Search results for: disaster coping mechanism

Authors: Saroj Kumar Rath

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When insurgency erupted in Kashmir in 1989, it was quickly backed by Pakistan. Kashmir witnessed terrorism for more than a decade till 2004 when Indian forces decimated militancy. After the US pressure in 1992, terrorist training camps of Pakistan shifted to Afghanistan and al Qaeda and the Taliban had taken over training of Kashmiri militants in Afghanistan after 1997 as part of their global jihad. The Indo-Pak rivalry over Kashmir dispute had taken a new turn in the aftermath of 9/11 developments. Islamabad viewed its Afghan policy through the prism of denying India any advantage in Kabul. Pakistan was successful in refuting Indian presence in Kabul for a decade through the Taliban. After the 9/11 attacks the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) saw Northern Alliance, supported by the Americans and all of Pakistan’s regional rivals – India, Iran, and Russia – as claiming victory in Kabul. For Pakistan’s military regime, this was a strategic disaster and prompted the ISI to give refuge to the escaping Taliban, while denying full support to Hamid Karzai. The new development in Afghanistan prompted India to establish a foothold it had lost nearly a decade earlier. India established diplomatic contacts with Afghanistan; supported the Karzai government and funded aid programs. Pakistan alleged that Indian agents are training Baloch and Sindhi dissidents in Pakistan through Afghanistan. Kabul had suddenly become the new Kashmir – the new battleground for India-Pakistan rivalry.

Keywords: Afghan imbroglio, Kashmir conflict, Indo-Pak rivalry, US policy in South Asia

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Authors: Emmanuel Olugbenga Fakoya

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The study examined the perceived impact of climate change on the livelihood of arable crop farmers in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 80 arable crop farmers in the study area. Data collected were analyzed using percentages, frequencies and Chi square analysis. The result showed that 63.8 percent of the respondents were male while 55.0 percent were married. Less than half (30.0 percent) of the respondents were between the age bracket of 41-50 years and 50.0 percent had 6-10 household size. Furthermore, majority (40.0 percent) of the arable crop farmers farmed on an inherited land and 51.3 percent had 2-3 hectares of land. Majority (38.8 percent) of the farmers intercrop maize with cassava and maize with yam. Various strategies adapted to reduce the effect of climate change on their crop and livelihood include: crop rotation (53.8 percent), planting of leguminous crop (35.0 percent), application of organic fertilizers (45.0 percent), mulching (56.3 percent) and by planting drought resistance crops (46.5 percent). Reported among the effects of climate change on crop and farmers’ livelihood were: discoloration of crop leave (63.8 percent), increase infestation of pests and diseases (58.8 percent) and reduction of crop yield (60.0 percent). Chi- square analysis showed significant relationship between impact of climate change on arable crop production and thus famers’ livelihood. It was concluded from the study that climate change is an impinging factor that seriously affect arable crop production and hence farmers’ livelihood despite coping strategies to minimize its effect. It was however recommended that Agricultural policies and practices that could minimize or eliminate its effect should be seriously enacted to boost production and increase farmers’ livelihood.

Keywords: agricultural extension, extension agent, private sector, perception

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Authors: S. Siddharth, Saravana Kumar

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All Metros across the world tend to have a large number of bridges and there have been concerns about the safety of these bridges. As the traffic in most cities in India is heterogeneous, Trucks and Heavy vehicles traverse on our roads on an everyday basis this will lead to structural damage on the long run. All bridges are designed with a maximum Load limit and this limit is seldom checked. We have hence come up with an idea to check the load of all the vehicles entering the bridge and block the bridge with barricades if the vehicle surpasses the maximum load , this is done to catch hold of the perpetrators. By doing this we can avoid further structural damage and also provide an effective way to enforce the law. If our solution is put in place structural damage and accidents would be reduced to a great deal and it would also make the law enforcement job easier.

Keywords: heterogeneous, structural, load, law, heavy, vehicles

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Authors: Ivy Chumo, Sheillah Simiyu, Hellen Gitau, Isaac Kisiangani, Caroline Kabaria Kanyiva Muindi, Blessing Mberu

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The global sanitation workforce bridges the gap between sanitation infrastructure and the provision of sanitation services through essential public service work. Manual pit emptiers often perform the work at the cost of their dignity, safety, and health as their work requires repeated heavy physical activities such as lifting, carrying, pulling, and pushing. This exposes them to occupational and environmental health hazards and risking illness, injury, and death. The study will extend the studies by presenting occupational health risks and suggestions for improvement in informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. This is a qualitative study conducted among sanitation stakeholders in Korogocho, Mukuru and Kibera informal settlements in Nairobi. Data were captured using digital voice recorders, transcribed and thematically analysed. The discussion notes were further supported by observational notes made during the interviews. These formed the basis for a robust picture of occupational health of manual pit emptiers; a lack or inappropriate use of protective clothing, and prolonged duration of working hours were described to contribute to the occupational health hazard. To continue working, manual pit emptiers had devised coping strategies which include working in groups, improvised protective clothing, sharing the available protective clothing, working at night and consuming alcohol drinks while at work. Many of these strategies are detrimental to their health. Occupational health hazards among pit emptiers are key for effective working and is as a result of a lack of collaboration amongst stakeholders linked to health, safety and lack of PPE of pit emptiers. Collaborations amongst sanitation stakeholders is paramount for health, safety, and in ensuring the provision and use of personal protective devices.

Keywords: sanitation, occupational health, manual emptiers, informal settlements

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Authors: Vered Shenaar-Golan, Nava Wald, Uri Yatzkar

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Background: Parenting children with mental health problems poses multiple challenges, including coping with difficult behavior and negative child emotions. The impact on parents includes financial strain, negative social stigma, and negative feelings of guilt or blame, resulting in significant stress and lower levels of well-being. Given findings that self-compassion plays a significant role in reducing stress and improving well-being, the current study examined the role of self-compassion in the experience of parents raising a child with mental health problems. The study tested (1) whether child behavioral/emotional problem severity is associated with higher parental stress and lower parental well-being; (2) whether self-compassion is associated with lower parental stress and higher parental well-being; and (3) whether self-compassion is a stronger predictor of parental stress and well-being than child behavioral/emotional problem severity. Methods: Three hundred and six mothers and two hundred and fifty-six fathers of children attending a hospital child and adolescent psychiatric center were assessed at admission. Consenting parents completed four questionnaires: Child Strength and Difficulty – parent version, Self-compassion, Parent Feeling Inventory, and Well-Being. Results: Child behavioral/emotional problem severity was associated with higher parental stress and lower parental well-being, and self-compassion was a stronger predictor of parental stress and well-being levels than child behavioral/emotional problem severity. For children with internalizing but not externalizing behavioral/emotional problems, parental self-compassion was the only predictor of parental well-being beyond the severity of child behavioral/emotional problems. Conclusions: Cultivating self-compassion is important in reducing parental stress and increasing parental well-being, particularly with internalizing presentations, and should be considered when designing therapeutic interventions for parents.

Keywords: parenting children with mental health problems, self-compassion, parental stress, feelings, well-being

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Authors: Tetiana Boriak

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The study is called to test correlation between official sources, preserved in the archives, and “unofficial” oral history regarding the Great Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. The research shows poor preservation of the sources, being deliberately destroyed by the totalitarian regime. It involves analysis of five stages of Holodomor oral history development. It is oral history that provides the mechanism of mass killing. The research proves that using only one type of historical sources leads to a certain line of reading history of the Holodomor, while usage of both types provides in-depth insight in the history of the famine.

Keywords: the Holodomor (the Great Famine), oral history, historical source, historical memory, totalitarianism.

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Authors: Wafa' Slaibi Alsharafat

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Cloud computing is a modern approach in network environment. According to increased number of network users and online systems, there is a need to help these systems to be away from unauthorized resource access and detect any attempts for privacy contravention. For that purpose, Intrusion Detection System is an effective security mechanism to detect any attempts of attacks for cloud resources and their information. In this paper, Cloud Intrusion Detection System has been proposed in term of reducing or eliminating any attacks. This model concerns about achieving high detection rate after conducting a set of experiments using benchmarks dataset called KDD'99.

Keywords: IDS, cloud computing, anticipating classifier system, intrusion detection

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Authors: F. D. Konstandakopoulou, G. A. Papagiannopoulos, N. G. Pnevmatikos, G. D. Hatzigeorgiou

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This paper examines the effects of pile-soil-structure interaction on the dynamic response of offshore platforms under the action of near-fault earthquakes. Two offshore platforms models are investigated, one with completely fixed supports and one with piles which are clamped into deformable layered soil. The soil deformability for the second model is simulated using non-linear springs. These platform models are subjected to near-fault seismic ground motions. The role of fault mechanism on platforms’ response is additionally investigated, while the study also examines the effects of different angles of incidence of seismic records on the maximum response of each platform.

Keywords: hazard analysis, offshore platforms, earthquakes, safety

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Authors: M. A. Effati, M. R. Hojjati, M. Razmdideh

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Nowadays, engine developments have focused on internal combustion engine design call for increased engine power, reduced engine size and improved fuel economy, simultaneously. In this paper, a novel design for combustion engine is proposed. Two combustion chambers were designed in two sides of cylinder. Piston was designed in a way that two sides of piston would transfer heat energy due to combustion to linear motion. This motion would convert to rotary motion through the designed mechanism connected to connecting rod. Connecting rod operation was analyzed to evaluate applied stress in 3000, 4500 and 6000 rpm. Boundary conditions including generated pressure in each side of cylinder in these 3 situations was calculated.

Keywords: combustion engine, design, finite element method, modeling

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Authors: Ki-seok Kwon, Dong-woo Ryu, Heung-Youl Kim

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Although high-strength concrete has many advantages over generic concrete at normal temperatures (around 20℃), it undergoes spalling at high temperatures, which constitutes its structurally fatal drawback. In this study, fire resistance tests were conducted for 3 hours in accordance with ASTM E119 on bearing wall specimens which were 3,000mm x 3,000mm x 300mm in dimensions to investigate the influence the type of admixtures would exert on the fire resistance performance of high-strength concrete. Portland cement, blast furnace slag, fly ash and silica fume were used as admixtures, among which 2 or 3 components were combined to make 7 types of mixtures. In 56MPa specimens, the severity of spalling was in order of SF5 > F25 > S65SF5 > S50. Specimen S50 where an admixture consisting of 2 components was added did not undergo spalling. In 70MPa specimens, the severity of spalling was in order of SF5 > F25SF5 > S45SF5 and the result was similar to that observed in 56MPa specimens. Acknowledgements— This study was conducted by the support of the project, “Development of performance-based fire safety design of the building and improvement of fire safety” (18AUDP-B100356-04) which is under the management of Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement as part of the urban architecture research project for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, for which we extend our deep thanks.

Keywords: high strength concrete, mineral admixture, fire resistance, social disaster

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Authors: Kareem Abdelwahed, Ahmed Salama, Ahmed Rabie, Ahmed Hamdy, Waleed Abdelfattah, Ahmed Abd El-Rahman

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Conventional vapor-compression refrigeration systems rely on typical refrigerants, such as CFC, HCFC and ammonia. Despite of their suitable thermodynamic properties and their stability in the atmosphere, their corresponding global warming potential and ozone depletion potential raise concerns about their usage. Thus, the need for new refrigeration systems, which are environment-friendly, inexpensive and simple in construction, has strongly motivated the development of thermoacoustic energy conversion systems. A thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR) is a device that is mainly consisting of a resonator, a stack and two heat exchangers. Typically, the resonator is a long circular tube, made of copper or steel and filled with Helium as a the working gas, while the stack has short and relatively low thermal conductivity ceramic parallel plates aligned with the direction of the prevailing resonant wave. Typically, the resonator of a standing-wave refrigerator has one end closed and is bounded by the acoustic driver at the other end enabling the propagation of half-wavelength acoustic excitation. The hot and cold heat exchangers are made of copper to allow for efficient heat transfer between the working gas and the external heat source and sink respectively. TARs are interesting because they have no moving parts, unlike conventional refrigerators, and almost no environmental impact exists as they rely on the conversion of acoustic and heat energies. Their fabrication process is rather simpler and sizes span wide variety of length scales. The viscous and thermal interactions between the stack plates, heat exchangers' plates and the working gas significantly affect the flow field within the plates' channels, and the energy flux density at the plates' surfaces, respectively. Here, the design, the manufacture and the testing of a compact refrigeration system that is based on the thermoacoustic energy-conversion technology is reported. A 1-D linear acoustic model is carefully and specifically developed, which is followed by building the hardware and testing procedures. The system consists of two harmonically-oscillating pistons driven by a simple 1-HP rotary drive mechanism operating at a frequency of 42Hz -hereby, replacing typical expensive linear motors and loudspeakers-, and a thermoacoustic stack within which the energy conversion of sound into heat is taken place. Air at ambient conditions is used as the working gas while the amplitude of the driver's displacement reaches 19 mm. The 30-cm-long stack is a simple porous ceramic material having 100 square channels per square inch. During operation, both oscillating-gas pressure and solid-stack temperature are recorded for further analysis. Measurements show a maximum temperature difference of about 27 degrees between the stack hot and cold ends with a Carnot coefficient of performance of 11 and estimated cooling capacity of five Watts, when operating at ambient conditions. A dynamic pressure of 7-kPa-amplitude is recorded, yielding a drive ratio of 7% approximately, and found in a good agreement with theoretical prediction. The system behavior is clearly non-linear and significant non-linear loss mechanisms are evident. This work helps understanding the operation principles of thermoacoustic refrigerators and presents a keystone towards developing commercial thermoacoustic refrigerator units.

Keywords: refrigeration system, rotary drive mechanism, standing-wave, thermoacoustic refrigerator

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Authors: Elucir Gir, Laelson Rochelle Milanês Sousa, Pedro Henrique Tertuliano Leoni, Carla Aparecida Arena Ventura, Ana Cristina de Oliveira e Silva, Renata Karina Reis

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Context and significance: Resilience is a protective agent for the physical and mental well-being of nursing professionals. Team members are constantly subjected to high levels of work stress that can negatively impact care performance and users of health services. Stress levels have been exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the resilience of nursing professionals in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach carried out with professionals from nursing teams from all regions of Brazil. Data collection took place in the first year of the pandemic between October and December 2020. Data were obtained through an online questionnaire posted on social networks. The information collected included the sociodemographic characterization of the nursing professionals and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale was applied. Student's t-test for independent samples and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare resilience scores with sociodemographic variables. Results: 8,792 nursing professionals participated in the study, 5,767 (65.6%) were nurses, 7,437 (84.6%) were female and 2,643 (30.1%) were from the Northeast region of Brazil, 5,124 (58.8% ) had low levels of resilience. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the resilience score and the variables: professional category (p<0.001); sex (p = 0.003); age range (p<0.001); region of Brazil (p<0.001); marital status (p=0.029) and providing assistance in a field hospital (p<0.001). Conclusion: Participants in this study had, in general, low levels of resilience. There is an urgent need for actions aimed at promoting the psychological health of nursing professionals inserted in pandemic contexts. Descriptors: Psychological Resilience; Nursing professionals; COVID-19; SARSCoV-2.

Keywords: psychological resilience, nursing professionals, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2

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Authors: Teng Zhang, Shenshi Huang, Gang Xu, Xuelin Zhang, Shouxiang Lu

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With the acceleration of urbanization and the increasing of the population in the city, the evacuation of pedestrians suffering from disaster environments such as fire in a room or other limited space becomes a vital issue in modern society. Mice have been used in experimental crowd evacuation in recent years for its good similarities to human in physical structure and stress reaction. In this study, the effect of experience or memory on the collective behavior of mice was explored. To help mice familiarize themselves with the design of the space and the stimulus caused by smoke, we trained them repeatedly for 2 days so that they can escape from the emergency conditions as soon as possible. The escape pattern, trajectories, walking speed, turning angle and mean individual escape time of mice in each training trail were analyzed. We found that mice can build memory quickly after the first trial on the first day. On the second day, the evacuation of mice was maintained in a stable and efficient state. Meanwhile, the group with size of 30 (G30) had a shorter mean individual escape time compared with G12. Furthermore, we tested the experience of evacuation skill of mice after several days. The results showed that the mice can hold the experience or memory over 3 weeks. We proposed the importance of experience of evacuation skill and the research of training methods in experimental evacuation of mice. The results can deepen our understanding of collective behavior of mice and conduce to the establishment of animal models in the study of pedestrian crowd dynamics in emergency conditions.

Keywords: experience, evacuation, mice, group size, behavior

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Authors: Wi-Sun Ryu, Eun-Kee Bae

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Prior studies have shown that patients with right hemispheric stroke are likely to seek medical service compared with those with left hemispheric stroke. However, the underlying mechanism for this phenomenon is unknown. In the present study, we generated lesion probability maps in a patient with right and left middle cerebral artery infarct and statistically compared. We found that precentral gyrus-Brodmann area 44, a language area in the left hemisphere - involvement was significantly higher in patients with left hemispheric stroke. This finding suggests that a language dysfunction was more noticeable, thereby taking more patients to hospitals.

Keywords: cerebral infarct, brain MRI, statistical parametric mapping, middle cerebral infarct

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Authors: Shuko Takeshita

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This study investigates the identity formation of mixed-race children in Japan. From the latter half of the 1980s to the mid-2000s, Japan experienced an 'intermarriage boom,' which was soon followed by a fairly significant number of children born to these unions. These children are now coming of age. Among mixed-race children, some embraced both cultural traditions, while others chose a monocultural path despite exposure to two cultural traditions as they grew up. What factors are involved in shaping the identity of mixed-race children? How does identity formation actually occur in these children? This study addresses these questions through an interview survey of 139 cross-cultural families since 1999, including 23 Pakistani-Japanese families, 20 Turkish-Japanese families, 26 families comprising other international Muslim husbands and Japanese wives, 33 Filipino-Japanese families, and 37 Brazilian-Japanese families. The results of this two-decade-long study reveal that in cases where one cannot tell at first glance that children are mixed race, there is a tendency for them to hide their mixed background due to fear of bullying at school, as well as for their parents to encourage them to do this. To pass as a Japanese is one strategy for avoiding discrimination and prejudice, and it can provide a measure of ethnic security or a way of coping with social intolerance. Certainly, among my informants, there are some children who were bullied or teased at school, and as a result, they stopped attending or transferred to other schools. But the mixed-race experience is not always a negative thing in Japan. There is clearly a double standard involved in that mixed-race children of a Caucasian parent are more readily accepted by society than those of a non-Caucasian parent. The perceived social status of mixed-race individuals is usually understood in relation to the hierarchical positionings of monoracial groups. Mixed-race children could be guaranteed the right to enjoy the benefit of maintaining and developing an identity as a Japanese, in addition to one more identity. We need to encourage a new awareness of the children as agents for a transition from a monocultural system to a multicultural system in Japanese society.

Keywords: identity formation, intermarriage, mixed race, multicultural children

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Authors: Setareh Yousife

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Introduction: Studies suggest that Extramarital Infidelity (EMI) variants, such as sexual and emotional infidelities are increasing in marriage relationships. To our knowledge, less is known about what therapies and mental-hygiene factors can prevent more effective this behavior and address it. Spiritual and cognitive-behavioural health have proven to reduce marital conflict, Increase marital satisfaction and commitment. Objective: This study aims to discuss the effectiveness of spiritual counseling combined with Cognitive-behavioural techniques in addressing Extramarital Infidelity. Method: Descriptive, analytical, and intervention articles indexed in SID, Noormags, Scopus, Iranmedex, Web of Science and PubMed databases, and Google Scholar were searched. We focused on Studies in which Women with extramarital relationships, including heterosexual married couples-only studies and spirituality/religion and CBT as coping techniques used as EMI therapy. Finally, the full text of all eligible articles was prepared and discussed in this review. Results: 25 publications were identified, and their textual analysis facilitated through four thematic approaches: The nature of EMI in Women, the meaning of spirituality in the context of mental health and human behavior as well as psychotherapy; Spirituality integrated into Cognitive-Behavioral approach, The role of Spirituality as a deterrent to EMI. Conclusions: The integration of the findings discussed herein suggests that the application of cognitive and behavioral skills in addressing these kinds of destructive family-based relationships is inevitable. As treatments based on religion/spirituality or cognition/behavior do not seem adequately effective in dealing with EMI, the combination of these approaches may lead to higher efficacy in fewer sessions and a shorter time.

Keywords: spirituality, religion, cognitive behavioral therapy, extramarital relation, infidelity

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Authors: Noor Aliza Binti Ahmad, Azra Munirah Mat Daud, Sabariah Musa, Mohamad Azhar MK

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Flooding is a common natural disaster in Malaysia triggered by heavy rainfall. Urbanization that increases the construction of paved areas, subsequently raise surface runoff and reduce time of concentration. It increases flood magnitude and so that leads to greater flood problems as what has happened at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) area in December 2006 and earlier 2007. Tasik Kemajuan and Tasik Inovasi were constructed as recreation ponds and have also functioned as flood ponds. Unfortunately, the flood problem still occurs persistently. Thus, the effectiveness of Tasik Kemajuan and Tasik Inovasi in reducing the flood problems need to be investigated and the causes of flood events at UTHM Campus need to be evaluated. The results from this study show that the conditions of Tasik Kemajuan and Tasik Inovasi are effective in reducing the flood water levels. It also can be concluded that increasing water level in both lakes in UTHM Campus are significantly influenced by presence of the grass and rubbish. During dry condition, the flow rates with three different days are 59.38m3/s, 60.71m3/s and 59.08m3/s and while for wet condition in two different days are 89.59 m3/s and 86.61m3/s. In conclusion, this system should be improved to prevent future flooding either widened or reduced drainage floor, and also perform maintenance on the plants that live around the lake.

Keywords: drainage system, flood detention, lakes, storm water

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Authors: Salam N. Abdo, Orien L. Tulp, George P. Einstein

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The purpose of this exploratory study was to gather the insights into psoriasis etiology, treatment, and patient experience, for developing psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis diagnostic test. Data collection methods consisted of a comprehensive meta-analysis of relevant studies and psoriasis patient survey. Established meta-analysis guidelines were used for the selection and qualitative comparative analysis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis research studies. Only studies that clearly discussed psoriasis etiology, treatment, and patient experience were reviewed and analyzed, to establish a qualitative data base for the study. Using the insights gained from meta-analysis, an existing psoriasis patient survey was modified and administered to collect additional data as well as triangulate the results. The hypothesis is that specific types of psoriatic disease have specific etiology and pathophysiologic pattern. The following etiology categories were identified: bacterial, environmental/microbial, genetic, immune, infectious, trauma/stress, and viral. Additional results, obtained from meta-analysis and confirmed by patient survey, were the common age of onset (early to mid-20s) and type of psoriasis (plaque; mild; symmetrical; scalp, chest, and extremities, specifically elbows and knees). Almost 70% of patients reported no prescription drug use due to severe side effects and prohibitive cost. These results will guide the development of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis diagnostic test. The significant number of medical publications classified psoriatic arthritis disease as inflammatory of an unknown etiology. Thus numerous meta-analyses struggle to report any meaningful conclusions since no definitive results have been reported to date. Therefore, return to the basics is an essential step to any future meaningful results. To date, medical literature supports the fact that psoriatic disease in its current classification could be misidentifying subcategories, which in turn hinders the success of studies conducted to date. Moreover, there has been an enormous commercial support to pursue various immune-modulation therapies, thus following a narrow hypothesis/mechanism of action that is yet to yield resolution of disease state. Recurrence and complications may be considered unacceptable in a significant number of these studies. The aim of the ongoing study is to focus on a narrow subgroup of patient population, as identified by this exploratory study via meta-analysis and patient survey, and conduct an exhaustive work up, aiming at mechanism of action and causality before proposing a cure or therapeutic modality. Remission in psoriasis has been achieved and documented in medical literature, such as immune-modulation, phototherapy, various over-the-counter agents, including salts and tar. However, there is no psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis diagnostic test to date, to guide the diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating and, thus far, incurable disease. Because psoriasis affects approximately 2% of population, the results of this study may affect the treatment and improve the quality of life of a significant number of psoriasis patients, potentially millions of patients in the United States alone and many more millions worldwide.

Keywords: biologics, early diagnosis, etiology, immune disease, immune modulation therapy, inflammation skin disorder, phototherapy, plaque psoriasis, psoriasis, psoriasis classification, psoriasis disease marker, psoriasis diagnostic test, psoriasis marker, psoriasis mechanism of action, psoriasis treatment, psoriatic arthritis, psoriatic disease, psoriatic disease marker, psoriatic patient experience, psoriatic patient quality of life, remission, salt therapy, targeted immune therapy

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Authors: V. A. Dubovsky, V. V. Savchenko, A. A. Baryskevich

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The current trend in the automotive industry towards automatic vehicles is creating new challenges related to human factors. This occurs due to the fact that the driver is increasingly relieved of the need to be constantly involved in driving the vehicle, which can negatively impact his/her situation awareness when manual control is required, and decrease driving skills and abilities. These new problems need to be studied in order to provide road safety during the transition towards self-driving vehicles. For this purpose, it is important to develop an appropriate conceptual model of the interaction between the driver and the automated vehicle, which could serve as a theoretical basis for the development of mathematical and simulation models to explore different aspects of driver behaviour in different road situations. Well-known driver behaviour models describe the impact of different stages of the driver's cognitive process on driving performance but do not describe how the driver controls and adjusts his actions. A more complete description of the driver's cognitive process, including the evaluation of the results of his/her actions, will make it possible to more accurately model various aspects of the human factor in different road situations. This paper presents a conceptual model of the 'driver – highly automated vehicle' system based on the P.K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems, which is a theoretical framework for describing internal processes in purposeful living systems based on such notions as goal, desired and actual results of the purposeful activity. A central feature of the proposed model is a dynamic coupling mechanism between the decision-making of a driver to perform a particular action and changes of road conditions due to driver’s actions. This mechanism is based on the stage by stage evaluation of the deviations of the actual values of the driver’s action results parameters from the expected values. The overall functional structure of the highly automated vehicle in the proposed model includes a driver/vehicle/environment state analyzer to coordinate the interaction between driver and vehicle. The proposed conceptual model can be used as a framework to investigate different aspects of human factors in transitions between automated and manual driving for future improvements in driving safety, and for understanding how driver-vehicle interface must be designed for comfort and safety. A major finding of this study is the demonstration that the theory of functional systems is promising and has the potential to describe the interaction of the driver with the vehicle and the environment.

Keywords: automated vehicle, driver behavior, human factors, human-machine system

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Authors: Manjit Singh

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Multiscale entropy (MSE) is an extensively used index to provide a general understanding of multiple complexity of physiologic mechanism of heart rate variability (HRV) that operates on a wide range of time scales. Accurate selection of electrocardiogram (ECG) sampling frequency is an essential concern for clinically significant HRV quantification; high ECG sampling rate increase memory requirements and processing time, whereas low sampling rate degrade signal quality and results in clinically misinterpreted HRV. In this work, the impact of ECG sampling frequency on MSE based HRV have been quantified. MSE measures are found to be sensitive to ECG sampling frequency and effect of sampling frequency will be a function of time scale.

Keywords: ECG (electrocardiogram), heart rate variability (HRV), multiscale entropy, sampling frequency

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Authors: Mingmei Zhang, Xinyong Li

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AgInS₂/SnS₂ (AIS) nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. The morphology and composition of the fabricated AIS nanocomposites were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Moreover, the as-prepared AIS photocatalysts exhibited excellent photocatalytic activities for the degradation of Norfloxacin (NOR), mainly due to its high optical absorption and separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, as evidenced by UV–vis diffusion reflection spectra (DRS) and Surface photovoltage (SPV) spectra. Furthermore, the interfacial charges transfer mechanism was also discussed by DFT calculations.

Keywords: AIS nanocomposites, electron-hole pairs, charges transfer, DFTcaculations

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Authors: Hsiao-Chien Tsai, Yu-Pin Chen, Ruei-Ming Chen

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Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by joint destruction and causes chronic disability. One of the prominent symptoms is pain. Alleviating the pain is necessary and urgent for the therapy of OA patients. However, currently, understanding the mechanisms that drive OA-induced pain remains challenging, which hampers the optimistic management of pain in OA patients. Semaphorin 4D (Sema4D) participates in axon guidance pathway and bone remodeling, thus, may play a role in the regulation of pain in OA. In this study, we have established a rat model of OA to find out the mechanisms of OA-induced pain and to deliberate the roles of Sema4D. Methods: Behavioral changes and the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-17) associated with pain were measured during the development of OA. Sema4D expression in cartilage and synovial membrane at 1, 4, and 12 weeks after inducing OA was analyzed. To assess if Sema4D is related to the neurogenesis in OA as an axon repellant, we analyzed the expression of PGP9.5 as well. Results: Synovitis and cartilage degradation were evident histologically during the development of OA. Mechanical hyperalgesia was most severe at week 1, then persisted thereafter. It was associated with stress coping strategies. Similar to the pain behavioral results, levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in synovial lavage fluid were significantly elevated in the OA group at weeks 1 and 4, respectively. Sema4D expression in cartilage and the synovial membrane was also enhanced in the OA group and was correlated with pain and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The marker of neurogenesis, PGP9.5, was also enhanced during the development of OA. Discussion: OA induced mechanical hyperalgesia, which might be through upregulating IL-1β/TNF-α-mediated Sema4D expressions. If anti-Sema4D treatment could reduce OA-induced mechanical hyperalgesia and prevent the subsequent progression of OA needs to be further investigated. Significance: OA can induce mechanical hyperalgesia through upregulation of IL-1β/TNF-α-mediated Sema4D and PGP9.5 expressions. And the upregulation of Sema4D may indicate the severity or active status of OA and OA-induced pain.

Keywords: traumatic osteoarthritis, mechanical hyperalgesia, Sema4D, inflammatory cytokines

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Authors: Abhishek Kumar

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X70 pipeline steel was electrochemically charged with hydrogen for different durations in order to find crack nucleation and propagation sites. After 3 hours charging, suitable regions for crack initiation and propagation were found. These regions were studied by OM, SEM, EDS and later Vicker hardness test was done. The results brought out that HIC cracks nucleated from regions rich of inclusions and further propagated through the segregation area of some elements, such as manganese, carbon, silicon and sulfur. It is worth-mentioning that all these potential sites for crack nucleation and propagation appeared at the centre of cross section of the specimens. Additionally, cracked area has harder phase than the non-cracked area which was confirmed by hardness test.

Keywords: X70 steel, morphology of inclusions, SEM/EDS/OM, simulation, statistical data

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Authors: Simone B. K. Aires, Cinthia O. de A. Freitas, Luiz E. S. Oliveira

Abstract:

This paper contributes to the CBIR systems applied to trademark retrieval. The proposed model includes aspects from visual perception of the shapes, by means of feature extractor associated to a non-symmetrical perceptual zoning mechanism based on the Principles of Gestalt. Thus, the feature set were performed using Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). We carried out experiments using four different zonings strategies (Z = 4, 5H, 5V, 7) for matching and retrieval tasks. Our proposal method achieved the normalized recall (Rn) equal to 0.84. Experiments show that the non-symmetrical zoning could be considered as a tool to build more reliable trademark retrieval systems.

Keywords: CBIR, Gestalt, matching, non-symmetrical zoning, SIFT

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Authors: Begum Rokeya, Rahelee Zinnat, Fatema Jebunnesa, Israt Ara Hossain, A. Rahman

Abstract:

Background and Aims: Arsenic in drinking water is a global environmental health problem, and the exposure may increase dyslipidemia and cerebrovascular diseases mortalities, most likely through causing atherosclerosis. However, the mechanism of lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis formation, arsenic exposure and impact in pregnancy is still unclear. Recent epidemiological evidences indicate close association between inorganic arsenic exposure via drinking water and Dyslipidemia. However, the exact mechanism of this arsenic-mediated increase in atherosclerosis risk factors remains enigmatic. We explore the association of the effect of arsenic on serum lipid profile in pregnant subjects. Methods: A total 200 pregnant mother screened in this study from arsenic exposed area. Our study group included 100 exposed subjects were cases and 100 Non exposed healthy pregnant were controls requited by a cross-sectional study. Clinical and anthropometric measurements were done by standard techniques. Lipidemic status was assessed by enzymatic endpoint method. Urinary As was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and adjusted with specific gravity and Arsenic exposure was assessed by the level of urinary arsenic level > 100 μg/L was categorized as arsenic exposed and < 100 μg/L were categorized as non-exposed. Multivariate logistic regression and Student’s t - test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure both were significantly higher in the Arsenic exposed pregnant subjects compared to the Non-exposed group (p<0.001). Arsenic exposed subjects had 2 times higher chance of developing hypertensive pregnancy (Odds Ratio 2.2). In parallel to the findings in Ar exposed subjects showed significantly higher proportion of triglyceride and total cholesterol and low density of lipo protein when compare to non- arsenic exposed pregnant subjects. Significant correlation of urinary arsenic level was also found with SBP, DBP, TG, T chol and serum LDL-Cholesterol. On multivariate logistic regression showed urinary arsenic had a positive association with DBP, SBP, Triglyceride and LDL-c. Conclusion: In conclusion, arsenic exposure may induce dyslipidemia like atherosclerosis through modifying reverse cholesterol transport in cholesterol metabolism. For decreasing atherosclerosis related mortality associated with arsenic, preventing exposure from environmental sources in early life is an important element.

Keywords: Arsenic Exposure, Dyslipidemia, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Serum lipid profile

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Authors: Reyhane Hamed Kamran

Abstract:

Early stage morphogenesis requires the execution of complex systems that direct the nearby conduct of gatherings of cells. The organization of such instruments has been, for the most part, deciphered through the recognizable proof of moderated groups of flagging pathways that spatially and transiently control cell conduct. In any case, how this data is handled to control cell shape and cell elements is an open territory of examination. The structure that rises up out of differing controls, for example, cell science, material science, and formative science, focuses to bond and cortical actin arranges as controllers of cell surface mechanics. In this specific circumstance, a scope of formative marvels can be clarified by the guideline of cell surface pressure.

Keywords: cell, tissue damage, morphogenesis, cell conduct

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Authors: Jae-Woo Kim, Kyung-Jung Lee, Hyun-Sik Ahn

Abstract:

This paper presents a design methodology for the motor driven automotive subsystems with the consideration of the functional safety. There are many such modules in vehicles which use DC/AC motors for an electronic throttle control system, a motor driven power steering, a motor driven seat belt systems and for HVAC systems. The functional safety for the automotive electrical and electronic parts are standardized as ISO 26262, but the development procedure is very complex to be followed. We focus on the functional safe motor controller design process and show the designed motor controller hardware satisfies the required safety integrity level by using metric calculations with the safety mechanism.

Keywords: AUTOSAR, MDPS, Simulink, software component

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Authors: Karish Thavabalan, Alistair Ovenell, Aman Sutaria, Annabelle Parkhouse, Numan Baydemir, Theodore Lally

Abstract:

Background: Open discussions surrounding menopause are often associated with stigma, with many women feeling uncomfortable to engage in them with friends, colleagues, and healthcare professionals. Though the barriers regarding safe discussions of symptom management experienced by menopausal women are well documented, existing research offers little insight into whether these were shared by pre-menopausal women. This study aimed to explore the barriers regarding safe discussions about menopausal symptom management as perceived or experienced by pre-menopausal and menopausal women. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted over a 2-month period (March 2022 - April 2022) under the auspices of Imperial College Business School, London, UK. Snowball sampling was used to recruit both menopausal (age 45-70) and pre-menopausal participants (age <45), and sampling continued until data saturation was achieved. 16 semi-structured online interviews were conducted, and transcripts were thematically analyzed following Braun and Clarke’s six-step methodology. Results: A total of 7 higher themes regarding safe discussion of menopausal symptom management were identified by both pre-menopausal and menopausal women, including: “ineffective coping mechanisms”, “perceived onus to self-endure”, “lack of workplace support”, “poor knowledge of management approaches”, “poor healthcare infrastructure”, “poor support from friends and family”, “lack of knowledge and interest from a young age”. Conclusion: Identifying the barriers regarding safe discussion helped to highlight which areas require most significant intervention. Alongside tackling the barriers, menopausal women face, ultimately, there is a pertinent need to and address the lack of insight into menopause from a younger age and to encourage earlier discussions so as to not propagate the cycle of stigma.

Keywords: menopause, stigma, safe discussions, symptom management

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Authors: Reenu Yadav, Abhay Asthana, S. K. Yadav

Abstract:

Purpose: The aim of the present work was to develop an oral gel for brushing with an antimicrobial activity which will cure/protect from various periodontal diseases such as periodontitis, gingivitis, and pyorrhea. Methods: Plant materials procured from local suppliers, extracted and standardized. Screening of antimicrobial activity was carried out with the help of disk diffusion method. The gel was formulated by dried extracts of Beautea monosperma and Cordia obliquus. Gels were evaluated on various parameters and standardization of the formulation was performed. The release of drugs was studied in pH 6.8 using a mastication device.Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were estimated by folin-Ciocalteu and aluminium chloride method, and stability studies were performed (40°C and RH 75% ± 5% for 90 days) to assess the effect of temperature and humidity on the concentration of phenolic and flavonoid contents. The results of accelerated stability conditions were compared with that of samples kept at controlled conditions (RT). The control samples were kept at room temperature (25°C, 35% RH for 180 days). Results: Results are encouraging; extracts possess significant antimicrobial activity at very low concentration (15µg/disc, 20µg/disc and 15 µg/ disc) on oral pathogenic bacteria. The formulation has optimal characteristics, as well as has a pleasant appearance, fragrance, texture, and taste, is highly acceptable by the volunteers. The diffusion coefficient values ranged from 0.6655 to 0.9164. Since the R values of korsmayer papas were close to 1, Drug release from formulation follows matrix diffusion kinetics. Hence, diffusion was the mechanism of the drug release. Formulation follows non-Fickian transport mechanism. Most Formulations released 50 % of their contents within 25-30 minutes. Results obtained from the accelerated stability studies are indicative of a slight reduction in flavonoids and phenolic contents with time on long time storage. When measured degradation under ambient conditions, degradation was significantly lower than in accelerated stability study. Conclusion: Plant extracts possess compounds with antimicrobial properties can be used as. Developed formulation will cure/protect from various periodontal diseases. Further development and evaluations oral gel including the isolated compounds on the commercial scale and their clinical and toxicological studies are the future challenges.

Keywords: herbal gel, dental care, ambient conditions, commercial scale

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Authors: Heming Yao

Abstract:

Graphene-based percolative strain gauges could find applications in many places such as touch panels, artificial skins or human motion detection because of its advantages over conventional strain gauges such as flexibility and transparency. These strain gauges rely on a novel sensing mechanism that depends on strain-induced morphology changes. Once a compression or tension strain is applied to Graphene-based percolative strain gauges, the overlap area between neighboring flakes becomes smaller or larger, which is reflected by the considerable change of resistance. Tiny strain change on graphene-based percolative strain sensor can act as an important leverage to tremendously increase resistance of strain sensor, which equipped graphene-based percolative strain gauges with higher gauge factor. Despite ongoing research in the underlying sensing mechanism and the limits of sensitivity, neither suitable understanding has been obtained of what intrinsic factors play the key role in adjust gauge factor, nor explanation on how the strain gauge sensitivity can be enhanced, which is undoubtedly considerably meaningful and provides guideline to design novel and easy-produced strain sensor with high gauge factor. We here simulated the strain process by modeling graphene flakes and its percolative networks. We constructed the 3D resistance network by simulating overlapping process of graphene flakes and interconnecting tremendous number of resistance elements which were obtained by fractionizing each piece of graphene. With strain increasing, the overlapping graphenes was dislocated on new stretched simulation graphene flake simulation film and a new simulation resistance network was formed with smaller flake number density. By solving the resistance network, we can get the resistance of simulation film under different strain. Furthermore, by simulation on possible variable parameters, such as out-of-plane resistance, in-plane resistance, flake size, we obtained the changing tendency of gauge factor with all these variable parameters. Compared with the experimental data, we verified the feasibility of our model and analysis. The increase of out-of-plane resistance of graphene flake and the initial resistance of sensor, based on flake network, both improved gauge factor of sensor, while the smaller graphene flake size gave greater gauge factor. This work can not only serve as a guideline to improve the sensitivity and applicability of graphene-based strain sensors in the future, but also provides method to find the limitation of gauge factor for strain sensor based on graphene flake. Besides, our method can be easily transferred to predict gauge factor of strain sensor based on other nano-structured transparent optical conductors, such as nanowire and carbon nanotube, or of their hybrid with graphene flakes.

Keywords: graphene, gauge factor, percolative transport, strain sensor

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