Search results for: national health systems

Authors: Kunle Oparinde

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The Covid-19 pandemic has seen several rumors and conspiracy theories overtake the truth in many online platforms across several African countries. Just as the coronavirus has travelled widely, misinformation has equally spread. Thus, it is important to launch investigations into these conspiracy theories in order to detect them early and as a result, implore health practitioners and agencies to be more proactive in repelling misinformation while at the same time provide the general populace with purely undiluted information regarding the virus. Through social media posts on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp, as well as online platforms such as Google, this study intends to draw as many instances as possible of infodemic and misinformation by reviewing and analyzing these texts and the resulting implication if the misinformation continues to gain popularity. The study discovers the use of conspiracy theories, rumors, hyperbolism, and unverified claims as elements of infodemic used during the coronavirus pandemic. Importantly, the findings of the study will assist the public to be cautious and vigilant against false information that are being peddled as original.

Keywords: infodemic, miscommunication, accuracy, social media, rumors, conspiracy

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Myriam Castonguay, Florence Vinit

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This study aims to gain a better understanding of the lived experience of seven children growing up in a family where another child is severely disabled, informed by family systems theory and the socio-ecological model of development. In depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven children who described they everyday life since their brother’s or sister’s diagnosis. Thematic analysis revealed four themes : struggling with loneliness inside the family, supporting the disabled child through its journey, accommodating to a changing routine and keeping a “bubble” for oneself. Brothers and sisters depict a family life characterized by much loneliness, with severe disabilities requiring ongoing care and prolonged hospitalizations. In the midst of adversity, siblings describe themselves as highly committed to supporting the disabled child and to preserve family cohesion, even if that means getting exposed to emotionally challenging situations and adjusting their daily routine frequently. Children recount that keeping up with schoolwork and leisure activities of their own is central to their well-being. Having a space where one can reconnect with his ordinary life as a kid is also deemed very important. This study reminds us that more needs to be done to counteract the loneliness experienced by siblings through the family experience of disability. Family members and clinicians need to be extra vigilant to ensure siblings’ needs don’t go unnoticed or dismissed, as it may be difficult for this population of children to voice their own experience and needs. Family, school and other actors in the community may help brothers and sisters pursue their personal dreams, goals and projects, to continue experiencing well-being despite adverse life circumstances.

Keywords: sibling’s lived experience of disability, sibling’s needs at various levels of the ecosystem, family adjustment to the disability experience, supporting family wellness through the disability experience

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Authors: Nika GorgoShadze, Anri Shainidze, Bachuki Katamadze

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In parallel to the development of the digital economy in the world, electronic commerce is also widely developing. Internet and ICT (information and communication technology) have created new business models as well as promoted to market consolidation, sustainability of the business environment, creation of digital economy, facilitation of business and trade, business dynamism, higher competitiveness, etc. Electronic commerce involves internet technology which is sold via the internet. Nowadays electronic commerce is a field of business which is used by leading world brands very effectively. After the research of internet market in Georgia, it was found out that quality of internet is high in Tbilisi and is low in the regions. The internet market of Tbilisi can be evaluated as high-speed internet service, competitive and cost effective internet market. Development of electronic commerce in Georgia is connected with organizational and methodological as well as legal problems. First of all, a legal framework should be developed which will regulate responsibilities of organizations. The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development will play a crucial role in creating legal framework. Ministry of Justice will also be involved in this process as well as agency for data exchange. Measures should be taken in order to make electronic commerce in Georgia easier. Business companies may be offered some model to get low-cost and complex service. A service centre should be created which will provide all kinds of online-shopping. This will be a rather interesting innovation which will facilitate online-shopping in Georgia. Development of electronic business in Georgia requires modernized infrastructure of telecommunications (especially in the regions) as well as solution of institutional and socio-economic problems. Issues concerning internet availability and computer skills are also important.

Keywords: electronic commerce, internet market, electronic business, information technology, information society, electronic systems

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Authors: Erifyli Tsagkari, Stephanie Connelly, Zhaowei Liu, Andrew McBride, William Sloan

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Biofilms play an essential role in treating water in biofiltration systems. The biofilm morphology and function are inextricably linked to the hydrodynamics of flow through a filter, and yet engineers rarely explicitly engineer this interaction. We develop a system that links computer simulation and 3-D printing to optimize and rapidly prototype filter media to optimize biofilm function with the hypothesis that biofilm function is intimately linked to the flow passing through the filter. A computational model that numerically solves the incompressible time-dependent Navier Stokes equations coupled to a model for biofilm growth and function is developed. The model is imbedded in an optimization algorithm that allows the model domain to adapt until criteria on biofilm functioning are met. This is applied to optimize the shape of filter media in a simple flow channel to promote biofilm formation. The computer code links directly to a 3-D printer, and this allows us to prototype the design rapidly. Its validity is tested in flow visualization experiments and by microscopy. As proof of concept, the code was constrained to explore a small range of potential filter media, where the medium acts as an obstacle in the flow that sheds a von Karman vortex street that was found to enhance the deposition of bacteria on surfaces downstream. The flow visualization and microscopy in the 3-D printed realization of the flow channel validated the predictions of the model and hence its potential as a design tool. Overall, it is shown that the combination of our computational model and the 3-D printing can be effectively used as a design tool to prototype filter media to optimize biofilm formation.

Keywords: biofilm, biofilter, computational model, von karman vortices, 3-D printing.

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Destin Kurniawati

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Asthma is one of the deadly diseases in the world. According to the World Health Organization in 2012, 300 million people suffer from asthma of different races and classes. An estimated 250,000 people die because of asthma annually.As well as more than 57% of children and 51% of adults with asthma. There two risk factors for asthma. That risk factors are the host and environmental. One of the environmental factors that can bring asthma is allergens. When an allergen enters the body, the allergen binds to IgE and cause cell granulat- issued several mediators such as histamine, leukotrienes, bradykinin or something like that. This will cause localized edema effect on bronchial walls of small, thick mucous secretions in the bronchioles, and bronchial smooth muscle spasm. Then there will be inflammation of the airways. Methodology this research is by literature. Therefore, to anticipate and cope with asthma is to control environmental factors that serve to minimize allergens and controlling one's intake in the form of antioxidant-rich foods. Foods rich in antioxidants serve to improve lung function and decrease symptoms of the disease of the respiratory tract.

Keywords: asthma, deadly disease, allergen, environmental and food control

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: I. Szer, J. Szer, M. Pieńko, A. Robak, P. Jamińska-Gadomska

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Work at height, such as construction works on scaffoldings, is associated with a considerable risk. Scaffolding workers are usually exposed to changing weather conditions what can additionally increase the risk of dangerous situations. Therefore, it is very important to foresee the risk of adverse conditions to which the worker may be exposed. The data from meteorological stations may be used to asses this risk. However, the dependency between weather conditions on a scaffolding and in the vicinity of meteorological station, should be determined. The paper presents an analysis of two selected environmental parameters which have influence on the behavior of workers – air temperature and wind speed. Measurements of these parameters were made between April and November of 2016 on ten scaffoldings located in different parts of Poland. They were compared with the results taken from the meteorological stations located closest to the studied scaffolding. The results gathered from the construction sites and meteorological stations were not the same, but statistical analyses have shown that they were correlated.

Keywords: scaffolding, health and safety at work, temperature, wind velocity

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Authors: Renata Roma, Christine Tardif-Williams

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Engaging in daily walks with a dog (f.e. Canis lupus familiaris) during the COVID-19 pandemic may be linked to feelings of greater social-connectedness and global self-worth, and lower stress after controlling for mental health issues, lack of physical contact with others, and other stressors associated with the current pandemic. Therefore, maintaining a routine of dog walking might mitigate the effects of stressors experienced during the pandemic and promote well-being. However, many dog owners do not walk their dogs for many reasons, which are related to the owner’s and the dog’s personalities. Note that the consistency of certain personality characteristics among dogs demonstrates that it is possible to accurately measure different dimensions of personality in both dogs and their human counterparts. In addition, behavioural ratings (e.g., the dog personality questionnaire - DPQ) are reliable tools to assess the dog’s personality. Clarifying the relevance of personality factors in the context of young adult-dog relationships can shed light on interactional aspects that can potentially foster protective behaviours and promote well-being among young adults during the pandemic. This study examines if and how nine combinations of dog- and young adult-related personality characteristics (e.g., neuroticism-fearfulness) can amplify the influence of personality factors in the context of dog walking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses to an online large-scale survey among 440 (389 females; 47 males; 4 nonbinaries, Mage=20.7, SD= 2.13 range=17-25) young adults living with a dog in Canada were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). As extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, measured through the five-factor model (FFM) inventory, are related to maintaining a routine of physical activities, these dimensions were selected for this analysis. Following an approach successfully adopted in the field of dog-human interactions, the FFM was used as the organizing framework to measure and compare the human’s and the dog’s personality in the context of dog walking. The dog-related personality dimensions activity/excitability, responsiveness to training, and fearful were correlated dimensions captured through DPQ and were added to the analysis. Two questions were used to assess dog walking. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was used to check if the young adult’s responses about the dog were biased; no significant bias was observed. Activity/excitability and responsiveness to training in dogs were greatly associated with dog walking. For young adults, high scores in conscientiousness and extraversion predicted more walks with the dog. Conversely, higher scores in neuroticism predicted less engagement in dog walking. For participants high in conscientiousness, the dog’s responsiveness to training (standardized=0.14, p=0.02) and the dog’s activity/excitability (standardized=0.15, p=0.00) levels moderated dog walking behaviours by promoting more daily walks. These results suggest that some combinations in young adult and dog personality characteristics are associated with greater synergy in the young adult-dog dyad that might amplify the impact of personality factors on young adults’ dog-walking routines. These results can inform programs designed to promote the mental and physical health of young adults during the Covid-19 pandemic by highlighting the impact of synergy and reciprocity in personality characteristics between young adults and dogs.

Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, dog walking, personality, structural equation modeling, well-being

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Authors: Sara Sallam, Mohamed Taqi, Naoual Belouaggadia

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Solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough collectors (PTC) are currently a powerful technology for generating electricity. Most of these solar power plants use thermal oils as heat transfer fluid. The latter is heated in the solar field and transfers the heat absorbed in an oil-water heat exchanger for the production of steam driving the turbines of the power plant. Currently, we are seeking to develop PTCs with direct steam generation (DSG). This process consists of circulating water under pressure in the receiver tube to generate steam directly into the solar loop. This makes it possible to reduce the investment and maintenance costs of the PTCs (the oil-water exchangers are removed) and to avoid the environmental risks associated with the use of thermal oils. The pressure drops in these systems are an important parameter to ensure their proper operation. The determination of these losses is complex because of the presence of the two phases, and most often we limit ourselves to describing them by models using empirical correlations. A comparison of these models with experimental data was performed. Our calculations focused on the evolution of the pressure of the liquid-vapor mixture along the receiver tube of a PTC-DSG for pressure values and inlet flow rates ranging respectively from 3 to 10 MPa, and from 0.4 to 0.6 kg/s. The comparison of the numerical results with experience allows us to demonstrate the validity of some models according to the pressures and the flow rates of entry in the PTC-DSG receiver tube. The analysis of these two parameters’ effects on the evolution of the pressure along the receiving tub, shows that the increase of the inlet pressure and the decrease of the flow rate lead to minimal pressure losses.

Keywords: direct steam generation, parabolic trough collectors, Ppressure drop, empirical models

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Authors: Chang Qin, Daham Mustafa, Abderrahmane Khiat, Pierre Bienert, Paulo Zanini

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Nowadays, companies are facing lots of challenges in the process of digital transformation, which can be a complex and costly undertaking. Digital transformation involves the collection and analysis of large amounts of data, which can create challenges around data management and governance. Furthermore, it is also challenged to integrate data from multiple systems and technologies. Although with these pains, companies are still pursuing digitalization because by embracing advanced technologies, companies can improve efficiency, quality, decision-making, and customer experience while also creating different business models and revenue streams. In this paper, the issue that data is stored in data silos with different schema and structures is focused. The conventional approaches to addressing this issue involve utilizing data warehousing, data integration tools, data standardization, and business intelligence tools. However, these approaches primarily focus on the grammar and structure of the data and neglect the importance of semantic modeling and semantic standardization, which are essential for achieving data interoperability. In this session, the challenge of data silos in Industry 4.0 is addressed by developing a semantic modeling approach compliant with Asset Administration Shell (AAS) models as an efficient standard for communication in Industry 4.0. The paper highlights how our approach can facilitate the data mapping process and semantic lifting according to existing industry standards such as ECLASS and other industrial dictionaries. It also incorporates the Asset Administration Shell technology to model and map the company’s data and utilize a knowledge graph for data storage and exploration.

Keywords: data interoperability in industry 4.0, digital integration, industrial dictionary, semantic modeling

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Authors: S. Abdi Goudazri, R. Ziaie Moayed, A. Nazeri

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Loose soils normally are of weak bearing capacity due to their structural nature. Being exposed to heavy traffic loads, they would fail in most cases. To tackle the aforementioned issue, geotechnical engineers have come up with different approaches; one of which is making use of geosynthetic-reinforced soil-aggregate systems. As these polymeric reinforcements have highlighted economic and environmentally-friendly features, they have become widespread in practice during the last decades. The present research investigates the efficiency of four different types of these reinforcements in increasing the bearing capacity of two-layered soil sections using a series California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test. The studied sections are comprised of a 10 cm-thick layer of no. 161 Firouzkooh sand (weak subgrade) and a 10 cm-thick layer of compacted aggregate materials (base course) classified as SP and GW according to the United Soil Classification System (USCS), respectively. The aggregate layer was compacted to the relative density (Dr) of 95% at the optimum water content (Wopt) of 6.5%. The applied reinforcements were including two kinds of geocomposites (type A and B), a geotextile, and a geogrid that were embedded at the interface of the lower and the upper layers of the soil-aggregate system. As the standard CBR mold was not appropriate in height for this study, the mold used for soaked CBR tests were utilized. To make a comparison between the results of stress-settlement behavior in the studied specimens, CBR values pertinent to the penetrations of 2.5 mm and 5 mm were considered. The obtained results demonstrated 21% and 24.5% increments in the amount of CBR value in the presence of geocomposite type A and geogrid, respectively. On the other hand, the effect of both geotextile and geocomposite type B on CBR values was generally insignificant in this research.

Keywords: geosynthetics, geogrid, geotextile, CBR test, increasing bearing capacity

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Authors: Ho Yin Wickson Cheung, Liora Malki-Epshtein

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Outdoor air pollution presents a significant challenge for public health globally, especially in urban areas, with road traffic acting as the primary contributor to air pollution. Several studies have documented the antagonistic relation between traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and the impact on health, especially to the vulnerable group of population, particularly young pupils. Generally, TRAP could cause damage to their brain, restricting the ability of children to learn and, more importantly, causing detrimental respiratory issues in later life. Butlittle is known about the specific exposure of children at school during the school day and the impact this may have on their overall exposure to pollution at a crucial time in their development. This project has set out to examine the air quality across primary schools in South-East London and assesses the variability of data found based on their geographic location and surroundings. Nitrogen dioxide, PM contaminants, and carbon dioxide were collected with diffusion tubes and portable monitoring equipment for eight schools across three local areas, that are Greenwich, Lewisham, and Tower Hamlets. This study first examines the geographical features of the schools surrounding (E.g., coverage of urban road structure and green infrastructure), then utilize three different methods to capture pollutants data. Moreover, comparing the obtained results with existing data from monitoring stations to understand the differences in air quality before and during the pandemic. Furthermore, most studies in this field have unfortunately neglected human exposure to pollutants and calculated based on values from fixed monitoring stations. Therefore, this paper introduces an alternative approach by calculating human exposure to air pollution from real-time data obtained when commuting within related areas (Driving routes and field walking). It is found that schools located highly close to motorways are generally not suffering from the most air pollution contaminants. Instead, one with the worst traffic congested routes nearby might also result in poor air quality. Monitored results also indicate that the annual air pollution values have slightly decreased during the pandemic. However, the majority of the data is currently still exceeding the WHO guidelines. Finally, the total human exposures for NO2 during commuting in the two selected routes were calculated. Results illustrated the total exposure for route 1 were 21,730 μm/m3 and 28,378.32 μm/m3, and for route 2 were 30,672 μm/m3 and 16,473 μm/m3. The variance that occurred might be due to the difference in traffic volume that requires further research. Exposure for NO2 during commuting was plotted with detailed timesteps that have shown their peak usually occurred while commuting. These have consolidated the initial assumption to the extremeness of TRAP. To conclude, this paper has yielded significant benefits to understanding air quality across schools in London with the new approach of capturing human exposure (Driving routes). Confirming the severity of air pollution and promoting the necessity of considering environmental sustainability for policymakers during decision making to protect society's future pillars.

Keywords: air pollution, schools, pupils, congestion

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Authors: Marwan Jarrah, Nadia Nugrush, Sukainah Ali, Areej Allawzi

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This research article investigates how illnesses (different types and severity) are expressed in Arabic discourse with a particular focus on input coming from Colloquial Jordanian Arabic (CJA). Drawing on a corpus of naturally occurring conversations, this article offers evidence that illnesses are predominantly expressed through two different sets of expressive strategies, namely direct expressive strategies (DES) and indirect expressive strategies (IES). The latter are exclusively used when cancer and mental health disorders are targeted. IES include the substitution of the name of the illness with some religious expressions (e.g., ʔallah ʔijdʒi:rna ‘May Allah keeps us safe’) or certain terms especially when cancer is meant (e.g., haðˤa:k ʔil-maraðˤ ‘that disease’). On the other hand, DES are used in conjunction with other illnesses (e.g., heart, kidneys, diabetes, etc.), regardless of their severity. DES include specific formulas that remarkably mention the name of the inflicted organ (e.g., [with-SOMEONE the ORGAN] as in ʕinduh ʔil-qalb ‘lit. with-him the heart’ meaning ‘He has a heart disease). We discuss the effects of religious beliefs and local norms and values in determining the use of these strategies.

Keywords: Illnesses, pragmatics, expressive strategies, religion

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Authors: Yardfon Tanongkankit, Kanjana Narkprasom, Nukrob Narkprasom, Khwanruthai Saiupparat, Phatthareeya Siriwat

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Gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng) possesses high potential for health food as it contains high lycopene contents. The objective of this study was to optimize the extraction of lycopene from gac arils using the microwave extraction method. Response surface method was used to find the conditions that optimize the extraction of lycopene from gac arils. The parameters of extraction used in this study were extraction time (120-600 seconds), the solvent to sample ratio (10:1, 20:1, 30:1, 40:1 and 50:1 mL/g) and set microwave power (100-800 watts). The results showed that the microwave extraction condition at the extraction time of 360 seconds, the sample ratio of 30:1 mL/g and the microwave power of 450 watts were suggested since it exhibited the highest value of lycopene content of 9.86 mg/gDW. It was also observed that lycopene contents extracted from gac arils by microwave method were higher than that by the conventional method.

Keywords: conventional extraction, Gac arils, microwave-assisted extraction, Lycopene

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Authors: Ahmed Nour El Islam Ayad, Wafa Krika, Abdelghani Ayad, Moulay Larab, Houari Boudjella, Farid Benhamida

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the magnetic emission of underground electric cable of high voltage, because these power lines generate electromagnetic interaction with other objects near to it. The aim of this work shows a numerical simulation of the magnetic field of buried 400 kV line in three cases: permanent and transient states of short circuit and the last case with the presence of the harmonics at different positions as a function of time variation, with finite element resolution using Comsol Multiphysics software. The results obtained showed that the amplitude and distribution of the magnetic flux density change in the transient state and the presence of harmonics. The results of this work calculate the magnetic field generated by the underground lines in order to evaluate and know their impact on ecology and health.

Keywords: underground, electric power cables, cables crossing, harmonic, emission

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Authors: Maria C. Proença, Maria T. Rebelo, Marília Antunes, Maria J. Alves, Hugo Osório, Sofia Cunha, REVIVE team

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The environment of the mosquitoes complex Culex pipiens sl. in Portugal mainland is evaluated based in its abundance, using a data set georeferenced, collected during seven years (2006-2012) from May to October. The suitability of the different regions can be delineated using the relative abundance areas; the suitablility index is directly proportional to disease transmission risk and allows focusing mitigation measures in order to avoid outbreaks of vector-borne diseases. The interest in the Culex pipiens complex is justified by its medical importance: the females bite all warm-blooded vertebrates and are involved in the circulation of several arbovirus of concern to human health, like West Nile virus, iridoviruses, rheoviruses and parvoviruses. The abundance of Culex pipiens mosquitoes were documented systematically all over the territory by the local health services, in a long duration program running since 2006. The environmental factors used to characterize the vector habitat are land use/land cover, distance to cartographed water bodies, altitude and latitude. Focus will be on the mosquito females, which gonotrophic cycle mate-bloodmeal-oviposition is responsible for the virus transmission; its abundance is the key for the planning of non-aggressive prophylactic countermeasures that may eradicate the transmission risk and simultaneously avoid chemical ambient degradation. Meteorological parameters such as: air relative humidity, air temperature (minima, maxima and mean daily temperatures) and daily total rainfall were gathered from the weather stations network for the same dates and crossed with the standardized females’ abundance in a geographic information system (GIS). Mean capture and percentage of above average captures related to each variable are used as criteria to compute a threshold for each meteorological parameter; the difference of the mean capture above/below the threshold was statistically assessed. The meteorological parameters measured at the net of weather stations all over the country are averaged by month and interpolated to produce raster maps that can be segmented according to the meaningful thresholds for each parameter. The intersection of the maps of all the parameters obtained for each month show the evolution of the suitable meteorological conditions through the mosquito season, considered as May to October, although the first and last month are less relevant. In parallel, mean and above average captures were related to the physiographic parameters – the land use/land cover classes most relevant in each month, the altitudes preferred and the most frequent distance to water bodies, a factor closely related with the mosquito biology. The maps produced with these results were crossed with the meteorological maps previously segmented, in order to get an index of suitability for the complex Culex pipiens evaluated all over the country, and its evolution from the beginning to the end of the mosquitoes season.

Keywords: suitability index, Culex pipiens, habitat evolution, GIS model

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Authors: David Parrish

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A critical challenge for a new school is creating an inclusive, meaningful culture. While a new school offers a “shiny’ exterior, its culture has yet to be created. In 2016, Charles J. Colgan, Sr. High School in Prince William County, opened its door. In its inaugural year, the FIN Friends club was created to start the process of building connections between general education and special education students. In eight years, the club has become a relentless contributor to the most inclusive, welcoming school culture possible. Through a commitment to consistent, year-round activities, the FINS accepts students from all schools and all grades. All schools strive for inclusion and a positive culture. Our model takes explicit action toward these elements. What we have created works; it is replicable and supports any school to build a more inclusive culture. Connections and belonging are directly related to every educational goal, including academic progress, equity, social-emotional health, etc. We want to share our story and collaborate with schools to create their own inclusion movement.

Keywords: inclusion, culture, connections, belonging

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Authors: Ahmad Almohana

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Technology has led to rapid changes in the world, and most importantly to education, particularly in the 21st century. Technology has enhanced teachers’ potential and has resulted in the provision of greater interaction and choices for learners. In addition, technology is helping to improve individuals’ learning experiences and building their capacity to read, listen, speak, search, analyse, memorise and encode languages, as well as bringing learners together and creating a sense of greater involvement. This paper has been organised in the following way: the first section provides a review of the literature related to the implementation of CALL (computer assisted learning language), and it explains CALL and its phases, as well as attempting to highlight and analyse Warschauer’s article. The second section is an attempt to describe the move from CALL to mobilised systems of edutainment, which challenge existing forms of teaching and learning. It also addresses the role of the teacher and the curriculum content, and how this is affected by the computerisation of learning that is taking place. Finally, an empirical study has been conducted to collect data from teachers in Saudi Arabia using quantitive and qualitative method tools. Connections are made between the area of study and the personal experience of the researcher carrying out the study with a methodological reflection on the challenges faced by the teachers of this same system. The major findings were that it is worth spelling out here that despite the circumstances in which students and lecturers are currently working, the participants revealed themselves to be highly intelligent and articulate individuals who were constrained from revealing this criticality and creativity by the system of learning and teaching operant in most schools.

Keywords: CALL, computer assisted learning language, EFL, English as a foreign language, ELT, English language teaching, ETL, enhanced technology learning, MALL, mobile assisted learning language

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Authors: Sara Mota Carmo

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Wind energy applied in architecture has been largely abandoned due to the uncomfortable noise it causes. This study aims to investigate the acoustical performance in the urban environment and indoor environment of a double-skin wind energy facade. Measurements for sound transmission were recorded by using a hand-held sound meter device on a reduced-scale prototype of a wind energy façade. The applied wind intensities ranged between 2m/s and 8m/s, and the increase sound produced were proportional to the wind intensity.The study validates the acoustic performance of wind energy façade using a double skin façade system, showing that noise reduction indoor by approximately 30 to 35 dB. However, the results found that above 6m/s win intensity, in urban environment, the wind energy system applied to the façade exceeds the maximum 50dB recommended by world health organization and needs some adjustments.

Keywords: double-skin wind energy facade, acoustic energy facade, wind energy in architecture, wind energy prototype

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Authors: Mohammad Zafar-ul Islam, Shaily Menon, Xingong Li, A. Townsend Peterson

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In addition to the mounting empirical data on direct implications of climate change for natural and human systems, evidence is increasing for other, indirect climate change phenomena such as sea-level rise. Rising sea levels and associated marine intrusion into terrestrial environments are predicted to be among the most serious eventual consequences of climate change. The many complex and interacting factors affecting sea levels create considerable uncertainty in sea-level rise projections: conservative estimates are on the order of 0.5-1.0 m globally, while other estimates are much higher, approaching 6 m. Marine intrusion associated with 1– 6 m sea-level rise will impact species and habitats in coastal ecosystems severely. Examining areas most vulnerable to such impacts may allow design of appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies. We present an overview of potential effects of 1 and 6 m sea level rise for coastal conservation areas in the Indian Subcontinent. In particular, we examine the projected magnitude of areal losses in relevant biogeographic zones, ecoregions, protected areas (PAs), and Important Bird Areas (IBAs). In addition, we provide a more detailed and quantitative analysis of likely effects of marine intrusion on 22 coastal PAs and IBAs that provide critical habitat for birds in the form of breeding areas, migratory stopover sites, and overwintering habitats. Several coastal PAs and IBAs are predicted to experience higher than 50% losses to marine intrusion. We explore consequences of such inundation levels on species and habitat in these areas.

Keywords: sea-level change, coastal inundation, marine intrusion, biogeographic zones, ecoregions, protected areas, important bird areas, adaptation, mitigation

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Authors: Alicia Regodon Puyalto, Alfonso Garcia-Santos

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This article presents a method to analyze the use of indoor spaces based on data analytics obtained from inbuilt digital devices. The study uses the data generated by the in-place devices, such as smart locks, Wi-Fi routers, and electrical sensors, to gain additional insights on space occupancy, user behaviour, and comfort. Those devices, originally installed to facilitate remote operations, report data through the internet that the research uses to analyze information on human real-time use of spaces. Using an in-place Internet of Things (IoT) network enables a faster, more affordable, seamless, and scalable solution to analyze building interior spaces without incorporating external data collection systems such as sensors. The methodology is applied to a real case study of coliving, a residential building of 3000m², 7 floors, and 80 users in the centre of Madrid. The case study applies the method to classify IoT devices, assess, clean, and analyze collected data based on the analysis framework. The information is collected remotely, through the different platforms devices' platforms; the first step is to curate the data, understand what insights can be provided from each device according to the objectives of the study, this generates an analysis framework to be escalated for future building assessment even beyond the residential sector. The method will adjust the parameters to be analyzed tailored to the dataset available in the IoT of each building. The research demonstrates how human-centered data analytics can improve the future spatial design of indoor spaces.

Keywords: in-place devices, IoT, human-centred data-analytics, spatial design

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Authors: Donald G. Danmeier, Gian Marco Pizzo, Matthew Brennan

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Although wetlands have been proposed as a green alternative to manage coastal flood hazards because of their capacity to adapt to sea level rise and provision of multiple ecological and social co-benefits, they are often overlooked due to challenges in quantifying the uncertainty and naturally, variability of these systems. This objective of this study was to quantify wave attenuation provided by a natural marsh surrounding a large oil refinery along the US Gulf Coast that has experienced steady erosion along the shoreward edge. The vegetation module of the SWAN was activated and coupled with a hydrodynamic model (DELFT3D) to capture two-way interactions between the changing water level and wavefield over the course of a storm event. Since the marsh response to relative sea level rise is difficult to predict, a range of future marsh morphologies is explored. Numerical results were examined to determine the amount of wave attenuation as a function of marsh extent and the relative contributions from white-capping, depth-limited wave breaking, bottom friction, and flexing of vegetation. In addition to the coupled DELFT3D-SWAN modeling of a storm event, an uncoupled SWAN-VEG model was applied to a simplified bathymetry to explore a larger experimental design space. The wave modeling revealed that the rate of wave attenuation reduces for higher surge but was still significant over a wide range of water levels and outboard wave heights. The results also provide insights to the minimum marsh extent required to fully realize the potential wave attenuation so the changing coastal hazards can be managed.

Keywords: green infrastructure, wave attenuation, wave modeling, wetland

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Authors: Bella Japoshvili, Zhanetta Shubitidze, Ani Bikashvili, Sophio Gabelashvili, Marina Gioshvili, Levan Mumladze

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Paravani and Saghamo Lakes are oligotrophic lentic systems located in Javakheti plateau (South Georgia) at 2073 m and 1996 m a.s.l. respectively. Javakheti plateau is known as a lakes region as there are located almost 60 small and medium size lakes. Paravani Lake is the biggest lake by its surface area in Georgia, 37 km 2. The Saghamo Lake is smaller and its surface area consists 4.58 km2. These two lakes are connected with Paravani River, because of this the main hydrobiological and ichthyological features are the same. More than 15-30 years were not studied macroinvertebrates of these lakes. Even the existing information is lack and very limited. The aim of our study was to identify main macroinvertebrate groups inhabiting both lakes and to compare obtaining results to existing information. Our investigation was carried out during 2014 and 2015, in 3 seasons of the year, in winter because of severe condition samples were not taken. Kick-net and Petersen grab were used for material collecting, 4 sites from Paravani Lake and 3–from Saghamo Lake were sampled. Collected invertebrates were fixed in ethanol and late taken to the laboratory, where organisms were identified to the lowest taxon possible, usually family. By our results identified 14 taxa for Paravani Lake and 12 taxa for Saghamo Lake. Our results differ from previous information; for Saghamo Lake previously 13 taxa and for Paravani Lake 12 taxa were described. The percentage of the groups also differ from existing information. Our investigation showed that in Paravani Lake most abundant are Apmhipoda, Hydrachnidae, and Hemiptera, in our samples the number of individuals for those 3 taxa was more than thousand, in each. For Saghamo Lake numerous taxon was Amphipoda-36.3%, following by Ephemeroptera-11.37%, Chironomidae-10.5% and Hydrachnidae-7.03% respectively. We also identified the dominant taxon for all studied seasons. Autumn is the period when the diversity of macroinvertebrates are higher in both lakes.

Keywords: Georgia, lakes, macroinvertebrates, monitoring

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Authors: Todd G. Morrison, C. J. Bishop, Melanie A. Morrison

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An upsurge of hatred directed at sexual- and gender-marginalized persons (SGMPs) has been documented in numerous Western nations. The denial of gender-affirmative care for trans youth; the banning of books containing queer content (no matter how innocuous); the boycotting of products affiliated with queer influencers and with pride celebrations; and the silencing of sexual- and gender-marginalized teachers and academics (and their allies) constitute key ways in which this hatred now manifests itself. The health consequences for SGMPs living in environments characterized by hatred of queer people include elevated rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance misuse. Given these sequelae, in this paper, the authors outline the challenges that academics experience when adopting an advocacy role. The authors also provide an overview of specific strategies that SGMPs may find helpful when engaging with persons committed to harming queer people.

Keywords: queer people, resistance, minority rights, hate speech

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Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

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This paper has its objectives to reveal contents and personality suitable to women’s newspapers. The research methodology employed in this study is the questionnaire which is derived from a literature review related to newspapers, graphic elements method for print media design and 12 sample sizes of different daily newspapers. In order to acquire an in-depth understanding and comprehensible view of desirable for a women’s newspaper design, graphic elements that related to that personality as well as other preferable elements for a women’s newspaper, including seven editorial Many Thai newspapers were offer a women’s documentary and column space. With its feminine looks, most of them appeared with warm tones and friendly mood through their headlines, contents, illustrations and graphics. The study found that most desirable personalities for a women’s newspaper design in Thailand are: Modern, Chic and Natural. Each personality has significant graphic elements as follows: 1. Modern: significant elements of modern personality comprises of the composition with graduation pattern which creates attractiveness by using an anomalous alignment layout grid and outstanding structure to create focal points and dynamic movement. Dark to black color that has narrowed, limited hue coupled with bright color tones. The round shape of the Thai font style was suitable for this concept. Such Thai fonts have harmonious proportion and consistent stroke with the urban-polite look. 2. Chic: significant elements of chic personality comprises of the proper composition with distinctive scale, using rhythmic repetition and a contrast of scale to draw in reader attention. Vivid and bright color tones with extensive hues coupled with similar color tones and round shape of the Thai font style with a light stroke and consistent line. 3. Natural: significant elements of natural personality comprises of the proper composition using rhythmic repetition that creates a focal point through striking images and harmonious perspective. Warm color tones with restricted hues that appear to look natural. Duo tone color was suitable through the gradually increasing gradient. The Thai style with hand writing font was suitable through the inconsistent stroke. There are 10 types of daily content that were revealed to be the most desirable for Thai women readers, these are: Daily News, Economics News, Education News, Entertainment News, International news, Political News, Public Health News, Scientific News, Social News and Sports News. As well, there are 16 topics identified as very desirable for Thai women readers, such as: Art and Culture, Automobile, Classified, Special Scoop, Editorial, Advertisement, Entertainment, Health and Quality of Life, History, Horoscope, Lifestyle and Fashion, Literature, Nature - Environment and Tourism, Night Life, Stars and Jet Set Gossip, Women’s Issue.

Keywords: women behaviors, feminine looks, newspaper design, news content

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Authors: Judith Stein, Elfriede Friedmann

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The injection of a drug into the vitreous body for the treatment of retinal diseases like wet aged-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common medical intervention worldwide. We develop mathematical models for drug transport in the vitreous body of a human eye to analyse the impact of different rheological models of the vitreous on drug distribution. In addition to the convection diffusion equation characterizing the drug spreading, we use porous media modeling for the healthy vitreous with a dense collagen network and include the steady permeating flow of the aqueous humor described by Darcy's law driven by a pressure drop. Additionally, the vitreous body in a healthy human eye behaves like a viscoelastic gel through the collagen fibers suspended in the network of hyaluronic acid and acts as a drug depot for the treatment of retinal diseases. In a completely liquefied vitreous, we couple the drug diffusion with the classical Navier-Stokes flow equations. We prove the global existence and uniqueness of the weak solution of the developed initial-boundary value problem describing the drug distribution in the healthy vitreous considering the permeating aqueous humor flow in the realistic three-dimensional setting. In particular, for the drug diffusion equation, results from the literature are extended from homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions to our mixed boundary conditions that describe the eye with the Galerkin's method using Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and trace theorem. Because there is only a small effective drug concentration range and higher concentrations may be toxic, the ability to model the drug transport could improve the therapy by considering patient individual differences and give a better understanding of the physiological and pathological processes in the vitreous.

Keywords: coupled PDE systems, drug diffusion, mixed boundary conditions, vitreous body

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Authors: A. Alrasheed, I. Connerton

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Daily provision of high quality food and hygiene to patients is a challenging goal of the healthcare. In Saudi Arabia, matters related to food safety and hygiene are regulated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA). The purpose of this research is to discuss the food safety management inconsistencies and flaws, in particular the ones related to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) in Riyadh’s MOH hospitals. As required by law, written HACCP regulations must be implemented, and food handlers need to receive the training accordingly. However, in Saudi hospitals, this is not a requirement, and the food handlers do not need to hold training certificates in food safety or HACCP. Nowadays, the matter of food safety and hygiene have become increasingly important since the decision makers want to align these regulations with the majority of the world and to implement HACCP fully and for this purpose, the SFDA was established. 

Keywords: food safety, patients, hospitals, HACCP, Saudi Arabia

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Yepeng Cheng, Yasuhiko Morimoto

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Customer relationship analysis is vital for retail stores, especially for supermarkets. The point of sale (POS) systems make it possible to record the daily purchasing behaviors of customers as an identification point of sale (ID-POS) database, which can be used to analyze customer behaviors of a supermarket. The customer value is an indicator based on ID-POS database for detecting the customer loyalty of a store. In general, there are many supermarkets in a city, and other nearby competitor supermarkets significantly affect the customer value of customers of a supermarket. However, it is impossible to get detailed ID-POS databases of competitor supermarkets. This study firstly focused on the customer value and distance between a customer's home and supermarkets in a city, and then constructed the models based on logistic regression analysis to analyze correlations between distance and purchasing behaviors only from a POS database of a supermarket chain. During the modeling process, there are three primary problems existed, including the incomparable problem of customer values, the multicollinearity problem among customer value and distance data, and the number of valid partial regression coefficients. The improved customer value, Huff’s gravity model, and inverse attractiveness frequency are considered to solve these problems. This paper presents three types of models based on these three methods for loyal customer classification and competitors’ influence analysis. In numerical experiments, all types of models are useful for loyal customer classification. The type of model, including all three methods, is the most superior one for evaluating the influence of the other nearby supermarkets on customers' purchasing of a supermarket chain from the viewpoint of valid partial regression coefficients and accuracy.

Keywords: customer value, Huff's Gravity Model, POS, Retailer

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Authors: Bushra Mussawar, Saleha Younus

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Students often view their academic life demanding and stressful. However, apart from academics, stress springs from various other sources namely, finance, family, health, friends etc. The present study aims to assess the level of perceived stress in medical and fine arts students, and to determine the coping strategies used by the students to mitigate stress. The sample of the study consisted of 178 medical and fine arts students. The sample was selected through purposive sampling. Pearson correlation coefficient and T-test were used to analyze data. Results of the study revealed that there exists a positive relationship between perceived stress and coping strategies. Additionally, the two groups showed marked differences in terms of stress perception and coping styles. The level of perceived stress was found to be high in medical students nonetheless, they employed more positive coping strategies than fine arts students who scored high on negative coping strategies which are deleterious to the overall wellbeing.

Keywords: perceived stress, coping strategies, medical, fine arts students

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Dawit Abay Tesfamariam

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Ethiopia’s Climate- Resilient Green Economy strategy focuses mainly on generating and utilization of Renewable Energy (RE). The data collected in 2016 by Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) indicates that the intermittent RE sources on the grid from solar and wind energy were only 8 % of the total energy produced. On the other hand, the EEP electricity generation plan in 2030 indicates that 36 % of the energy generation share will be covered by solar and wind sources. Thus, a case study was initiated to model and compute the balance and consumption of electricity in three different scenarios: 2016, 2025, and 2030 using the Energy PLAN Model (EPM). Initially, the model was validated using the 2016 annual power-generated data to conduct the EPM analysis for two predictive scenarios. The EPM simulation analysis using EPM for 2016 showed that there was no significant excess power generated. Hence, the model’s results are in line with the actual 2016 output. Thus, the EPM was applied to analyze the role of energy storage in RE in Ethiopian grid systems. The results of the EPM simulation analysis showed there will be excess production of 402 /7963 MW average and maximum, respectively, in 2025. The excess power was dominant in all months except in the three rainy months of the year (June, July, and August). Consequently, based on the validated outcomes of EPM indicates, there is a good reason to think about other alternatives for the utilization of excess energy and storage of RE. Thus, from the scenarios and model results obtained, it is realistic to infer that; if the excess power is utilized with a storage mechanism that can stabilize the grid system; as a result, the extra RE generated can be exported to support the economy. Therefore, researchers must continue to upgrade the current and upcoming energy storage system to synchronize with RE potentials that can be generated from RE.

Keywords: renewable energy, storage, wind, energyplan

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Authors: Ya-Li Tsai

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Nitrogen is a vital element crucial for crop growth, significantly influencing crop yield. In rice cultivation, farmers often apply substantial nitrogen fertilizer to maximize yields. However, excessive nitrogen application increases the risk of lodging and pest infestation, leading to yield losses. Additionally, conventional flooded irrigation methods consume significant water resources, necessitating precise agricultural and intelligent water management systems. In this study, it leveraged physiological data and field images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles, considering fertilizer treatment and irrigation as key factors. Statistical models incorporating rice physiological data, yield, and vegetation indices from image data were developed. Missing physiological data were addressed using multiple imputation and regression methods, and regression models were established using principal component analysis and stepwise regression. Target nitrogen accumulation at key growth stages was identified to optimize fertilizer application, with the difference between actual and target nitrogen accumulation guiding recommendations for ear dressing dosage. Field experiments conducted in 2022 validated the recommended ear dressing dosage, demonstrating no significant difference in final yield compared to traditional fertilizer levels under alternate wetting and drying irrigation. These findings highlight the efficacy of applying recommended dosages based on fertilizer decision models, offering the potential for reduced fertilizer use while maintaining yield in rice cultivation.

Keywords: intelligent fertilizer management, nitrogen top and ear dressing fertilizer, rice, yield optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 44