Search results for: design management

Authors: Eunhye Cho, Hyuk-Hoon Kim, Sieun Lee, Minjung Kathy Chae

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Introduction: I-gel is a commonly used supraglottic advanced airway device in prehospital out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) allowing for minimal interruption of continuous chest compression. However, previous studies have shown that prehospital supraglottic airway had inferior neurologic outcomes and survival compared to no advanced prehospital airway with conventional bag mask ventilation. We hypothesize that continuous compression with i-gel as an advanced airway may cause insufficient ventilation compared to 30:2 chest compression with conventional BVM. Therefore, we investigated the ventilation efficacy of i-gel with the initial arterial blood gas analysis in OHCA patients visiting our ER. Material and Method: Demographics, arrest parameters including i-gel insertion, initial arterial blood gas analysis was retrospectively analysed for 119 transported OHCA patients that visited our ER. Linear regression was done to investigate the association with i-gel insertion and initial pCO2 as a surrogate of prehospital ventilation. Result: A total of 52 patients were analysed for the study. Of the patients who visited the ER during OHCA, 24 patients had i-gel insertion and 28 patients had BVM as airway management in the prehospital phase. Prehospital i-gel insertion was associated with the initial pCO2 level (B coefficient 29.9, SE 10.1, p<0.01) after adjusting for bystander CPR, cardiogenic cause of arrest, EMS call to arrival. Conclusion: Despite many limitations to the study, prehospital insertion of i-gel was associated with high initial pCO2 values in OHCA patients visiting our ER, possibly indicating insufficient ventilation with prehospital i-gel as an advanced airway and continuous chest compressions.

Keywords: arrest, I-gel, prehospital, ventilation

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Authors: Damien P. Fevre, Peter K. Dearden

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Honeybee population sustainability is a critical concern for environmental stability and human food security. The success of a colony relies heavily on the egg-laying capacity of the queen, as it determines the production of thousands of worker bees who, in turn, perform essential functions in foraging and transforming food to make it digestible for the colony. The main sources of nutrition for honeybees are nectar, providing carbohydrates, and pollen, providing protein. This study delves into the impact of the proportion of these macronutrients on the food consumption patterns of nurse bees responsible for feeding the queen and how it affects the characteristics of the eggs produced. Using nutritional geometry, qRT-PCR, and RNA-seq analysis, this study sheds light on the pivotal role of nutrition in influencing gene expression in nurse bees, honeybee queen egg-laying capacity and embryonic development. Interestingly, while nutrition is crucial, the queen's genotype plays an even more significant role in this complex relationship, highlighting the importance of genotype-by-environment interactions. Understanding the interplay between genotype and nutrition is key to optimizing beekeeping management and strategic queen breeding practices. The findings from this study have significant implications for beekeeping practices, emphasizing the need for an appropriate nutrition to support the social nutrition of Apis mellifera. Implementing these insights can lead to improved colony health, increased productivity, and sustainable honeybee conservation efforts.

Keywords: honeybee, egg-laying, nutrition, transcriptomics

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Authors: Denis Nono, Catherine Abbo, Thomas Wenzel

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Introduction: The study explored socio-cultural perspectives of childhood disorders and its implications for health seeking. Emphasis was on exploring local understanding and perceptions and how these ideas affect health seeking. Study aim: To explore the socio-cultural perspectives of neuro-developmental disorders and its implications on health seeking behaviour. Methods: The methods used in this study included key informant interviews conducted with health professionals. Parents of the children aged (6-15 years) with neuro-developmental disorders were recruited from the hospital to participate in focus group discussion, participant observation and individual in-depth interviews. Results: The study found out that stigma extended from children to parents and caregivers who were also shunned by community members. Participants described their children as “a gift from God” others described them as “a test from God”. The communities perceive the disorders as a spiritual infliction and always insisted that the children be taken for Acholi cultural and traditional rituals to cleanse children and they believed that mental illness has spiritual linkages. Conclusion: This study gives unique insights into the perceptions of neuro-developmental disorders and health seeking behavior in Gulu District and neighboring communities. The results showed that communities linked disorders to spiritual affliction, misunderstandings between families, bewitching, and other supernatural forces. Some of the participants highly recommended biomedical approaches to prevention, management and control of the disorders.

Keywords: ethnography, health seeking, neuro-developmental disorders, socio-cultural

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Authors: C. L. Huang, J. J. Sia

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The interest-based social networks, also known as social bookmark sharing systems, are useful platforms for people to conveniently read and collect internet resources. These platforms also providing function of social networks, and users can share and explore internet resources from the social networks. Providing personalized internet resources to users is an important issue on these platforms. This study uses two types of relationship on the social networks—following and follower and proposes a collaborative recommender system, consisting of two main steps. First, this study calculates the relationship strength between the target user and the target user's followings and followers to find top-N similar neighbors. Second, from the top-N similar neighbors, the articles (internet resources) that may interest the target user are recommended to the target user. In this system, users can efficiently obtain recent, related and diverse internet resources (knowledge) from the interest-based social network. This study collected the experimental dataset from Diigo, which is a famous bookmark sharing system. The experimental results show that the proposed recommendation model is more accurate than two traditional baseline recommendation models but slightly lower than the cosine model in accuracy. However, in the metrics of the diversity and executing time, our proposed model outperforms the cosine model.

Keywords: recommender systems, social networks, tagging, bookmark sharing systems, collaborative recommender systems, knowledge management

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Authors: May Haggag, Ezzat Fahmy, Mohamed Abdel-Mooty, Sherif Safar

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Sandwich sections have a very complex nature due to variability of behavior of different materials within the section. Cracking, crushing and yielding capacity of constituent materials enforces high complexity of the section. Furthermore, slippage between the different layers adds to the section complex behavior. Conventional methods implemented in current industrial guidelines do not account for the above complexities. Thus, a throughout study is needed to understand the true behavior of the sandwich panels thus, increase the ability to use them effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to conduct numerical investigation using ANSYS software for the structural behavior of sandwich wall section under eccentric loading. Sandwich walls studied herein are composed of two RC faces, a foam core and linking shear connectors. Faces are modeled using solid elements and reinforcement together with connectors are modeled using link elements. The analysis conducted herein is nonlinear static analysis incorporating material nonlinearity, crashing and crushing of concrete and yielding of steel. The model is validated by comparing it to test results in literature. After validation, the model is used to establish extensive parametric analysis to investigate the effect of three key parameters on the axial force bending moment interaction diagram of the walls. These parameters are the concrete compressive strength, face thickness and number of shear connectors. Furthermore, the results of the parametric study are used to predict a coefficient that links the interaction diagram of a solid wall to that of a sandwich wall. The equation is predicted using the parametric study data and regression analysis. The predicted α was used to construct the interaction diagram of the investigated wall and the results were compared with ANSYS results and showed good agreement.

Keywords: sandwich walls, interaction diagrams, numerical modeling, eccentricity, reinforced concrete

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Authors: Oluwabukola Oluwaseyi Oduntan

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The English Language plays a central and strategic role in the school system because almost all the school subjects are taught using the English language. However, students’ achievement in this subject at senior secondary school is not encouraging. Therefore, this study examined the effects of oral-written mode of assessment on senior secondary school students’ achievement in a descriptive essay. It also examined the moderating effects of students’ gender and class on students’ achievement in a descriptive essay. The study adopted a pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design with a 2x2x3 factorial matrix. The participant consisted of 140 Senior Secondary II students drawn from four intact classes from four schools randomly selected from four Local Government Areas randomly selected from Oyo town in Oyo State. Two schools were assigned each to the treatment group and the control group. The following instruments were used for the study: Descriptive Essay Achievement Test (r = 0.78); Descriptive Achievement Test Marking Scheme; Check List of Oral-Written Assessment and Teachers’ Instructional Guide on Descriptive Essay (r = 0.81). Seven null hypotheses guided the study and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance, Estimated Marginal Means and Scheffe post-hoc test. The result revealed that treatment had a significant main effect on students’ achievement in descriptive essay (F(1,127) = 25.407, P < .05, η2 = .167). Students exposed to oral-written assessment had a higher achievement scores ((x ) ̅= 36.15) than those exposed to written assessment ((x ) ̅= 28.55). There was no significant main effect of gender on students’ achievement in descriptive essay (F₍₁, ₁₂₇₎ = .349, P > .05, η2 = .003). The result also revealed that the effects of class was not significant on students’ students’ achievement in descriptive essay (F₍₁, ₁₂₇₎ = .679, P > .05, η2 = .006). Oral-written mode of assessment enhanced students’ achievement in a descriptive essay. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers and curriculum developers should adopt the use of oral-written assessment for better improvement of students’ achievement in a descriptive essay.

Keywords: class, gender, oral-written assessment, written assessment

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Authors: Asma Qudrat, Abid Ullah, Rafi Ullah, Ali Raza, Shah Zeb, Syed Ali Shan Ul-Haq, Shahkar Ahmed Shah, Attiya Hameed Khan, Saad Zaheer, Umama Qasim, Kiran Jamal, Zahoor khan

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Objectives: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major public health issue associated with high mortality and morbidity rate worldwide. Young patients with ACS have unique characteristics with different demographic profiles and risk factors. The precise diagnosis and early risk stratification is important in guiding treatment and predicting the prognosis of young patients with ACS. To evaluate the associated demographics, risk factors, and outcomes profile of ACS in young age patients. Methods: The research follow a retrospective design, the single centre study of patients diagnosis with the first event of ACS in young age (>18 and <40) were included. Data collection included demographic profiles, risk factors, and in-hospital outcomes of young ACS patients. The patient’s data was retrieved through Electronic Medical Records (EMR) of Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC), and all characteristic were assessed. Results: In this study, 77% were male, and 23% were female patients. The risk factors were assessed with CAD and shown significant results (P < 0.01). The most common presentation was STEMI, with (45%) most in ACS young patients. The angiographic pattern showed single vessel disease (SVD) in 49%, double vessel disease (DVD) in 17% and triple vessel disease (TVD) was found in 10%, and Left Artery Disease (LAD) (54%) was present to be the most common involved artery. Conclusion: It is concluded that the male sex was predominant in ACS young age patients. SVD was the common coronary angiographic finding. Risk factors showed significant results towards CAD and common presentations.

Keywords: coronary artery disease, Non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, ST elevation myocardial infarction, unstable angina, acute coronary syndrome

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Authors: F. Fushai, M.Tekere, M. Masafu, F. Siebrits, A. Kanengoni, F. Nherera

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The effects of dietary fibre source on the histomorphology of the ileal epithelium were examined in growing pigs fed high fibre (242-250 g total dietary fibre kg-1 dry matter) diets fortified with Roxazyme® G2. The control was a standard, low fibre (141 g total dietary fibre kg-1 dry matter) diet formulated from dehulled soybean (Glycine max), maize (Zea Mays) meal and hominy chop. Five fibrous diets were evaluated in which fibre was increased by partial substitution of the grains in the control diet with maize cobs, soybean hulls, barley (Hordeum vulgare L) brewer’s grains, Lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay or wheat (Triticum aestivum) bran. Each diet was duplicated and 220 mg Roxazyme® G2 kg-1 dry mater was added to one of the mixtures. Seventy-two intact Large White X Landrace male pigs of weight 32 ± 5.6 kg pigs were randomly allocated to the diets in a complete randomised design with a 2 (fibre source) X (enzyme) factorial arrangement of treatments. The pigs were fed ad libitum for 10 weeks. Ileal tissue samples were taken at slaughter, at a point 50cm above the ileal-caecal valve. Villi length and area, and crypt depth were measured by computerised image analyses. The villi length: crypt ratio was calculated. The diet and the supplemental enzyme cocktail did not affect (p>0.05) any of the measured parameters. Significant (p=0.016) diet X enzyme interaction was observed for villi length whereby the enzyme reduced the villi length of pigs on the soy-hulls, standard and wheat bran diets, with an opposite effect on pigs on the maize cob, brewer’s grain, Lucerne diets. The results suggested fibre-source dependent changes in the morphology of the ileal epithelium of pigs fed high fibre, maize-soybean diets fortified with Roxazyme® G2.

Keywords: fibre, growing pigs, histomorphology, ileum, Roxazyme® G2

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Authors: Thorsten Auer, Sumaya Islam, Sabrina Plaß, Colin Wooldridge

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Whether individuals are more likely to forgo some ethical values if it is for a “great” social mission remains questionable. Research interest in the mechanism of moral disengagement has risen sharply in the organizational context over the last decades. Moral disengagement provides an explanatory approach to why individuals decide against their moral intent and describes the tendency to make unethical decisions due to a lack of self-regulation given various actions and their consequences. In our study, we examine the differences between individual decision-making given a commercial and social entrepreneurial context. Thereby, we investigate whether individuals in a social entrepreneurial context, characterized by pro-social goals and purpose beyond profit maximization, tend to make more or less “unethical” decisions in trade-off situations than those given a profit-focused commercial, entrepreneurial context. While a general priming effect may explain the tendency for individuals to make less unethical decisions given a social context, it remains unclear how individuals decide given a trade-off in that specific context. The trade-off in our study is characterized by the option to decide (un-) ethically to enhance the business purpose (in the social context, a social purpose, in the commercial context, a profit-maximization purpose). To investigate which characteristics of the context –and specifically of a trade-off – lead individuals to disregard and override their ethical values for a “greater good”, we design a conjoint analysis. This approach allows us to vary the attributes and scenarios and to test which attributes of a trade-off increase the probability of making an unethical choice. We add survey data to examine the individual propensity to morally disengage as an influencing factor to prefer certain attributes. Currently, we are in the final process of designing the conjoint analysis and plan to conduct the study by December 2022. We contribute to a better understanding of the role of moral disengagement in individual decision-making in a (social) entrepreneurial trade-off.

Keywords: moral disengagement, social entrepreneurship, unethical decision, conjoint analysis

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Authors: Laid Fekih

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Background: The purpose of this paper is to examine the psychological stressors caused by urbanization, a field study conducted on a sample range of youth who live in urban areas. Some of them reside in areas with green surroundings while others reside in lack of green areas, which saw the terrible expansion of urban. The study included the impact of urbanization on the mental health of youths; select the psychological problems most commonly caused by urbanization, and the impact of green spaces in alleviating stress. Method: The method used in this research is descriptive, as the data collected from a sample of 160 young men were analyzed. The tool used is the psychological distress test. We proceeded with some statistical techniques, which provided percentages, analysis of variance, and t-tests. Results: The findings of this research were: (i) The psychological stressors caused by urban expansion are mainly in the intensity of stress, incompetence, emotional, and psychosomatic problems. (ii) There was a statistically significant difference at the level of significance 0.02 among young people who live in places in green spaces and without green space in terms of psychological stressors, in favor of young people who live in places free of greenery. (iii) The quality of this primary variable effect of housing (rental or ownership) is statistically significant in favor of young people living in rented accommodation. Conclusion: The green spaces provided by Tlemcen city are inadequate and insufficient to fulfill the population's requirements for contact with nature, leading to such effects that may negatively affect mental health, which makes it a prominent process that should not be neglected. Incorporating green spaces into the design of buildings, homes, and communities to create shared spaces, which facilitate interaction and foster well-being, becomes the main purpose. We think this approach can support the reconstruction of the built environment with green spaces by facilitating the link between psychological stress perception studies and technologies.

Keywords: psychological stressors, urbanization, psychological problems, green spaces

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Authors: Philippe Dillien, Patrice Forget, Harald Engel, Olivier Cornu, Marc De Kock, Jean Cyr Yombi

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Introduction: Hip fracture precedes commonly death in elderly people. Identification of high-risk patients may contribute to target patients in whom optimal management, resource allocation and trials efficiency is needed. The aim of this study is to construct a predictive score of mortality after hip fracture on the basis of the objective prognostic factors available: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), age, and sex. C-Reactive Protein (CRP), is also considered as an alternative to the NLR. Patients and methods: After the IRB approval, we analyzed our prospective database including 286 consecutive patients with hip fracture. A score was constructed combining age (1 point per decade above 74 years), sex (1 point for males), and NLR at postoperative day+5 (1 point if >5). A receiver-operating curve (ROC) curve analysis was performed. Results: From the 286 patients included, 235 were analyzed (72 males and 163 females, 30.6%/69.4%), with a median age of 84 (range: 65 to 102) years, mean NLR values of 6.47+/-6.07. At one year, 82/280 patients died (29.3%). Graphical analysis and log-rank test confirm a highly statistically significant difference (P<0.001). Performance analysis shows an AUC of 0.72 [95%CI 0.65-0.79]. CRP shows no advantage on NLR. Conclusion: We have developed a score based on age, sex and the NLR to predict the risk of mortality at one year in elderly patients after surgery for a hip fracture. After external validation, it may be included in clinical practice as in clinical research to stratify the risk of postoperative mortality.

Keywords: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, hip fracture, postoperative mortality, medical and health sciences

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Authors: Abd-Alrahman Embaby, Ayman Abu Halawa, Medhat Ramadan

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The infiltrated water into the subsurface activates expansive soil in localized manner, leading to the differential heaving and destructive of the construction. The Watershed Modeling System (WMS) and Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC-1) are used to delineate and identify the drainage system and basin morphometry in Tabuk area, where flash floods and accumulation of water may take place. Eight drainage basins effect on Tabuk city. Three of them are expected to be high. The flash floods and surface runoff behavior in these basins are important for any protection projects. It was found that the risky areas that contain Tabuk shale could be expanded when exposed to flash floods and/or surface runoff. The resident neighborhoods in the middle of Tabuk city and affected by surface runoff of the tributaries of the basin of Wadi Abu Nishayfah, Na'am and Atanah outlet, represent high-risk zones. These high-risk neighborhoods are Al Qadsiyah, Al Maseif, Arrwdah, Al Nakhil and Al Rajhi. It can be avoided new constructions on these districts. The low or very low-risk zones include the western and the eastern districts. The western side of the city is lying in the upstream of the small basin. It is suitable for a future urban extension. The direction of surface runoff flow or storm water drain discharge should be away from Tabuk city. The quicker the water can flow out, the better it is.

Keywords: digital elevation model (DEM), flash floods, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk City, watershed modeling system (WMS)

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Authors: Tsegahun Milkesa

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This study investigates the implementation of Power-Line Communications (PLC) as a sustainable solution for home automation in Ethiopia. With the country's growing technological landscape and the quest for efficient energy use, this research explores the potential of PLC to facilitate smart home systems, aiming to enhance connectivity and energy management. The primary objective is to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of PLC in Ethiopian residences, considering factors such as infrastructure compatibility, reliability, and scalability. By analyzing existing PLC technologies and their adaptability to local contexts, this study aims to propose optimized solutions tailored to the Ethiopian environment. The research methodology involves a combination of literature review, field surveys, and experimental setups to evaluate PLC's performance in transmitting data and controlling various home appliances. Additionally, socioeconomic implications, including affordability and accessibility, are examined to ensure the technology's inclusivity in diverse Ethiopian households. The findings will contribute insights into the viability of PLC for sustainable connectivity in Ethiopian homes, shedding light on its potential to revolutionize energy-efficient and interconnected living spaces. Ultimately, this study seeks to pave the way for accessible and eco-friendly smart home solutions in Ethiopia, aligning with the nation's aspirations for technological advancement and sustainability.

Keywords: sustainable connectivity, power-line communications (PLC), home automation, Ethiopia, smart homes, energy efficiency, connectivity solutions, infrastructure development, sustainable living

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Authors: Violina Angelova

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A comparative study has been carried out into the impact of organic meliorants on the uptake of heavy metals, micro and macroelements and the phytoremediation potential of enhanced tobacco BAC F3. The soil used as part of this experiment was sampled from the vicinity of the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The pot experiment carried out consisted of a randomized, complete block design containing nine treatments and three replications (27 pots). The treatments consisted of a control (with no organic meliorants) and compost and vermicompost meliorants (added at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 30%, and recalculated based on their dry soil weight). Upon reaching commercial ripeness, the tobacco plants were gathered. Heavy metals, micro and macroelement contents in roots, stems, and leaves of tobacco were analyzed by the method of the microwave mineralization. To determine the elements in the samples, inductively coupled emission spectrometry (Jobin Yvon Emission - JY 38 S, France) was used. The distribution of the heavy metals, micro, and macroelements in the organs of the enhanced tobacco has a selective character and depended above all on the parts of the plants and the element that was examined. Pb, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, P and Mg distribution in tobacco decreases in the following order: roots > leaves > stems, and for Cd, K, and Ca - leaves > roots > stems. The high concentration of Cd in the leaves and the high translocation factor indicate the possibility of enhanced tobacco to be used in phytoextraction. Tested organic amendments significantly influenced the uptake of heavy metals, micro and macroelements by the roots, stems, and leaves of tobacco. A correlation was found between the quantity of the mobile forms and the uptake of Pb, Zn, and Cd by the enhanced tobacco. The compost and vermicompost treatments significantly reduced heavy metals concentration in leaves and increased uptake of K, Ca and Mg. The 30% compost and 30% vermicompost treatments led to the maximal reduction of heavy metals in enhanced tobacco BAC F3. The addition of compost and vermicompost further reduces the ability to digest the heavy metals in the leaves, and phytoremediation potential of enhanced tobacco BAC F3. Acknowledgment: The financial support by the Bulgarian National Science Fund Project DFNI Н04/9 is greatly appreciated.

Keywords: heavy metals, micro and macroelements, enhanced tobacco BAC F3, phytoremediation, organic meliorants

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Authors: Iin Mayasari

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This study aims at exploring the influence of aspects of entrepreneurial marketing on a firm’s performance. Entrepreneurs are not only supported by resources control to obtain sustainable competitive advantage, but it should also be supported by intangible resources. Entrepreneurial marketing provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs to proactively find better ways to create value for desired customers, to create innovation, and to build customer equity. Entrepreneurial marketing has the medium between entrepreneurship and marketing, and serves as an umbrella for many of the emergent perspectives on marketing. It has eight underlying dimensions. They are proactiveness, calculated risk-taking, innovativeness, an opportunity focus, entrepreneurial orientation, resource leveraging, customer intensity, and value creating. The research method of the study was a qualitative study by having an interview with 8 small companies in Kudus Region, the Central Java, Indonesia. The interviewees were the owner and the manager of the company that had the scope work of small business enterprise in wood crafting industry. The interview was related to the implementation of the elements of the entrepreneurial marketing. The result showed that the small business enterprises had implemented the elements of entrepreneurial marketing in supporting their daily activities. The understanding based on the theoretical implementation was well executed by the owner and managers. The problems in managing small business enterprises were related to the full support by the government and the branding management. Furthermore, the innovation process should be improved especially the use of internet to promote the product, to expand the market and to increase the firm’s performance.

Keywords: entrepreneurial marketing, innovativeness, risk taking, opportunity focus

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Authors: Lucky Dartsa Wakawa, Friday Nwabueze Ogana, Temitope Elizabeth Adeniyi

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Timely and reliable information on the status of a forest is essential for assessing the extent of regeneration and degradation. However, when such information is lacking effective forest management practices becomes impossible. Therefore, this study assessed the tree species composition, richness, diversity, structure of Oluwa forest reserve with the view of ascertaining it conservation status. A systematic line transect was used in the laying of eight (8) temporary sample plots (TSPs) of size 50m x 50m. Trees with Dbh ≥ 10cm in the selected plots were enumerated, identified and measured. The results indicate that 535 individual trees were enumerated cutting across 26 families and 58 species. The family Sterculiaceae recorded the highest number of species (10) and occurrence (112) representing 17.2% and 20.93% respectively. Celtis zenkeri is the species with the highest number of occurrence of tree per hectare and importance value index (IVI) of 59 and 53.81 respectively. The reserve has the Margalef's index of species richness, Shannon-Weiner diversity Index (H') and Pielou's Species Evenness Index (EH) of 9.07, 3.43 and 0.84 respectively. The forest has a mean Dbh (cm), mean height (m), total basal area/ha (m2) and total volume/ha (m3) of 24.7, 16.9, 36.63 and 602.09 respectively. The important tropical tree species identified includes Diospyros crassiflora Milicia excels, Mansonia altisima, Triplochiton scleroxylon. Despite the level of exploitation in the forest, the forest seems to be resilience. Given the right attention, it could regenerate and replenish to save some of the original species composition of the reserve.

Keywords: forest conservation, forest structure, Lowland tropical forest, South-west Nigeria

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Authors: Diana A. Pazmino, Lynne vanHerwerden, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Claudia Junge, Stephen C. Donnellan, Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla, Clinton A. J. Duffy, Charlie Huveneers, Bronwyn Gillanders, Paul A. Butcher, Gregory E. Maes

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With just a handful of documented cases of hybridisation in cartilaginous fishes, shark hybridisation remains poorly investigated. Small amounts of admixture have been detected between Galapagos (Carcharhinus galapagensis) and dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus) sharks previously, generating a hypothesis of ongoing hybridisation. We sampled a large number of individuals from areas where both species co-occur (contact zones) across the Pacific Ocean and used both mitochondrial and nuclear-encoded SNPs to examine genetic admixture and introgression between the two species. Using empirical, analytical approaches and simulations, we first developed a set of 1,873 highly informative and reliable diagnostic SNPs for these two species to evaluate the degree of admixture between them. Overall, results indicate a high discriminatory power of nuclear SNPs (FST=0.47, p < 0.05) between the two species, unlike mitochondrial DNA (ΦST = 0.00 p > 0.05), which failed to differentiate between these species. We identified four hybrid individuals (~1%) and detected bi-directional introgression between C. galapagensis and C. obscurus in the Gulf of California along the eastern Pacific coast of the Americas. We emphasize the importance of including a combination of mtDNA and diagnostic nuclear markers to properly assess species identification, detect patterns of hybridisation, and better inform management and conservation of these sharks, especially given the morphological similarities within the genus Carcharhinus.

Keywords: elasmobranchs, single nucleotide polymorphisms, hybridisation, introgression, misidentification

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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: Ali Göksenli, Barlas Eryürek

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In this study, failure analysis of pipe system at a micro hydroelectric power plant is investigated. Failure occurred at the pipe system in the powerhouse during shut down operation of the water flow by a valve. This locking had caused a sudden shock wave, also called “Water-hammer effect”, resulting in noise and inside pressure increase. After visual investigation of the effect of the shock wave on the system, a circumference crack was observed at the pipe flange weld region. To establish the reason for crack formation, calculations of pressure and stress values at pipe, flange and welding seams were carried out and concluded that safety factor was high (2.2), indicating that no faulty design existed. By further analysis, pipe system and hydroelectric power plant was examined. After observations it is determined that the plant did not include a ventilation nozzle (air trap), that prevents the system of sudden pressure increase inside the pipes which is caused by water-hammer effect. Analyses were carried out to identify the influence of water-hammer effect on inside pressure increase and it was concluded that, according Jowkowsky’s equation, shut down time is effective on inside pressure increase. The valve closing time was uncertain but by a shut down time of even one minute, inside pressure would increase by 7.6 bar (working pressure was 34.6 bar). Detailed investigations were also carried out on the assembly of the pipe-flange system by considering technical drawings. It was concluded that the pipe-flange system was not installed according to the instructions. Two of five weld seams were not applied and one weld was carried out faulty. This incorrect and inadequate weld seams resulted in; insufficient connection of the pipe to the flange constituting a strong notch effect at weld seam regions, increase in stress values and the decrease of strength and safety factor

Keywords: failure analysis, hydroelectric plant, crack, shock wave, welding seam

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Authors: Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi Sanjani, Ashknaz Oraee, Oriol Gomis Bellmunt, Vinicius Albernaz Lacerda Freitas

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The use of distributed and renewable sources in power systems has grown significantly, recently. One the most popular sources are wind farms which have grown massively. However, ¬wind farms are connected to the grid, this can cause problems such as reduced voltage stability, frequency fluctuations and reduced dynamic stability. Variable speed generators (asynchronous) are used due to the uncontrollability of wind speed specially Doubley Fed Induction Generators (DFIG). The most important disadvantage of DFIGs is its sensitivity to voltage drop. In the case of faults, a large volume of reactive power is induced therefore, use of FACTS devices such as SVC and STATCOM are suitable for improving system output performance. They increase the capacity of lines and also passes network fault conditions. In this paper, in addition to modeling the reactive power control system in a DFIG with converter, FACTS devices have been used in a DFIG wind turbine to improve the stability of the power system containing two synchronous sources. In the following paper, recent optimal control systems have been designed to minimize fluctuations caused by system disturbances, for FACTS devices employed. For this purpose, a suitable method for the selection of nine parameters for MPSH-phase-post-phase compensators of reactive power compensators is proposed. The design algorithm is formulated ¬¬as an optimization problem searching for optimal parameters in the controller. Simulation results show that the proposed controller Improves the stability of the network and the fluctuations are at desired speed.

Keywords: renewable energy sources, optimization wind power plant, stability, reactive power compensator, double-feed induction generator, optimal control, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Saman Khan, Imrana Naseem

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Copper is an essential trace element required for pro-angiogenic co-factors including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Elevated levels of copper are found in various types of cancer including prostrate, colon, breast, lung and liver for angiogensis and metastasis. Therefore, targeting copper via copper-specific chelators in cancer cells can be developed as effective anticancer treatment strategy. In continuation of our pursuit to design and synthesize copper chelators, herein we opted for a reaction to incorporate di-(2-picolyl) amine in 3-(bromoacetyl) coumarin (parent backbone) for the synthesis of complex 1. We evaluated lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation, ROS generation, DNA damage and consequent apoptosis by complex 1 in exogenously added Cu(II) in human peripheral lymphocytes (simulate malignancy condition). Results showed that Cu(II)-complex 1 interaction leads to cell proliferation inhibition, apoptosis, ROS generation and DNA damage in human lymphocytes, and these effects were abrogated by cuprous chelator neocuproine and ROS scavengers (thiourea, catalase, SOD). This indicates that complex 1 cytotoxicity is due to redox cycling of copper to generate ROS which leads to pro-oxidant cell death in cancer cells. To further confirm our hypothesis, using the rat model of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) induced hepatocellular carcinoma; we showed that complex 1 mediates DNA breakage and cell death in isolated carcinoma cells. Membrane permeant copper chelator, neocuproine, and ROS scavengers inhibited the complex 1-mediated cellular DNA degradation and apoptosis. In summary, complex 1 anticancer activity is due to its copper chelation capability. These results will provide copper chelation as an effective targeted cancer treatment strategy for selective cytotoxic action against malignant cells without affecting normal cells.

Keywords: cancer treatment, copper chelation, ROS generation, DNA damage, redox cycling, apoptosis

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Authors: Getenet Shumet Birhan, Biruk Lelisa Eticha, Gizachew Tilahun Belete, Fisseha Admassu Ayele

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Context: Glaucoma is a significant public health concern globally, being the second leading cause of blindness. This study focuses on adult glaucoma patients in Ethiopia, specifically at the University of Gondar. Research Aim: The main objective is to assess the prevalence of visual impairment and identify associated factors among adult glaucoma patients at the University of Gondar. Methodology: The study used an institution-based cross-sectional design, collecting data from 423 glaucoma patients through interviews and medical chart reviews. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were employed for analysis. Findings: The study found a high prevalence of visual impairment (77.6%) among adult glaucoma patients, with factors such as female sex, rural residence, glaucoma type, disease stage, and duration of diagnosis significantly associated with visual impairment. Theoretical Importance: This research adds valuable insights into the prevalence and determinants of visual impairment among glaucoma patients in Ethiopia, contributing to the existing literature on eye health in low-resource settings. Data Collection: Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and medical chart reviews at the University of Gondar, utilizing a structured questionnaire. Analysis Procedures: Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and binary logistic regression were employed to analyze the data and identify factors associated with visual impairment in adult glaucoma patients. Question Addressed: The study sought to answer the question of the prevalence of visual impairment and its associated factors among adult glaucoma patients at the University of Gondar in Northwest Ethiopia. Conclusion: The research concludes that visual impairment is significantly high among adult glaucoma patients in this setting, with several factors playing a role in its occurrence.

Keywords: visual impairment, glaucoma, Ethiopia, Gondar

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Authors: Jiang Yuqi

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Aims: The aim is to analyze the facilitators and barriers of family resilience in cancer patients based on the theoretical domain framework, provide a basis for intervention in the family resilience of cancer patients, and identify the progress and enlightenment of existing intervention projects. Methods: NVivo software was used to code the influencing factors using the framework of 14 theoretical domains as primary nodes; secondary nodes were then refined using thematic analysis, and specific influencing factors were aggregated and analyzed for evaluator reliability. Data sources: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CNKI, and Wanfang (search dates: from construction to November 2023). Results: A total of 35 papers were included, with 142 coding points across 14 theoretical domains and 38 secondary nodes. The three most relevant theoretical domains are social influences (norms), the environment and resources, and emotions (mood). The factors with the greatest impact were family support, mood, confidence and beliefs, external support, quality of life, economic circumstances, family adaptation, coping styles with illness, and management. Conclusion: The factors influencing family resilience in cancer patients cover most of the theoretical domains in the Theoretical Domains Framework and are cross-cutting, multi-sourced, and complex. Further in-depth exploration of the key factors influencing family resilience is necessary to provide a basis for intervention research.

Keywords: cancer, survivors, family resilience, theoretical domains framework, literature review

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Authors: Kavian Khosravinia, Mohd Khair Hassan, Ribhan Zafira Abdul Rahman, Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Haddad

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The CAN (controller area network) bus is introduced as a multi-master, message broadcast system. The messages sent on the CAN are used to communicate state information, referred as a signal between different ECUs, which provides data consistency in every node of the system. OBD-II Dongles that are based on request and response method is the wide-spread solution for extracting sensor data from cars among researchers. Unfortunately, most of the past researches do not consider resolution and quantity of their input data extracted through OBD-II technology. The maximum feasible scan rate is only 9 queries per second which provide 8 data points per second with using ELM327 as well-known OBD-II dongle. This study aims to develop and design a programmable, and latency-sensitive vehicle data acquisition system that improves the modularity and flexibility to extract exact, trustworthy, and fresh car sensor data with higher frequency rates. Furthermore, the researcher must break apart, thoroughly inspect, and observe the internal network of the vehicle, which may cause severe damages to the expensive ECUs of the vehicle due to intrinsic vulnerabilities of the CAN bus during initial research. Desired sensors data were collected from various vehicles utilizing Raspberry Pi3 as computing and processing unit with using OBD (request-response) and direct CAN method at the same time. Two types of data were collected for this study. The first, CAN bus frame data that illustrates data collected for each line of hex data sent from an ECU and the second type is the OBD data that represents some limited data that is requested from ECU under standard condition. The proposed system is reconfigurable, human-readable and multi-task telematics device that can be fitted into any vehicle with minimum effort and minimum time lag in the data extraction process. The standard operational procedure experimental vehicle network test bench is developed and can be used for future vehicle network testing experiment.

Keywords: CAN bus, OBD-II, vehicle data acquisition, connected cars, telemetry, Raspberry Pi3

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Authors: Yananda Siraphatthada

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The current study was the succession of a previous study on value added of recycling business management. Its aims are to 1) explore conditions on how to increasing value add of Thai recycling business, and 2) exam the implementation of the 3-staged plan (short, medium, and long term), suggested by the former study, to increase value added of the recycling business as immediate mechanisms to accelerate government operation. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this research. A qualitative research consisted of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Responses were obtained from owners of the waste separation plants, and recycle shops, as well as officers in relevant governmental agencies. They were randomly selected via Quota Sampling. Data was analyzed via content analysis. The sample used for quantitative method consisted of 1,274 licensed recycling operators in eight provinces. The operators were randomly stratified via sampling method. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics frequency, percentage, average (mean), and standard deviation. The study recommended three-staged plan: short, medium, and long terms. The plan included the development of logistics, the provision of quality market/plants, the amendment of recycling rules/regulation, the restructuring recycling business, the establishment of green-purchasing recycling center, support for the campaigns run by the International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN), conferences/workshops as a public forum to share insights among experts/concern people.

Keywords: strategies, value added, recycle, business

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Authors: Adel A. Ghoneim

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Desalination using solar energy is an interesting option specifically at regions with abundant solar radiation since such areas normally have scarcity of clean water resources. Desalination is the procedure of eliminating dissolved minerals from seawater or brackish water to generate fresh water. In this work, a simulation program is developed to determine the performance of reverse osmosis (RO) water desalination plant powered by high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) panels in Kuwait climate conditions. The objective of such a photovoltaic thermal system is to accomplish a double output, i.e., co-generation of both electricity and fresh water that is applicable for rural regions with high solar irradiation. The suggested plan enables to design an RO plant that does not depend on costly batteries or additional land and significantly reduce the government costs to subsidize the water generation cost. Typical weather conditions for Kuwait is employed as input to the simulation program. The simulation program is utilized to optimize the system efficiency as well as the distillate water production. The areas and slopes of HCPV modules are varied to attain maximum yearly power production. Maximum yearly distillate production and HCPV energy generation are found to correspond to HCPV facing south with tilt of 27° (Kuwait latitude-3°). The power needed to produce 1 l of clean drinking water ranged from 2 to 8 kW h/m³, based on the salinity of the feed water and the system operating conditions. Moreover, adapting HCPV systems achieve an avoided greenhouse gases emission by about 1128 ton CO₂ annually. Present outcomes certainly illustrate environmental advantages of water desalination system powered by high concentrated photovoltaic systems in Kuwait climate conditions.

Keywords: desalination, high concentrated photovoltaic systems, reverse osmosis, solar radiation

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Authors: Khorief Ouissem, Sassi Boudmagh Souad, Mahimoud Aissa

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The health and safety problem in the construction companies has been a major subject of research in Algeria for many years. The latest statistics of the Algerian National Social Security Fund (CNAS) shows that a third of accidents recorded at the national level are originated from construction activities. It is becoming increasingly essential and urgent to investigate and address its causes in order to find measures to overcome the deficiencies in this area. Thus, this paper takes in investigating this problem through a study conducted in the city of Skikda, Algeria. The study was carried out through questionnaire where twenty construction companies were taking into consideration. First, the study identifies the regulations and the laws related to the health and safety in the construction sector in Algeria. Then it goes on to assess and evaluate the implementation of the identified regulations in the companies selected. The result of the assessment indicates that the majority of the construction companies considered do not meet the health and safety standards and regulations. To extract the main causes of the failure of the system to control this industry, the observations and the evaluation were analyzed using the 5M or Ichikawa diagram method. This method is based on identifying the causes of the problem in terms of purpose, the list of potential causes for families. These families often correspond to 5M (Labor, Material, Methods, Middle, and Management). Finally, having identified the primary motives, the present authors propose a list of actions to move towards a more controlled and effective health and safety system for the construction industry.

Keywords: health and safety, construction industry, performance measurement, Algeria

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Authors: Abdelmoniem A. Attaelmanan, Ahmed A. H. Siddig

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This study was conducted in light of continual global climate changes that projected increasing aridity, changes in soil fertility, and pollution. Plant growth and development largely depend on the combination of availing water and nutrients in the soil. Changes in the climate and atmospheric chemistry can cause serious effects on these growth factors. Plant carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) play a fundamental role in the maintenance of ecosystem structure and function. Hashab (Acacia senegal), which produces gum Arabic, supports dryland ecosystems in tropical zones by its potentiality to restore degraded soils; hence it is ecologically and economically important for the dry areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The study aims at investigating the effects of water stress (simulated drought) and poor soil type on Acacia senegal C, N, and H contents. Seven days old seedlings were assigned to the treatments in Split- plot design for four weeks. The main plot is irrigation interval (well-watered and water-stressed), and the subplot is soil types (silt and sand soils). Seedling's C%, N%, and H% were measured using CHNS-O Analyzer and applying Standard Test Method. Irrigation intervals and soil types had no effects on seedlings and leaves C%, N%, and H%, irrigation interval had affected stem C and H%, both irrigation intervals and soil types had affected root N% and interaction effect of water and soil was found on leaves and root's N%. Synthesis application of well-watered irrigation with soil that is rich in N and other nutrients would result in the greatest seedling C, N, and H content which will enhance growth and biomass accumulation and can play a crucial role in ecosystem productivity and services in the dryland regions.

Keywords: Acacia senegal, Africa, climate change, drylands, nutrients biomass, Sub-Saharan, Sudan

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Magdalena Escamilla Quintal, Thelma Cetina Canto, Cecilia Aguilar Ortega

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Due to the importance that people represent for companies, the setting of a clear control of the risks that threaten the health and the material and financial resources of workers is essential. It is irrelevant if the company is a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a large multinational, or if it is in the construction or service sector. The risk prevention importance is related to a constitutional and human right that all people have; working in a risk-free environment to prevent accidents or illnesses that may influence their quality of life and the tranquility of their family. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the level of psychosocial risks (physical and emotional) of the employees of an SME. The participants of this study were 186 employees of a productive sector SME; 151 men and 35 women, all with an average age of 31.77 years. Their seniority inside the SME was between one month and 19.91 years. Ninety-six workers were from the production area, 28 from the management area, as well as 25 from the sales area and 40 from the supplies area. Ninety-three workers were found in Uman, 78 in Playa del Carmen, 11 in Cancun and seven in Cd. del Carmen. We found a statistically significant relationship between the burnout variable and the engagement and psychosomatic complaints as well as between the variables of sex, burnout and psychosomatic complaints. We can conclude that, for benefit of the SME, that there are low levels of burnout and psychosomatic complaints, the women experience major levels of burnout and the men show major levels of psychosomatic complaints. The findings, contributions, limitations and future proposals will be analyzed.

Keywords: psychosocial risks, SME, burnout, engagement, psychosomatic complaints

Procedia PDF Downloads 332