Search results for: source of competitive advantage in people’s development (socaipd)

Authors: Taylor La Carriere

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“What I had madly possessed was not she, but my own creation, another, fanciful Lolita perhaps, more real than Lolita; overlapping, encasing he and having no will, no consciousness indeed, no life of her own,” Vladimir Nabokov writes in his seminal work, Lolita. Throughout Nabokov’s novel, the eponymous character is rendered nonexistent through unreliable narrator Humbert Humbert’s impenetrable narrative, infused with lyrical rationalization. Instead, Lolita is “safely solipsised,” as Humbert muses, solidifying the potential for the erasure of Lolita’s agency and identity. In this literary work, Lolita’s voice is reduced to a nearly invisible presence, only seen through the eyes of her captor. However, in Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Lolita (1962), the “nymphet,” as Nabokov coins, reemerges with a voice of her own, fueled by a lyric impulse, that displaces Humbert’s first-person narration. The lyric, as defined by Catherine Ing, is the voice of the invisible; it is also characterized by performance, the concentrated utterance of individual emotion, and the appearance of spontaneity. The novel’s lyricism is largely in the service of Humbert’s “seductive” voice, while the film reorients it more to Lolita’s subjectivity. Through a close analysis of Kubrick’s cinematic techniques, this paper examines the emergence and translation of Lolita’s voice in contrast with Humbert’s attempts to silence her in Nabokov’s Lolita, hypothesizing that Kubrick translates Lolita’s presence into a visual and aural voice with lyrical attributes, exemplified through the establishment of an altered power dynamic, Sue Lyon’s transformative performance as the titular character, Nelson Riddle and Bob Harris’ musical score, and the omission of Humbert’s first-person point-of-view. In doing so, the film reclaims Lolita’s agency by taking instances of Lolita’s voice in the novel as depicted in the last half of the work and expanding upon them in a way only cinematic depictions could allow. The results of this study suggest that Lolita’s voice in Kubrick’s adaptation functions without disrupting the lyricism present in Nabokov’s source text, materializing through the actions, expressions, and performance of Sue Lyon in the film. This voice, fueled by a lyric impulse of its own, refutes the silence bestowed upon the titular character and enables its ultimate reclamation upon the silver screen.

Keywords: cinema, adaptation, Lolita, lyric voice

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Authors: Lucie Matricon, Anne Roubaud, Geert Haarlemmer, Christophe Geantet

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Introduction: This case discusses the management of two floor of mouth (FOM) Squamous Cell Carcinomas (SCC) not identified upon initial biopsy. Case Report: A 51 year-old male presented with right FOM erythroleukoplakia. Relevant medical history included alcoholic dependence syndrome and alcoholic liver disease. Relevant drug therapy encompassed acamprosate, folic acid, hydroxocobalamin and thiamine. The patient had a 55.5 pack-year smoking history and alcohol dependence from age 14, drinking 16 units/day. FOM incisional biopsy and histopathological analysis diagnosed Carcinoma in situ. Treatment involved wide local excision. Specimen analysis revealed two separate foci of pT1 moderately differentiated SCCs. Carcinoma staging scans revealed no pathological lymphadenopathy, no local invasion or metastasis. SCCs had been excised in completion with narrow margins. MDT discussion concluded that in view of the field changes it would be difficult to identify specific areas needing further excision, although techniques such as Lugol’s Iodine were considered. Further surgical resection, surgical neck management and sentinel lymph node biopsy was offered. The patient declined intervention, primary management involved close monitoring alongside alcohol and smoking cessation referral. Discussion: Narrow excisional margins can increase carcinoma recurrence risk. Biopsy failed to identify SCCs, despite sampling an area of clinical concern. For gross field change multiple incisional biopsies should be considered to increase chance of accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Coupling of tobacco and alcohol has a synergistic effect, exponentially increasing the relative risk of oral carcinoma development. Tobacco and alcoholic control is fundamental in reducing treatment‑related side effects, recurrence risk, and second primary cancer development.

Keywords: microalgae, biofuels, hydrothermal liquefaction, biomass

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Authors: Theresa N. Uzor

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The word cardiovascular fitness is a topic of much interest to people of Nigeria, especially during this time, some heart diseases run in families. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of the heart and lungs to supply-rich blood to the working muscle tissues. This type of fitness is a health-related component of physical fitness that is brought about by sustained physical activity such as plyometric training. Plyometric is a form of advanced fitness training that uses fast muscular contractions to improve power and speed in the sports performance by coaches and athletes. Plyometric training involves a rapid stretching of muscle (eccentric phase) immediately followed by a concentric or shortening action of the same muscle and connective tissue. However, the most basic example of true plyometric training is running and can be safe for a wide variety of populations. This paper focused on building cardiovascular health through Plyometric Training. The centre focus of the article is cardiovascular fitness and plyometric training with factors of cardiovascular fitness. Plyometric training at any age provides multiple benefits even beyond weight control and weight loss, decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other diseases, among other benefits of plyometric training to cardiovascular fitness. Participation in plyometric training will increase metabolism of an individual, thereby burning more calories even when at rest and reduces weight is also among the benefits of plyometric training. Some guidelines were recommended for planning plyometric training programme to minimise the chance of injury. With plyometric training in Nigeria, fortune can change for good, especially now that there has been an increase in cardiovascular diseases within the society for great savings would be saved.

Keywords: aerobic, cardiovascular, concentric, stretch-shortening cycle, plyometric

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Authors: Mai Al-Subaie

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This research suggests that women in traditional families of Saudi Arabia are divided into two groups, the one who conform to the society and the new type of women that has been emerged due to the changing and development of the culture, who do not want to conform to the rules. The factors underlying the differences were explored by using a test and an interview. That concluded some of the main factors that were a real effect of why some women still want to follow the society and traditional rules, and other want to break free.

Keywords: conformity, non conformity, females, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Ting Li Liu

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‘Leftover woman’ or ‘3S’ woman is the term used to describe a well-educated, high income, independent woman who is single and never married around 30 years in Chinese society. With the naming of this demographic of ‘leftover women’, their family, dating culture, mate selection and marriage attract public concern. Massive media representations of ‘leftover women’ occur daily; the research aims to present several media representations of women’s anxiety about their singlehood and related marital issues around thirty. The research triangulates two areas of media representation of ‘leftover women’: films and audience reviews on ‘Douban Movie’ website. Drawing on traditional media studies, Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis combined with multimodal techniques is applied to the research to analyze the representations of ‘leftover women’ and their implications for marital culture in China, in conjunction with a feminist perspective. The conference paper will discuss two case studies: the film ‘The last woman standing’ and ‘I Do’. Paying attention to different aspects of ‘leftover women’, the research aims to re-examine the representations of ‘leftover women’ in selected scenes, such as their age anxiety, family, marriage, dating process, careers, etc. The paper also includes public beliefs about ‘leftover women’ from online audience reviews. In conclusion, the emergence of ‘leftover women’ is a reflection of Chinese tradition’s impact on people’s lives and new changes in Chinese families and their attitude to marriage.

Keywords: leftover women, marriage, family, media culture, China

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Authors: Diane H. Dotson, Shari L. Rodriguez

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Habitat for predators is on the decline worldwide, which often brings humans and predators into conflict over remaining shared space and common resources. While the direct impacts of human predator conflict on humans (i.e., attacks on livestock or humans resulting in injury or death) are well documented, the indirect impacts of conflict on humans (i.e., downstream effects such as fear, stress, opportunity costs, PTSD) have not been addressed. We interviewed 437 people living in 54 villages on the periphery of Kanha National Park, India, to assess the amount and severity of direct and indirect impacts of predator conflict. ​While 58% of livestock owners believed that predator attacks on livestock guards occurred frequently and 62% of those who collect forest products believed that predator attacks on those collecting occurred frequently, less than 20% of all participants knew of someone who had experienced an attack. Data related to indirect impacts suggest that such impacts are common; 76% of participants indicated they were afraid a predator will physically injure them. Livestock owners reported that livestock guarding took time away from their primary job (61%) and getting enough sleep (73%), and believed that it increased their vulnerability to illnesses (80%). These results suggest that the perceptions of risk of predator attack are likely inflated, yet the costs of human predator impacts may be substantially higher than previously estimated, particularly related to human well-being, making the implementation of appropriate and effective conservation and conflict mitigation strategies and policies increasingly urgent.

Keywords: direct impacts, indirect impacts, human-predator conflict, India

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Authors: Anoop T. R., Otman Basir, Robert F. Hess, Eileen E. Birch, Brooke A. Koritala, Reed M. Jost, Becky Luu, David Stager, Ben Thompson

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Strabismus refers to a misalignment of the eyes. Early detection and treatment of strabismus in childhood can prevent the development of permanent vision loss due to abnormal development of visual brain areas. We developed a two-stage method for strabismus detection and classification based on photographs of the face. The first stage detects the presence or absence of strabismus, and the second stage classifies the type of strabismus. The first stage comprises face detection using Haar cascade, facial landmark estimation, face alignment, aligned face landmark detection, segmentation of the eye region, and detection of strabismus using VGG 16 convolution neural networks. Face alignment transforms the face to a canonical pose to ensure consistency in subsequent analysis. Using facial landmarks, the eye region is segmented from the aligned face and fed into a VGG 16 CNN model, which has been trained to classify strabismus. The CNN determines whether strabismus is present and classifies the type of strabismus (exotropia, esotropia, and vertical deviation). If stage 1 detects strabismus, the eye region image is fed into stage 2, which starts with the estimation of pupil center coordinates using mask R-CNN deep neural networks. Then, the distance between the pupil coordinates and eye landmarks is calculated along with the angle that the pupil coordinates make with the horizontal and vertical axis. The distance and angle information is used to characterize the degree and direction of the strabismic eye misalignment. This model was tested on 100 clinically labeled images of children with (n = 50) and without (n = 50) strabismus. The True Positive Rate (TPR) and False Positive Rate (FPR) of the first stage were 94% and 6% respectively. The classification stage has produced a TPR of 94.73%, 94.44%, and 100% for esotropia, exotropia, and vertical deviations, respectively. This method also had an FPR of 5.26%, 5.55%, and 0% for esotropia, exotropia, and vertical deviation, respectively. The addition of one more feature related to the location of corneal light reflections may reduce the FPR, which was primarily due to children with pseudo-strabismus (the appearance of strabismus due to a wide nasal bridge or skin folds on the nasal side of the eyes).

Keywords: strabismus, deep neural networks, face detection, facial landmarks, face alignment, segmentation, VGG 16, mask R-CNN, pupil coordinates, angle deviation, horizontal and vertical deviation

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Authors: Arefeh Hesaraki

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The application of photovoltaic-thermal hybrids (PVT), which delivers both electricity and heat simultaneously from the same system, has become more popular during the past few years. This study addresses techno-economic and environmental impacts assessment of photovoltaic/thermal systems combined with a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) for three single-family houses located in Stockholm, Sweden. Three case studies were: (1) A renovated building built in 1936, (2) A renovated building built in 1973, and (3) A new building built-in 2013. Two simulation programs of SimaPro 9.1 and IDA Indoor Climate and Energy 4.8 (IDA ICE) were applied to analyze environmental impacts and energy usage, respectively. The cost-effectiveness of the system was evaluated using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and discounted payback time (DPBT) methods. In addition to cost payback time, the studied PVT system was evaluated using the energy payback time (EPBT) method. EPBT presents the time that is needed for the installed system to generate the same amount of energy which was utilized during the whole lifecycle (fabrication, installation, transportation, and end-of-life) of the system itself. Energy calculation by IDA ICE showed that a 5 m² PVT was sufficient to create a balance between the maximum heat production and the domestic hot water consumption during the summer months for all three case studies. The techno-economic analysis revealed that combining a 5 m² PVT with GSHP in the second case study possess the smallest DPBT and the highest NPV and IRR among the three case studies. It means that DPBTs (IRR) were 10.8 years (6%), 12.6 years (4%), and 13.8 years (3%) for the second, first, and the third case study, respectively. Moreover, environmental assessment of embodied energy during cradle- to- grave life cycle of the studied PVT, including fabrication, delivery of energy and raw materials, manufacture process, installation, transportation, operation phase, and end of life, revealed approximately two years of EPBT in all cases.

Keywords: life-cycle cost, life-cycle assessment, photovoltaic/thermal, IDA ICE, net present value

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Authors: Maryam Khosronejad

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In social media, differences between individuals become salient as they become a member of different groups with particular social and cultural practices and get engaged in various conversations. The influence of the presence of social media on the promotion of self-expression and polyphonic dialogue is an understudied area and is, therefore, the focus of this paper. This exploration aims to understand the formation of online identities as an ongoing process of orchestrating polyphonic dialogue and responding to available positions. In addition, applying the thematic analysis, it gives examples of how discursive transactions facilitate this process. The implications for the use of social media in education will be discussed based on the findings.

Keywords: online identity, polyphonic dialogue, self expression, social media

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Authors: Onyeka Nkwonta, Christopher Iheukwumere

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It is a waste to irrigate with great quantities of drinking water when plants thrive on used water containing small bits of compost. Unlike a lot of ecological stopgap measures, greywater reuse is a part of the fundamental solution to many ecological problems and will probably remain essentially unchanged in the distant future. Water is abused and wasted by both the wealthy and the poor. Education about water conservation is also needed. This study gives an outline of the sources of grey water in our home and provides a process of creating awareness on the importance of re-using grey water in our home, in order to achieve the 7th aim of the millennium development goals by 2015, which is ensuring environmental sustainability.

Keywords: tickling filter, education, grey water, environmental sustainability

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Authors: Paul R Armstrong

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Doubled haploids (DHs) have become an important breeding tool for creating maize inbred lines, although several bottlenecks in the DH production process limit wider development, application, and adoption of the technique. DH kernels are typically sorted manually and represent about 10% of the seeds in a much larger pool where the remaining 90% are hybrid siblings. This introduces time constraints on DH production and manual sorting is often not accurate. Automated sorting based on the chemical composition of the kernel can be effective, but devices, namely NMR, have not achieved the sorting speed to be a cost-effective replacement to manual sorting. This study evaluated a single kernel near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (skNIR) platform to accurately identify DH kernels based on oil content. The skNIR platform is a higher-throughput device, approximately 3 seeds/s, that uses spectra to predict oil content of each kernel from maize crosses intentionally developed to create larger than normal oil differences, 1.5%-2%, between DH and hybrid kernels. Spectra from the skNIR were used to construct a partial least squares regression (PLS) model for oil and for a categorical reference model of 1 (DH kernel) or 2 (hybrid kernel) and then used to sort several crosses to evaluate performance. Two approaches were used for sorting. The first used a general PLS model developed from all crosses to predict oil content and then used for sorting each induction cross, the second was the development of a specific model from a single induction cross where approximately fifty DH and one hundred hybrid kernels used. This second approach used a categorical reference value of 1 and 2, instead of oil content, for the PLS model and kernels selected for the calibration set were manually referenced based on traditional commercial methods using coloration of the tip cap and germ areas. The generalized PLS oil model statistics were R2 = 0.94 and RMSE = .93% for kernels spanning an oil content of 2.7% to 19.3%. Sorting by this model resulted in extracting 55% to 85% of haploid kernels from the four induction crosses. Using the second method of generating a model for each cross yielded model statistics ranging from R2s = 0.96 to 0.98 and RMSEs from 0.08 to 0.10. Sorting in this case resulted in 100% correct classification but required models that were cross. In summary, the first generalized model oil method could be used to sort a significant number of kernels from a kernel pool but was not close to the accuracy of developing a sorting model from a single cross. The penalty for the second method is that a PLS model would need to be developed for each individual cross. In conclusion both methods could find useful application in the sorting of DH from hybrid kernels.

Keywords: NIR, haploids, maize, sorting

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Authors: Jayoung Cho

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Poverty has become a social problem in South Korea, given that seven out of ten elderly experience multidimensional poverty. As quality of life is a major social welfare measure of a society, verifying the major factors affecting the quality of life among the elderly in poverty can be used as baseline data for the promotion of welfare. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal relationships between food insecurity and quality of life among the elderly in poverty. In this study, panel regression analysis using 5-year longitudinal panel data were derived from Korea Welfare Panel Study (KWPS, 2011-2015) were used to identify the research question. A total of 1,327 elderly people aged 65 or older with less than 60% of median income was analyzed. The main results of the study are as follows; first, the level of quality of life of the poor elderly was on average of 5, and repeated the increase and decrease over time. Second, food insecurity and quality of life of the elderly in poverty had a longitudinal causal relationship. Furthermore, the statistical significance of food insecurity was the highest despite controlling for major variables affecting the quality of life among the poor elderly. Therefore, political and practical approaches are strongly suggested and considered regarding the food insecurity for the quality of life among the elderly in poverty. In practical intervention, it is necessary to pay attention to food insecurity when assessing the poor elderly. Also, there is a need to build a new delivery system that incorporates segmented health and nutrition-related services. This study has an academic significance in that it brought out the issue of food insecurity of the poor elderly and confirmed the longitudinal relationship between food insecurity and quality of life.

Keywords: food insecurity, longitudinal panel analysis, poor elderly, quality of life

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Authors: Alam Anshary, Flora Pasaru, Shahabuddin

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The Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB), Conopomorpha cramerella (Snell.) is present on most of the larger cocoa producing islands in Indonesia. Various control measures CPB has been carried out by the farmers, but the results have not been effective. This study aims to determine the effect of application of Beauveria bassiana treatments and pruning technique to the control of CPB in the cocoa plantation people. Research using completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 3 replications, treatment consists of B.bassiana, Pruning, B. bassiana+pruning (Bb + Pr), as well as the control. The results showed that the percentage of PBK attack on cocoa pods in treatment (Bb + Pr) 3.50% the lowest compared to other treatments. CPB attack percentage in treatment B.bassiana 6.15%; pruning 8.75%, and 15.20% control. Results of the analysis of production estimates, the known treatments (Bb + Pr) have the highest production (1.95 tonnes / ha). The model results estimated production is Y= 0,20999 + 0,53968X1 + 0,34298X2+ 0,31410X3 + 0,35629X4 + 0,08345X5 + 0,29732X6. Farm production costs consist of fixed costs and variable costs, fixed costs are costs incurred by the farmer that the size does not affect the results, such as taxes and depreciation of production equipment. Variable costs are costs incurred by farmers who used up in one year cocoa farming activities. The cost of production in farming cocoa without integrated techniques control of CPB is Rp. 9.205.550 million/ha, while the cost of production with integrated techniques control is Rp. 6.666.050 million/ha.

Keywords: cacao, cocoa pod borer, pruning, Beauveria bassiana, production costs

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Authors: Suleman Ibrahim

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Purpose: The research is seeking people's perceptions on cybercrime issues, rather than their knowledge of the facts. Unlike the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework (TCF), the binary models are ill-equipped to differentiate between cyber fraud (a socioeconomic crime) and cyber bullying or cyber stalking (psychosocial cybercrimes). Whilst the binary categories suggested that digital crimes are dichotomized: (i.e. cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent), the TCF, recently proposed, argued that cybercrimes can be conceptualized into three groups: socioeconomic, psychosocial and geopolitical. Concomitantly, as regards to the experience/perceptions of cybercrime, the TCF’s claim requires substantiation beyond its theoretical realm. Approach/Methodology: This scholar endeavor framed with the TCF, deploys a survey method to explore the experience of cybercrime across gender. Drawing from over 400 participants in the UK, this study aimed to contrast the differential perceptions/experiences of socioeconomic cybercrime (e.g. cyber fraud) and psychological cybercrime (e.g. cyber bullying and cyber stalking) across gender. Findings: The results revealed that cyber stalking was rated as least serious of the different digital crime categories. Further revealed that female participants judged all types of cybercrimes as more serious than male participants, with the exception of socioeconomic cybercrime – cyber fraud. This distinction helps to emphasize that gender cultures and nuances not only apply both online and offline, it emphasized the utilitarian value of the TCF. Originality: Unlike existing data, this study has contrasted the differential perceptions and experience of socioeconomic and psychosocial cybercrimes with more refined variables.

Keywords: gender variations, psychosocial cybercrime, socioeconomic cybercrime, tripartite cybercrime framework

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Authors: Lucia Ceccherini Nelli, Alessandra Donato

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The ABITA Master course of the University of Florence offered by the Department of Architecture covers nearly all the energy-relevant issues that can arise in public and private companies and sectors. The main purpose of the Master course, active since 2003, is to analyse the energy consumption of building technologies, components, and structures at the conceptual design stage, so it could be very helpful, for designers, when making decisions related to the selection of the most suitable design alternatives and for the materials choice that will be used in an energy-efficient building. The training course provides a solid basis for increasing the knowledge and skills of energy managers and is developed with an emphasis on practical experiences related to the knowledge through case studies, measurements, and verification of energy-efficient solutions in buildings, in the industry and in the cities. The main objectives are: i)To raise the professional standards of those engaged in energy auditing, ii) To improve the practice of energy auditors by encouraging energy auditing professionals in a continuing education program of professional development, iii) Implement in the use of instrumentations for the typical measurements, iv) To propose an integrated methodology that links energy analysis tools with green building certification systems. This methodology will be applied at the early design stage of a project’s life. The final output of the practical training is to achieve an elevated professionalism in the study of environmental design and Energy management in buildings. The results are the redaction of line guides instruction for the energy refurbishment of Public schools in Florence. The school heritage of the Municipality of Florence requires interventions for the control of energy performance, as old construction buildings are often made without taking into account the necessary envelope performance. For this reason, every year, the Master's course aims to study groups of public schools to enable the Municipality to carry out energy redevelopment interventions on the existing building heritage. The future challenges of the education and training program are related to follow-up activities, the development of interactive tools and the curriculum's customization to meet the constantly growing needs of energy experts from industry.

Keywords: expert in energy, energy auditing, public buildings, thermal analysis

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Authors: F. Abdelhamid

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Algeria is a multilingual speech community where individuals constantly mix between codes in spoken discourse. Code is used as a cover term to refer to the existing languages and language varieties which include, among others, the mother tongue of the majority Algerian Arabic, the official language Modern Standard Arabic and the foreign languages French and English. The present study explores whether Algerians mix between these codes in online communication as well. Facebook is the selected platform from which data is collected because it is the preferred social media site for most Algerians and it is the most used one. Adopting the notion of translanguaging, this study attempts explaining how users of Facebook use multilingual messages to communicate meaning. Accordingly, multilingual interactions are not approached from a pejorative perspective but rather as a creative linguistic behavior that multilingual utilize to achieve intended meanings. The study is intended as a contribution to the research on multilingualism online because although an extensive literature has investigated multilingualism in spoken discourse, limited research investigated it in the online one. Its aim is two-fold. First, it aims at ensuring that the selected platform for analysis, namely Facebook, could be a source for multilingual data to enable the qualitative analysis. This is done by measuring frequency rates of multilingual instances. Second, when enough multilingual instances are encountered, it aims at describing and interpreting some selected ones. 120 posts and 16335 comments were collected from two Facebook pages. Analysis revealed that third of the collected data are multilingual messages. Users of Facebook mixed between the four mentioned codes in writing their messages. The most frequent cases are mixing between Algerian Arabic and French and between Algerian Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. A focused qualitative analysis followed where some examples are interpreted and explained. It seems that Algerians mix between codes when communicating online despite the fact that it is a conscious type of communication. This suggests that such behavior is not a random and corrupted way of communicating but rather an intentional and natural one.

Keywords: Algerian speech community, computer mediated communication, languages in contact, multilingualism, translanguaging

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Authors: Hancy Issac, Gerben Keijzers, Ian Yang, Clint Moloney, Jackie Lea, Melissa Taylor

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Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease guideline non-adherence is associated with a reduction in health-related quality of life in patients (HRQoL). Improving guideline adherence has the potential to mitigate fragmented care thereby sustaining pulmonary function, preventing acute exacerbations, reducing economic health burdens, and enhancing HRQoL. The development of an electronic proforma stemming from expert consensus, including digital guideline resources and direct interdisciplinary referrals is hypothesised to improve guideline adherence and patient outcomes for emergency department (ED) patients with COPD. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop consensus among ED and respiratory staff for the correct composition of a COPD electronic proforma that aids in guideline adherence and management in the ED. Methods: This study adopted a mixed-method design to develop the most important indicators of care in the ED. The study involved three phases: (1) a systematic literature review and qualitative interdisciplinary staff interviews to assess barriers and solutions for guideline adherence and qualitative interdisciplinary staff interviews, (2) a modified Delphi panel to select interventions for the proforma, and (3) a consensus process through three rounds of scoring through a quantitative survey (ED and Respiratory consensus) and qualitative thematic analysis on each indicator. Results: The electronic proforma achieved acceptable and good internal consistency through all iterations from national emergency department and respiratory department interdisciplinary experts. Cronbach’s alpha score for internal consistency (α) in iteration 1 emergency department cohort (EDC) (α = 0.80 [CI = 0.89%]), respiratory department cohort (RDC) (α = 0.95 [CI = 0.98%]). Iteration 2 reported EDC (α = 0.85 [CI = 0.97%]) and RDC (α = 0.86 [CI = 0.97%]). Iteration 3 revealed EDC (α = 0.73 [CI = 0.91%]) and RDC (α = 0.86 [CI = 0.95%]), respectively. Conclusion: Electronic proformas have the potential to facilitate direct referrals from the ED leading to reduced hospital admissions, reduced length of hospital stays, holistic care, improved health care and quality of life and improved interdisciplinary guideline adherence.

Keywords: COPD, electronic proforma, modified delphi study, interdisciplinary, guideline adherence, COPD-X plan

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Authors: Douglas F. Prawitt, Nathan Y. Sharp, David A. Wood

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Consistent with prior experimental and survey studies, we find that IAFs that spend more time directly assisting the external auditor is associated with lower external audit fees. Interestingly, we do not find evidence that external auditors reduce fees based on work previously performed by the IAF. We also find that the time spent assisting the external auditor has a greater negative effect on external audit fees than the time spent performing tasks upon which the auditor may rely but that are not performed as direct assistance to the external audit. Our results also show that previous proxies used to measure this relation is either not associated with or are negatively associated with our direct measures of how the IAF can contribute to the external audit and are highly positively associated with the size and the complexity of the organization. Thus, we conclude the disparate experimental and archival results may be attributable to issues surrounding the construct validity of measures used in previous archival studies and that when measures similar to those used in experimental studies are employed in archival tests, the archival results are consistent with experimental findings. Our research makes four primary contributions to the literature. First, we provide evidence that internal auditing contributes to a reduction in external audit fees. Second, we replicate and provide an explanation for why previous archival studies find that internal auditing has either no association with external audit fees or is associated with an increase in those fees: prior studies generally use proxies of internal audit contribution that do not adequately capture the intended construct. Third, our research expands on survey-based research (e.g., Oil Libya sh.co.) by separately examining the impact on the audit fee of the internal auditors’ work, indirectly assisting external auditors and internal auditors’ prior work upon which external auditors can rely. Finally, we extend prior research by using a new, independent data source to validate and extend prior studies. This data set also allows for a sample of examining the impact of internal auditing on the external audit fee and the use of a more comprehensive external audit fee model that better controls for determinants of the external audit fee.

Keywords: internal audit, contribution, external audit, function

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Authors: Avhasei Dorothy Rasifudi, Josephine Mandizha

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Cardiovascular risk factors continue to be the leading cause of death in the majority of developed and developing countries. In 2011, the World Health Organization reported that every year an estimated 17 million people globally die of CVD, representing 30% of all global deaths, particularly caused by heart attacks and strokes. The purpose of the study was to determine and describe the prevalence of selected cardiovascular risk factors among university of Venda staff. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 staff aged 20-65 years. The anthropometric measurements were conducted in accordance to and with standardized procedures advocated by the International Society for the Advanced Kinanthropometry. Weight, Height, waist circumference and hip circumference were measured for calculation of body mass index and waist-hip ratio. Blood pressure was measured using a Heine cuff and sphygmomanometer. Questionnaire was administered to gather demographic details and cardiovascular risk factors of hypertension and obesity. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The parameter t-test was applied to test significance level at p ≤ 0.05 between sexes. The statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. The prevalence of hypertension was 23% with the highest prevalence amongst those aged 40 years and above. Factors found to be to be significantly associated with hypertension were gender, age, physical inactivity and family history. Prevalence of obesity was 43%, with the highest prevalence among those aged 40 years. The factors associated with obesity were diet, age and physical activity. The prevalence of hypertension and obesity in the study were high.

Keywords: cardiovascular, prevalence, risk factors, staff

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Authors: Alessandra Marino

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This paper thoroughly investigates the design characteristics necessary for intergenerational living and evaluates their applicability within the Italian social panorama in order to identify a model that can serve as a reference for subsequent regulatory adjustments of a new building typology. The applied methodology involves the collaboration of people with various background and architects, all representing the three main ages of life - childhood or youth, adulthood, seniority - through questionnaires aimed at researching the peculiar characteristics that contemporary intergenerational housing should include; the questionnaires are then compared with each other in order to identify any recurring patterns by age group and/or influenced by the specialist knowledge on the subject of the architects compared to the rest of the user sample. The results indicate that among specialist users in the field of architecture, young students identify home automation as the key to the inclusion of the weakest groups within the building, adult architects believe that the identification of intergenerational/community services within the building is the cornerstone, and senior architects focus on widespread spatial accessibility. At the same time, the results among non-specialist users do not identify a significantly diversified model by age group but are generally in agreement in the importance of separation between private environments and collective spaces. The interpretation of the results obtained leads to a compositional study of a new building typology with the future objective of channeling the subsequent outcomes within the regulatory adjustments of the sector.

Keywords: intergenerational living, social sustainability, health, lifestyle, well-being

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Authors: Mojtaba Aghajari, Alireza Aghasi

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The first challenge which the current research faced has been the identification or determination of the level of knowledge in Isfahan public transportation corporation, and the second challenge has been the recognition and choice of a proper approach for the instructional system design. Responding these two challenges will present an appropriate model of instructional system design. In order to respond the first challenge or question, Nonaka and Takeuchi KM model has been utilized due to its universality among the 26 models proposed so far. The statistical population of this research included 2200 people, among which 200 persons were chosen as the sample of the research by the use of Morgan’s method. The data gathering has been carried out by the means of a questionnaire based on Nonaka and Takeuchi KM model, analysis of which has been done by SPSS program. The output of this questionnaire, yielding the point of 1.96 (out of 5 points), revealed that the general condition of Isfahan public transportation corporation is weak concerning its being knowledge-centered. After placing this output on Jonassen’s continuum, it was revealed that the appropriate approach for instructional system design is the system (or behavioral) approach. Accordingly, different steps of the general model of ADDIE, which covers all of the ISO10015 standards, were adopted in the act of designing. Such process in Isfahan public transportation corporation was designed and divided into three main steps, including: instructional designing and planning, instructional course planning, determination of the evaluation and the effectiveness of the instructional courses.

Keywords: instructional system design, system approach, knowledge management, employees

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Authors: P. M. Naushad Ali

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India’s strength in basic research is recognized internationally. Science and Technology research in India has been performed by six distinct bodies or organizations such as Cooperative Research Associations, Autonomous Research Council, Institute under Ministries, Industrial R&D Establishment, Universities, Private Institutions. All most all these institutions are having a well-established library/information center to cater the information needs of their users like scientists and technologists. Information Management (IM) comprises disciplines concerned with the study and the effective and efficient management of information and resources, products and services as well as the understanding of the involved technologies and the people engaged in this activity. It is also observed that the libraries and information centers in India are also using modern technologies for the management of various activities and services to serve their users in a better way. Science and Technology libraries in the country are usually better equipped because the investment in Science and Technology in the country are much larger than those in other fields. Thus, most of the Science and Technology libraries are equipped with modern IT-based tools for handling and management of library services. In spite of these facts Science and Technology libraries are having all the characteristics of a model organization where computer application is found most successful, however, the adoption of this IT based management tool is not uniform in these libraries. The present study will help to know about the level use of IT-based management tools for the information management of Science and Technology libraries in India. The questionnaire, interview, observation and document review techniques have been used in data collection. Finally, the author discusses findings of the study and put forward some suggestions to improve the quality of Science and Technology institute library services in India.

Keywords: information management, science and technology libraries, India, IT-based tools

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Authors: Maria Amelia V. C. Araujo, Billy J. Araujo, Brian Greenwood

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The flow over a backward-facing step is characterized by the presence of flow separation, recirculation and reattachment, for a simple geometry. This type of fluid behaviour takes place in many practical engineering applications, hence the reason for being investigated. Historically, fluid flows over a backward-facing step have been examined in many experiments using a variety of measuring techniques such as laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV), hot-wire anemometry, particle image velocimetry or hot-film sensors. However, some of these techniques cannot conveniently be used in separated flows or are too complicated and expensive. In this work, the applicability of the acoustic Doppler velocimetry (ADV) technique is investigated to such type of flows, at various Reynolds numbers corresponding to different flow regimes. The use of this measuring technique in separated flows is very difficult to find in literature. Besides, most of the situations where the Reynolds number effect is evaluated in separated flows are in numerical modelling. The ADV technique has the advantage in providing nearly non-invasive measurements, which is important in resolving turbulence. The ADV Nortek Vectrino+ was used to characterize the flow, in a recirculating laboratory flume, at various Reynolds Numbers (Reh = 3738, 5452, 7908 and 17388) based on the step height (h), in order to capture different flow regimes, and the results compared to those obtained using other measuring techniques. To compare results with other researchers, the step height, expansion ratio and the positions upstream and downstream the step were reproduced. The post-processing of the AVD records was performed using a customized numerical code, which implements several filtering techniques. Subsequently, the Vectrino noise level was evaluated by computing the power spectral density for the stream-wise horizontal velocity component. The normalized mean stream-wise velocity profiles, skin-friction coefficients and reattachment lengths were obtained for each Reh. Turbulent kinetic energy, Reynolds shear stresses and normal Reynolds stresses were determined for Reh = 7908. An uncertainty analysis was carried out, for the measured variables, using the moving block bootstrap technique. Low noise levels were obtained after implementing the post-processing techniques, showing their effectiveness. Besides, the errors obtained in the uncertainty analysis were relatively low, in general. For Reh = 7908, the normalized mean stream-wise velocity and turbulence profiles were compared directly with those acquired by other researchers using the LDV technique and a good agreement was found. The ADV technique proved to be able to characterize the flow properly over a backward-facing step, although additional caution should be taken for measurements very close to the bottom. The ADV measurements showed reliable results regarding: a) the stream-wise velocity profiles; b) the turbulent shear stress; c) the reattachment length; d) the identification of the transition from transitional to turbulent flows. Despite being a relatively inexpensive technique, acoustic Doppler velocimetry can be used with confidence in separated flows and thus very useful for numerical model validation. However, it is very important to perform adequate post-processing of the acquired data, to obtain low noise levels, thus decreasing the uncertainty.

Keywords: ADV, experimental data, multiple Reynolds number, post-processing

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Authors: Tom S. Owens, Tom A. Calverley, Benjamin S. Stacey, Christopher J. Marley, George Rose, Lewis Fall, Gareth L. Jones, Priscilla Williams, John P. R. Williams, Martin Steggall, Damian M. Bailey

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Introduction and aims: Sports-related concussion (SRC) represents a significant and growing public health concern in rugby union, yet remains one of the least understood injuries facing the health community today. Alongside increasing SRC incidence rates, there is concern that prior recurrent concussion may contribute to long-term neurologic sequelae in later-life. This may be due to an accelerated decline in cerebral perfusion, a major risk factor for neurocognitive decline and neurodegeneration, though the underlying mechanisms remain to be established. The present study hypothesised that recurrent concussion in current professional rugby union players would result in elevated systemic oxidative-nitrosative stress, reflected by a free radical-mediated reduction in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and impaired cerebrovascular and cognitive function. Methodology: A longitudinal study design was adopted across the 2017-2018 rugby union season. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of South Wales Ethics Committee. Data collection is ongoing, and therefore the current report documents result from the pre-season and first half of the in-season data collection. Participants were initially divided into two subgroups; 23 professional rugby union players (aged 26 ± 5 years) and 22 non-concussed controls (27 ± 8 years). Pre-season measurements were performed for cerebrovascular function (Doppler ultrasound of middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) in response to hypocapnia/normocapnia/hypercapnia), cephalic venous concentrations of the ascorbate radical (A•-, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy), NO (ozone-based chemiluminescence) and cognition (neuropsychometric tests). Notational analysis was performed to assess contact in the rugby group throughout each competitive game. Results: 1001 tackles and 62 injuries, including three concussions were observed across the first half of the season. However, no associations were apparent between number of tackles and any injury type (P > 0.05). The rugby group expressed greater oxidative stress as indicated by increased A•- (P < 0.05 vs. control) and a subsequent decrease in NO bioavailability (P < 0.05 vs. control). The rugby group performed worse in the Ray Auditory Verbal Learning Test B (RAVLT-B, learning, and memory) and the Grooved Pegboard test using both the dominant and non-dominant hands (visuomotor coordination, P < 0.05 vs. control). There were no between-group differences in cerebral perfusion at baseline (MCAv: 54 ± 13 vs. 59 ± 12, P > 0.05). Likewise, no between-group differences in CVRCO2Hypo (2.58 ± 1.01 vs. 2.58 ± 0.75, P > 0.05) or CVRCO2Hyper (2.69 ± 1.07 vs. 3.35 ± 1.28, P > 0.05) were observed. Conclusion: The present study identified that the rugby union players are characterized by impaired cognitive function subsequent to elevated systemic-oxidative-nitrosative stress. However, this appears to be independent of any functional impairment in cerebrovascular function. Given the potential long-term trajectory towards accelerated cognitive decline in populations exposed to SRC, prophylaxis to increase NO bioavailability warrants consideration.

Keywords: cognition, concussion, mild traumatic brain injury, rugby

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Authors: Kinnsley Travis, Camerron M. Crowder

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Mapk8ip3 (Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 8 Interacting Protein 3) is a gene that codes for the JIP3 protein, which is a part of the JIP scaffolding protein family. This protein is involved in axonal vesicle transport, elongation and regeneration. Variants in the Mapk8ip3 gene are associated with a rare-genetic condition that results in a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause a range of phenotypes including global developmental delay and intellectual disability. Currently, there are 18 known individuals diagnosed to have sequenced confirmed Mapk8ip3 genetic disorders. This project focuses on examining the impact of a subset of missense patient variants on the Jip3 protein function by overexpressing the mRNA of these variants in a zebrafish knockout model for Jip3. Plasmids containing cDNA with individual missense variants were reverse transcribed, purified, and injected into single-cell zebrafish embryos (Wild Type, Jip3 -/+, and Jip3 -/-). At 6-days post mRNA microinjection, morphological, behavioral, and microscopic phenotypes were examined in zebrafish larvae. Morphologically, we compared the size and shape of the zebrafish during their development over a 5-day period. Total locomotive activity was assessed using the Microtracker assay and patterns of movement over time were examined using the DanioVision assay. Lastly, we used confocal microscopy to examine sensory axons for swelling and shortened length, which are phenotypes observed in the loss-of-function knockout Jip3 zebrafish model. Using these assays during embryonic development, we determined the impact of various missense variants on Jip3 protein function, compared to knockout and wild-type zebrafish embryo models. Variants in the gene Mapk8ip3 cause rare-neurodevelopmental disorders due to an essential role in axonal vesicle transport, elongation and regeneration. A subset of missense variants was examined by overexpressing the mRNA of these variants in a Jip3 knock-out zebrafish. Morphological, behavioral, and microscopic phenotypes were examined in zebrafish larvae. Using these assays, the spectrum of disorders can be phenotypically determined and the impact of variant location can be compared to knockout and wild-type zebrafish embryo models.

Keywords: rare disease, neurodevelopmental disorders, mrna overexpression, zebrafish research

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Authors: Ogunrinde Roseline Bosede

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This paper presents the development, analysis and implementation of an inverse polynomial numerical method which is well suitable for solving initial value problems in first order ordinary differential equations with applications to sample problems. We also present some basic concepts and fundamental theories which are vital to the analysis of the scheme. We analyzed the consistency, convergence, and stability properties of the scheme. Numerical experiments were carried out and the results compared with the theoretical or exact solution and the algorithm was later coded using MATLAB programming language.

Keywords: differential equations, numerical, polynomial, initial value problem, differential equation

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Authors: Xuan Li, Lei Xu

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By the end of 2014, China has an urban population of 749 million, reaching the urbanization rate of 54.77%. Dense and vertical urban structure has become a common choice for China and most of the densely populated Asian countries for sustainable development. This paper focuses on the most conspicuous urban change period in China, from 2000 to 2010, during which China's population shifted the fastest from rural region to cities. On one hand, the 200 million nationwide "new citizen" along with the 456 million "old citizen" explored in the new-century city for new urban lifestyle and livable built environment; On the other hand, however, large-scale rapid urban constructions are confined to the methods of traditional two-dimensional architectural thinking. Human-oriented design and system thinking have been missing in this intricate postmodern urban condition. This phenomenon, especially the gap and spark between the solid, huge urban physical system and the rich, subtle everyday urban life, will be studied in depth: How the 20th-century high-rise residential building "spontaneously" turned into an old but expensive multi-functional high-rise complex in the 21st century city center; how 21st century new/late 20th century old public buildings with the same function integrated their different architectural forms into the new / old city center? Finally the paper studies cases in Hangzhou: 1) Function Evolve–downtown high-rise residential building “International Garden” and “Zhongshan Garden” (1999). 2) Form Compare–Hangzhou Theater (1998) vs Hangzhou Grand Theatre (2004), Hangzhou City Railway Station (1999) vs Hangzhou East Railway Station (2013). The research aims at the exploring the essence of city from the building form dispel and urban program re-configuration approach, gaining a better consideration of human behavior through compact urban design effort for improving urban intertextuality, searching for a sustainable development path in the crucial time of urban population explosion in China.

Keywords: architecture form dispel, compact urban design, urban intertextuality, urban program re-configuration

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Authors: Aparna Viswanath

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Electricity spot prices are highly volatile under optimal generation capacity scenarios due to factors such as non-storability of electricity, peak demand at certain periods, generator outages, fuel uncertainty for renewable energy generators, huge investments and time needed for generation capacity expansion etc. As a result market participants are exposed to price and volume risk, which has led to the development of risk management practices. This paper provides an overview of risk management practices by market participants in electricity markets using financial derivatives.

Keywords: financial derivatives, forward, futures, options, risk management

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Authors: Elham Rajabian

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The ascent of cybersecurity incidents is a rising threat to most organisations in general, while the impact of the incidents is unique to each of the organizations. It is a need for behavioural sciences to concentrate on employees’ behaviour in order to prepare key security mitigation opinions versus cybersecurity incidents. There are noticeable differences among users of a computer system in terms of complying with security behaviours. We can discuss the people's differences under several subjects such as delaying tactics on something that must be done, the tendency to act without thinking, future thinking about unexpected implications of present-day issues, and risk-taking behaviours in security policies compliance. In this article, we introduce high-profile cyber-attacks and their impacts on weakening cyber resiliency in organizations. We also give attention to human errors that influence network security. Human errors are discussed as a part of psychological matters to enhance compliance with the security policies. The organizational challenges are studied in order to shape a sustainable cyber risks management approach in the related work section. Insiders’ behaviours are viewed as a cyber security gap to draw proper cyber resiliency in section 3. We carry out the best cybersecurity practices by discussing four CIS challenges in section 4. In this regard, we provide a guideline and metrics to measure cyber resilience in organizations in section 5. In the end, we give some recommendations in order to build a cybersecurity culture based on individual behaviours.

Keywords: cyber resilience, human factors, cybersecurity behavior, attitude, usability, security culture

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Authors: Yasser Y. Lenis, Daniela Garcia Gonzalez, Cristian Solarte Bacca, Diego F. Carrillo González, Amy Jo Montgomery, Dursun Barrios

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Introduction: Artificial insemination in bovines helps to promote genetic improvement and can positively impact the rural economy. The Colombian armed conflict has forced a large portion of the rural population to abandon their territory, affecting their education, family integration, and economics. Justification: The achievement of education in rural populations was one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) made by the United Nations. During the last World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), it was concluded that most of the world’s poor, illiterate and undernourished population lives in rural areas; therefore, access to education is considered one of the most significant challenges for governments in countries with developing economies. Objectives: To study the effects of training in artificial insemination and rural management on the perception of knowledge and the level of knowledge in rural residents affected by the armed conflict in Nariño, Colombia. Methods: The perception of knowledge and the theoretical-practical knowledge of 63 rural residents were evaluated on the topics of bovine agribusiness management, artificial insemination, and genetic improvement through the application of three surveys. 1) evaluated the perceived level of knowledge each rural resident had about each topic using the Likert scale, 2) evaluated the theoretical knowledge before training, and 3) evaluated the theoretical knowledge upon completion of training. Results/discussion: Of the surveyed rural residents, 54% stated that they knew how business management improved the performance of their bovine agribusiness, 54% answered the pre-training knowledge test correctly, while 83% correctly answered the post-training knowledge test. Only 6% of surveyed residents perceived that they had prior knowledge of artificial insemination and reproductive anatomy topics. Before training, 35% of surveyed residents answered correctly on these topics, while upon completion of training, 65% answered correctly. Regarding genetic improvement, 11% of participating rural residents stated that they knew this subject. The correct answers on this topic went from 57% to 89% before and post-training. Conclusion: Rural extension programs contribute to closing knowledge gaps in relation to the use of reproductive biotechnologies and bovine management in rural areas affected by armed conflict.

Keywords: agribusiness, insemination, knowledge, reproduction

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