Search results for: special standards for planing

Authors: Mehmet Kale, Ramazan Sencan, Sibel Yavru, Ahmet Ak, Nuri Mamak, Sibel Hasırcıoglu, Mesih Kocamuftuoglu, Yakup Yıldırım, Hasbi Sait Saltık

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Bovine Papilloma Virus (BPV)-induced warts can cause mastitis, teat blindness, reduction of milk yield, udder deformities, and a difficulty in getting the teats into the milking machine. Especially, surgical operations cannot be performed in BPV-induced teat warts because of the increased sensitivity of the breast region and small-sized papillomas. Thus, there is a need to find new topical treatment methods. We have developed a pomade for treatment of BPV in cattle. The pomade is consists of lanoline, snakeskin (two special kind of snake), alcohol, vaseline, and ether. Firstly, we determined 46 cattle with teat warts. In the study, BPV antigen was detected in 28 cattle blood samples (61%) by ELISA. The pomade was applied to all BPV infected animals. The regression and recovery of warts were 100% in all animals. We advised using the pomade for treatment of BPV-induced warts in teats.

Keywords: bovine papilloma virus, pomade, teat, udder

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Authors: E. N. R. de Silva

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The main purpose of this research is to set a policy framework for establishing a legal, institutional and social infrastructure that enhances the welfare, health, safety and economic interest of the consumers in Sri Lanka. It will help to develop an approach to continuously and successfully advocate for a consumer protection legal reform agenda and also it is significant as it gives directions to create national consumer protection associations in Sri Lanka. The methodology adopted for this research is purely a qualitative approach and it is generally and specifically categorized. Generally, part of this research looked at the existing laws, regulations and how effective they are in order to protect consumers. It will analyze the consumer protection framework and specially, consumer protection enhanced by the public organizations in Japan. This research offers a model with methods and legal instruments to enforce advocacy group to enhance consumer welfare, also brings out reforms to be made in the national legal framework on consumer welfare.

Keywords: consumer protection association, consumer protection law, consumer welfare, legal framework

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Authors: Ulil Afidah, Muhamad Fathan Mubin, Firdha Aulia

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Code riverbanks Yogyakarta is a settlement area with middle to lower social classes. Socio-economic situation is affecting the behavior of society. This research aimed to find and explain the implementation and the assessment of character education which were done in elementary schools in Code riverside, Yogyakarta region of Indonesia. This research is a qualitative research which the subjects were the kids of Code riverbanks, Yogyakarta. The data were collected through interviews and document studies and analyzed qualitatively using the technique of interactive analysis model of Miles and Huberman. The results show that: (1) The learning process of character education was done by integrating all aspects such as democratic and interactive learning session also introducing role model to the students. 2) The assessment of character education was done by teacher based on teaching and learning process and an activity in outside the classroom that was the criterion on three aspects: Cognitive, affective and psychomotor.

Keywords: character, Code riverbanks, education, Yogyakarta

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Authors: Naman Solanki, Souraj Mondal

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With the world moving towards online communication, the video datastore has exploded in the past few years. Consequently, it has become crucial to analyse participant’s engagement levels in online communication videos. Engagement prediction of people in videos can be useful in many domains, like education, client meetings, dating, etc. Video-level or frame-level prediction of engagement for a user involves the development of robust models that can capture facial micro-emotions efficiently. For the development of an engagement prediction model, it is necessary to have a widely-accepted standard dataset for engagement analysis. DAiSEE is one of the datasets which consist of in-the-wild data and has a gold standard annotation for engagement prediction. Earlier research done using the DAiSEE dataset involved training and testing standard models like CNN-based models, but the results were not satisfactory according to industry standards. In this paper, a multi-level classification approach has been introduced to create a more robust model for engagement analysis using the DAiSEE dataset. This approach has recorded testing accuracies of 0.638, 0.7728, 0.8195, and 0.866 for predicting boredom level, engagement level, confusion level, and frustration level, respectively.

Keywords: computer vision, engagement prediction, deep learning, multi-level classification

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Authors: Khayriniso Bakhtiyarovna Ganiyeva

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The article explores the significance of punctuation in achieving communicative competence. It underscores that effective communication goes beyond simply using punctuation correctly. In the successful completion of a communicative activity, it is important not that the writer correctly uses punctuation marks but that he was able to achieve a goal aimed at expressing a certain meaning. The unanimity of the writer and the reader in the mutual understanding of the text is of primary importance. It should also be taken into account that situational communication provides special informative content and expressiveness of speech. Also, the norms of the situation are determined by the nature of the information in the text, and the punctuation marks expressed in accordance with the norm perform logical-semantic, highlighting expressive-emotional and signaling functions. It is a mistake to classify the signs subject to the norm of the situation as created by the author because they functionally reflect the general stylistic features of different texts. Such signs are among the common signs that are codified only by the semantics and structure of the created text.

Keywords: communicative-pragmatic approach, expressiveness of speech, stylistic features, comparative analysis

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Authors: Caroline Smith, Professor Debi Bhattacharya, Sion Scott

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Introduction: Oropharyngeal Dysphagia (OD) effects around 15% of older people, however it is often unrecognised and under diagnosed until they are hospitalised. There is a need for primary care healthcare practitioners (HCPs) to assume a proactive role in identifying and managing OD to prevent adverse outcomes such as aspiration pneumonia. Understanding the determinants of primary care HCPs undertaking this new behaviour provides the intervention targets for addressing. This realist review, underpinned by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), aims to synthesise relevant literature and develop programme theories to understand what interventions work, how they work and under what circumstances to facilitate HCPs to prevent harm from OD. Combining realist methodology with behavioural science will permit conceptualisation of intervention components as theoretical behavioural constructs, thus informing the design of a future behaviour change intervention. Furthermore, through the TDF’s linkage to a taxonomy of behaviour change techniques, we will identify corresponding behaviour change techniques to include in this intervention. Methods & analysis: We are following the five steps for undertaking a realist review: 1) clarify the scope 2) Literature search 3) appraise and extract data 4) evidence synthesis 5) evaluation. We have searched Medline, Google scholar, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Scopus and PsycINFO databases. We are obtaining additional evidence through grey literature, snowball sampling, lateral searching and consulting the stakeholder group. Literature is being screened, evaluated and synthesised in Excel and Nvivo. We will appraise evidence in relation to its relevance and rigour. Data will be extracted and synthesised according to its relation to Initial programme theories (IPTs). IPTs were constructed after the preliminary literature search, informed by the TDF and with input from a stakeholder group of patient and public involvement advisors, general practitioners, speech and language therapists, geriatricians and pharmacists. We will follow the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards (RAMESES) quality and publication standards to report study results. Results: In this ongoing review our search has identified 1417 manuscripts with approximately 20% progressing to full text screening. We inductively generated 10 IPTs that hypothesise practitioners require: the knowledge to spot the signs and symptoms of OD; the skills to provide initial advice and support; and access to resources in their working environment to support them conducting these new behaviours. We mapped the 10 IPTs to 8 TDF domains and then generated a further 12 IPTs deductively using domain definitions to fulfil the remaining 6 TDF domains. Deductively generated IPTs broadened our thinking to consider domains such as ‘Emotion,’ ‘Optimism’ and ‘Social Influence’, e.g. If practitioners perceive that patients, carers and relatives expect initial advice and support, then they will be more likely to provide this, because they will feel obligated to do so. After prioritisation with stakeholders using a modified nominal group technique approach, a maximum of 10 IPTs will progress to test against the literature.

Keywords: behaviour change, deglutition disorders, primary healthcare, realist review

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Authors: Mishari Khajah, Mohd. Elmuntasir Ahmed, Abdullah Al-Matouq, Farah Al-Ajeel, Fatemah Dashti, Ahmed Shishter

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The overall aim of this study was to monitor and evaluate the effluent quality of a reverse osmosis (RO) reject wastewater from the biggest wastewater treatment plant in the world that is using RO and ultrafiltration membranes in their processes to reclaim water for indirect potable water reuse from municipal wastewaters. The RO reject wastewater or brine included various contaminants that could harm the human health and the environment such as trace organics, organic matters, heavy metals, nutrients and pathogens. Unfortunately, there are no legally binding regulatory guidelines for brine management in Kuwait as many countries around the world. This study monitors and evaluate the RO reject wastewater (brine) generated from the Sulaibiya Wastewater Treatment Plant. Samples were collected and analyzed about 37 parameters for one-year period, twice a month, and compare it to Kuwait Environment Public Authority, KEPA. Results showed that the heavy metals parameters were above KEPA standards, which needs to be treated.

Keywords: domestic wastewater, management, potable water, RO reject wastewater, Sulaibiya wastewater treatment plant

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Authors: F. L. Bernardo, R. A. S. Zacarias

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The ways to translate are manifold since textual genres undergoing translations are diverse. In this essay, our goal is to give special attention to the literary genre and to the online translation tool Google Translate (GT), widely used either by nonprofessionals or by scholars, in order to show evidence of the indispensability of human wit in a good translation. Our study has its basis on a literary review of prominent authors, with emphasis on translation categories. Also highlighting the issue of polysemous literary translation, we aim to shed light on the translator’s craft and the fallible nature of online translation. To better illustrate these principles, the methodology consisted on performing a comparative analysis involving the original text Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe in English to its online translation given by GT and to a translation into Brazilian Portuguese performed by a human. We proceeded to identifying and analyzing the degrees of textual equivalence according to the following categories: volume, levels and order. The results have attested the unsuitability in a translation done by a computer connected to the World Wide Web.

Keywords: Google Translator, human translation, literary translation, Moll Flanders

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Authors: Kavitha Puthanveedu, Kasi Sekar, Preeti Jacob, Kavita Jangam

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In India, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the law related to children alleged and found to be in conflict with law, proposes to address to the rehabilitation of children in conflict with law by catering to the basic rights by providing care and protection, development, treatment, and social re-integration. A major concern in addressing the issues of children in conflict with law in Kerala the southernmost state in India identified were: 1. Lack of psychological assessment for children in conflict with law, 2. Poor psychosocial intervention for children in conflict with law on bail, 3. Lack of psychosocial intervention or proper care and protection of CCL residing at observation and special home, 4. Lack convergence with systems related with mental health care. Aim: To develop individual care plan for children in conflict with law. Methodology: NIMHANS a premier Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, collaborated with Social Justice Department, Govt. of Kerala to address this issue by developing a participatory methodology to implement psychosocial care in the existing services by integrating the activities through multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach as per the Sec. 18 of JJAct 2015. Developing individual care plan: Key informant interviews, focus group discussion with multiple stakeholders consisting of legal officers, police, child protection officials, counselors, and home staff were conducted. Case studies were conducted among children in conflict with law. A checklist on 80 psychosocial problems among children in conflict with law was prepared with eight major issues identified through the quantitative process such as family and parental characteristic, family interactions and relationships, stressful life event, social and environmental factors, child’s individual characteristics, education, child labour and high-risk behavior. Standardised scales were used to identify the anxiety, caseness, suicidality and substance use among the children. This provided a background data understand the psychosocial problems experienced by children in conflict with law. In the second stage, a detailed plan of action was developed involving multiple stakeholders that include Special juvenile police unit, DCPO, JJB, and NGOs. The individual care plan was reviewed by a panel of 4 experts working in the area of children, followed by the review by multiple stakeholders in juvenile justice system such as Magistrates, JJB members, legal cum probation officers, district child protection officers, social workers and counselors. Necessary changes were made in the individual care plan in each stage which was pilot tested with 45 children for a period of one month and standardized for administering among children in conflict with law. Result: The individual care plan developed through scientific process was standardized and currently administered among children in conflict with law in the state of Kerala in the 3 districts that will be further implemented in other 14 districts. The program was successful in developing a systematic approach for the psychosocial intervention of children in conflict with law that can be a forerunner for other states in India.

Keywords: psychosocial care, individual care plan, multidisciplinary, multisectoral

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Authors: Irum Matloob, Shoab Ahmad Khan, Fahim Arif

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As Indo-Pak has been the victim of heart diseases since many decades. Many surveys showed that percentage of cardiac patients is increasing in Pakistan day by day, and special attention is needed to pay on this issue. The framework is proposed for performing detailed analysis of ECG survey data which is conducted for measuring prevalence of heart diseases statistics in Pakistan. The ECG survey data is evaluated or filtered by using automated Minnesota codes and only those ECGs are used for further analysis which is fulfilling the standardized conditions mentioned in the Minnesota codes. Then feature selection is performed by applying proposed algorithm based on discernibility matrix, for selecting relevant features from the database. Clustering is performed for exposing natural clusters from the ECG survey data by applying spectral clustering algorithm using fuzzy c means algorithm. The hidden patterns and interesting relationships which have been exposed after this analysis are useful for further detailed analysis and for many other multiple purposes.

Keywords: arrhythmias, centroids, ECG, clustering, discernibility matrix

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Authors: Adilson Elias Xavier, Otto Corrêa Rotunno Filho, Paulo Canedo De Magalhães

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This paper addresses the issue of automatic parameter estimation in conceptual rainfall-runoff (CRR) models. Due to threshold structures commonly occurring in CRR models, the associated mathematical optimization problems have the significant characteristic of being strongly non-differentiable. In order to face this enormous task, the resolution method proposed adopts a smoothing strategy using a special C∞ differentiable class function. The final estimation solution is obtained by solving a sequence of differentiable subproblems which gradually approach the original conceptual problem. The use of this technique, called Hyperbolic Smoothing Method (HSM), makes possible the application of the most powerful minimization algorithms, and also allows for the main difficulties presented by the original CRR problem to be overcome. A set of computational experiments is presented for the purpose of illustrating both the reliability and the efficiency of the proposed approach.

Keywords: rainfall-runoff models, automatic calibration, hyperbolic smoothing method

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Authors: Fung Sze Wai Veera, Peter W. Ferretto

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Gender functions as a principle in organizing society based on the cultural meanings given to males and females. It is an essential component in constructing the spatial reality, one that is in most cases in favor of men’s needs and disregards that of women’s. Similar to other minorities in China, men of the Dong community hold the primary position in policymaking, moral standards, social values, and, furthermore, the building of the physical environment. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the residential architecture of Dong through the lens of gender. Specifically, it examines how the patriarchal practice of Dong is manifested in terms of the spatial organization, the architectural feature, and the construction process of Dong houses in the southern dialect areas. While the residential architecture of Dong has been extensively researched, the role of gender culture in designing and constructing it deserves more research attention. Ultimately, the objective of this study is to challenge the notion of gender-inclusive design in the rural China context while opening up a cross-disciplinary discussion concerning Chinese minority architecture and gender studies.

Keywords: Dong minority residential architecture, gender study, built environment, male-dominated society, gender-inclusive design

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Authors: Azzam Alosaimi

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Different countries attempt to reduce energy demands and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate global warming potential. They set different building codes to regulate excessive building’s energy losses. Energy losses occur due to pressure difference between the indoor and outdoor environments, and thus, heat transfers from one region to another. One major sources of energy loss is known as building airtightness. Building airtightness is the fundamental feature of the building envelope that directly impacts infiltration. Most of international building codes require minimum performance for new construction to ensure acceptable airtightness. The execution of airtightness required standards has become more challenging in recent years due to a lack of expertise and equipment, making it costly and time-consuming. Hence, researchers have developed predictive models to predict buildings infiltration rates to meet building codes and to reduce energy and cost. This research applies a theoretical modeling approach using Matlab software to predict mean infiltration rate distributions and total heat loss of Saudi Arabia’s housing stock.

Keywords: infiltration rate, energy demands, heating loss, cooling loss, carbon emissions

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Authors: Romaric Desbrousses, Lan Lin

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The objective of this study is to determine how Canadian seismic design provisions affect the column axial load resistance of moment-resisting frame reinforced concrete buildings subjected to the differential settlement of their foundation. To do so, two four-storey buildings are designed in accordance with the seismic design provisions of the Canadian Concrete Design Standards. One building is located in Toronto, which is situated in a moderate seismic hazard zone in Canada, and the other in Vancouver, which is in Canada’s highest seismic hazard zone. A finite element model of each building is developed using SAP 2000. A 100 mm settlement is assigned to the base of the building’s center column. The axial load resistance of the column is represented by the demand capacity ratio. The analysis results show that settlement-induced tensile axial forces have a particularly detrimental effect on the conventional settling columns of the Toronto buildings which fail at a much smaller settlement that those in the Vancouver buildings. The results also demonstrate that particular care should be taken in the design of columns in short-span buildings.

Keywords: Columns, Demand, Foundation differential settlement, Seismic design, Non-linear analysis

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Authors: Hiesik Kim, YongBeum Kim

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Internet of Things (IoT) applications are widely serviced and spread worldwide. Local wireless data transmission technique must be developed to speed up with some technique. Bluetooth wireless data communication is wireless technique is technique made by Special Inter Group(SIG) using the frequency range 2.4 GHz, and it is exploiting Frequency Hopping to avoid collision with different device. To implement experiment, equipment for experiment transmitting measured data is made by using Arduino as Open source hardware, Gas sensor, and Bluetooth Module and algorithm controlling transmission speed is demonstrated. Experiment controlling transmission speed also is progressed by developing Android Application receiving measured data, and controlling this speed is available at the experiment result. it is important that in the future, improvement for communication algorithm be needed because few error occurs when data is transferred or received.

Keywords: Arduino, Bluetooth, gas sensor, internet of things, transmission Speed

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Authors: Denise F. Brown

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This proposal provides an explanation of the content for a Special Topics Course to be offered Spring of 2022. The course will be titled, Creative means to address mental health in the African American Community: Arts, Advocacy, and Awareness. Research shows that African Americans are less likely to seek treatment for mental illnesses. The stigma around mental illness influences negative ideas about having psychological problems within the African American community. Assessments of how African Americans perceive mental illness will also be provided. Current research suggests that understanding mental health is just as important as understanding mental illness. The distinguishment between mental illness and mental health provides a way to not negatively point out mental illness but to better understand that psychological and emotional well-being can be achieved whether a mental illness is present or not. The course will consist of defining mental health and mental illness and then what it means to utilize creative means to become a mental health advocate within the African American community.

Keywords: arts, advocacy, black mental health, mental illness

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Authors: Pankaj Kumar Jha, Mahendra Singh Hada, Brijendra Singh

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Protection system is an essential feature of the electrical system which helps in detection and removal of faults. Protection system consists of many subsystems like relays, circuit breakers, instrument transformers, auxiliary DC system, auxiliary relays etc. Although the fundamental protective and relay operating concepts are similar throughout the world, there are very significant differences in their implementation. These differences arise through different traditions, operating philosophies, experiences and national standards. Protection system mis-operation due to problem in one or more of its subsystem or inadequate knowledge of numerical relay settings and configuration are very common throughout the world. Protection system mis-operation leads to unstable and unreliable grid operation. In this paper we will discuss about the fundamental concepts of protective relaying and the reasons for protection system mis-operation due to one or more of its subsystems. Many real-world case studies of protection system mis-operation from Indian power sector are discussed in detail in this paper.

Keywords: auxiliary trip relays, bus zone, check zone, CT saturation, dead zone protection, DC ground faults, DMT, DR, end fault protection, instrument transformer, SOTF, STUB

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Authors: M. Fakharian, M. I. Khodakarami

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In this paper, a new trend for improvement in semi-analytical method based on scale boundaries in order to solve the 2D elastodynamic problems is provided. In this regard, only the boundaries of the problem domain discretization are by specific sub-parametric elements. Mapping functions are uses as a class of higher-order Lagrange polynomials, special shape functions, Gauss-Lobatto -Legendre numerical integration, and the integral form of the weighted residual method, the matrix is diagonal coefficients in the equations of elastodynamic issues. Differences between study conducted and prior research in this paper is in geometry production procedure of the interpolation function and integration of the different is selected. Validity and accuracy of the present method are fully demonstrated through two benchmark problems which are successfully modeled using a few numbers of DOFs. The numerical results agree very well with the analytical solutions and the results from other numerical methods.

Keywords: 2D elastodynamic problems, lagrange polynomials, G-L-Lquadrature, decoupled SBFEM

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Authors: Balachandra Kumaraswamy, P. G. Poonacha

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Automatic Music Information Retrieval has been one of the challenging topics of research for a few decades now with several interesting approaches reported in the literature. In this paper we have developed a pitch extraction method based on a finite Fourier series approximation to the given window of samples. We then estimate pitch as the fundamental period of the finite Fourier series approximation to the given window of samples. This method uses analysis of the strength of harmonics present in the signal to reduce octave as well as harmonic errors. The performance of our method is compared with three best known methods for pitch extraction, namely, Yin, Windowed Special Normalization of the Auto-Correlation Function and Harmonic Product Spectrum methods of pitch extraction. Our study with artificially created signals as well as music files show that Fourier Approximation method gives much better estimate of pitch with less octave and harmonic errors.

Keywords: pitch, fourier series, yin, normalization of the auto- correlation function, harmonic product, mean square error

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Authors: Tauhidur Rahman, Subhrajit Pathak

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In this study, structural response of Bhairabi-Sairang Tunnel due to presence of seismic faults has been thoroughly examined. There may be several active faults located in and around the project. Faults are the key seismic sources from where earthquakes are originated. The magnitude of earthquake will depend on the length of the fault. A long fault more than 200 km can produce earthquake of magnitude (Mw ) more than 8.0 and smaller length less than 10 km will produce small magnitude earthquake. Now-a-days it is very much essential to identify the distance and length of a fault from the project site. Based on this, in the present paper, a case study of the Bhairabi Sairang Tunnel of 1.73 Km length located in the North Eastern Region of India has been selected to calculate the seismic hazard from the surrounding effect of faults. A comparative study of seismic hazard at the tunnel site has been made based on the location of faults with the seismic hazard obtained from the Indian Standards code of Practice. In this paper, a practical problem of a tunnel has been analysed based on the available faults around the project site accounting the soil factor.

Keywords: seismic hazard, effect of fault, soil factor, Bhairabi Sairang tunnel

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Authors: Piyush Sharma, Devi Prasad Sharma, Sulabh Bansal

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Diseases are fairly common in fruits and vegetables because of the changing climatic and environmental circumstances. Crop diseases, which are frequently difficult to control, interfere with the growth and output of the crops. Accurate disease detection and timely disease control measures are required to guarantee high production standards and good quality. In India, apples are a common crop that may be afflicted by a variety of diseases on the fruit, stem, and leaves. It is fungi, bacteria, and viruses that trigger the early symptoms of leaf diseases. In order to assist farmers and take the appropriate action, it is important to develop an automated system that can be used to detect the type of illnesses. Machine learning-based image processing can be used to: this research suggested a system that can automatically identify diseases in apple fruit and apple plants. Hence, this research utilizes the hybrid SVM-RBN model. As a consequence, the model may produce results that are more effective in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 Score, with respective values of 96%, 99%, 94%, and 93%.

Keywords: fruit plant disease, crop disease, machine learning, image processing, SVM-RBN

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Authors: Narottam Puri, Gurvinder Kaur

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Background: The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is India’s apex standard setting accrediting body in health care which evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations. NABH requires accredited organizations to become reaccredited every three years. It is often though that once the initial accreditation is complete, the foundation is set and reaccreditation is a much simpler process. Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, a part of the Fortis Healthcare group is a 262 bed, multi-specialty tertiary care hospital. The hospital was successfully accredited in the year 2012. On completion of its first cycle, the hospital underwent a reaccreditation assessment in the year 2015. This paper aims to gain a better understanding of the challenges that accredited hospitals face when preparing for a renewal of their accreditations. Methods: The study was conducted using a cross-sectional mixed methods approach; semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior leadership team and staff members including doctors and nurses. Documents collated by the QA team while preparing for the re-assessment like the data on quality indicators: the method of collection, analysis, trending, continual incremental improvements made over time, minutes of the meetings, amendments made to the existing policies and new policies drafted was reviewed to understand the challenges. Results: The senior leadership had a concern about the cost of accreditation and its impact on the quality of health care services considering the staff effort and time consumed it. The management was however in favor of continuing with the accreditation since it offered competitive advantage, strengthened community confidence besides better pay rates from the payors. The clinicians regarded it as an increased non-clinical workload. Doctors felt accountable within a professional framework, to themselves, the patient and family, their peers and to their profession; but not to accreditation bodies and raised concerns on how the quality indicators were measured. The departmental leaders had a positive perception of accreditation. They agreed that it ensured high standards of care and improved management of their functional areas. However, they were reluctant in sparing people for the QA activities due to staffing issues. With staff turnover, a lot of work was lost as sticky knowledge and had to be redone. Listing the continual quality improvement initiatives over the last 3 years was a challenge in itself. Conclusion: The success of any quality assurance reaccreditation program depends almost entirely on the commitment and interest of the administrators, nurses, paramedical staff, and clinicians. The leader of the Quality Movement is critical in propelling and building momentum. Leaders need to recognize skepticism and resistance and consider ways in which staff can become positively engaged. Involvement of all the functional owners is the start point towards building ownership and accountability for standards compliance. Creativity plays a very valuable role. Communication by Mail Series, WhatsApp groups, Quizzes, Events, and any and every form helps. Leaders must be able to generate interest and commitment without burdening clinical and administrative staff with an activity they neither understand nor believe in.

Keywords: NABH, reaccreditation, quality assurance, quality indicators

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Authors: Michael Josef Schwerer

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Background: Analyzing any aircraft accident is mandatory based on the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the respective country’s criminal prosecution authorities. Legal medicine investigations are unavoidable when fatalities involve the flight crew or when doubts arise concerning the pilot’s aeromedical health status before the event. As a result of frequently tremendous blunt and sharp force trauma along with the impact of the aircraft to the ground, consecutive blast or fire exposition of the occupants or putrefaction of the dead bodies in cases of delayed recovery, relevant findings can be masked or destroyed and therefor being inaccessible in standard pathology practice comprising just forensic autopsy and histopathology. Such cases are of considerable risk of remaining unsolved without legal consequences for those responsible. Further, no lessons can be drawn from these scenarios to improve flight safety and prevent future mishaps. Aims and Methods: To learn from previously unsolved aircraft accidents, re-evaluations of the investigation files and modern molecular pathology studies were performed. Genetic testing involved predominantly PCR-based analysis of gene regulation, studying DNA promotor methylations, RNA transcription and posttranscriptional regulation. In addition, the presence or absence of infective agents, particularly DNA- and RNA-viruses, was studied. Technical adjustments of molecular genetic procedures when working with archived sample material were necessary. Standards for the proper interpretation of the respective findings had to be settled. Results and Discussion: Additional molecular genetic testing significantly contributes to the quality of forensic pathology assessment in aviation mishaps. Previously undetected cardiotropic viruses potentially explain e.g., a pilot’s sudden incapacitation resulting from cardiac failure or myocardial arrhythmia. In contrast, negative results for infective agents participate in ruling out concerns about an accident pilot’s fitness to fly and the aeromedical examiner’s precedent decision to issue him or her an aeromedical certificate. Care must be taken in the interpretation of genetic testing for pre-existing diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or ischemic heart disease. Molecular markers such as mRNAs or miRNAs, which can establish these diagnoses in clinical patients, might be misleading in-flight crew members because of adaptive changes in their tissues resulting from repeated mild hypoxia during flight, for instance. Military pilots especially demonstrate significant physiological adjustments to their somatic burdens in flight, such as cardiocirculatory stress and air combat maneuvers. Their non-pathogenic alterations in gene regulation and expression will likely be misinterpreted for genuine disease by inexperienced investigators. Conclusions: The growing influence of molecular pathology on legal medicine practice has found its way into aircraft accident investigation. As appropriate quality standards for laboratory work and data interpretation are provided, forensic genetic testing supports the medico-legal analysis of aviation mishaps and potentially reduces the number of unsolved events in the future.

Keywords: aviation medicine, aircraft accident investigation, forensic pathology, molecular pathology

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Authors: Kyong-Ku Yun, Dae-Ae Kim, Kyeo-Re Lee, Kyong Namkung, Seung-Yeon Han

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Micro silica is collected as a by-product of the silicon and ferrosilicon alloy production in electric arc furnace using highly pure quartz, wood chips, coke and the like. It consists of about 85% of silicon which has spherical particles with an average particle size of 150 μm. The bulk density of micro silica varies from 150 to 700kg/m^3 and the fineness ranges from 150,000 to 300,000cm^2/g. An amorphous structure with a high silicon oxide content of micro silica induces an active reaction with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) generated by the cement hydrate of a large surface area (about 20 m^² / g), and they are also known to form calcium, silicate, hydrate conjugate (C-S-H). Micro silica tends to act as a filler because of the fine particles and the spherical shape. These particles do not get covered by water and they fit well in the space between the relatively rough cement grains which does not freely fluidize concrete. On the contrary, water demand increases since micro silica particles have a tendency to absorb water because of the large surface area. The overall effect of micro silica depends on the amount of micro silica added with other parameters in the water-(cement + micro silica) ratio, and the availability of superplasticizer. In this research, it was studied on cellular sprayed concrete. This method involves a direct re-production of ready mixed concrete into a high performance at a job site. It could reduce the cost of construction by an adding a cellular and a micro silica into a ready mixed concrete truck in a field. Also, micro silica which is difficult with mixing due to high fineness in the field can be added and dispersed in concrete by increasing the fluidity of ready mixed concrete through the surface activity of cellular. Increased air content is converged to a certain level of air content by spraying and it also produces high-performance concrete by remixing of powders in the process of spraying. As it does not use a field mixing equipment the cost of construction decrease and it can be constructed after installing special spray machine in a commercial pump car. Therefore, use of special equipment is minimized, providing economic feasibility through the utilization of existing equipment. This study was carried out to evaluate a highly reliable method of confirming dispersion through a high performance cellular sprayed concrete. A mixture of 25mm coarse aggregate and river sand was applied to the concrete. In addition, by applying silica fume and foam, silica fume dispersion is confirmed in accordance with foam mixing, and the mean and standard deviation is obtained. Then variation coefficient is calculated to finally evaluate the dispersion. Comparison and analysis of before and after spraying were conducted on the experiment variables of 21L, 35L foam for each 7%, 14% silica fume respectively. Taking foam and silica fume as variables, the experiment proceed. Casting a specimen for each variable, a five-day sample is taken from each specimen for EDS test. In this study, it was examined by an experiment materials, plan and mix design, test methods, and equipment, for the evaluation of dispersion in accordance with micro silica and foam.

Keywords: micro silica, distribution, ready mixed concrete, foam

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Authors: Irum Matloob, Shoab Ahmad Khan, Fahim Arif

Abstract:

As Indo-pak has been the victim of heart diseases since many decades. Many surveys showed that percentage of cardiac patients is increasing in Pakistan day by day, and special attention is needed to pay on this issue. The framework is proposed for performing detailed analysis of ECG survey data which is conducted for measuring the prevalence of heart diseases statistics in Pakistan. The ECG survey data is evaluated or filtered by using automated Minnesota codes and only those ECGs are used for further analysis which is fulfilling the standardized conditions mentioned in the Minnesota codes. Then feature selection is performed by applying proposed algorithm based on discernibility matrix, for selecting relevant features from the database. Clustering is performed for exposing natural clusters from the ECG survey data by applying spectral clustering algorithm using fuzzy c means algorithm. The hidden patterns and interesting relationships which have been exposed after this analysis are useful for further detailed analysis and for many other multiple purposes.

Keywords: arrhythmias, centroids, ECG, clustering, discernibility matrix

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Alavidoost, Hossein Bozorgian

Abstract:

Criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) are designed to measure student performance against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or learning standards. The reliability of such tests cannot be based on internal reliability. Threshold loss agreement is one way to calculate the reliability of CRTs. However, the selection of master and non-master in such agreement is determined by the threshold point. The problem is if the threshold point witnesses a minute change, the selection of master and non-master may have a drastic change, leading to the change in reliability results. Therefore, in this study, the Fuzzy logic approach is employed as a remedial procedure for data analysis to obviate the threshold point problem. Forty-one Iranian students were selected; the participants were all between 20 and 30 years old. A quantitative approach was used to address the research questions. In doing so, a quasi-experimental design was utilized since the selection of the participants was not randomized. Based on the Fuzzy logic approach, the threshold point would be more stable during the analysis, resulting in rather constant reliability results and more precise assessment.

Keywords: criterion-referenced tests, threshold loss agreement, threshold point, fuzzy logic approach

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Authors: Amit Sharma, J. N. Sharma

Abstract:

This paper deals with the study of reflection and transmission characteristics of acoustic waves at the interface of a semiconductor halfspace and elastic solid. The amplitude ratios (reflection and transmission coefficients) of reflected and transmitted waves to that of incident wave varying with the incident angles have been examined for the case of quasi-longitudinal wave. The special cases of normal and grazing incidence have also been derived with the help of Gauss elimination method. The mathematical model consisting of governing partial differential equations of motion and charge carriers diffusion of n-type semiconductors and elastic solid has been solved both analytically and numerically in the study. The numerical computations of reflection and transmission coefficients has been carried out by using MATLAB programming software for silicon (Si) semiconductor and copper elastic solid. The computer simulated results have been plotted graphically for Si semiconductors. The study may be useful in semiconductors, geology, and seismology in addition to surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices.

Keywords: quasilongitudinal, reflection and transmission, semiconductors, acoustics

Procedia PDF Downloads 398

Authors: Yaacoub Tina, Youssef Roua, Radoi Emanuel, Burel Gilles

Abstract:

Recently, low-complexity sub-Nyquist sampling schemes based on the Finite Rate of Innovation (FRI) theory have been introduced to sample parametric signals at minimum rates. The multichannel modulating waveforms (MCMW) is such an efficient scheme, where the received signal is mixed with an appropriate set of arbitrary waveforms, integrated and sampled at rates far below the Nyquist rate. In this paper, the MCMW scheme is adapted to the special case of ultra wideband (UWB) channel estimation, characterized by dense multipaths. First, an appropriate structure, which accounts for the bandpass spectrum feature of UWB signals, is defined. Then, a novel approach to decrease the number of processing channels and reduce the complexity of this sampling scheme is presented. Finally, the proposed concepts are validated by simulation results, obtained with real filters, in the framework of a coherent Rake receiver.

Keywords: coherent rake receiver, finite rate of innovation, sub-nyquist sampling, ultra wideband

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Lewis Wallace, William Dempster, David Nash, Alexandros Boukis, Craig Maclean

Abstract:

This paper, through traditional test methods and close adherence to international standards, presents a characterization study of a woven Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). Testing is undergone in the axial, shear, and out-of-plane (bend) directions, and the results are fitted to the *FABRIC material model with ABAQUS FEA. The non-linear behaviors of the fabric in the axial and shear directions and behaviors on the macro scale are explored at the meso scale level. The medical grade bio-fabric is tested in untreated and heat-treated forms, and deviations are closely analyzed at the micro, meso, and macro scales to determine the effects of the process. The heat-treatment process was found to increase the stiffness of the fabric during axial and bending stiffness testing but had a negligible effect on the shear response. The ability of *FABRIC to capture behaviors unique to fabric deformation is discussed, whereby the unique phenomenological input can accurately represent the experimentally derived inputs.

Keywords: experimental techniques, FEA modelling, materials characterization, post-processing techniques

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Gulijianati Abake, Ryutaro Tateishi

Abstract:

Snow is one kind of special underlying surface, has high reflectivity, low thermal conductivity, and snow broth hydrological effect. Every year, frequent snow disaster in Xinjiang causing considerable economic loss and serious damage to towns and farms, such as livestock casualties, traffic jams and other disaster, therefore monitoring SWE (snow volume) in Xinjiang has a great significance. The problems of how this disaster distributes and what disaster-forming environments are important to its occurrence are the most pressing problems in disaster risk assessment and salvage material arrangement. The present study aims 1) to monitor accurate SWE using MODIS, AMSRE, and CMC data, 2) to establish the regularity of snow disaster outbreaks and the important disaster-forming environmental factors. And a spatial autocorrelation analysis method and a canonical correlation analysis method are used to answer these two questions separately, 3) to prepare the way to salvage material arrangements for snow disasters.

Keywords: snow water equivalent (snow volume), AMSR-E, CMC snow depth, snow disaster

Procedia PDF Downloads 373