Search results for: value added intellectual coefficient

Authors: Sapfo A. Mortaki

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From the early 1960s and until the middle of the next decade, the lack of favorable conditions for the development of art along with the imposition of the 1967 military dictatorship resulted in a great flow of Greek artists abroad. The fall of the dictatorship and the change of the political scene after 1974 constitute crucial milestones in the cultural life of the country. In the field of visual arts significant changes are attempted in the state's effort to formulate a national cultural policy. This article examines the presence of Greek migrant artists (painters and sculptors) in Paris during the 1970s. Since the mid-1970s, and particularly in the early 1980s, Modern Greek Diaspora undergoes a new transition phase, when the concept of immigration changes. The aim of this study is to record and give prominence to the presence of the Greek artists -through archival research in the daily and periodical press- as well as present the impact of their artistic activity on French intellectual life and on the country’s society during this period. Furthermore, the presence and work of these artists are discussed in an environment of cultural coexistence which, to a certain extent, can be regarded as the result of the social phenomenon of their migration in the era of postmodernity. Finally, their contribution to the development of the cultural life of Greece, inside and outside its borders, is also being examined.

Keywords: art and society, cultural policy, Greek artists, postmodernity

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Authors: Kiyoumars Roushangar, Shabnam Mirheidarian

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This study proposes metamodel approaches as a new intelligent technique for the explicit formulation of friction factors of water conveyance structures. For this purpose, experimental data of a movable bed flume with dune bed form were used. Analyzing the result clears the high capability of metamodel approaches (MNE= 0.05, R= 0.92) as a powerful tool for optimizing and explicit simulation of Manning's roughness coefficients of water conveyance structures compared to other nonlinear approaches.

Keywords: intelligent techniques, explicit simulation, roughness coefficient, water conveyance structure

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Authors: Nuradeen Abdullahi Nadabo, Kasali Adewale Bello, Istifanus Chindo, Nurudeen Ayeni

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Ten acid dyes were synthesized from 1-amino-4-bromo anthraghinone-2 sulphuric acid by condensation with different substituted amilines. These dyes were characterized by IR Spectroscopy and the results revealed an incorporation of various substituents. Application of these dyes were carried out on Nylon and wool fabrics using standard procedure melting point, percentage yield, molar extinction coefficient, wash, light and staining of adjacent fibre, of these dyes were also evaluated and the results obtained are within a reasonable range acceptable for commercial dyes.

Keywords: acid dyes, dyeing, exhaustion, extinction co-efficient

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Authors: Z. Abdollahnejad, P. Torgal, J. Barroso Aguiar

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Publications on the field of alkali-activated binders, state that this new material is likely to have high potential to become an alternative to Portland cement. Classical alkali-activated cements could be made more eco-efficient if the use of sodium silicate is avoided. Besides, most alkali-activated cements suffer from severe efflorescence originated by the fact that alkaline and/or soluble silicates that are added during processing cannot be totally consumed. This paper presents experimental results on hybrid alkaline cements. Compressive strength results and efflorescence’s observations show that the new mixes already analyzed are promising. SEM results show that no traditional porous ITZ was detected in these binders.

Keywords: hybrid alkaline cements, compressive strength, efflorescence, SEM, ITZ

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Authors: Sunday B. Alabi, Edikan P. Felix, Aniediong M. Umo

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Crystal size distribution is of great importance in the sugar factories. It determines the market value of granulated sugar and also influences the cost of production of sugar crystals. Typically, sugar is produced using fed-batch vacuum evaporative crystallizer. The crystallization quality is examined by crystal size distribution at the end of the process which is quantified by two parameters: the average crystal size of the distribution in the mean aperture (MA) and the width of the distribution of the coefficient of variation (CV). Lack of real-time measurement of the sugar crystal size hinders its feedback control and eventual optimisation of the crystallization process. An attractive alternative is to use a soft sensor (model-based method) for online estimation of the sugar crystal size. Unfortunately, the available models for sugar crystallization process are not suitable as they do not contain variables that can be measured easily online. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a regression model for estimating the sugar crystal size as a function of input variables which are easy to measure online. This has the potential to provide real-time estimates of crystal size for its effective feedback control. Using 7 input variables namely: initial crystal size (Lo), temperature (T), vacuum pressure (P), feed flowrate (Ff), steam flowrate (Fs), initial super-saturation (S0) and crystallization time (t), preliminary studies were carried out using Minitab 14 statistical software. Based on the existing sugar crystallizer models, and the typical ranges of these 7 input variables, 128 datasets were obtained from a 2-level factorial experimental design. These datasets were used to obtain a simple but online-implementable 6-input crystal size model. It seems the initial crystal size (Lₒ) does not play a significant role. The goodness of the resulting regression model was evaluated. The coefficient of determination, R² was obtained as 0.994, and the maximum absolute relative error (MARE) was obtained as 4.6%. The high R² (~1.0) and the reasonably low MARE values are an indication that the model is able to predict sugar crystal size accurately as a function of the 6 easy-to-measure online variables. Thus, the model can be used as a soft sensor to provide real-time estimates of sugar crystal size during sugar crystallization process in a fed-batch vacuum evaporative crystallizer.

Keywords: crystal size, regression model, soft sensor, sugar, vacuum evaporative crystallizer

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Authors: Barun Raychaudhuri

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A methodology is proposed for estimating the optical attenuation and proportional depth variation of shallow inland water. The process is demonstrated with EO-1 Hyperion hyperspectral and IRS-P6 LISS-3 multispectral images of Kolkata city nearby area centered around 22º33′ N 88º26′ E. The attenuation coefficient of water was found to change with fine resolution of wavebands and in presence of suspended organic matter in water.

Keywords: hyperion, hyperspectral, Kolkata, water depth

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Authors: Harim Mohsin, Afshan Channa, Beena Saad

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The Kocher Debre Semelaigne Syndrome (KDSS) is known as cretinism muscular hypertrophy. It is an unusual presentation in intellectually deficit children, commonly associated with congenital or iatrogenic hypothyroidism. The creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) is usually elevated and it’s commonly found in males, consanguineous marriage and ages 18 months to 10 years. It might be misdiagnosed without the classical features of hypothyroidism at first presentation. We present a case of 15 year old intellectually deficit female with epilepsy managed on phenytoin. She had rigidity, myxedema, calf muscle hypertrophy and agitation. The patient was managed as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome due to raised CPK of 40,680 IU/L and mixed presentation. Nevertheless, no improvement was noticed and thyroid profile was done to exclude alternative resources. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was 74.5 IU, Free T3 1.22 ng/dl, and Free T4 0.43 ng/dl. Thyroxine was started along with change in antiepileptic leading to recovery. This case report highlights the inconsistent finding of KDSS. The female gender, non-consanguineous marriage, delayed onset with primarily neuromuscular symptoms, and raised CPK is a rare demonstration in KDSS. Additionally, thyroid profile is not routinely done, which can lead to misdiagnosis and mismanagement.

Keywords: cretinism, hypothyroidism, intellectual deficit, KDSS

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Authors: Z. Neffah, L. Merabti, N. Hatraf

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Absorption refrigeration technology has been used for cooling purposes over a hundred years. Today, the technology developments have made of the absorption refrigeration an economic and effective alternative to the vapour compression cooling cycle. A parametric study was conducted over the entire admissible ranges of the generator and absorber temperatures. On the other hand, simultaneously raising absorber temperatures was seen to result in deterioration of coefficient of performance. The influence of generator, absorber temperatures, as well as solution concentration on the different performance indicators was also calculated and examined.

Keywords: absorption system, Aqueous solution, chiller, water-lithium bromide

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Authors: Ali Babaei

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There is a significant relationship between Soul Faculties and human relationships. Man has at least three levels of relationship according to three levels of his Faculties: individual (with himself), dual (with another) and collective (with others). Since all human actions are organized by the type of use of their internal faculties, their "hierarchy of relations" is related to the "hierarchy of their Faculties." In the final explanation based on the ontology of Islamic wisdom, one can consider the hierarchy of human Faculties in three levels: 1. senses, 2. intellect and heart, and 3. Soul. The best relationship, in the individual one is that every human being, with healthy senses, achieves both the intellectual growth and the perfection of the heart, which we call "Clear-headed" and "Good-hearted.” The result of human evolution in this two aspects will lead to the development of a powerful personality which can be interpreted as "spiritual prosperity"; having a great soul is the result of such evolution. A smart brain without a "Good-heart"ince can lead to criminality; and mere "Good-heart"ince" without "Clear-head"ince leads to "naivety". “clear-head”ince is achieved through thoughtfulness and study, and "Good-heart"ince through love and worship. So the best way to achieve perfection in a personal relationship is to have a dependable appearance, a coherent thinking

Keywords: Ontology , good-heartince, wisdom, relationship, clear-head”ince, criminality, naivety

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Authors: M. O. Adda

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In this paper, we propose a topology called Zoned fat tree (Z-Fat tree) which is a further extension to the classical fat trees. The extension relates to the provision of extra degree of connectivity to maximize the number of deployed ports per routing nodes, and hence increases the bisection bandwidth especially for slimmed fat trees. The extra links, when classical routing is used, tend, in deterministic environment, to be under-utilized for some traffic patterns, hence achieving poor performance. We suggest two versions of a dynamic round robin scheme that outperforms the classical D-mod-k and S-mod-K routing and show by simulation that our proposal utilize all the extra added links to the classical fat tree, and achieve better performance for general applications.

Keywords: deterministic routing, fat tree, interconnection, traffic pattern

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Authors: Bailey Houghtaling, Sarah Misyak

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Food access; the availability, affordability, convenience, and desirability of food and beverage products within communities, is influential on consumers’ purchasing and consumption decisions. These variables may contribute to lower dietary quality scores and a higher obesity prevalence documented among rural and disadvantaged populations in the United States (U.S.). Current research assessing linkages between food access and obesity outcomes has primarily focused on distance to a traditional grocery/supermarket store as a measure of optimality. However, low-income consumers especially, including U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, seem to utilize non-traditional food store formats with greater frequency for household dietary needs. Non-traditional formats have been associated with less nutritious food and beverage options and consumer purchases that are high in saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium. Authors’ formative research indicated differences by U.S. region and rurality in the distribution of traditional and non-traditional SNAP-authorized food store formats. Therefore, using Virginia as a case study, the purpose of this research was to determine if a relationship between store format, rurality, and obesity exists. This research applied SNAP-authorized food store data (food access points for SNAP as well as non-SNAP consumers) and obesity prevalence data by Virginia county using publicly available databases: (1) SNAP Retailer Locator, and; (2) U.S. County Health Rankings. The alpha level was set a priori at 0.05. All Virginia SNAP-authorized stores (n=6,461) were coded by format – grocery, drug, mass merchandiser, club, convenience, dollar, supercenter, specialty, farmers market, independent grocer, and non-food store. Simple linear regression was applied primarily to assess the relationship between store format and obesity. Thereafter, multiple variables were added to the regression to account for potential moderating relationships (e.g., county income, rurality). Convenience, dollar, non-food or restaurant, mass merchandiser, farmers market, and independent grocer formats were significantly, positively related to obesity prevalence. Upon controlling for urban-rural status and income, results indicated the following formats to be significantly related to county obesity prevalence with a small, positive effect: convenience (p=0.010), accounting for 0.3% of the variance in obesity prevalence; dollar (p=0.005; 0.5% of the variance), and; non-food (p=0.030; 1.3% of the variance) formats. These results align with current literature on consumer behavior at non-traditional formats. For example, consumers’ food and beverage purchases at convenience and dollar stores are documented to be high in saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium. Further, non-food stores (i.e., quick-serve restaurants) often contribute to a large portion of U.S. consumers’ dietary intake and thus poor dietary quality scores. Current food access research investigates grocery/supermarket access and obesity outcomes. These results suggest more research is needed that focuses on non-traditional food store formats. Nutrition interventions within convenience, dollar, and non-food stores, for example, that aim to enhance not only healthy food access but the affordability, convenience, and desirability of nutritious food and beverage options may impact obesity rates in Virginia. More research is warranted utilizing the presented investigative framework in other U.S. and global regions to explore the role and the potential of non-traditional food store formats to prevent and reduce obesity.

Keywords: food access, food store format, non-traditional food stores, obesity prevalence

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Authors: Haile Araya Nigusse, Hiram M. Ndiritu, Robert Kiplimo

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Energy consumption is an indispensable component for the continued development of the human population. The global energy demand increases with development and population rise. The increase in energy demand, high cost of fossil fuels and the link between energy utilization and environmental impacts have resulted in the need for a sustainable approach to the utilization of the low grade energy resources. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plant is an advantageous technology that can be applied in generation of power from low temperature brine of geothermal reservoirs. The power plant utilizes a low boiling organic working fluid such as a refrigerant or a hydrocarbon. Researches indicated that the performance of ORC power plant is highly dependent upon factors such as proper organic working fluid selection, types of heat exchangers (condenser and evaporator) and turbine used. Despite a high pressure drop, shell-tube heat exchangers have satisfactory performance for ORC power plants. This study involved the design, fabrication and performance assessment of the components of a model Organic Rankine Cycle power plant to utilize the low grade geothermal brine. Two shell and tube heat exchangers (evaporator and condenser) and a single stage impulse turbine have been designed, fabricated and the performance assessment of each component has been conducted. Pentane was used as a working fluid and hot water simulating the geothermal brine. The results of the experiment indicated that the increase in mass flow rate of hot water by 0.08 kg/s caused a rise in overall heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator by 17.33% and the heat transferred was increased by 6.74%. In the condenser, the increase of cooling water flow rate from 0.15 kg/s to 0.35 kg/s increased the overall heat transfer coefficient by 1.21% and heat transferred was increased by 4.26%. The shaft speed varied from 1585 to 4590 rpm as inlet pressure was varied from 0.5 to 5.0 bar and power generated was varying from 4.34 to 14.46W. The results of the experiments indicated that the performance of each component of the model Organic Rankine Cycle power plant operating at low temperature heat resources was satisfactory.

Keywords: brine, heat exchanger, ORC, turbine

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Authors: S. J. Yune, K. H. Park

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The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of medical students in volunteer activities and to draw implications for medical education. For this purpose, the questionnaire and the reflection essay on the volunteer experience of 54 students in the first year and 57 students in the second year were analyzed and analyzed. As a result, the participation of the students in the volunteer activities was the highest in the first semester and once a month in the second grade. Activities were mostly through volunteer organizations. The essence of the volunteering activities experience revealed through reflection essays was 'I want to avoid with fear' and 'I feel far away' in the recognition before volunteering activities. In terms of knowledge after participating in volunteer activities, 'breaking eggs and getting to know the world' and 'intellectual growth through social experience' appeared. In terms of attitude, it revealed 'deep reflection on me and others', 'understanding of service life'. And in terms of behavior, 'Begin preparing for a life of service' appeared. The results of this study revealed that volunteering activities provide students with opportunities for growth and development. In order to obtain more meaningful results, consciousness education related to social service should be done in advance.

Keywords: volunteering activity, pre-medical school student, reflection essay, qualitative analysis

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Authors: Matheus Nunes, Rafael Mendes, Taygoara Felamingo Oliveira, Antonio Brasil Junior

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Wind tunnel experiments of horizontal axis propeller hydrokinetic turbines model were carried out, in order to determine the performance behavior for different configurations and operational range. The present experiments introduce the use of two different geometries of rear diffusers to enhance the performance of the free flow machine. The present paper reports an increase of the power coefficient about 50%-80%. It represents an important feature that has to be taken into account in the design of this kind of machine.

Keywords: diffuser-enhanced turbines, hydrokinetic turbine, wind tunnel experiments, micro hydro

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Authors: C. Soffritti, A. Fortini, E. Baroni, M. Merlin, G. L. Garagnani

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Aluminum alloys are widely used in many engineering applications due to their advantages such ashigh electrical and thermal conductivities, low density, high strength to weight ratio, and good corrosion resistance. However, their low hardness and poor tribological properties still limit their use in industrial fields requiring sliding contacts. Hard anodizing is one of the most common solution for overcoming issues concerning the insufficient friction resistance of aluminum alloys. In this work, the tribological behavior ofhard-anodized AW-4006 aluminum alloys in dry and lubricated conditions was evaluated. Three different hard-anodizing treatments were selected: a conventional one (HA) and two innovative golden hard-anodizing treatments (named G and GP, respectively), which involve the sealing of the porosity of anodic aluminum oxides (AAO) with silver ions at different temperatures. Before wear tests, all AAO layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM/EDS), X-ray diffractometry, roughness (Ra and Rz), microhardness (HV0.01), nanoindentation, and scratch tests. Wear tests were carried out according to the ASTM G99-17 standard using a ball-on-disc tribometer. The tests were performed in triplicate under a 2 Hz constant frequency oscillatory motion, a maximum linear speed of 0.1 m/s, normal loads of 5, 10, and 15 N, and a sliding distance of 200 m. A 100Cr6 steel ball10 mm in diameter was used as counterpart material. All tests were conducted at room temperature, in dry and lubricated conditions. Considering the more recent regulations about the environmental hazard, four bio-lubricants were considered after assessing their chemical composition (in terms of Unsaturation Number, UN) and viscosity: olive, peanut, sunflower, and soybean oils. The friction coefficient was provided by the equipment. The wear rate of anodized surfaces was evaluated by measuring the cross-section area of the wear track with a non-contact 3D profilometer. Each area value, obtained as an average of four measurements of cross-section areas along the track, was used to determine the wear volume. The worn surfaces were analyzed by VPSEM/EDS. Finally, in agreement with DoE methodology, a statistical analysis was carried out to identify the most influencing factors on the friction coefficients and wear rates. In all conditions, results show that the friction coefficient increased with raising the normal load. Considering the wear tests in dry sliding conditions, irrespective of the type of anodizing treatments, metal transfer between the mating materials was observed over the anodic aluminum oxides. During sliding at higher loads, the detachment of the metallic film also caused the delamination of some regions of the wear track. For the wear tests in lubricated conditions, the natural oils with high percentages of oleic acid (i.e., olive and peanut oils) maintained high friction coefficients and low wear rates. Irrespective of the type of oil, smallmicrocraks were visible over the AAO layers. Based on the statistical analysis, the type of anodizing treatment and magnitude of applied load were the main factors of influence on the friction coefficient and wear rate values. Nevertheless, an interaction between bio-lubricants and load magnitude could occur during the tests.

Keywords: hard anodizing treatment, silver ions, bio-lubricants, sliding wear, statistical analysis

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Authors: Temitayo Olaitan

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There is a growing concern about the quality of Nigerian tertiary education. This paper maintains that quality in tertiary education relates to the development of intellectual independence, which sharpens the minds of the individual and helps transform the society economically, socially and politically. However, the paper underscores underfunding as a critical challenge to the quality of teaching and learning in tertiary education. To this end, this paper emphasizes the role of internally generated revenue (IGR) and other alternative funding strategies (public-private partnership) as inevitable for quality tertiary education. This paper hinges on stakeholders approach as a means of ensuring quality teaching and learning in tertiary education. This paper recommends that school managers should seek professional and more efficient ways of developing their revenue generating systems. It also recommends that institutions should restructure to accommodate an alternative funding strategy such as private/corporate sponsorship to ensure that sustainable initiatives are created. The paper concludes that Nigerian government should come up with a policy on how private sectors should support in improving the quality of tertiary education through active participation in funding and physical facilities development in Nigerian higher institutions of learning.

Keywords: alternative funding, budgetary allocation, quality education, tertiary education

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Authors: Anna M. Salejda, Urszula Tril, Grażyna Krasnowska

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The aim of this study was to analyze selected quality characteristics of cooked pork sausages manufactured with the addition of Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) berries preparations. Stuffings of model sausages consisted of pork, backfat, water and additives such a curing salt and sodium isoascorbate. Functional additives used in production process were two preparations obtained from dried Sea buckthorn berries in form of powder and brew. Powder of dried berries was added in amount of 1 and 3 g, while water infusion as a replacement of 50 and 100% ice water included in meat products formula. Control samples were produced without functional additives. Experimental stuffings were heat treated in water bath and stored for 4 weeks under cooled conditions (4±1ºC). Physical parameters of colour, texture profile and technological parameters as acidity, weight losses and water activity were estimated. The effect of Sea buckthorn berries preparations on lipid oxidation during storage of final products was determine by TBARS method. Studies have shown that addition of Sea buckthorn preparations to meat-fatty batters significant (P≤0.05) reduced the pH values of sausages samples after thermal treatment. Moreover, the addition of berries powder caused significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in weight losses after cooking process. Analysis of results of texture profile analysis indicated, that utilization of infusion prepared from Sea buckthorn dried berries caused increase of springiness, gumminess and chewiness of final meat products. At the same time, the highest amount of Sea buckthorn berries powder in recipe caused the decrease of all measured texture parameters. Utilization of experimental preparations significantly decreased (P≤0.05) lightness (L* parameter of color) of meat products. Simultaneously, introduction of 1 and 3 grams of Sea buckthorn berries powder to meat-fatty batter increased redness (a* parameter) of samples under investigation. Higher content of substances reacting with thiobarbituric acid was observed in meat products produced without functional additives. It was observed that powder of Sea buckthorn berries added to meat-fatty batters caused higher protection against lipid oxidation in cooked sausages.

Keywords: sea buckthorn, meat products, texture, color parameters, lipid oxidation

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Authors: Yih-Chien Chen, Yu-Cheng You

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The microwave dielectric properties of La2MoO6 ceramics were investigated with a view to their application in mobile communication. La2MoO6 ceramics were prepared by the conventional solid-state method with various sintering conditions. The X-ray diffraction peaks of La2MoO6 ceramic did not vary significantly with sintering conditions. The average grain size of La2MoO6 ceramics increased as the temperature and time of sintering increased. A maximum density of 5.67 g/cm3, a dielectric constants (εr) of 14.1, a quality factor (Q×f) of 68,000 GHz, and a temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τf) of -56 ppm/℃ were obtained when La2MoO6 ceramics that were sintered at 1300 ℃ for 4h.

Keywords: ceramics, sintering, microwave dielectric properties, La2MoO6

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Authors: E. Kharaishvili

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The paper shows the necessity of farm diversification in accordance with the current trends in agricultural sector of Georgia. The possibilities for the diversification and the corresponding economic policy are suggested. The causes that hinder diversification of farms are revealed, possibilities of diversification are suggested and the ability of increasing employment through diversification is proved. Index of harvest diversification is calculated based on the areas used for cereals and legumes, potatoes and vegetables and other food crops. Crop and livestock production indexes are analyzed, correlation between crop capacity index and value-added per one worker and one ha is studied. Based on the research farm diversification strategies and priorities of corresponding economic policy are presented. Based on the conclusions relevant recommendations are suggested.

Keywords: farm diversification, diversification index, agricultural development policy

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Authors: Ron Dick, P. S. D. V. Prasadarao, Glenn Coltman

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Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is a failure to develop corpus callosum - the large bundle of fibers of the brain that connects the two cerebral hemispheres. It can occur as a partial or complete absence of the corpus callosum. In the general population, its estimated prevalence rate is 1 in 4000 and a wide range of genetic, infectious, vascular, and toxic causes have been attributed to this heterogeneous condition. The diagnosis of ACC is often achieved by neuroimaging procedures. Though persons with ACC can perform normally on intelligence tests they generally present with a range of neuropsychological and social deficits. The deficit profile is characterized by poor coordination of motor movements, slow reaction time, processing speed and, poor memory. Socially, they present with deficits in communication, language processing, the theory of mind, and interpersonal relationships. The present paper illustrates the role of neuropsychological assessment with implications to psychosocial management in a case of agenesis of the corpus callosum. Method: A 27-year old left handed Caucasian male with a history of ACC was self-referred for a neuropsychological assessment to assist him in his employment options. Parents noted significant difficulties with coordination and balance at an early age of 2-3 years and he was diagnosed with dyspraxia at the age of 14 years. History also indicated visual impairment, hypotonia, poor muscle coordination, and delayed development of motor milestones. MRI scan indicated agenesis of the corpus callosum with ventricular morphology, widely spaced parallel lateral ventricles and mild dilatation of the posterior horns; it also showed colpocephaly—a disproportionate enlargement of the occipital horns of the lateral ventricles which might be affecting his motor abilities and visual defects. The MRI scan ruled out other structural abnormalities or neonatal brain injury. At the time of assessment, the subject presented with such problems as poor coordination, slowed processing speed, poor organizational skills and time management, and difficulty with social cues and facial expressions. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was planned and conducted to assist in identifying the current neuropsychological profile to facilitate the formulation of a psychosocial and occupational rehabilitation programme. Results: General intellectual functioning was within the average range and his performance on memory-related tasks was adequate. Significant visuospatial and visuoconstructional deficits were evident across tests; constructional difficulties were seen in tasks such as copying a complex figure, building a tower and manipulating blocks. Poor visual scanning ability and visual motor speed were evident. Socially, the subject reported heightened social anxiety, difficulty in responding to cues in the social environment, and difficulty in developing intimate relationships. Conclusion: Persons with ACC are known to present with specific cognitive deficits and problems in social situations. Findings from the current neuropsychological assessment indicated significant visuospatial difficulties, poor visual scanning and problems in social interactions. His general intellectual functioning was within the average range. Based on the findings from the comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, a structured psychosocial rehabilitation programme was developed and recommended.

Keywords: agenesis, callosum, corpus, neuropsychology, psychosocial, rehabilitation

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Authors: Paul M. H. J. Roekaerts

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In recent years, it became clear that much intensive care (ICU) survivors develop a post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) consisting of psychiatric, cognitive and physical problems for a prolonged period after their ICU stay. Physical inactivity and delirium during the ICU stay are the main determinants of the post-ICU PICS. This presentation will focus on delirium, its epidemiology, prevalence, effect on outcome, risk factors and the current standard of care for managing delirium. Because ICU delirium is a predictor of prolonged length-of-stay in the ICU and of death, the use of a delirium prevention bundle (DPB) becomes mandatory in every ICU. In this presentation, a DPB bundle will be discussed consisting of six components: pain, sedation, sleep, sensory and intellectual stimulation, early mobilization, and hydration. For every of the six components, what to do and what not to do will be discussed. The author will present his own institutional policy on pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in the management of delirium. The component ‘early mobilization’ will be discussed more in detail, as this component is extremely important in the prevention of delirium as well as in the prevention of the PICS. The author will conclude his presentation with the remaining areas of uncertainties/work and research to be done.

Keywords: delirium, delirium prevention bundle, early mobilisation in intensive care (ICU), post-intensive care syndrome (PICS)

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Authors: Aber Salem Aboalgasm, Rupert Ward

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Teaching art by digital means is a big challenge for the majority of teachers of art and artistic design courses in primary education schools. These courses can clearly identify relationships between art, technology and creativity in the classroom .The aim of this article is to present a modern way of teaching art, using digital tools in the art classroom in order to improve creative ability in pupils aged between 9 and 11 years; it also presents a conceptual model for creativity based on digital art. The model could be useful for pupils interested in learning drawing and using an e-drawing package, and for teachers who are interested in teaching their students modern digital art, and improving children’s creativity. This model is designed to show the strategy of teaching art through technology, in order for children to learn how to be creative. This will also help education providers to make suitable choices about which technological approaches they should choose to teach students and enhance their creative ability. To define the digital art tools that can benefit children develop their technical skills. It is also expected that use of this model will help to develop social interactive qualities that may improve intellectual ability.

Keywords: digital tools, motivation, creative activity, technical skill

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Authors: Mina Darabi Amin

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In 1972, Hans Robert Jauss introduced the Reception Theory a version of Reader-response criticism, that suggests the literary critics to re-examine the relationship between the author, the work and the reader. The revealing of these relationships has shown that, besides the creation, the reception and the reading of the text have different levels which exempt it from a continuous reference to the meaning intended by the artist and could lead to multiplicity of possible interpretations according to the ‘Horizon of Expectations’. This theory could be associated with another intellectual process called ‘translation’, a process that is always confronted by different levels of readers in the target language and different levels of reception by these readers. By adopting the perspective of Reception theory in translation, we could ignore a particular kind of translation and consider the initiation to a literary text, its translation and its reception as a continuous process. Just like the creation of the text, the translation and its reception, are not made once and for all; they are confronted with different levels of reception and interpretation which are made and remade endlessly. After having known and crossing the first levels, the Horizons of Expectation could be extended and the reader could be initiated to the higher levels. On the other hand, we could say that the faithful and free translation are not opposed to each other, but depending on the type of reception by the readers and in a particular moment, the existence of both is necessary. In fact, it is the level of reception in readers and their Horizon of Expectations that determine the degree of fidelity and freedom of translation.

Keywords: reception theory, reading, literary translation, horizons of expectation, reader

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Authors: Armin Samarghandi, Amirreza Jafari, Mohamad Ghiasi

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Numerous assertions and some empirical evidence imply that 'green' buildings ought to be more productive and healthier (mentally and physiologically) than conventional structures. Since then, empirical data has been equivocal, indicating either that the studies are inaccurate or that the research has just scratched the surface of green buildings in offices, accommodation, and hospital settings and not taken the aforementioned holistically. This study compared four green-certified buildings -one residential green building, one green hospital, and one green school- with conventional structures in Tehran, Iran, by means of a questionnaire spread among those utilizing these buildings, and assessing their productivity and health rate as opposed to the time they resided, worked in conventional buildings. The results demonstrated higher scores pertaining to productivity and physical and mental wellness as a consequence of better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), natural lighting, design, and sustainability of these buildings against non-green buildings. In addition, ancillary matters -environmental, financial, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of participants- were indirectly evaluated, and the same results were produced.

Keywords: green building, LEED, productivity, physical and mental health, indoor environmental quality

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Authors: A. Bayat, R. Bello-Mendoza, D. G. Wareham

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Two major categories of green waste are fruit and vegetable (FV) waste and garden and yard (GY) waste. Although, anaerobic digestions (AD) is able to manage FV waste; there is less confidence in the conditions for AD to handle GY wastes (grass, leaves, trees and bush trimmings); mainly because GY contains lignin and other recalcitrant organics. GY in the dry state (TS ≥ 15 %) can be digested at mesophilic temperatures; however, little methane data has been reported under thermophilic conditions, where conceivably better methane yields could be achieved. In addition, it is suspected that at lower solids concentrations, the methane yield could be increased. As such, the aim of this research is to find the temperature and solids concentration conditions that produce the most methane; under two different temperature regimes (mesophilic, thermophilic) and three solids states (i.e. 'dry', 'semi-dry' and 'wet'). Twenty liters of GY waste was collected from a public park located in the northern district in Tehran. The clippings consisted of freshly cut grass as well as dry branches and leaves. The GY waste was chopped before being fed into a mechanical blender that reduced it to a paste-like consistency. An initial TS concentration of approximately 38 % was achieved. Four hundred mL of anaerobic inoculum (average total solids (TS) concentration of 2.03 ± 0.131 % of which 73.4% were volatile solid (VS), soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) of 4.59 ± 0.3 g/L) was mixed with the GY waste substrate paste (along with distilled water) to achieve a TS content of approximately 20 %. For comparative purposes, approximately 20 liters of FV waste was ground in the same manner as the GY waste. Since FV waste has a much higher natural water content than GY, it was dewatered to obtain a starting TS concentration in the dry solid-state range (TS ≥ 15 %). Three samples were dewatered to an average starting TS concentration of 32.71 %. The inoculum was added (along with distilled water) to dilute the initial FV TS concentrations down to semi-dry conditions (10-15 %) and wet conditions (below 10 %). Twelve 1-L batch bioreactors were loaded simultaneously with either GY or FV waste at TS solid concentrations ranging from 3.85 ± 1.22 % to 20.11 ± 1.23 %. The reactors were sealed and were operated for 30 days while being immersed in water baths to maintain a constant temperature of 37 ± 0.5 °C (mesophilic) or 55 ± 0.5 °C (thermophilic). A maximum methane yield of 115.42 (L methane/ kg VS added) was obtained for the GY thermophilic-wet AD combination. Methane yield was enhanced by 240 % compared to the GY waste mesophilic-dry condition. The results confirm that high temperature regimes and small solids concentrations are conditions that enhance methane yield from GY waste. A similar trend was observed for the anaerobic digestion of FV waste. Furthermore, a maximum value of VS (53 %) and sCOD (84 %) reduction was achieved during the AD of GY waste under the thermophilic-wet condition.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, thermophilic, mesophilic, total solids concentration

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Authors: Yueming Li

Abstract:

This paper analyzes Lou Ye’s Summer Palace (2006), an autobiographical film of the Sixth Generation of Directors in Mainland China, from the approaches of inter-textual analysis and intellectual history. It highlights the film’s reconstruction of the June 4th Incident as an intermediary device for the revival and haunting of the 1980s’ New Enlightenment Movement. The paper demonstrates how the June 4th Incident unfolds as historical trauma and collective experience of the Generation through Lou’s flickering narrative in both plot organization and visual representation, under an individualized and internal viewpoint. It further proposes that these revenants of the June 4th Incident translate into “realms of memory,” which lend themselves for biographical and historical reconstruction of the June 4th Incident based on a politics of embodiment. Through this, Lou and his contemporaries acquire agency to actively respond to the June 4th Incident as an “intimate revolt.” In this sense, the film revisits the New Enlightenment Movement in that they similarly construct rebellious connotations in a seemingly depoliticized manner. As the paper examines how an autobiographical film reconstructs, revisits, and responds to a historical event and its absence, it answers how individuals’ agency intertwines with and counteracts their historical living contexts.

Keywords: new enlightenment movement, summer palace, the June 4th incident, the sixth generation of directors

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Logaiswari Indiran, Zainab Khalifah, Kamariah Ismail

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Business incubators have now been recognized as effective tools in providing business assistance to start-up firms. In both developed and developing countries, the number of incubators is growing tremendously. As the birth rate of incubators increases, so do its challenges. Malaysia, as one of the developing countries in the Asian continent, has also established a number of business incubators to breed and foster the growth and survival of start-up firms. Thus, this study discusses the incubation model applied in Malaysia and the challenges faced by these incubators using secondary data including policies, previous literature, and reports related to Malaysian incubators. The findings of this study call the government to rethink the key role of incubator managers and staffs, internal structure of the incubator concept and process, intellectual properties management, strategic alliances with universities-industries and funding supports in enhancing the support provided by the business incubators in Malaysia. The key challenges highlighted in this study signal important policy lessons for other developing countries that aim to create and map an effective business incubator ecosystem.

Keywords: business incubators, incubation challenges, funding support, incubator managers, internal structure, start-up firms

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Jiahao Tian, Michael D. Porter

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Law enforcement agencies are tasked with crime prevention and crime reduction under limited resources. Having an accurate temporal estimate of the crime rate would be valuable to achieve such a goal. However, estimation is usually complicated by the interval-censored nature of crime data. We cast the problem of intensity estimation as a Poisson regression using an EM algorithm to estimate the parameters. Two special penalties are added that provide smoothness over the time of day and day of the week. This approach presented here provides accurate intensity estimates and can also uncover day-of-week clusters that share the same intensity patterns. Anticipating where and when crimes might occur is a key element to successful policing strategies. However, this task is complicated by the presence of interval-censored data. The censored data refers to the type of data that the event time is only known to lie within an interval instead of being observed exactly. This type of data is prevailing in the field of criminology because of the absence of victims for certain types of crime. Despite its importance, the research in temporal analysis of crime has lagged behind the spatial component. Inspired by the success of solving crime-related problems with a statistical approach, we propose a statistical model for the temporal intensity estimation of crime with censored data. The model is built on Poisson regression and has special penalty terms added to the likelihood. An EM algorithm was derived to obtain maximum likelihood estimates, and the resulting model shows superior performance to the competing model. Our research is in line with the smart policing initiative (SPI) proposed by the Bureau Justice of Assistance (BJA) as an effort to support law enforcement agencies in building evidence-based, data-driven law enforcement tactics. The goal is to identify strategic approaches that are effective in crime prevention and reduction. In our case, we allow agencies to deploy their resources for a relatively short period of time to achieve the maximum level of crime reduction. By analyzing a particular area within cities where data are available, our proposed approach could not only provide an accurate estimate of intensities for the time unit considered but a time-variation crime incidence pattern. Both will be helpful in the allocation of limited resources by either improving the existing patrol plan with the understanding of the discovery of the day of week cluster or supporting extra resources available.

Keywords: cluster detection, EM algorithm, interval censoring, intensity estimation

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Yi Yang

Abstract:

In the era of 'Internet plus', the rapid development of webcast has posed new challenges to the intellectual property law. Meanwhile, traditional copyright protection has also exposed the existing theoretical imbalance in webcast. Through the analysis of the outstanding problems in the copyright protection of the network live broadcast, this paper points out that the main causes of the problems are the unclear nature of the copyright of the network live broadcast, the copyright protection system of the game network live broadcast has not yet been constructed, and the copyright infringement of the pan entertainment live broadcast is mostly, and so on. Based on the current practice, this paper puts forward the specific thinking of the protection path of online live broadcast copyright. First of all, to provide a reasonable judicial solution for a large number of online live copyright cases, we need to integrate the right scope and regulatory behavior of broadcasting right and information network communication right. Secondly, in order to protect the rights of network anchors, the webcast should be regarded as works. Thirdly, in order to protect the copyright of webcast and prevent the infringement of copyright by webcast, the webcast platform will be used as an intermediary to provide solutions for solving the judicial dilemma. In the era of 'Internet plus', it is a theoretical attempt to explore the protection and method of copyright protection on webcast, which has positive guiding significance for judicial practice.

Keywords: 'Internet Plus' era, webcast, copyright, protection dilemma

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Authors: Mehdi Ketabchi, Shamsollah Alijanlou

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The flue gas from fossil fuels combustion contains harmful pollutants dangerous for human health and the environment. One of the air pollution control methods to restrict the emission of these pollutants is based on using the nanoparticle in the adsorption process. In the present research gamma, Nano-alumina particle is added to Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer through simple loading method and the adsorption capacity of the wet spun fiber is investigated. The results of exposure the fiber to the acid gasses including SO2, CO, NO2, NO and CO2 show the noticeable increase of gas adsorption capacity on fiber contains nanoparticle. The research has been conducted in Acrylic II Plant of Polyacryl Iran Corporation.

Keywords: acrylic fiber, adsorbent, wet spun, nano gamma alumina

Procedia PDF Downloads 314