Search results for: interactive web search

Authors: Elmahdi Khalil, Saad Enniari, Mostapha Zbakh

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Cloud computing promises to increase innovation and the velocity with witch applications are deployed, all while helping any enterprise meet most IT service needs at a lower total cost of ownership and higher return investment. As the march of cloud continues, it brings both new opportunities and new security challenges. To take advantages of those opportunities while minimizing risks, we think that Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) integrated in the cloud is one of the best existing solutions nowadays in the field. The concept of intrusion detection was known since past and was first proposed by a well-known researcher named Anderson in 1980's. Since that time IDS's are evolving. Although, several efforts has been made in the area of Intrusion Detection systems for cloud computing environment, many attacks still prevail. Therefore, the work presented in this paper proposes a multi criteria analysis and a comparative study between several IDS architectures designated to work in a cloud computing environments. To achieve this objective, in the first place we will search in the state of the art of several consistent IDS architectures designed to work in a cloud environment. Whereas, in a second step we will establish the criteria that will be useful for the evaluation of architectures. Later, using the approach of multi criteria decision analysis Mac Beth (Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique we will evaluate the criteria and assign to each one the appropriate weight according to their importance in the field of IDS architectures in cloud computing. The last step is to evaluate architectures against the criteria and collecting results of the model constructed in the previous steps.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud security, intrusion detection/prevention system, multi-criteria decision analysis

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Authors: Peter Yamoah, Frasia Oosthuizen

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Introduction: Reporting of Adverse Events Following Immunization continues to be a challenge. Pharmacovigilance centers throughout the world are mandated by the WHO to submit AEFI reports from various countries to a large pool of adverse drug reaction electronic database called Vigibase. Despite the relevant information of AEFI in Vigibase, it is unavailable to the general public. However, the WHO has an alternative website called VigiAccess which is an open access website serving as a repository of reported adverse drug reactions and AEFIs. The aim of the study was to ascertain the reporting pattern of a number of commonly used vaccines in VigiAccess. Methods: VigiAccess was thoroughly searched on the 5th of February 2018 for AEFI reports of measles vaccine, oral polio vaccine (OPV), yellow fever vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, meningococcal vaccine, tetanus vaccine and tuberculosis (BCG) vaccine. These were reports from all pharmacovigilance centers in the world from the time they joined the WHO drug monitoring program. Results: After a thorough search in VigiAccess, there were 9,062 measles vaccine AEFIs, 185,829 OPV AEFIs, 24,577 yellow fever vaccine AEFIs, 317,208 pneumococcal vaccine AEFIs, 73,513 rotavirus vaccine AEFIs, 145,447 meningococcal vaccine AEFIs, 22,781 tetanus vaccine AEFIs and 35,556 BCG vaccine AEFIs. Conclusion: The study revealed that out of the eight vaccines studied, pneumococcal vaccines are associated with the highest number of AEFIs whilst measles vaccines were associated with the least AEFIs.

Keywords: vaccines, adverse reactions, VigiAccess, adverse event reporting

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Authors: Kuan-Han Lin, Kuan-Yin Lin, Ka-Chun Siu

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The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the impact of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) symptom or depressive symptoms on return to work (RTW) after occupational injury. The original articles of clinical trials and observational studies from PubMed, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO between January 1980 and November 2016 were retrieved. Two reviewers evaluated the abstracts identified by the search criteria for full-text review. To be included in the final analysis, studies were required to use either intervention or observational study design to examine the association between psychiatric symptoms and RTW. A modified checklist designed by Downs & Black and Crombie was used to assess the methodological quality of included study. A total of 58 articles were identified from the electronic databases after duplicate removed. Seven studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were critically reviewed. The rates of RTW in the included studies were reported to be 6% to 63.6% among workers after occupational injuries. This review found that post-traumatic stress symptom and depressive symptoms were negatively associated with RTW. Although the impact of psychiatric symptoms on RTW after occupational injury remains poorly understood, this review brought up the important information that injured workers with psychiatric symptoms had poor RTW outcome. Future work should address the effective management of psychiatric factors affecting RTW among workers.

Keywords: depressive symptom, occupational injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, return to work

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Authors: Avrokomi Zavitsanou, Spiros Papadopoulos, Theofanis Alexandridis

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This paper presents the research project ‘Colour & Travel’, which is co-funded by the European Union and national resources through the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” 2014-2020, under the Single RTDI State Aid Action "RESEARCH - CREATE - INNOVATE". The research project proposes the design of an innovative, playful framework for exploring a variety of travel destinations and creating personalised travel narratives, aiming to entertain, educate, and promote culture and tourism. Gamification of the cultural and touristic environment can enhance its experiential, multi-sensory aspects and broaden the perception of the traveler. The latter's involvement in creating and shaping his personal travel narrations and the possibility of sharing it with others can offer him an alternative, more binding way of getting acquainted with a place. In particular, the paper presents the design of an infrastructure: (a) for the development of interactive travel guides for mobile devices, where sites with specific points of interest will be recommended, with which the user can interact in playful ways and then create his personal travel narratives, (b) for the development of innovative games within virtual reality environment, where the interaction will be offered while the user is moving within the virtual environment; and (c) for an online application where the content will be offered through the browser and the modern 3D imaging technologies (WebGL). The technological products that will be developed within the proposed project can strengthen important sectors of economic and social life, such as trade, tourism, exploitation and promotion of the cultural environment, creative industries, etc. The final applications delivered at the end of the project will guarantee an improved level of service for visitors and will be a useful tool for content creators with increased adaptability, expansibility, and applicability in many regions of Greece and abroad. This paper aims to present the research project by referencing the state of the art and the methodological scheme, ending with a brief reflection on the expected outcome in terms of results.

Keywords: gamification, culture, tourism, AR, VR, applications

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Authors: Hassan Wajid

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Architecture design studio with all its accouterments, especially pedagogies, has been committed to awakening the students to the true meaning of the concept of Dwelling. The real task is how to make them unlearn the associations of “dwelling as a rented or owned accommodation by the road with a car parked in front of a garage door and replace it by the fundamental experiential-phenomenological manifestations of Light, Space, Gravity and Time through assigned readings and small theoretical challenges resulting in drawings and models. The primary challenge for teachers remained the introduction of the act or desire of ‘Dwelling’ philosophically. The academic link had been offered by Albert Hofstadter's Poetry, Language, through which Martin Heidegger’s fourfold concept of ‘Building Dwelling, Thinking’ primarily served to guide us through this trajectory in helping to build an intellectual framework as justification of the term “dwelling” in its various meanings. Gaston Bachelard’s Poetics of Space and Merleau-Ponti’s Phenomenology of Perception also got assigned as reading. Four fictional characters created by two master short story writers G Maupassant, and O Henry were introduced as DwellersClients in search of their respective dwellings as drawn imaginations in the studio four-fold of Light, Space, Gravity, and Time and at the same time aspire to understand thoroughly Heidegger’s Four-Fold of Earth, Sky, Divinities and Mortals. asserting its place in the corresponding story and its unique character as the Dweller.

Keywords: dwelling, imagination, architectural manifestation, phenomenological

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Authors: Parsa Mahdavi, M. Amin Hariri-Ardebili

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The development of accurate machine learning and deep learning models traditionally demands hands-on expertise and a solid background to fine-tune hyperparameters. With the continuous expansion of datasets in various scientific and engineering domains, researchers increasingly turn to machine learning methods to unveil hidden insights that may elude classic regression techniques. This surge in adoption raises concerns about the adequacy of the resultant meta-models and, consequently, the interpretation of the findings. In response to these challenges, automated machine learning (AutoML) emerges as a promising solution, aiming to construct machine learning models with minimal intervention or guidance from human experts. AutoML encompasses crucial stages such as data preparation, feature engineering, hyperparameter optimization, and neural architecture search. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the principles underpinning AutoML, surveying several widely-used AutoML platforms. Additionally, the paper offers a glimpse into the application of AutoML on various engineering datasets. By comparing these results with those obtained through classical machine learning methods, the paper quantifies the uncertainties inherent in the application of a single ML model versus the holistic approach provided by AutoML. These examples showcase the efficacy of AutoML in extracting meaningful patterns and insights, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize the way we approach and analyze complex datasets.

Keywords: automated machine learning, uncertainty, engineering dataset, regression

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Authors: Feng Tao, Han Ye, Shaoyi Liao

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City constructions collapse after earthquake and people will be buried under ruins. Search and rescue should be conducted as soon as possible to save them. Therefore, according to the complicated environment, irregular aftershocks and rescue allow of no delay, a kind of target localization method based on RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) is proposed in this article. The target localization technology based on RSSI with the features of low cost and low complexity has been widely applied to nodes localization in WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks). Based on the theory of RSSI transmission and the environment impact to RSSI, this article conducts the experiments in five scenes, and multiple filtering algorithms are applied to original RSSI value in order to establish the signal propagation model with minimum test error respectively. Target location can be calculated from the distance, which can be estimated from signal propagation model, through improved centroid algorithm. Result shows that the localization technology based on RSSI is suitable for large-scale nodes localization. Among filtering algorithms, mixed filtering algorithm (average of average, median and Gaussian filtering) performs better than any other single filtering algorithm, and by using the signal propagation model, the minimum error of distance between known nodes and target node in the five scene is about 3.06m.

Keywords: signal propagation model, centroid algorithm, localization, mixed filtering, RSSI

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Authors: Jeanne Gallee, Sofia Vallila-Rohter

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Technology-based applications are increasingly being utilized in aphasia rehabilitation as a means of increasing intensity of treatment and improving accessibility to treatment. These interactive therapies, often available on tablets, lead individuals to complete language and cognitive rehabilitation tasks that draw upon skills such as the ability to name items, recognize semantic features, count syllables, rhyme, and categorize objects. Tasks involve visual and auditory stimulus cues and provide feedback about the accuracy of a person’s response. Research has begun to examine the efficacy of tablet-based therapies for aphasia, yet much remains unknown about how individuals interact with these therapy applications. Thus, the current study aims to examine the efficacy of a tablet-based therapy program for anomia, further examining how strategy training might influence the way that individuals with aphasia engage with and benefit from therapy. Individuals with aphasia are enrolled in one of two treatment paradigms: traditional therapy or strategy therapy. For ten weeks, all participants receive 2 hours of weekly in-house therapy using Constant Therapy, a tablet-based therapy application. Participants are provided with iPads and are additionally encouraged to work on therapy tasks for one hour a day at home (home logins). For those enrolled in traditional therapy, in-house sessions involve completing therapy tasks while a clinician researcher is present. For those enrolled in the strategy training group, in-house sessions focus on limiting cue use in order to maximize lexical retrieval attempts and naming opportunities. The strategy paradigm is based on the principle that retrieval attempts may foster long-term naming gains. Data have been collected from 7 participants with aphasia (3 in the traditional therapy group, 4 in the strategy training group). We examine cue use, latency of responses and accuracy through the course of therapy, comparing results across group and setting (in-house sessions vs. home logins).

Keywords: aphasia, speech-language pathology, traumatic brain injury, language

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Authors: M. F. Amado, A. Amado, F. Poggi, J. Correia de Freitas

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Today it is widely understood that global energy consumption patterns are directly related to the ongoing urban expansion and development process. This expansion is based on the natural growth of human activities and has left most urban areas totally dependent on fossil fuel derived external energy inputs. This status-quo of production, transportation, storage and consumption of energy has become inefficient and is set to become even more so when the continuous increases in energy demand are factored in. The territorial management of land use and related activities is a central component in the search for more efficient models of energy use, models that can meet current and future regional, national and European goals. In this paper, a methodology is developed and discussed with the aim of improving energy efficiency at the municipal level. The development of this methodology is based on the monitoring of energy consumption and its use patterns resulting from the natural dynamism of human activities in the territory and can be utilized to assess sustainability at the local scale. A set of parameters and indicators are defined with the objective of constructing a systemic model based on the optimization, adaptation and innovation of the current energy framework and the associated energy consumption patterns. The use of the model will enable local governments to strike the necessary balance between human activities, economic development, and the local and global environment while safeguarding fairness in the energy sector.

Keywords: solar urban planning, solar smart city, urban development, energy efficiency

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Authors: Phillip Thebe

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African traders in China have generated magnanimous attention from scholars because of their choices to take short-term trips to Guangzhou and other places in search of cheaper products taking advantage of the status of China as a "global manufacturing hub". Nevertheless, their activities only gained traction at the turn of the millennium, with their presence in China incrementally dwindling over the next two decades. Now, with the devastating effects of COVID-19, their journeys have had to be totally cut short by unending lockdowns and stiff migration rules due to China's zero-tolerance of COVID-19 policy. This unfortunate yet untimely occurrence has left many scholars wondering if this marks the end of African traders in China and, indeed, the end of their business careers. Between March and September 2022, 20 traders were followed back to Africa, Zimbabwe, to find out what they are doing after having been shut out of China. Data was collected through ethnographic immersion and purposive in-depth interviewing in and around the city of Bulawayo. Snowballing was employed to reach out to the traders until a saturation point was reached and interview transcripts were filed for analysis. The findings revealed that some still trading online in China, report different opinions and feelings about doing business during COVID-19. Others have left the Chinese marketplace, now pursuing European industries in Turkey and other places. Others are still getting Chinese goods but in African countries such as Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, and Botswana. Some are now into the second-hand clothing trade, whereas others have stopped doing business to pursue other life-course interests. These and other issues are addressed in this paper from the anthropology of migration and globalization perspectives.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, African traders, China, COVID-19, Africans in China

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Authors: Shende Suraj Balu, A. B. Deoghare, K. M. Pandey

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The human middle ear (ME) is a delicate and vital organ. It has a complex structure that performs various functions such as receiving sound pressure and producing vibrations of eardrum and propagating it to inner ear. It consists of Tympanic Membrane (TM), three auditory ossicles, various ligament structures and muscles. Incidents such as traumata, infections, ossification of ossicular structures and other pathologies may damage the ME organs. The conditions can be surgically treated by employing prosthesis. However, the suitability of the prosthesis needs to be examined in advance prior to the surgery. Few decades ago, this issue was addressed and analyzed by developing an equivalent representation either in the form of spring mass system, electrical system using R-L-C circuit or developing an approximated CAD model. But, nowadays a three-dimensional ME model can be constructed using micro X-Ray Computed Tomography (μCT) scan data. Moreover, the concern about patient specific integrity pertaining to the disease can be examined well in advance. The current research work emphasizes to develop the ME model from the stacks of μCT images which are used as input file to MIMICS Research 19.0 (Materialise Interactive Medical Image Control System) software. A stack of CT images is converted into geometrical surface model to build accurate morphology of ME. The work is further extended to understand the dynamic behaviour of Harmonic response of the stapes footplate and umbo for different sound pressure levels applied at lateral side of eardrum using finite element approach. The pathological condition Cholesteatoma of ME is investigated to obtain peak to peak displacement of stapes footplate and umbo. Apart from this condition, other pathologies, mainly, changes in the stiffness of stapedial ligament, TM thickness and ossicular chain separation and fixation are also explored. The developed model of ME for pathologies is validated by comparing the results available in the literatures and also with the results of a normal ME to calculate the percentage loss in hearing capability.

Keywords: computed tomography (μCT), human middle ear (ME), harmonic response, pathologies, tympanic membrane (TM)

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Authors: L. Paulino Ferreira, M. Gomes Neto, M. Duarte, S. Serra

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Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic has caused older adults to experience a degree of social isolation and loneliness that is unprecedented. Our aim is to review state of the art regarding the consequences of social isolation due to COVID-19 in elderly people. Methods: The authors conducted a search on Medscape and PubMed with the keywords mentioned below, and the most relevant articles were selected. Results: Social isolation leads many elderlies to experience loneliness, anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, and feelings of abandonment with a perception of being a burden on society. Thus, social isolation has increased the risk for suicide in older people. It is also noteworthy that the exacerbation of psychiatric disorders (such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder) without correct treatment and follow-up also increases suicide risk. Loneliness is also associated with accelerated cognitive deterioration and dementia. Besides that, during social isolation, it could be more difficult for older people to get medication as well as proper health care. It is also noticed an increase in the risk of falls, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise. All this contributes to weakening elderlies’ immune systems leading to a higher risk of developing infections, cardiovascular events, and cancer, increasing hospitalization and morbimortality. Conclusion: Social isolation in the elderly has a significant impact on physical and mental health, as well as morbimortality and hospitalizations due to non-COVID causes. Nevertheless, further studies will be needed to assess the real dimension of the effects of social isolation due to COVID-19.

Keywords: social isolation, COVID-19, elderly, mental health

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Authors: Hatice Canan Gungor, Ahmet Akdemir

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The fields of engineering and technological sciences are increasing in quality and quantity day by day all over the world. Countries have to follow, implement and adapt these developments in order to economical empowerments. In our era, it's possible to follow the rapidly developing technology and to produce new technologies by inquisitive, curious, numerical thinking individuals who can show several approaches to problem solving. In this case, countries should develop te result oriented and need-focused curriculums in university education. As in the whole world, there are more space studies in our country as well. Universities should undertake the task of supply the need for staff of this technological race. In this context, questions about the purpose, content and learning outcomes of the space sciences and space engineering departments in our country will be researched answers to reveal the characteristic of this section. In this study, it was determined in which universities the space engineering and the departments of basic sciences educate with formal education and the contents of this education, and the universities were compared with each other as of 2017. In our country three universities provide Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering, two universities provide Space Sciences and Technologies, two universities provide Aerospace Engineering, two universities provide Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering education. In all universities, specialized courses are taught after basic engineering education. But the question that needs to be answered is, do the lessons benefit in practice? The answer of this question will reveal the quality of the education. This paper suggests that surveys be conducted to search for the answer to this question. It's thought to be the base for the next works.

Keywords: education, space engineering, space science, quality of systems

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Authors: Zekang Lan, Yan Xu, Yingkun Huang, Dian Huang, Shengzhong Feng

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Jobs on high-performance computing (HPC) clusters can suffer significant performance degradation due to inter-job network interference. Topology-aware job allocation problem (TJAP) is such a problem that decides how to dedicate nodes to specific applications to mitigate inter-job network interference. In this paper, we study the window-based TJAP on a fat-tree network aiming at minimizing the cost of communication hop, a defined inter-job interference metric. The window-based approach for scheduling repeats periodically, taking the jobs in the queue and solving an assignment problem that maps jobs to the available nodes. Two special allocation strategies are considered, i.e., static continuity assignment strategy (SCAS) and dynamic continuity assignment strategy (DCAS). For the SCAS, a 0-1 integer programming is developed. For the DCAS, an approach called neural simulated algorithm (NSA), which is an extension to simulated algorithm (SA) that learns a repair operator and employs them in a guided heuristic search, is proposed. The efficacy of NSA is demonstrated with a computational study against SA and SCIP. The results of numerical experiments indicate that both the model and algorithm proposed in this paper are effective.

Keywords: high-performance computing, job allocation, neural simulated annealing, topology-aware

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Authors: Temitope O. Tokosi

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Healthcare is a human right. The sensitivity of health issues has necessitated the introduction of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) at district hospitals in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The objective is understanding clinicians’ perception of ECM at their workplace. It is a descriptive case study design of constructivist paradigm. It employed a phenomenological data analysis method using a pattern matching deductive based analytical procedure. Purposive and s4nowball sampling techniques were applied in selecting participants. Clinicians expressed concerns and frustrations using ECM such as, non-integration with other hospital systems. Inadequate access points to ECM. Incorrect labelling of notes and bar-coding causes more time wasted in finding information. System features and/or functions (such as search and edit) are not possible. Hospital management and clinicians are not constantly interacting and discussing. Information turnaround time is unacceptably lengthy. Resolving these problems would involve a positive working relationship between hospital management and clinicians. In addition, prioritising the problems faced by clinicians in relation to relevance can ensure problem-solving in order to meet clinicians’ expectations and hospitals’ objective. Clinicians’ perception should invoke attention from hospital management with regards technology use. The study’s results can be generalised across clinician groupings exposed to ECM at various district hospitals because of professional and hospital homogeneity.

Keywords: clinician, electronic content management, hospital, perception, technology

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Authors: Liesbeth Van Kelst, Jozefiene Jansens

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Background: All care providers within mother and child care are confronted, at some point in their career, with the care for parents who (will) lose or have lost a baby. Obtaining the correct attitude and communicating well during these difficult moments are aspects that many healthcare provides continue to struggle with. Parents still encounter well-intentioned but inappropriate communication from healthcare providers. Aim: To study how communication, both verbal and non-verbal, around the death of a baby during pregnancy, birth, or in the first ten days postnatal was experienced by parents and healthcare providers. Methods: A qualitative study using grounded theory principles was conducted. Data were collected through 22 individual face-to-face in-depth interviews with parents who had lost a baby (n = 12) and intramural caregivers, such as midwives, nurses, gynecologists and neonatologists (n=10). In the first phase, data were analyzed within each group separately (parents and healthcare providers) and in the second phase, findings from both groups were compared and analyzed according to meta-synthesis principles. Results: The themes that emerged from the data demonstrated congruent experiences between the group of the parents and the health care providers. Both strengths and weaknesses in current care were named and suggestions for appropriate communication were formulated. Conclusion: Since most health care providers only occasionally care for parents with a deceased baby, a communication tool can optimize communication between healthcare professionals and parents who lose a baby. This is very important as the words which are said at this difficult period last a lifetime in the heads of parents.

Keywords: communication, death, perinatal loss, stillbirth

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Authors: Pradip Lingfa, L. M. Das, S. N. Naik

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In the last three decades the world has been confronting an energy crisis caused by the decreased of fossil resources, and increased of environmental problems. This situation resulted in a search for an alternative fuel. Non-edible vegetable oils are promising sources for producing liquid fuels. In the present experimental investigation, the engine tests were carried out for performance and exhaust emissions on 2.5 L Turbo-charged diesel engine fuelled with 5% biodiesel blend obtained from non-edible vegetable oils such as Jatropha, Karanja, and Castor Seeds. The engine tests were carried out at full throttle position with various engine speeds of 1500, 1750, 2000, 2250, 2750 and 3000 rpm respectively. After test, it was observed that 5% Jatropha biodiesel blend have highest brake power of 46.65 kW and less brake specific fuel consumptions of 225.8 kg/kW-hr compared to other two biodiesel blends of brake power of 45.99 kW, 45.81 kW and brake specific fuel consumption of 234.34, 236.55 kg/kW-hr respectively. The brake specific fuel consumption of biodiesel blends increase at increasing speeds for all biodiesel blends. NOx emissions for biodiesel blends were observed to be higher compared to diesel fuel during the entire range of engine operations. The emission characteristics like CO, HC and smoke were lowered at all engine speed conditions compared to diesel fuel.

Keywords: biodiesel blend, brake power, brake specific fuel consumption, emission, performance

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Authors: Stephen M. Simmons, Stuart W. Baur, William L. Gillis

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In recent years, increasing concern has been shown towards the issue of light pollution, especially with the spread of brighter, more blue-rich LED bulbs. Much research has been conducted in order to study the effects of artificial light at night, and many adverse impacts have been discovered, such as circadian disruption, degradation of the night sky, and interference oftheprocesses and behaviors of plants and animals. Despite a plethora of informationin the literature regarding the numerous illeffects of this type of pollution, there does not appear to be a complete summary of these impacts, including their magnitudes, which would facilitate the balancing of risks and benefits in the design of an exterior lighting system. This paperprovides a comprehensive review of the known impacts of light pollution, divided into four categories - human health, night sky, plants, and animals; additionally, it includes a synopsis of what likely remains unknown at this point in time. This review will attempt to showcase the relative significance of differentimpacts within each category, as well as their sensitivity to changes in lighting specifications (brightness, color temperature, shielding, and mounting height). Methods to be employed in this research include an extensive literature review and the gathering of expert knowledge and opinions. The findings of this review will be used to inform the creation of an optimized lighting design for the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus. It is hoped that future research willexplore the known impacts of light pollution further, as well as search for what still remains to be found regarding the consequencesof artificial light at night.

Keywords: comprehensive review, impacts, light pollution, lighting design, literature review

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Authors: Sara Iqbal

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Introduction:Renal transplant is increasingly one of the most popular transplants within the UK; with an aging population along with obesity epidemic we are witnessing increasing rates of diabetes – one of the commonest indications for renal transplant. However, the demand is far greater than supply. Many donors are provided by women of child-bearing age; however the long-term effects are still uncertain. Aim:Determine pregnancy outcomes and complications of women of child-bearing age following renal donation. Methods: A review of the current available literature was preformed using MEDLINE and EMBASE up to 2014. Search criteria included key terms such as pregnancy outcome post-renal donor, pregnancy outcomes and complications. Relevant articles were selected based on pure methodological medical research, after careful analysis, they were recorded within this review. Results: Out of 1141 women involved in transplant studies, 574 pregnancies reported having donated a single-renal donor prior to pregnancy. Of which a staggering miscarriage rate 32.4% (n=186) was reported, amongst this other complications included gestational hypertension of 10% (n=59) and gestational diabetes 2.3% (n=13). Other significantly noted complications included chronic hypertension, low-birth weights, and pregnancy-related death. Conclusions: After unilateral renal donor transplant, haemodynamics change along with pregnancy, predisposing women to developing several complications compared to pregnancies with no history any renal-donor transplant. Despite this, further investigation is required in order to accurately determine the safety of renal-donors in women of child-bearing age.

Keywords: renal transplant, pregnancy, complications, medical and health sciences

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Authors: Amin Davoudi

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Aim: New approaches have been introduced to improve soft tissue indices of the dental implants. This systematic review aimed to investigate the effect of computer-aided design and computer-assisted manufacture (CAD/CAM) zirconia (Zr) implant abutments on periodontal aspects. Materials and Methods: Five electronic databases were searched thoroughly based on prior defined MeSH and non-MeSH keywords. Clinical studies were collected via hand searches in English language journals up to September 2020. Interproximal papilla stability, papilla recession, pink and white esthetic score (PES, WES), bone and gingival margin levels, color, and contour of soft tissue were reviewed. Results: The initial literature search yielded 412 articles. After the evaluation of abstracts and full texts, six studies were eligible to be screened. The study design of the included studies was a prospective cohort (n=3) and randomized clinical trial (n=3). The outcome was found to be significantly better for Zr than titanium abutments, however, the studies did not show significant differences between stock and CAD/CAM abutments. Conclusion: Papilla fill, WES, PES, and the distance from the contact point to dental crest bone of adjacent tooth and inter-tooth–implant distance were not significantly different between Zr CAD/CAM and Zr stock abutments. However, soft tissue stability and recession index were better in Zr CAD/CAM abutments.

Keywords: zirconia, CADCAM, periodental, implant

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Authors: Pinyada Santisarun, Yaowaret Tharawoot, Songyut Akkakoson

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This paper reports on a literature review sub-study of a larger research project which has been designed to identify the rhetorical organization of a travel writing genre, together with the use of lexical choices, syntactical structures, and graphological features, based on a randomly-selected corpus of Thailand travel listicles. Conducted as a library-based overview, this study aims to specify theoretical and practical elements for the said larger study. The materials for the review have been retrieved from various Internet sources, covering both public search engines and library databases. Generally, the article focuses on answering questions about the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of such background elements widely discussed in the literature as the meaning of listicles, how the travel listicles’ patterns and regularities can be categorized to form a new genre, the effect of computer-mediated communication on the travel world, the travel language, and the current situation concerning the importance of travel listicles. The theoretical and practical data derived from this study provide valuable insights into the way in which the genre analysis and lexico-syntactical examination of Thailand travel listicles in the present authors’ larger research project can be properly conducted. The data gained can be added to the expanding body of knowledge in the field of the ESP genre.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, digital writing, genre-based analysis, online travel writing, tourism language

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Authors: Nurul Hidayati

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Increasing public awareness of environmental pollution influences the search and development of technologies that help in clean up of organic and inorganic contaminants such as metals. Sludge waste of paper industries as toxic and hazardous material from specific source contains Pb, Zn, and Cu metal from waste soluble ink. An alternative and eco-friendly method of remediation technology is the use of biosurfactants and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms. Soil washing is among the methods available to remove heavy metal from sediments. The purpose of this research is to study effectiveness of biosurfactant with concentration = CMC for the removal of heavy metals, lead, zinc and copper in batch washing test under four different biosurfactant production by microbial origin. Pseudomonas putida T1(8), Bacillus subtilis 3K, Acinetobacter sp, and Actinobacillus sp was grown on mineral salt medium that had been already added with 2% concentration of molasses that it is a low cost application. The samples were kept in a shaker 120 rpm at room temperature for 3 days. Supernatants and sediments of sludge were separated by using a centrifuge and samples from supernatants were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The highest removal of Pb was up to 14,04% by Acinetobacter sp. Biosurfactant of Pseudomonas putida T1(8) have the highest removal for Zn and Cu up to 6,5% and 2,01% respectively. Biosurfactants have a role for removal process of the metals, including wetting, contact of biosurfactant to the surface of the sediments and detachment of the metals from the sediment. Biosurfactant has proven its ability as a washing agent in heavy metals removal from sediments, but more research is needed to optimize the process of removal heavy metals.

Keywords: biosurfactant, removal of heavy metals, sludge waste, paper industries

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Authors: Ma Chaoyang

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This article starts from the perspective of environmental justice theory and analyzes the accessibility and regional equity of park green spaces in the central urban area of Chengdu in 2022 based on the improved Gaussian 2SFCA analysis method and Gini coefficient method. Then, according to the relevant analysis model, it further explores the correlation between the spatial distribution of park green spaces and the socio-economic conditions of residents in order to provide a reference for the construction and research of Chengdu's park city under the guidance of fairness and justice. The results show that: (1) Overall, the spatial distribution of parks and green spaces in Chengdu shows a significantly uneven distribution of extreme core edge, with a certain degree of unfairness; that is, there is an environmental injustice pattern. (2) The spatial layout of urban parks and green spaces is subject to strong guiding interference from the socio-economic level; that is, there is a high correlation between housing prices and the tendency of parks. (3) Green space resources Gini coefficient analysis shows that residents of the three modes of transportation in the study area have unequal opportunities to enjoy park and green space services, and the degree of unfairness in walking is much greater than that in cycling and cycling.

Keywords: parks and green spaces, environmental justice, two step mobile search method, Gini coefficient, spatial distribution

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Authors: Elif Ates, Naile Bilgili

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Background: One of the most important medical complications that individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) face are the neurogenic bladder. Objectives: To review methods used for management of neurogenic bladder and their effects. Methods: The study was conducted by searching CINAHL, Ebscohost, MEDLINE, Science Direct, Ovid, ProQuest, Web of Science, and ULAKBİM National Databases for studies published between 2005 and 2015. Key words used during the search included ‘spinal cord injury’, ‘bladder injury’, ‘nursing care’, ‘catheterization’ and ‘intermittent urinary catheter’. After examination of 551 studies, 21 studies which met inclusion criteria were included in the review. Results: Mean age of individuals in all study samples was 42 years. The most commonly used bladder management method was clean intermittent catheterization (CIC). Compliance with CIC was found to be significantly related to spasticity, maximum cystometric capacity, and the person performing catheterization (p < .05). The main reason for changing the existing bladder management method was urinary tract infections (UTI). Individuals who performed CIC by themselves and who voided spontaneously had better life quality. Patient age, occupation status and whether they performed CIC by themselves or not were found to be significantly associated with depression level (p ≤ .05). Conclusion: As the most commonly used method for bladder management, CIC is a reliable and effective method, and reduces the risk of UTI development. Individuals with neurogenic bladder have a higher prevalence of depression symptoms than the normal population.

Keywords: bladder management, catheterization, nursing, spinal cord injury

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Authors: Yu-Ming Wang, Jia-Hong Jian

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The Internet and digital publication technologies have brought dramatic impacts on how people collect, organize, disseminate, access, store, and use information. More and more governments, schools, and organizations spent huge funds to develop digital libraries. A digital library can be regarded as a web extension of traditional physically libraries. People can search diverse publications, find out the position of knowledge resources, and borrow or buy publications through digital libraries. People can gain knowledge and students or employees can finish their reports by using digital libraries. Since the considerable funds and energy have been invested in implementing digital libraries, it is important to understand the evaluative criteria from the users’ viewpoint in order to enhance user acceptance. This study develops a list of user acceptance criteria for digital libraries. An initial criteria list was developed based on some previously validated instruments related to digital libraries. Data were collected from user experiences of digital libraries. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were adopted to purify the criteria list. The reliabilities and validities were tested. After validating the criteria list, a user survey was conducted to collect the comparative importance of criteria. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was utilized to derive the importance of each criterion. The results of this study contribute to an e understanding of the criteria and relative importance that users evaluate for digital libraries.

Keywords: digital library, user acceptance, analytic hierarchy process, factor analysis

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Authors: Ryadi Adityavarman

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The study is an analysis by using the postcolonial theoretical lens on the search for a distinctive architectural identity by architect Maclaine Pont in Indonesia in the early twentieth century. Influenced by progressive architectural thinking and enlightened humanism at the time, Pont applied the fundamental principles of Structural Rationalism by using a creative combination of traditional Indonesian architectural typology and innovative structural application. The interpretive design strategy also celebrated creative use of local building materials with sensible tropical climate design response. Moreover, his holistic architectural scheme, including inclusion of local custom of building construction, represents the notion of Gesamkunstwerk. By using such hybrid strategy, Maclaine Pont intended to preserve the essential cultural identity and vernacular architecture of the indigenous. The study will chronologically investigate the evolution of Structural Rationalism architecture philosophy of Viollet-le-Duc to Hendrik Berlage’s influential design thinking in the Dutch modern architecture, and subsequently to the Maclaine Pont’s innovative design in Indonesia. Consequently, the morphology analysis on his exemplary design works of ITB campus (1923) and Pohsarang Church (1936) is to understand the evolutionary influence of Structural Rationalism theory. The postmodern analysis method is to highlight the validity of Pont’s idea in the contemporary Indonesian architecture within the culture of globalism era.

Keywords: Indonesian modern architecture, postcolonial, structural rationalism, critical regionalism

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Authors: Mustafa Gulsen, Nihan Pekyavas, Emine Atıcı

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Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Kinesio taping on postural stability and in young soccer players. Subjects and Methods: 62 volunteered soccer players from Cayyolu Sports Club were included in our study. Permissions were also taken from the club directors about the inclusion of their players to our study. Soccer players between the age of 12 and 16 were included in our study. Players that had previous injury on lower extremities were excluded from the study. Players were randomly divided into two groups: Kinesio taping (KT) (n=31), and control group (n = 31). KT application including gastrocnemius and quadriceps femoris muscle facilitation techniques were applied to the first group. A rest time for 45 minutes was given in order to see the best effectiveness of the tape. The second group was set as the control group and no application was made. All participants were assessed before the application and 45 minutes later. In order to provide the double-blind design of the study, an experienced physiotherapist has done the assessments and another experienced physiotherapist has done the taping. The patients were randomly assigned to one of the two groups using an online random allocation software program. Postural stability was assessed by using Tetrax Interactive Balance System. Thermographic assessment was done by using FLIR E5 (FLIR Systems AB, Sweden) thermal camera in order to see which muscles have the most thermal activity while maintaining postural stability. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in all assessment parameters in both Kinesio Taping and control groups (all p<0.05) except thermal imaging of dominant gastrocnemius muscle results (p=0.668) (Table 1). In comparison of the two groups, statistically significant differences were found in all parameters (all p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we investigated the effects of Kinesio taping on postural stability in young soccer players and found that KT application on Quadriceps and Gastrocnemius muscles may have decreased the risk of falling more than the control group. According to thermal imaging assessments, both Quadriceps and Gastrocnemius muscles may be active in maintaining postural stability but in KT group, the temperature of these muscles are higher which leads us to think that they are more activated.

Keywords: Kinesio taping, fall risk, muscle temperature, postural stability

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Authors: O. Casasayas, M. Vigo, R. Navarro, P. Ragazzi, P. Alvarez, A. Perez-Bellmunt

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Introduction: The blood flow restriction training (BFR) is a method of muscle training that allows increasing the stress of muscle tissue to enhance the muscle cross-section and strength. This type of training has clear benefits in the rehabilitation field since it can improve muscle strength using low mechanical loads. The aim of this study is to know in which knee pathologies BFR has been used, what methodology was used and what were the obtained results. Study design: We performed a systematic literature search using strategies for the concepts of “blood flow restriction OR blood flow restriction training AND knee” in Medline. Articles were screened by authors and included if they used the blood flow restriction training in pathology of the knee. Results: The pathology more frequently treated by BFR was knee osteoarthritis and the variables most analyzed were strength and pain. The vascular occlusion used was 80% in the major part of studies. The groups of BFR obtained an increase of strength with less pain but not always the results are statistically significant. The evidence levels are poor in the high number of studies because in some cases there is not a control group or the evaluators were not blinded. Conclusion: The use of BFR is useful to improve muscle strength in knee pathology since it does not increase the pain, but more studies are needed to see (comprehend) if this type of treatment obtains better results than a conventional therapy. No studies have been found that compare the different occlusion effects in both the strength improvement and the pain reduction. Neither studies that analyse the effects of BFR on the muscle contractile parameters have been found.

Keywords: blood flow restriction training, knee, arthroscopy knee, physical therapy

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Authors: Geeta Goyal

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Teaching-learning of English as a second language is a challenge for the learner as well as the teacher. Whereas a student may find it hard and get demotivated while communicating in a language other than mother tongue, a teacher, too, finds it difficult to integrate necessary teaching material in lesson plans to maximize the outcome. Studies reveal that task-based teaching can be useful in diverse contexts in a second language classroom as it helps in creating opportunities for language exposure as per learners' interest and capability levels, which boosts their confidence and learning efficiency. The present study has analysed the impact of various activities carried out in a heterogenous group of second language learners at tertiary level in a semi-urban area in Haryana state of India. Language tasks were specifically planned with a focus on engaging groups of twenty-five students for a period of three weeks. These included language games such as spell-well, cross-naught besides other communicative and interactive tasks like mock-interviews, role plays, sharing experiences, storytelling, simulations, scene-enact, video-clipping, etc. Tools in form of handouts and cue cards were also used as per requirement. This experiment was conducted for ten groups of students taking bachelor’s courses in different streams of humanities, commerce, and sciences. Participants were continuously supervised, monitored, and guided by the respective teacher. Feedback was collected from the students through classroom observations, interviews, and questionnaires. Students' responses revealed that they felt comfortable and got plenty of opportunities to communicate freely without being afraid of making mistakes. It was observed that even slow/timid/shy learners got involved by getting an experience of English language usage in friendly environment. Moreover, it helped the teacher in establishing a trusting relationship with students and encouraged them to do the same with their classmates. The analysis of the data revealed that majority of students demonstrated improvement in their interest and enthusiasm in the class. The study revealed that task-based teaching was an effective method to improve the teaching-learning process under the given conditions.

Keywords: communication skills, English, second language, task-based teaching

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Authors: Indarti, Li-Hsun Peng

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Batik is one of the most prominent expressions of cultural identity in Indonesia. On October 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as “a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity”. The center of batik Indonesia is in middle of Java where there is center of Javanese royalty in the 17th century (known as classic batik). The development of batik spread to wide range of area in Indonesia, including in Sidoarjo city, East Java - Indonesia. Sidoarjo batik actually has long been around long time and is known as batik using bright colors, very different from classic batik. The aims of this study is to determine the kinds of ornament of Sidoarjo batik currently as one of the locally-based creative industry and to figure out how the attempt to sustainability of Sidoarjo batik from owner and government. The research is conducted in Jetis Village in Sidoarjo city known as village of batik. There is some batik business and batik maker in there. The research method used in-depth interview to search information about ornament of Sidoarjo batik and to analyze the attempt of business owner and government to sustainability of Sidoarjo Batik. In-depth interviews to batik business owners are used to determine the kinds of ornament of Sidoarjo Batik currently and how their attempt to maintain the existence of Sidoarjo Batik. In-depth interviews are also conducted to government to figure out how the support the sustainability of Sidoarjo batik. The result or research will introduce local products of Sidoarjo community to global market and increase knowledge about traditional textile design in one part of the world.

Keywords: Sidoarjo Batik, Traditional Textile, Ornament, Creative Design.

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