Search results for: egg quality parameters

Authors: Theoktisti Makridou, Konstantinos Tsaprailis, George Arvanitakis, Charalampos Kontoes

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In the literature, the data-driven approaches for mosquito abundance prediction relaying on supervised machine learning models that get trained with historical in-situ measurements. The counterpart of this approach is once the model gets trained on pointlevel (specific x,y coordinates) measurements, the predictions of the model refer again to point-level. These point-level predictions reduce the applicability of those solutions once a lot of early warning and mitigation actions applications need predictions for an area level, such as a municipality, village, etc... In this study, we apply a data-driven predictive model, which relies on public-open satellite Earth Observation and geospatial data and gets trained with historical point-level in-Situ measurements of mosquito abundance. Then we propose a methodology to extract information from a point-level predictive model to a broader area-level prediction. Our methodology relies on the randomly spatial sampling of the area of interest (similar to the Poisson hardcore process), obtaining the EO and geomorphological information for each sample, doing the point-wise prediction for each sample, and aggregating the predictions to represent the average mosquito abundance of the area. We quantify the performance of the transformation from the pointlevel to the area-level predictions, and we analyze it in order to understand which parameters have a positive or negative impact on it. The goal of this study is to propose a methodology that predicts the mosquito abundance of a given area by relying on point-level prediction and to provide qualitative insights regarding the expected performance of the area-level prediction. We applied our methodology to historical data (of Culex pipiens) of two areas of interest (Veneto region of Italy and Central Macedonia of Greece). In both cases, the results were consistent. The mean mosquito abundance of a given area can be estimated with similar accuracy to the point-level predictor, sometimes even better. The density of the samples that we use to represent one area has a positive effect on the performance in contrast to the actual number of sampling points which is not informative at all regarding the performance without the size of the area. Additionally, we saw that the distance between the sampling points and the real in-situ measurements that were used for training did not strongly affect the performance.

Keywords: mosquito abundance, supervised machine learning, culex pipiens, spatial sampling, west nile virus, earth observation data

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Authors: Tennah Safia, Azzag Naouelle, Derdour Salima, Hafsi Fella, Laouadi Mourad, Laamari Abdalouahab, Ghalmi Farida, Kafidi Nacerredine

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Currently, goat farming is widely practiced among the rural population of Algeria. Although milk yield of goats is low (110 liters per goat and per year on average), this milk partly ensures the feeding of small children and provides raw milk, curd, and fermented milk to the whole family. In addition, given its investment cost, which is ten times lower than that of a cow, this level of production is still of interest. This interest is reinforced by the qualities of goat's milk, highly sought after for its nutritional value superior to that of cow's milk. In the same way, its aptitude for the transformation, in particular in quality cheeses, is very sought after. The objective of this study is to give the situation of goat milk production in rural areas of Algeria and to establish a classification of goat breeds according to their production potential. For this, a survey was carried out with goat farmers in Algerian steppe. Three indigenous breeds were encountered in this study: the breed Arabia, Mozabite, and Mekatia; Arabia being the most dominant. The Mekatia breed and the Mozabite breed appear to have higher production and milking abilities than other local breeds. They are therefore indicated to play the role of local dairy breeds par excellence. The other breed that could be improved milk performance is the Arabia breed. There, however, the milk performance of this breed is low. However, in order to increase milk production, uncontrolled crosses with imported breeds (mainly Saanen and Alpine) were carried out. The third population that can be included in the category for dairy production is the dairy breed group of imported origin. There are farms in Algeria composed of Alpine and Saanen breeds born locally. Improved milk performance of local goats, Crusader population, and dairy breeds of imported origin could be done by selection. For this, it is necessary to set up a milk control to detect the best animals. This control could be carried out among interested farmers in each large goat breeding area. In conclusion, sustained efforts must be made to enable the sustainable development of the goat sector in Algeria. It will, therefore, be necessary to deepen the reflection on a national strategy to valorize goat's milk, taking into account the specificities of the environment, the genetic biodiversity, and the eating habits of the Algerian consumer.

Keywords: goat, milk, Algeria, biodiversity

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Authors: Safak Isik, Ozalp Vayvay

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Strategic partnerships with suppliers play a vital role for the long-term value-based supply chain. This strategic collaboration keeps still being one of the top priority of many business organizations in order to create more additional value; benefiting mainly from supplier’s specialization, capacity and innovative power, securing supply and better managing costs and quality. However, many organizations encounter difficulties in initiating, developing and managing those partnerships and many attempts result in failures. One of the reasons for such failure is the incompatibility of members of this partnership or in other words wrong supplier selection which emphasize the significance of the selection process since it is the beginning stage. An effective selection process of strategic suppliers is critical to the success of the partnership. Although there are several research studies to select the suppliers in literature, only a few of them is related to strategic supplier selection for long-term partnership. The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual model for the selection of strategic partnership suppliers. A two-stage approach has been used in proposed model incorporating first segmentation and second selection. In the first stage; considering the fact that not all suppliers are strategically equal and instead of a long list of potential suppliers, Kraljic’s purchasing portfolio matrix can be used for segmentation. This supplier segmentation is the process of categorizing suppliers based on a defined set of criteria in order to identify types of suppliers and determine potential suppliers for strategic partnership. In the second stage, from a pool of potential suppliers defined at first phase, a comprehensive evaluation and selection can be performed to finally define strategic suppliers considering various tangible and intangible criteria. Since a long-term relationship with strategic suppliers is anticipated, criteria should consider both current and future status of the supplier. Based on an extensive literature review; strategical, operational and organizational criteria have been determined and elaborated. The result of the selection can also be used to determine suppliers who are not ready for a partnership but to be developed for strategic partnership. Since the model is based on multiple criteria for both stages, it provides a framework for further utilization of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques. The model may also be applied to a wide range of industries and involve managerial features in business organizations.

Keywords: Kraljic’s matrix, purchasing portfolio, strategic supplier selection, supplier collaboration, supplier partnership, supplier segmentation

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Authors: George Leventakis, George Kokkinis, Nikos Moustakidis, George Papalexandratos, Ioanna Vasiliadou

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Enhancing the feeling of public safety and crime prevention are tasks customarily assigned to the Police. Police departments have, however, recognized that traditional ways of policing methods are becoming obsolete; Community Policing (CP) philosophy; however, when applied appropriately, leads to seamless collaboration between various stakeholders like the Police, NGOs and the general public and provides the opportunity to identify risks, assist in solving problems of crime, disorder, safety and crucially contribute to improving the quality of life for everyone in a community. Social Media, on the other hand, due to its high level of infiltration in modern life, constitutes a powerful mechanism which offers additional and direct communication channels to reach individuals or communities. These channels can be utilized to improve the citizens’ perception of the Police and to capture individual and community needs, when their feedback is taken into account by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in a structured and coordinated manner. This paper presents research conducted under INSPEC²T (Inspiring CitizeNS Participation for Enhanced Community PoliCing AcTions), a project funded by the European Commission’s research agenda to bridge the gap between CP as a philosophy and as an organizational strategy, capitalizing on the use of Social Media. The project aims to increase transparency, trust, police accountability, and the role of civil society. It aspires to build strong, trusting relationships between LEAs and the public, supporting two-way, contemporary communication while at the same time respecting anonymity of all affected parties. Results presented herein summarize the outcomes of four online multilingual surveys, focus group interviews, desktop research and interviews with experts in the field of CP practices. The above research activities were conducted in various EU countries aiming to capture requirements of end users from diverse backgrounds (social, cultural, legal and ethical) and determine public expectations regarding CP, community safety and crime prevention.

Keywords: community partnerships, next generation community policing, social media, public safety

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Authors: Anvesh Gaddam, Amit Agrawal, Suhas Joshi, Mark Thompson

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An increase in surface area to volume ratio with a decrease in characteristic length scale, leads to a rapid increase in pressure drop across the microchannel. Texturing the microchannel surfaces reduce the effective surface area, thereby decreasing the pressured drop. Surface texturing introduces two wetting states: a metastable Cassie-Baxter state and stable Wenzel state. Predicting wetting transition in textured microchannels is essential for identifying optimal parameters leading to maximum drag reduction. Optical methods allow visualization only in confined areas, therefore, obtaining whole-field information on wetting transition is challenging. In this work, we propose a non-invasive method to capture wetting transitions in textured microchannels under flow conditions. To this end, we tracked the behavior of the Poiseuille number Po = f.Re, (with f the friction factor and Re the Reynolds number), for a range of flow rates (5 < Re < 50), and different wetting states were qualitatively demarcated by observing the inflection points in the f.Re curve. Microchannels with both longitudinal and transverse ribs with a fixed gas fraction (δ, a ratio of shear-free area to total area) and at a different confinement ratios (ε, a ratio of rib height to channel height) were fabricated. The measured pressure drop values for all the flow rates across the textured microchannels were converted into Poiseuille number. Transient behavior of the pressure drop across the textured microchannels revealed the collapse of liquid-gas interface into the gas cavities. Three wetting states were observed at ε = 0.65 for both longitudinal and transverse ribs, whereas, an early transition occurred at Re ~ 35 for longitudinal ribs at ε = 0.5, due to spontaneous flooding of the gas cavities as the liquid-gas interface ruptured at the inlet. In addition, the pressure drop in the Wenzel state was found to be less than the Cassie-Baxter state. Three-dimensional numerical simulations confirmed the initiation of the completely wetted Wenzel state in the textured microchannels. Furthermore, laser confocal microscopy was employed to identify the location of the liquid-gas interface in the Cassie-Baxter state. In conclusion, the present method can overcome the limitations posed by existing techniques, to conveniently capture wetting transition in textured microchannels.

Keywords: drag reduction, Poiseuille number, textured surfaces, wetting transition

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Authors: Malahat Rezaee, Mahiran Basri, Abu Bakar Salleh, Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abdul Rahman

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Sodium diclofenac is one of the most commonly used drugs of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). It is especially effective in the controlling the severe conditions of inflammation and pain, musculoskeletal disorders, arthritis, and dysmenorrhea. Formulation as nanoemulsions is one of the nanoscience approaches that has been progressively considered in pharmaceutical science for transdermal delivery of the drug. Nanoemulsions are a type of emulsion with particle sizes ranging from 20 nm to 200 nm. An emulsion is formed by the dispersion of one liquid, usually the oil phase in another immiscible liquid, water phase that is stabilized using the surfactant. Palm kernel oil esters (PKOEs), in comparison to other oils, contain higher amounts of shorter chain esters, which suitable to be applied in micro and nanoemulsion systems as a carrier for actives, with excellent wetting behavior without the oily feeling. This research aimed to study the effect of terpene type and concentration on sodium diclofenac permeation from palm kernel oil esters nanoemulsions and physicochemical properties of the nanoemulsions systems. The effect of various terpenes of geraniol, menthone, menthol, cineol and nerolidol at different concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0% on permeation of sodium diclofenac were evaluated using Franz diffusion cells and rat skin as permeation membrane. The results of this part demonstrated that all terpenes showed promoting effect on sodium diclofenac penetration. However, menthol and menthone at all concentrations showed significant effects (<0.05) on drug permeation. The most outstanding terpene was menthol with the most significant effect for skin permeability of sodium diclofenac. The effect of terpenes on physicochemical properties of nanoemulsion systems was investigated on the parameters of particle size, zeta potential, pH, viscosity and electrical conductivity. The result showed that all terpenes had the significant effect on particle size and non-significant effects on the zeta potential of the nanoemulsion systems. The effect of terpenes was significant on pH, excluding the menthone at concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0%, and cineol and nerolidol at the concentration of 2.0%. Terpenes also had significant effect on viscosity of nanoemulsions exception of menthone and cineol at the concentration of 0.5%. The result of conductivity measurements showed that all terpenes at all concentration except cineol at the concentration of 0.5% represented significant effect on electrical conductivity.

Keywords: nanoemulsions, palm kernel oil esters, sodium diclofenac, terpenes, skin permeation

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Authors: Jennifer Walinga, Samantha Heron

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The goal of the study was to inform the design of effective leadership and mentorship development programming for sport science leaders within the network of Canadian sport institutes and centers. The LEAD (Learn, Engage, Accelerate, Develop) program was implemented to equip sport science leaders with the leadership knowledge, skills, and practice to foster a high - performance culture, enhance the daily training environment, and contribute to optimal performance in sport. After two years of delivery, this analysis of LEAD’s effect on individual and organizational health and performance factors informs the quality of future deliveries and identifies best practice for leadership development across the Canadian sport system and beyond. A larger goal for this project was to inform the public sector more broadly and position sport as a source of best practice for human and social health, development, and performance. The objectives of this study were to review and refine the LEAD program in collaboration with Canadian Sport Institute and Centre leaders, 40-50 participants from three cohorts, and the LEAD program advisory committee, and to trace the effects of the LEAD leadership development program on key leadership mentorship and organizational health indicators across the Canadian sport institutes and centers so as to capture best practice. The study followed a participatory action research framework (PAR) using semi structured interviews with sport scientist participants, program and institute leaders inquiring into impact on specific individual and organizational health and performance factors. Findings included a strong increase in self-reported leadership knowledge, skill, language and confidence, enhancement of human and organizational health factors, and the opportunity to explore more deeply issues of diversity and inclusion, psychological safety, team dynamics, and performance management. The study was significant in building sport leadership and mentorship development strategies for managing change efforts, addressing inequalities, and building personal and operational resilience amidst challenges of uncertainty, pressure, and constraint in real time.

Keywords: sport leadership, sport science leader, leadership development, professional development, sport education, mentorship

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity is a disease with an ever-increasing prevalence throughout the world. The metabolic network associated with obesity is very complicated. In metabolic syndrome (MetS), it becomes even more difficult to understand. Within this context, hormones, cytokines, and many others participate in this complex matrix. The collaboration among all of these parameters is a matter of great wonder. Cortisol, as a stress hormone, is closely associated with obesity. Thyroid hormones are involved in the regulation of energy as well as glucose metabolism with all of its associates. Fetuin A is known for years; however, the involvement of this parameter in obesity discussions is rather new. Recently, it has been defined as one of the new generation markers of obesity. In this study, the aim was to introduce complex interactions among all to be able to make clear comparisons, at least for a part of this complicated matter. Morbid obese (MO) children participated in the study. Two groups with 46 MO children and 43 with MetS were constituted. All children included in the study were above 99th age- and sex-adjusted body mass index (BMI) percentiles according to World Health Organization criteria. Forty-three morbid obese children in the second group had also MetS components. Informed consent forms were filled by the parents of the participants. The institutional ethics committee has given approval for the study protocol. Data as well as the findings of the study were evaluated from a statistical point of view. Two groups were matched for their age and gender compositions. Significantly higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, thyrotropin, and insulin values were observed in the MetS group. Triiodothyronine concentrations did not differ between the groups. Elevated levels for thyroxin, cortisol, and fetuin-A were detected in the MetS group compared to the first group (p > 0.05). In MO MetS- group, cortisol was correlated with thyroxin and fetuin-A (p < 0.05). In the MO MetS+ group, none of these correlations were present. Instead, a correlation between cortisol and thyrotropin was found (p < 0.05). In conclusion, findings have shown that cortisol was the key player in severely obese children. The association of this hormone with the participants of thyroid hormone metabolism was quite important. The lack of association with fetuin A in the morbid obese MetS+ group has suggested the possible interference of MetS components in the behavior of this new generation obesity marker. The most remarkable finding of the study was the unique correlation between cortisol and thyrotropin in the morbid obese MetS+ group, suggesting that thyrotropin may serve as a target along with cortisol in the morbid obese MetS+ group. This association may deserve specific attention during the development of remedies against MetS in the pediatric population.

Keywords: children, cortisol, fetuin A, morbid obesity, thyrotropin

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Authors: Neerja Bharti, Drishya P.

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Introduction: Thyroidectomies are extensive surgeries involving a significant degree of tissue handling and dissection and are associated with considerable postoperative pain. Regional anaesthesia techniques have immerged as possible inexpensive and safe alternatives to opioids in the management of pain after thyroidectomy. The front of the neck is innervated by branches from the cervical plexus, and hence, several approaches for superficial and deep cervical plexus block (CPB) have been described to provide postoperative analgesia after neck surgery. However, very few studies have explored the analgesic efficacy of intermediate CPB for thyroid surgery. In this study, we have evaluated the effects of ultrasound-guided bilateral intermediate CPB on perioperative opioid consumption in patients undergoing thyroidectomy under general anesthesia. Methods: In this prospective randomized controlled study, fifty ASA grade I-II adult patients undergoing thyroidectomy were randomly divided into two groups: the study group received ultrasound-guided bilateral intermediate CPB with 10 ml 0.5% ropivacaine on each side, while the control group received the same block with 10 ml normal saline on each side just after induction of anesthesia. Anesthesia was induced with propofol, fentanyl, and vecuronium and maintained with propofol infusion titrated to maintain the BIS between 40 and 60. During the postoperative period, rescue analgesia was provided with PCA fentanyl, and the pain scores, total fentanyl consumption, and incidence of nausea and vomiting during 24 hours were recorded, and overall patient satisfaction was assessed. Results: The groups were well-matched with respect to age, gender, BMI, and duration of surgery. The difference in intraoperative propofol and fentanyl consumption was not statistically significant between groups. However, the intraoperative haemodynamic parameters were better maintained in the study group than in the control group. The postoperative pain scores, as measured by VAS at rest and during movement, were lower, and the total fentanyl consumption during 24 hours was significantly less in the study group as compared to the control group. Patients in the study group reported better satisfaction scores than those in the control group. No adverse effects of ultrasound-guided intermediate CPB block were reported. Conclusion: We concluded that ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block is a safe and effective method for providing perioperative analgesia during thyroid surgery.

Keywords: thyroidectomy, cervical plexus block, pain relief, opioid consumption

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Authors: Leila H. Khiabani, Mohammadreza Vafaee, Farshad Hashemzadeh

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Industrial waste management regulates different stages of production, storage, transfer, recycling and waste disposal. There are several common practices for industrial waste management. However, due to various local health, economic, social, environmental and aesthetic considerations, the most optimal principles and measures often vary at each specific industrial zone. In addition, waste management strategies are heavily impacted by local administrative, legal, and financial regulations. In this study, a hybrid qualitative and quantitative research methodology has been designed for waste management planning in an industrial city. Firstly, following a qualitative research methodology, the most relevant waste management strategies for the specific industrial city were identified through interviews with environmental planning and waste management experts. Forty experts participated in this study. Alborz industrial city in Iran, which hosts more than one thousand industrial units in nine hundred acres, was chosen as the sample industrial city in this study. The findings from the expert interviews at the first phase were then used to design a quantitative questionnaire for the second phase of the study. The aim of the questionnaire was to quantify the relative impact of different waste management strategies in the sample industrial city. Eight waste management strategies and three implementation policies were included in the questionnaire. The experts were asked to rank the relative effectiveness of each strategy for environmental planning of the sample industrial city. They were also asked to rank the relative effectiveness of each planning policy on each of the waste management strategies. In the end, the weighted average of all the responses was calculated to identify the most effective waste management strategy and planning policies for the sample industrial city. The results suggested that among the eight suggested waste management strategies, industrial composting is the most effective (31%) strategy based on the collective evaluation of the local expert. Additionally, the results suggested that the most effective policy (58%) in the city’s environmental planning is to reduce waste generation by prolonging the effective life of industrial products using higher quality and recyclable materials. These findings can provide useful expert guidelines for prioritization between different waste management strategies in the city’s overall environmental planning roadmap. The findings may also be applicable to similar industrial cities. In addition, a similar methodology can be utilized in the environmental planning of other industrial cities.

Keywords: environmental planning, industrial city, quantitative research, waste management

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Authors: Zilaila Zakaria, Muhd Azri Abdul Razak, Muhammad Murtadha Othman, Mohd Ainor Yahya, Ismail Musirin, Mat Nasir Kari, Mohd Fazli Osman, Mohd Zaini Hassan, Baihaki Azraee

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Energy efficiency can be realized by minimizing the power loss with a sufficient amount of energy used in an electrical distribution system. In this report, a detailed analysis of the energy efficiency of an electric distribution system was carried out with an implementation of the optimal capacitor placement and sizing (OCPS). The particle swarm optimization (PSO) will be used to determine optimal location and sizing for the capacitors whereas energy consumption and power losses minimization will improve the energy efficiency. In addition, a certain number of busbars or locations are identified in advance before the PSO is performed to solve OCPS. In this case study, three techniques are performed for the pre-selection of busbar or locations which are the power-loss-index (PLI). The particle swarm optimization (PSO) is designed to provide a new population with improved sizing and location of capacitors. The total cost of power losses, energy consumption and capacitor installation are the components considered in the objective and fitness functions of the proposed optimization technique. Voltage magnitude limit, total harmonic distortion (THD) limit, power factor limit and capacitor size limit are the parameters considered as the constraints for the proposed of optimization technique. In this research, the proposed methodologies implemented in the MATLAB® software will transfer the information, execute the three-phase unbalanced load flow solution and retrieve then collect the results or data from the three-phase unbalanced electrical distribution systems modeled in the SIMULINK® software. Effectiveness of the proposed methods used to improve the energy efficiency has been verified through several case studies and the results are obtained from the test systems of IEEE 13-bus unbalanced electrical distribution system and also the practical electrical distribution system model of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (SSAAS) government building in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Keywords: particle swarm optimization, pre-determine of capacitor locations, optimal capacitors placement and sizing, unbalanced electrical distribution system

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Authors: Lineo Dzansi

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South African government has been mandated by the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) to deliver basic services to all who live in it. However, service delivery has always been marred with much criticism and citizens’ dissatisfaction regarding the quality of services rendered to them. This is evidenced by public protests that are common in South Africa lately which they are mostly alleged to link with failure by the government through various municipalities to meet citizens’ service delivery expectations. Municipalities render services through people. People management plays a crucial role in influencing employee and organisational performance and it thus needs to be conducted in a fair and just manner. Literature confirms that there is a relationship between organisational justice perceptions and employee behaviour, and that positive or negative justice perceptions can have an influence on employee attitudes, commitment to their jobs and organisation. The nature of the attachments formed by individuals to their employing organisations depends on the manner in which the organisation treats them. This implies that Municipal employees’ commitment could be linked to fair or unfair perceptions of Human Resource Management practices within their organisations. Unfortunately, the political nature of municipal environment could be a fertile ground for appointments of people based on political affiliation as a reward for political patronage rather than on merit. This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between municipal employees’ perceptions of fairness of Human Resource Management practices and employee commitment from the organisational justice point of view. Research on organisational justice has shown that employees’ organisational justice perceptions link directly with job satisfaction and employee organisational commitment. Quantitative research methods were employed to collect and analyse data from selected managerial and non-managerial municipal employees within selected municipalities in Free State Province of South Africa. Employee commitment has positive relationships with HRM practices at the .05 and .01 levels of significance – indicating that the higher the levels of HRM practices in municipal employees the higher the organisational commitment of employees. Therefore, it is concluded that organisational commitment of municipal employees (EOC) is positively related to their perceptions of fairness of HRM practices (PHF) of municipalities. In other words, fair HRM practices of municipalities promote organisational commitment in municipal employees.

Keywords: organisational Justice, HRM practices, employee organisational commitment, employee attitudes

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Esmaili

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One of the most important parts of the restoration process of a power network is the synchronizing of its subsystems. In this situation, the biggest concern of the system operators will be the reduction of the standing phase angle (SPA) between the endpoints of the two islands. In this regard, the system operators perform various actions and maneuvers so that the synchronization operation of the subsystems is successfully carried out and the system finally reaches acceptable stability. The most common of these actions include load control, generation control and, in some cases, changing the network topology. Although these maneuvers are simple and common, due to the weak network and extreme load changes, the restoration will be associated with low speed. One of the best ways to control the SPA is to use FACTS devices. By applying a soft control signal, these tools can reduce the SPA between two subsystems with more speed and accuracy, and the synchronization process can be done in less time. Meanwhile, the unified power controller (UPFC), a series-parallel compensator device with the change of transmission line power and proper adjustment of the phase angle, will be the proposed option in order to realize the subject of this research. Therefore, with the optimal placement of UPFC in a power system, in addition to improving the normal conditions of the system, it is expected to be effective in reducing the SPA during power system restoration. Therefore, the presented paper provides an optimal structure to coordinate the three problems of improving the division of subsystems, reducing the SPA and optimal power flow with the aim of determining the optimal location of UPFC and optimal subsystems. The proposed objective functions in this paper include maximizing the quality of the subsystems, reducing the SPA at the endpoints of the subsystems, and reducing the losses of the power system. Since there will be a possibility of creating contradictions in the simultaneous optimization of the proposed objective functions, the structure of the proposed optimization problem is introduced as a non-linear multi-objective problem, and the Pareto optimization method is used to solve it. The innovative technique proposed to implement the optimization process of the mentioned problem is an optimization algorithm called the water cycle (WCA). To evaluate the proposed method, the IEEE 39 bus power system will be used.

Keywords: UPFC, SPA, water cycle algorithm, multi-objective problem, pareto

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Authors: Rasaq Adekunle Olabomi

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More than 30% of the global building energy consumption is attributed to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) due to increasing urbanization and the need for more personal comfort. While heating is predominant in the temperate regions (especially during winter), comfort cooling is constantly needed in tropical regions such as Nigeria. This makes cooling a major contributor to the peak electrical load in the tropics. Meanwhile, the high solar energy availability in the tropical climate region presents a higher application potentials for solar thermal cooling systems; more so, the need for cooling mostly coincides with the solar energy availability. In addition to huge energy consumption, conventional (compressor type) air-conditioning systems mostly use refrigerants that are regarded as environmental unfriendly because of their ozone depletion potentials; this has made the alternative cooling systems to become popular in the present time. The better thermal capacity and less pumping power requirement of chilled water than chilled air has also made chilled water a preferred option over the chilled air cooling system. Radiant floor chilled water cooling is particularly is also considered suitable for spaces such as meeting room, seminar hall, auditorium, airport arrival and departure halls among others. This study did the analysis of the feasibility and energy efficiency of solar thermal chilled water for radiant flood cooling of an office apartment in a tropical climate city in Nigeria with a view to recommend its up-scaling. The analysis considered the weather parameters including available solar irradiance (kWh/m2-day) as well as the technical details of the solar thermal cooling systems to determine the feasibility. Project cost, its energy savings, emission reduction potentials and cost-to-benefits ration are used to analyze its energy efficiency as well as the viability of the cooling system. The techno-economic analysis of the proposed system, carried out using RETScreen software shows that its viability in but SWOT analysis of policy and institutional framework to promote solar energy utilization for the cooling systems shows weakness such as poor infrastructure and inadequate local capacity for technological development as major challenges.

Keywords: cooling load, absorption cooling system, coefficient of performance, radiant floor, cost saving, emission reduction

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Authors: Muge Unal, Cengiz Uslu, Mehmet Faruk Altunkasa

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Walkability relates to the ability of the places to connect people with varied destinations within a reasonable amount of time and effort, and to offer visual interest in journeys throughout the network. So, the good quality of the physical environment and arrangement of walkway and sidewalk appear to be more crucial in influencing the pedestrian route choice. Also, proximity, connectivity, and accessibility are significant factor for walkability in terms of an equal opportunity for using public spaces. As a result, there are two important points for walkability. Firstly, the place should have a well-planned street network for accessible and secondly facilitate the pedestrian need for comfort. In this respect, this study aims to examine the both physical and bioclimatic comfort levels of the current condition of pedestrian route with reference to design criteria of a street to access the urban green spaces. These aspects have been identified as the main indicators for walkable streets such as continuity, materials, slope, bioclimatic condition, walkway width, greenery, and surface. Additionally, the aim was to identify the factors that need to be considered in future guidelines and policies for planning and design in urban spaces especially streets. Adana city was chosen as a study area. Adana is a province of Turkey located in south-central Anatolia. This study workflow can be summarized in four stages: (1) environmental and physical data were collected by referred to literature and used in a weighted criteria method to determine the importance level of these data , (2) environmental characteristics of pedestrian routes gained from survey studies are evaluated to hierarchies these criteria of the collected information, (3) and then each pedestrian routes will have a score that provides comfortable access to the park, (4) finally, the comfortable routes to park will be mapped using GIS. It is hoped that this study will provide an insight into future development planning and design to create a friendly and more comfort street environment for the users.

Keywords: comfort level, geographical information system (GIS), walkability, weighted criteria method

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Authors: Sima Modirkhamene, Arezoo Khezri

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The purpose of the present investigation was to probe the main motivational strategies Iranian school vs. institute teachers use in virtual and in-person classes to motivate students in learning the English language. Yet another purpose was to understand teachers’ perceptions about any modifications in their use of motivational strategies before and during/after the pandemic. For the purpose of this investigation, a total of 63 EFL teachers (35 female, 28 male) were conveniently sampled from schools and institutes in the cities of Mahabad and Sardasht. Moreover, for the interview phase of the study, 20 percent (n=16) of the sample was selected conveniently. The required data was gathered through a modified questionnaire (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007) consisting of 42 items and a set of semi-structured interviews. The outcomes of a set of non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests demonstrated that presenting tasks properly in online classes and familiarizing learners with L2- related values in in-person classes came out as the most influential source of motivational strategies practiced by EFL school teachers. Additionally, it was found that proper teacher behavior(showing enthusiasm) in both in-person and virtual classes and presenting tasks properly in in-person classes were overwhelmingly endorsed by EFL institute teachers. The study also portrayed no statistically significant mean difference between school and institute EFL teachers’ overall use of motivational strategies in virtual and in-person classes. The interview results indicated that the strategies of designing tasks through technological aids, provision of videos, gamification techniques, assigning projects, and delivering formative online feedback were held in high regard during/after the pandemic due to the high reliance of teaching on the Internet connection. Meanwhile, the research has indicated that the spread of COVID-19 was the main reason for teachers’ modifications in motivational strategies, in response to the crisis of the pandemic, all educational contexts at all levels resorted to online education as a result their strategies were adapted to the new situation. The findings brought to light through this investigation provided initial evidence of the unintended consequences of the pandemic on teachers’ strategic choices. Therefore, to deliver a better education for the future, the study suggests more concentration on the quality of teaching as well as reframing the status quo of teaching .

Keywords: virtual teaching, motivational teaching strategies, teaching context, online education

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Authors: Mohanad Al-Behadili, Xiang Song, Djamila Ouelhadj, Alex Fraess-Ehrfeld

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In off-shore wind farms, turbine blade inspection accessibility under various sea states is very challenging and greatly affects the downtime of wind turbines. Maintenance of any offshore system is not an easy task due to the restricted logistics and accessibility. The multirotor unmanned helicopter is of increasing interest in inspection applications due to its manoeuvrability and payload capacity. These advantages increase when many of them are deployed simultaneously in a swarm. Hence this paper proposes a drone swarm framework for inspecting offshore wind turbine blades and nacelles so as to reduce downtime. One of the big challenges of this task is that when operating a drone swarm, an individual drone may not have enough power to fly and communicate during missions and it has no capability of refueling due to its small size. Once the drone power is drained, there are no signals transmitted and the links become intermittent. Vessels equipped with 5G masts and small power units are utilised as platforms for drones to recharge/swap batteries. The research work aims at designing a smart energy management system, which provides automated vessel and drone routing and recharging plans. To achieve this goal, a novel mathematical optimisation model is developed with the main objective of minimising the number of drones and vessels, which carry the charging stations, and the downtime of the wind turbines. There are a number of constraints to be considered, such as each wind turbine must be inspected once and only once by one drone; each drone can inspect at most one wind turbine after recharging, then fly back to the charging station; collision should be avoided during the drone flying; all wind turbines in the wind farm should be inspected within the given time window. We have developed a real-time Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm to generate real-time and near-optimal solutions to the drone swarm routing problem. The schedule will generate efficient and real-time solutions to indicate the inspection tasks, time windows, and the optimal routes of the drones to access the turbines. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the quality of the solutions generated by ACO.

Keywords: drone swarm, routing, scheduling, optimisation model, ant colony optimisation

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Authors: Yusuf Adebayo Oduwole

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The evaluation of blockchain technology's potential effects on the accounting and auditing fields is the main objective of this essay. It also adds to the existing body of work by examining how these practices alter technological concerns, including cryptocurrency accounting, regulation, governance, accounting practices, and technical challenges. Examples of this advancement include the growth of the concept of blockchain and its application in accounting. This technology is being considered one of the digital revolutions that could disrupt the world and civilization as it can transfer large volumes of virtual currencies like cryptocurrencies with the help of a third party. The basis for this research is a systematic review of the articles using Vosviewer to display and reflect on the bibliometric information of the articles accessible on the Scopus database. Also, as the practice of using blockchain technology in the field of accounting and auditing is still in its infancy, it may be useful to carry out a more thorough analysis of any implications for accounting and auditing regarding aspects of governance, regulation, and cryptocurrency that have not yet been discussed or addressed to any significant extent. The main findings on the relationship between blockchain and accounting show that the application of smart contracts, such as triple-entry accounting, has increased the quality of accounting records as well as reliance on the information available. This results in fewer cyclical assignments, no need for resolution, and real-time accounting, among others. Thereby, to integrate blockchain through a computer system, one must continuously learn and remain naive when using blockchain-integrated accounting software. This includes learning about how cryptocurrencies are accounted for and regulated. In this study, three original and contributed efforts are presented. To offer a transparent view of the state of previous relevant studies and research works in accounting and auditing that focus on blockchain, it begins by using bibliographic visibility analysis and a Scopus narrative analysis. Second, it highlights legislative, governance, and ethical concerns, such as education, where it tackles the use of blockchain in accounting and auditing. Lastly, it examines the impact of blockchain technologies on the accounting recognition of cryptocurrencies. Users of the technology should, therefore, take their time and learn how it works, as well as keep abreast of the different developments. In addition, the accounting industry must integrate blockchain certification and practice, most likely offline or as part of university education for those intending to become auditors or accountants.

Keywords: blockchain, crypto assets, governance, regulation & smart contracts

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Authors: Lee Cahaner, Nissim Leon

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The segregation of populations is one of the main axes in the research of urban geography, which refers to the spatial and functional relationships between settlements. In Israel, this phenomenon has its unique expression in the spatial processes concerning the ultra-orthodox population. This population holds a set of interactions within itself as well as with the non-orthodox surrounding population because of historical and contemporary motivations on its which strength depends on its homogeneousness and separation. Its demographic growth rate and the internal social processes that the ultra-orthodox society undergoes create a new image of the ultra-orthodox concentration and its location in the Israeli space. The goals of the present study have also been defined with the express intention of filling the scholarly vacuum noted above: firstly, to discuss the development of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox sector’s hierarchical and spatial structure as of 2015, in light of the principles and mechanisms that guide it and vis-à-vis the general population’s hierarchical locality system; secondly, to map Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population, with attention to its physical boundaries, its subdivisions (Hassidic, Lithuanian, Sephardic) and the geographical and demographic processes that have characterized it in recent years; and thirdly, to shed light on the interactions between ultra-Orthodox localities via several different parameters, e.g. migration, education, transportation, employment, consumerism and community services. In order to understand the changes in ultra-Orthodox geographic distribution and the social processes that these changes have generated, a number of research activities were conducted during the course of this study− notably, gathering and assembling material from earlier academic studies, newspaper advertisements, state and private archives; in-depth interviews with major figures in the ultra-Orthodox community and others who come into contact with it; tours of the core areas of ultra-Orthodox settlement; and gathering quantitative and qualitative data from the statistical reports of governmental and other bodies. In addition, a multi-participant (2400-respondent) quantitative survey was conducted among residents of the new ultra-Orthodox cities, designed to elucidate the attributes and spatial attitudes of the residents− as a means of tracing and understanding this new settlement pattern within ultra-Orthodox space. A major portion of the quantitative and qualitative material was processed to form a system of maps that visually describe the distribution of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population.

Keywords: migration, new cities, segregation, ultra-orthodox

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Authors: Khosro Mohammadi

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In order to study the effect of different resources of farmyard manure, compost and biofertilizers on grain yield and quality of canola (Talaieh cultivar), an experiment was conducted at Kurdistan region. Experimental units were arranged in split-split plots design based on randomized complete blocks with three replications. Main plots consisted of two locations with difference in soil texture (L1): Agricultural Research Center of Sanandaj and (L2): Islamic Azad University of Sanandaj, as location levels. Also, five strategies for obtaining the base fertilizer requirement including (N1): farmyard manure; (N2): compost; (N3): chemical fertilizers; (N4): farm yard manure + compost and (N5): farm yard manure + compost + chemical fertilizers were considered in split plots. Four levels of biofertilizers were (B1): Bacillus lentus and Pseudomonas putida; (B2): Trichoderma harzianum; (B3): Bacillus lentus and Pseudomonas putida & Trichoderma harzianum; and (B4): control. Results showed that location, different resources of fertilizer and interactions of them have a significant effect on grain yield. The highest grain yield (4660 kg/ha) was obtained from treatment, that farmyard manure, compost and biofertilizers were co application in clay loam soil (Gerizeh station). Different methods of fertilization have a significant effect on leaf chlorophyll. Highest amount of chlorophyll (38 Spad) was obtained from co application of farmyard manure, chemical fertilizers and compost (N5 treatment). Location, basal fertilizers and biofertilizers have a significant effect on N, S and N/S of canola seed. Oil content was decreased in Gerizeh station, but oil yield had a significant increasing than Azad University station. Co application of compost and farmyard manure produced highest percent of oleic acid (61.5 %) and linoleic acid (22.9 %). Co application of compost and farmyard manure has a significant increase in oleic acid and linoleic acid. Finally, L1N5B3 treatment, that compost, farmyard manure and biofertilizers were co application in Gerizeh station in compare to other treatments, selected as a best treatment of experiment.

Keywords: soil texture, organic fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, oil, Canola

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Authors: Ariel Vilchez, Francisca Acevedo, Rodrigo Navia

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The wound healing process can be accelerated and improved by the action of antioxidants such as curcumin (Cur) over the tissues; however, the efficacy of curcumin used through the digestive system is not enough to exploit its benefits. Electrospinning presents an alternative to carry curcumin directly to the wounds, and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is proposed as the matrix to load curcumin owing to its biodegradable and biocompatible properties. PHB is among 150 types of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) identified, it is a natural thermoplastic polyester produced by microbial fermentation obtained from microorganisms. The proposed objective is to develop electrospun bacterial PHB-based microfibers containing curcumin for possible biomedical applications. Commercial PHB was solved in Chloroform: Dimethylformamide (4:1) to a final concentration of 7% m/V. Curcumin was added to the polymeric solution at 1%, and 7% m/m regarding PHB. The electrospinning equipment (NEU-BM, China) with a rotary collector was used to obtain Cur-PHB fibers at different voltages and flow rate of the polymeric solution considering a distance of 20 cm from the needle to the collector. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the diameter and morphology of the obtained fibers. Thermal stability was obtained from Thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was carried out in order to study the chemical bonds and interactions. A preliminary curcumin release to Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) pH = 7.4 was obtained in vitro and measured by spectrophotometry. PHB fibers presented an intact chemical composition regarding the original condition (dust) according to FTIR spectra, the diameter fluctuates between 0.761 ± 0.123 and 2.157 ± 0.882 μm, with different qualities according to their morphology. The best fibers in terms of quality and diameter resulted in sample 2 and sample 6, obtained at 0-10kV and 0.5 mL/hr, and 0-10kV and 1.5 mL/hr, respectively. The melting temperature resulted near 178 °C, according to the bibliography. The crystallinity of fibers decreases while curcumin concentration increases for the studied interval. The curcumin release reaches near 14% at 37 °C at 54h in PBS adjusted to a quasi-Fickian Diffusion. We conclude that it is possible to load curcumin in PHB to obtain continuous, homogeneous, and solvent-free microfibers by electrospinning. Between 0% and 7% of curcumin, the crystallinity of fibers decreases as the concentration of curcumin increases. Thus, curcumin enhances the flexibility of the obtained material. HPLC should be used in further analysis of curcumin release.

Keywords: antioxidant, curcumin, polyhydroxybutyrate, wound healing

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Authors: Anicet Dansou

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Textile reinforced concrete (TRC)is increasingly used nowadays in various fields, in particular civil engineering, where it is mainly used for the reinforcement of damaged reinforced concrete structures. TRC is a composite material composed of multi- or uni-axial textile reinforcements coupled with a fine-grained cementitious matrix. The TRC composite is an alternative solution to the traditional Fiber Reinforcement Polymer (FRP) composite. It has good mechanical performance and better temperature stability but also, it makes it possible to meet the criteria of sustainable development better.TRCs are highly anisotropic composite materials with nonlinear hardening behavior; their macroscopic behavior depends on multi-scale mechanisms. The characterization of these materials through numerical simulation has been the subject of many studies. Since TRCs are multiscale material by definition, numerical multi-scale approaches have emerged as one of the most suitable methods for the simulation of TRCs. They aim to incorporate information pertaining to microscale constitute behavior, mesoscale behavior, and macro-scale structure response within a unified model that enables rapid simulation of structures. The computational costs are hence significantly reduced compared to standard simulation at a fine scale. The fine scale information can be implicitly introduced in the macro scale model: approaches of this type are called non-classical. A representative volume element is defined, and the fine scale information are homogenized over it. Analytical and computational homogenization and nested mesh methods belong to these approaches. On the other hand, in classical approaches, the fine scale information are explicitly introduced in the macro scale model. Such approaches pertain to adaptive mesh refinement strategies, sub-modelling, domain decomposition, and multigrid methods This research presents the main principles of numerical multiscale approaches. Advantages and limitations are identified according to several criteria: the assumptions made (fidelity), the number of input parameters required, the calculation costs (efficiency), etc. A bibliographic study of recent results and advances and of the scientific obstacles to be overcome in order to achieve an effective simulation of textile reinforced concrete in civil engineering is presented. A comparative study is further carried out between several methods for the simulation of TRCs used for the structural reinforcement of reinforced concrete structures.

Keywords: composites structures, multiscale methods, numerical modeling, textile reinforced concrete

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Authors: Jožef Ritonja, Bojan Grčar, Boštjan Polajžer

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In recent years, electricity trade between neighboring countries has become increasingly intense. Increasing power transmission over long distances has resulted in an increase in the oscillations of the transmitted power. The damping of the oscillations can be carried out with the reconfiguration of the network or the replacement of generators, but such solution is not economically reasonable. The only cost-effective solution to improve the damping of power oscillations is to use power system stabilizers. Power system stabilizer represents a part of synchronous generator control system. It utilizes semiconductor’s excitation system connected to the rotor field excitation winding to increase the damping of the power system. The majority of the synchronous generators are equipped with the conventional power system stabilizers with fixed parameters. The control structure of the conventional power system stabilizers and the tuning procedure are based on the linear control theory. Conventional power system stabilizers are simple to realize, but they show non-sufficient damping improvement in the entire operating conditions. This is the reason that advanced control theories are used for development of better power system stabilizers. In this paper, the adaptive control theory for power system stabilizers design and synthesis is studied. The presented work is focused on the use of model reference adaptive control approach. Control signal, which assures that the controlled plant output will follow the reference model output, is generated by the adaptive algorithm. Adaptive gains are obtained as a combination of the "proportional" term and with the σ-term extended "integral" term. The σ-term is introduced to avoid divergence of the integral gains. The necessary condition for asymptotic tracking is derived by means of hyperstability theory. The benefits of the proposed model reference adaptive power system stabilizer were evaluated as objectively as possible by means of a theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and laboratory realizations. Damping of the synchronous generator oscillations in the entire operating range was investigated. Obtained results show the improved damping in the entire operating area and the increase of the power system stability. The results of the presented work will help by the development of the model reference power system stabilizer which should be able to replace the conventional stabilizers in power systems.

Keywords: power system, stability, oscillations, power system stabilizer, model reference adaptive control

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Authors: I. Wiedemann, A. R. Sharifi, A. Mählmeyer, C. Knorr

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A requirement for sperm motility is a morphologically intact flagellum with a central axoneme. The flagellar beating is caused by the varying activation and inactivation of dynein molecules which are located in the axoneme. DNAL4 (dynein, axonemal, light chain 4) is regarded as a possible functional candidate gene encoding a small subunit of the dyneins. In the present study, 5814bp of the porcine DNAL4 (GenBank Acc. No. AM284696.1, 6097 bp, 4 exons) were comparatively sequenced using three boars with a high motility (>68%) and three with a low motility (<60%). Primers were self-designed except for those covering exons 1, 2 and 3. Prior to sequencing, the PCR products were purified. Sequencing was performed with an ABI PRISM 3100 Genetic Analyzer using the BigDyeTM Terminator v3.1 Cycle Sequencing Reaction Kit. Finally, 23 SNPs were described and genotyped for 82 AI boars representing the breeds Piétrain, German Large White and German Landrace. The genotypes were used to assess possible associations with standard spermatological parameters (ejaculate volume, density, and sperm motility (undiluted (Motud), 24h (Mot1) and 48h (Mot2) after semen collection) that were regularly recorded on the AI station. The analysis included a total of 8,833 spermatological data sets which ranged from 2 to 295 sets per boar in five years. Only SNP g.1007A>G had a significant effect. Finally, the gene substitution effect using the following statistical model was calculated: Yijk= µ+αi+βj+αβij+b1Sijk+b2Aijk+b3T ijk + b4Vijk+b5(α*A)ijk +b6(β*A)ijk+b7(A*T)ijk+Uijk+eijk where Yijk is the semen characteristics, µ is the general mean, α is the main effect of breed, β is the main effect of season, S is the effect of SNP (g.1007A > G), A is the effect of age at semen collection, V is the effect of diluter, αβ, α*A, β*A, A*T are interactions between the fixed effects, b1-b7 are regression coefficients between y and the respective covariate, U is the random effect of repeated observation on animal and e is the random error. The results from the single marker regression analysis revealed highly significant effects (p < 0.0001) of SNP g.1007A > G on Mot1 resp. on Mot2, resulting in a marked reduction by 11.4% resp. 15.4%. Furthermore a loss of Motud by 4.6% was detected (p < 0.0178). Considering the SNP g.1007A > G as a main factor (dominant-recessive model), significant differences between genotypes AA and AG as well as AA and GG for Mot1 and Mot2 exist. For Motud there was a significant difference between AA and GG.

Keywords: association, DNAL4, porcine, sperm traits

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Authors: Anjana Aggarwal, Sheilja Walia

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Prevalence of obesity and overweight is increasing due to sedentary lifestyles and busy schedules of people that spend less time on physical exercise. To reduce weight, people are finding easier and more convenient ways. The easiest solution is the use of dietary supplements and fat burners. These are products that decrease body weight by increasing the basal metabolic rate. Various reports have been published on the consumption of fat burners leading to heart palpitations, seizures, anxiety, depression, psychosis, bradycardia, insomnia, muscle contractions, hepatotoxicity, and even liver failure. Case reports and series are reporting that the ingredients present in the fat burners caused acute liver failure (ALF) and hepatic toxicity in many cases. Another contributing factor is the absence of regulations from the Food and Drug Administration on these products, leading to increased consumption and a higher risk of liver diseases among the population. This systematic review aims to attain a better understanding of the dietary supplements used globally to reduce weight and document the case reports/series of acute liver failure caused by the consumption of fat burners. Electronic databases like PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, etc., will be systematically searched for relevant articles. Various websites of dietary products and brands that sell such supplements, Journals of Hepatology, National and international projects launched for ALF, and their reports, along with the review of grey literature, will also be done to get a better understanding of the topic. After discussing with the co-author, the selection and screening of the articles will be performed by the author. The studies will be selected based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The case reports and case series that will be included in the final list of the studies will be assessed for methodological quality using the CARE guidelines. The results from this study will provide insights and a better understanding of fat burners. Since the supplements are easily available in the market without any restrictions on their sale, people are unaware of their adverse effects. The consumption of these supplements causes acute liver failure. Thus, this review will provide a platform for future larger studies to be conducted.

Keywords: acute liver failure, dietary supplements, fat burners, weight loss supplements

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Authors: Joana Gato, Ahmed Abotabekh, Panayoti Bachkangi

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Introduction: Oestrogen is an essential gonadal hormone that plays a vital role in the reproductive system of women1. The average age of menopause in the UK is 512. Women who go through premature menopause should be offered Hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Similarly, women who undergo surgical menopause should be offered HRT, unless contraindicated, depending on the indication of their surgery2,3. Aim: To assess if the patients in our department are counselled regarding HRT after surgical treatment and if HRT was prescribed. Methodology: A retrospective audit in a busy district hospital, examining all the patients who had a hysterectomy. The audit examined if HRT was discussed pre-operatively, prescribed on discharge and if a follow up was arranged. For women with contraindication to HRT, the audit assessed if the reasons were discussed pre-operatively and communicated to the Inclusion criteria: woman having a total or subtotal hysterectomy, with or without bilateral salpingo-ophorectomy (BSO), between April and September 2022. Exclusion criteria: woman having a vaginal hysterectomy. Results: 40 patients in total had hysterectomy; 27 (68%) were under the age of 51. 15 out of 27 patients bad BSO. 9 women were prescribed HRT, but 8 were offered HRT immediately, and 1 of them were offered a follow up. Of women who underwent surgical menopause, 7 were not given any HRT. The HRT choice was diverse, however, the majority was prescribed oral HRT. 40% of women undergoing surgical menopause did not have a discussion about HRT prior to their surgery. In postmenopausal women (n=13; 33%), still two were given HRT for preexisting menopausal symptoms. Discussion: Only 59% of the pre-menopausal patients had oophorectomy, therefore undergoing surgical menopause. Of these, 44% were not given any HRT, and 40% had no discussion about HRT prior to surgery. Interestingly, the majority of these women have no obvious contraindication to HRT. The choice of HRT was diverse, but the majority was commenced on oral HRT. Our unit is still working towards meeting all the NICE guidance standards of offering HRT and information prior to surgery to women planning to undergo surgical menopause. Conclusion: Starting HRT at the onset of menopause has been shown to improve quality of life and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporotic fractures4. Our unit still has scope for improvement to comply with the current NICE guidance. All pre-menopausal women undergoing surgical menopause should have a discussion regarding HRT prior to surgery and be offered it if there are no contraindications. This discussion should be clearly documented in the notes. At the time of this report, some of the patients have not yet had a follow up, which we recognize as a limitation to our audit.

Keywords: hormone replacement therapy, menopause, premature ovarian insufficiency, surgical management

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Authors: Haoyu Zhao, Qianshu Ma, Min Xie, Yunqi Huang, Yunjia Liu, Huan Song, Hongsheng Gui, Mingli Li, Qiang Wang

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Rationale: Bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), as severe chronic illnesses that restrict patients’ psychosocial functioning and reduce their quality of life, are both categorized into mood disorders. Emerging evidence has suggested that the reliability of self-rated health (SRH) was wellvalidated and that the risk of various health outcomes, including mortality and health care costs, could be predicted by SRH. Compared with other lengthy multi-item patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measures, SRH was proven to have a comparable predictive ability to predict mortality and healthcare utilization. However, to our knowledge, no study has been conducted to assess the association between SRH and hospitalization among people with mental disorders. Therefore, our study aims to determine the association between SRH and subsequent all-cause hospitalizations in patients with BD and MDD. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study on people with BD or MDD in the UK from 2006 to 2010 using UK Biobank touchscreen questionnaire data and linked administrative health databases. The association between SRH and 2-year all-cause hospitalizations was assessed using proportional hazard regression after adjustment for sociodemographics, lifestyle behaviors, previous hospitalization use, the Elixhauser comorbidity index, and environmental factors. Results: A total of 29,966 participants were identified, experiencing 10,279 hospitalization events. Among the cohort, the average age was 55.88 (SD 8.01) years, 64.02% were female, and 3,029 (10.11%), 15,972 (53.30%), 8,313 (27.74%), and 2,652 (8.85%) reported excellent, good, fair, and poor SRH, respectively. Among patients reporting poor SRH, 54.19% had a hospitalization event within 2 years compared with 22.65% for those having excellent SRH. In the adjusted analysis, patients with good, fair, and poor SRH had 1.31 (95% CI 1.21-1.42), 1.82 (95% CI 1.68-1.98), and 2.45 (95% CI 2.22, 2.70) higher hazards of hospitalization, respectively, than those with excellent SRH. Conclusion: SRH was independently associated with subsequent all-cause hospitalizations in patients with BD or MDD. This large study facilitates rapid interpretation of SRH values and underscores the need for proactive SRH screening in this population, which might inform resource allocation and enhance high-risk population detection.

Keywords: severe mental illnesses, hospitalization, risk prediction, patient-reported outcomes

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Authors: Choupani Andisheh, Temucin Elif Sevval, Bediz Bekir

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Due to their various advantages compared to many other drug delivery systems such as hypodermic injections and oral medications, microneedle arrays (MNAs) are a promising drug delivery system. To achieve enhanced performance of the MN, it is crucial to develop numerical models, optimization methods, and simulations. Accordingly, in this work, the optimized design of dissolvable MNAs, as well as their manufacturing, is investigated. For this purpose, a mechanical model of a single MN, having the geometry of an obelisk, is developed using commercial finite element software. The model considers the condition in which the MN is under pressure at the tip caused by the reaction force when penetrating the skin. Then, a multi-objective optimization based on non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is performed to obtain geometrical properties such as needle width, tip (apex) angle, and base fillet radius. The objective of the optimization study is to reach a painless and effortless penetration into the skin along with minimizing its mechanical failures caused by the maximum stress occurring throughout the structure. Based on the obtained optimal design parameters, master (male) molds are then fabricated from PMMA using a mechanical micromachining process. This fabrication method is selected mainly due to the geometry capability, production speed, production cost, and the variety of materials that can be used. Then to remove any chip residues, the master molds are cleaned using ultrasonic cleaning. These fabricated master molds can then be used repeatedly to fabricate Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) production (female) molds through a micro-molding approach. Finally, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a dissolvable polymer is cast into the production molds under vacuum to produce the dissolvable MNAs. This fabrication methodology can also be used to fabricate MNAs that include bioactive cargo. To characterize and demonstrate the performance of the fabricated needles, (i) scanning electron microscope images are taken to show the accuracy of the fabricated geometries, and (ii) in-vitro piercing tests are performed on artificial skin. It is shown that optimized MN geometries can be precisely fabricated using the presented fabrication methodology and the fabricated MNAs effectively pierce the skin without failure.

Keywords: microneedle, microneedle array fabrication, micro-manufacturing structural optimization, finite element analysis

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Authors: Aneena Suresh, C. S. Sidharth

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Drug related problems (DRPs) are common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and end stage patients undergoing hemodialysis. To treat the co-morbid conditions of the patients, more complex therapeutic regimen is required, and it leads to development of DRPs. So, this calls for frequent monitoring of the patients. Due to the busy work schedules, physicians are unable to deliver optimal care to these patients. Addition of a clinical pharmacist in the team will improve the standard of care offered to CKD patients by minimizing DRPs. In India, the role of clinical pharmacists in the improving the health outcomes in CKD patients is poorly recognized. Therefore, this study is conducted to put an insight on the role of clinical pharmacist in improving Drug Related Problems in patients with chronic kidney disease, thereby helping them to achieve desired therapeutic outcomes in the patients. A prospective interventional study was conducted for a year in a 620 bedded tertiary care hospital in India. Data was collected using an unstructured questionnaire, medication charts, etc. DRPs were categorized using Hepler and Strand classification. Relationships between the age, weight, GFR, average no of medication taken, average no of comorbidities, and average length of hospital days with the DRPs were identified using Mann Whitney U test. The study population primarily constituted of patients above the age of 50 years with a mean age of 59.91±13.59. Our study showed that 25% of the population presented with DRPs. On an average, CKD patients are prescribed at least 8 medications for the treatment in our study. This explains the high incidence of drug interactions in patients suffering from CKD (45.65%). The least common DRPs in our study were found to be sub therapeutic dose (2%) and adverse drug reactions (2%). Out of this, 60 % of the DRPs were addressed successfully. In our study, there is an association between the DRPs with the average number of medications prescribed, the average number of comorbidities, and the length of the hospital days with p value of 0.022, 0.004, and 0.000, respectively. In the current study, 86% of the proposed interventions were accepted, and 41 % were implemented by the physician, and only 14% were rejected. Hence, it is evident that clinical pharmacist interventions will contribute significantly to diminish the DRPs in CKD patients, thereby decreasing the economic burden of healthcare costs and improving patient’s quality of life.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, clinical pharmacist, drug related problem, intervention

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Authors: Sumit Roy, A. Uddin

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One of the significant reasons that increase the delay time in the intersections at heterogeneous traffic condition is a sudden reduction of the capacity of the roads. In this study, the delay for this sudden capacity reduction is estimated. Two intersections at Dhaka city were brought in to thestudy, i.e., Kakrail intersection, and SAARC Foara intersection. At Kakrail intersection, the sudden reduction of capacity in the roads is seen at three downstream legs of the intersection, which are because of slowing down or stopping of buses for loading and unloading of passengers. At SAARC Foara intersection, sudden reduction of capacity was seen at two downstream legs. At one leg, it was due to loading and unloading of buses, and at another leg, it was for both loading and unloading of buses and reduction of the number of lanes. With these considerations, the delay due to intentional stoppage or slowing down of buses and reduction of the number of lanes for these two intersections are estimated. Here the delay was calculated by two approaches. The first approach came from the concept of shock waves in traffic streams. Here the delay was calculated by determining the flow, density, and speed before and after the sudden capacity reduction. The second approach came from the deterministic analysis of queues. Here the delay is calculated by determining the volume, capacity and reduced capacity of the road. After determining the delay from these two approaches, the results were compared. For this study, the video of each of the two intersections was recorded for one hour at the evening peak. Necessary geometric data were also taken to determine speed, flow, and density, etc. parameters. The delay was calculated for one hour with one-hour data at both intersections. In case of Kakrail intersection, the per hour delay for Kakrail circle leg was 5.79, and 7.15 minutes, for Shantinagar cross intersection leg they were 13.02 and 15.65 minutes, and for Paltan T intersection leg, they were 3 and 1.3 minutes for 1st and 2nd approaches respectively. In the case of SAARC Foara intersection, the delay at Shahbag leg was only due to intentional stopping or slowing down of busses, which were 3.2 and 3 minutes respectively for both approaches. For the Karwan Bazar leg, the delays for buses by both approaches were 5 and 7.5 minutes respectively, and for reduction of the number of lanes, the delays for both approaches were 2 and 1.78 minutes respectively. Measuring the delay per hour for the Kakrail leg at Kakrail circle, it is seen that, with consideration of the first approach of delay estimation, the intentional stoppage and lowering of speed by buses contribute to 26.24% of total delay at Kakrail circle. If the loading and unloading of buses at intersection is made forbidden near intersection, and any other measures for loading and unloading of passengers are established far enough from the intersections, then the delay at intersections can be reduced at significant scale, and the performance of the intersections can be enhanced.

Keywords: delay, deterministic queue analysis, shock wave, passenger loading-unloading

Procedia PDF Downloads 178