Search results for: information systems failure

Authors: Enock E. Goler, Emmanuel H. Kwon-Ndung, Gbenga F. Akomolafe, Terna T. Paul, Markus Musa, Joshua I. Waya, James H. Okogbaa

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An ethno-medicinal survey of plants used in treating various diseases and ailments was carried out in the study area of Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria to obtain information on their uses and potentials. The ethno-medicinal survey was administered through structured questionnaires among local inhabitants from areas with high plant density and diversity within the various Local Government Areas of the State. A total of 84 (Eighty four) plant species belonging to 45 (Forty five) families were found to be useful in treatment of various ailments such as diabetes, measles, fever, asthma, jaundice, pneumonia, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), aches, diarrhea, cough, arthritis, yellow fever, typhoid, erectile dysfunction and excessive bleeding. Different parts of the plant such as the roots, leaves and stems are used in preparing herbal remedies which could be from dry or freshly collected plants. The main methods of preparation are decoction or infusion, while in some cases the plant parts used are consumed directly. Residents in the study areas find the herbal remedy cheaper and more accessible and claimed that there are no side effects compared to orthodox medicine. This study has confirmed the need towards the conscious conservation of plant genetic resources in order to ensure sustained access to these ethno-medicinal plant materials.

Keywords: ethno-medicinal, Nasarawa, plants, survey

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Authors: Geetika Barman, B. S. Daya Sagar

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In this article, we proposed a pixel-wise classification of hyperspectral images using a mathematical morphology operator-based distance metric called “dilation distance” and “erosion distance”. This method involves measuring the spatial distance between the spectral features of a hyperspectral image across the bands. The key concept of the proposed approach is that the “dilation distance” is the maximum distance a pixel can be moved without changing its classification, whereas the “erosion distance” is the maximum distance that a pixel can be moved before changing its classification. The spectral signature of the hyperspectral image carries unique class information and shape for each class. This article demonstrates how easily the dilation and erosion distance can measure spatial distance compared to other approaches. This property is used to calculate the spatial distance between hyperspectral image feature vectors across the bands. The dissimilarity matrix is then constructed using both measures extracted from the feature spaces. The measured distance metric is used to distinguish between the spectral features of various classes and precisely distinguish between each class. This is illustrated using both toy data and real datasets. Furthermore, we investigated the role of flat vs. non-flat structuring elements in capturing the spatial features of each class in the hyperspectral image. In order to validate, we compared the proposed approach to other existing methods and demonstrated empirically that mathematical operator-based distance metric classification provided competitive results and outperformed some of them.

Keywords: dilation distance, erosion distance, hyperspectral image classification, mathematical morphology

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Authors: Hagos Gebrehiwet Bahta

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Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea, is facing a sanitation challenge because the city discharges its wastewater to the environment without any kind of treatment. The aim of this research is to conduct a pre-feasibility study of using constructed wetlands in the peri-urban areas of Asmara for wastewater treatment and reuse. It was found that around 15,000 m³ of wastewater is used daily for agricultural activities, and products are sold in the city's markets, which are claimed to cause some health effects. In this study, three potential sites were investigated around Mai-Bela and an optimum location was selected on the basis of land availability, topography, and geotechnical information. Some types of local microphytes that can be used in constructed wetlands have been identified and documented for further studies. It was found that subsurface constructed wetlands can provide a sufficient pollutant removal with careful planning and design. Following the feasibility study, a preliminary design of screening, grit chamber and subsurface constructed wetland was prepared and cost estimation was done. In the cost estimation part, the filter media was found to be the most expensive part and consists of around 30% percent of the overall cost. The city wastewater drainage runs in two directions and the selected site is located in the southern sub-system, which only carries sewage (separate system). The wastewater analysis conducted particularly around this area (Sembel) indicates high heavy metal levels and organic concentrations, which reveals that there is a high level of industrial pollution in addition to the domestic sewage.

Keywords: agriculture, constructed wetland, Mai-Bela, wastewater reuse

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar Sinha

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In an era marked by increasing concerns about energy sustainability, this research endeavors to address the pressing challenge of energy consumption in buildings and industries. This study delves into the transformative potential of AWS services in optimizing energy efficiency. The research is founded on the recognition that effective management of energy consumption is imperative for both environmental conservation and economic viability. Buildings and industries account for a substantial portion of global energy use, making it crucial to develop advanced techniques for analysis and reduction. This study sets out to explore the integration of AWS services with big data analytics to provide innovative solutions for energy consumption analysis. Leveraging AWS's cloud computing capabilities, scalable infrastructure, and data analytics tools, the research aims to develop efficient methods for collecting, processing, and analyzing energy data from diverse sources. The core focus is on creating predictive models and real-time monitoring systems that enable proactive energy management. By harnessing AWS's machine learning and data analytics capabilities, the research seeks to identify patterns, anomalies, and optimization opportunities within energy consumption data. Furthermore, this study aims to propose actionable recommendations for reducing energy consumption in buildings and industries. By combining AWS services with metrics-driven insights, the research strives to facilitate the implementation of energy-efficient practices, ultimately leading to reduced carbon emissions and cost savings. The integration of AWS services not only enhances the analytical capabilities but also offers scalable solutions that can be customized for different building and industrial contexts. The research also recognizes the potential for AWS-powered solutions to promote sustainable practices and support environmental stewardship.

Keywords: energy consumption analysis, big data analytics, AWS services, energy efficiency

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Authors: Bahadır Erişti

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Values are the behavioral procedures of society based communication and interaction process that includes social and cultural backgrounds. The policy of learning and teaching in higher education is oriented towards constructing knowledge and skills, based on theorist framework of cognitive and psychomotor aspects. This approach makes people not to develop generosity, empathy, affection, solidarity, justice, equality and so on. But the sensorial gains of education system provide the integrity of society interaction. This situation carries out the necessity of values education’s in higher education. The current study aims to consider values education from the viewpoint of students in higher education. Within the framework of the current study, an open ended survey based scenario of higher education students was conducted with the students’ social, cognitive, affective and moral developments. In line with this purpose, the following situations of the higher education system were addressed based on the higher education students’ viewpoint: The views of higher education students’ regarding values that are tried to be gained at the higher education system; The higher education students’ suggestions regarding values education at the higher education system; The views of the higher education students’ regarding values that are imposed at the higher education system. In this study, descriptive qualitative research method was used. The study group of the research is composed of 20 higher education postgraduate students at Curriculum and Instruction Department of Educational Sciences at Anadolu University. An open-ended survey was applied for the purpose of collecting qualitative data. As a result of the study, value preferences, value judgments and value systems of the higher education students were constructed on prioritizes based on social, cultural and economic backgrounds and statues. Multi-dimensional process of value education in higher education need to be constructed on higher education-community-cultural background cooperation. Thus, the act of judgement upon values between higher education students based on the survey seems to be inherent in the system of education itself. The present study highlights the students’ value priorities and importance of values in higher education. If the purpose of the higher education system gains on values, it is possible to enable society to promote humanity.

Keywords: higher education, value, values education, values in higher education

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Authors: Musthaya Patchanee

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The aim of this research is to study potential factors relating to the decision of return migration of Myanmar migrant workers in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province by conducting a random sampling of 400 people aged between 15-59 who migrated from Myanmar. The information collected through interviews was analyzed to find a percentage and mean using the Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis. The results have shown that 33.25% of Myanmar migrant workers want to return to their home country within the next 1-5 years, 46.25%, in 6-10 years and the rest, in over 10 years. The factors relating to such decision can be concluded that the scale of the decision of return migration has a positive relationship with a statistical significance at 0.05 with a conformity with friends and relatives (r=0.886), a relationship with family and community (r=0.782), possession of land in hometown (r=0.756) and educational level (r=0.699). However, the factor of property possession in Prachuap Khiri Khan is the only factor with a high negative relationship (r=0.-537). From the Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis, the results have shown that the conformity with friends and relatives and educational level factors are influential to the decision of return migration of Myanmar migrant workers in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, which can predict the decision at 86.60% and the multiple regression equation from the analysis is Y= 6.744+1.198 conformity + 0.647 education.

Keywords: decision of return migration, factors of return migration, Myanmar migrant workers, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province

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Authors: Hauwau Mohammed

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Research purpose: the integration of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) has long been initiated into healthcare systems. This has been to help improve maternal mortality, particularly in developing countries. Nigeria is seen as one of the countries with a high maternal death rate due to common pregnancy complications and low resources. Communities with challenges of universal coverage of skilled workers rely on TBAs for pregnancy-related services, including delivery. The Sokoto State government has conducted several training programs on a significant number of TBAs to enable a formal integration of relationships with skilled healthcare for women in rural regions. This study aims to explore a standard method and develop an assessment framework for improving TBAs training programs in Sokoto State. Research Design, Methodology & Methods : Using a qualitative design, an interpretive phenomenology approach will be applied to explore the lived-experiences of 28 TBAs, who have undergone a form of training while also examining the strategies used to develop those programs through 8 policymakers and/or program trainers. For the collection stage, a focus group discussion and a face-to-face interview will be conducted, where the latter is for TBAs and the former for policymakers and training officials. Analysis: Data will be analyse through IPA format while using Nvivo to code and catalog personal experiential generated patterns. Secondary review: a scoping review of secondary data from Nigeria was used to map the knowledge gap and the extent of available data. The thematic analytic findings suggested that there are various approaches used to incorporate TBAs into the healthcare system, which include interventional programs targeted at specific health issues. In addition, incentives were used to encourage TBAs to facilitate the frequent use of skilled care for women.

Keywords: traditional birth attendants, Nigeria, training, program

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Authors: G. Ravindranath, S. Savitha

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This paper presents heat transfer analysis of single horizontal bare tube and heat transfer analysis of staggered arrangement of bare tube bundles bare tube bundles in gas-solid (air-solid) fluidized bed and predictions are done by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based on experimental data. Fluidized bed provide nearly isothermal environment with high heat transfer rate to submerged objects i.e. due to through mixing and large contact area between the gas and the particle, a fully fluidized bed has little temperature variation and gas leaves at a temperature which is close to that of the bed. Measurement of average heat transfer coefficient was made by local thermal simulation technique in a cold bubbling air-fluidized bed of size 0.305 m. x 0.305 m. Studies were conducted for single horizontal Bare Tube of length 305mm and 28.6mm outer diameter and for bare tube bundles of staggered arrangement using beds of large (average particle diameter greater than 1 mm) particle (raagi and mustard). Within the range of experimental conditions influence of bed particle diameter ( Dp), Fluidizing Velocity (U) were studied, which are significant parameters affecting heat transfer. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have been receiving an increasing attention for simulating engineering systems due to some interesting characteristics such as learning capability, fault tolerance, and non-linearity. Here, feed-forward architecture and trained by back-propagation technique is adopted to predict heat transfer analysis found from experimental results. The ANN is designed to suit the present system which has 3 inputs and 2 out puts. The network predictions are found to be in very good agreement with the experimental observed values of bare heat transfer coefficient (hb) and nusselt number of bare tube (Nub).

Keywords: fluidized bed, large particles, particle diameter, ANN

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Authors: Angesom Gebrezgabiher Tesfay, Afafaw Hailesilasie Tesfay, Muyiwa Samuel Adaramola

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The energy demand boost in Ethiopia urges sustainable fuel options while it is mainly supplemented by traditional biomass and imported conventional fuels. To satisfy the deficiency it has to be sourced from all renewables. Thus identifying resources and estimating potential is vital to the sector. This study aims at an in-depth assessment to quantify, prioritize, and analyze agricultural residue biomass energy and related characteristic forms. Biomass use management and modernization seeks successive information and a clue about the resource quantity and characteristic. Five years of crop yield data for thirteen crops were collected. Conversion factors for their 20 residues are surveyed from the literature. Then residues amount potentially available for energy and their energy is estimated regional, crop-wise, residue-wise, and shares compared. Their potential value for energy is analyzed from two perspectives and prioritized. The gross potential is estimated to be 495PJ, equivalent to 12/17 million tons of oil/coal. At 30% collection efficiency, it is the same as conventional fuel import in 2018. Maize and sorghum potential and spatial availability are preeminent. Cotton and maize presented the highest potential values for energy from application and resource perspectives. Oromia and Amhara regions' contributions are the highest. The resource collection and application trends are required for future management that implicates a prospective study.

Keywords: crop residue, biomass potential, biomass resource, Ethiopian energy

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Authors: A. Pietro Rimoldi, B. Anilkumar Gopinath, C. Minimol Korulla

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Coastal engineering structure is conventionally designed for a shorter planning horizon usually 20 years. These structures are subjected to different offshore climatic externalities like waves, tides, tsunamis etc. during the design life period. The probability of occurrence of these different offshore climatic externalities varies. The impact frequently caused by these externalities on the structures is of concern because it has a significant bearing on the capital /operating cost of the project. There can also be repeated short time occurrence of these externalities in the assumed planning horizon which can cause heavy damage to the conventional coastal structure which are mainly made of rock. A replacement of the damaged portion to prevent complete collapse is time consuming and expensive when dealing with hard rock structures. But if coastal structures are made of Geo-synthetic containment systems such replacement is quickly possible in the time period between two successive occurrences. In order to have a better knowledge and to enhance the predictive capacity of these occurrences, this study estimates risk of encounter within the design life period of various externalities based on the concept of exponential distribution. This gives an idea of the frequency of occurrences which in turn gives an indication of whether replacement is necessary and if so at what time interval such replacements have to be effected. To validate this theoretical finding, a pilot project has been taken up in the field so that the impact of the externalities can be studied both for a hard rock and a Geosynthetic tube structure. The paper brings out the salient feature of a case study which pertains to a project in which Geosynthetic tubes have been used for reformation of a seawall adjacent to a conventional rock structure in Alappuzha coast, Kerala, India. The effectiveness of the Geosystem in combatting the impact of the short-term externalities has been brought out.

Keywords: climatic externalities, exponential distribution, geosystems, planning horizon

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Authors: Manjunath Attibele, Alsawafi Manal, Al Dughaishi Tamima

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Introduction: The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and types of mechanisms of injuries caused by Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) during pregnancy. To analyze the patterns of accidents during pregnancy and its adverse consequences on both maternal and fetal outcome. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study on pregnant patients who met with MVAs The study period was from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019. All relevant data were retrieved from electronic patients’ records from the hospital information system and from the antenatal ward admission register Results: Out of 168 women who had motor vehicle accidents during the study period, of which, 39 (23.2%) women during pregnancy. Twenty-one (53.8%) women were over 30 years old. Thirty-five (89.7%) women were Omanis, and 27 (69.2%) were in their third trimester. Twenty-three (59%) of accidents happened at night, and 31 (79.5%) of them happened on a weekday. Twenty-two (56.4%) of women were driving themselves, and 24 (61.5%) of them were not using any seatbelt. Accident related abdominal & back pain was seen in 23(59%) women. Regarding the outcome of pregnancy, 23 (74.2%) had a normal vaginal delivery. The mean accident to delivery interval was 7 weeks. Thirty (96.7%) of involved newborns were relatively healthy. One woman (3.2%) had a ruptured uterusleading to fetal death (3.2%). Conclusion: This study showed that the incidence of motor vehicle accidents during pregnancy is around 23.2% . Majority had trauma-associated pain. One serious injury to a woman causing a ruptured uterus which lead to fetal death. Majority of involved newborns were relatively healthy. No reported maternal death.

Keywords: motor vehicle accidents, pregnancy, maternal outcome, fetal outcome

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Authors: Roozbeh Aghamajidi

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Shaft spillways are circling spillways used generally for emptying unexpected floods on earth and concrete dams. There are different types of shaft spillways: Stepped and Smooth spillways. Stepped spillways pass more flow discharges through themselves in comparison to smooth spillways. Therefore, awareness of flow behavior of these spillways helps using them better and more efficiently. Moreover, using vortex breaker has great effect on passing flow through shaft spillway. In order to use more efficiently, the risk of flow pressure decreases to less than fluid vapor pressure, called cavitations, should be prevented as far as possible. At this research, it has been tried to study different behavior of spillway with different vortex shapes on spillway crest on flow. From the viewpoint of the effects of flow regime changes on spillway, changes of step dimensions, and the change of type of discharge will be studied effectively. Therefore, two spillway models with three different vortex breakers and three arrangements have been used to assess the hydraulic characteristics of flow. With regard to the inlet discharge to spillway, the parameters of pressure and flow velocity on spillway surface have been measured at several points and after each run. Using these kinds of information leads us to create better design criteria of spillway profile. To achieve these purposes, optimization has important role and genetic algorithm are utilized to study the emptying discharge. As a result, it turned out that the best type of spillway with maximum discharge coefficient is smooth spillway with ogee shapes as vortex breaker and 3 number as arrangement. Besides it has been concluded that the genetic algorithm can be used to optimize the results.

Keywords: shaft spillway, vortex breaker, flow, genetic algorithm

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Authors: K. Sivasubramanin, S. Mahimairaja, S. Pavithrapriya

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Heavy metal pollution originating from industrial wastes is becoming a serious problem in many urban environments. These heavy metals, if not properly managed, could enter into the food chain and cause a serious health hazards in animals and humans. Industrial wastes, sewage sludge, and automobile emissions also contribute to heavy metal like Pb pollution in the urban environment. However, information is scarce on the heavy metal pollution in Coimbatore urban environment. Therefore, the current study was carried out to examine the extent of lead pollution in Coimbatore urban environment the maximum Pb concentration in Coimbatore urban environment was found in ukkadam, whose concentration in soils 352 mg kg-1. In many places, the Pb concentration was found exceeded the permissible limit of 100 mg kg-1. In laboratory, closed incubation experiment showed that the concentration of different species of Pb viz., water soluble Pb(H2O-Pb), exchangeable Pb(KNO3-Pb), organic-Pb(NaOH-Pb), and organic plus metal (Fe & Al) oxides bound-Pb(Na2 EDTA-Pb) was found significantly increased during the 15 days incubation, mainly due to biotransformation processes. Both the moisture content of soil and ambient temperature exerted a profound influence on the transformation of Pb. The results of a batch experiment has shown that the sorption data was adequately described by the Freundlich equation as indicated by the high correlation coefficients (R2= 0.64) than the Langmuir equation (R2 = 0.33). A maximum of 86 mg of Pb was found adsorbed per kilogram of soil. Consistently, a soil column experiment result had shown that only a small amount of Pb( < 1.0 µg g-1 soil) alone was found leached from the soil. This might be due to greater potential of the soil towards Pb adsorption.

Keywords: lead pollution, adsorption, transformation, heavy metal pollution

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Authors: Myungsu Lim, William Xiu Shun Wong, Yoonjin Hyun, Chen Liu, Seongi Choi, Dasom Kim, Namgyu Kim

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The amount of real-time data generated through various mass media has been increasing rapidly. In this study, we had performed topic analysis by using the unstructured text data that is distributed through news article. As one of the most prevalent applications of topic analysis, the issue tracking technique investigates the changes of the social issues that identified through topic analysis. Currently, traditional issue tracking is conducted by identifying the main topics of documents that cover an entire period at the same time and analyzing the occurrence of each topic by the period of occurrence. However, this traditional issue tracking approach has limitation that it cannot discover dynamic mutation process of complex social issues. The purpose of this study is to overcome the limitations of the existing issue tracking method. We first derived core issues of each period, and then discover the dynamic mutation process of various issues. In this study, we further analyze the mutation process from the perspective of the issues categories, in order to figure out the pattern of issue flow, including the frequency and reliability of the pattern. In other words, this study allows us to understand the components of the complex issues by tracking the dynamic history of issues. This methodology can facilitate a clearer understanding of complex social phenomena by providing mutation history and related category information of the phenomena.

Keywords: Data Mining, Issue Tracking, Text Mining, topic Analysis, topic Detection, Trend Detection

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Authors: Goran Sporiš, Dinko Vuleta, Stefan Lovro

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The purpose of the present study was to determine the associations between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and physical activity (PA) in different domains. In this cross-sectional study, participants were 169 Croatian police officers (mean age 35.14±8.95 yrs, mean height 180.93±7.53 cm, mean weight 88.39±14.05 kg, mean body-mass index 26.90±3.39 kg/m2). The dependent variables were two general domains extracted from the HRQOL questionnaire: (1) physical component scale (PCS) and (2) mental component scale (MCS). The independent variables were job-related, transport, domestic and leisure-time PA, along with other factors: age, body-mass index, smoking status, psychological distress, socioeconomic status and time spent in sedentary behaviour. The associations between dependent and independent variables were analyzed by using multiple regression analysis. Significance was set up at p < 0.05. PCS was positively associated with leisure-time PA (β 0.28, p < 0.001) and socioeconomic status (SES) (β 0.16, p=0.005), but inversely associated with job-related PA (β -0.15, p=0.012), domestic-time PA (β -0.14, p=0.014), age (β -0.12, p=0.050), psychological distress (β -0.43, p<0.001) and sedentary behaviour (β -0.15, p=0.009). MCS was positively associated with leisure-time PA (β 0.19, p=0.013) and SES (β 0.20, p=0.002), while inversely associated with age (β -0.23, p=0.001), psychological distress (β -0.27, p<0.001) and sedentary behaviour (β -0.22, p=0.001). Our results added new information about the associations between domain-specific PA and both physical and mental component scale in police officers. Future studies should deal with the same associations in other stressful occupations.

Keywords: health, fitness, police force, relations

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Authors: Douglas Arthur, Oluwayemisi Ekor, Ernest Obese, Andrew Kissi Agyei, Elvis Ofori Ameyaw

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bjective: Pain negatively impacts every aspect of health, and patients with pain disorders create enormous demands on healthcare systems globally, costing economies up to $635 billion annually. The study was therefore conducted at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), the only Tertiary Hospital in the Central Region of Ghana and was designed to assess pain disorders in patients between 18 and 90 years attending Urology Clinic. Methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design, and 149 subjects (16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-90 years) were conveniently selected. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), a multidimensional instrument that assesses several aspects of pain by the use of words (descriptors) that the patient chooses to express his/her pain, was used as the primary instrument for data collection. A patient profile form (PPF) was also designed to document the demographics and history of patients. Results: The prevalence of pain disorders was higher among females compared to males. The univariate and multivariate analysis showed that females were more likely to experience pain while being married correlated with a lower likelihood of pain. Again, the 45-54 age group exhibited the highest prevalence of pain disorders. Results from the MPQ showed that half of the patients experienced pain on a daily basis, 15.91% had experienced pain for 3-6 months and 37% experienced pain for more than one year. Pain intensity was described by 25% of the subjects as excruciating for their worst pain experience, followed by 21% for the distressing experience. The most frequently reported area of pain was the abdominal region (22.72%). The co-administration of NSAIDs and opioid compounds was provided for 17.46% of the patients with chronic pain. Conclusion: The treatment interventions improved the pain and associated symptoms such as nausea, improved daily activities and ability to sleep. However, attention and resources should be devoted to 45-54 age group.

Keywords: pain, opioids, distressing, excruciating

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Authors: Marwa H. Salah

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Modern consumption culture represents a widespread phenomenon that affects young people, as it affects all age groups in both urban and rural societies. It has been helped by globalization, specifically cultural globalization, also internal and external migration, and the immense development in information technology as well, these factors have led to the appearance of the conspicuous consumption pattern among young people. This research firstly interested in identifying the nature of this pattern of consumption among young people in the countryside, which represents a society with a special nature, was characterized by the pattern of traditional consumption. Secondly to find out whether the rural character has an impact on the conspicuous consumption of youth. Finally to identify the reasons for the rural youth's tendency to such type of consumption and if it contributes in satisfying certain social needs. The research used the anthropological method. Observation and open-ended interviews were used as tools to collect data and an interview guide was applied on a selective youth sample (40:20 male and 20 female) aged between 17to 34 in an Egyptian village located in Dakahlia governorate. The research showed that rural youth has impacted with the modern consumption culture and not isolated from it despite the lack of financial abilities. The conspicuous consumption is a dominant pattern of consumption among the Egyptian rural youth and it has been practicing by rural youth regardless of their educational & financial levels. Also, the wish to show the social and economic status, bragging and show off is the main reason for the rural youth to adopt the conspicuous consumption, moreover to face the inferior view from their counterparts’ urban youth.

Keywords: consumption culture, youth, conspicuous consumption, rural society

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Authors: Louis Nahimana

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Most maps are in a raster or pdf format and it is not easy to get vector layers of published maps. Faced to the production of geological simplified map of the northern Lake Tanganyika countries without geological information in vector format, I tried a method of obtaining vector layers from raster layers created from geological maps of Rwanda and DR Congo in pdf and jpg format. The procedure was as follows: The original raster maps were georeferenced using ArcGIS10.2. Under Adobe Photoshop, map areas with the same color corresponding to a lithostratigraphic unit were selected all over the map and saved in a specific raster layer. Using the same image processing software Adobe Photoshop, each RGB raster layer was converted in grayscale type and improved before importation in ArcGIS10. After georeferencing, each lithostratigraphic raster layer was transformed into a multitude of polygons with the tool "Raster to Polygon (Conversion)". Thereafter, tool "Aggregate Polygons (Cartography)" allowed obtaining a single polygon layer. Repeating the same steps for each color corresponding to a homogeneous rock unit, it was possible to reconstruct the simplified geological constitution of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in vector format. By using the tool «Append (Management)», vector layers obtained were combined with those from Burundi to achieve vector layers of the geology of the « Northern Lake Tanganyika countries ».

Keywords: creating raster layer under image processing software, raster to polygon, aggregate polygons, adobe photoshop

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Authors: Marek Mejstřík, Radim Matula, Martin Šrámek

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Traditional coppices and coppice-with-standards were widely used throughout Europe and Asia for centuries but were largely abandoned in the second half of the 19th century, especially in central and northwestern Europe. In the last decades, there has been a renewed interest in traditional coppicing for nature conservation and most often, for rapid woody biomass production. However, there is little information on biomass productivity of traditional coppices and what affects it. Here, we focused on the effects of stand density, standards and tree species composition on sprout biomass production in newly restored coppices in the Czech Republic. We measured sprouts and calculated sprout biomass 7 years after the harvest from 2013 resprouting stumps in two 4 ha experimental plots. Each plot was divided into 64 subplots with different densities of standards and sprouting stumps. Total sprout biomass declined with increasing density of standards, but the effect of standards differed significantly among studied species. Whereas increasing density of standards decreased sprout biomass in Quercus petraea and Carpinus betulus, it did not affect sprout biomass productivity in Acer campestre and Tilia cordata. Sprout biomass on stand-level increased linearly with an increasing number of sprouting stumps and we observed no leveling of this relationship even in the highest densities of stumps. We also found a significant shift in tree species composition with the steeply declining relative abundance of Quercus in favor of other studied tree species.

Keywords: traditional coppice, coppice with standards, sprout biomass, forest management

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Authors: Jessy Rugeyo, William Donner

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This research delves into the resilience of Rwanda's public health infrastructure amidst natural disasters, a critical issue given that the Northern Province alone has witnessed no fewer than 1500 cases of disaster ranging from floods and landslides in the last five years, with more than 200 people killed and thousands of homes destroyed, according to MINEMA. In an era where climate change escalates the frequency and intensity of such disasters, fortifying the resilience of public health systems is paramount. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the existing state of Rwanda's public health infrastructure and its ability to manage such crises. Employing a mix of literature review, case studies, and policy analysis, the study discerns key vulnerabilities and brings to light the intricacies of disaster management in Rwanda. Case studies centered around past natural disasters in Rwanda provide critical insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the existing disaster response mechanisms. A thorough critique of related disaster management and public health infrastructure policies reveals areas of commendable practice, along with gaps calling for policy enhancements. Findings guide the proposition of targeted strategies to bolster the resilience of Rwanda's public health infrastructure. This research serves as a significant contribution to the domains of disaster studies and public health, offering valuable insights for policymakers, public health and disaster management professionals in Rwanda and similar contexts. It presents actionable recommendations for improvement, underscoring the potential for enhancing Rwanda's disaster management capacity. By advocating for the strengthening of public health infrastructure resilience, the research highlights the potential for improved public health outcomes following natural disasters, thereby showcasing significant implications for public health and disaster management in the country, particularly in the face of a changing climate.

Keywords: public health infrastructure, disaster resilience, natural disaster, disaster management, emergency preparedness, health policy

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Authors: Iyd Eqqab Maree, Habil Jurgen Bast

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Vibration control of machines and structures incorporating viscoelastic materials in suitable arrangement is an important aspect of investigation. The use of viscoelastic layers constrained between elastic layers is known to be effective for damping of flexural vibrations of structures over a wide range of frequencies. The energy dissipated in these arrangements is due to shear deformation in the viscoelastic layers, which occurs due to flexural vibration of the structures. Multilayered cantilever sandwich beam like structures can be used in aircrafts and other applications such as robot arms for effective vibration control. These members may experience parametric instability when subjected to time dependant forces. The theory of dynamic stability of elastic systems deals with the study of vibrations induced by pulsating loads that are parametric with respect to certain forms of deformation. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the dynamic stability of a three layered symmetric sandwich beam (Drone Aircraft wings ) subjected to an end periodic axial force . Equations of motion are derived using finite element method (MATLAB software). It is observed that with increase in core thickness parameter fundamental buckling load increases. The fundamental resonant frequency and second mode frequency parameter also increase with increase in core thickness parameter. Fundamental loss factor and second mode loss factor also increase with increase in core thickness parameter. Increase in core thickness parameter enhances the stability of the beam. With increase in core loss factor also the stability of the beam enhances. There is a very good agreement of the experimental results with the theoretical findings.

Keywords: steel cantilever beam, viscoelastic material core, loss factor, transition region, MATLAB R2011a

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Authors: Jamie Sundvall, Lisa Jennings

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A decline in writing skills and abilities of students entering graduate school has become a focus for university systems within the United States. This decline has become a national trend that requires reflection on the intervention strategies used to address the deficit and unintended consequences as outcomes in the profession. Social work faculty is challenged to increase written scholarship within the academic setting. However, when a large number of students in each course have writing deficits, there is a shift from focus on content, ability to demonstrate competency, and application of core social work concepts. This qualitative study focuses on the experiences of online faculty who support increasing scholarship through writing and are following best practices preparing students academically to see improvements in written presentation in classroom work. This study outlines best practices to improve written academic presentation, especially in an online setting. The research also highlights how a student’s ability to show competency and application of concepts may be overlooked in the online setting. This can lead to new social workers who are prepared academically, but may unable to effectively advocate and document thought presentation in their writing. The intended progression of writing across all levels of higher education moves from summary, to application, and into abstract problem solving. Initial findings indicate that it is important to reflect on practices used to address writing deficits in terms of academic writing, competency, and application. It is equally important to reflect on how these methods of intervention impact a student post-graduation. Specifically, for faculty, it is valuable to assess a social worker’s ability to engage in continuity of documentation and advocacy at micro, mezzo, macro, and international levels of practice.

Keywords: intervention, professional impact, scholarship, writing

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Authors: G. R. Hashemi Tabar, G. R. Razmi, F. Mirshekar

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Echinococcus granulosus have ten strains from G1 to G9. Each strain is related to special intermediated host. The morphology, epidemiology, treatment and control in these strains are different. There are many morphological and molecular methods to differentiate of Echinococcus strains. However, using both methods were provided better information about identification of each strain. The aim of study was to identify Echinococcus granulosus strain of hydrated cysts in slaughtered sheep using morphological and molecular methods in Mashhad area. In the present study, the infected liver and lung with hydatid cysts were collected and transferred to laboratory. The hydatid cyst liquid was extracted and morphological characters of rostellar hook protosclocies were measured using micrometer ocular. The total length of large blade length of large hooks, total length of small and blade length of small hooks, and number of hooks per protoscolex were 23± 0.3μm, 11.7±0.5 μm, 19.3±1.1 μm,8±1.1 and 33.7±0.7 μm, respectively. In molecular section of the study, DNA each samples was extracted with MBST Kit and development of PCR using special primers (EgF, EgR) which amplify fragment of ITS1 gen. The PCR product was digested with Bsh1236I enzyme. Based on pattern of PCR-RLFP results (four band forming), G1, G2 and G3 strain of Echinococcus granulosus were obtained. Differentiation of three strains was done using sequencing analysis and G1 strain was diagnosed. The agreement between the molecular results with morphometric characters of rosetellar hook was confirmed the presence of G1 strain of Echinococcus in the slaughtered sheep of Mashhad area.

Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus, Hydatid cyst, PCR, sheep

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Authors: E. Yeşil, M. Özgök, M. Özdemir, B. Köse

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The aim of the present study was to compare nutritional status, tendency of depression and orthorexia nervosa in vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous. The sample consisted of 150 individuals (126 women, 24 men) who agreed to participate in the study between February and May of the year 2018. Fifty vegan, fifty vegetarian and fifty omnivore diet pattern were compared. In the first part, each participant was interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain demographic information about education, occupation and health conditions. In the second part Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used. In the third part ORTO-11 was used. In the fourth part, 24 Hours Dietary Record was used in order to determine the nutritional status of individuals. The vegans and vegetarians were interviewed about their diets. The mean body mass index of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore were, 21,24 ± 3,25; 22,2 ± 4,1 and 22,8 ± 4,3 respectively (p > 0,05). The daily energy intakes of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diet were 1792,57 ± 784,8 kcal; 1691,9 ± 742,2 kcal and 1697,9 ± 695,6 kcal (p > 0.05). The mean BDI of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diet were 6,2 ± 6,2, 9,8 ± 10,1 and 8,8 ± 8,1, respectively (p > 0,05). The mean ORTO-11 of the vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diet were 25,9 ± 4,2, 27,2 ± 5,9 and 26,4 ± 5,3 (p > 0,05). There was a statistically significant correlation between BDI and ORTO-11 in vegan diet group (p: 0,01 r: 0,333). There was a positive correlation between BMI and BDI in the vegetarian group (p: 0,01 r: 0,363). Also in the vegetarian group; there was a negative correlation between age and ORTO-11 (p: 0,01 r: -0,316). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between waist circumference and ORTO-11 (p: 0,05 r: -0,316) in the omnivore diet group. Also there was a negative correlation between age and BDI (p: 0,05 r: -0,338) in this group. As a conclusion, positive correlation was found between BDI and ORTO-11 score of vegan participants. There were no differences between three groups in BDI or ORTO-11 score.

Keywords: depression, orthorexia nervosa, vegan, vegetarian

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Concetta Busacca, Leone Frusteri, Orazio Di Blasi, Alessandra Di Blasi

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The large-scale extension of renewable energy led, recently, to the development of efficient and low-cost electrochemical energy storage (EES) systems such as batteries. Although lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology is relatively mature, several issues regarding safety, cyclability, and high costs must be overcome. Thanks to the availability and low cost of sodium, sodium-ion batteries (NIB) have the potential to meet the energy storage needs of the large-scale grid, becoming a valid alternative to LIB in some energy sectors, such as the stationary one. However, important challenges such as low specific energy and short cyclic life due to the large radius of Na+ must be faced to introduce this technology into the market. As an important component of SIBs, cathode materials have a significant effect on the electrochemical performance of SIBs. Recently, sodium layer transition metal oxides, phosphates, and organic compounds have been investigated as cathode materials for SIBs. In particular, phosphate-based compounds such as NaₓMPO₄ (M= Fe, Co, Mn) have been extensively studied as cathodic polyanion materials due to their long cycle stability and appropriate operating voltage. Among these, an interesting cathode material is the NaMnPO₄ based one, thanks to the stability and the high redox potential of the Mn²⁺/Mn³⁺ ion pair (3÷4 V vs. Na+/Na), which allows reaching a high energy density. This work concerns with the synthesis of a composite material based on NaMnPO₄ and carbon nanofibers (NaMnPO₄-CNF) characterized by a mixed crystalline structure between the maricite and olivine phases and a self-standing manufacture obtained by electrospinning technique. The material was tested in a Na-ion battery coin cell in half cell configuration, and showed outstanding electrocatalytic performances with a specific discharge capacity of 125 mAhg⁻¹ and 101 mAhg⁻¹ at 0.3C and 0.6C, respectively, and a retention capacity of about 80% a 0.6C after 100 cycles.

Keywords: electrospinning, self standing materials, Na ion battery, cathode materials

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Authors: Mina Malak Zakaria Henin

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The finite detail evaluation of magnetic fields in electromagnetic devices shows that the machine cores revel in extraordinary flux patterns consisting of alternating and rotating fields. The rotating fields are generated in different configurations variety, among circular and elliptical, with distinctive ratios between the fundamental and minor axes of the flux locus. Experimental measurements on electrical metal uncovered one-of-a-kind flux patterns that divulge distinctive magnetic losses in the samples below the test. Therefore, electric machines require unique interest throughout the core loss calculation technique to bear in mind the flux styles. In this look, a circular rotational unmarried sheet tester is employed to measure the middle losses in the electric-powered metallic pattern of M36G29. The sample becomes exposed to alternating fields, circular areas, and elliptical fields with axis ratios of zero.2, zero. Four, 0.6 and 0.8. The measured statistics changed into applied on 6-4 switched reluctance motors at 3 distinctive frequencies of interest to the industry 60 Hz, 400 Hz, and 1 kHz. The effects reveal an excessive margin of error, which can arise at some point in the loss calculations if the flux pattern difficulty is overlooked. The mistake in exceptional components of the gadget associated with considering the flux styles may be around 50%, 10%, and a couple of at 60Hz, 400Hz, and 1 kHz, respectively. The future paintings will focus on the optimization of gadget geometrical shape, which has a primary effect on the flux sample on the way to decrease the magnetic losses in system cores.

Keywords: converters, electric machines, MEA (more electric aircraft), PES (power electronics systems) synchronous machine, vector control Multi-machine/ Multi-inverter, matrix inverter, Railway tractionalternating core losses, finite element analysis, rotational core losses

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Authors: Kane Esien, Eadaoin McCourt, Peter Nockemann, Soveig Felton

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Magnetic ionic liquids (MILs) are a class of ionic liquid incorporating one or more magnetic atoms into the anion or cation of the ionic liquid, endowing the ionic liquid with magnetic properties alongside the existing properties of ionic liquids. MILs have applications in e.g. fluid-fluid separations, electrochemistry, and polymer chemistry. In this study three different types of Bis-Lanthanoates, that exist in different phases, have been synthesised and characterised (Ln = lanthanide): 1) imidazolium lanthanide acetate – [C4Mim]2[Ln2(OAc)8] – forms a crystalline solid at room temperature, 2) phosphonium lanthanide acetate – [P666 14]2[Ln2(OAc)8] – is in a solid glassy state, and 3) phosphonium lanthanide octanoate – [P666 14]2[Ln2(Oct)8] – is an ionic liquid. X-ray diffraction of the crystalline solid imidazolium lanthanide acetate – [C4Mim]2[Ln2(OAc)8] confirm that the Ln(III) ions form dimers, bridged by carboxyl groups, but cannot yield information about samples phosphonium lanthanide acetate – [P666 14]2[Ln2(OAc)8] (glass) and phosphonium lanthanide octanoate – [P666 14]2[Ln2(Oct)8] (ionic liquid) since these lack long-range order. SQUID magnetometry studies show that all three samples have effective magnetic moments consistent with non-interacting Ln(III) ions at room temperature but deviate from this behavior in the same way below 50 K. Through modeling the magnetic response, we are able to show that we have formed magnetic dimers, in all compounds, that are weakly antiferromagnetically interacting

Keywords: dimeric ionic liquids, interactions, SQUID, structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Amin Kaveh Boukani

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Foreign language learning is not straightforward and can be affected by numerous factors, among which personality features like tolerance of ambiguity (TA) are so well-known and important. Such characteristics yet can be affected by other factors like learning additional languages. The current investigation, thus, opted to explore the possible effect of linguistic background (being bilingual or trilingual) on the tolerance of ambiguity (TA) of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the possible mediating effect of TA on multilingual learners' language performance (listening comprehension in this study) was expounded. This research involved 68 EFL learners (32 bilinguals, 29 trilinguals) with the age range of 19-29 doing their degrees in the Department of English Language and Literature of Urmia University. A set of questionnaires, including tolerance of ambiguity (Herman et. al., 2010) and linguistic background information (Modirkhameneh, 2005), as well as the IELTS listening comprehension test, were used for data collection purposes. The results of a set of independent samples t-test and mediation analysis (Hayes, 2022) showed that (1) linguistic background (being bilingual or trilingual) had a significant direct effect on EFL learners' TA, (2) Linguistic background had a significant direct influence on listening comprehension, (3) TA had a substantial direct influence on listening comprehension, and (4) TA moderated the influence of linguistic background on listening comprehension considerably. These results suggest that multilingualism may be considered as an advantageous asset for EFL learners and should be a prioritized characteristic in EFL instruction in multilingual contexts. Further pedagogical implications and suggestions for research are proposed in light of effective EFL instruction in multilingual contexts.

Keywords: tolerance of ambiguity, listening comprehension, multilingualism, bilingual, trilingual

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Roman Graf, Sergiu Gordea, Heather M. Ryan

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This paper presents an approach for the classification of an unstructured format description for identification of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support file format selection with just the unstructured text description that comprises the most important format features for a particular organisation. Subsequently, the file format indentification method employs file format classifier and associated configurations to support digital preservation experts with an estimation of required file format. Our goal is to make use of a format specification knowledge base aggregated from a different Web sources in order to select file format for a particular institution. Using the naive Bayes method, the decision support system recommends to an expert, the file format for his institution. The proposed methods facilitate the selection of file format and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is meant to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and specifications of file formats. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the file formats is presented as a file format vocabulary that comprises most common terms that are characteristic for all researched formats. The goal is to suggest a particular file format based on this vocabulary for analysis by an expert. The sample file format calculation and the calculation results including probabilities are presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: data mining, digital libraries, digital preservation, file format

Procedia PDF Downloads 489

Authors: Saimir Heta, Kers Kapaj, Rialda Xhizdari, Ilma Robo

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Dealing with emerging cases of dental malpractice with justifications that stem from the clear rules of dental ethics is a phenomenon with an increasing trend in today's dental practice. Dentists should clearly understand how far the limit of malpractice goes, with or without minimal or major consequences, for the affected patient, which can be justified as a complication of dental treatment, in support of the rules of dental ethics in the dental office. Indeed, malpractice can occur in cases of lack of professionalism, but it can also come as a consequence of anatomical and physiological limitations in the implementation of the dental protocols, predetermined and indicated by the patient in the paragraph of the treatment plan in his personal card. This study is of the review type with the aim of the latest findings published in the literature about the problem of dealing with these phenomena. The combination of keywords is done in such a way with the aim to give the necessary space for collecting the right information in the networks of publications about this field, always first from the point of view of the dentist and not from that of the lawyer or jurist. From the findings included in this article, it was noticed the diversity of approaches towards the phenomenon depends on the different countries based on the legal basis that these countries have. There is a lack of or a small number of articles that touch on this topic, and these articles are presented with a limited number of data on the same topic. Conclusions: Dental malpractice should not be hidden under the guise of various dental complications that we justify with the strict rules of ethics for patients treated in the dental chair. The individual experience of dental malpractice must be published with the aim of serving as a source of experience for future generations of dentists.

Keywords: dental ethics, malpractice, professional protocol, random deviation

Procedia PDF Downloads 89