Search results for: manufacturing scale technology development

Authors: Arshad Ali

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The Taliban insurgency in Swat which started apparently as a social movement in 2004 transformed into an anti-Pakistan Islamist insurgency by joining hands with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) upon its formation in 2007. It quickly spread beyond Swat by 2009 making Swat the second stronghold of TTP after FATA. It prompted the Pakistan military to launch a full-scale counterinsurgency military operation code named Rah-i-Rast to regain the control of Swat. Operation Rah-i-Rast was successful not only in restoring the writ of the State but more importantly in creating a consensus against the spread of Taliban insurgency in Pakistan at political, social and military levels. This operation became a test case for civilian government and military to seek for a sustainable solution combating the TTP insurgency in the north-west of Pakistan. This study analyzes why the counterinsurgency operation Rah-i-Rast was successful and why the previous ones came into failure. The study also explores factors which created consensus against the Taliban insurgency at political and social level as well as reasons which hindered such a consensual approach in the past. The study argues that the previous initiatives failed due to various factors including Pakistan army’s lack of comprehensive counterinsurgency model, weak political will and public support, and states negligence. Also, the initial counterinsurgency policies were ad-hoc in nature fluctuating between military operations and peace deals. After continuous failure, the military revisited its approach to counterinsurgency in the operation Rah-i-Rast. The security forces learnt from their past experiences and developed a pragmatic counterinsurgency model: ‘clear, hold, build, and transfer.’ The military also adopted the population-centric approach to provide security to the local people. This case Study of Swat evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the Pakistan's counterinsurgency operations as well as peace agreements. It will analyze operation Rah-i-Rast in the light of David Galula’s model of counterinsurgency. Unlike existing literature, the study underscores the bottom up approach adopted by the Pakistan’s military and government by engaging the local population to sustain the post-operation stability in Swat. More specifically, the study emphasizes on the hybrid counterinsurgency model “clear, hold, and build and Transfer” in Swat.

Keywords: Insurgency, Counterinsurgency, clear, hold, build, transfer

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Authors: Agnieszka Nowogrodzka

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Objectives: ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which symptoms are most prominent throughout childhood. In the longer term, these symptoms, as well as the behaviour of the child, the experiences arising from the response of the community to the child's symptoms, as well as the functioning of the community itself, all contribute to the onset of secondary symptoms and subsequent outcomes of the disorder, such as crime or mental disorders. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of ADHD among Polish convicts serving a prison sentence. To that end, the study will focus on the relationship between the severity of ADHD and early childhood trauma, family relations, maladaptive cognitive schemas, as well as mental disorders. It is an attempt to assess the interdependence between ADHD, childhood experiences, and secondary outcomes. Methods: The study enrolled two groups of first-time convicts and repeat offenders aged between 21 and 65 –each of the study groups comprised 120 participants; 240 participants in total took part in the study. Participants were recruited in semi-open penal institutions in Poland (Poznań Custody Suite, Wronki Penal Institution, Iława Penal Institution). The control group comprised 110 men without criminal records aged 21 to 65. The DIVA 5.0 questionnaire was employed to identify the severity of ADHD symptoms. Other questionnaires employed in the course of the study included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale IV (FACES-IV), Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). Results: The findings of the study in question are currently still being compiled and will be shared during the conference. The findings of a pilot study involving two cohorts of convicts (each numbering 20 men) and a control group (20 men with no criminal records) indicate a significant correlation between ADHD and the experience of early childhood trauma. The severity of ADHD also shows a correlation with the assessment of the functioning of the family, with the subjects assessing the relationships in their families more negatively than the control group. Furthermore, the severity of ADHD is also correlated with maladaptive emotional schemas manifesting in the participants. The findings also show a correlation between selected dimensions and the severity of offenses.

Keywords: ADHD, social impairments, mental disorders, early childhood traumas, criminality

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Authors: Kaling Taki, Rohit Gahlot, Manish Kumar

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Disposal of Sewage Sludge (SS) is a big issue especially in developing nation like India, where there is no control in the dynamicity of SS produced. The present research work demonstrates the potential application of SS amended with varying percentage (0-100%) of Fly Ash (FA) for brick manufacturing as an alternative of SS management. SS samples were collected from Jaspur sewage treatment plant (Ahmedabad, India) and subjected to different preconditioning treatments: (i) atmospheric drying (ii) pulverization (iii) heat treatment in oven (110°C, moisture removal) and muffle furnace (440°C, organic content removal). Geotechnical parameters of the SS were obtained as liquid limit (52%), plastic limit (24%), shrinkage limit (10%), plasticity index (28%), differential free swell index (DFSI, 47%), silt (68%), clay (27%), organic content (5%), optimum moisture content (OMC, 20%), maximum dry density (MDD, 1.55gm/cc), specific gravity (2.66), swell pressure (57kPa) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS, 207kPa). For FA liquid limit, plastic limit and specific gravity was 44%, 0% and 2.2 respectively. Initially, for brick casting pulverized SS sample was heat treated in a muffle furnace around 440℃ (5 hours) for removal of organic matter. Later, mixing of SS, FA and water by weight ratio was done at OMC. 7*7*7 cm3 sample mold was used for casting bricks at MDD. Brick samples were then first dried in room temperature for 24 hours, then in oven at 100℃ (24 hours) and finally firing in muffle furnace for 1000℃ (10 hours). The fired brick samples were then cured for 3 days according to Indian Standards (IS) common burnt clay building bricks- specification (5th revision). The Compressive strength of brick samples (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 ,60, 70, 80, 90, 100%) of FA were 0.45, 0.76, 1.89, 1.83, 4.02, 3.74, 3.42, 3.19, 2.87, 0.78 and 4.95MPa when evaluated through compressive testing machine (CTM) for a stress rate of 14MPa/min. The highest strength was obtained at 40% FA mixture i.e. 4.02MPa which is much higher than the pure SS brick sample. According to IS 1077: 1992 this combination gives strength more than 3.5 MPa and can be utilized as common building bricks. The loss in weight after firing was much higher than the oven treatment, this might be due to degradation temperature higher than 100℃. The thermal conductivity of the fired brick was obtained as 0.44Wm-1K-1, indicating better insulation properties than other reported studies. TCLP (Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure) test of Cr, Cu, Co, Fe and Ni in raw SS was found as 69, 70, 21, 39502 and 47 mg/kg. The study positively concludes that SS and FA at optimum ratio can be utilized as common building bricks such as partitioning wall and other small strength requirement works. The uniqueness of the work is it emphasizes on utilization of FA for stabilizing SS as construction material as a replacement of natural clay as reported in existing studies.

Keywords: Compressive strength, Curing, Fly Ash, Sewage Sludge.

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Authors: Ella Abaev, Shany Segal, Miri Gabay

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Background: Choking is a blockage of airways that prevents efficient breathing and air flow to the lungs. Choking may be partial or full and is an emergency situation. Complete or prolonged choking leads to apnea, lack of oxygen in the tissues of the body and brain, and can cause death. There are three mechanisms of choking: obstruction of internal respiratory tracts by food or object aspiration, any material that blocks or covers external air passages, external pressure on the neck or trapping between objects. Children's airways are narrower than that of adults and therefore the risk of choking is greater, due to the aspiration of food and other foreign bodies into the lungs. In the Child Development Center at Safra Children’s Hospital, Tel Hashomer in Israel are treated infants, toddlers, and children aged 0-18 years with various developmental disabilities. Due to the increase in reports of ‘almost an event’ of choking in the past year and the serious consequences of choking event, it was decided to give an emphasis to the issue. Incidence and methods: The number of reports of ‘almost an event’ or a choking event was examined at the center during the years 2013-2018 and a thorough research work was conducted on the subject in order to build a prevention program. Findings: Between 2013 and 2018 the center reported about ten cases of ‘almost choking events’. In the middle of 2018 alone three cases of ‘almost an event’ were reported. Objective: Providing knowledge leads to awareness raise, change of perception, change in behavior and prevention. The center employs more than 130 staff members from various sectors so that it is the work of multi-professional teams to promote the quality and safety of the treatment. The familiarity of the staff with risk factors, prevention guidelines, identification of choking signs, and treatment are most important and significant in determining the outcome of a choking event. Conclusions and recommendations: After in-depth research work was carried out in cooperation with the Risk Management Unit on the subject of choking, which include a description of the definitions, mechanisms, risk factors, treatment methods and extensive recommendations for prevention (e.g. using treatment and stimulation accessories with standards association stamps and adjustment of the type of food and the way it is served to match to the child's age and the ability to swallow). The expected stages of development and emphasis on the population of children with special needs were taken into account. The research findings will be published by the staff and parents of the patients, professional publications, and lectures and there is an expectation to decrease the number of choking events in the next years.

Keywords: children with special needs, choking, educational system, prevention guidelines

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Authors: Tsitsi Nyukurayi Muparari, Walter Timo De Vries, Jaap Zevenbergen

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The nature of Land administration accommodates diversity in terms of both spatial data handling activities and the expertise involved, which supposedly aims to satisfy the unpredictable demands of land data and the diverse demands of the customers arising from the land. However, it is known that strategic decisions of restructuring are in most cases repelled in favour of complex structures that strive to accommodate professional diversity and diverse roles in the field of Land administration. Yet despite of this widely accepted knowledge, there is scanty theoretical knowledge concerning the psychological methodologies that can extract the deeper perceptions from the diverse spatial expertise in order to explain the invisible control arm of the polarised reception of the ideas of change. This paper evaluates Q methodology in the context of a cadastre and land registry merger (under one agency) using the Swedish cadastral system as a case study. Precisely, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of Q methodology towards modelling the diverse psychological perceptions of spatial professionals who are in a widely contested decision of merging the cadastre and land registry components of Land administration using the Swedish cadastral system as a case study. An empirical approach that is prescribed by Q methodology starts with the concourse development, followed by the design of statements and q sort instrument, selection of the participants, the q-sorting exercise, factor extraction by PQMethod and finally narrative development by logic of abduction. The paper uses 36 statements developed from a dominant competing value theory that stands out on its reliability and validity, purposively selects 19 participants to do the Qsorting exercise, proceeds with factor extraction from the diversity using varimax rotation and judgemental rotation provided by PQMethod and effect the narrative construction using the logic abduction. The findings from the diverse perceptions from cadastral professionals in the merger decision of land registry and cadastre components in Sweden’s mapping agency (Lantmäteriet) shows that focus is rather inclined on the perfection of the relationship between the legal expertise and technical spatial expertise. There is much emphasis on tradition, loyalty and communication attributes which concern the organisation’s internal environment rather than innovation and market attributes that reveals customer behavior and needs arising from the changing humankind-land needs. It can be concluded that Q methodology offers effective tools that pursues a psychological approach for the evaluation and gradations of the decisions of strategic change through extracting the local perceptions of spatial expertise.

Keywords: cadastre, factor extraction, land administration merger, land registry, q-methodology, rotation

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Authors: Alain Kusmoko, Druce Dunne, Huijun Li

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Stellite 6 was deposited by laser cladding on a chromium bearing substrate (P91) with energy inputs of 1 kW (P91-1) and 1.8 kW (P91-1.8). The chemical compositions and microstructures of these coatings were characterized by atomic absorption spectroscopy, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The microhardness of the coatings was measured and the wear mechanism of the coatings was assessed using a pin-on-plate (reciprocating) wear testing machine. The results showed less cracking and pore development for Stellite 6 coatings applied to the P91 steel substrate with the lower heat input (P91-1). Further, the Stellite coating for P91-1 was significantly harder than that obtained for P91-1.8. The wear test results indicated that the weight loss for P91-1 was much lower than for P91-1.8. It is concluded that the lower hardness of the coating for P91-1.8, together with the softer underlying substrate structure, markedly reduced the wear resistance of the Stellite 6 coating.

Keywords: friction and wear, laser cladding, P91 steel, Stellite 6 coating

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Authors: Huma Khan, Faiza Akhtar

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The present study investigates the effects of burnout toward job performance and job satisfaction with the moderating role of hope and self-efficacy. Findings from 310 frontline employees of Pakistani commercial banks (Lahore, Karachi & Islamabad) disclosed burnout has negative significant effects on job performance and job satisfaction. Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data and inferential statistics were applied to analyzed the data. However, results disclosed no moderation effect of hope on burnout, job performance or with job satisfaction. Moreover, Data significantly supported the moderation effect of self-efficacy. Study further shed light on the development of psychological capital. Importance of the implication of the current finding is discussed.

Keywords: burnout, hope, job performance, job satisfaction, psychological capital, self-efficacy

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Authors: Marina Fuertes

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Introduction: In everyday life experiences, children are solicited to cooperate with others. Often they perform cooperative tasks with their parents (e.g., setting the table for dinner) or in school. These tasks are very significant since children may learn to turn taking in interactions, to participate as well to accept others participation, to trust, to respect, to negotiate, to self-regulate their emotions, etc. Indeed, cooperative tasks contribute to children social, motor, cognitive and linguistic development. Therefore, it is important to study what learning, social and affective experiences are provided to children during these tasks. In this study, we included parents and preschool educators. Parents and educators are both significant: educative, interactive and affective figures. Rarely parents and educators behavior have been compared in studies about cooperative tasks. Parents and educators have different but complementary styles of interaction and communication. Aims: Therefore, this study aims to compare parents and educators' (of both genders) interactive behavior (cooperativity, empathy, ability to challenge the child, reciprocity, elaboration) during a play/individualized situation involving a cooperative task. Moreover, to compare parents and educators' behavior with girls and boys. Method: A quasi-experimental study with 45 dyads educators-children and 45 dyads with parents and their children. In this study, participated children between 3 and 5 years old and with age appropriate development. Adults and children were videotaped using a variety of materials (e.g., pencils, wood, wool) and tools (e.g., scissors, hammer) to produce together something of their choice during 20-minutes. Each dyad (one adult and one child) was observed and videotaped independently. Adults and children agreed and consented to participate. Experimental conditions were suitable, pleasant and age appropriated. Results: Findings indicate that parents and teachers offer different learning experiences. Teachers were more likely to challenged children to explore new concepts and to accept children ideas. In turn, parents gave more support to children actions and were more likely to use their own example to teach children. Multiple regression analysis indicates that parent versus educator status predicts their behavior. Gender of both children and adults affected the results. Adults acted differently with girls and boys (e.g., adults worked more cooperatively with girls than boys). Male participants supported more girls participation rather than boys while female adults allowed boys to make more decisions than girls. Discussion: Taking our results and past studies, we learn that different qualitative interactions and learning experiences are offered by parents, educators according to parents and children gender. Thus, the same child needs to learn different cooperative strategies according to their interactive patterns and specific context. Yet, cooperative play and individualized activities with children generate learning opportunities and benefits children participation and involvement.

Keywords: early childhood education, parenting, gender, cooperative tasks, adult-child interaction

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Authors: Mohd Yazid M. Yunos, R. Arinah, Nor Kalsum M. Isa, U. Nangkula, Nor A. Ismail, Nor F. Ariffin

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Islamic City planning is a concept of optimizing the overall arrangement of land use without compromising community. The concept was influenced by the specific intentions in mind, applying certain ideological principles and objectives rooted in Islamic faith and Muslim culture using distinct design elements. Holy Quran and hadiths provide a foundation for understanding Islamic Principles as clearly shared by the established Islamic Cities such as Medina, Mecca and Jerusalem. This paper aimed to explore the principles and elements of an Islamic City through the review of relevant literature by the means of Content Analysis method. A theoretical framework of Islamic City Principles was then formulated to be the main outcome of the study. The finding is very important to be a useful starting point for future study, especially for formulating a clear guide for the development of upcoming Islamic City in Malaysia.

Keywords: Islamic principles, sustainable city planning, Islamic city, Malaysia

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Authors: Asinguza P. Allan

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The Advocacy for Better Health aims to equip citizens with enabling environment and systems to effectively advocate for strong action plans to improve health services. This is because the 2020 Government target for Uganda to transform into a middle income country will be achieved if investment is made in keeping the population healthy and productive. Citizen participation as an important foundation for change has been emphasized to gather data through participatory rural appraisal and inform evidence-based advocacy for recruitment and motivation of human resources. Citizens conduct problem ranking during advocacy forums on staffing levels and health worker absenteeism. Citizens prioritised inadequate number of midwives and absenteeism. On triangulation, health worker to population ratio in Uganda remains at 0.25/1,000 which is far below the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold of 2.3/1,000. Working with IntraHealth, the project advocated for recruitment of critical skilled staff (doctors and midwives) and scale up health workers motivation strategy to reduce Uganda’s Neonatal Mortality Rate of 22/1,000 and Maternal Mortality Ratio of 320/100,000. Government has committed to increase staffing to 80% by 2018 (10 districts have passed ordinances and revived use of duty rosters to address health worker absenteeism. On the other hand, the better health advocacy debate has been elevated with need to increase health sector budget allocations from 8% to 10%. The project has learnt that building a body of evidence from citizens enhances the advocacy agenda. Communities will further monitor government commitments to reduce Neonatal Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio. The project has learnt that interface meeting between duty bearers and the community allows for immediate feedback and the process is a strong instrument for empowerment. It facilitates monitoring and performance evaluation of services, projects and government administrative units (like district assemblies) by the community members themselves. This, in turn, makes the human resources in health to be accountable, transparent and responsive to communities where they work. This, in turn, promotes human resource performance.

Keywords: advocacy, empowerment, evidence, human resources

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Authors: S. Dorbani, F. Kharchi, F. Salem, K. Arroudj, N. Chioukh

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The need for thermal comfort of buildings, with the aim of saving energy, has always generated a big interest during the development of methods, to improve the mode of construction. In the present paper, which is concerned by the valorization of locally abundant materials, mixtures of plaster and dune sand have been studied. To point out the thermal performances of these mixtures, a comparative study has been established between this product and the two materials most commonly used in construction, the concrete and hollow brick. The results showed that optimal mixture is made with 1/3 plaster and 2/3 dune sand. This mortar achieved significant increases in the mechanical strengths, which allow it to be used as a carrier element for buildings, of up to two levels. The element obtained offers an acceptable thermal insulation, with a decrease the outer-wall construction thickness.

Keywords: local materials, mortar, plaster, dune sand, compaction, mechanical performance, thermal performance

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Authors: Abir S. AL-Harrasi, Eyad B. AL-Zadjali, Zahran S. AL-Salti

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Entrepreneurship has captured the attention of policy-makers, educators and researchers in the last few decades. It has been regarded as a main driver for economic growth, development and employment generation in many countries worldwide. However, scholars have not agreed on the key factors that impact entrepreneurial intention. This study attempts, through an extensive literature review, to provide a holistic view and a more comprehensive understanding of the key factors that lead university undergraduate students to become entrepreneurs. A systematic literature review is conducted and several scientific articles and reports have been examined. The results of this study indicate that there are four main sets of factors: the personality-traits factors, contextual factors, motivational factors, and personal background factors. This research will serve as a base for future studies and will have valuable implications for policy makers and educators.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, literature review, economic growth

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Authors: Tosin Ige

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Ethics must be a condition of the world, like logic. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951). As important as data mining is, it possess a significant threat to ethics, privacy, and legality, since data mining makes it difficult for an individual or consumer (in the case of a company) to control the accessibility and usage of his data. This research focuses on Current issues and the latest research and development on Privacy preserving data mining methods as at year 2022. It also discusses some advances in those techniques while at the same time highlighting and providing a new technique as a solution to an existing technique of privacy preserving data mining methods. This paper also bridges the wide gap between Data mining and the Web Application Programing Interface (web API), where research is urgently needed for an added layer of security in data mining while at the same time introducing a seamless and more efficient way of data mining.

Keywords: data, privacy, data mining, association rule, privacy preserving, mining technique

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Authors: Mohammad Borhani, Ahmad Jamshidzaei, Mehdi Koohsari

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The study of climate has captivated human interest throughout history. In response to this fascination, individuals historically organized their daily activities in alignment with prevailing climatic conditions and seasonal variations. Understanding the elements and specific climatic parameters of each region, such as precipitation, which directly impacts human life, is essential because, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in heavy rainfall in various parts of the world attributed to the effects of climate change. Climate prediction models suggest a future scenario characterized by an increase in severe precipitation events and related floods on a global scale. This is a result of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions causing changes in the natural precipitation patterns. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported global warming in 2001. The average global temperature has shown an increasing trend since 1861. In the 20th century, this increase has been between (0/2 ± 0/6) °C. The present study focused on examining the trend of monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation in Sistan and Baluchestan provinces. The study employed data obtained from 13 precipitation measurement stations managed by the Iran Water Resources Management Company, encompassing daily precipitation records spanning the period from 1997 to 2016. The results indicated that the total monthly precipitation at the studied stations in Sistan and Baluchestan province follows a sinusoidal trend. The highest intense precipitation was observed in January, February, and March, while the lowest occurred in September, October, and then November. The investigation of the trend of seasonal precipitation in this province showed that precipitation follows an upward trend in the autumn season, reaching its peak in winter, and then shows a decreasing trend in spring and summer. Also, the examination of average precipitation indicated that the highest yearly precipitation occurred in 1997 and then in 2004, while the lowest annual precipitation took place between 1999 and 2001. The analysis of the annual precipitation trend demonstrates a decrease in precipitation from 1997 to 2016 in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Keywords: climate change, extreme precipitation, greenhouse gas, trend analysis

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Authors: H. Soltani, Kevin Laugero

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Obesity is becoming an increasingly critical issue in the United States due to the steady and substantial increase in prevalence over the last 30 years. Existing interventions have been able to help participants achieve short-term weight loss, but have failed to show long-term results. The complex nature of behavioral change remains one of the most difficult barriers in promoting sustainable weight-loss in overweight individuals. Research suggests that the 'intention-behavior gap' can be explained by a person’s ability to regulate higher-order thinking, or Executive Function (EF). A review of 63 research articles was completed in fall of 2017 to identify the role of EF in regulating eating behavior and to identify whether there is a potential for improving dietary quality by enhancing EF. Results showed that poor EF is positively associated with obesogenic behavior, namely increased consumption of highly palatable foods, eating in the absence of hunger, high saturated fat intake and low fruit and vegetable consumption. Recent research has indicated that interventions targeting an improvement in EF can be successful in helping promote healthy behaviors. Furthermore, interventions of longer duration have a more lasting and versatile effect on weight loss and maintenance. This may present an opportunity for the increasingly ubiquitous use of mobile application technology.

Keywords: eating behavior, executive function, nutrition, obesity, weight-loss

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Authors: Rose J. Thazhathukunnel, A. G. Smitha

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In the wake of social development, humans overlook the ideal physical appearance, and there is an increasing trend of criticising other’s bodies or offering tips to hide imperfections. Social appearance anxiety demonstrates the association with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behavior. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that social appearance anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behavior would predict the relation between each among cancer survivors. It was observed that implicit belief to be thin was more pronounced in people with low body dissatisfaction than those with high body dissatisfaction. Results of the study indicated that overall body dissatisfaction and social appearance anxiety were correlated with disordered eating behavior for both men and women cancer survivors of all ages.

Keywords: social appearance anxiety, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behavior, cancer survivors

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Authors: Sarah J. C. Slabbert

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The uptake of research as part of the diffusion or adoption of innovation by practitioners, whether individuals or organisations, has been a popular topic in agricultural development studies for many decades. In the classical, linear model of innovation theory, the innovation originates from an expert source such as a state-supported research organisation or academic institution. The changing context of agriculture led to the development of the agricultural innovation systems model, which recognizes innovation as a complex interaction between individuals and organisations, which include private industry and collective action organisations. In terms of this model, an innovation can be developed and adopted without any input or intervention from a state or parastatal research organisation. This evolution in the diffusion of agricultural innovation has put forward new challenges for state or parastatal research organisations, which have to demonstrate the impact of their research to the legislature or a regulatory authority: Unless the organisation and the research it produces cross the knowledge paths of the intended audience, there will be no awareness, no uptake and certainly no impact. It is therefore critical for such a research organisation to base its communication strategy on a thorough understanding of the knowledge needs, information sources and knowledge networks of the intended target audience. In 2016, the South African Water Research Commission (WRC) commissioned a study to investigate the knowledge needs, information sources and knowledge networks of Water User Associations and commercial irrigators with the aim of improving uptake of its research on efficient water use in irrigation. The first phase of the study comprised face-to-face interviews with the CEOs and Board Chairs of four Water User Associations along the Orange River in South Africa, and 36 commercial irrigation farmers from the same four irrigation schemes. Intermediaries who act as knowledge conduits to the Water User Associations and the irrigators were identified and 20 of them were subsequently interviewed telephonically. The study found that irrigators interact regularly with grower organisations such as SATI (South African Table Grape Industry) and SAPPA (South African Pecan Nut Association) and that they perceive these organisations as credible, trustworthy and reliable, within their limitations. State and parastatal research institutions, on the other hand, are associated with a range of negative attributes. As a result, the awareness of, and interest in, the WRC and its research on water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture are low. The findings suggest that a communication strategy that involves collaboration with these grower organisations would empower the WRC to participate much more efficiently and with greater impact in agricultural innovation networks. The paper will elaborate on the findings and discuss partnering frameworks and opportunities to manage perceptions and uptake.

Keywords: agricultural innovation systems, communication strategy, diffusion of innovation, irrigated agriculture, knowledge paths, research organisations, target audiences, water use efficiency

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Authors: Peter Schnell, Phillip Haag

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In the course of the structural transformation of the construction industry, the integration of industrialization and digitization has led to the development of construction methods with an increased degree of prefabrication, such as system or modular construction. Compared to conventional construction, these innovative construction methods are characterized by modified structural and procedural properties and expand the range of construction services. Faced with the supply side, it is possible to identify construction-specific customer types with different characteristics and certain preferences as far as the choice of construction method is concerned. The basis for this finding was qualitative expert interviews. By evaluating the stereotypical customer needs, a corresponding segmentation of the demand side can be made along with the basic orientation and decision behavior. This demarcation supports the target- and needs-oriented customer approach and contributes to cooperative and successful project management.

Keywords: differentiation of customer types, modular construction methods, conventional construction methods, stereotypical customer types

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Authors: John Acord, Ankita Batla, Kiran Khepar, Maude Schmidt, Charlotte Allen, Russ Bradford

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Objectives: Despite the availability oftreatment options, Parkinson’s disease (PD) continues to impact heavily on a patient’s quality of life (QoL), as many symptoms that bother the patient remain unexplored and untreated in clinical settings. The aims of this research were to understand the burden of PDsymptoms from a patient perspective, particularly those which are the most persistent and debilitating, and to determine if current treatments and treatment algorithms adequately focus on their resolution. Methods: A13-question, online, patient-reported survey was created based on the MDS-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS)and symptoms listed on Parkinson’s Disease Patient Advocacy Groups websites, and then validated by 10 Parkinson’s patients. In the survey, patients were asked to choose both their most common and their most bothersome symptoms, whether they had received treatment for those and, if so, had it been effective in resolving those symptoms. Results: The most bothersome symptoms reported by the 111 participants who completed the survey were sleep problems (61%), feeling tired (56%), slowness of movements (54%), and pain in some parts of the body (49%). However, while 86% of patients reported receiving dopamine or dopamine like drugs to treat their PD, far fewer reported receiving targeted therapies for additional symptoms. For example, of the patients who reported having sleep problems, only 33% received some form of treatment for this symptom. This was also true for feeling tired (30% received treatment for this symptom), slowness of movements (62% received treatment for this symptom), and pain in some parts of the body (61% received treatment for this symptom). Additionally, 65% of patients reported that the symptoms they experienced were not adequately controlled by the treatments they received, and 9% reported that their current treatments had no effect on their symptoms whatsoever. Conclusion: The survey outcomes highlight that the majority of patients involved in the study received treatment focused on their disease, however, symptom-based treatments were less well represented. Consequently, patient-reported symptoms such as sleep problems and feeling tired tended to receive more fragmented intervention than ‘classical’ PD symptoms, such as slowness of movement, even though they were reported as being amongst the most bothersome symptoms for patients. This research highlights the need to explore symptom burden from the patient’s perspective and offer Customised treatment/support for both motor and non-motor symptoms maximize patients’ quality of life.

Keywords: survey, patient reported symptom burden, unmet needs, parkinson's disease

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Authors: Foluke Dada

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Prisons all over the world are set up by law to provide restraint and custody for individuals accused or convicted of crimes by the state. The Nigerian prison dates back to the colonial era and is modelled after the British system. It is a system that lays emphasis on punishment and deterrence. It emphasises retribution rather than reformation. These, it can be argued, results in the inhuman conditions of Nigerian prisons and the conscienceless treatment of convicts and awaiting trial inmates in Nigerian prisons. This paper attempts an examination of the challenges currently beguiling Nigerian prisons, the need for reforms in the prison systems and the imperative of these reforms to an efficient criminal justice delivery system in the country. This paper further postulates that rehabilitation should be favoured as against retribution f the development of the Nigerian criminal justice system in line with the shift towards reform.

Keywords: criminal justice, human rights, prison reforms, rehabilitation and retribution

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Authors: Qianli Ma, Xuemin Zhao, Lingai Yao, Zhencheng Xu, Li Wang

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Heavy metal pollution accidents, frequently happened in this decade in China, severely threaten aquatic ecosystem and economy. In January 2012, a basin-scale accidental Cd pollution happened in Longjiang River in southwest China. Although water quality was recovered in short period by emergency treatment with flocculants, a large amount of contaminated cage-cultivated fish were left with the task of preventing or mitigating Cd contamination of fish. In this study, unpolluted Ctenopharyngodon idellus were fed by Cd-contaminated macrophytes for assessing the effect of Cd accumulation through food exposure, and the contaminated C. idellus were fed with Cd-free macrophytes for assessing the ability of Cd depuration. The on-site cultivation experiments were done in two sites of Lalang (S1, accidental Cd pollution originated) and Sancha (S2, a large amount of flocculants were added to accelerate Cd precipitation) in Longjiang river. Results showed that Cd content in fish muscle presented an increasing trend in the accumulation experiment. In S1, Cd content of fish muscle rose sharply from day 8 to day 18 with higher average Cd content in macrophytes and sediment, and kept in the range of 0.208-0.308 mg/kg afterward. In S2, Cd content of fish muscle rose gradually throughout the experiment and reached the maximum level of 0.285 mg/kg on day 76. The results of the depuration experiment showed that Cd content in fish muscle decreased and significant changes were observed in the first half time of the experiment. Meanwhile, fish with lower initial Cd content presented higher elimination constant. In S1, Cd content of fish significantly decreased from 0.713 to 0.304 mg/kg in 18 days and kept decreasing to 0.110 mg/kg in the end, and 84.6% of Cd content was eliminated. While in S2, there was a sharp decrease of Cd content of fish in 0-8 days from 0.355 mg/kg to 0.069 mg/kg. The total elimination percentage was 93.8% and 80.6% of which appeared in day 0-8. The elimination constant of fish in S2 was 0.03 which was higher than 0.02 in S1. Collectively, our results showed Cd could be absorbed through food exposure and accumulate in fish muscle, and the accumulated Cd in fish muscle can be excreted after isolated from the polluted food sources. This knowledge allows managers to assess health risk of Cd contaminated fish and minimize aquaculture loss when considering fish cultivation after accidental pollution.

Keywords: accidental pollution, cadmium accumulation and depuration, cage-cultivated fish, environmental management, river

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Mohaddeseh Ahmadnezhad, Shahrbano Oryan, Mahmoud Bahmani, Mohammadd Sayad Bourani

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Changes in abundance and size of skin ionocytes were investigated in two larval stage of Caspian sea zander, Sander lucioperca, before and after yolk sac absorption, at 96h after transfer from fresh water (FW; <0.5‰) to 7‰ (estuary) and 12‰ (Caspian sea water=CW) salinity. Survival rate in the stage of after yolk sac absorption were more than larval pre-absorbed yolk sac in condition of salinity (p<0.05). Ionocyte abundance increased significantly in 7 and 12‰ salinity (p<0.05), but not about ionocyte size. The results of this study suggest that development of skin Ionocyte osmoregulatory function and osmoregulation capability of Caspian Sea zander larvae increased with growth of the larvae.

Keywords: Caspian Sea, larvae, Sander lucioperca, salinity, skin ionocyte

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Authors: Assem El-Ansary

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This paper illustrates the event-oriented Behavioral Pattern Analysis (BPA) modeling approach in developing an Multi-Agent TeleRobotic Security Control System (MTSCS). The event defined in BPA is a real-life conceptual entity that is unrelated to any implementation. The major contributions of this research are the Behavioral Pattern Analysis (BPA) modeling methodology, and the development of an interactive software tool (DECISION), which is based on a combination of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the ELECTRE Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods.

Keywords: analysis, multi-agent, TeleRobotics control, security, modeling methodology, software modeling, event-oriented, behavioral pattern, use cases

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Authors: Supriya Mahida, Sangita, Yogesh U. Shah, Shanta Kumar

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The global production of thermocol increasing day by day, due to vast applications of the use of thermocole in many sectors. Thermocol being non-biodegradable and more toxic than plastic leads towards a number of problems like its management into value-added products, environmental damage and landfill problems due to weight to volume ratio. Utilization of waste thermocol for modification of bitumen binders resulted in waste thermocol modified bitumen (WTMB) used in road construction and maintenance technology. Modification of bituminous mixes through incorporating thermocol into bituminous mixes through a dry process is one of the new options besides recycling process which consumes lots of waste thermocol. This process leads towards waste management and remedies against thermocol waste disposal. The present challenge is to dispose the thermocol waste under different forms in road infrastructure, either through the dry process or wet process to be developed in future. This paper focuses on the use of thermocol wastes which is mixed with VG 10 bitumen in proportions of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% by weight of bitumen. The physical properties of neat bitumen are evaluated and compared with modified VG 10 bitumen having thermocol. Empirical characterization like penetration, softening, and viscosity of bitumen has been carried out. Thermocol and waste thermocol modified bitumen (WTMB) were further analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR).

Keywords: DSR, FESEM, FT-IR, thermocol wastes

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Tim Nedyalkov

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A business decision to move to the cloud brings fundamental changes in how an organization develops and delivers its Information Technology solutions. The accelerated pace of digital transformation across businesses and government agencies increases the reliance on cloud-based services. They are collecting, managing, and retaining large amounts of data in cloud environments makes information security and data privacy protection essential. It becomes even more important to understand what key factors drive successful cloud adoption following the commencement of the Privacy Amendment Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) Act 2017 in Australia as the regulatory changes impact many organizations and industries. This quantitative correlational research investigated the governance, risk management, and compliance factors contributing to cloud security success. The factors influence the adoption of cloud computing within an organizational context after the commencement of the NDB scheme. The results and findings demonstrated that corporate information security policies, data storage location, management understanding of data governance responsibilities, and regular compliance assessments are the factors influencing cloud computing adoption. The research has implications for organizations, future researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and cloud computing providers to meet the rapidly changing regulatory and compliance requirements.

Keywords: cloud compliance, cloud security, data governance, privacy protection

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Authors: Dina C. Castro, Rossana Boyd, Eugenia Papadaki

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Immigration within and across continents is currently a global reality. The number of people leaving their communities in search for a better life for them and their families has increased dramatically during the last twenty years. Therefore, young children of the 21st century around the World are growing up in diverse communities, exposed to many languages and cultures. One consequence of these migration movements is the increased linguistic diversity in school settings. Depending on the linguistic history and the status of languages in the communities (i.e., minority-majority; majority-majority) the instructional approaches will differ. This session will discuss how bilingualism is addressed in early education programs in both minority-majority and majority-majority language communities, analyzing experiences in three countries with very distinct societal and demographic characteristics: Peru (South America), the United States (North America), and Italy (European Union). The ultimate goal is to identify commonalities and differences across the three experiences that could lead to a discussion of bilingualism in early education from a global perspective. From Peru, we will discuss current national language and educational policies that have lead to the design and implementation of bilingual and intercultural education for children in indigenous communities. We will also discuss how those practices are being implemented in preschool programs, the progress made and challenges encountered. From the United States, we will discuss the early education of Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers, including the national policy environment, as well as variations in language of instruction approaches currently being used with these children. From Italy, we will describe early education practices in the Bilingual School of Monza, in northern Italy, a school that has 20 years promoting bilingualism and multilingualism in education. While the presentations from Peru and the United States will discuss bilingualism in a majority-minority language environment, this presentation will lead to a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of promoting bilingualism in a majority-majority language environment. It is evident that innovative models and policies are necessary to prevent inequality of opportunities for bilingual children beginning in their earliest years. The cross-cultural examination of bilingual education experiences for young children in three part of the World will allow us to learn from our success and challenges. The session will end with a discussion of the following question: To what extent are early care and education programs being effective in promoting positive development and learning among all children, including those from diverse language, ethnic and cultural backgrounds? We expect to identify, with participants to our session, a set of recommendations for policy and program development that could ensure access to high quality early education for all bilingual children.

Keywords: early education for bilingual children, global perspectives in early education, cross-cultural, language policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: F. A. Ogundolie, F. Okogue, D. V. Adegunloye

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Greywater samples were obtained from three restaurants in the Federal University of Technology; Akure coded SSR, MGR and GGR. Fungi isolates obtained include Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, Mucor mucedo, Aspergillus flavus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Of these fungi isolates obtained, R. stolonifer, A. niger and A. flavus showed significant degradation ability on grey water and was used for this research. A simple bioreactor was constructed using biodegradation process in purification of waste water samples. Waste water undergoes primary treatment; secondary treatment involves the introduction of the isolated organisms into the waste water sample and the tertiary treatment which involved the use of filter candle and the sand bed filtration process to achieve the end product without the use of chemicals. A. niger brought about significant reduction in both the bacterial load and the fungi load of the greywater samples of the three respective restaurants with a reduction of (1.29 × 108 to 1.57 × 102 cfu/ml; 1.04 × 108 to 1.12 × 102 cfu/ml and 1.72 × 108 to 1.60 × 102 cfu/ml) for bacterial load in SSR, MGR and GGR respectively. Reduction of 2.01 × 104 to 1.2 × 101; 1.72 × 104 to 1.1 × 101, and 2.50 × 104 to 1.5 × 101 in fungi load from SSR, MGR and GGR respectively. Result of degradation of these selected waste water by the fungi showed that A. niger was probably more potent in the degradation of organic matter and hence, A. niger could be used in the treatment of wastewater.

Keywords: Aspergillus niger, greywater, bacterial, fungi, microbial load, bioreactor, biodegradation, purification, organic matter and filtration

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Sung Hyun Kim

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Introduction: Sleep disturbance is common in children with developmental disorders (D.D.). Sleep disturbance has a variety of negative effects, such as behavior problems, medical problems, and even developmental problems in children with D.D. However, to our best knowledge, there has been no proper treatment for sleep disorders in children with D.D. Therefore, we conduct this study to know the positive effects of intensive rehabilitation therapy in children with D.D. on the degree of sleep disturbance. Method: We prospectively recruited 22 patients with a diagnosis of D.D. during the period of January 2022 through May 2022. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) a patient who would participate in the intensive rehabilitation therapy of our institution; 2) the age participant under 18 years at the time of assessment; 3) a child who has consented to participate in the study by signing the consent form by the legal guardian. We investigated the clinical characteristics of participants by the medical record, including sex, age, underlying diagnosis of D.D., and Gross Motor Function Measures (GMFM). Before starting the intensive rehabilitation therapy, we conducted a Sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC). It contains 26 questions about children’s sleep, and those questions are grouped into six subscales, such as Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS), Sleep Breathing Disorders(SBD), Disorders of arousal(DOA), Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders(SWTD), Disorders of excessive somnolence(DOES) and Sleep Hyperhydrosis(SHY). We used the t-score, which was calculated by comparing the scores of normal children. Twenty two patients received 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation, including daily physical and occupational therapy. After that, we did follow up with SDSC. The comparison between SDSC before and after intensive rehabilitation was calculated using the paired t-test, and P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Demographic data and clinical characteristics of 22 patients are enrolled. Patients were 4.03 ± 2.91 years old, and of the total 22 patients, 14 (64%) were male, and 8 (36%) were female. Twelve patients(45%) were diagnosed with Cerebral palsy(C.P.), and the mean value of participants’ GMFM was 47.82 ± 20.60. Each mean value of SDSC’s subscales was also calculated. DIMS was 62.36 ± 13.72, SBD was 54.18 ± 8.39, DOA was 49.59 ± 7.01, SWTD was 58.95 ± 9.20, DOES was 53.09 ± 15.15, SHY was 52.14 ± 8.82, and the total was 59.86 ± 13.18. These values suggest that children with D.D. have sleep disorders. After 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation treatment, the score of DIMS showed improvement(p=0.016), but not the other subscale and total score of SDSC. Conclusion: This result showed that intensive rehabilitation could be helpful to patients of D.D. with sleep disorders. Especially intensive rehabilitation therapy itself can be a meaningful treatment in inducing and maintaining sleep.

Keywords: sleep disorder, developmental delay, intensive rehabilitation therapy, cerebral palsy

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: H. Bentarzi, A. Zitouni

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The reliability of the power grid depends on the successful operation of thousands of protective relays. The failure of one relay to operate as intended may lead the entire power grid to blackout. In fact, major power system failures during transient disturbances may be caused by unnecessary protective relay tripping rather than by the failure of a relay to operate. Adequate relay testing provides a first defense against false trips of the relay and hence improves power grid stability and prevents catastrophic bulk power system failures. The goal of this research project is to design and enhance the relay tester using a technology such as Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) card NI 7851. A PC based tester framework has been developed using Simulink power system model for generating signals under different conditions (faults or transient disturbances) and LabVIEW for developing the graphical user interface and configuring the FPGA. Besides, the interface system has been developed for outputting and amplifying the signals without distortion. These signals should be like the generated ones by the real power system and large enough for testing the relay’s functionality. The signals generated that have been displayed on the scope are satisfactory. Furthermore, the proposed testing system can be used for improving the performance of protective relay.

Keywords: amplifier class D, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), protective relay, tester

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: S. Shahzadi, J. Rizk

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This paper describes the pulse width modulated control of a three phase, 4 polar DC brushless motor. To implement this practically the Atmel’s AVR ATmega 328 microcontroller embedded on an Arduino Eleven board is utilized. The microcontroller programming is done in an open source Arduino IDE development environment. The programming logic effectively manipulated a six MOSFET bridge which was used to energize the stator windings as per control requirements. The results obtained showed accurate, precise and efficient pulse width modulated operation. Another advantage offered by this pulse width modulated control was the efficient speed control of the motor. By varying the time intervals between successive commutations, faster energizing of the stator windings was possible thereby leading to quicker rotor alignment with these energized phases and faster revolutions.

Keywords: brushless DC motors, commutation, MOSFET, PWM

Procedia PDF Downloads 497