Search results for: visual analogue scale

Authors: Fabrice Houngnandan, Celia Fery, Thomas Bockel, Julie Deter

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Getting water cleaner and stopping global biodiversity loss requires indices to measure changes and evaluate the achievement of objectives. The endemic and protected seagrass species Posidonia oceanica is a biological indicator used to monitor the ecological quality of marine Mediterranean waters. One ecosystem index (EBQI), two biotic indices (PREI, Bipo), and several landscape indices, which measure the composition and configuration of the P. oceanica seagrass at the population scale have been developed. While the formers are measured at monitoring sites, the landscape indices can be calculated for the entire seabed covered by this ecosystem. This present work aims to search on the link between these indices and the best scale to be used in order to maximize this link. We used data collected between 2014 to 2019 along the French Mediterranean coastline to calculate EBQI, PREI, and Bipo at 100 sites. From the P. oceanica seagrass distribution map, configuration and composition indices around these different sites in 6 different grid sizes (100 m x 100 to 1000 m x 1000 m) were determined. Correlation analyses were first used to find out the grid size presenting the strongest and most significant link between the different types of indices. Finally, several models were compared basis on various metrics to identify the one that best explains the nature of the link between these indices. Our results showed a strong and significant link between biotic indices and the best correlations between biotic and landscape indices within the 600 m x 600 m grid cells. These results showed that the use of landscape indices is possible to monitor the health of seagrass beds at a large scale.

Keywords: ecological indicators, decline, conservation, submerged aquatic vegetation

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Authors: Robert K. Hillyard, Jonathan Thomas, Brett A. Story

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Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) are masonry units that combine soil, sand, stabilizer, and water under pressure to form an earth block. These CSEB’s offer a cost-effective building solution for remote construction, using local resources and labor to minimize transportation and material costs. However, CSEB’s, and earthen construction generally have not been widely adopted as standardized construction materials. One shortcoming is the difficulty in standardizing strength values of CSEB units and systems due to the inherent variations in mix design, including production compression. This research presents findings on compressive strengths of full-scale CSEB’s from 60 different mix designs as a function of the amount of cement, sand, soil, and water added to the mixture. The full-scale results are compared with CSEB cylinder cores.

Keywords: CSEB, compressive strength, earth construction, mix design

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Authors: Tolulope Babawarun, Harry Ngwangwa

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The wind turbine blade may sustain structural damage from external loads such as high winds or collisions, which could compromise its aerodynamic efficiency. The wind turbine blade vibrates at significant intensities and amplitudes under these conditions. The effect of these vibrations on the dynamic flow field surrounding the blade changes the forces operating on it. The structural dynamic analysis of a small wind turbine blade is considered in this study. It entails creating a finite element model, validating the model, and doing structural analysis on the verified finite element model. The analysis is based on the structural reaction of a small-scale wind turbine blade to various loading sources. Although there are many small-scale off-shore wind turbine systems in use, only preliminary structural analysis is performed during design phases; these systems' performance under various loading conditions as they are encountered in real-world situations has not been properly researched. This will allow us to record the same Equivalent von Mises stress and deformation that the blade underwent. A higher stress contour was found to be more concentrated near the middle span of the blade under the various loading scenarios studied. The highest stress that the blade in this study underwent is within the range of the maximum stress that blade material can withstand. The maximum allowable stress of the blade material is 1,770 MPa. The deformation of the blade was highest at the blade tip. The critical speed of the blade was determined to be 4.3 Rpm with a rotor speed range of 0 to 608 Rpm. The blade's mode form under loading conditions indicates a bending mode, the most prevalent of which is flapwise bending.

Keywords: ANSYS, finite element analysis, static loading, dynamic analysis

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Authors: Huan-Chieh Chiu, Hung-Shuo Wu, Chien-Hao Wang, Yu-Cheng Yang, Ching-Ya Tseng, Joe-Air Jiang

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Power failure resulting from tower collapse due to violent seismic events might bring enormous and inestimable losses. The Chi-Chi earthquake, for example, strongly struck Taiwan and caused huge damage to the power system on September 21, 1999. Nearly 10% of extra high voltage (EHV) transmission towers were damaged in the earthquake. Therefore, seismic hazards of EHV transmission towers should be monitored and evaluated. The ultimate goal of this study is to establish a damage level assessment model for EHV transmission towers. The data of earthquakes provided by Taiwan Central Weather Bureau serve as a reference and then lay the foundation for earthquake simulations and analyses afterward. Some parameters related to the damage level of each point of an EHV tower are simulated and analyzed by the data from monitoring stations once an earthquake occurs. Through the Fourier transform, the seismic wave is then analyzed and transformed into different wave frequencies, and the data would be shown through a response spectrum. With this method, the seismic frequency which damages EHV towers the most is clearly identified. An estimation model is built to determine the damage level caused by a future seismic event. Finally, instead of relying on visual observation done by inspectors, the proposed model can provide a power company with the damage information of a transmission tower. Using the model, manpower required by visual observation can be reduced, and the accuracy of the damage level estimation can be substantially improved. Such a model is greatly useful for health and construction monitoring because of the advantages of long-term evaluation of structural characteristics and long-term damage detection.

Keywords: damage level monitoring, drift ratio, fragility curve, smart grid, transmission tower

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Authors: Yi Yang, Jiasong Sun

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Almost every aspect of our daily lives is now intertwined with some degree of human-computer interaction (HCI). HCI courses draw on knowledge from disciplines as diverse as computer science, psychology, design principles, anthropology, and more. Our HCI courses, named the Media and Cognition course, are constantly updated to reflect state-of-the-art technological advancements such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence-based interactions. For more than a decade, our course has used an interest-based approach to teaching, in which students proactively propose some research-based questions and collaborate with teachers, using course knowledge to explore potential solutions. Semantic communication plays a key role in facilitating understanding and interaction between users and computer systems, ultimately enhancing system usability and user experience. The advancements in AI-generated technology, which have gained significant attention from both academia and industry in recent years, are exemplified by language models like GPT-3 that generate human-like dialogues from given prompts. Our latest version of the Human-Computer Interaction course practices a semantic communication platform based on AI-generated techniques. The purpose of this semantic communication is twofold: to extract and transmit task-specific information while ensuring efficient end-to-end communication with minimal latency. An AI-generated semantic communication platform evaluates the retention of signal sources and converts low-retain ability visual signals into textual prompts. These data are transmitted through AI-generated techniques and reconstructed at the receiving end; on the other hand, visual signals with a high retain ability rate are compressed and transmitted according to their respective regions. The platform and associated research are a testament to our students' growing ability to independently investigate state-of-the-art technologies.

Keywords: human-computer interaction, media and cognition course, semantic communication, retainability, prompts

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Authors: Neeraj Sahu, Ahmad Saadiq

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Anaerobic sulphate reduction has the potential for being effective and economically viable over conventional treatment methods for the treatment of sulphate-rich wastewater. However, a major challenge in anaerobic sulphate reduction is the diversion of a fraction of organic carbon towards methane production and some minor problem such as odour problems, corrosion, and increase of effluent chemical oxygen demand. A high-rate anaerobic technology has encouraged researchers to extend its application to the treatment of complex wastewaters with relatively low cost and energy consumption compared to physicochemical methods. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of COD/SO₄²⁻ ratio on the performance of lab scale UASB reactor. A lab-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was operated for 170 days. In which first 60 days, for successful start-up with acclimation under methanogenesis and sulphidogenesis at COD/SO₄²⁻ of 18 and were operated at COD/SO₄²⁻ ratios of 12, 8, 4 and 1 to evaluate the effects of the presence of sulfate on the reactor performance. The reactor achieved maximum COD removal efficiency and biogas evolution at the end of acclimation (control). This phase lasted 53 days with 89.5% efficiency. The biogas was 0.6 L/d at (OLR) of 1.0 kg COD/m³d when it was treating synthetic wastewater with effective volume of reactor as 2.8 L. When COD/SO₄²⁻ ratio changed from 12 to 1, slight decrease in COD removal efficiencies (76.8–87.4%) was observed, biogas production decreased from 0.58 to 0.32 L/d, while the sulfate removal efficiency increased from 42.5% to 72.7%.

Keywords: anaerobic, chemical oxygen demand, organic loading rate, sulphate, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor

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Authors: Yonguk L. Park, Jeonghoon Seol

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The Republic of Korea is facing a special situation as it is the only divided country in the world. Even though Korea is facing such unstable circumstances in terms of a foreign diplomacy situation, Korea is one of the countries who, in concern for world peace, have been sending troops overseas. The troops spend more than a year at sea and may suffer from different types of psychological disorders. The purpose of this study is to try to find factors that promote psychological well-being of troops and improve their psychological health. We investigated the effect of dispatch sailors’ occupational calling and social support on anxiety before they are sent overseas and also examined the interaction between occupational calling and social support on anxiety. One hundred thirty-eight dispatched sailors participated in this study, wherein they completed the Korean calling scale, multifaceted social support scale, and anxiety scale –Y form. We analyzed the data using hierarchical regression. The results showed that after controlling gender, marital status, and the previous experiences of dispatch, those who have a higher level of occupational calling and perceived social support experienced a low level of anxiety before they are sent (β = -.276, β = -.395). Furthermore, we examined the interaction effect. If the troops’ perceived social support is high, they experience a low level of anxiety—even if they have a low level of occupational calling. This study confirms that both occupational calling and social support reduce the level of anxiety of the troops. The research provides meaningful information in understanding those who serve in the Navy’s distinctive situations and contributes to improving their psychological well-being. We suggest that sailors undergo training to have a higher occupational calling and healthy relationships with friends, families, and co-workers who provide emotional and social support.

Keywords: navy, occupational calling, social support, anxiety

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Authors: Mohd Dahlan Abdul Malek, Muhamad Idris, Adi Fahrudin, Ida Shafinaz Mohamed Kamil, Husmiati Yusuf, Edeymend Reny Japil, Wan Anor Wan Sulaiman, Lailawati Madlan, Alfred Chan, Nurfarhana Adillah Aftar, Mahirah Masdin

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This research intended to develop a valid and reliable instrument of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) to measure satisfaction with life (SWL) constructs among public and private university students in Sabah, Malaysia, through the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) procedure. The pilot study obtained a sample of 108 students from public and private education institutions in Sabah, Malaysia, through an online survey using a self-administered questionnaire. The researchers performed the EFA procedure on SWL construct using IBM SPSS 25. The Bartletts' Test of Sphericity is highly significant (Sig. = .000). Furthermore, the sampling adequacy by Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO = 0.839) is excellent. Using the extraction method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax Rotation, a component of the SWL construct is extracted with an eigenvalue of 3.101. The variance explained for this component is 62.030%. The construct of SWL has Cronbach's alpha value of .817. The development scale and validation confirmed that the instrument is consistent and stable with both private and public college and university student samples. It adds a remarkable contribution to the measurement of SWLS, mainly in the context of higher education institution students. The EFA outcomes formed a configuration that extracts a component of SWL, which can be measured by the original five items established in this research. This research reveals that the SWL construct is applicable to this study.

Keywords: satisfaction, university students, measurement, scale development

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Authors: Takuma Yamamoto

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Present study investigated the relationship between elementary school children’s prosocial behavior in classroom and satisfaction with school life (approval and victimization from other children) with considering from the perspective of classroom social goal structures (prosocial and compliance goal structures). Participants were 755 elementary school children (393 boys, 362 girls, mean range= 10-12, 5th grader and 6th grader) who were living in Chugoku District, Japan. They filled up questionnaire which was consisted of Murakami, Nishimura and Sakurai’s (2016) prosocial behavior toward friend scale, Kawamura and Tagami’s (1997) satisfaction in classroom scale and Ohtani, Okada, Nakaya and Ito’s (2016) classroom social goal structures scale. Regression lines that satisfaction in classroom is dependent variable and prosocial behavior is independent variable for each class were drawn. There were two types of classroom which children’s prosocial behavior correlated with satisfaction positively and did not. Then one-way MANOVA was conducted to further describe two types of classroom which prosocial behavior increased satisfaction in classroom (type 1) and prosocial behavior decreased satisfaction (type 2). MANOVA for Prosocial goal structure was significant, type 1 > type 2. There were two key findings from this study. First, MANOVA for prosocial goal structure was significant. Second, high score of prosocial goal structure was not necessary condition for the classroom type which children’s prosocial behavior correlated with satisfaction. The implications from these key findings were: (1) in the low prosocial goal structure classroom, children will not behave prosocially because of their negative expectation for the effect of prosocial behavior, (2) this study can be a contribution for classroom management that teachers need to consider about the negative possibilities of prosocial behavior when they try to increase the amount of children’s positive behavior.

Keywords: elementary school children, classroom social goal structure, satisfaction with school life, prosocial behavior

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Authors: Siti Dewi Aisyah

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Islamic Modest Fashion has become one of the emerging industries. It is said that social media has making a role in its development. From designers, hijabi bloggers and then instagrammers, they are often seen posting their everyday outfits. They want to combine their faith with cutting-edge fashion trend. Muslim consumers has become a potential targeted market due to the increasing of people wearing hijab. Muslim consumers are projected to spend $327 bilion on clothing by 2020. Indonesia, as the biggest Muslim majority country, has targeted to be The World’s Center for Muslim Fashion in the world as its national branding by 2020. This study will examine how social media especially Blog and Instagram can lead the movement of Islamic Modest Fashion in Indonesia, how it also brings consumer culture to hijabi and as the result it triggers Indonesia to brand itself and how all the elements in Indonesia including the designers, bloggers or instagrammers and also Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy together work to make its dream come true. This research will be conducted through interviews with several elements mentioned, and internet, blog, Instagram and Youtube analysis through visual analysis that also examine the semiotic meaning behind the picture that are posted by the people on the social media especially about the Islamic Modest Fashion trend. This research also contains a literature review of a diverse group of works on topics related to the study. This research will be examined through several theoretical frameworks including the study of social media, fashion culture and consumer culture. Fashion and consumer culture are also two main topics because fashion furthermore leads to consumer culture. The possible benefit of this research is to be a reference literature of Islamic Modest Fashion and social media’s role especially in an Indonesian context.

Keywords: blog, instagram, consumer culture, modest fashion, social media, visual analysis

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Authors: Fatna Benmessaoud, Mohammed Cheikh, Vencent Velay, Vanessa Vidal, Farhad Rezai-Aria, Christine Boher

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Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy is one of the most widely used materials in aeronautical and aerospace industries. Because of its high specific strength, good fatigue, and corrosion resistance, this alloy is very suitable for moderate temperature applications. At room temperature, Ti-6Al-4V mechanical behavior is generally controlled by the behavior of alpha phase (beta phase percent is less than 8%). The plastic strain of this phase notably based on crystallographic slip can be hindered by various obstacles and mechanisms (crystal lattice friction, sessile dislocations, strengthening by solute atoms and grain boundaries…). The grains aspect of alpha phase (its morphology and texture) and the nature of its crystallographic lattice (which is hexagonal compact) give to plastic strain heterogeneous, discontinuous and anisotropic characteristics at the local scale. The aim of this work is to develop a multi-scale model for Ti-6Al-4V mechanical behavior using crystal plasticity approach; this multi-scale model is used then to investigate grains size, dispersion of grains size, crystallographic texture and slip systems activation effects on Ti-6Al-4V mechanical behavior under monotone quasi-static loading. Nine representative elementary volume (REV) are built for taking into account the physical elements (grains size, dispersion and crystallographic) mentioned above, then boundary conditions of tension test are applied. Finally, simulation of the mechanical behavior of Ti-6Al-4V and study of slip systems activation in alpha phase is reported. The results show that the macroscopic mechanical behavior of Ti-6Al-4V is strongly linked to the active slip systems family (prismatic, basal or pyramidal). The crystallographic texture determines which family of slip systems can be activated; therefore it gives to the plastic strain a heterogeneous character thus an anisotropic macroscopic mechanical behavior of Ti-6Al-4V alloy modeled. The grains size influences also on mechanical proprieties of Ti-6Al-4V, especially on the yield stress; by decreasing of the grain size, the yield strength increases. Finally, the grains' distribution which characterizes the morphology aspect (homogeneous or heterogeneous) gives to the deformation fields distribution enough heterogeneity because the crystallographic slip is easier in large grains compared to small grains, which generates a localization of plastic deformation in certain areas and a concentration of stresses in others.

Keywords: multi-scale modeling, Ti-6Al-4V alloy, crystal plasticity, grains size, crystallographic texture

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Authors: Ramuel Spirituel Mattathiah A. San Juan, Neil Ambasing

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Background: Reversal of vision metamorphopsia is a transient form of metamorphopsia described as an upside-down alteration of the visual field in the coronal plane. Patients would describe objects, such as cups, upside down, but the tea would not spill, and people would walk on their heads. It is extremely rare as a stable finding, lasting days or weeks. We report a case wherein this type of metamorphopsia occurred only in written words and lasted for six months. Objective: To the best of our knowledge, we report the first rare occurrence of reversal of vision metamorphopsia described as inverted words as the sole initial presentation of an underlying stroke. Case Presentation: We report a 59-year-old male with poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes mellitus who presented with a 3-day history of difficulty reading, described as the words were turned upside down as if the words were inverted horizontally then with the progression of deficits such as right homonymous hemianopia and achromatopsia, prosopagnosia. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an acute infarct on the left posterior cerebral artery territory. Follow-up after six months revealed improvement of the visual field cut but with the persistence of the higher cortical function deficits. Conclusion: We report the first rare occurrence of metamorphopsia described as purely inverted words as the sole initial presentation of an underlying stroke. The differential diagnoses of a patient presenting with text reversal metamorphopsia should include stroke in the occipitotemporal areas. It further expands the landscape of metamorphopsias due to its exclusivity to written words and prolonged duration. Knowing these clinical features will help identify the lesion locus and improve subsequent stroke care, especially in time-bound management like intravenous thrombolysis.

Keywords: rare presentation, text reversal metamorphopsia, ischemic stroke, stroke

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Authors: Harald Lindorfer, Bettina Frauz, Dietmar Ramhold

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Next to the well-known inhibitors in anaerobic digestion like ammonia, antibiotics or disinfectants, the number of process failures connected with mould growth in the feedstock increased significantly in the last years. It was assumed that mycotoxins are the cause of the negative effects. The financial damage to plants associated with these process failures is considerable. The aim of this study was to find a way of predicting the failures and furthermore strategies for a fast process recovery. In a first step, mould-contaminated feedstocks causing process failures in full-scale digesters were sampled and analysed on mycotoxin content. A selection of these samples was applied to biological inhibition tests. In this test, crystalline cellulose is applied in addition to the feedstock sample as standard substrate. Affected digesters were also sampled and analytical process data as well as operational data of the plants were recorded. Additionally, different mycotoxin substances, Deoxynivalenol, Zearalenon, Aflatoxin B1, Mycophenolic acid and Citrinin, were applied as pure substances to lab-scale digesters, individually and in various combinations, and effects were monitored. As expected, various mycotoxins were detected in all of the mould-contaminated samples. Nevertheless, inhibition effects were observed with only one of the collected samples, after applying it to an inhibition test. With this sample, the biogas yield of the standard substrate was reduced by approx. 20%. This result corresponds with observations made on full-scale plants. However, none of the tested mycotoxins applied as pure substance caused a negative effect on biogas production in lab scale digesters, neither after application as individual substance nor in combination. The recording of the process data in full-scale plants affected by process failures in most cases showed a severe accumulation of fatty acids alongside a decrease in biogas production and methane concentration. In the analytical data of the digester samples, a typical distribution of fatty acids with exceptionally high acetic acid concentrations could be identified. This typical fatty acid pattern can be used as a rapid identification parameter pointing to the cause of the process troubles and enable a fast implication of countermeasures. The results of the study show that more attention needs to be paid to feedstock storage and feedstock conservation before their application to anaerobic digesters. This is all the more important since first studies indicate that the occurrence of mycotoxins will likely increase in Europe due to the ongoing climate change.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, Biogas, Feedstock conservation, Fungal mycotoxins, Inhibition, process failure

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Authors: Ozden Saygili, Eser Cakti

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The masonry building stock in Istanbul and in other cities of Turkey are exposed to significant earthquake hazard. Determination of the safety of masonry structures against earthquakes is a complex challenge. This study deals with experimental tests and non-linear dynamic analysis of masonry structures modeled through discrete element method. The 1:10 scale model of Mustafa Paşa Mosque was constructed and the data were obtained from the sensors on it during its testing on the shake table. The results were used in the calibration/validation of the numerical model created on the basis of the 1:10 scale model built for shake table testing. 3D distinct element model was developed that represents the linear and nonlinear behavior of the shake table model as closely as possible during experimental tests. Results of numerical analyses with those from the experimental program were compared and discussed.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, non-linear modeling, shake table tests, masonry

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Authors: Sidika Di̇lşad Kaya, Ahmet Seli̇m Kaya, Ibrahi̇m Eri̇k, Havva Yaldiz, Yalçin Kaya

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The aim of this study was to reveal the effects of right brain development on reading, comprehension, learning and concentration levels and rapid processing skills in students with low vision and students with standard development, and to explore the effects of right and left brain integration on students' academic success and the permanence of the learned knowledge. A total of 68 students with a mean age of 10.01±0.12 were included in the study, 58 of them with standard development, 9 partially visually impaired and 1 totally visually disabled student. The student with a total visual impairment could not participate in the reading speed test due to her total visual impairment. The following data were measured in the participant students before the project; Reading speed measurement in 1 minute, Reading comprehension questions, Burdon attention test, 50 questions of math quiz timed with a stopwatch. Participants were trained for 3 weeks, 5 days a week, for a total of two hours a day. In this study, right-brain developing exercises were carried out with the use of an abacus, and it was aimed to develop both mathematical and attention of students with questions prepared with numerical data taken from fairy tale activities. Among these problems, the study was supported with multiple-choice, 5W (what, where, who, why, when?), 1H (how?) questions along with true-false and fill-in-the-blank activities. By using memory cards, students' short-term memories were strengthened, photographic memory studies were conducted and their visual intelligence was supported. Auditory intelligence was supported by aiming to make calculations by using the abacus in the minds of the students with the numbers given aurally. When calculating the numbers by touching the real abacus, the development of students' tactile intelligence is enhanced. Research findings were analyzed in SPSS program, Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used for normality analysis. Since the variables did not show normal distribution, Wilcoxon test, one of the non-parametric tests, was used to compare the dependent groups. Statistical significance level was accepted as 0.05. The reading speed of the participants was 83.54±33.03 in the pre-test and 116.25±38.49 in the post-test. Narration pre-test 69.71±25.04 post-test 97.06±6.70; BURDON pretest 84.46±14.35 posttest 95.75±5.67; rapid math processing skills pretest 90.65±10.93, posttest 98.18±2.63 (P<0.05). It was determined that the pre-test and post-test averages of students with typical development and students with low vision were also significant for all four values (p<0.05). As a result of the data obtained from the participants, it is seen that the study was effective in terms of measurement parameters, and the findings were statistically significant. Therefore, it is recommended to use the method widely.

Keywords: Abacus, reading speed, multiple intelligences, right brain training, visually impaired

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Authors: Rajeshkumar U. Sambhe

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Large scale Indian manufacturers started implementing Six Sigma to their supply core to fulfill the endless need of high quality products. As well, they initiated encouraging their suppliers to apply the well-ascertain SS management practice and kept no resource for supplier enterprises, generally small midsized enterprises to think for the admittance of Six Sigma as a quality promotion drive. There are many issues to study for requisite changes before the introduction of Six Sigma in auto SMEs. This paper converges on impeding factors while implementing SS drive and also pinpoints the gains achieved through successful implementation. The result of this study suggest some operational guidelines for effective implementation of Six Sigma from evidences acquired through research questionnaire and interviews with industrial professionals, apportioned to assort auto sector mid-sized enterprises (MSEs) in India.

Keywords: indian automotive SMEs, quality management practices, six sigma imperatives, problems faced in six sigma implementation, benefits, some guidelines for implementation

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Authors: Arie Yanwar Kapriadi

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This research is aiming to develop deeper understanding of the scale of power that shaped the biofuel policy. This research is important for the following reasons. Firstly, this research will enrich the body of literature within the field of political ecology, scale and environmental governance. Secondly, by focussing on energy transition policies, this research offers a critical perspective on how government policy, aimed at delivering low carbon sustainable energy systems, being scaled and implemented through multi variate stakeholders. Finally, the research could help the government of Indonesia as a policy evaluation on delivering low carbon sustainable energy systems at the macro level that (possibility) being unable to be delivered at different scale and instead being perceived differently by different stakeholders. Qualitative method is applied particularly an in depth interview with government officials as well as policy stakeholders outside of government and people in positions of responsibility with regards to policy delivery. There are 4 field study location where interview took place as well as sites visit to some biofuel refining facilities. There are some major companies which involve on the production and distribution of biofuel and its relation with biofuel feedstock industry as the source of data. The research investigates how the government biofuel policies correlated with other policy issues such as land reclassification and carbon emission reduction which also influenced plantations expansion as well as its impact on the local people. The preliminary result shows tension of power between governing authorities caused the Indonesian biofuel policy being unfocused which led to failing to meet its mandatory blending target despite the abundance of its feedstock.

Keywords: biofuel, energy transition, renewable energy, political ecology

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Authors: M. Yoneda

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In this paper, a lateral walking design force per person is proposed and compared with Imperial College test results. Numerical simulations considering the proposed walking design force which is incorporated into the neural-oscillator model are carried out placing much emphasis on the synchronization (the lock-in phenomenon) for a pedestrian bridge model with the span length of 50 m. Numerical analyses are also conducted for an existing pedestrian suspension bridge. As compared with full scale measurements for this suspension bridge, it is confirmed that the analytical method based on the neural-oscillator model might be one of the useful ways to explain the synchronization (the lock-in phenomenon) of pedestrians being on the bridge.

Keywords: pedestrian bridge, human-induced lateral vibration, neural-oscillator, full scale measurement, dynamic response analysis

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Authors: Adrian Lo

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Since the beginning of modern architecture, ideas of free plan and transparency have proliferated well into current trends of building design, from houses to highrise office buildings. The movement’s notion of a spatially homogeneous, open, and limitless ‘free plan’ stands opposite to the spatially heterogeneous ‘separation of rooms’ defined by load-bearing walls, which in turn triggered new notions of transparency achieved by vast expanses of glazed walls. Similarly, transparency was also dichotomized as something that was physical or optical, as well as something conceptual, akin to spatial organization. As opposed to merely accepting the duality and possible incompatibility of these dichotomies, this paper seeks to ask how can space be both literally and phenomenally transparent, as well as display both homogeneous and heterogeneous qualities? This paper explores this potential destabilization or blurring of spatial phenomena by dissecting the transparent layers and volumes of a series of selected case studies to investigate how different architects have devised strategies of spatial ambivalence, ambiguity, and interpenetration. Projects by Peter Eisenman, Sou Fujimoto, and SANAA will be discussed and analyzed to show how the superimposition of geometries and spaces achieve different conditions of layering, transparency, and interstitiality. Their particular buildings will be explored to reveal various innovative kinds of spatial interpenetration produced through the articulate relations of the elements of architecture, which challenge conventional perceptions of interior and exterior whereby visual homogeneity blurs with spatial heterogeneity. The results show how spatial conceptions such as interpenetration and transparency have the ability to subvert not only inside-outside dialectics but could also produce multiple degrees of interiority within complex and indeterminate spatial dimensions in constant flux as well as present alternative forms of social interaction.

Keywords: interpenetration, literal and phenomenal transparency, spatial heterogeneity, visual homogeneity

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Authors: A. Bedük, k. Eryeşil, o. Eşmen, m. Onacak

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The mobbing is a process that is consisting of negative behaviors such as, systematically and continuously insulting, offending against personal dignity, preventing access to necessary information and disseminating rumors against employee by one or more than one individuals in a work environment through which disturbing the employee physically, psychologically and socially to cause to quit his/her job. This research is aiming to explore the results of mobbing (psychological violence) on employees’ organizational commitment in workplaces. Mobbing takes many forms and is often used to force an employee to leave the work environment. Two different types of scales have been reviewed and revised for use in the research. The Heinz Leymann scale is the first measure, which was developed to define causes and effects, in addition to characteristic behaviors of mobbing. The second scale was developed by Allen and Mayer and indicates levels of organizational commitment. In this research, a questionnaire were applied to 50 employees in a special glass factory in Konya to search mobbing itself and indicate the effects of mobbing to organizational commitments. One of the important findings of this research is that there was no relation between mobbing and general organizational commitment.

Keywords: mobbing, organizational commitment, affective commitment, normative commitment, continuance commitment

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Authors: Khitam Ibrahem Shlash Mohammad

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Background: Postnatal depression is a focus of considerable research attention, but little is known about the pattern of stress across this period. Objective: to investigate the prevalence of stress after childbirth for Jordanian women and identify associated risk factors. Method: Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited six to eight weeks postpartum, provided personal, social and obstetric information, and completed the stress subscale of Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-S), the Maternity Social Support Scale (MSSS), and Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (PSES). Setting: maternal and child health care clinics in four health care centres in Maan city in Southern Jordan. Participants: Arabic speaking women (n = 324) between the ages of 18 and 45 years, six to eight weeks postpartum, primiparous or multiparous at low risk for obstetric complications. Data collection took place between October 2015 and January 2016. Ethical clearance was obtained prior to data collection. Results: The prevalence of postpartum stress among Jordanian women was 39.8 %. A regression analysis revealed that occupation, low social support, financial problems, difficult marital relationships, difficult relationship with family-in-law, giving birth to a female baby, difficult childbirth, and low self-efficacy were associated with postpartum stress. Conclusions and implications for practice: Jordanian women need support during pregnancy, during and after childbirth. Postpartum emotional support and assessment of symptoms of stress need to be incorporated into routine practice. The opportunity for open discussion along with increased awareness and clarification of common misconceptions about postpartum stress is necessary.

Keywords: prevalence, postpartum, stress, Jordanian women

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Authors: Tahra AlMahmoud, Sameeha Mohamed Al Hadhrami, Mohamed Elhanan, Hanan Naser Alshamsi, Fikri Abu-Zidan

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Background: To the best of the author(s)’ knowledge there are no epidemiological studies for traumatic eye injuries in UAE, neither data on groups at risk or mechanisms for ocular trauma. Purpose: To report the epidemiology of eye injuries that required hospital admission and surgery at a referral center at the eastern part of Abu Dhabi. Method: Retrospective charts review of all patients who had suffered an eye injury that required surgical intervention between 2012 and 2017 at Al Ain Hospital. Demographic data, place of occurrence, the cause of injury, visual acuity (VA) before and after treatment, number of admission days and follow up were extracted. Data were tabulated and presented as number (%), mean (SD), or median (range) as appropriate. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for VA outcome. Results: One hundred forty-one patients were identified, 96 eyes with open-globe and 48 other types of injuries. The mean age of the patients was 26±15.5 years, and 89% were male. Majority of injuries occurred at the workplace (50.4%) followed by home (31.2%). Trauma with a sharp object (24.1%), blunt object (16.3%), nail (11.3%), and hammer on metal (7.8%) were the most common etiologies of injury. Corneas injuries (48.2%) was the most frequent cause for visual acuity limitation followed by lens/cataract (23.4%). Among the traumatized eyes, 30 eyes (21.3%) retained intraocular foreign body, Mean admission days was 3.16± 2.81days (1-16) and a number of follow up visit was 3.17± 4.11times (0-26). Conclusion: Ocular trauma requiring surgical intervention is an area of concern in particular for occupations involving work with metals. This work may give insight into the value and necessity of implementing preventive measures.

Keywords: epidemiology, Middle Eastern area, occupational injury, ocular traumas

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Authors: Havva Nur Tarakci, Bahar Urhan Torun

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The transformation that is seen in every area of life by technology, especially internet technology changes the structure of political communications too. Internet, which is at the top of new communication technologies, affects political communications with its structure in a way that no traditional communication tools ever have and enables interaction and the channel between receiver and sender, and it becomes one of the most effective tools preferred among the political communication applications. This state as a result of technological convergence makes Internet an unobtainable place for political communication campaigns. Political communications, which means every kind of communication strategies that political parties called 'actors of political communications' use with the aim of messaging their opinions and party programmes to their present and potential voters who are a target group for them, is a type of communication that is frequently used also among social media tools at the present day. The electorate consisting of different structures is informed, directed, and managed by social media tools. Political parties easily reach their electorate by these tools without any limitations of both time and place and also are able to take the opinions and reactions of their electorate by the element of interaction that is a feature of social media. In this context, Facebook, which is a place that political parties use in social media at most, is a communication network including in our daily life since 2004. As it is one of the most popular social networks today, it is among the most-visited websites in the global scale. In this way, the research is based on the question, “How do the political parties use Facebook at the campaigns, which they conduct during the election periods, for informing their voters?” and it aims at clarifying the Facebook using practices of the political parties. In direction of this objective the official Facebook accounts of the four political parties (JDP–AKParti, PDP–BDP, RPP-CHP, NMP-MHP), which reach their voters by social media besides other communication tools, are treated, and a frame for the politics of Turkey is formed. The time of examination is constricted with totally two weeks, one week before the mayoral elections and one week after the mayoral elections, when it is supposed that the political parties use their Facebook accounts in full swing. As a research method, the method of content analysis is preferred, and the texts and the visual elements that are gotten are interpreted based on this analysis.

Keywords: Facebook, political communications, social media, electrorate

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Authors: John Faucett, Hao Wu, Bruce Moore, Sean Nadji

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The demands of the ministry often conflict with responsibilities at home, and clergy often experience domain ambiguity between the domains of work and family. However, the unique level of family involvement in the pastor’s profession might enrich the pastor’s ministry as well as the functioning of the family unit. Life in the church family might offer clergy family members a sense of meaning and purpose, social support, and a feeling of belonging. Church activities can offer enhanced opportunities for family interaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of work/family enrichment to clergy job satisfaction, burnout, engagement, and withdrawal. Method: Participants were clergy serving within a state conference of the United Methodist Church. A survey was administered electronically, with e-mails and the United Methodist Church (UMC) Facebook page used as access points to the survey. Usable responses for this portion of the survey were obtained from 132 clergy. Participants completed The Work-Family Enrichment Scales, The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, The Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry, The Satisfaction in Ministry Scale, and a scale of withdrawal developed for the present study. They also answered questions relating to how involved their spouses are in their ministry and the degree to which spouse involvement in church ministry strengthens church ministry. Findings: Higher scores for work to family enrichment correlated positively with job satisfaction (r = - .69, p < .01) and engagement (r = .50, p < .01), and negatively with burnout (r = -.48, p < .01) and withdrawal (r = -.46, p < .01). Higher scores for family to work enrichment correlated positively with job satisfaction (r = .29, p = .01) and engagement (.24, p < .05), and negatively with burnout (r = -.48, p < .01), and withdrawal (r = -.46, p < .01). Hierarchical regression analysis suggested that clergy perceptions concerning the degree to which spouse involvement in church ministry strengthens church ministry moderates the relationship between degree of spouse involvement in church activities and clergy withdrawal. To the degree that spouse involvement is believed to strengthen ministry, high spouse involvement is related to less clergy withdrawal (Multiple R-Squared = .068, Adj. R-Squared = .043, F = 2.69 on 3 & 110 DF, p = .05). Concluding Statement: Clergy job attitudes are related to work/family enrichment. Spouse involvement in parish ministry is associated with less clergy withdrawal, as long as clergy believe spouse involvement strengthens their ministry.

Keywords: clergy, emotional exhaustion, job engagement, job satisfaction, work/family enrichment

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Authors: Lynn Mcquarrie, Charlotte Enns

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The goal of this project was to develop a visually-based, signed language phonological awareness training program and to pilot the intervention with signing deaf children (ages 6 -10 years/ grades 1 - 4) who were beginning readers to assess the effects of systematic explicit American Sign Language (ASL) phonological instruction on both ASL vocabulary and English print vocabulary learning. Growing evidence that signing learners utilize visually-based signed language phonological knowledge (homologous to the sound-based phonological level of spoken language processing) when reading underscore the critical need for further research on the innovation of reading instructional practices for visual language learners. Multiple single-case studies using a multiple probe design across content (i.e., sign and print targets incorporating specific ASL phonological parameters – handshapes) was implemented to examine if a functional relationship existed between instruction and acquisition of these skills. The results indicated that for all cases, representing a variety of language abilities, the visually-based phonological teaching approach was exceptionally powerful in helping children to build their sign and print vocabularies. Although intervention/teaching studies have been essential in testing hypotheses about spoken language phonological processes supporting non-deaf children’s reading development, there are no parallel intervention/teaching studies exploring hypotheses about signed language phonological processes in supporting deaf children’s reading development. This study begins to provide the needed evidence to pursue innovative teaching strategies that incorporate the strengths of visual learners.

Keywords: American sign language phonological awareness, dual language strategies, vocabulary learning, word reading

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Authors: Ayse Berivan Bakan, Senay Karadag Arli, Ela Varol

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Objective: The present study aims to identify nursing students’ attitudes toward older people. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 166 nursing department students enrolled in a four-year undergraduate program in a university located in Eastern Turkey. The participants were chosen using convenience sampling method, and the data were collected through the Descriptive Characteristics Form and Turkish version of Kogan's Attitudes toward Old People Scale (KAOP). Results: It was found that the students participating in the study had positive attitudes toward old people, and the mean scores of those who wanted to work with old people after graduation were significantly high (p<0.05). Scale mean scores according to receiving Gerontology Nursing course showed that the score difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study found that nursing students’ attitudes toward older people were positive. Cultural features of the region where the study was conducted are considered to contribute to this result.

Keywords: older people, attitudes, gerontology, nursing students, Turkey

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Authors: M. Naveed Iqbal, Sheza Fatima, Noman Shabbir

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In the presence of energy crisis in Pakistan, off-grid remote areas are not on priority list. The use of new large scale coal fired power plants will also make this situation worst. Therefore, the greatest challenge in our society is to explore new ways to power off grid remote areas with renewable energy sources. It is time for a sustainable energy policy which puts consumers, the environment, human health, and peace first. The renewable energy is one of the biggest growing sectors of the energy industry. Therefore, the large scale use of micro grid is thus described here with modeling, simulation, planning and operating of the micro grid. The goal of this research paper is to go into detail of a library of major components of micro grid. The introduction will go through the detail view of micro grid definition. Then, the simulation of Micro Grid in MATLAB/ Simulink including the Photo Voltaic Cell will be described with the detailed modeling. The simulation with the design and modeling will be introduced too.

Keywords: micro grids, distribution generation, PV, off-grid operations

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Authors: Alexandru Grigorescu, Alexandra Protesanu

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Background: Approximately 34-67 percent of cancer patients experience an episode of uncontrolled pain during the course of their disease, depending on the stage. The aim is to provide evidence-based data for pain prevalence, diagnosis and treatment recommendations on an integrative model of medical oncology and palliative care for patients with cancer diagnostic in a day hospital. Patients and method: Consultation registers and electronic records of 166 Patients (Pts) were studied from April 2022 to March 2023. Pts with pain syndrome were selected. The pain was objectified by the visual pain scale. To elucidate the causes of the pain, investigations were carried out: bone scintigraphy, CT scan, and PET-CT. The analgesic treatments were represented by weak and strong morphine, radiotherapy, and bisphosphonates. Result: During the mentioned period, 166 oncological patients (74 women and 92 men) were treated in the oncology day hospitalization service. There were 1,500 consultations, 40 of which were only for pain. The neoplastic locations were: gynecological, malignant melanoma, breast, gastric, bronchopulmonary, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, bladder, and kidney. 70 Pts presented pain syndrome. The causes of the pain were represented by bone metastases, compressive tumors, and post-surgical status. Drug treatment: Tramadol 47 Pts, of which 10 switched to a major opioid (Oxycodonum, Morphine sulfate), 20 Pts were treated with Oxycodonum as the first intention. In 5 patients ry to rotated morphine, 20 Pts received palliative radiotherapy, 10 Pts were treated with bisphosphonates. 2 Pts required neurosurgery consultation for an antalgic intervention. 5 Pts had important adverse reactions to morphine. All patients and their families were advised by a medical oncologist and psychologist for a lifestyle change. Conclusions: The prevalence of pain was similar to that described in the literature. In most cases, the pain could be managed in the day hospital. Weak and strong morphine represented the main pain therapy. Palliative radiotherapy was the second most effective therapy. Treatment with bisphosphonates was useful. Surgical interventions were rarely indicated. Discussions with patients and their families regarding the lifestyle change were important.

Keywords: cancer pain, opioids, medical oncology, palliative care

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Authors: Manar Al-Ateeq

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The building construction industry plays a major role in the economy of the word and the state of Kuwait. This paper evaluates existing new civil site engineers, describes a new system for improvement and insures the importance of prequalifying and developing for new engineers. In order to have a strong base in engineering, educational institutes and workplaces should be responsible to continuously train engineers and update them with new methods and techniques in engineering. As to achieve that, school of engineering should constantly update computational resources to be used in the professions. A survey was prepared for graduated Engineers based on stated objectives to understand the status of graduate engineers in both the public and private sector. Interviews were made with different sectors in Kuwait, and several visits were made to different training centers within different workplaces in Kuwait to evaluate training process and try to improve it. Virtual Reality (VR) technology could be applied as a complement to three-dimensional (3D) modeling, leading to better communication whether in job training, in education or in professional practice. Techniques of 3D modeling and VR can be applied to develop the models related to the construction process. The 3D models can support rehabilitation design as it can be considered as a great tool for monitoring failure and defaults in structures; also it can support decisions based on the visual analyses of alternative solutions. Therefore, teaching computer-aided design (CAD) and VR techniques in school will help engineering students in order to prepare them to site work and also will assist them to consider these technologies as important supports in their later professional practice. This teaching technique will show how the construction works developed, allow the visual simulation of progression of each type of work and help them to know more about the necessary equipment needed for tasks and how it works on site.

Keywords: three dimensional modeling (3DM), civil engineers (CE), professional practice (PP), virtual reality (VR)

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Authors: Linlin Guo, Baofeng Li

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Zhengzhou is a typical plain city with a high population density and a permanent population of 10 million, located in central China. The scale of this city is constantly expanding, and the urban form has changed dramatically by the accelerating process of urbanization, which makes a great effect on the urban microclimate. In order to study the influence of block morphology on urban micro-climate, air temperature, humidity, wind velocity and so on in three typical types of blocks in the center of Zhengzhou were collected, which was chosen to perform the fixed and mobile observation. After data handling and analysis, a series of graphs and diagrams were obtained to reflect the differences in the influence of different types of block morphology on the urban microclimate. These can provide targeted strategies for urban design to improve and regulate urban micro-climate.

Keywords: urban micro-climate, block morphology, fixed and mobile observation, urban design

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