Search results for: programme outcome

Authors: Kalpana Gupta

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Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that are spread primarily through sexual contact. In our daily practice, we see gonorrhea, chancroid, syphilis, and chlamydial infections that can be cured, as well as HIV, genital herpes, HPV, and hepatitis B infections that cannot be cured but can be managed with available treatments. Many people in India are infected with Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and the figures are quite high because of a lack of awareness and communication, as well as a taboo against these diseases. Numerous taboos and associated stigma shape patients’ lives and have a significant impact on health care policies, medical research, and current issues in medical ethics. Current statistics emphasize the importance of delivering sex education to this important demographic promptly. The long-standing tradition of girls marrying very young, especially in rural areas, and often too much older men, causes a slew of STIs. Stigma and HIV have a cyclical relationship; people who experience stigma and discrimination are marginalized and made more vulnerable to HIV/STDs, while those living with HIV are more vulnerable to stigma and discrimination. As urban pressures have grown, so have slums - and they have fast become ideal breeding grounds for STDs. In developed countries, strict laws have been enacted requiring people suffering from STDs to seek immediate treatment as well as contact the health department. Unfortunately, because of the stigma associated with the disease, patients in India are reluctant to reveal the source of infection. With various schemes, India is attempting to promote sex education and awareness. For example, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare developed the National Adolescent Health Programme (also known as the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram) in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Whereas, National AIDS Control Organisation was set up so that every person living with HIV has access to quality care and is treated with dignity and breaking all taboos. It becomes clear that research and healthcare policies will not be effective in assisting patients with STDs unless these "nonscientific" elements are taken into account.

Keywords: sexually transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted infections, taboo, stigma, HIV/STDs, sex education and awareness, treatment, quality care, medications, healthcare policies

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Authors: Hannah Rosenqvist, Fanny Guay

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Critical infrastructure protection has been an important topic for several years. Programmes such as the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP), Critical Infrastructure Warning Information Network (CIWIN) and the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (ENR-CIP) have been the pillars to the work done since 2006. However, measuring critical infrastructure resilience has not been an easy task. This has to do with the fact that the concept of resilience has several definitions and is applied in different domains such as engineering and social sciences. Since June 2015, the EU project IMPROVER has been focusing on developing a methodology for implementing a combination of societal, organizational and technological resilience concepts, in the hope to increase critical infrastructure resilience. For this paper, we performed research on how to include societal resilience as a form of measurement of the context of critical infrastructure resilience. Because one of the main purposes of critical infrastructure (CI) is to deliver services to the society, we believe that societal resilience is an important factor that should be considered when assessing the overall CI resilience. We found that existing methods for CI resilience assessment focus mainly on technical aspects and therefore that is was necessary to develop a resilience model that take social factors into account. The model developed within the project IMPROVER aims to include the community’s expectations of infrastructure operators as well as information sharing with the public and planning processes. By considering such aspects, the IMPROVER framework not only helps operators to increase the resilience of their infrastructures on the technical or organizational side, but aims to strengthen community resilience as a whole. This will further be achieved by taking interdependencies between critical infrastructures into consideration. The knowledge gained during this project will enrich current European policies and practices for improved disaster risk management. The framework for societal resilience analysis is based on three dimensions for societal resilience; coping capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative capacity which are capacities that have been recognized throughout a widespread literature review in the field. A set of indicators have been defined that describe a community’s maturity within these resilience dimensions. Further, the indicators are categorized into six community assets that need to be accessible and utilized in such a way that they allow responding to changes and unforeseen circumstances. We conclude that the societal resilience model developed within the project IMPROVER can give a good indication of the level of societal resilience to critical infrastructure operators.

Keywords: community resilience, critical infrastructure protection, critical infrastructure resilience, societal resilience

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Authors: Jay Patel

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This Research is about investigating the ‘image’ of the city, and asks whether this ‘image’ holds any significance that can be changed. Kevin Lynch in the book ‘The image of the city’ develops a framework that breaks down the city’s image into five physical elements. These elements (Paths, Edge, Nodes, Districts, and Landmarks), according to Lynch assess the legibility of the urbanscapes, that emerged from his perception-based study in 3 different cities (New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Boston) in the USA. The aim of this research is to investigate whether Lynch’s framework can be applied within an Indian context or not. If so, what are the possibilities and whether the imageability of Indian cities can be depicted through the Lynch’s physical elements or it demands an extension to the framework by either adding or subtracting a physical attribute. For this research project, the walled city of Jaipur was selected, as it is considered one of the futuristic designed cities of all time in India. The other significant reason for choosing Jaipur was that it is a historically planned city with solid historical, touristic and local importance; allowing an opportunity to understand the application of Lynch's elements to the city's image. In other words, it provides an opportunity to examine how the disadvantages of a city's implicit programme (its relics of bygone eras) can be converted into assets by improving the imageability of the city. To obtain data, a structured semi-open ended interview method was chosen. The reason for selecting this method explicitly was to gain qualitative data from the users rather than collecting quantitative data from closed-ended questions. This allowed in-depth understanding and applicability of Kevin Lynch’s framework while assessing what needs to be added. The interviews were conducted in Jaipur that yielded varied inferences that were different from the expected learning outcomes, highlighting the need for extension on Lynch’s physical elements to achieve city’s image. Whilst analyzing the data, there were few attributes found that defined the image of Jaipur. These were categorized into two: a Physical aspect (streets and arcade entities, natural features, temples and temporary/ informal activities) and Associational aspects (History, Culture and Tradition, Medium of help in wayfinding, and intangible aspects).

Keywords: imageability, Kevin Lynch, people’s perception, assessment, associational aspects, physical aspects

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Authors: Rogaleva Liudmila, Malkin Valery

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Physical culture lessons are considered not only to be a means of physical development of students, but a matter of their personal development. Physical culture lessons can enable to develop such qualities of students as activity and initiation, readiness to cooperate, self-confidence, ability to define and reach targets, readiness to overcome difficulties and assess their abilities (and disadvantages) properly in any precise situation as well to be responsible for their own decision. The solution of this problem is possible under the circumstance if the students aware themselves as the subject of the activity that are able to develop their possibilities. The research was aimed to learn the matters that enable female teenagers of senior forms to become strong personalities attending physical culture lessons. There were two stages of the research. At the first stage we define the interests and demands of the girls. According the results of research we changed the programme of physical culture lessons. We took into consideration values of youth subculture: youth music, preferences to sport-dancing physical activities, demand of self-determination, revealing their individualities, needs of cooperative work. At the second stage we worked out motivating technology of course. This technology was aimed to create sush conditions under which students could show themselves as the subjects of activity and self-development. The active participation sport-dance festivals during 2-3 years creates the conditions for their self-realization. 78% students of the experimental groups considered their main motives to were: the interest, developing of their abilities, the satisfaction of the achievements of targets. Control groups 67% of the students claimed the success school good marks. The girls said that due to festivals they became self-confident (94%), responsible (86%), ability to cooperate (73%), aspiration for reaching the target (68%), self-exactingness (57 %). The main factors that provide successful performance were called: efforts to reach the target (87%), mutual support and mutual understanding (77%). The research on values showed that in the experimental groups we can find increase of importance of such values as: social initiative (active life) 83%, friends (75%), self-control (73%), effectiveness in deeds (58%).

Keywords: physical culture, subject, personal development, self-determination

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Authors: Mahitab A. A. Mahmoud

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Despite the international community’s galvanized efforts to achieve gender equality, the Arab world still lags behind for their sustained suppression of diversity and freedoms. In Egypt, homosexuals are defamed and hunted not only by authorities but also by politicized religious institutions and media platforms. The resultant state-sponsored homophobia is reflected in media. This paper offers a critical discourse analysis of the representation of LGBTQs in Egypt’s local news articles and movies in an attempt to investigate the underlying ideology. The results reveal a clichéd portrayal of homosexuals as a social parasite that requires cleansing by the government. LGBTQs are depicted as an outcome of debauchery, unhappy marriage, sexual deviancy, deficiency of masculinity/femininity, absence of the mother and/or father figure(s), abject poverty, excessive wealth, psychiatric disorder, debased instincts, childhood sexual molestation, immorality, deviation from religion, chaos, treason, conspiracy against the regime, to name only a few. This image, which is imposed and sustained by the state, exposes homosexuals to a violation of their human rights by both the police and the society, endangers their lives, breeds intolerance, social inequality and violence, prevents healthy coexistence; and deprives them of living a normal life.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, gender studies, homophobia, homosexuality, ideology, media studies

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Authors: Matthew Buns

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Training specificity is imperative for successful performance of the elite athlete. Virtual reality (VR) has been successfully applied to a broad range of training domains. However, to date there is little research investigating the use of VR for sport training. The purpose of this study was to address the question of whether virtual reality (VR) training can improve real world hockey shooting performance. Twenty four volunteers were recruited and randomly selected to complete the virtual training intervention or enter a control group with no training. Four primary types of data were collected: 1) participant’s experience with video games and hockey, 2) participant’s motivation toward video game use, 3) participants technical performance on real-world hockey, and 4) participant’s technical performance in virtual hockey. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that that the intervention group demonstrated significantly more real-world hockey accuracy [F(1,24) =15.43, p <.01, E.S. = 0.56] while shooting on goal than their control group counterparts [intervention M accuracy = 54.17%, SD=12.38, control M accuracy = 46.76%, SD=13.45]. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) repeated measures indicated significantly higher outcome scores on real-world accuracy (35.42% versus 54.17%; ES = 1.52) and velocity (51.10 mph versus 65.50 mph; ES=0.86) of hockey shooting on goal. This research supports the idea that virtual training is an effective tool for increasing real-world hockey skill.

Keywords: virtual training, hockey skills, video game, esports

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Authors: N. Guru Prasath, Sangjin Ma, Chang-Wan Kim

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A butterfly valve is a quarter turn valve which is used to control the flow of a fluid through a section of pipe. Generally, butterfly valve is used in wide range of applications such as water distribution, sewage, oil and gas plants. In particular, butterfly valve with larger diameter finds its immense applications in hydro power plants to control the fluid flow. In-lieu with the constraints in cost and size to run laboratory setup, analysis of large diameter values will be mostly studied by computational method which is the best and inexpensive solution. For fluid and structural analysis, CFD and FEM software is used to perform large scale valve analyses, respectively. In order to perform above analysis in butterfly valve, the CAD model has to recreate and perform mesh in conventional software’s for various dimensions of valve. Therefore, its limitation is time consuming process. In-order to overcome that issue, python code was created to outcome complete pre-processing setup automatically in Salome software. Applying dimensions of the model clearly in the python code makes the running time comparatively lower and easier way to perform analysis of the valve. Hence, in this paper, an attempt was made to study the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of butterfly valves by varying the valve angles and dimensions using python code in pre-processing software, and results are produced.

Keywords: butterfly valve, flow coefficient, automatic CFD analysis, FSI analysis

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Authors: Chi-Wai Kan, Kam-Hong Chau, Ho-Shing Law

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Wicking property is important for textile finishing and wears comfort. Good wicking properties can ensure uniformity and efficiency of the textiles treatment. In view of wear comfort, quick wicking fabrics facilitate the evaporation of sweat. Therefore, the wetness sensation of the skin is minimised to prevent discomfort. The testing method for vertical wicking was standardised by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) in 2011. The traditional vertical wicking test involves human error to observe fast changing and/or unclear wicking height. This study introduces optoelectronic devices to achieve an automatic Vertical Wicking Tester (VWT) and reduce human error. The VWT can record the wicking time and wicking height of samples. By reducing the difficulties of manual judgment, the reliability of the vertical wicking experiment is highly increased. Furthermore, labour is greatly decreased by using the VWT. The automatic measurement of the VWT has optoelectronic devices to trace the liquid wicking with a simple operation procedure. The optoelectronic devices detect the colour difference between dry and wet samples. This allows high sensitivity to a difference in irradiance down to 10 μW/cm². Therefore, the VWT is capable of testing dark fabric. The VWT gives a wicking distance (wicking height) of 1 mm resolution and a wicking time of one-second resolution. Acknowledgment: This is a research project of HKRITA funded by Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) with title “Development of an Automatic Measuring System for Vertical Wicking” (ITP/055/20TP). Author would like to thank the financial support by ITF. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material/event (or by members of the project team) do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Innovation and Technology Commission or the Panel of Assessors for the Innovation and Technology Support Programme of the Innovation and Technology Fund and the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel. Also, we would like to thank the support and sponsorship from Lai Tak Enterprises Limited, Kingis Development Limited and Wing Yue Textile Company Limited.

Keywords: AATCC method, comfort, textile measurement, wetness sensation

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Authors: Jakub Bartus, Jaroslav Odrobinak

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In general, composite steel and concrete structures present an effective structural solution utilizing the full potential of both materials. As they have numerous advantages on the construction side, they can greatly reduce the overall cost of construction, which has been the main objective of the last decade, highlighted by the current economic and social crisis. The study represents not only an analysis of composite beams’ behavior having web openings but emphasizes the influence of these openings on the total strain distribution at the level of the steel bottom flange as well. The major investigation was focused on a change in structural performance with respect to various layouts of openings. Examining this structural modification, an improvement of load carrying capacity of composite beams was a prime objective. The study is divided into analytical and numerical parts. The analytical part served as an initial step into the design process of composite beam samples, in which optimal dimensions and specific levels of utilization in individual stress states were taken into account. The numerical part covered the discretization of the preset structural issue in the form of a finite element (FE) model using beam and shell elements accounting for material non–linearities. As an outcome, several conclusions were drawn describing and explaining the effect of web opening presence on the structural performance of composite beams.

Keywords: beam, steel flange, total strain, web opening

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Authors: Sakib Hasn, Shahid Anwar

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This study highlights the vital importance of assessing the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire and presence measures as virtual reality (VR) incorporation into language teaching gains popularity. To address user discomfort, which prevents efficient learning in VR environments, the measurement of SSQ becomes crucial. Additionally, evaluating presence metrics is essential to determine the level of engagement and immersion, both crucial for rich language learning experiences. This paper designs a VR-based Chinese language application and proposes a thorough test technique aimed at systematically analyzing SSQ and presence measures. Subjective tests and data analysis were carried out to highlight the significance of addressing user discomfort in VR language education. The results of this study shed light on the difficulties posed by user discomfort in VR language learning and offer insightful advice on how to improve VR language learning applications. Furthermore, the outcome of the research explores ‘VR-based language education,’ ‘inclusive language learning platforms," and "cross-cultural communication,’ highlighting the potential for VR to facilitate language learning across diverse cultural backgrounds. Overall, the analysis results contribute to the enrichment of language learning experiences in the virtual realm and underscore the need for continued exploration and improvement in this field.

Keywords: virtual reality (VR), language education, simulator sickness questionnaire, presence metrics, VR-based Chinese language education

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Authors: Mohammed Gamil Montasser, Angelo Battaglia

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Tourism is making its presence felt across the Sultanate of Oman. The story is one of the most recognized phenomena as a sustainable solid growth and is considered a remarkable outcome for any destination. The competitive situation and challenges within the tourism industry worldwide entail a better understanding of the destination position and its image to achieve Oman’s aspiration to retain its international reputation as one of the most desirable destinations in the Middle East. To access general perceptions of Oman’s attributes, their importance and their influences among U.S. tourists, an online survey was conducted with 522 American travelers who have traveled internationally, including non-visitors, virtual-visitors and visitors to Oman. This research involved a total of 36 attributes in the survey. Participants were asked to rate their agreement on how each attribute represented Oman and how important each attribute was for selecting destinations on 5- point Likert Scale. They also indicated if each attribute has a positive, neutral or negative influence on their destination selection. Descriptive statistics and importance performance analysis (IPA) were conducted. IPA illustrated U.S. tourists’ perceptions of Oman’s destination attributes and their importance in destination selection on a matrix with four quadrants, divided by actual mean value in each grid for importance (M=3.51) and performance (M=3.57). Oman tourism organizations and destination managers may use these research findings for future marketing and management efforts toward the U.S. travel market.

Keywords: analysis of importance, performance, destination attributes, Oman's position, U.S. tourists

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Authors: Rachel Byrne

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Background: Due to patient and student safety concerns, combined with clinical teachers being redeployed to clinical practice, COVID-19 has resulted in a reduction in face-to-face teaching sessions for medical students. Traditionally such sessions are particularly important for final year medical students, especially in preparing for their final practical exams. A reduced student presence on the wards has also resulted in fewer opportunities for junior doctors to provide teaching sessions. This has implications for junior doctors achieving their own curriculum outcomes for teaching, as well as potentially hindering the development of a future interest in medical education. Aims: The aims of the study are 1) To create a safe face-to-face teaching environment during COVID-19 which focussed on exam preparation for final year medical students, 2) To provide a platform for doctors to gain teaching experience, 3 ) to enable doctors to gain feedback or assessments on their teaching, 4) To create beginners guide to designing a new teaching program for future junior doctors. Methods: We created a program of timed clinical stations consisting of four sessions every five weeks during the student’s medicine attachment. Each session could be attended by 6 students and consisted of 6 stations ran by junior doctors, with each station following social distancing and personal protective equipment requirements. Junior doctors were asked to design their own stations. The sessions ran out-of-hours on weekday evenings and were optional for the students. Results: 95/95 students and 20/40 doctors involved in the programme completed feedback. 100% (n=95) of students strongly agreed/agreed that sessions were aimed at an appropriate level and provided constructive feedback. 100% (n=95) of students stated they felt more confident in their abilities and would recommend the session to peers. 90% (n=18) of the teachers strongly agreed/agreed that they felt more confident in their teaching abilities and that the sessions had improved their own medical knowledge. 85% (n=17) of doctors had a teaching assessment completed, and 83% (n=16) said the program had made them consider a career in medical education. The difficulties of creating such a program were highlighted throughout, and a beginner’s guide was created with the hopes of helping future doctors who are interested in teaching address the common obstacles.

Keywords: COVID-19, education, safety, medical

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Authors: Ann Devitt, Mairead Brady, Markus Lamest, Stephen Gomez

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This study set out to explore the use of an online collaborative serious game for student learning in a postgraduate introductory marketing module. The simulation game aimed to bridge the theory-practice divide in marketing by allowing students to apply theory in a safe, simulated marketplace. This study addresses the following research questions: Does an online marketing simulation game engage students higher order cognitive skills? Does collaborative activity required develop students’ “soft” skills, such as communication and negotiation? What specific affordances of the online simulation promote learning? This qualitative case study took place in 2014 with 40 postgraduate students on a Business Masters Programme. The two-week intensive module combined lectures with collaborative activity on a marketing simulation game, MMX from Pearsons. The game requires student teams to compete against other teams in a marketplace and design a marketing plan to maximize key performance indicators. The data for this study comprise essays written by students after the module reflecting on their learning on the module. A thematic analysis was conducted of the essays using the following a priori theme sets: 6 levels of the cognitive domain of Blooms taxonomy; 5 principles of Cooperative Learning; affordances of simulation environments including experiential learning; motivation and engagement; goal orientation. Preliminary findings would strongly suggest that the game facilitated students identifying the value of theory in practice, in particular for future employment; enhanced their understanding of group dynamics and their role within that; and impacted very strongly, both positively and negatively on motivation. In particular the game mechanics of MMX, which hinges on the correct identification of a target consumer group, was identified as a key determinant of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for learners. The findings also suggest that the situation of the simulation game within a broader module which required post-game reflection was valuable in identifying key learning of marketing concepts in both the positive and the negative experiences of the game.

Keywords: simulation, marketing, serious game, cooperative learning, bloom's taxonomy

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Authors: Yadav Shyamjeet Maniram

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Despite reports of more than seventy million population of India affected by rare diseases, it rarely figured on the agenda of the Indian scientist and policymakers. Hitherto ignored, a fresh initiative is being attempted to establish the first national registry for rare diseases. Though there are registries for rare diseases, established by the clinicians and patient advocacy groups, they are isolated, scattered and lacks information sharing mechanism. It is the first time that there is an effort from the government of India to make an initiative on the rare disease registries, which would be more formal and systemic in nature. Since there is lack of epidemiological evidence for the rare disease in India, it is interesting to note how rare disease policy is being attempted in the vacuum of evidence required for the policy process. The objective of this study is to analyse rare disease registry creation and implementation from the parameters of evolutionary policy perspective in the absence of evidence for the policy process. This study will be exploratory and qualitative in nature, primarily based on the interviews of stakeholders involved in the rare disease registry creation and implementation. Some secondary data will include various documents related to rare disease registry. The expected outcome of this study would be on the role of stakeholders in the generation of evidence for the rare disease registry creation and implementation. This study will also try to capture negotiations and deliberations on the ethical issues in terms of data collection, preservation, and protection.

Keywords: evolutionary policy perspective, evidence for policy, rare disease policy, rare disease in India

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Authors: Gurmail Singh

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Effective supply chain is the main priority of every organization which is the outcome of strategic corporate investments with deliberate management action. Value-driven supply chain is defined through development, procurement and by configuring the appropriate resources, metrics and processes. However, responsiveness of the supply chain can be improved by proper coordination. So the Bullwhip effect (BWE) and Net stock amplification (NSAmp) values were anticipated and used for the control of inventory in organizations by both discrete wavelet transform-Artificial neural network (DWT-ANN) and Adaptive Network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). This work presents a comparative methodology of forecasting for the customers demand which is non linear in nature for a multilevel supply chain structure using hybrid techniques such as Artificial intelligence techniques including Artificial neural networks (ANN) and Adaptive Network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and Discrete wavelet theory (DWT). The productiveness of these forecasting models are shown by computing the data from real world problems for Bullwhip effect and Net stock amplification. The results showed that these parameters were comparatively less in case of discrete wavelet transform-Artificial neural network (DWT-ANN) model and using Adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS).

Keywords: bullwhip effect, hybrid techniques, net stock amplification, supply chain flexibility

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Authors: Tamer Mesallam, Medhat Yousef, Ayna Almasaad

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BACKGROUND: Cochlear implantation (CI) in children with additional disabilities can be a fundamental and supportive intervention. Although, there may be some positive impacts of CI on children with multiple disabilities such as better outcomes of communication skills, development, and quality of life, the families of those children complain from the post-implant habilitation efforts that considered as a burden. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the outcomes of CI children with different co-disabilities through using the Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS) and the Meaningful Use of Speech Scale (MUSS) as outcome measurement tools. METHODS: The study sample comprised 25 hearing-impaired children with co-disability who received cochlear implantation. Age and gender-matched control group of 25 cochlear-implanted children without any other disability has been also included. The participants' auditory skills and speech outcomes were assessed using MAIS and MUSS tests. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the different outcomes measure between the two groups. However, the outcomes of some multiple disabilities subgroups were comparable to the control group. Around 40% of the participants with co-disabilities experienced advancement in their methods of communication from behavior to oral mode. CONCLUSION: Cochlear-implanted children with multiple disabilities showed variable degrees of auditory and speech outcomes. The degree of benefits depends on the type of the co-disability. Long-term follow-up is recommended for those children.

Keywords: children with disabilities, Cochlear implants, hearing impairment, language development

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Authors: Anuruddhi Edirisinghe, Anusha Edirisinghe, Maithree Wicramasinghe, Sagarika Kannangara, Annista Wijayanayake

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SGBV which refer to acts of inflicting physical, mental or sexual harm or sufferings that deprive a person’s liberty based on one’s gender or sexuality is known to occur in various forms. Ragging in educational institutions can often be one such form of SGBV. Ragging related SGBV is a growing problem despite various legal, policy and programme initiatives introduced over the years. While the punishment of perpetrators through the criminal justice system is expected to bring a deterrent effect, other strategies such as awareness-raising, attitudinal changes, and the empowerment of students to say no to ragging and SGBV will lead to enlightened attitudes about the practice in universities. Thus, effective regular prevention programmes are the need of the hour. The objectives of the paper are to engage with the case of a female fresher subjected to verbal abuse, physical assault and sexual harassment due to events which started as a result of wearing a trouser to the university during the ragging season. The case came to the limelight since a complaint was made to the police and 10 students were arrested under the anti-ragging act. This led to dividend opinions among the student population and a backlash from the student union. Simultaneously, this resulted in the society demanding the stricter implementation of laws and the punishment of perpetrators. The university authority appointed a task force comprising of academics, non-academics, parents, community leaders, stakeholders and students to draw up an action plan to respond to the immediate situation as well as future prevention. The paper will also discuss the implementation of task force plan. The paper is based on interviews with those involved with the issue and the experiences of the task force members and is expected to provide an in-depth understanding of the intricacies and complications associated with dealing with a contentious problem such as ragging. Given the political and ethical issues involved with insider research as well as the sensationalism of the topic, maximum care will be taken to safeguard the interests of those concerned.

Keywords: fresher, sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), sexual harassment, ragging

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Authors: Daniel Francis, Mo Yassin

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Transverse patella fractures are routinely fixed using tension band wiring (TBW) using Kirschner wires and a wire in the shape of a figure of 8. The idea of the study was to compare the outcomes of the traditional technique against the more recently used cannulated screws and fiber tape in the shape of a figure of 8. We performed a retrospective cohort study of all the surgically fixed patella fractures from the year 2019 to 2022. The patients were divided into two groups TBW group and cannulated screws group. The primary outcome measure was the failure of fixation and the need for the removal of metalwork. Twenty-six patellar fractures were studied. TBW was used in 14 (53.8%), and cannulated screws were used for fixation in 12 (46.2%). There was one incident of metalwork failure in the TBW and one incident in the cannulated screws group. Five (35.7%) of patients in the TBW needed symptomatic metal work removed and One (8.3%) in the cannulated screw group. In both groups, the rate of fixation failure was low. Symptomatic implants, the most common complication observed, were higher in the TBW group in our practice. Although the small numbers in both groups, the hope of this study is to shine the light on the use of cannulated screws for patella fractures as it would reduce the need for a second operation and reduce the load on the already stretched services as well as improving the patient experience by not requiring further surgery. Although this is not a brand-new technique, it is not commonly used as there have not yet been any studies that demonstrate the lower rates of second surgery needed.

Keywords: patella, tension band wiring, randomised, new technique

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Authors: Pratyusha Das

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A paradigm shift has been noticed in the interpretation of DNA evidence for determining paternity. Sometimes DNA evidence has been accepted while sometimes it was rejected by the Indian Courts. Courts have forwarded various justifications for acceptance and rejection of such evidence through legal and scientific means. Laws have also been changed to accommodate the necessities of society. Balances between both the legal and scientific approaches are required, to make the best possible use of DNA evidence for the well-being of the society. Specifications are to be framed as to when such evidence can be used in the future by pointing out the pros and cons. Judicial trend is to be formulated to find out the present situation. The study of cases of superior courts of India using an analytical and theoretical approach is driving the questions regarding the shared identity of the legal and scientific approaches. To assimilate the differences between the two approaches, the basic differences between them have to be formulated. Revelations are required to access the favorable decisions using the DNA evidence. Reasons are to be forwarded for the unfavorable decisions and the approach preferred in such cases. The outcome of the two methods has to be assessed in relation to the parties to the dispute, the society at large, the researcher and from the judicial point of view. The dependability of the two methods is to be studied in relation to the justice delivery system. A highlight of the chronological study of cases along with the changes in the laws with the aid of presumptions will address the questions of necessity of a method according to the facts and situations. Address is required in this respect whether the legal and scientific forces converge somewhere pushing the traditional identification of paternity towards a fundamental change.

Keywords: cases, evidence, legal, scientific

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Authors: Bidyadhar Dehury, Sanjay Kumar Mohanty

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According to the Right to Education Act of India, education is the fundamental right of all children of age group 6-14 year irrespective of their status. Using the unit level data from India Human Development Survey (IHDS), we tried to understand the inter-relationship between the level of poverty and the academic performance of the children aged 8-11 years. The level of multidimensional poverty is measured using five dimensions and 10 indicators using Alkire-Foster approach. The weighted deprivation score was obtained by giving equal weight to each dimension and indicators within the dimension. The weighted deprivation score varies from 0 to 1 and grouped into four categories as non-poor, vulnerable, multidimensional poor and sever multidimensional poor. The academic performance index was measured using three variables reading skills, math skills and writing skills using PCA. The bivariate and multivariate analysis was used in the analysis. The outcome variable was ordinal. So the predicted probabilities were calculated using the ordinal logistic regression. The predicted probabilities of good academic performance index was 0.202 if the child was sever multidimensional poor, 0.235 if the child was multidimensional poor, 0.264 if the child was vulnerable, and 0.316 if the child was non-poor. Hence, if the level of poverty among the children decreases from sever multidimensional poor to non-poor, the probability of good academic performance increases.

Keywords: multidimensional poverty, academic performance index, reading skills, math skills, writing skills, India

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Authors: Heval Serhat Uluk, Sam M. Dakka, Kuldeep Singh, Richard Jefferson-Loveday

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This paper will focus on the suitability of a trapped vortex combustor as a candidate for gas turbine combustor objectives to minimize pressure drop across the combustor and investigate aerodynamic performance. Non-reacting simulation of axisymmetric cavity trapped vortex combustors were simulated to investigate the pressure drop for various cavity aspect ratios of 0.3, 0.6, and 1 and for air mass flow rates of 14 m/s, 28 m/s, and 42 m/s. A numerical study of an axisymmetric trapped vortex combustor was carried out by using two-dimensional and three-dimensional computational domains. A comparison study was conducted between Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) k-ε Realizable with enhanced wall treatment and RANS k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) models to find the most suitable turbulence model. It was found that the k-ω SST model gives relatively close results to experimental outcomes. The numerical results were validated and showed good agreement with the experimental data. Pressure drop rises with increasing air mass flow rate, and the lowest pressure drop was observed at 0.6 cavity aspect ratio for all air mass flow rates tested, which agrees with the experimental outcome. A mixing enhancement study showed that 30-degree angle air injectors provide improved fuel-air mixing.

Keywords: aerodynamic, computational fluid dynamics, propulsion, trapped vortex combustor

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Authors: Tahsien Mohamed Okasha

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We hypothesized that Post cardiac arrest patients with Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score of less than (8) and who will be exposed to therapeutic hypothermia protocol will exhibit improvement in their neurological performance. Purposive sample of 17 patients who were fulfilling the inclusion criteria during one year collected. The study carried out using Quasi-experimental research design. Four Tools used for data collection of this study: Demographic and medical data sheet, Post cardiac arrest health assessment sheet, Bedside Shivering Assessment Scale (BSAS), and Glasgow Pittsburgh cerebral performance category scale (CPC). Result: the mean age was X̅ ± SD = 53 ± 8.122 years, 47.1% were arrested because of cardiac etiology. 35.3% with initial arrest rhythm ventricular tachycardia (VT), 23.5% with ventricular fibrillation (VF), and 29.4% with A-Systole. Favorable neurological outcome was seen among 70.6%. There was significant statistical difference in WBC, Platelets, blood gases value, random blood sugar. Also Initial arrest rhythm, etiology of cardiac arrest, and shivering status were significantly correlated with cerebral performance categories score. therapeutic hypothermia has positive effects on neurological performance among post cardiac arrest patients with GCS score of less than (8). replication of the study on larger probability sample, with randomized control trial design. Further study for suggesting nursing protocol for patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia.

Keywords: therapeutic hypothermia, neurological performance, after resuscitation from cardiac arrest., resuscitation

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Authors: Vassiliki Drosou, Theoni Oikonomou

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EU-SOLARIS will form a new legal entity to explore and implement improved rules and procedures for Research Infrastructures (RI) for Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) and solar chemistry technologies, in order to optimize RI development and R&D coordination. It is expected to be the first of its kind, where industrial needs and private funding will play a significant role. The success of EU-SOLARIS initiative will be the establishment of a new governance body, aided by sustainable financial models. EU-SOLARIS is expected to be an important tool, which will provide the most complete, high quality scientific infrastructure portfolio at international level and to facilitate researchers' access to highly specialised research infrastructure through a single access point. This will be accomplished by linking scientific communities, industry and universities involved in the CST sector. The access to be offered by EU-SOLARIS will guarantee the direct contact of experienced scientists with newcomers and interested students. The set of RIs participating in EU-SOLARIS will offer access to state of the art infrastructures, high-quality services, and will enable users to conduct high quality research. Access to these facilities will contribute to the enhancement of the European research area by: -Opening installations to European and non-European scientists, coming from both academia and industry, thus improving co-operation. -Improving scientific critical mass in domains where knowledge is now widely dispersed. -Generating strong Europe-wide R&D project consortia, increasing the competitiveness of each member alone. EU-SOLARIS will be created in the framework of a European project, co-funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union –whose initiative is to foster, contribute and promote the scientific and technological development of the CST and solar chemistry technologies. Primary objective of EU-SOLARIS is to contribute to the improvement of the state of the art of these technologies with the aim of preserving and reinforcing the European leadership in this field, in which EU-SOLARIS is expected to be a valuable instrument. EU-SOLARIS scope, activities, objectives, current status and vision will be given in the article. Moreover, the rules, processes and criteria regulating the access to the research infrastructures included in EU-SOLARIS will be presented.

Keywords: concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology, renewable energy sources, research infrastructures, solar chemistry

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Authors: Mariia Khramova, Sergio Martinez, Duc Nguyen

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Modern electronic devices, particularly smartphones, are characterised by extremely high environmental footprint and short product lifecycle. Every year manufacturers release new models with even more superior performance, which pushes the customers towards new purchases. As a result, millions of devices are being accumulated in the urban mine. To tackle these challenges the concept of circular economy has been introduced to promote repair, reuse and recycle of electronics. In this case, electronic devices, that previously ended up in landfills or households, are getting the second life, therefore, reducing the demand for new raw materials. Smartphone reuse is gradually gaining wider adoption partly due to the price increase of flagship models, consequently, boosting circular economy implementation. However, along with reuse of communication device, circular economy approach needs to ensure the data of the previous user have not been 'reused' together with a device. This is especially important since modern smartphones are comparable with computers in terms of performance and amount of data stored. These data vary from pictures, videos, call logs to social security numbers, passport and credit card details, from personal information to corporate confidential data. To assess how well the data privacy requirements are followed on smartphones second-hand market, a sample of 100 Android smartphones has been purchased from IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) facilities responsible for data erasure and resell. Although devices should not have stored any user data by the time they leave ITAD, it has been possible to retrieve the data from 19% of the sample. Applied techniques varied from manual device inspection to sophisticated equipment and tools. These findings indicate significant barrier in implementation of circular economy and a limitation of smartphone reuse. Therefore, in order to motivate the users to donate or sell their old devices and make electronic use more sustainable, data privacy on second-hand smartphone market should be significantly improved. Presented research has been carried out in the framework of sustainablySMART project, which is part of Horizon 2020 EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Keywords: android, circular economy, data privacy, second-hand phones

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Authors: Chialing Chang

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Language and culture are critical foundations of international mobility. However, the students who are limited to the local environment may affect their learning outcome and global perspective. Video Conferencing has been proven an economical way for students as a medium to communicate with international students around the world. In Taiwan, the National Development Commission advocated the development of bilingual national policies in 2030 to enhance national competitiveness and foster English proficiency and fully launched bilingual activation of the education system. Globalization is closely related to the development of Taiwan's education. Therefore, the teacher conducted an integrated lesson through interdisciplinary learning. This study aims to investigate how the teacher helps develop students' global and language core competencies in the international education class. The methodology comprises four stages, which are lesson planning, class observation, learning data collection, and speech analysis. The Grice's Conversational Maxims are adopted to analyze the students' conversation in the video conferencing course. It is the action research from the teacher's reflection on approaches to developing students' language learning skills. The study lays the foundation for mastering the teacher's international education professional development and improving teachers' teaching quality and teaching effectiveness as a reference for teachers' future instruction.

Keywords: international education, language learning, Grice's conversational maxims, video conferencing course

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Authors: C. Silvestros, K. Mellou, T. Georgakopoulou, A. Koustenis, E. Kokkinou, C. Botsi, A. Terzidis

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'PHILOS – Emergency health response to refugee crisis' is a programme of the Greek Ministry of Health, implemented by the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP) funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of EU’s DG Migration and Home Affairs. One of the main objectives of the program is the immunization coverage of the target – population to assure the prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases. The program foresees vaccination needs assessment of children hosted at camps at the mainland and implementation of interventions to cover the vaccination gaps in co-operation with the Ministry of Health. The National Immunization Advisory Committee in Greece recommended that MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella), PCV (Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) and HEXA (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b) vaccines should be performed in priority. Recording was completed at 24 camps (May - June 2017); 3381 children (0-18 years) were recorded. The median number of children hosted at each camp was 95 (range: 5-553). For 68% of the children, the WHO vaccination booklet was available. 44%, 48.5% and 61% of the children were vaccinated with at least one dose of PCV, HEXA, and MMR, respectively. The proportion of vaccinated children for the three vaccines mentioned above is significantly lower for the remaining doses; PCV (second dose 8%, third dose 1.3%), HEXA (second dose 13%, third dose 2.7%, forth dose 0.1%) and MMR (second dose 23%). None of the 37 (10 from Afghanistan, 3 from Bangladesh, 23 from Pakistan, 1 from Syria) recorded unaccompanied children did not have a WHO vaccination booklet and were considered unvaccinated. There is no differentiation in vaccination coverage among different ethnicities. Massive catch up vaccination was performed at 4 camps, and 671 vaccinations were performed (245 PCV, 307 HEXA, and 119 MMR). Similar interventions are planned for all camps of the country. Recording reveled gaps in vaccination coverage of the population, mainly because of the mobility of the population, the influx of refugees- which is still ongoing- and new births. Mass vaccination campaigns are considered vital in order to increase vaccination coverage, and continuous efforts are needed in order all children living at the camps to have full access to the National Childhood Immunization Program.

Keywords: vaccine preventable, refugee–migrants camps, vaccination coverage, PCV, MMR, HEXA

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Authors: Laila Jeebodh Desai

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Storytelling as a therapeutic intervention entails the narrating of events by externalising emotions, thoughts and responses to life-changing events such as loss and grief. This creates the opportunity for clients to engage with psychologists by projecting various beliefs and challenges, such as grief, through a range of therapeutic modalities. This study conducts an inquiry into the ways in which storytelling can be utilised by educational psychologists with adolescent clients to address behavioural challenges relating to grief. This qualitative study therefore aims to facilitate an understanding of the use and benefits of storytelling as a therapeutic intervention. This has been achieved by examining interviews with four educational psychologists who have utilised storytelling as a therapeutic intervention with adolescent clients to overcome challenges with grief. The participants (educational psychologists) discussed case studies during interviews, which provided evidence of their practical administration of storytelling as a therapeutic intervention incorporating integrated theoretical approaches through the use of blended therapeutic techniques. Behavioural challenges relating to grief were also predominant in the case study information provided by the participants. The participants further confirmed that the term ‘grief’ included different types of loss that were experienced among adolescent clients. The implications and recommendations of the findings encouraged the utilisation of storytelling as a therapeutic intervention with adolescent clients in addressing behavioural challenges related to grief, based on the outcome of the case studies discussed by the participants.

Keywords: storytelling, therapeutic intervention, adolescents, grief

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Authors: Lucia Mavudzi

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Socioeconomic and demographic factors influence male attendance of antenatal care (ANC) activities which are beneficial in improving maternal health and birth outcome. When a male, as the head of the family is expected to solely make decisions of how finances are managed, when and where health services are sought, it impacts on the woman’s health seeking behavior. Using the data from the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 2010-2011 this paper seeks to assess the prevalence of male ANC attendance in Zimbabwe and factors that influence male ANC attendance. We hypothesized that socioeconomic and demographic factors do not influence male ANC attendance. To achieve the objectives of this paper, descriptive analysis was used to describe the characteristics of men and the Binomial logistic modelling was used to assess the relationship between male ANC attendance and selected socioeconomic and demographic factors. Male ANC attendance was used as the dependent variable, and the independent variables are age, marital status, place of residence, wealth, education, religion and employment. A high percentage of males did not attend ANC with their pregnant partners. Religion, education, and place of residence were found to be significantly associated with male ANC attendance. There was no evidence to show that there was a difference in male ANC attendance by employment, marital status, and age. Findings from this paper are relevant to public health. They will be used to develop strategies and intervention programs to improve pregnant women’s attendance of ANC attendance by involving men in maternal health.

Keywords: antenatal care, male participation, maternal health, socio-economic and demographic factors

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Authors: Tingirtu Gebretsadik

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This study aimed at explaining factors behind the ever increasing individualization over pastoral commons land and assesses the implication of the current change in property-ownership and land use system on the livelihoods of the Guji agro-pastoral system. Thus, three kebeles of Ana Sora woreda were selected for they conventionally appear to accommodate farming, pastoral and agro-pastoral systems. The survey method was employed to gather information on the major socio-economic condition of households. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were also held in all the three kebele. The empirical results were interpreted by integrating institutional, livelihood and adaptation frameworks. In this study individualization of ownership of pastoral commons manifested in the form of fenced closures is on the rise among the Guji and it has been adopted as the outcome of a long run process. Factors related to ecology and rangeland degradation, socio-economic changes, land registration and certification has allowed the increasing engagement in fencing commons grazing land for individual use. Consequently, the Guji pastoral system of production demonstrated a declining trend, and are adapting to alternative livelihood strategies. Moreover, farming and other developments have facilitated pastoral land losses and land use claims and tenure ambiguities.

Keywords: land tenure, traditional institutions, property rights, fenced plots

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Mohd Harun, Cini Varghese, Eldho Varghese, Seema Jaggi

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Hybridization crosses find a vital role in breeding experiments to evaluate the combining abilities of individual parental lines or crosses for creation of lines with desirable qualities. There are various ways of obtaining progenies and further studying the combining ability effects of the lines taken in a breeding programme. Some of the most common methods are diallel or two-way cross, triallel or three-way cross, tetra-allele or four-way cross. These techniques help the breeders to improve the quantitative traits which are of economical as well as nutritional importance in crops and animals. Amongst these methods, tetra-allele cross provides extra information in terms of the higher specific combining ability (sca) effects and the hybrids thus produced exhibit individual as well as population buffering mechanism because of the broad genetic base. Most of the common commercial hybrids in corn are either three-way or four-way cross hybrids. Tetra-allele cross came out as the most practical and acceptable scheme for the production of slaughter pigs having fast growth rate, good feed efficiency, and carcass quality. Tetra-allele crosses are mostly used for exploitation of heterosis in case of commercial silkworm production. Experimental designs involving tetra-allele crosses have been studied extensively in literature. Optimality of designs has also been considered as a researchable issue. In practical situations, it is advisable to include sca effects in the model as this information is needed by the breeder to improve economically and nutritionally important quantitative traits. Thus, a model that provides information regarding the specific traits by utilizing sca effects along with general combining ability (gca) effects may help the breeders to deal with the problem of various stresses. In this paper, a model for experimental designs involving tetra-allele crosses that incorporates both gca and sca has been defined. Optimality aspects of such designs have been discussed incorporating sca effects in the model. Orthogonality conditions have been derived for block designs ensuring estimation of contrasts among the gca effects, after eliminating the nuisance factors, independently from sca effects. User friendly SAS macro and web solution (webPTC) have been developed for the generation and analysis of such designs.

Keywords: general combining ability, optimality, specific combining ability, tetra-allele cross, webPTC

Procedia PDF Downloads 120