Search results for: science content area literacy

Authors: Tina Stavredes

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Increasingly borderless learning opportunities including online learning are expanding. Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS) conducted research in February of 2017 to determine the level of consumer interest in undertaking a completely online distance learning degree program across three countries in the Asian Pacific region. The target audience was potential bachelor degree and post-degree students from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The results gathered were used to assess the market size and ascertain the business potential of online degree programs in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Secondly, the results were used to determine the most receptive markets to prioritise entry and identify the most receptive student segments. In order to achieve the key outcomes, the key points of understanding were as follows: -Motivations for higher education & factors that influence the choice of institution, -Interest in online learning, -Interest in online learning from a Singapore university relative to other foreign institutions, -Key drivers and barriers of interest in online learning. An online survey was conducted from from 7th Feb 2017 to 27th Feb 2017 amongst n=600 respondents aged 21yo-45yo, who have a basic command of English, A-level qualifications and above, and who have an intent to further their education in the next 12 months. Key findings from the study regarding enrolling in an online program include the need for a marriage between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors and the flexibility and support offered in an online program. Overall, there was a high interest for online learning. Survey participants stated they are intrinsically motivated to learn because of their interest in the program of study and the need for extrinsic rewards including opportunities for employment or salary increment in their current job. Seven out of ten survey participants reported they are motivated to further their education and expand their knowledge to become more employable. Eight in ten claims that the feasibility of furthering their education depends on cost and maintaining a work-life balance. The top 2 programs of interest are business and information and communication technology. They describe their choice of university as a marriage of both motivational and feasibility factors including cost, choice, quality of support facilities, and the reputation of the institution. Survey participants reported flexibility as important and stated that appropriate support assures and grows their intent to enrol in an online program. Respondents also reported the importance of being able to work while studying as the main perceived advantage of online learning. Factors related to the choice of an online university emphasized the quality of support services. Despite concerns, overall there was a high interest for online learning. One in two expressed strong intent to enrol in an online programme of study. However, unfamiliarity with online learning is a concern including the concern with the lack of face-to-face interactions. Overall, the findings demonstrated an interest in online learning. A main driver was the ability to earn a recognised degree while still being able to be with the family and the ability to achieve a ‘better’ early career growth.

Keywords: distance education, student motivations, online learning, online student needs

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Authors: Aleksandra Rajewska-Rager, Maria Skibinska, Monika Dmitrzak-Weglarz, Natalia Lepczynska, Pawel Kapelski, Joanna Pawlak, Joanna Hauser

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Introduction: Inflammation and cytokines have emerged as a promising target in mood disorders research; however there are still very limited numbers of study regarding inflammatory alterations among adolescents and young adults with mood disorders. The Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) and Stem Cell Factor (SCF) are the pleiotropic cytokines which may play an important role in mood disorders pathophysiology. The aim of this study was to investigate levels of these factors in serum of adolescent and young adults with mood disorders compared to healthy controls. Subjects: We involved 79 patients aged 12-24 years in 2-year follow-up study with a primary diagnosis of mood disorders: bipolar disorder (BP) and unipolar disorder with BP spectrum. Study group includes 23 males (mean age 19.08, SD 3.3) and 56 females (18.39, SD 3.28). Control group consisted 35 persons: 7 males (20.43, SD 4.23) and 28 females (21.25, SD 2.11). Clinical diagnoses according to DSM-IV-TR criteria were assessed using Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (SCID) in young adults respectively. Clinical assessment includes evaluation of clinical factors and symptoms severity (rated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale). Clinical and biological evaluations were made at control visits respectively at baseline (week 0), euthymia (at month 3 or 6) and after 12 and 24 months. Methods: Serum protein concentration was determined by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) method. Human MIF and SCF DuoSet ELISA kits were used. In the analyses non-parametric tests were used: Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, Friedman’s ANOVA, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Spearman correlation. We defined statistical significance as p < 0.05. Results: Comparing MIF and SCF levels between acute episode of depression/hypo/mania at baseline and euthymia (at month 3 or 6) we did not find any statistical differences. At baseline patients with age above 18 years old had decreased MIF level compared to patients younger than 18 years. MIF level at baseline positively correlated with age (p=0.004). Positive correlations of SCF level at month 3 and 6 with depression or mania occurrence at month 24 (p=0.03 and p=0.04, respectively) was detected. Strong correlations between MIF and SCF levels at baseline (p=0.0005) and month 3 (p=0.03) were observed. Discussion: Our results did not show any differences in MIF and SCF levels between acute episode of depression/hypo/mania and euthymia in young patients. Further studies on larger groups are recommended. Grant was founded by National Science Center in Poland no 2011/03/D/NZ5/06146.

Keywords: cytokines, MIF, mood disorders, SCF

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Authors: Eylem Tas

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This empirical study aims to explore the development of students' entrepreneurial skills through problem-based learning within the context of university-industry collaborations (UICs) in curriculum co-design and co-delivery (CDD). The research question guiding this study is: "How do problem-based learning and university-industry collaborations influence the development of students' entrepreneurial skills in the context of curriculum co-design and co-delivery?” To address this question, the study was conducted in a big city in Germany and involved interviews with stakeholders from various industries, including the private sector, government agencies (govt), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These stakeholders had established collaborative partnerships with the targeted university for projects encompassing entrepreneurial development aspects in CDD. The study sought to gain insights into the intricacies and subtleties of UIC dynamics and their impact on fostering entrepreneurial skills. Qualitative content analysis, based on Mayring's guidelines, was employed to analyze the interview transcriptions. Through an iterative process of manual coding, 442 codes were generated, resulting in two main sections: "the role of problem-based learning and UIC in fostering entrepreneurship" and "challenges and requirements of problem-based learning within UIC for systematical entrepreneurship development.” The chosen experimental approach of semi-structured interviews was justified by its capacity to provide in-depth perspectives and rich data from stakeholders with firsthand experience in UICs in CDD. By enlisting participants with diverse backgrounds, industries, and company sizes, the study ensured a comprehensive and heterogeneous sample, enhancing the credibility of the findings. The first section of the analysis delved into problem-based learning and entrepreneurial self-confidence to gain a deeper understanding of UIC dynamics from an industry standpoint. It explored factors influencing problem-based learning, alignment of students' learning styles and preferences with the experiential learning approach, specific activities and strategies, and the role of mentorship from industry professionals in fostering entrepreneurial self-confidence. The second section focused on various interactions within UICs, including communication, knowledge exchange, and collaboration. It identified key elements, patterns, and dynamics of interaction, highlighting challenges and limitations. Additionally, the section emphasized success stories and notable outcomes related to UICs' positive impact on students' entrepreneurial journeys. Overall, this research contributes valuable insights into the dynamics of UICs and their role in fostering students' entrepreneurial skills. UICs face challenges in communication and establishing a common language. Transparency, adaptability, and regular communication are vital for successful collaboration. Realistic expectation management and clearly defined frameworks are crucial. Responsible data handling requires data assurance and confidentiality agreements, emphasizing the importance of trust-based relationships when dealing with data sharing and handling issues. The identified key factors and challenges provide a foundation for universities and industrial partners to develop more effective UIC strategies for enhancing students' entrepreneurial capabilities and preparing them for success in today's digital age labor market. The study underscores the significance of collaborative learning and transparent communication in UICs for entrepreneurial development in CDD.

Keywords: collaborative learning, curriculum co-design and co-delivery, entrepreneurial skills, problem-based learning, university-industry collaborations

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Authors: Mohammad Javaherian, Siamak Bashardoust Tajali, Monavvar Hadizadeh

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Objective: This systematic review study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Pulsed Electromagnetic (PEMF) and Static Magnetic Fields (SMG) on pain relief and functional improvement in patients with musculoskeletal Low Back Pain (LBP). Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched by two researchers independently to identify the published Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of pulsed electromagnetic, static magnetic, and therapeutic nuclear magnetic fields. The identified databases for systematic search were Ovid Medline®, Ovid Cochrane RCTs and Reviews, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and EMBASE from 1968 to February 2016. The relevant keywords were selected by Mesh. After initial search and finding relevant manuscripts, all references in selected studies were searched to identify second hand possible manuscripts. The published RCTs in English would be included to the study if they reported changes on pain and/or functional disability following application of magnetic fields on chronic musculoskeletal low back pain. All studies with surgical patients, patients with pelvic pain, and combination of other treatment techniques such as acupuncture or diathermy were excluded. The identified studies were critically appraised and the data were extracted independently by two raters (M.J and S.B.T). Probable disagreements were resolved through discussion between raters. Results: In total, 1505 abstracts were found following the initial electronic search. The abstracts were reviewed to identify potentially relevant manuscripts. Seventeen possibly appropriate studies were retrieved in full-text of which 48 were excluded after reviewing their full-texts. Ten selected articles were categorized into three subgroups: PEMF (6 articles), SMF (3 articles), and therapeutic nuclear magnetic fields (tNMF) (1 article). Since one study evaluated tNMF, we had to exclude it. In the PEMF group, one study of acute LBP did not show significant positive results and the majority of the other five studies on Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) indicated its efficacy on pain relief and functional improvement, but one study with the lowest sessions (6 sessions during 2 weeks) did not report a significant difference between treatment and control groups. In the SMF subgroup, two articles reported near significant pain reduction without any functional improvement although more studies are needed. Conclusion: The PEMFs with a strength of 5 to 150 G or 0.1 to 0.3 G and a frequency of 5 to 64 Hz or sweep 7 to 7KHz can be considered as an effective modality in pain relief and functional improvement in patients with chronic low back pain, but there is not enough evidence to confirm their effectiveness in acute low back pain. To achieve the appropriate effectiveness, it is suggested to perform this treatment modality 20 minutes per day for at least 9 sessions. SMFs have not been reported to be substantially effective in decreasing pain or improving the function in chronic low back pain. More studies are necessary to achieve more reliable results.

Keywords: pulsed electromagnetic field, static magnetic field, magnetotherapy, low back pain

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Authors: Tiffany Baetens, Sophie Halliez, Luc Buée, Emiliano Pallecchi, Vincent Thomy, Steve Arscott

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We demonstrate here a viable stretchable bio-microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMS) technology for use with biological studies concerned with the effect of high mechanical strains on living cells. An example of this is traumatic brain injury (TBI) where neurons are damaged with physical force to the brain during, e.g., accidents and sports. Robust, miniaturized integrated systems are needed by biologists to be able to study the effect of TBI on neuron cells in vitro. The major challenges in this area are (i) to develop micro, and nanofabrication processes which are based on stretchable substrates and to (ii) create systems which are robust and performant at very high mechanical strain values—sometimes as high as 100%. At the time of writing, such processes and systems were rapidly evolving subject of research and development. The BioMEMS which we present here is composed of an elastomer substrate (low Young’s modulus ~1 MPa) onto which is patterned robust electrodes and insulators. The patterning of the thin films is achieved using standard photolithography techniques directly on the elastomer substrate—thus making the process generic and applicable to many materials’ in based systems. The chosen elastomer used is commercial ‘Sylgard 184’ polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). It is spin-coated onto a silicon wafer. Multistep ultra-violet based photolithography involving commercial photoresists are then used to pattern robust thin film metallic electrodes (chromium/gold) and insulating layers (parylene) on the top of the PDMS substrate. The thin film metals are deposited using thermal evaporation and shaped using lift-off techniques The BioMEMS has been characterized mechanically using an in-house strain-applicator tool. The system is composed of 12 electrodes with one reference electrode transversally-orientated to the uniaxial longitudinal straining of the system. The electrical resistance of the electrodes is observed to remain very stable with applied strain—with a resistivity approaching that of evaporated gold—up to an interline strain of ~50%. The mechanical characterization revealed some interesting original properties of such stretchable BioMEMS. For example, a Poisson effect induced electrical ‘self-healing’ of cracking was identified. Biocompatibility of the commercial photoresist has been studied and is conclusive. We will present the results of the BioMEMS, which has also characterized living cells with a commercial Multi Electrode Array (MEA) characterization tool (Multi Channel Systems, USA). The BioMEMS enables the cells to be strained up to 50% and then characterized electrically and optically.

Keywords: BioMEMS, elastomer, electrical impedance measurements of living cells, high mechanical strain, microfabrication, stretchable systems, thin films, traumatic brain injury

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Authors: M. A. Akulov, V. O. Zaharov, A. A. Tomskij

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Introduction: Scapulohumeral periarthrosis, resulting as a reaction to mechanical injury of shoulder tendons and muscles, is associated with high incidence of temporal and permanent disability. There is a strong need for investigation of treatment of that patient group. Severe pain leads to limitation of movements range, which result in secondary alterations of joint capsule and ligamentous apparatus. Muscle tension and edema, swelling of fascial and fibrous structures result in nerve and vascular compression in intramuscular and osseo-muscular-fibrous spaces. Botulinum toxin injection leads to decrease of muscle tone, increase of movements range and associated pain alleviation. Study aim: Optimization of rehabilitation process in scapolohumeral periarthrosis using Xeomin. Patients and methods: 40 patients aged 37-56 years with scapulohumeral periarthrosis were evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups according to treatment regimen. The first (main) group included 21 patients, receiving intramuscular Xeomin 150-200 U in the area of brachio-scapular joint and trigger points (inducing motion range limitation and pain). Treatment procedures were combined with physical therapy and osteopathic procedures. The second (control) group included 19 patients, receiving conventional physical therapy and osteopathic procedures. The evaluation and efficacy comparison was carried out using McGill pain questionnaire, Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI), and patient-reported increase of brachio-scapular joint movement range and pain decrease at 1, 3 and 6 months of treatment. Results. The study demonstrated a significant improvement in the main group after one month of treatment, which persisted during months of treatment. At baseline, rank pain index on McGill pain questionnaire was 18,4±4,9 and 17,8±5,1 in the main and control group, respectively (p > 0,05). At 1 month of treatment we observed a significant decrease of pain syndrome (no pain or modest pain) and increase of movement range in angular degrees in the main group (р < 0,05). In the control group significant improvements were observed only on the 3 month of treatment (р < 0,05), but at 6 months of treatment the improvement in pain syndrome and motion range in brachio-scapular joint was significantly smaller, than in the main group. Rank pain index on McGill pain scale was 5,2±1,8 in the main group compared to 12,0±2,6 in the control group (р < 0,05). At 6 months of treatment patients in the first group reported a significant/highly significant improvement of general health on CGI, whereas in the second group most patients reported a minimal improvement. We observed a sustained and persistent improvement of motion range in brachio-scapular joint in the main group. Conclusion: Xeomin injections as a part of rehabilitation process in scapulohumeral periarthrosis lead to reduced time and increased quality of rehabilitation.

Keywords: botulinum toxin, rehabilitation, scapulohumeral periarthrosis

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Authors: Merih Welay Welesilassie

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Language is a potent instrument that does not only serve the purpose of communication but also plays a pivotal role in shaping our cultural practices and identities. The right to choose one's language is a fundamental human right that helps to safeguard the integrity of both personal and communal identities. Language holds immense significance in Ethiopia, a nation with a diverse linguistic landscape that extends beyond mere communication to delineate administrative boundaries. Consequently, depriving Ethiopians of their linguistic rights represents a multifaceted punishment, more complex than food embargoes. In the aftermath of the civil war that shook Ethiopia in November 2020, displacing millions and resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, concerns have been raised about the preservation of the indigenous Tigrayan language and culture. This is particularly true following the annexation of western Tigray into the Amhara region and the implementation of an Amharic-only language and culture education policy. This scholarly inquiry explores the intricacies surrounding the Amhara regional state's prohibition of Tigrayans' indigenous language and culture and the subsequent adoption of a monolingual and monocultural Amhara language and culture in western Tigray. The study adopts the linguistic genocide conceptual framework as an analytical tool to gain a deeper insight into the factors that contributed to and facilitated this significant linguistic and cultural shift. The research was conducted by interviewing ten teachers selected through a snowball sampling. Additionally, document analysis was performed to support the findings. The findings revealed that the push for linguistic and cultural assimilation was driven by various political and economic factors and the desire to promote a single language and culture policy. This process, often referred to as ‘Amharanization,’ aimed to homogenize the culture and language of the society. The Amhara authorities have enacted several measures in pursuit of their objectives, including the outlawing of the Tigrigna language, punishment for speaking Tigrigna, imposition of the Amhara language and culture, mandatory relocation, and even committing heinous acts that have inflicted immense physical and emotional suffering upon members of the Tigrayan community. Upon conducting a comprehensive analysis of the contextual factors, actions, intentions, and consequences, it has been posited that there may be instances of linguistic genocide taking place in the Western Tigray region. The present study sheds light on the severe consequences that could arise because of implementing monolingual and monocultural policies in multilingual areas. Through thoroughly scrutinizing the implications of such policies, this study provides insightful recommendations and directions for future research in this critical area.

Keywords: linguistic genocide, linguistic human right, mother tongue, Western Tigray

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Authors: Aarthi Mariappan, Janani Selvaraj, P. B. Harathi, M. Prashanthi Devi

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Anthropogenic modification of the urban environment has largely increased in the recent years in order to sustain the growing human population. Intense industrial activity, permanent and high traffic on the roads, a developed subterranean infrastructure network, land use patterns are just some specific characteristics. Every day, the urban environment is polluted by more or less toxic emissions, organic or metals wastes discharged from specific activities such as industrial, commercial, municipal. When these eventually deposit into the soil, the physical and chemical properties of the surrounding soil is changed, transforming it into a human exposure indicator. Metals are non-degradable and occur cumulative in soil due to regular deposits are a result of permanent human activity. Due to this, metals are a contaminant factor for soil when persistent over a long period of time and a possible danger for inhabitant’s health on prolonged exposure. Metals accumulated in contaminated soil may be transferred to humans directly, by inhaling the dust raised from top soil, or by ingesting, or by dermal contact and indirectly, through plants and animals grown on contaminated soil and used for food. Some metals, like Cu, Mn, Zn, are beneficial for human’s health and represent a danger only if their concentration is above permissible levels, but other metals, like Pb, As, Cd, Hg, are toxic even at trace level causing gastrointestinal and lung cancers. In urban areas, metals can be emitted from a wide variety of sources like industrial, residential, commercial activities. Our study interrogates the spatial distribution of heavy metals in soil in relation to their permissible levels and their association with the health risk to the urban population in Coimbatore, India. Coimbatore region is a high cancer risk zone and case records of gastro intestinal and respiratory cancer patients were collected from hospitals and geocoded in ArcGIS10.1. The data of patients pertaining to the urban limits were retained and checked for their diseases history based on their diagnosis and treatment. A disease map of cancer was prepared to show the disease distribution. It has been observed that in our study area Cr, Pb, As, Fe and Mg exceeded their permissible levels in the soil. Using spatial overlay analysis a relationship between environmental exposure to these potentially toxic elements in soil and cancer distribution in Coimbatore district was established to show areas of cancer risk. Through this, our study throws light on the impact of prolonged exposure to soil contamination in soil in the urban zones, thereby exploring the possibility to detect cancer risk zones and to create awareness among the exposed groups on cancer risk.

Keywords: soil contamination, cancer risk, spatial analysis, India

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Authors: Layla Mujahed

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Amman, the capital of Jordan, is the main political, economic, social and cultural center of Jordan and beyond. The city faces multitude demographic challenges related to the unstable political situation in the surrounded countries. It has regional and local migrants who left their homes to find better life in the capital. This resulted with random and unequaled population distribution. Some districts have high population and pressure on the infrastructure and services more than other districts.Government works to resolve this challenge in compliance with 100 Cities Resilience Framework (CRF). Amman participated in this framework as a member in December 2014 to work in achieving the four goals: health and welfare, infrastructure and utilities, economy and education as well as administration and government.  Previous research studies lack in studying Amman resilient work in neighborhood scale and the population growth as resilient challenge. For that, this study focuses on Al-Thahabiah neighborhood in Shafa Badran district in Amman. This paper studies the reasons and drivers behind this population growth during the selected period in this area then provide strategies to improve the resilient work in neighborhood scale. The methodology comprises of primary and secondary data. The primary data consist of interviews with chief officer in the executive part in Great Amman Municipality and resilient officer. The secondary data consist of papers, journals, newspaper, articles and book’s reading. The other part of data consists of maps and statistical data which describe the infrastructural and social situation in the neighborhood and district level during the studying period. Based upon those data, more detailed information will be found, e.g., the centralizing position of population and the provided infrastructure for them. This will help to provide these services and infrastructure to other neighborhoods and enhance population distribution. This study develops an analytical framework to assess urban demographical time series in accordance with the criteria of CRF to make accurate detailed projections on the requirements for the future development in the neighborhood scale and organize the human requirements for affordable quality housing, employment, transportation, health and education in this neighborhood to improve the social relations between its inhabitants and the community. This study highlights on the localization of resilient work in neighborhood scale and spread the resilient knowledge related to the shortage of its research in Jordan. Studying the resilient work from population growth challenge perspective helps improve the facilities provide to the inhabitants and improve their quality of life.

Keywords: city resilience framework, demography, population growth, stakeholders, urban resilience

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Authors: Nien-Te Kuo, Yi-Sung Cheng, Kuo-Chien Chang

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Cultural festival tourism is now seen by many as an opportunity to facilitate community development because it has significant influences on the economic, social, cultural, and political aspects of local communities. The potential for tourist attraction has been recognized as a useful tool to strengthen local economies from governments. However, most community festivals in Taiwan are short-lived, often only lasting for a few years or occasionally not making it past a one-off event. Researchers suggested that most governments and other stakeholders do not recognize the importance of building a partnership with residents when developing community tourism. Thus, the sustainable community tourism development still remains a key issue in the existing literature. The success of community tourism is related to the attitudes and lifestyles of local residents. In order to maintain sustainable tourism, residents need to be seen as development partners. Residents’ support intention for tourism development not only helps to increase awareness of local culture, history, the natural environment, and infrastructure, but also improves the interactive relationship between the host community and tourists. Furthermore, researchers have identified the social capital theory as the core of sustainable community tourism development. The social capital of residents has been seen as a good way to solve issues of tourism governance, forecast the participation behavior and improve support intention of residents. In addition, previous studies have pointed out the role of community participation and place identity in increasing resident support intention for tourism development. A lack of place identity is one of the main reasons that community tourism has become a mere formality and is not sustainable. It refers to how much residents participate during tourism development and is mainly influenced by individual interest. Scholars believed that the place identity of residents is the soul of community festivals. It shows the community spirit to visitors and has significant impacts on tourism benefits and support intention of residents in community tourism development. Although the importance of community participation and place identity have been confirmed by both governmental and non-governmental organizations, real-life execution still needs to be improved. This study aimed to use social capital theory to investigate the social structure between community residents, participation levels in festival tourism, degrees of place identity, and resident support intention for future community tourism development, and the causal relationship that these factors have with cultural festival tourism. A quantitative research approach was employed to examine the proposed model. Structural equation model was used to test and verify the proposed hypotheses. This was a case study of the Kaohsiung Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival. The festival was located in the Zuoying District of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The target population of this study was residents who attended the festival. The results reveal significant correlations among social capital, community participation, place identity and support intention. The results also confirm that impacts of social capital on support intention were significantly mediated by community participation and place identity. Practical suggestions were provided for tourism operators and policy makers. This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, Republic of China, under the grant MOST-105-2410-H-328-013.

Keywords: community participation, place identity, social capital, support intention

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Authors: Masato Koizumi, Yuya Oshio, Ikkoh Funaki

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Magnetoplasma Sail (MPS) is a future spacecraft propulsion that generates high levels of thrust by inducing an artificial magnetosphere to capture and deflect solar wind charged particles in order to transfer momentum to the spacecraft. By injecting plasma in the spacecraft’s magnetic field region, the ring current azimuthally drifts on the equatorial plane about the dipole magnetic field generated by the current flowing through the solenoid attached on board the spacecraft. This ring current results in magnetosphere inflation which improves the thrust performance of MPS spacecraft. In this present study, the ring current was experimentally measured using three Rogowski Current Probes positioned in a circular array about the laboratory model of MPS spacecraft. This investigation aims to determine the detailed structure of ring current through physical experimentation performed under two different magnetic field strengths engendered by varying the applied voltage on the solenoid with 300 V and 600 V. The expected outcome was that the three current probes would detect the same current since all three probes were positioned at equal radial distance of 63 mm from the center of the solenoid. Although experimental results were numerically implausible due to probable procedural error, the trends of the results revealed three pieces of perceptive evidence of the ring current behavior. The first aspect is that the drift direction of the ring current depended on the strength of the applied magnetic field. The second aspect is that the diamagnetic current developed at a radial distance not occupied by the three current probes under the presence of solar wind. The third aspect is that the ring current distribution varied along the circumferential path about the spacecraft’s magnetic field. Although this study yielded experimental evidence that differed from the original hypothesis, the three key findings of this study have informed two critical MPS design solutions that will potentially improve thrust performance. The first design solution is the positioning of the plasma injection point. Based on the implication of the first of the three aspects of ring current behavior, the plasma injection point must be located at a distance instead of at close proximity from the MPS Solenoid for the ring current to drift in the direction that will result in magnetosphere inflation. The second design solution, predicated by the third aspect of ring current behavior, is the symmetrical configuration of plasma injection points. In this study, an asymmetrical configuration of plasma injection points using one plasma source resulted in a non-uniform distribution of ring current along the azimuthal path. This distorts the geometry of the inflated magnetosphere which minimizes the deflection area for the solar wind. Therefore, to realize a ring current that best provides the maximum possible inflated magnetosphere, multiple plasma sources must be spaced evenly apart for the plasma to be injected evenly along its azimuthal path.

Keywords: Magnetoplasma Sail, magnetosphere inflation, ring current, spacecraft propulsion

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Authors: B. K. Kanungo, Monika Thakur, Minati Baral

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8-hydroxyquinoline, (8HQ), experiences a renaissance due to its utility as a building block in metallosupramolecular chemistry and its versatile use of its derivatives in various fields of analytical chemistry, materials science, and pharmaceutics. It forms stable complexes with a variety of metal ions. Assembly of more than one such unit to form a polydentate chelator enhances its coordinating ability and the related properties due to the chelate effect resulting in high stability constant. Keeping in view the above, a nonadentate chelator N-[3,5-bis(8-hydroxyquinoline-2-amido)cyclohexyl]-8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxamide, (TACH2OX), containing a central cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane appended to three 8-hydroxyquinoline at 2-position through amide linkage is developed, and its solution thermodynamics, photophysical and Density Functional Theory (DFT) studies were undertaken. The synthesis of TACH2OX was carried out by condensation of cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane, (TACH) with 8‐hydroxyquinoline‐2‐carboxylic acid. The brown colored solid has been fully characterized through melting point, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, electrospray ionization mass and electronic spectroscopy. In solution, TACH2OX forms protonated complexes below pH 3.4, which consecutively deprotonates to generate trinegative ion with the rise of pH. Nine protonation constants for the ligand were obtained that ranges between 2.26 to 7.28. The interaction of the chelator with two trivalent metal ion Fe3+ and Al3+ were studied in aqueous solution at 298 K. The metal-ligand formation constants (ML) obtained by potentiometric and spectrophotometric method agree with each other. The protonated and hydrolyzed species were also detected in the system. The in-silico studies of the ligand, as well as the complexes including their protonated and deprotonated species assessed by density functional theory technique, gave an accurate correlation with each observed properties such as the protonation constants, stability constants, infra-red, nmr, electronic absorption and emission spectral bands. The nature of electronic and emission spectral bands in terms of number and type were ascertained from time-dependent density functional theory study and the natural transition orbitals (NTO). The global reactivity indices parameters were used for comparison of the reactivity of the ligand and the complex molecules. The natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis could successfully describe the structure and bonding of the metal-ligand complexes specifying the percentage of contribution in atomic orbitals in the creation of molecular orbitals. The obtained high value of metal-ligand formation constants indicates that the newly synthesized chelator is a very powerful synthetic chelator. The minimum energy molecular modeling structure of the ligand suggests that the ligand, TACH2OX, in a tripodal fashion firmly coordinates to the metal ion as hexa-coordinated chelate displaying distorted octahedral geometry by binding through three sets of N, O- donor atoms, present in each pendant arm of the central tris-cyclohexaneamine tripod.

Keywords: complexes, DFT, formation constant, TACH2OX

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Authors: Dalia Ambrazaitienė, Monika Vilkienė, Danute Karcauskienė, Gintaras Siaudinis

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The soil is a complex ecosystem that is part of our biosphere. The ability of soil to provide ecosystem services is dependent on microbial diversity. T Tillage is one of the major factors that affect soil properties. The no-till systems or shallow ploughless tillage are opposite of traditional deep ploughing, no-tillage systems, for instance, increase soil organic matter by reducing mineralization rates and stimulating litter concentrations of the top soil layer, whereas deep ploughing increases the biological activity of arable soil layer and reduces the incidence of weeds. The role of soil organisms is central to soil processes. Although the number of microbial species in soil is still being debated, the metagenomic approach to estimate microbial diversity predicted about 2000 – 18 000 bacterial genomes in 1 g of soil. Despite the key role of bacteria in soil processes, there is still lack of information about the bacterial diversity of soils as affected by tillage practices. This study focused on metagenomic analysis of bacterial diversity in long-term experimental plots of Dystric Epihypogleyic Albeluvisols in western part of Lithuania. The experiment was set up in 2013 and had a split-plot design where the whole-plot treatments were laid out in a randomized design with three replicates. The whole-plot treatments consisted of two tillage methods - deep ploughing (22-25 cm) (DP), ploughless tillage (7-10 cm) (PT). Three subsamples (0-20 cm) were collected on October 22, 2015 for each of the three replicates. Subsamples from the DP and PT systems were pooled together wise to make two composition samples, one representing deep ploughing (DP) and the other ploughless tillage (PT). Genomic DNA from soil sample was extracted from approximately 200 mg field-moist soil by using the D6005 Fungal/Bacterial Miniprep set (Zymo Research®) following the manufacturer’s instructions. To determine bacterial diversity and community composition, we employed a culture – independent approach of high-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Metagenomic sequencing was made with Illumina MiSeq platform in Base Clear Company. The microbial component of soil plays a crucial role in cycling of nutrients in biosphere. Our study was a preliminary attempt at observing bacterial diversity in soil under two common but contrasting tillage practices. The number of sequenced reads obtained for PT (161 917) was higher than DP (131 194). The 10 most abundant genus in soil sample were the same (Arthrobacter, Candidatus Saccharibacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacterium, Mycobacterium, Bacillus, Alphaproteobacteria, Longilinea, Gemmatimonas, Solirubrobacter), just the percent of community part was different. In DP the Arthrobacter and Acidobacterium consist respectively 8.4 % and 2.5%, meanwhile in PT just 5.8% and 2.1% of all community. The Nocardioides and Terrabacter were observed just in PT. This work was supported by the project VP1-3.1-ŠMM-01-V-03-001 NKPDOKT and National Science Program: The effect of long-term, different-intensity management of resources on the soils of different genesis and on other components of the agro-ecosystems [grant number SIT-9/2015] funded by the Research Council of Lithuania.

Keywords: deep ploughing, metagenomics, ploughless tillage, soil community analysis

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Authors: Chang-Hui Shen, Paulina Konarzewska

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Cell homeostasis is regulated by vacuolar activity and it has been shown that lipid composition of the vacuole plays an important role in vacuolar function. The major phosphoinositide species present in the vacuolar membrane include phosphatidylinositol 3,5-biphosphate (PI(3,5)P₂) which is generated from PI(3)P controlled by Fab1p. Deletion of FAB1 gene reduce the synthesis of PI(3,5)P₂ and thus result in enlarged or fragmented vacuoles, with neutral vacuolar pH due to reduced vacuolar H⁺-ATPase activity. These mutants also exhibited poor growth at high extracellular pH and in the presence of CaCl₂. Conversely, VPS34 regulates the synthesis of PI(3)P from phosphatidylinositol (PI), and the lack of Vps34p results in the reduction of vacuolar activity. Although the cellular observations are clear, it is still unknown about the molecular mechanism between the phospholipid biosynthesis pathway and vacuolar activity. Since both VPS34 and FAB1 are important in vacuolar activity, we hypothesize that the molecular mechanism of vacuolar function might be regulated by the transcriptional regulators of phospholipid biosynthesis. In this study, we study the role of the major phospholipid biosynthesis transcription factor, INO2, in the regulation of vacuolar activity. We first performed qRT-PCR to examine the effect of Ino2p on the expression of VPS34 and FAB1. Our results showed that VPS34 was upregulated in the presence of inositol for both WT and ino2Δ cells. However, FAB1 was only upregulated significantly in ino2Δ cells. This indicated that Ino2p might be the negative regulator for FAB1 expression. Next, growth sensitivity experiment showed that WT, vma3Δ, and ino2Δ grew well in growth medium buffered to pH 5.5 containing 10 mM CaCl₂. As cells were switched to growth medium buffered to pH 7 containing CaCl₂ WT, ino2Δ and opi1Δ showed growth reduction, whereas vma3Δ was completely nonviable. As the concentration of CaCl₂ was increased to 60 mM, ino2Δ cells showed moderate growth reduction compared to WT. This result suggests that ino2Δ cells have better vacuolar activity. Microscopic analysis and vacuolar acidification were employed to further elucidate the importance of INO2 in vacuolar homeostasis. Analysis of vacuolar morphology indicated that WT and vma3Δ cells displayed vacuoles that occupied a small area of the cell when grown in media buffered to pH 5.5. Whereas, ino2Δ displayed fragmented vacuoles. On the other hand, all strains grown in media buffered to pH 7, exhibited enlarged vacuoles that occupied most of the cell’s surface. This indicated that the presence of INO2 may play negative effect in vacuolar morphology when cells are grown in media buffered to pH 5.5. Furthermore, vacuolar acidification assay showed that only vma3Δ cells displayed notably less acidic vacuoles as cells were grown in media buffered to pH 5.5 and pH 7. Whereas, ino2Δ cells displayed more acidic pH compared to WT at pH7. Taken together, our results demonstrated the molecular mechanism of the vacuolar activity regulated by the phospholipid biosynthesis transcription factors Ino2p. Ino2p negatively regulates vacuolar activity through the expression of FAB1.

Keywords: vacuole, phospholipid, homeostasis, Ino2p, FAB1

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Authors: Ivelise M. Strozberg, Lucas O. Vale, Maria V. V. Morais

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Expansive soils are characterized by their significant volumetric variations, tending to suffer an increase of this volume when added water in their voids and a decrease of volume when this water is removed. The parameters of resistance (especially the angle of friction, cohesion and specific weight) of expansive or non-expansive soils of the same field present differences, as found in laboratory tests. What is expected is that, through this research, demonstrate that this variation directly affects the results of the calculation of factors of safety for slope stability. The expansibility due to specific clay minerals such as montmorillonites and vermiculites is the most common form of expansion of soils or rocks, causing expansion pressures. These pressures can become an aggravating problem in regions across the globe that, when not previously studied, may present high risks to the enterprise, such as cracks, fissures, movements in structures, breaking of retaining walls, drilling of wells, among others. The study provides results based on analyzes carried out in the Slide 2018 software belonging to the Rocsience group, where the software is a two-dimensional equilibrium slope stability program that calculates the factor of safety or probability of failure of certain surfaces composed of soils or rocks (or both, depending on the situation), - through the methods of: Bishop simplified, Fellenius and Janbu corrected. This research compares the factors of safety of a homogeneous earthfill dam geometry, analysed for operation and end-of-construction situations, having a height of approximately 35 meters, with a slope of 1.5: 1 in the slope downstream and 2: 1 on the upstream slope. As the water level is 32.73m high and the water table is drawn automatically by the Slide program using the finite element method for the operating situation, considering two hypotheses for the use of materials - the first with soils with characteristics of expansion and the second with soils without expansibility. For this purpose, soil samples were collected from the region of São Bento do Una - Pernambuco, Brazil and taken to the soil mechanics laboratory to characterize and determine the percentage of expansibility. There were found 2 types of soils in that area: 1 site of expansive soils (8%) and another with non- expansive ones. Based on the results found, the analysis of the values of factors of safety indicated, both upstream and downstream slopes, the highest values were obtained in the case where there is no presence of materials with expansibility resulting, for one of the situations, values of 1.353 (Fellenius), 1,295 (Janbu corrected) and 1,409 (Bishop simplified). There is a considerable drop in safety factors in cases where soils are potentially expansive, resulting in values for the same situation of 0.859 (Fellenius), 0.809 (Janbu corrected) and 0.842 (Bishop simplified), in the case of higher expansibility (8 %). This shows that the expansibility is a determinant factor in the fall of resistance of soil, determined by the factors of cohesion and angle of friction.

Keywords: dam. slope. software. swelling soil

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Authors: Ran Goldblatt, Nicholas Jones, Jennifer Mannix, Brad Bottoms

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Accurate, complete, and up-to-date geospatial information is the foundation of successful disaster management. When the 2010 Haiti Earthquake struck, accurate and timely information on the distribution of critical infrastructure was essential for the disaster response community for effective search and rescue operations. Existing geospatial datasets such as Google Maps did not have comprehensive coverage of these features. In the days following the earthquake, many organizations released high-resolution satellite imagery, catalyzing a worldwide effort to map Haiti and support the recovery operations. Of these organizations, OpenStreetMap (OSM), a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world, used the imagery to support volunteers to digitize roads, buildings, and other features, creating the most detailed map of Haiti in existence in just a few weeks. However, large portions of the island are still not fully covered by OSM. There is an increasing need for a tool to automatically identify which areas in Haiti, as well as in other countries vulnerable to disasters, that are not fully mapped. The objective of this project is to leverage different types of remote sensing measurements, together with machine learning approaches, in order to identify geographical areas where OSM coverage of building footprints is incomplete. Several remote sensing measures and derived products were assessed as potential predictors of OSM building footprints coverage, including: intensity of light emitted at night (based on VIIRS measurements), spectral indices derived from Sentinel-2 satellite (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), urban index (UI)), surface texture (based on Sentinel-1 SAR measurements)), elevation and slope. Additional remote sensing derived products, such as Hansen Global Forest Change, DLR`s Global Urban Footprint (GUF), and World Settlement Footprint (WSF), were also evaluated as predictors, as well as OSM street and road network (including junctions). Using a supervised classification with a random forest classifier resulted in the prediction of 89% of the variation of OSM building footprint area in a given cell. These predictions allowed for the identification of cells that are predicted to be covered but are actually not mapped yet. With these results, this methodology could be adapted to any location to assist with preparing for future disastrous events and assure that essential geospatial information is available to support the response and recovery efforts during and following major disasters.

Keywords: disaster management, Haiti, machine learning, OpenStreetMap, remote sensing

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Authors: R. P. Naik, A. K. Rakshit

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In recent years, with the rapid development in science and technology, people have increasing requirements on uses of clothing for new functions, which contributes to opportunities for further development and incorporation of new technologies along with novel materials. In this context, textiles are of fast decalescence or fast heat radiation media as per as comfort accountability of textile articles are concern. The microstructure and texture of textiles play a vital role in determining the heat-moisture comfort level of the human body because clothing serves as a barrier to the outside environment and a transporter of heat and moisture from the body to the surrounding environment to keep thermal balance between body heat produced and body heat loss. The main bottleneck which is associated with textile materials to be successful as thermal insulation materials can be enumerated as; firstly, high loft or bulkiness of material so as to provide predetermined amount of insulation by ensuring sufficient trapping of air. Secondly, the insulation depends on forced convection; such convective heat loss cannot be prevented by textile material. Third is that the textile alone cannot reach the level of thermal conductivity lower than 0.025 W/ m.k of air. Perhaps, nano-fibers can do so, but still, mass production and cost-effectiveness is a problem. Finally, such high loft materials for thermal insulation becomes heavier and uneasy to manage especially when required to carry over a body. The proposed works aim at developing lightweight effective thermal insulation textiles in combination with nanoporous silica-gel which provides the fundamental basis for the optimization of material properties to achieve good performance of the clothing system. This flexible nonwoven silica-gel composites fabric in intact monolith was successfully developed by reinforcing SiO2-gel in thermal bonded nonwoven fabric via sol-gel processing. Ambient Pressure Drying method is opted for silica gel preparation for cost-effective manufacturing. The formed structure of the nonwoven / SiO₂ -gel composites were analyzed, and the transfer properties were measured. The effects of structure and fibre on the thermal properties of the SiO₂-gel composites were evaluated. Samples are then tested against untreated samples of same GSM in order to study the effect of SiO₂-gel application on various properties of nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric composites reinforced with aerogel showed intact monolith structure were also analyzed for their surface structure, functional group present, microscopic images. Developed product reveals a significant reduction in pores' size and air permeability than the conventional nonwoven fabric. Composite made from polyester fibre with lower GSM shows lowest thermal conductivity. Results obtained were statistically analyzed by using STATISTICA-6 software for their level of significance. Univariate tests of significance for various parameters are practiced which gives the P value for analyzing significance level along with that regression summary for dependent variable are also studied to obtain correlation coefficient.

Keywords: silica-gel, heat insulation, nonwoven fabric, thermal barrier clothing

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Authors: Mohammad Ehsani, Iman Zarei, Soudabeh Moazemigoudarzi

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The aim of this study is to determine Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intention of Mountain Hikers to the Theory of Planned Behavior. According to many researchers nature-based recreation activities play a significant role in the tourism industry and have provided myriad opportunities for the protection of natural areas. It is essential to investigate individuals' behavior during such activities to avoid further damage to precious and dwindling natural resources. This study develops a robust model that provides a comprehensive understanding of the formation of pro-environmental behavioral intentions among climbers of Mount Damavand National Park in Iran. To this end, we combined the theory of planned behavior (TPB), value-belief-norm theory (VBN), and a hierarchical model of leisure constraints to predict individuals’ pro-environmental hiking behavior during outdoor recreation. It was used structural equation modeling to test the theoretical framework. A sample of 787 climbers was analyzed. Among the theory of planned behavior variables, perceived behavioral control showed the strongest association with behavioral intention (β = .57). This relationship indicates that if people feel they can have fewer negative impacts on national resources while hiking, it will result in more environmentally acceptable behavior. Subjective norms had a moderate positive impact on behavioral intention, indicating the importance of other people on the individual's behavior. Attitude had a small positive effect on intention. Ecological worldview positively influenced attitude and personal belief. Personal belief (awareness of consequences and ascribed responsibility) showed a positive association with TPB variables. Although the data showed a high average score in awareness of consequences (mean = 4.219 out of 5), evidence from Damavand Mount shows that there are many environmental issues that need addressing (e.g., vast amounts of garbage). National park managers need to make sure that their solutions result in awareness about proenvironmental behavior (PEB). Findings showed that negative relationship between constraints and all TPB predictors. Providing proper restrooms and parking spaces in campgrounds, strategies controlling limiting capacity and solutions for removing waste from high altitudes are helpful to decrease the negative impact of structural constraints. In order to address intrapersonal constraints, managers should provide opportunities to interest individuals in environmental activities, such as environmental celebrations or making documentaries about environmental issues. Moreover, promoting a culture of environmental protection in the Damavand Mount area would reduce interpersonal constraints. Overall, the proposed model improved the explanatory power of the TPB by predicting 64.7% of intention compared to the original TPB that accounted for 63.8% of the variance in intention.

Keywords: theory of planned behavior, pro-environmental behavior, national park, constraints

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Authors: A. M. Ferrari, L. Volpi, M. Pini, C. Siligardi, F. E. Garcia Muina, D. Settembre Blundo

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A long tradition in the ceramic manufacturing since the 18th century, primarily due to the availability of raw materials and an efficient transport system, let to the birth and development of the Italian ceramic tiles district that nowadays represents a reference point for this sector even at global level. This economic growth has been coupled to attention towards environmental sustainability issues throughout various initiatives undertaken over the years at the level of the production sector, such as certification activities and sustainability policies. In this way, starting from an evaluation of the sustainability in all its aspects, the present work aims to develop a benchmarking helping both producers and consumers. In the present study, throughout the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework, the sustainability has been assessed in all its dimensions: environmental with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), economic with the Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and social with the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). The annual district production of stoneware tiles during the 2016 reference year has been taken as reference flow for all the three assessments, and the system boundaries cover the entire life cycle of the tiles, except for the LCC for which only the production costs have been considered at the moment. In addition, a preliminary method for the evaluation of local and indoor emissions has been introduced in order to assess the impact due to atmospheric emissions on both people living in the area surrounding the factories and workers. The Life Cycle Assessment results, obtained from IMPACT 2002+ modified assessment method, highlight that the manufacturing process is responsible for the main impact, especially because of atmospheric emissions at a local scale, followed by the distribution to end users, the installation and the ordinary maintenance of the tiles. With regard to the economic evaluation, both the internal and external costs have been considered. For the LCC, primary data from the analysis of the financial statements of Italian ceramic companies show that the higher cost items refer to expenses for goods and services and costs of human resources. The analysis of externalities with the EPS 2015dx method attributes the main damages to the distribution and installation of the tiles. The social dimension has been investigated with a preliminary approach by using the Social Hotspots Database, and the results indicate that the most affected damage categories are health and safety and labor rights and decent work. This study shows the potential of the LCSA framework applied to an industrial sector; in particular, it can be a useful tool for building a comprehensive benchmark for the sustainability of the ceramic industry, and it can help companies to actively integrate sustainability principles into their business models.

Keywords: benchmarking, Italian ceramic industry, life cycle sustainability assessment, porcelain stoneware tiles

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Authors: Christiane H. Kellner, Sarah Reker

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The UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Germany also ratified, postulates the necessity of user-centred design, especially when it comes to evaluating the individual needs and wishes of all citizens. Therefore, a multidimensional approach is required. Based on this insight, the structure of the town-like centre in Schönbrunn - a large residential complex and service provider for persons with disabilities in the outskirts of Munich - will be remodelled to open up the community to all people as well as transform social space. This strategy should lead to more equal opportunities and open the way for a much more diverse community. The research project “Index for participation development and quality of life for persons with disabilities” (TeLe-Index, 2014-2016), which is anchored at the Technische Universität München in Munich and at the Franziskuswerk Schönbrunn supports this transformation process called “Vision 2030”. In this context, we have provided academic supervision and support for three projects (the construction of a new school, inclusive housing for children and teenagers with disabilities and the professionalization of employees using person-centred planning). Since we cannot present all the issues of the umbrella-project within the conference framework, we will be focusing on one sub-project more in-depth, namely “The Person-Centred Think Tank” [Arbeitskreis Personenzentriertes Denken; PZD]. In the context of person-centred thinking (PCT), persons with disabilities are encouraged to (re)gain or retain control of their lives through the development of new choice options and the validation of individual lifestyles. PCT should thus foster and support both participation and quality of life. The project aims to establish PCT as a fundamental approach for both employees and persons with disabilities in the institution through in-house training for the staff and, subsequently, training for users. Hence, for the academic support and supervision team, the questions arising from this venture can be summed up as follows: (1) has PCT already gained a foothold at the Franziskuswerk Schönbrunn? And (2) how does it affect the interaction with persons with disabilities and how does it influence the latter’s everyday life? According to the holistic approach described above, the target groups for this study are both the staff and the users of the institution. Initially, we planned to implement the group discussion method for both target-groups. However, in the course of a pretest with persons with intellectual disabilities, it became clear that this type of interview, with hardly any external structuring, provided only limited feedback. In contrast, when the discussions were moderated, there was more interaction and dialogue between the interlocutors. Therefore, for this target-group, we introduced structured group interviews. The insights we have obtained until now will enable us to present the intermediary results of our evaluation. We analysed and evaluated the group interviews and discussions with the help of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring in order to obtain information about users’ quality of life. We sorted out the statements relating to quality of life obtained during the group interviews into three dimensions: subjective wellbeing, self-determination and participation. Nevertheless, the majority of statements were related to subjective wellbeing and self-determination. Thus, especially the limited feedback on participation clearly demonstrates that the lives of most users do not take place beyond the confines of the institution. A number of statements highlighted the fact that PCT is anchored in the everyday interactions within the groups. However, the implementation and fostering of PCT on a broader level could not be detected and thus remain further aims of the project. The additional interviews we have planned should validate the results obtained until now and open up new perspectives.

Keywords: person-centered thinking, research with persons with disabilities, residential complex and service provider, participation, self-determination.

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Authors: Amine Alaoui Sanae, Tagjdid Reda, Loutfi Chafiqa, Melloul Merouane, Laloui Aziz, Touil Nadia, El Fahim, E. Mostafa

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Background: Rotavirus group A (RVA) strains with G8P[14] specificities are usually detected in calves and goats. However, these strains have been reported globally in humans and have often been characterized as originating from zoonotic transmissions, particularly in area where ruminants and humans live side-by-side. Whether human P[14] genotypes are two-way and can be transmitted to animal species remains to be established. Here we describe VP4 deduced amino-acid relationships of three Moroccan P[14] genotypes originating from different species and the receptiveness of an alpine goat to a human G8P[14] through an experimental infection. Material/methods: the human MA31 RVA strain was originally identified in a four years old girl presenting an acute gastroenteritis hospitalized at the pediatric care unit in Rabat Hospital in 2011. The virus was isolated and propagated in MA104 cells in the presence of trypsin. Ch_10S and 8045_S animal RVA strains were identified in fecal samples of a 2-week-old native goat and 3-week-old calf with diarrhea in 2011 in Bouaarfa and My Bousselham respectively. Genomic RNAs of all strains were subjected to a two-step RT-PCR and sequenced using the consensus primers VP4. The phylogenetic tree for MA31, Ch_10S and 8045_S VP4 and a set of published P[14] genotypes was constructed using MEGA6 software. The receptivity of MA31 strain by an eight month-old alpine goat was assayed. The animal was orally and intraperitonally inoculated with a dose of 8.5 TCID50 of virus stock at passage level 3. The shedding of the virus was tested by a real time RT-PCR assay. Results: The phylogenetic tree showed that the three Moroccan strains MA31, Ch_10S and 8045_S VP4 were highly related to each other (100% similar at the nucleotide level). They were clustered together with the B10925, Sp813, PA77 and P169 strains isolated in Belgium, Spain and Italy respectively. The Belgian strain B10925 was the most closely related to the Moroccan strains. In contrast, the 8045_S and Ch_10S strains were clustered distantly from the Tunisian calf strain B137 and the goat strain cap455 isolated in South Africa respectively. The human MA31 RVA strain was able to induce bloody diarrhea at 2 days post infection (dpi) in the alpine goat kid. RVA virus shedding started by 2 dpi (Ct value of 28) and continued until 5 dpi (Ct value of 25) with a concomitant elevation in the body temperature. Conclusions: Our study while limited to one animal, is the first study proving experimentally that a human P[14] genotype causes diarrhea and virus shedding in the goat. This result reinforce the potential role of inter- species transmission in generating novel and rare rotavirus strains such G8P[14] which infect humans.

Keywords: interspecies transmission, rotavirus, goat, human

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Authors: Vidya Yadav

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In every society, males and females are expected to behave in certain ways, and in every culture, those expectation, values and norms are different and vary accordingly. Many of the inequalities between men and women are rooted in institutional structure such as in educational field, labour market, wages, decision-making power, access to services as well as in accessing the health and well-being care also. The marriage and kinship pattern shape both men’s and women’s lives. Earlier many studies have highlighted the gender disparities which vary tremendously between regions, social classes, and communities. This study will try to explore the prominent indicators to show the status of women and well-being condition in Indian society. Primarily this paper concern with firstly identification of indicators related to gender in each area like education, work status, mobility, women participation in public and private decision making, autonomy and domestic violence etc. And once the indicators are identified next task is to define them. The indicators which are selected here are for a comparison of women’s status across Indian states. Recent Indian Human Development Survey, 2011-12 has been procured to show the current situation of women. Result shows that in spite of rising levels of education and images of growing westernization in India, love marriages remain in rarity even among urban elite. In India marriage is universal, and most of the men and women marry at relatively young age. Even though the legal age of marriage is 18, but more than 60 percent are married before the legal age. Not surprisingly, but Bihar and Rajasthan are the states with earliest age at marriage. Most of them reported that they have very limited contact with their husband before marriages. Around 69 percent of women met their husbands on the day of the wedding or shortly before. In spite of decline in fertility, still childbearing remains essential to women’s lives. Mostly women aged 25 and older had at least one child. Women’s control over household resources, physical space and mobility is also limited. Indian women’s, mostly rely on men to purchase day to day necessities, as well as medicines, as well as other necessary items. This ultimately reduces the likelihood that women have cash in hand for such purchases. The story is quite different when it comes to have control over decision over purchasing household assets such as TVs or refrigerator, names on the bank account, and home ownership papers. However, the likelihood of ownership rises among urbanite educated women’s. Women’s still have to the cultural norms and the practice of purdah or ghunghat, familial control over women’s physical movement. Wife beating and domestic violence still remain pervasive, and beaten for minor transgression like going out without permission. Development of India cannot be realized without the very significant component of gender. Therefore detailed examinations of different indicators are required to understand, strategize, plan and formulate programmes.

Keywords: autonomy, empowerment, gender, violence

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Authors: Deniz Peksen

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This thesis aims to predict trend movement of closing price of stock and to maximize portfolio by utilizing the predictions. In this context, the study aims to define a stock portfolio strategy from models created by using Logistic Regression, Gradient Boosting and Random Forest. Recently, predicting the trend of stock price has gained a significance role in making buy and sell decisions and generating returns with investment strategies formed by machine learning basis decisions. There are plenty of studies in the literature on the prediction of stock prices in capital markets using machine learning methods but most of them focus on closing prices instead of the direction of price trend. Our study differs from literature in terms of target definition. Ours is a classification problem which is focusing on the market trend in next 20 trading days. To predict trend direction, fourteen years of data were used for training. Following three years were used for validation. Finally, last three years were used for testing. Training data are between 2002-06-18 and 2016-12-30 Validation data are between 2017-01-02 and 2019-12-31 Testing data are between 2020-01-02 and 2022-03-17 We determine Hold Stock Portfolio, Best Stock Portfolio and USD-TRY Exchange rate as benchmarks which we should outperform. We compared our machine learning basis portfolio return on test data with return of Hold Stock Portfolio, Best Stock Portfolio and USD-TRY Exchange rate. We assessed our model performance with the help of roc-auc score and lift charts. We use logistic regression, Gradient Boosting and Random Forest with grid search approach to fine-tune hyper-parameters. As a result of the empirical study, the existence of uptrend and downtrend of five stocks could not be predicted by the models. When we use these predictions to define buy and sell decisions in order to generate model-based-portfolio, model-based-portfolio fails in test dataset. It was found that Model-based buy and sell decisions generated a stock portfolio strategy whose returns can not outperform non-model portfolio strategies on test dataset. We found that any effort for predicting the trend which is formulated on stock price is a challenge. We found same results as Random Walk Theory claims which says that stock price or price changes are unpredictable. Our model iterations failed on test dataset. Although, we built up several good models on validation dataset, we failed on test dataset. We implemented Random Forest, Gradient Boosting and Logistic Regression. We discovered that complex models did not provide advantage or additional performance while comparing them with Logistic Regression. More complexity did not lead us to reach better performance. Using a complex model is not an answer to figure out the stock-related prediction problem. Our approach was to predict the trend instead of the price. This approach converted our problem into classification. However, this label approach does not lead us to solve the stock prediction problem and deny or refute the accuracy of the Random Walk Theory for the stock price.

Keywords: stock prediction, portfolio optimization, data science, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Lucas Derks, Christine Beenhakker, Michiel Brandt, Gert Arts, Ruud van Langeveld

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Background: The method Depression in Awareness Space (DAS) is a psychotherapeutic intervention technique based on the principles of spatial cognition and imagination therapy with spatial components. The basic assumptions are: mental space is the primary organizing principle in the mind, and all psychological issues can be treated by first locating and by next relocating the conceptualizations involved. The most clinical experience was gathered over the last 20 years in the area of social issues (with the social panorama model). The latter work led to the conclusion that a mental object (image) gains emotional impact when it is placed more central, closer and higher in the visual field – and vice versa. Changing the locations of mental objects in space thus alters the (socio-) emotional meaning of the relationships. The experience of depression seems always associated with darkness. Psychologists tend to see the link between depression and darkness as a metaphor. However, clinical practice hints to the existence of more literal forms of darkness. Aims: The aim of the method Depression in Awareness Space is to reduce the distress of clients with depression in the clinical counseling practice, as a reliable alternative method of psychological therapy for the treatment of depression. The method Depression in Awareness Space aims at making dark areas smaller, lighter and more transparent in order to identify the problem or the cause of the depression which lies behind the darkness. It was hypothesized that the darkness is a subjective side-effect of the neurological process of repression. After reducing the dark clouds the real problem behind the depression becomes more visible, allowing the client to work on it and in that way reduce their feelings of depression. This makes repression of the issue obsolete. Results: Clients could easily get into their 'sadness' when asked to do so and finding the location of the dark zones proved pretty easy as well. In a recent pilot study with five participants with mild depressive symptoms (measured on two different scales and tested against an untreated control group with similar symptoms), the first results were also very promising. If the mental spatial approach to depression can be proven to be really effective, this would be very good news. The Society of Mental Space Psychology is now looking for sponsoring of an up scaled experiment. Conclusions: For spatial cognition and the research into spatial psychological phenomena, the discovery of dark areas can be a step forward. Beside out of pure scientific interest, it is great to know that this discovery has a clinical implication: when darkness can be connected to depression. Also, darkness seems to be more than metaphorical expression. Progress can be monitored over measurement tools that quantify the level of depressive symptoms and by reviewing the areas of darkness.

Keywords: depression, spatial cognition, spatial imagery, social panorama

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Authors: Gary Peach, Furqan Hameed

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Musaimeer outfall tunnel is one of the longest storm water tunnels in the world, with a total length of 10.15 km. The tunnel will accommodate surface and rain water received from the drainage networks from 270 km of urban areas in southern Doha with a pumping capacity of 19.7m³/sec. The tunnel is excavated by Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) through Rus Formation, Midra Shales, and Simsima Limestone. Water inflows at high pressure, complex mixed ground, and weaker ground strata prone to karstification with the presence of vertical and lateral fractures connected to the sea bed were also encountered during mining. In addition to pre-tender geotechnical investigations, the Contractor carried out a supplementary offshore geophysical investigation in order to fine-tune the existing results of geophysical and geotechnical investigations. Electric resistivity tomography (ERT) and Seismic Reflection survey was carried out. Offshore geophysical survey was performed, and interpretations of rock mass conditions were made to provide an overall picture of underground conditions along the tunnel alignment. This allowed the critical tunnelling area and cutter head intervention to be planned accordingly. Karstification was monitored with a non-intrusive radar system facility installed on the TBM. The Boring Electric Ahead Monitoring(BEAM) was installed at the cutter head and was able to predict the rock mass up to 3 tunnel diameters ahead of the cutter head. BEAM system was provided with an online system for real time monitoring of rock mass condition and then correlated with the rock mass conditions predicted during the interpretation phase of offshore geophysical surveys. The further correlation was carried by Samples of the rock mass taken from tunnel face inspections and excavated material produced by the TBM. The BEAM data was continuously monitored to check the variations in resistivity and percentage frequency effect (PFE) of the ground. This system provided information about rock mass condition, potential karst risk, and potential of water inflow. BEAM system was found to be more than 50% accurate in picking up the difficult ground conditions and faults as predicted in the geotechnical interpretative report before the start of tunnelling operations. Upon completion of the project, it was concluded that the combined use of different geophysical investigation results can make the execution stage be carried out in a more confident way with the less geotechnical risk involved. The approach used for the prediction of rock mass condition in Geotechnical Interpretative Report (GIR) and Geophysical Reflection and electric resistivity tomography survey (ERT) Geophysical Reflection surveys were concluded to be reliable as the same rock mass conditions were encountered during tunnelling operations.

Keywords: tunnel boring machine (TBM), subsea, karstification, seismic reflection survey

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Authors: João Costa, Francisco Albuquerque, Ricardo J. Santos, Madalena M. Dias, José Carlos B. Lopes, Marcelo Costa

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Nowadays, it is well recognized that carbon dioxide emissions, together with other greenhouse gases, are responsible for the dramatic climate changes that have been occurring over the past decades. Gas hydrates are currently seen as a promising and disruptive set of materials that can be used as a basis for developing new technologies for CO₂ capture and storage. Its potential as a clean and safe pathway for CCS is tremendous since it requires only water and gas to be mixed under favorable temperatures and mild high pressures. However, the hydrates formation process is highly exothermic; it releases about 2 MJ per kilogram of CO₂, and it only occurs in a narrow window of operational temperatures (0 - 10 °C) and pressures (15 to 40 bar). Efficient continuous hydrate production at a specific temperature range necessitates high heat transfer rates in mixing processes. Past technologies often struggled to meet this requirement, resulting in low productivity or extended mixing/contact times due to inadequate heat transfer rates, which consistently posed a limitation. Consequently, there is a need for more effective continuous hydrate production technologies in industrial applications. In this work, a network mixing continuous production technology has been shown to be viable for producing CO₂ hydrates. The structured mixer used throughout this work consists of a network of unit cells comprising mixing chambers interconnected by transport channels. These mixing features result in enhanced heat and mass transfer rates and high interfacial surface area. The mixer capacity emerges from the fact that, under proper hydrodynamic conditions, the flow inside the mixing chambers becomes fully chaotic and self-sustained oscillatory flow, inducing intense local laminar mixing. The device presents specific heat transfer rates ranging from 107 to 108 W⋅m⁻³⋅K⁻¹. A laboratory scale pilot installation was built using a device capable of continuously capturing 1 kg⋅h⁻¹ of CO₂, in an aqueous slurry of up to 20% in mass. The strong mixing intensity has proven to be sufficient to enhance dissolution and initiate hydrate crystallization without the need for external seeding mechanisms and to achieve, at the device outlet, conversions of 99% in CO₂. CO₂ dissolution experiments revealed that the overall liquid mass transfer coefficient is orders of magnitude larger than in similar devices with the same purpose, ranging from 1 000 to 12 000 h⁻¹. The present technology has shown itself to be capable of continuously producing CO₂ hydrates. Furthermore, the modular characteristics of the technology, where scalability is straightforward, underline the potential development of a modular hydrate-based CO₂ capture process for large-scale applications.

Keywords: network, mixing, hydrates, continuous process, carbon dioxide

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Authors: Nina Sankat, Gerd Wilsch, Cassian Gottlieb, Steven Millar, Tobias Guenther

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Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a combination of laser ablation and optical emission spectroscopy, which in principle can simultaneously analyze all elements on the periodic table. Materials can be analyzed in terms of chemical composition in a two-dimensional, time efficient and minor destructive manner. These advantages predestine LIBS as a monitoring technique in the field of civil engineering. The decreasing service life of concrete infrastructures is a continuously growing problematic. A variety of intruding, harmful substances can damage the reinforcement or the concrete itself. To insure a sufficient service life a regular monitoring of the structure is necessary. LIBS offers many applications to accomplish a successful examination of the conditions of concrete structures. A selection of those applications are the 2D-evaluation of chlorine-, sodium- and sulfur-concentration, the identification of carbonation depths and the representation of the heterogeneity of concrete. LIBS obtains this information by using a pulsed laser with a short pulse length (some mJ), which is focused on the surfaces of the analyzed specimen, for this only an optical access is needed. Because of the high power density (some GW/cm²) a minimal amount of material is vaporized and transformed into a plasma. This plasma emits light depending on the chemical composition of the vaporized material. By analyzing the emitted light, information for every measurement point is gained. The chemical composition of the scanned area is visualized in a 2D-map with spatial resolutions up to 0.1 mm x 0.1 mm. Those 2D-maps can be converted into classic depth profiles, as typically seen for the results of chloride concentration provided by chemical analysis like potentiometric titration. However, the 2D-visualization offers many advantages like illustrating chlorine carrying cracks, direct imaging of the carbonation depth and in general allowing the separation of the aggregates from the cement paste. By calibrating the LIBS-System, not only qualitative but quantitative results can be obtained. Those quantitative results can also be based on the cement paste, while excluding the aggregates. An additional advantage of LIBS is its mobility. By using the mobile system, located at BAM, onsite measurements are feasible. The mobile LIBS-system was already used to obtain chloride, sodium and sulfur concentrations onsite of parking decks, bridges and sewage treatment plants even under hard conditions like ongoing construction work or rough weather. All those prospects make LIBS a promising method to secure the integrity of infrastructures in a sustainable manner.

Keywords: concrete, damage assessment, harmful substances, LIBS

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Authors: Leo Nnamdi Ozurumba-Dwight

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Messenger ribooxynucleic acid (mRNA) molecules are compositional, protein-based. These proteins, encoding mRNA molecules (which collectively connote the transcriptome), when analyzed by RNA sequencing (RNAseq), unveils the nature of gene expression in the RNA. The obtained gene expression provides clues of cellular traits and their dynamics in presentations. These can be studied in relation to function and responses. RNAseq is a practical concept in Genomics as it enables detection and quantitative analysis of mRNA molecules. Single cell and spatial transcriptomics both present varying avenues for expositions in genomic characteristics of single cells and pooled cells in disease conditions such as cancer, auto-immune diseases, hematopoietic based diseases, among others, from investigated biological tissue samples. Single cell transcriptomics helps conduct a direct assessment of each building unit of tissues (the cell) during diagnosis and molecular gene expressional studies. A typical technique to achieve this is through the use of a single-cell RNA sequencer (scRNAseq), which helps in conducting high throughput genomic expressional studies. However, this technique generates expressional gene data for several cells which lack presentations on the cells’ positional coordinates within the tissue. As science is developmental, the use of complimentary pre-established tissue reference maps using molecular and bioinformatics techniques has innovatively sprung-forth and is now used to resolve this set back to produce both levels of data in one shot of scRNAseq analysis. This is an emerging conceptual approach in methodology for integrative and progressively dependable transcriptomics analysis. This can support in-situ fashioned analysis for better understanding of tissue functional organization, unveil new biomarkers for early-stage detection of diseases, biomarkers for therapeutic targets in drug development, and exposit nature of cell-to-cell interactions. Also, these are vital genomic signatures and characterizations of clinical applications. Over the past decades, RNAseq has generated a wide array of information that is igniting bespoke breakthroughs and innovations in Biomedicine. On the other side, spatial transcriptomics is tissue level based and utilized to study biological specimens having heterogeneous features. It exposits the gross identity of investigated mammalian tissues, which can then be used to study cell differentiation, track cell line trajectory patterns and behavior, and regulatory homeostasis in disease states. Also, it requires referenced positional analysis to make up of genomic signatures that will be sassed from the single cells in the tissue sample. Given these two presented approaches to RNA transcriptomics study in varying quantities of cell lines, with avenues for appropriate resolutions, both approaches have made the study of gene expression from mRNA molecules interesting, progressive, developmental, and helping to tackle health challenges head-on.

Keywords: transcriptomics, RNA sequencing, single cell, spatial, gene expression.

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Authors: Valentina A. Mikhailova, Serguei V. Feskov, Anatoly I. Ivanov

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In the last decade the nonequilibrium charge transfer have attracted considerable interest from the scientific community. Examples of such processes are the charge recombination in excited donor-acceptor complexes and the intramolecular electron transfer from the second excited electronic state. In these reactions the charge transfer proceeds predominantly in the nonequilibrium mode. In the excited donor-acceptor complexes the nuclear nonequilibrium is created by the pump pulse. The intramolecular electron transfer from the second excited electronic state is an example where the nuclear nonequilibrium is created by the forward electron transfer. The kinetics of these nonequilibrium reactions demonstrate a number of peculiar properties. Most important from them are: (i) the absence of the Marcus normal region in the free energy gap law for the charge recombination in excited donor-acceptor complexes, (ii) extremely low quantum yield of thermalized charge separated state in the ultrafast charge transfer from the second excited state, (iii) the nonexponential charge recombination dynamics in excited donor-acceptor complexes, (iv) the dependence of the charge transfer rate constant on the excitation pulse frequency. This report shows that most of these kinetic features can be well reproduced in the framework of stochastic point-transition multichannel model. The model involves an explicit description of the nonequilibrium excited state formation by the pump pulse and accounts for the reorganization of intramolecular high-frequency vibrational modes, for their relaxation as well as for the solvent relaxation. The model is able to quantitatively reproduce complex nonequilibrium charge transfer kinetics observed in modern experiments. The interpretation of the nonequilibrium effects from a unified point of view in the terms of the multichannel point transition stochastic model allows to see similarities and differences of electron transfer mechanism in various molecular donor-acceptor systems and formulates general regularities inherent in these phenomena. The nonequilibrium effects in photoinduced ultrafast charge transfer which have been studied for the last 10 years are analyzed. The methods of suppression of the ultrafast charge recombination, similarities and dissimilarities of electron transfer mechanism in different molecular donor-acceptor systems are discussed. The extremely low quantum yield of the thermalized charge separated state observed in the ultrafast charge transfer from the second excited state in the complex consisting of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene and tetracyanoethylene in acetonitrile solution directly demonstrates that its effectiveness can be close to unity. This experimental finding supports the idea that the nonequilibrium charge recombination in the excited donor-acceptor complexes can be also very effective so that the part of thermalized complexes is negligible. It is discussed the regularities inherent to the equilibrium and nonequilibrium reactions. Their fundamental differences are analyzed. Namely the opposite dependencies of the charge transfer rates on the dynamical properties of the solvent. The increase of the solvent viscosity results in decreasing the thermal rate and vice versa increasing the nonequilibrium rate. The dependencies of the rates on the solvent reorganization energy and the free energy gap also can considerably differ. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Grant No. 16-13-10122).

Keywords: Charge recombination, higher excited states, free energy gap law, nonequilibrium

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Authors: Fadwa Al Bawardi

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In March 2021, the Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers issued a decision to form a committee called the "Higher Committee for Research, Development and Innovation," a committee linked to the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, chaired by the Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, and concerned with the development of the research, development and innovation sector in the Kingdom. In order to talk about the dimensions of this wonderful step, let us first try to answer the following questions. Is there a difference between creativity and innovation..? What are the factors of creativity in the individual. Are they mental genetic factors or are they factors that an individual acquires through learning..? The methodology included surveys that have been conducted on more than 500 individuals, males and females, between the ages of 18 till 60. And the answer is. "Creativity" is the creation of a new idea, while "Innovation" is the development of an already existing idea in a new, successful way. They are two sides of the same coin, as the "creative idea" needs to be developed and transformed into an "innovation" in order to achieve either strategic achievements at the level of countries and institutions to enhance organizational intelligence, or achievements at the level of individuals. For example, the beginning of smart phones was just a creative idea from IBM in 1994, but the actual successful innovation for the manufacture, development and marketing of these phones was through Apple later. Nor does creativity have to be hereditary. There are three basic factors for creativity: The first factor is "the presence of a challenge or an obstacle" that the individual faces and seeks thinking to find solutions to overcome, even if thinking requires a long time. The second factor is the "environment surrounding" of the individual, which includes science, training, experience gained, the ability to use techniques, as well as the ability to assess whether the idea is feasible or otherwise. To achieve this factor, the individual must be aware of own skills, strengths, hobbies, and aspects in which one can be creative, and the individual must also be self-confident and courageous enough to suggest those new ideas. The third factor is "Experience and the Ability to Accept Risk and Lack of Initial Success," and then learn from mistakes and try again tirelessly. There are some tools and techniques that help the individual to reach creative and innovative ideas, such as: Mind Maps tool, through which the available information is drawn by writing a short word for each piece of information and arranging all other relevant information through clear lines, which helps in logical thinking and correct vision. There is also a tool called "Flow Charts", which are graphics that show the sequence of data and expected results according to an ordered scenario of events and workflow steps, giving clarity to the ideas, their sequence, and what is expected of them. There are also other great tools such as the Six Hats tool, a useful tool to be applied by a group of people for effective planning and detailed logical thinking, and the Snowball tool. And all of them are tools that greatly help in organizing and arranging mental thoughts, and making the right decisions. It is also easy to learn, apply and use all those tools and techniques to reach creative and innovative solutions. The detailed figures and results of the conducted surveys are available upon request, with charts showing the %s based on gender, age groups, and job categories.

Keywords: innovation, creativity, factors, tools

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