Search results for: daily%20gain

Authors: Fatai Olakunle Ogundele

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Road construction is increasingly common in today's world as human development expands and people increasingly rely on cars for transportation on a daily basis. The construction of a large network of roads has dramatically altered the landscape and impacted well-being in a number of deleterious ways. In addition, the road can also shift population demographics and be a source of pollution into the environment. Road construction activities normally result in changes in alteration of the soil's physical properties through soil compaction on the road itself and on adjacent areas and chemical and biological properties, among other effects. Understanding roadside soil properties that are influenced by road construction activities can serve as a basis for formulating conservation-based management strategies. Therefore, this study examined the effects of road construction on soil properties and soil organic carbon along Lagos Badagry Expressway, Lagos, Nigeria. The study adopted purposive sampling techniques and 40 soil samples were collected at a depth of 0 – 30cm from each of the identified road intersections and infrastructures using a soil auger. The soil samples collected were taken to the laboratory for soil properties and carbon stock analysis using standard methods. Both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were applied to analyze the data obtained. The results revealed that soil compaction inhibits ecological succession on roadsides in that increased compaction suppresses plant growth as well as causes changes in soil quality.

Keywords: highway, soil properties, organic carbon, road construction, land degradation

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Authors: Saranchuluun Otgon, Sugarmaa Myagmarjav, Khorolsuren Lkhagvasuren, Fabio Casati

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Background: Flourishing is a eudaimonic dimension of psychological well-being that has been associated with positive social and health-related outcomes. Determining the factors associated with health and well-being is important to the development of evidence-based intervention programs, policies, and action plans targeting the older adult population, especially in low- and middle-income countries, such as Mongolia, where evidence-based research on aging, health, and well-being is still scarce. This study makes important contributions to the study of well-being in later age and also to policy activities for the older population in Mongolia. Methods: We employed multiple regression models to predict the factors of flourishing using data from 304 older adults living in urban and rural Mongolia. Data is collected by the standardized and validated questionnaire adopted by Ed Diener. Results: The median score of the flourishing of urban and rural older adults in Mongolia was significantly different, 53 and 50, respectively. The sex (β = 2.52,p = 0.034), level of education(β = 0.94, p = 0.026), receive help for the activity of daily living (β = 2.16, p = 0.022) determine the flourishing of older adults living in a rural area, while self-reported health (β = 0.94, p = 0.026), the number of social activities, friends network determine to flourish of older adults living urban area. Conclusion: Older adults who live in urban areas have more psychological resources and strengths than those in rural areas. Determinants of flourishing are different in different settings. For instance, individual and family factors determine flourishing in rural areas, and social ties determine flourishing in urban areas.

Keywords: flourishing, predictors, older adults, Mongolia, psychological well-being

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Authors: Rajnish Gourh, Nitesh Sharma, Nikhil Patil

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Introduction: Adequate nutrition is essential for improving pregnancy and its outcomes. Failure to comply with the required daily intake of nutrition can lead to complications threatening both mother and child survival. Objectives: To provide access to nutritious diet to mothers in antenatal and post-natal stage for supporting a healthy progressive pregnancy, positive delivery outcome, and lactation and to promote regular consumption of the foods by the mothers and help overcome the dietary gap by nutrition education during pregnancy time. Methodology: Total of 95 ANC mothers were identified from Malvada PHC area, in Palghar district of Maharashtra. This short-term cohort intended for the proposed supplementation and education was targeted for follow-up until birth and six-months of post-natal period. In month of May 2016 to June 2017. Results: Average weight of women was observed 40.01kg, (SD- 5.024) at registered for ANC at Centre in the first month. In same month, average Haemoglobin level of women was observed 9.13gm/dl. Average increase in weight of women during pregnancy in month October 2016 was 48.83kg. Birth weight of 14 babies was less than 2 kgs. 13 babies with birth weight in range of 2.1kgs to 2.4kgs. 68 babies with birth weight in range of 2.5kg to 3kg and above. Conclusion: Importance of consumption of food, improving levels of nutrient intake and outcome of delivery was excellent.

Keywords: delivery status, nutrition, pregnancy, education

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Authors: Susan K. Steele-Moses, Aimee Badeaux

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Background Literature: Nurse anesthesia education placed high demands on students both personally and professionally. High levels of anxiety affect student’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being, which impacts their student success. Whereas more research has focused on the health and well-being of graduate students, far less has focused specifically on nurse anesthesia students (SNRAs), who may experience higher levels of anxiety due to the rigor of their academic program. Current literature describes stressors experienced by SRNAs that cause anxiety and affect their performance, including personal, academic, clinical, interpersonal, emotional, and financial. Sample: DNP-NA 2025 and DNP-NA 2024 cohorts (N = 36). Eighteen (66.7%) students participated in the study. Instrumentation: The DASS-21 was used to measure stress (7 items; α = .87) and anxiety (7 items; α = .74) from the participants. Intervention: The mind-shift meditation app, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, is being used daily before clinical and exams to decrease nurse anesthesia students’ stress and anxiety over time. Results: At baseline, the students exhibited a moderate level of stress, but their anxiety levels were low. The range of scores was 4-21 (out of 28) for stress (M = 12.88; SD = 5.40) and 0-16 (out of 28) for anxiety (M = 6.81; SD = 5.04). Both stress and anxiety were normally distributed [SW = .242 (stress); SW = .210 (anxiety)] without any outliers. There was a significant difference between their stress and anxiety levels (t = 5.55; p < .001) at baseline. Stress and anxiety will be measured over time, with the change analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Implications for Practice: The use of purposeful mindfulness meditation has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety in nursing students.

Keywords: mindfulness, meditation, graduate nursing education, nursing education

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Authors: Chaiyawat Musikapan, Ratchatin Chancharoen, Saknan Bongsebandhu-Phubhakdi

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For many recent years, soft robotic fingers were used for supporting the patients who had survived the neurological diseases that resulted in muscular disorders and neural network damages, such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease, and inflammatory symptoms such as De Quervain and trigger finger. Generally, the major hand function is significant to manipulate objects in activities of daily living (ADL). In this work, we proposed the model of soft actuator that manufactured by full 3D printing without the molding process and one material for use. Furthermore, we designed the model with a technique of multi cavitation cells (MC-Cells). Then, we demonstrated the curvature bending, fluidic pressure and force that generated to the model for assistive finger flexor and hand grasping. Also, the soft actuators were characterized in mathematics solving by the length of chord and arc length. In addition, we used an adaptive push-button switch machine to measure the force in our experiment. Consequently, we evaluated biomechanics efficiency by the range of motion (ROM) that affected to metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP), proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) and distal interphalangeal joint (DIP). Finally, the model achieved to exhibit the corresponding fluidic pressure with force and ROM to assist the finger flexor and hand grasping.

Keywords: biomechanics efficiency, curvature bending, hand functional assistance, multi cavitation cells (MC-Cells), range of motion (ROM)

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Authors: S. Abbasi, M. R. Hadian, M. Abdolvahab, M. Jalili, S. H. Jalaei

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Background: Rehabilitation treatments have significant role in reducing the disabilities of Cerebro Vascular Accident (CVA). Due to great role of upper limb in the function of individuals particularly in Activity of Daily Living and the effect of stability of shoulder girdle on hand function, the aim of this study was to study the effects of Progressive Resistive Exercise on shoulder extensor and abductor muscles isometric strengths in adult hemiplegic. Methods: 17 adult hemiplegics patients (50-70 yrs., mean 60/52, SD7/22); with RT side dominancy and 6 months after stroke, participated in this study. All procedures were approved by ethical committee of TUMS and written consents were also taken. Patients were familiarized with the procedure and shoulder extensor and abductor muscles isometric strengths were measured by dynamometer. Results: according to result to our study, shoulder extensor and abductor muscles isometric strengths showed Significant differences between mean scores of pre and post intervention (P<0/05). Progressive Resistive Exercise improved 34% shoulder extensor muscles isometric strength and 27% shoulder abductor muscle isometric strength. Conclusion: Results of our research showed that progressive resistive exercise approach is a useful method for increasing the isometric strength of shoulder extensor and abductor muscles. Therefore, it might be concluded that improvement of strength of shoulder muscles could result in stability in shoulder girdle and consequently might effect on hand function in hemiplegic patients.

Keywords: shoulder extensor muscles isometric strength, shoulder abductor muscles isometric strength, hemiplegic, physical therapy

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Authors: Abdullah Almatouq, Abdulla Abusam, Hussain Hussain, Mishari Khajah, Hussain Abdullah, Rashed Al-Yaseen, Mariam Al-Jumaa, Farah Al-Ajeel, Mohammad Aljassam

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Due to the high demand for energy from unsustainable resources in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government has focused recently on using sustainable resources for energy, such as solar and wind energy. In addition, sludge which is generated as a by-product of physical, chemical, and biological processes during wastewater treatment, can be used as a substrate to generate energy through anaerobic digestion. Kuwait’s wastewater treatment plants produce more than 1.7 million m3 of sludge per year, and this volume is accumulated in the treatment plants without any treatment. Therefore, a pilot-scale (3 m3) two-stage anaerobic digester was constructed in one of the largest treatment plants in Kuwait. The reactor was operated in batch mode, and the hydraulic retention time varied between 14 – 27 days. The main of this study is to evaluate the technical feasibility of a two-stage anaerobic digester for sludge treatability and energy generation in Kuwait. The anaerobic digester achieved a total biogas production of 37 m3, and the highest value of daily biogas production was 0.4 m3/day. The methane content ranged between 50 % and 66 %, and the other gases were as follows: CO2 20 %, H2S 13 %, and 1 % O2. The generated biogas was used on-site for cooking and lighting. In some batches, low C/N was noticed, and that lead to maintaining the concentration of CH4 between 50%-55%. In conclusion, an anaerobic digester is an environmentally friendly technology that can be applied in Kuwait, and the obtained results support the scale-up of the process in all the treatment plants.

Keywords: wastewater, metahne, biogas production potential, anaerobic digestion

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Authors: Luciano E. Sewaybricker

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Psychology has faced many challenges in order to claim its right to study happiness. Probably the major issue has been to present a clear definition of happiness, which has a long history outside the scientific field and has been used imprecisely in the daily life. Even after years of great improvement, different meanings of happiness still have been seen in academic studies. This scenario allows to question if any definition is consistent enough to sustain the recent findings of the psychological processes behind happiness. Moreover, does it make sense to seek a single definition of happiness? By investigating the history of happiness and the theoretical foundations of Positive Psychology, it can be advocated that it’s proper for happiness to be polysemic. Since Ancient Greece most attempts to outline happiness consists of an appreciation of the "best way to live" and consequently requires a delineation of the most important things in life. Besides this generic definition, it’s hard to find consensus about happiness. In fact, what and how much something will be considered important to happiness depend on social influence. This compels happiness to vary between groups, historical periods, and even for the same person over time. Therefore, the same psychological processes will not necessarily be behind all forms of happiness. Consequently, three assumptions should be considered when studying happiness: it’s intrinsic of happiness to be transitory and socially influenced; happiness refers not only to what is possible in the present, but also to an ideal future; when someone (including a scientist) talks about happiness they describe and prescribe a better way to live. Because any attempt to define happiness will be limited in space and time, it's more suitable to study its variations than its universalities. This may have considerable consequences to political agenda on happiness evaluation and maximization, like Gross National Happiness and utilitarian initiatives. Happiness policies should be understood as an arbitrary choice amongst all kinds of happiness and as prescriptive of what “the best way to live” should be.

Keywords: happiness, politics, positive psychology, well-being

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Authors: Mohamed Fadzlee Sulaiman, Zainurrasyid Abdullah, Mohd Zabri Adil Talib, Aswami Fadillah Mohd Ariffin

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In common digital forensics cases, investigation may rely on the analysis conducted on specific and relevant exhibits involved. Usually the investigation officer may define and advise digital forensic analyst about the goals and objectives to be achieved in reconstructing the trail of evidence while maintaining the specific scope of investigation. With the technology growth, people are starting to realize the importance of cyber security to their organization and this new perspective creates awareness that digital forensics auditing must come in place in order to measure possible threat or attack to their cyber-infrastructure. Instead of performing investigation on incident basis, auditing may broaden the scope of investigation to the level of anomaly detection in daily operation of organization’s cyber space. While handling a huge amount of data such as log files, performing digital forensics audit for large organization proven to be onerous task for the analyst either to analyze the huge files or to translate the findings in a way where the stakeholder can clearly understand. Data visualization can be emphasized in conducting digital forensic audit and investigation to resolve both needs. This study will identify the important factors that should be considered to perform data visualization techniques in order to detect anomaly that meet the digital forensic audit and investigation objectives.

Keywords: digital forensic, data visualization, anomaly detection , log analysis, forensic audit, visualization techniques

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Authors: Suraj Nair, Aravindkumar Vijayalingam, Alexander Perzylo, Alois Knoll

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In the last decade robotics research and development activities have grown rapidly, especially in the domain of service robotics. Integrating service robots into human occupied spaces such as homes, offices, hospitals, etc. has become increasingly worked upon. The primary motive is to ease daily lives of humans by taking over some of the household/office chores. However, several challenges remain in systematically integrating such systems in human shared work-spaces. In addition to sensing and indoor-navigation challenges, programmability of such systems is a major hurdle due to the fact that the potential user cannot be expected to have knowledge in robotics or similar mechatronic systems. In this paper, we propose a cognitive system for service robotics which allows non-expert users to easily model system behaviour in an underspecified manner through abstract tasks and objects associated with them. The system uses domain knowledge expressed in the form of an ontology along with logical reasoning mechanisms to infer all the missing pieces of information required for executing the tasks. Furthermore, the system is also capable of recovering from failed tasks arising due to on-line disturbances by using the knowledge base and inferring alternate methods to execute the same tasks. The system is demonstrated through a coffee fetching scenario in an office environment using a mobile robot equipped with sensors and software capabilities for autonomous navigation and human-interaction through natural language.

Keywords: cognitive robotics, reasoning, service robotics, task based systems

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Authors: Kasbparast Mehdi, Hassani Zainab

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Aim: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of therapeutical sensorimotor exercise. The statistical population of women who were diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome by a doctor and were between the ages of 35 and 45 and registered for the first time in a sports club in the 4th district of Tehran, 30 people by random sampling and according to The include and exclude criteria were selected and divided into 2 equal control and experimental and homogeneous groups (in terms of height, weight and BMI).In both control and experimental groups, the pain was measured using a Visual Analog Scale(VAS) functionality was measured using the step-down test and quality of life was measured using a World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) (pre-test). Then, only the experimental group performed sensorimotor exercises for 12 weeks and 3 sessions each week, a total of 24 sessions and each session for 1 hour, and during this period, the control group only continued their daily activities. After the end of the training period, the desired factors were evaluated again (post-test) in the same way as the pre-test was done for them (experimental group and control group), with the same quality. Findings: The statistical results showed that in the experimental group, the amount of pain, function and quality of life had a statistical improvement (P≤0.05). Conclusion: In general conclusion, it can be stated that using sensorimotor exercises not only improved functionality and quality of life but also reduced the amount of pain in people with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Keywords: pain, PFPS, sensori motor training, functionality

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Authors: Hagos Gebrehiwet Bahta

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Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea, is facing a sanitation challenge because the city discharges its wastewater to the environment without any kind of treatment. The aim of this research is to conduct a pre-feasibility study of using constructed wetlands in the peri-urban areas of Asmara for wastewater treatment and reuse. It was found that around 15,000 m³ of wastewater is used daily for agricultural activities, and products are sold in the city's markets, which are claimed to cause some health effects. In this study, three potential sites were investigated around Mai-Bela and an optimum location was selected on the basis of land availability, topography, and geotechnical information. Some types of local microphytes that can be used in constructed wetlands have been identified and documented for further studies. It was found that subsurface constructed wetlands can provide a sufficient pollutant removal with careful planning and design. Following the feasibility study, a preliminary design of screening, grit chamber and subsurface constructed wetland was prepared and cost estimation was done. In the cost estimation part, the filter media was found to be the most expensive part and consists of around 30% percent of the overall cost. The city wastewater drainage runs in two directions and the selected site is located in the southern sub-system, which only carries sewage (separate system). The wastewater analysis conducted particularly around this area (Sembel) indicates high heavy metal levels and organic concentrations, which reveals that there is a high level of industrial pollution in addition to the domestic sewage.

Keywords: agriculture, constructed wetland, Mai-Bela, wastewater reuse

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Authors: Y. Y. Babanyara, D. B. Ibrahim, T. Garba

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Proper management of medical waste is a crucial issue for maintaining human health and the environment. The waste generated in the hospitals has the potential for spreading infections and causing diseases. The study is aimed at assessing the medical waste management practices in Nigeria. Three instruments, questionnaire administration, in-depth interview and observation method for data collection were adopted in the study. The results revealed that the hospital does not quantify medical waste. Segregation of medical wastes is not conducted according to definite rules and standards. Wheeled trolleys are used for on-site transportation of waste from the points of production to the temporary storage area. Offsite transportation of the hospital waste is undertaken by a private waste management company. Small pickups are mainly used to transport waste daily to an off-site area for treatment and disposal. The main treatment method used in the final disposal of infectious waste is incineration. Non-infectious waste is disposed off using land disposal method. The study showed that the hospital does not have a policy and plan in place for managing medical waste. The study revealed number of problems the hospital faces in terms of medical waste management, including; lack of necessary rules, regulations and instructions on the different aspects of collections and disposal of waste, failure to quantify the waste generated in reliable records, lack of use of coloured bags by limiting the bags to only one colour for all waste, the absence of a dedicated waste manager, and no committee responsible for monitoring the management of medical waste. Recommendations are given with the aim of improving medical waste management in the hospital.

Keywords: medical waste, treatment, disposal, public health

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Authors: Yangming Zhu, Mingming Guo, Xiaozan Wang

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Introduction: The purpose of this study is to integrate functional training into physical education to test the effectiveness of functional training in improving the physical fitness (PF) and sport skills (SS) of female college students. Methods: A total of 54 female college students from East China Normal University were selected for this study (27 in the experimental group and 27 in the control group), and 13 weeks of the experimental intervention was conducted during the semester. During the experimental period, the experimental group was functionally trained for 1 hour per week. The control group performed one-hour weekly sports (such as basketball, football, etc.) as usual. Before and after the experiment, the national students' physical fitness test was used to test the PF of the experimental group and the control group, and the SS of the experimental group and the control group were tested before and after the intervention. Then using SPSS and Excel to organize and analyze the data. Results: The independent sample T-test showed that there was no significant difference in the PF and SS between the experimental group and the control group before the experiment (T PF=71.86, p PF> 0.05, Tₛₛ=82.41,pₛₛ > 0.05); After the experiment, the PF of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (T Improve=71.86, p Improve < 0.05); after the experiment, the SS of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (Tₛₛ = 1.31, pₛₛ <0.01) Conclusions: Integrating functional training into physical education can improve the PF of female college students. At the same time, the integration of functional training into physical education can also effectively improve the SS of female college students. Therefore, it is suggested that functional training be integrated into the daily physical education of female college students so as to improve their PF and SS.

Keywords: functional training, physical fitness, sport skills, female college students

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Authors: Iin Mayasari

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This study aims at exploring the influence of aspects of entrepreneurial marketing on a firm’s performance. Entrepreneurs are not only supported by resources control to obtain sustainable competitive advantage, but it should also be supported by intangible resources. Entrepreneurial marketing provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs to proactively find better ways to create value for desired customers, to create innovation, and to build customer equity. Entrepreneurial marketing has the medium between entrepreneurship and marketing, and serves as an umbrella for many of the emergent perspectives on marketing. It has eight underlying dimensions. They are proactiveness, calculated risk-taking, innovativeness, an opportunity focus, entrepreneurial orientation, resource leveraging, customer intensity, and value creating. The research method of the study was a qualitative study by having an interview with 8 small companies in Kudus Region, the Central Java, Indonesia. The interviewees were the owner and the manager of the company that had the scope work of small business enterprise in wood crafting industry. The interview was related to the implementation of the elements of the entrepreneurial marketing. The result showed that the small business enterprises had implemented the elements of entrepreneurial marketing in supporting their daily activities. The understanding based on the theoretical implementation was well executed by the owner and managers. The problems in managing small business enterprises were related to the full support by the government and the branding management. Furthermore, the innovation process should be improved especially the use of internet to promote the product, to expand the market and to increase the firm’s performance.

Keywords: entrepreneurial marketing, innovativeness, risk taking, opportunity focus

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Authors: Nadia Syed

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The digital age has inevitably changed the way in which hate crime is committed. The cyber world has become a highly effective means for individuals and groups to be targeted, harmed, and marginalized , largely through online medium. Facebook has become one of the fastest growing social media platforms. At the end of 2013, Facebook had 1,23bn monthly active users and 757 million daily users who log onto Facebook. Within this online space, there are also an increasing number of online virtual communities, and hate groups who are using this freedom to share a violent, Islamophobic and racist description which attempts to create a aggressive virtual environment. This paper is a research on the rise of Islamophobia and the role of media in spreading it. This paper focusing on how the media especially Facebook is portraying Islam as the religion which promotes violence and ultimately playing a significant role in the global rise of Islamophobia against Muslims. It is important to analyse these ‘new’ communities by monitoring the activities they conduct, because the material they post, potentially can have a harmful impact on community cohesion within society. Additionally, as a result of recent figures that shows an increase in online anti-Muslim abuse, there is a pertinent need to address the issue about Islamophobia on social media. On the whole, this study found Muslims being demonized and vilified online which had manifested through negative attitudes, discrimination, stereotypes, physical threats and online harassment which all had the potential to incite violence or prejudicial action because it disparages and intimidates a protected individual or group.

Keywords: Islamophobia, online, social media, facebook, internet, extremism

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Authors: E. Yeşil, M. Özgök, M. Özdemir, B. Köse

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The aim of the present study was to compare nutritional status, tendency of depression and orthorexia nervosa in vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous. The sample consisted of 150 individuals (126 women, 24 men) who agreed to participate in the study between February and May of the year 2018. Fifty vegan, fifty vegetarian and fifty omnivore diet pattern were compared. In the first part, each participant was interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain demographic information about education, occupation and health conditions. In the second part Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used. In the third part ORTO-11 was used. In the fourth part, 24 Hours Dietary Record was used in order to determine the nutritional status of individuals. The vegans and vegetarians were interviewed about their diets. The mean body mass index of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore were, 21,24 ± 3,25; 22,2 ± 4,1 and 22,8 ± 4,3 respectively (p > 0,05). The daily energy intakes of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diet were 1792,57 ± 784,8 kcal; 1691,9 ± 742,2 kcal and 1697,9 ± 695,6 kcal (p > 0.05). The mean BDI of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diet were 6,2 ± 6,2, 9,8 ± 10,1 and 8,8 ± 8,1, respectively (p > 0,05). The mean ORTO-11 of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diet were 25,9 ± 4,2, 27,2 ± 5,9 and 26,4 ± 5,3 (p > 0,05). There was a statistically significant correlation between BDI and ORTO-11 in vegan diet group (p: 0,01 r: 0,333). There was a positive correlation between BMI and BDI in the vegetarian group (p: 0,01 r: 0,363). Also in the vegetarian group; there was a negative correlation between age and ORTO-11 (p: 0,01 r: -0,316). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between waist circumference and ORTO-11 (p: 0,05 r: -0,316) in the omnivore diet group. Also there was a negative correlation between age and BDI (p: 0,05 r: -0,338) in this group. As a conclusion, positive correlation was found between BDI and ORTO-11 score of vegan participants. There were no differences between three groups in BDI or ORTO-11 score.

Keywords: depression, orthorexia nervosa, vegan, vegetarian

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Authors: Qinglu Wu, Anna Wai-Man Choi, Peilian Chi

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Gratitude is one individual strength that not only facilitates the mental health, but also fosters the relationship satisfaction in the romantic relationship. In terms of moral effect theory and stress-and-coping theory of forgiveness, present study not only investigated the association between grateful disposition and relationship satisfaction, but also explored the mechanism by comprehensively examining the potential mediating roles of three profiles of forgiveness (trait forgivingness, decisional forgiveness, emotional forgiveness), another character strength that highly related to the gratitude and relationship satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used to conduct the multiple mediator model with a sample of 103 Chinese college students in dating relationship (39 male students and 64 female students, Mage = 19.41, SD = 1.34). Findings displayed that both gratitude and relationship satisfaction positively correlated with decisional forgiveness and emotional forgiveness. Emotional forgiveness was the only mediator, and it completely mediated the relationship between gratitude and relationship satisfaction. Gratitude was helpful in enhancing individuals’ perception of satisfaction in romantic relationship through replacing negative emotions toward partners with positive ones after transgression in daily life. It highlighted the function of emotional forgiveness in personal healing and peaceful state, which is important to the perception of satisfaction in relationship. Findings not only suggested gratitude could provide a stability for forgiveness, but also the mechanism of prosocial responses or positive psychological processes on relationship satisfaction. The significant roles of gratitude and emotional forgiveness could be emphasized in the intervention working on the romantic relationship development or reconciliation.

Keywords: decisional forgiveness, emotional forgiveness, gratitude, relationship satisfaction, trait forgivingness

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Authors: Gul Nihal Gugul, Merih Aydinalp-Koksal

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In this study, hourly energy consumption model of a single detached house in Ankara, Turkey is developed using ESP-r building energy simulation software. Natural gas is used for space heating, cooking, and domestic water heating in this two story 4500 square feet four-bedroom home. Hourly electricity consumption of the home is monitored by an automated meter reading system, and daily natural gas consumption is recorded by the owners during 2013. Climate data of the region and building envelope data are used to develop the model. The heating energy consumption of the house that is estimated by the ESP-r model is then compared with the actual heating demand to determine the performance of the model. Scenarios are applied to the model to determine the amount of reduction in the total energy consumption of the house. The scenarios are using photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, ground source heat pumps for space heating and solar panels for domestic hot water generation. Alternative scenarios such as improving wall and roof insulations and window glazing are also applied. These scenarios are evaluated based on annual energy, associated CO2 emissions, and fuel expenditure savings. The pay-back periods for each scenario are also calculated to determine best alternative energy source or technology option for this home to reduce annual energy use and CO2 emission.

Keywords: ESP-r, building energy simulation, residential energy saving, CO2 reduction

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Authors: Angel Fabian Mijangos, Jaime Alvarez Quintana

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Waste heat occurs in many areas of daily life because world’s energy consumption is inefficient. In general, generating 1 watt of power requires about 3 watt of energy input and involves dumping into the environment the equivalent of about 2 watts of power in the form of heat. Therefore, an attractive and sustainable solution to the energy problem would be the development of highly efficient thermoelectric devices which could help to recover this waste heat. This work presents the influence on the thermoelectric properties of metallic, semiconducting, and dielectric nanoparticles added into the grain boundaries of polycrystalline antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi) matrixes in order to obtain p- and n-type thermoelectric materials, respectively, by hot pressing methods. Results show that thermoelectric properties are significantly affected by the electrical and thermal nature as well as concentration of nanoparticles. Nevertheless, by optimizing the amount of the nanoparticles on the grain boundaries, an oscillatory behavior in ZT as function of the concentration of the nanoscale constituents is present. This effect is due to energy filtering mechanism which module the quantity of charge transport in the system and affects thermoelectric properties. Accordingly, a ZTmax can be accomplished through the addition of the appropriate amount of nanoparticles into the grain boundaries region. In this case, till three orders of amelioration on ZT is reached in both systems compared with the reference sample of each one. This approach paves the way to pursuit high performance thermoelectric materials in a simple way and opens a new route towards the enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit.

Keywords: energy filtering, grain boundaries, thermoelectric, nanostructured materials

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Authors: M. Kamal Uddin, H. Mohd Dandan, Ame H. Alidin

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Germination and seedling growth of plant species are reduced in saline due to an external osmotic potential. An experiment was conducted at the laboratory, Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, to compare the salt effect on seed germination and growth of weedy rice and cultivated rice. Seeds (10 in each) were placed in petri dishes. Five salinity levels 0 (distilled water), 4, 8, 12 and 16 dSm-1 (NaCl) were applied. The number of germinated seeds was recorded daily. The final germination percentage, germination index (GI), seedling vigour index (SVI) mean germination time (MGT), shoot and root dry weight were estimated. At highest salinity (16 dSm-1) germination percentage was higher (100%) in weedy rice awn and weedy rice compact. Lowest germination percentage was in MR219 and TQR-8 (50-60%). Mean germination time (MGT) was found higher in all weedy rice biotypes compared to cultivated rice. At highest salinity (16dSm-1) weedy rice open produced the highest MGT (9.92) followed by weedy rice compact (9.73) while lowest MGT was in MR219 (9.48). At highest salinity (16dSm-1) germination index was higher in weedy rice awn (11.71) and compact type (9.62). Lowest germination index was in MR219 (5.90) and TQR-8 (8.94). At the highest salinity (16 dSm−1), seedling vigor index was highest in weedy rice awn (6.06) followed by weedy rice compact (5.26); while lowest was in MR219 (2.11) followed by MR269 (3.82).On the basis of Germination index, seedling vigor index and growth related results it could be concluded that weedy rice awn, compact and open biotypes were more salt tolerant compared to other cultivated rice MR219, MR269, and TQR-8.

Keywords: germination, salinity, rice and weedy rice, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Chong Zhang, Guoming Tang, Bin Ge, Jiuyang Tang

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With the fast growing road traffic and increasingly severe traffic congestion, more and more citizens choose to use the public transportation for daily travelling. Meanwhile, the shared bike provides a convenient option for the first and last mile to the public transit. As of 2016, over one thousand cities around the world have deployed the bike-sharing system. The combination of these two transportations have stimulated the development of each other and made significant contribution to the reduction of carbon footprint. A lot of work has been done on mining the riding behaviors in various bike-sharing systems. Most of them, however, treated the bike-sharing system as an isolated system and thus their results provide little reference for the public transit construction and optimization. In this work, we treat the bike-sharing and public transit as a whole and investigate the customers’ bike-and-ride behaviors. Specifically, we develop a spatio-temporal traffic delivery model to study the riding patterns between the two transportation systems and explore the traffic characteristics (e.g., distributions of customer arrival/departure and traffic peak hours) from the time and space dimensions. During the model construction and evaluation, we make use of large open datasets from real-world bike-sharing systems (the CitiBike in New York, GoBike in San Francisco and BIXI in Montreal) along with corresponding public transit information. The developed two-dimension traffic model, as well as the mined bike-and-ride behaviors, can provide great help to the deployment of next-generation intelligent transportation systems.

Keywords: riding pattern mining, bike-sharing system, public transportation, bike-and-ride behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 779

Authors: Yanuar Tri Wahyu Saputra, Ramadhani Pamapta Putra

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Karimunjawa is one among Indonesian islands which is lacking of electricity supply. Despite condition above, Karimunjawa is an important tourism object in Indonesia's Central Java Province. Solar Power Plant is a potential technology to be applied in Karimunjawa, in order to fulfill the island's electrical supply need and to increase daily life and tourism quality among tourists and local population. This optimation modeling of Karimunjawa uses HOMER software program. The data we uses include wind speed data in Karimunjawa from BMKG (Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics), annual weather data in Karimunjawa from NASA, electricity requirements assumption data based on number of houses and business infrastructures in Karimunjawa. This modeling aims to choose which three system categories offer the highest financial profit with the lowest total Net Present Cost (NPC). The first category uses only PV with 8000 kW of electrical power and NPC value of $6.830.701. The second category uses hybrid system which involves both 1000 kW PV and 100 kW generator which results in total NPC of $6.865.590. The last category uses only generator with 750 kW of electrical power that results in total NPC of $ 16.368.197, the highest total NPC among the three categories. Based on the analysis above, we can conclude that the most optimal way to fulfill the electricity needs in Karimunjawa is to use 8000 kW PV with lower maintenance cost.

Keywords: Karimunjawa, renewable energy, solar power plant, HOMER

Procedia PDF Downloads 465

Authors: Chris George, Adam Hamlin, Lily Pereg, Richard Charlesworth, Gal Winter

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Background: According to the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ the current rise in allergies and autoimmune diseases stems mainly from reduced microbial exposure due, amongst other factors, to urbanisation and distance from soil. However, this hypothesis is based on epidemiological and not biological data. Useful insights into the underlying mechanisms of this hypothesis can be gained by studying our interaction with soil. Soil microbiota may be directly ingested or inhaled by humans, enter the body through skin-soil contact or using plants as vectors. This study aims to examine the ability of soil microbiota to colonise the gut, study the interaction of soil microbes with the immune system and their potential protective activity. Method: The nutrition of the rats was supplemented daily with fresh or autoclaved soil for 21 days followed by 14 days of no supplementations. Faecal samples were collected throughout and analysed using 16S sequencing. At the end of the experiment rats were sacrificed and tissues and digesta were collected. Results/Conclusion: Results showed significantly higher richness and diversity following soil supplementation even after recovery. Specific soil microbial groups identified as able to colonise the gut. Of particular interest was the mucosal layer which emerged as a receptive host for soil microorganisms. Histological examination revealed innate and adaptive immune activation. Findings of this study reinforce the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ by demonstrating the ability of soil microbes to colonise the gut and activate the immune system. This paves the way for further studies aimed to examine the interaction of soil microorganisms with the immune system.

Keywords: gut microbiota, hygiene hypothesis, microbiome, soil

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: B.S. Roopa

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Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of concomitant use of GPDs in patients treated with NSAIDs and GPDs in recommended dose and frequency as prophylaxis. And also to know the association between risk factors and prescription of GPDs in patients treated with NSAIDs. Methods: Study was a prospective, observational, cross-sectional survey. Data from patients with prescription of NSAIDs at the out-patient departments of secondary care Hospital, Nilgiris, India were collected in a specially designed proforma for a period of 45 days. Analysis using χ2 tests for discrete variables. Factors that might be associated with prescription of GPD with NSIADs were assessed in multiple logistic regression models. Results: Three hundred and three patients were included in this study, and the rate of GPD prescription was 89.1%. Most of the patients received H2-receptor antagonist, and, to a lesser degree, antacid and proton pump inhibitor. Patients with history of GI ulcer/bleeding were much more likely to be co-prescribed GPD than those who had no history of GI disorders .Compared with patients who were managed in general outpatient clinic, those managed in Secondary care hospital in Nilgrisis, India were more likely to receive GPD. Conclusions: The prescription rate of GPD with NSAIDs is high. Patients were prescribed with H2RA with dose of 150mg twice daily, which are not effective in reducing the risk of NSAIDs induced gastric ulcer. Only the frequency of NSAIDs prescription was considered significant determinant for the co-prescription with GPAs in patients who are < 65 years and ≥ 65 years old.

Keywords: gastro protective agents, non steridol anti inlfammatory agents

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Thi Thu Van Nguyen

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In South Korea, Confucianism has not only played a crucial position in Korean traditional culture but also deeply rooted in people’s mind. Confucianism bears a special emphasis on the traditional family pattern characterized by paternalism. Therefore, non-paternity families are barely recognized and unwed mothers are faced with numerous prejudices in their life. Prejudice to unwed mothers in Korea is believed to stem from social discourses against lone motherhood which is the way how people look and talk about unwed mothers and from the early time these social discourses have big impacts on their daily lives. However, after the 1990s, along with the rapid transformation of family pattern and support from social welfare organizations, unwed mothers have gradually got to escape from the social prejudice then established themselves as a new family form. This study is aimed at researching social discourses on lone motherhood in Korea and the process of resistance, adaptation and negotiation of unwed mothers in three different stages: the antenatal, postnatal stages and social inclusion. The anthropological method is employed. Twenty single young mothers of the Korean Unwed Mothers Families' Association were engaged in the author’s detailed interviews. The study’s frame analysis is based on the theoretical framework on social discourses on lone motherhood by Simon Duncan and Rosalind Edwards (1999). This study is an effort to comprehend and investigate the difficulties experienced by unwed mothers living in negative social discourses and the way they overcome the difficulties.

Keywords: unwed mothers, gender, social discourses, social prejudice, Confucianism

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Farnaz Firuzian, Farhad Choobdar, Ali Mazouri

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As Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) neonates cannot tolerate enteral feeding, parenteral nutrition (PN) must be administered shortly after birth. To find an optimal combination of nutrition, in this study, we compare administering high glucose versus high protein intake as a component of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) to test their effect on birth weight (BW) regain in VLBW. This study employs a multi-arm randomized trial: 145 newborns with BW < 1500 g were randomized to control (C) or experimental groups: high glucose (G) or high protein (P). All samples in each group received the same TPN regimens except glucose and protein intake: Glocuse was provided by dextrose water (DW) serum: 7-15 g/kg/d (10% DW) in groups C and P versus 8.75-18.75 g/kg/d (12.5% DW) in group G. Protein provided by amino acids 3 g/kg/d for groups C and G versus 4 g/kg/d for group P. Outcomes (weight, height, and head circumference) was monitored on a daily basis until the BW was regained. Data has been gathered recently and is being processed. We hypothesize that neonates with higher amino acid intake will result in sooner BW regain than other groups. The result will be presented at the conference. The findings of this study not only can help optimize nutrition, cost reduction, and shorter NICU admission of VLBW neonates at the hospital level but eventually contribute to reduced healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and an improved health economy.

Keywords: very low birth weight neonates, weight gain, parenteral nutrition, glucose, amino acids

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Narupon Kunbootsri, P. Sirasaporn

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Frozen shoulder is a common problem present by pain and limit range of motion. The prevalence of frozen shoulder showed 18-31% of population. The effect of frozen shoulder lead to limit activities daily living life, high medical care cost and so on. Physiotherapy is one of the treatments for frozen shoulder but there was no data about the treatment of physiotherapy. Moreover, it is question about onset of symptom relate to physiotherapy program and obtaining physical modalities and delayed start physiotherapy program lead to delayed improvement. Thus the aim of this study was to investigate physiotherapy program for frozen shoulder relate to onset of symptom, range of motion and obtaining physical modalities. A retrospective study design was conducted. 182 medical records of patients with frozen shoulder were reviewed. These frozen shoulders were treated at physiotherapy unit, department of Rehabilitation last 3 years (January, 2014- December, 2016). The data consist of onset of symptom, range of motion and obtaining physical modalities were recorded. There was a statistically significant increase in shoulder flexion [mean difference 38.88 with 95%CI were [16.00-61.77], shoulder abduction [mean difference 48.47 with 95%CI were 16.07-90.59], shoulder internal rotation [mean difference 22.36 with 95%CI were 2.81-37.18] and shoulder external rotation [mean difference 32.12 with 95%CI were [(-2.47)-(46.91)]. In addition, the onset of symptom was 76.42±46.90 days. And the physical modalities used frequently were hot pack 14.8% and ultrasound diathermy 13.7%. In conclusion, the physiotherapy program including, hot pack and ultrasound diathermy seem to be useful for frozen shoulder. But onset of symptom is too long to start physiotherapy programs.

Keywords: frozen shoulder, range of motions, onset of symptom, physiotherapy, physical modality

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Rohit Sane, Snehal Dongre, Pravin Ghadigaonkar, Rahul Mandole

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The present study was designed to evaluate efficacy of heart failure reversal therapy (HFRT) that uses herbal procedure (panchakarma) and allied therapies, in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with low ejection fraction. Methods: This efficacy study was conducted in CHF patients (aged: 25-65 years, ejection fraction (EF) < 30%) wherein HFRT (60-75 minutes) consisting of snehana (external oleation), swedana (passive heat therapy), hrudaydhara(concoction dripping treatment) and basti(enema) was administered twice daily for 7 days. During this therapy and next 30 days, patients followed the study dinarcharya and were prescribed ARJ kadha in addition to their conventional treatment. The primary endpoint of this study was evaluation of maximum aerobic capacity uptake (MAC) as assessed by 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) using Cahalins equation from baseline, at end of 7 day treatment, follow-up after 30 days and 90 days. EF was assessed by 2D Echo at baseline and after 30 days of follow-up. Results: CHF patients with < 30% EF (N=52, mean [SD] age: 58.8 [10.8], 85% men) were enrolled in the study. There was a 100% compliance to study therapy. A significant improvement was observed in MAC levels (7.11%, p =0.029), at end of 7 day therapy as compared to baseline. This improvement was maintained at two follow-up visits. Moreover, ejection fraction was observed to be increased by 6.38%, p=0,012 as compared to baseline at day 7 of the therapy. Conclusions: This 90 day follow up study highlights benefit of HFRT, as a part of maintenance treatment for CHF patients with reduced ejection fraction.

Keywords: chronic heart failure, functional capacity, heart failure reversal therapy, oxygen uptake, panchakarma

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Caroline Correia, Stefani Perna, John Gaughan, Elizabeth Cerceo

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to how hospitals function on a daily basis. Increased personal protective equipment (PPE) usage and measures to pre-package, separate, and decontaminate have the potential to increase the waste load. However, limiting non-essential surgeries drastically reduces operating room (OR) waste, and restricting visitation policies to contain outbreaks may help conserve resources. The impact of these policy changes with increased disposable PPE usage on hospital production of waste is unknown. Methods: Waste produced in pounds (lbs) was measured for January through June during both 2019 and 2020 through Stericycle in Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ. This timeframe was selected since the pandemic began in January 2020 in the US. The total waste produced during this time was 328,623 lbs in 2019 and 306,454 lbs in 2020. Using Poisson counts (α=.05), less waste was produced in 2020 (p < 0.001). The amount of sharps and regulated medical waste (grossly bloody items) were both significantly decreased as well (p < 0.0001, p=0.0002), and these account for 10-15% of the total waste produced. Discussion: Despite the increased usage of disposable PPE, overall hospital waste was decreased during the pandemic as compared to prior. As surgeries are estimated to be responsible for up to one-half of waste produced by hospitals, it is possible that constraint on elective procedures contributed to the decreased waste in all three categories; estimates of a 35% decrease in surgical volume would be expected to impact waste production. The effects of the pandemic on waste production should continue to be monitored to understand the environmental impact as health systems resume backlogged surgeries at a higher volume.

Keywords: COVID-19, hospital, surgery, waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 104