable the identification of unusual behaviors. The proposed scheme is based on smart contracts to enable automation and transparency in the data exchange, coupled with anomaly detection algorithms to enable reliable data ingestion in the system. Before sensor measurements are fed to the blockchain component and the smart contracts, the anomaly detection mechanism uniquely combines artificial intelligence models to effectively detect unusual values such as outliers and extreme deviations in data coming from them. Specifically, Autoregressive integrated moving average, Long short-term memory (LSTM) and Dense-based autoencoders, as well as Generative adversarial networks (GAN) models, are used to detect both point and collective anomalies. Towards the goal of preserving the privacy of industries' information, the smart contracts employ techniques to ensure that only anonymized pointers to the actual data are stored on the ledger while sensitive information remains off-chain. In the same spirit, blockchain technology guarantees the security of the data storage through strong cryptography as well as the integrity of the data through the decentralization of the network and the execution of the smart contracts by the majority of the blockchain network actors. The blockchain component of the Data Traceability Software is based on the Hyperledger Fabric framework, which lays the ground for the deployment of smart contracts and APIs to expose the functionality to the end-users. The results of this work demonstrate that such a system can increase the quality of the end-products and the trustworthiness of the monitoring process in the smart manufacturing domain. The proposed AI-enabled data traceability software can be employed by industries to accurately trace and verify records about quality through the entire production chain and take advantage of the multitude of monitoring records in their databases.

Keywords: blockchain, data quality, industry4.0, product quality

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Authors: Maulik L. Sisodia, Tirth K. Raval, Aarsh S. Mistry

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This paper summarizes the ongoing researches about the defects in both flexible and rigid pavement and the maintenance in both flexible and rigid pavements. Various defects in pavements have been identified since the existence of both flexible and rigid pavement. Flexible Pavement failure is defined in terms of decreasing serviceability caused by the development of cracks, ruts, potholes etc. Flexible Pavement structure can be destroyed in a single season due to water penetration. Defects in flexible pavements is a problem of multiple dimensions, phenomenal growth of vehicular traffic (in terms of no. of axle loading of commercial vehicles), the rapid expansion in the road network, non-availability of suitable technology, material, equipment, skilled labor and poor funds allocation have all added complexities to the problem of flexible pavements. In rigid pavements due to different type of destress the failure like joint spalling, faulting, shrinkage cracking, punch out, corner break etc. Application of correction in the existing surface will enhance the life of maintenance works as well as that of strengthening layer. Maintenance of a road network involves a variety of operations, i.e., identification of deficiencies and planning, programming and scheduling for actual implementation in the field and monitoring. The essential objective should be to keep the road surface and appurtenances in good condition and to extend the life of the road assets to its design life. The paper describes lessons learnt from pavement failures and problems experienced during the last few years on a number of projects in India. Broadly, the activities include identification of defects and the possible cause there off, determination of appropriate remedial measures; implement these in the field and monitoring of the results.

Keywords: Flexible Pavements, Rigid Pavements, Defects, Maintenance

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Authors: Jayanth C., Anirudh Sai Yetikuri, Kavitha S. N.

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This paper explores the development and application of computer vision and machine learning techniques for real-time pose detection, facial recognition, and number plate extraction. Utilizing MediaPipe for pose estimation, the research presents methods for detecting hand raises and ducking postures through real-time video analysis. Complementarily, facial recognition is employed to compare and verify individual identities using the face recognition library. Additionally, the paper demonstrates a robust approach for extracting and storing vehicle number plates from images, integrating Optical Character Recognition (OCR) with a database management system. The study highlights the effectiveness and versatility of these technologies in practical scenarios, including security and surveillance applications. The findings underscore the potential of combining computer vision techniques to address diverse challenges and enhance automated systems for both individual and vehicular identification. This research contributes to the fields of computer vision and machine learning by providing scalable solutions and demonstrating their applicability in real-world contexts.

Keywords: computer vision, pose detection, facial recognition, number plate extraction, machine learning, real-time analysis, OCR, database management

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Authors: Andrey Kupriyanov

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In recent years, much attention has been paid to the problems of ionospheric disturbances and their influence on the signals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) around the world. This is due to the increase in solar activity, the expansion of the scope of GNSS, the emergence of new satellite systems, the introduction of new frequencies and many others. The influence of the Earth's ionosphere on the propagation of radio signals is an important factor in many applied fields of science and technology. The paper considers the application of the method of transionospheric sounding using measurements from signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems to determine the TEC distribution and scintillations of the ionospheric layers. To calculate these parameters, the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model of the ionosphere, refined in the local area, is used. The organization of operational monitoring of ionospheric parameters is analyzed using several NovAtel GPStation6 base stations. It allows performing primary processing of GNSS measurement data, calculating TEC and fixing scintillation moments, modeling the ionosphere using the obtained data, storing data and performing ionospheric correction in measurements. As a result of the study, it was proved that the use of the transionospheric sounding method for reconstructing the altitude distribution of electron concentration in different altitude range and would provide operational information about the ionosphere, which is necessary for solving a number of practical problems in the field of many applications. Also, the use of multi-frequency multisystem GNSS equipment and special software will allow achieving the specified accuracy and volume of measurements.

Keywords: global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), GPstation6, international reference ionosphere (IRI), ionosphere, scintillations, total electron content (TEC)

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Authors: Sonny Dewi Judiasih

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The principle of a marriage is to achieve a happy and eternity family based on the willing of the God. The family has a fundamental role in the society as a social individual and as a nuclear family consists of father, mother, and children. Thus, each family always would like to have children who will continue the family. However, not all family will be blessed with children and consequently, there is family without children. Therefore, the said the certain family will do any effort to fulfill the wish to have children. One of the ways is to adopt children. The implementation of child adoption is conducted by the family who does not have children but sometimes child adoption is conducted by a family who has already children. The implementation of child adoption is based on the interest of the welfare and the intellectual of the said child. Moreover, it should be based on the social liability of the individual in accordance with the developing of the traditional values as part of the nation culture. The child adoption is conducted for the welfare of the child demonstrates that a change on the basic motive (value) whereby in the past the child adoption is to fulfill the wish of foster parent (to have children in the family). Nowadays the purpose of child adoption is not merely for the interest of foster parent but in particular for the interest, welfare and the future of the child. The development of the society has caused the occurrence of changes of perspective in the society which lead to a need for new law. The court of justice has an impact of such changes. It is evidenced by the court order for child adoption in the legal framework of certainty of law. The changes of motives (value) of the child adoption in the society can be fully understood in the event that the society fully understand that the ultimate purpose of Indonesia nation is to achieve a justice and prosperity society, i.e., social welfare for all Indonesian people.

Keywords: child adoption, family law, legal protection, children

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Authors: Jagoda Przybysz

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The main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive description of the immigrants in Poland, especially situation at the labour market. The paper will provide descriptive information on the composition of immigrants in Poland, and how this has changed over time, their socio-economic characteristics, their industry allocation and their labour market outcomes. Then we will investigate various labour market performance indicators (labour force participation, employment, wages and self-employment) for immigrants of different origins based on reached statistics. Individual interviews with immigrants will indicate areas of problems of living in Poland, mostly on labour market. The article shows that immigrants from some ethnic minority groups are more active in selected sectors of labour market. The empirical basis for the work related to the situation on the labor market of foreigners who came to the Poland and live in Lodz. The studies assumed that foreigners work in Poland and operate in different ways being integrated / excluded in varying degrees. Theoretical framework for analysis are: concepts of inclusion and exclusion, the concept of a dual labour market and the concept of social anchors. Completed in the 2014-2016, a pilot study (The forms of individual interviews) with 32 foreigners arrived in the last decade to Lodz. Preliminary studies have enabled the formulation of research issues and have set the future direction of research revealing to the personal experiences of respondents, a group of factors hindering integration and exclusion areas.

Keywords: foreigners, immigrants, labour market, migration, Poland

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Authors: Fuyuan Ma, Ying Wang, Xin Wang

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Social networks have become breeding grounds for the rapid spread of rumors and malicious information, posing threats to societal stability and causing significant public harm. Existing research focuses on simulating the spread of information and its impact on users through propagation dynamics and applies methods such as greedy approximation strategies to approximate the optimal control solution at the global scale. However, the greedy strategy at the global scale may fall into locally optimal solutions, and the approximate simulation of information spread may accumulate more errors. Therefore, we propose a multi-scale control model for network group behavior, introducing individual and group scales on top of the greedy strategy’s global scale. At the individual scale, we calculate the propagation influence of nodes based on their structural attributes to alleviate the issue of local optimality. At the group scale, we conduct precise propagation simulations to avoid introducing cumulative errors from approximate calculations without increasing computational costs. Experimental results on three real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed multi-scale model in controlling network group behavior.

Keywords: influence blocking maximization, competitive linear threshold model, social networks, network group behavior

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Authors: Sujesh F. Sujan, Steve W. Jones, Arto Kiviniemi

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The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the Architectural-Engineering-Construction (AEC) industry is a form of systemic innovation. Unlike incremental innovation, (such as the technological development of CAD from hand based drawings to 2D electronically printed drawings) any form of systemic innovation in Project-Based Inter-Organisational Networks requires complete collaboration and results in numerous benefits if adopted and utilised properly. Proper use of BIM involves people collaborating with the use of interoperable BIM compliant tools. The AEC industry globally has been known for its adversarial and fragmented nature where firms take advantage of one another to increase their own profitability. Due to the industry’s nature, getting people to collaborate by unifying their goals is critical to successful BIM adoption. However, this form of innovation is often being forced artificially in the old ways of working which do not suit collaboration. This may be one of the reasons for its low global use even though the technology was developed more than 20 years ago. Therefore, there is a need to develop a metric/method to support and allow industry players to gain confidence in their investment into BIM software and workflow methods. This paper departs from defining systemic risk as a risk that affects all the project participants at a given stage of a project and defines categories of systemic risks. The need to generalise is to allow method applicability to any industry where the category will be the same, but the example of the risk will depend on the industry the study is done in. The method proposed seeks to use individual perception of an example of systemic risk as a key parameter. The significance of this study lies in relating the variance of individual perception of systemic risk to how much the team is collaborating. The method bases its notions on the claim that a more unified range of individual perceptions would mean a higher probability that the team is collaborating better. Since contracts and procurement devise how a project team operates, the method could also break the methodological barrier of highly subjective findings that case studies inflict, which has limited the possibility of generalising between global industries. Since human nature applies in all industries, the authors’ intuition is that perception can be a valuable parameter to study collaboration which is essential especially in projects that utilise systemic innovation such as BIM.

Keywords: building information modelling, perception of risk, systemic innovation, team collaboration

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Authors: Mona Francesca B. Dela Cruz, Katrina Marie R. Mamaril, Mariah Hannah Kassandra Salazar, Emerald Jay D. Ilac

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One key factor that should be considered when determining sustainable solutions to various environmental problems is the potential impact of individual human beings. In order to understand an individual, there is a need to examine cognitive, emotional, dispositional, and behavioral factors which are all indicative of one’s environmental consciousness. This quantitative study explored the moderated mediation between environmental consciousness, socio-economic status, social norms as a mediator, and the perceived role of government as a moderator for 381 Filipinos, aged 25 to 65, in urban and suburban settings. Results showed social norms do not have a mediating effect between socio-economic status and environmental consciousness. This may be influenced by the collectivist culture of the Philippines and the tendency for people to copy behaviors according to the descriptive norm effect. Meanwhile, there exists a moderating effect of the perceived role of government between the relationship of social norms and environmental consciousness which can be explained by the government’s ability to impose social norms that can induce a person to think and act pro-environmentally. Practical applications of this study can be used to tap the ability of the government to strengthen their influence and control over environmental protection and to provide a basis for the development of class-specific environmental solutions that can be done by individuals depending on their socioeconomic status.

Keywords: environmental consciousness, role of government, social norms, socio-economic status

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Authors: A. Marais

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A challenging aspect of teaching cello to novice adult learners is finding adequate lesson material and applying relevant teaching methodologies. It could play a crucial role in adult learners' decision to commence or stop taking music lessons. This study contributes to the theory and practises of continuing education. This study is important to lifelong learning, especially with the focus on adult teaching and learning and the difficulties concerning these themes. The research problem identified for this study is we are not aware of adults' life stories; thus, cello lesson material is not always relevant for adult's specific needs for motivation and goals for starting cello lessons. In my experience, an adult does not necessarily want to play children songs when they learn a new instrument. They want material and lessons fitted to adult learners. Adults also learn differently from younger beginners. Adults ask questions such as how and why, while children more readily accept what is being taught. This research creates awareness of adults' musical needs and learning methods. If every adult shares their own story for commencing and continuing with cello lessons, material should be created, revised, or adapted for more individually appropriate lessons. A number of studies show that adults taking music lessons experience a decrease in feelings of loneliness and isolation. It gives adults a sense of wellbeing and can help improve immune systems. The purpose of this research study will be to discover the life stories of adult amateur cellists. At this stage in the research, the life stories of amateur cellists can generally be defined as personal reflections of their motivations for and experiences of commencing and continuing with individual lessons. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of cello lesson material for adult beginners based on their stories. This research could also encourage adults to commence with music lessons and could, in that way, contribute to their quality of life. Music learners become aware of deep spiritual, emotional, and social values incorporated or experienced through musical learning. This will be a qualitative study with a narrative approach making use of oral history. The chosen method will encapsulate the stories of amateur individual adults starting and continuing with cello lessons. The narrative method entails experiences as expressed in lived and told stories of individuals. Oral history is used as part of the narrative method and entails gathering of personal reflections of events and their cause and effects from an individual or several individuals. These findings from this study will contribute to adult amateur cellists' motivations to continue with music lessons and inspire others to commence. The inspiring life stories of the amateur cellists would provide insight into finding and creating new cello lesson material and enhance existing teaching methodologies for adult amateur cellists.

Keywords: adult, amateur, cello, education, learning, music, stories

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Authors: Atefeh Bagherianziarat, Dana Hamplova

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The inverse social gradient in life satisfaction (LS) is a well-established research finding. To estimate the influence of inequality on LS, most of the studies have explored the effect of the objective aspects of inequality or individuals’ socioeconomic status (SES). However, relatively fewer studies have confirmed recently the significant effect of the subjective aspect of inequality or subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) on life satisfaction over and above SES. In other words, it is confirmed by some studies that individuals’ perception of their unequal status in society or SSS can moderate the impact of their absolute unequal status on their life satisfaction. Nevertheless, this newly confirmed moderating link has not been affirmed to work likewise in societies with different levels of social inequality and also for people who believe in the value of equality, at different levels. In this study, we compared the moderative influence of subjective inequality on the link between objective inequality and life satisfaction. In particular, we focus on differences across welfare state regimes based on Esping-Andersen's theory. Also, we explored the moderative role of believing in the value of equality on the link between objective and subjective inequality on LS in the given societies. Since our studied variables were measured at both individual and country levels, we applied a multilevel analysis to the European Social Survey data (round 9). The results showed that people in deferent regimes reported statistically meaningful different levels of life satisfaction that is explained to different extends by their household income and their perception of their income inequality. The findings of the study supported the previous findings of the moderator influence of perceived inequality on the link between objective inequality and LS. However, this link is different in various welfare state regimes. The results of the multilevel modeling showed that country-level subjective equality is a positive predictor for individuals’ life satisfaction, while the GINI coefficient that was considered as the indicator of absolute inequality has a smaller effect on life satisfaction. Also, country-level subjective equality moderates the confirmed link between individuals’ income and their life satisfaction. It can be concluded that both individual and country-level subjective inequality slightly moderate the effect of individuals’ income on their life satisfaction.

Keywords: individual values, life satisfaction, multilevel analysis, objective inequality, subjective inequality, welfare regimes status

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Authors: Șercăianu Mihai, Aldea Mihaela, Iacoboaea Cristina, Luca Oana, Nenciu Ioana

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The rise and mitigation of unauthorized illegal waste dumps are a significant global issue within waste management ecosystems, impacting disadvantaged communities. Globally, including in Romania, many individuals live in houses without legal recognition, lacking ownership or construction permits, in areas known as "informal settlements." An increasing number of regions and cities in Romania are struggling to manage their illegal waste dumps, especially in the context of increasing poverty and lack of regulation related to informal settlements. One such informal settlement is located at the end of Bistra Street in Câlnic, within the Reșița Municipality of Caras Severin County. The article presents a case study that focuses on employing remote sensing techniques and spatial data to monitor and map illegal waste practices, with subsequent integration into a geographic information system tailored for the Reșița community. In addition, the paper outlines the steps involved in devising strategies aimed at enhancing waste management practices in disadvantaged areas, aligning with the shift toward a circular economy. Results presented in the paper contain a spatial mapping and visualization methodology calibrated with in situ data collection applicable for identifying illegal landfills. The emergence and neutralization of illegal dumps pose a challenge in the field of waste management. These approaches, which prove effective where conventional solutions have failed, need to be replicated and adopted more wisely.

Keywords: informal settlements, GIS, waste dumps, waste management, monitoring

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Authors: Mannan Mridha, Mohammad S. Islam

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Innovative medical technologies offer more effective medical care, with less risk to patient and healthcare personnel. Medical technology and devices when properly used provide better data, precise monitoring and less invasive treatments and can be more targeted and often less costly. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with patient monitoring, respiratory and cardiac support, pain management, emergency resuscitation and life support devices is particularly prone to medical errors for various reasons. Many people in the developing countries now wonder whether their visit to hospital might harm rather than help them. This is because; clinicians in the developing countries are required to maintain an increasing workload with limited resources and absence of well-functioning safety system. A team of experts from the medical, biomedical and clinical engineering in Sweden and Bangladesh have worked together to study the incidents, adverse events at the ICU in Bangladesh. The study included both public and private hospitals to provide a better understanding for physical structure, organization and practice in operating processes of care, and the occurrence of adverse outcomes the errors, risks and accidents related to medical devices at the ICU, and to develop a ICT based support system in order to reduce hazards and errors and thus improve the quality of performance, care and cost effectiveness at the ICU. Concrete recommendations and guidelines have been made for preparing appropriate ICT related tools and methods for improving the routine for use of medical devices, reporting and analyzing of the incidents at the ICU in order to reduce the number of undetected and unsolved incidents and thus improve the patient safety.

Keywords: intensive care units, medical errors, medical devices, patient care and safety

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Authors: Sisira Edirippulige

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Background: Digital health education and training (DHET) is imperative for preparing current and future clinicians to work competently in digitally enabled environments. Despite rapid integration of digital health in modern health services, systematic education and training opportunities for health workers is still lacking. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate healthcare professionals’ perspectives and expectations regarding the knowledge, skills and competency needs in digital health for current and future healthcare workforce. Methods: A qualitative study design with semi-structured individual interviews was employed. A purposive sample method was adopted to collect relevant information from the health workers. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) was followed when we reported this study. Results: Two themes emerged while analysing the data: (1) what to teach in DHET and (2) how to teach DHET. Overall, healthcare professionals agreed that DHET is important for preparing current and future clinicians for working competently in digitally enabled environments. Knowledge relating to what is digital health, types of digital health, use of technology and human factors in digital health were considered as important to be taught in DHET. Skills relating to digital health consultations, clinical information system management and remote monitoring were considered important to be taught. Blended learning which combined e-learning and classroom-based teaching, simulation sessions and clinical rotations were suggested by healthcare professionals as optimal approaches to deliver the above-mentioned content. Conclusions: This study is the first of its kind to investigate health professionals’ perspectives and expectations relating to the knowledge, skills and competency needs in digital health for current and future healthcare workforce. Healthcare workers are keen to acquire relevant knowledge, skills and competencies related to digital health. Different modes of education delivery is of interest to fit in with busy schedule of health workers.

Keywords: digital health, telehealth, telemedicine, education, curriculum

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Authors: Ritika Chaturvedi

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Introduction: Sexual objectification, characterized by the reduction of an individual to a mere object of sexual desire, remains a pervasive societal issue with profound repercussions on individual well-being. Such experiences, often rooted in systemic and cultural norms, have long-lasting implications for mental and emotional health. This study aims to explore the intricate relationship between experiences of sexual objectification and insidious trauma, further investigating the potential moderating effects of overexcitabilities as proposed by Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration. Methodology: The research involved a comprehensive cohort of 204 women, spanning ages from 18 to 65 years. Participants were tasked with completing self-administered questionnaires designed to capture their experiences with sexual objectification. Additionally, the questionnaire assessed symptoms indicative of insidious trauma and explored overexcitabilities across five distinct domains: emotional, intellectual, psychomotor, sensory, and imaginational. Employing advanced statistical techniques, including multiple regression and moderation analysis, the study sought to decipher the intricate interplay among these variables. Findings: The study's results revealed a compelling positive correlation between experiences of sexual objectification and the onset of symptoms indicative of insidious trauma. This correlation underscores the profound and detrimental effects of sexual objectification on an individual's psychological well-being. Interestingly, the moderation analyses introduced a nuanced understanding, highlighting the differential roles of various overexcitabilities. Specifically, emotional, intellectual, and sensual overexcitabilities were found to exacerbate trauma symptomatology. In contrast, psychomotor overexcitability emerged as a protective factor, demonstrating a mitigating influence on the relationship between sexual objectification and trauma. Implications: The study's findings hold significant implications for a diverse array of stakeholders, encompassing mental health practitioners, educators, policymakers, and advocacy groups. The identified moderating effects of overexcitabilities emphasize the need for tailored interventions that consider individual differences in coping and resilience mechanisms. By recognizing the pivotal role of overexcitabilities in modulating the traumatic consequences of sexual objectification, this research advocates for the development of more nuanced and targeted support frameworks. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of continued research endeavors to unravel the intricate mechanisms and dynamics underpinning these relationships. Such endeavors are crucial for fostering the evolution of informed, evidence-based interventions and strategies aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of sexual objectification and promoting holistic well-being.

Keywords: sexual objectification, insidious trauma, emotional overexcitability, intellectual overexcitability, sensual overexcitability, psychomotor overexcitability, imaginational overexcitability

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Authors: Marisol Warthon-Medina, Jenny Plumb, Ayoub Aljawaldeh, Mark Roe, Ailsa Welch, Maria Glibetic, Paul M. Finglas

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Similar to Western Countries, the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) also presents major public health issues associated with the increased consumption of sugar, fat, and salt. Therefore, one of the policies of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) EMR is to reduce the intake of salt, sugar, and fat (Saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids) to address the risk of non-communicable diseases (i.e. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer) and obesity. The project objective is to assess status and provide training and capacity development in the use of improved standardized methodologies for updated food composition data, dietary intake methods, use of suitable biomarkers of nutritional value and determine health outcomes in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Training exchanges have been developed with clusters of countries created resulting from regional needs including Sudan, Egypt and Jordan; Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania; and other Middle Eastern countries. This capacity building will lead to the development and sustainability of up-to-date national and regional food composition databases in LMIC for use in dietary monitoring assessment in food and nutrient intakes. Workshops were organized to provide training and capacity development in the use of improved standardized methodologies for food composition and food intake. Training needs identified and short-term scientific missions organized for LMIC researchers including (1) training and knowledge exchange workshops, (2) short-term exchange of researchers, (3) development and application of protocols and (4) development of strategies to reduce sugar and fat intake. An initial training workshop, Morocco 2018 was attended by 25 participants from 10 EMR countries to review status and support development of regional food composition. 4 training exchanges are in progress. The use of improved standardized methodologies for food composition and dietary intake will produce robust measurements that will reinforce dietary monitoring and policy in LMIC. The capacity building from this project will lead to the development and sustainability of up-to-date national and regional food composition databases in EMR countries. Supported by the UK Medical Research Council, Global Challenges Research Fund, (MR/R019576/1), and the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Keywords: dietary intake, food composition, low and middle-income countries, status.

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Authors: Eva L. Suarez, Daniel E. Meeroff, Yan Yong

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Current flooding risk modeling focuses on resilience, defined as the probability of recovery from a severe flooding event. However, the long-term damage to property and well-being by nuisance flooding and its long-term effects on communities are not typically included in risk assessments. An approach was developed to address the probability of recovering from a severe flooding event combined with the probability of community performance during a nuisance event. A consolidated model, namely the conflation flooding recovery (&FR) model, evaluates risk-coping mitigation strategies for communities based on the recovery time from catastrophic events, such as hurricanes or extreme surges, and from everyday nuisance flooding events. The &FR model assesses the variation contribution of each independent input and generates a weighted output that favors the distribution with minimum variation. This approach is especially useful if the input distributions have dissimilar variances. The &FR is defined as a single distribution resulting from the product of the individual probability density functions. The resulting conflated distribution resides between the parent distributions, and it infers the recovery time required by a community to return to basic functions, such as power, utilities, transportation, and civil order, after a flooding event. The &FR model is more accurate than averaging individual observations before calculating the mean and variance or averaging the probabilities evaluated at the input values, which assigns the same weighted variation to each input distribution. The main disadvantage of these traditional methods is that the resulting measure of central tendency is exactly equal to the average of the input distribution’s means without the additional information provided by each individual distribution variance. When dealing with exponential distributions, such as resilience from severe flooding events and from nuisance flooding events, conflation results are equivalent to the weighted least squares method or best linear unbiased estimation. The combination of severe flooding risk with nuisance flooding improves flood risk management for highly populated coastal communities, such as in South Florida, USA, and provides a method to estimate community flood recovery time more accurately from two different sources, severe flooding events and nuisance flooding events.

Keywords: community resilience, conflation, flood risk, nuisance flooding

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