Search results for: Alzheimer’s related quality of life

Authors: Narin Charoenphun, Praopen Rattanadee, Chaiporn Phaephiromrat

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One of the most important intricacies of cooking is seasoning which is the process of adding salt, herbs, or spices to food to enhance the flavor. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was added in seasoning powder for taste-improving and shelf life of products. However, the raised blood pressure caused by eating too much NaCl may damage the arteries leading to the heart. Interestingly, NaCl replacement with other substance is essential for consumer. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of NaCl replacement with potassium chloride (KCl) on the sensory characteristics and physiochemical properties of longan seasoning powder. Five longan seasoning Powder were replaced sodium chloride with KCl at 0, 25, 50 75 and 100%. Mixture design with 2 replications was performed. Sensory characteristics on overall flavor, saltiness, sweetness, bitterness and overall liking were investigated using 12 descriptive trained panelists. Results revealed that NaCl and KCl had effects on saltiness, bitterness and overall liking. As the level of KCl substituted increased, the overall flavor and sweetness of powdered seasoning from longan were not significantly (p < 0.05). This resulted in the decrease of overall liking of the products. In addition, increasing the level of KCl substituted resulted in the drop of saltiness but out of bitterness of the products. Saltiness of powdered seasoning from longan with replacement levels of 50, 75 and 100% KCl different when compared to that of 0% KCl. Bitterness of powdered seasoning from longan with replacement levels of 50, 75 and 100% KCl different when compared to that of 0% KCl. Moreover, consumer acceptance test was conducted (n=100). In conclusion, the optimum formulation contained of 32.0% longan powder, 28.0% sugar, 15.0% NaCl, 5% KCl, 16.0% pork powder, 3.0% pepper powder, and 3.0% garlic powder that would meet acceptability scores of at least 7 or like moderately.

Keywords: longan, seasoning, NaCl, KCl

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Hyun Chul Cho, Hyunkyoung Oh, Hyun Yoon, Jooyeon Jin, Jae Won Lee

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Identifying, structuring, and racking the most important factors related to improving athletes’ performances could pave the way for improve training system. The purpose of this study was to identify the relative importance factors to improve performance of the of judo athletes with visual impairments, including blindness by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). After reviewing the literature, the relative importance of factors affecting performance of the blind judo was selected. A group of expert reviewed the first draft of the questionnaires, and then finally selected performance factors were classified into the major categories of techniques, physical fitness, and psychological categories. Later, a pre-selected experts group was asked to review the final version of questionnaire and confirm the priories of performance factors. The order of priority was determined by performing pairwise comparisons using Expert Choice 2000. Results indicated that “grappling” (.303) and “throwing” (.234) were the most important lower hierarchy factors for blind judo skills. In addition, the most important physical factors affecting performance were “muscular strength and endurance” (.238). Further, among other psychological factors “competitive anxiety” (.393) was important factor that affects performance. It is important to offer psychological skills training to reduce anxiety of judo athletes with visual impairments and blindness, so they can compete in their optimal states. These findings offer insights into what should be considered when determining factors to improve performance of judo athletes with visual impairments and blindness.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, blind athlete, judo, sport performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: L. Krpalkova, N. O' Mahony, A. Carvalho, S. Campbell, G. Corkery, E. Broderick, J. Walsh

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Farm management and operations will drastically change due to access to real-time data, real-time forecasting, and tracking of physical items in combination with Internet of Things developments to further automate farm operations. Dairy farms have embraced technological innovations and procured vast amounts of permanent data streams during the past decade; however, the integration of this information to improve the whole farm-based management and decision-making does not exist. It is now imperative to develop a system that can collect, integrate, manage, and analyse on-farm and off-farm data in real-time for practical and relevant environmental and economic actions. The developed systems, based on machine learning and artificial intelligence, need to be connected for useful output, a better understanding of the whole farming issue, and environmental impact. Evolutionary computing can be very effective in finding the optimal combination of sets of some objects and, finally, in strategy determination. The system of the future should be able to manage the dairy farm as well as an experienced dairy farm manager with a team of the best agricultural advisors. All these changes should bring resilience and sustainability to dairy farming as well as improving and maintaining good animal welfare and the quality of dairy products. This review aims to provide an insight into the state-of-the-art of big data applications and evolutionary computing in relation to smart dairy farming and identify the most important research and development challenges to be addressed in the future. Smart dairy farming influences every area of management, and its uptake has become a continuing trend.

Keywords: big data, evolutionary computing, cloud, precision technologies

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Faraidoon Rahmanzai, Mizuki Takigawa, Yu Bomura, Shigeyuki Date

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To obtain the high quality and essential workability of mortar, different types of superplasticizers are used. The superplasticizers are the chemical admixture used in the mix to improve the fluidity of mortar. Many factors influenced the superplasticizer to disperse the cement particle in the mortar. Nature and amount of replaced cement by slag, mixing procedure, delayed addition time, and heat stimulation technique of superplasticizer cause the varied effect on the fluidity of the cementitious material. In this experiment, the superplasticizers were heated for 1 hour under 60 °C in a thermostatic chamber. Furthermore, the effect of delayed addition time of heat stimulated superplasticizers (SP) was also analyzed. This method was applied to two types of polycarboxylic acid based ether SP (precast type superplasticizer (SP2) and ready-mix type superplasticizer (SP1)) in combination with a partial replacement of normal Portland cement with blast furnace slag (BFS) with 30% w/c ratio. On the other hands, the fluidity, air content, fresh density, and compressive strength for 7 and 28 days were studied. The results indicate that the addition time and heat stimulation technique improved the flow and air content, decreased the density, and slightly decreased the compressive strength of mortar. Moreover, the slag improved the flow of mortar by increasing the amount of slag, and the effect of external temperature of SP on the flow of mortar was decreased. In comparison, the flow of mortar was improved on 5-minute delay for both kinds of SP, but SP1 has improved the flow in all conditions. Most importantly, the transition points in both types of SP appear to be the same, at about 5±1 min.  In addition, the optimum addition time of SP to mortar should be in this period.

Keywords: combined effect, delay addition, heat stimulation, flow of mortar

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Authors: Zsolt Szabolcsi

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Political communication in Hungary has undergone a significant change in the 2010s. One element of the transformation is the Flashnews. This media product was launched in March 2015 and since then 40-50 blocks are broadcasted, daily, on 5 channels. Flashnews blocks are condensed news sessions, containing the summary of political narratives. It starts with the introduction of the narrator, then, usually four news topics are presented and, finally, the narrator concludes the block. The block lasts only one minute and, therefore, it provides a blink session into the main narratives of political communication at the time. Beyond its rapid pace, what makes its avoidance difficult is that these blocks are always in the first position in the commercial break of a non-political media product. Although it is only one minute long, its significance is high. The content of the Flashnews reflects the main governmental narratives and, therefore, the Flashnews is part of the agenda-setting capacity of political communication. It reaches media consumers who have limited knowledge and interest in politics, and their use of media products is not politically related. For this audience, the Flashnews pops up in the same way as commercials. Due to its structure and appearance, the impact of Flashnews seems to be similar to commercials, imbedded into the break of media products. It activates existing knowledge constructs, builds up associational links and maintains their presence in a way that the recipient is not aware of the phenomenon. The research aims to examine the extent to which the Flashnews and the main news narratives are identical in their content. This aim is realized with the content analysis of the two news products by examining the Flashnews and the evening news during main sport events from 2016 to 2018. The initial hypothesis of the research is that Flashnews is a contribution to the news management technique for an effective articulation of political narratives in public service media channels.

Keywords: flashnews, political communication, political marketing, news management

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Yongxin Chen, Min Zhang

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As industrial enterprises are the primary source of national pollution, environmental information disclosure is a crucial way to demonstrate to stakeholders the work they have done in fulfilling their environmental responsibilities and accepting social supervision. In the era of the digital economy, many companies, actively embracing the opportunities that come with digital transformation, have begun to apply digital technology to information collection and disclosure within the enterprise. However, less is known about the relationship between digital transformation and environmental disclosure. This study investigates how enterprise digital transformation affects environmental disclosure in 643 Chinese industrial companies, according to information processing theory. What is intriguing is that the depth (size) and breadth (diversity) of environmental disclosure linearly increase with the rise in the collection, processing, and analytical capabilities in the digital transformation process. However, the volume of data will grow exponentially, leading to a marginal increase in the economic and environmental costs of utilizing, storing, and managing data. In our empirical findings, linearly increasing benefits and marginal costs create a unique inverted U-shaped relationship between the degree of digital transformation and environmental disclosure in the Chinese industrial sector. Besides, based on the upper echelons theory, we also propose that the top management team with high stability and managerial capabilities will invest more effort and expense into improving environmental disclosure quality, lowering the carbon footprint caused by digital technology, maintaining data security etc. In both these contexts, the increasing marginal cost curves would become steeper, weakening the inverted U-shaped slope between DT and ED.

Keywords: digital transformation, environmental disclosure, the top management team, information processing theory, upper echelon theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Aya Gamal Khattab

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Chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is now the leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality; Currently, alanine aminotransferase ALT measurement is not only widely used in detecting the incidence, development, and prognosis of liver disease with obvious clinical symptoms, but also provides reference on screening the overall health status during health check-ups. Exercise is a low-cost, reliable and sustainable therapy for many chronic diseases. Low-volume high intensity interval training HIT is time efficient while also having wider application to different populations including people at risk for chronic inflammatory diseases. Purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of low volume high intensity interval training on ALT, AST in HCV patients. All practical work was done in outpatient physiotherapy clinic of Suez Canal Authority Hospitals. Forty patients both gender (27 male, 13 female), age ranged (40-60) years old submitted to low volume high intensity interval training on treadmill for two months three sessions per week. Each session consisting of five min warming up, two bouts for 10 min each bout consisting of 30 sec - 1 min of high intensity (75%-85%) HRmax then two to four min active recovery at intensity (40%-60%) HRmax, so the sum of high intensity intervals was one to two min for each session and four to eight min active recovery, and ends with five min cooling down. ALT and AST were measured before starting exercise session and 2 months later after finishing the total exercise sessions through blood samples. Results showed significant decrease in ALT, AST with improvement percentage (18.85%), (23.87%) in the study, so the study concluded that low volume high intensity interval training had a significant effect in lowering the level of circulating liver enzymes (ALT, AST) which means protection of hepatic cells and restoration of its function.

Keywords: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hepatitis C (HCV), low volume high intensity interval training

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Authors: Badr Alharbi

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There is significant debate on the evolution of retail marketing as an economy matures. In penetrating new markets, global brands are efficient in establishing a presence and replacing less effective competitors by engaging in superior advertising, pricing and sometimes quality. However, national brands adapt over time and may either partner with global brands in distribution and services or directly compete more efficiently in the new, open market. This explorative study investigates brand preferences in Saudi Arabia. As a conservative society, which is nevertheless highly commercialised, Saudi Arabia markets could be fragmenting with consumer preferences and rejections based on country of origin, globalisation, or perhaps regionalisation. To investigate this, an online survey was distributed to Saudis in Jeddah to gather data on their preferences for travel, technology, clothes and accessories, eating out, vehicles, and influential brands. The results from 710 valid responses were that there are distinct regional and national brand preferences among the young Saudi men who contributed to the survey. Apart from a preference for Saudi food providers, airline preferences were the United Emirates, holiday preferences were Europe, study and work preferences were the United States, hotel preferences were United States-based, car preferences were Japanese, and clothing preferences were United States-based. The results were broadly in line with international research findings; however, the study participants varied from Arab research findings by describing themselves as innovative in their purchase selections, rarely loyal (exception of Apple products) and continually seeking new brand experiences. This survey contributes to an understanding of evolving Saudi consumer preferences.

Keywords: Saudi marketing, globalisation, country of origin, brand preferences

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Xvelian Qin

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Urban "organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability.

Keywords: space under bridge, potential evaluation, high density urban area, updated using

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Galuh Pramesti

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In Indonesia, the rise of the middle class and consumer purchasing power has created a trend of shifting the traditional into a modern retail market. Development of the creative economy as an impact of the global economy has invaded the traditional market, due to low rents and minimum innovation, raising the issue of sustainability and urban resilience for survival of the traditional market. The study aims to understand the current market conditions by examining the challenges, resiliency, and identify the relationship between the traditional market and creative market. Using a single-case study approach as the research methodology, Santa Market has been chosen as the case study. It is a pilot project of collaboration between a traditional market and creative economy in Jakarta, Indonesia. The research was conducted as a qualitative study through in-depth interviews with the market vendors and the market management, besides a desk-based study of the leasing data and spatial analysis. The findings indicate traffic fluctuation as the main challenge. It is related to the tenant’s presence, rental fluctuation, gentrification, infrastructure, and market competition. Thus, the findings on resilience show a different response for creative and traditional markets. The traditional market’s response remained stable with minimum innovation, whereas the creative market relies on technological development. Regarding the relationship, supply and demand have become the main relationship occurring in Santa Market. It is then developed into the context of society and regulation. The conclusion provides recommendations for more solid regulation to protect the market tenants from stakeholder interests that can disrupt market viability, and a critical discussion on the concept of collaboration between traditional and creative markets. There is also a suggestion for further study on relation with the surroundings, to create a holistic study on how the collaboration can work well in the traditional market.

Keywords: creative economy, market sustainability, traditional market, urban resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Kulveer Sandhu

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Background: In 1999, the Government of Canada legalized the use of cannabis for the therapeutic purpose (CTP); however, its users remain highly vulnerable to stigma and are judged by care providers and nonusers of cannabis. Findings from a literature review suggest health care providers (HCPs), including nurses in palliative care settings, lack knowledge about medical cannabis. For this reason, it is important to enhance HCPs’awarenessand knowledge of medical cannabis. Significance of the Project: Nurses are the first point of contact and spend more time with patients than other care providers; it is, therefore, important for them to be informed about CTPto provide quality and equitable care for medical cannabis users. Although nurses and other HCPs want information on CTP, the topic is rarely included in their educational curriculum. The purpose of this project is to create an evidence informed Package designed to increase knowledge among palliative care nurses about CTP. The information package will empower palliative nurses to help palliative patients make informed decisions about their treatment plan. Method: The information package will include a basic overview of the endocannabinoid system, common cannabis plants and products, and methods of consumption, as well as information to help nurses better understand consumption and harm reduction. The package will also include a set of cannabis fact sheets for nurses. Each fact sheet will comprise a high-level overview with graphics followed by a description of medical cannabis with links and references. At the end of the learning package, there are five self-reflection questions that allow nurses to examine their personal values, attitudes, and practices regarding medical cannabis. These questions will help each nurse understand their personal approach towards CTP and its users.

Keywords: medical cannabis, improve knowledge, cannabis for therapeutic purpose (CTP), patient experience, palliative care

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Barzi Ghizlane, Badrane Nohayla

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In an environment characterized by a succession of economic, environmental, and social crises, companies must reassess their financial approach, not merely with a survival mindset, but with the aim of evolving and thriving in a constantly changing context. In this process, a sustainable financial function becomes imperative to ensure long-term growth. By integrating sustainable and responsible practices, companies can better identify and anticipate risks, diversify their sources of financing, and, most importantly, strengthen the management of their resources. Indeed, the sustainable financial function goes far beyond traditional financial activities of companies. It positions itself as a strategic pillar of development and growth through the adoption of green approaches that meet their immediate needs. This perspective constitutes a combination of financial performance and sustainability. Consequently, it allows companies to navigate with agility in a changing environment while ensuring increased resilience. Moreover, a company’s ability to withstand external shocks and risks is based on three fundamental pillars. First, proactive crisis management, which essentially allows for the identification and detection of vulnerabilities related to economic and social risks, while establishing efficient and flexible financial mechanisms to mitigate their impact. Second, maintaining financial transparency is crucial to strengthening stakeholder trust, attracting investors, and solidifying the company's market reputation. Finally, incorporating responsible and resilient investments, primarily based on ESG criteria, is key. The objective of this study is to explore how the green financial function can become a key driver in increasing companies’ resilience to various contemporary crises. It aims to demonstrate that the introduction of sustainable principles in financial management is a pathway to turning challenges into opportunities for growth and transformation.

Keywords: finance, corporate, innovation, resilience, crises, performance

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Authors: Ashique Mahmud, MD. Ataul Gani Osmani, Shoria Sharmin

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In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, the most substantial global concern is environmental contamination, and it has gained the prioritization of both the national and international community. Keeping in mind this crucial fact, this study conducted different statistical and econometrical methods to identify whether the gross national income of the country has a significant impact on electricity production from nonrenewable sources and different air pollutants like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane emissions. Besides, the primary objective of this research was to analyze whether the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis holds for the examined variables. After analyzing different statistical properties of the variables, this study came to the conclusion that the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis holds for gross national income and carbon dioxide emission in Bangladesh in the short run as well as the long run. This study comes to this conclusion based on the findings of ordinary least square estimations, ARDL bound tests, short-run causality analysis, the Error Correction Model, and other pre-diagnostic and post-diagnostic tests that have been employed in the structural model. Moreover, this study wants to demonstrate that the outline of gross national income and carbon dioxide emissions is in its initial stage of development and will increase up to the optimal peak. The compositional effect will then force the emission to decrease, and the environmental quality will be restored in the long run.

Keywords: environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, carbon dioxide emission in Bangladesh, gross national income in Bangladesh, autoregressive distributed lag model, granger causality, error correction model

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Reza Safdari, Mahmoud Keyvanara, Nahid Tavakoli

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One of the greatest challenges in disaster and emergencies is patient tracking. The concept of tracking has different denotations. One of the meanings refers to tracking patients’ physical locations and the other meaning refers to tracking patients ‘medical needs during emergency services. The main goal of patient tracking is to provide patient safety during disaster and emergencies and manage the flow of patient and information in different locations. In most of cases, there are not sufficient and accurate data regarding the number of injuries, medical conditions and their accommodation and transference. The objective of the present study is to survey on patient tracking issue in natural disaster and emergencies. Methods: This was a narrative study in which the population was E-Journals and the electronic database such as PubMed, Proquest, Science direct, Elsevier, etc. Data was gathered by Extraction Form. All data were analyzed via content analysis. Results: In many countries there is no appropriate and rapid method for tracking patients and transferring victims after the occurrence of incidents. The absence of reliable data of patients’ transference and accommodation, even in the initial hours and days after the occurrence of disasters, and coordination for appropriate resource allocation, have faced challenges for evaluating needs and services challenges. Currently, most of emergency services are based on paper systems, while these systems do not act appropriately in great disasters and incidents and this issue causes information loss. Conclusion: Patient tracking system should update the location of patients or evacuees and information related to their states. Patients’ information should be accessible for authorized users to continue their treatment, accommodation and transference. Also it should include timely information of patients’ location as soon as they arrive somewhere and leave therein such a way that health care professionals can be able to provide patients’ proper medical treatment.

Keywords: patient tracking, challenges, disaster, emergency

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Emery Jr. Coppola

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Water resources are being depleted and degraded at an alarming and non-sustainable rate worldwide. In some areas, it is progressing more slowly. In other areas, irreversible damage has already occurred, rendering regions largely unsuitable for human existence with destruction of the environment and the economy. Today, 2.5 billion people or 36 percent of the world population live in water-stressed areas. The convergence of factors that created this global water crisis includes local, regional, and global failures. In this paper, a survey of some of these factors is presented. They include abuse of political power and regulatory acquiescence, improper planning and design, ignoring good science and models, systemic failures, and division between the powerful and the powerless. Increasing water demand imposed by exploding human populations and growing economies with short-falls exacerbated by climate change and continuing water quality degradation will accelerate this growing water crisis in many areas. Without regional measures to improve water efficiencies and protect dwindling and vulnerable water resources, environmental and economic displacement of populations and conflict over water resources will only grow. Perhaps more challenging, a global commitment is necessary to curtail if not reverse the devastating effects of climate change. Factors will be illustrated by real-world examples, followed by some partial solutions offered by water experts for helping to mitigate the growing water crisis. These solutions include more water efficient technologies, education and incentivization for water conservation, wastewater treatment for reuse, and improved data collection and utilization.

Keywords: climate change, water conservation, water crisis, water technologies

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Margaret Denise P. Del Rosario, Geraldine Alcantara

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Background: The declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted hospital visits of child abuse cases with less consults but more severe injuries. Objective: The study aims to identify the clinical profiles of patients seen in the hospital ng Makati Women and Children Protection Unit before and during the pandemic. Design: A cross-sectional analytic study design through review of records that underwent quantitative analysis. Results: 264 cases pre-pandemic and 208 cases during the pandemic were reviewed. Most reported cases were neglect comprising of 47% of the pre-pandemic cases and 68% of cases during the pandemic. Supervisory neglect was most commonly reported. An equal distribution between males and females were seen among victims and alleged perpetrators. The age group of both victims and alleged perpetrators during the pandemic was significantly younger compared to the pre-pandemic period. Children belonging to larger family groups were commonly encountered with most of them being the eldest amongst siblings. Alleged perpetrators were mostly secondary graduates for both time periods. A significant increase of cases during the pandemic occurred at home. More patients required hospitalization during the pandemic period with 37% compared to the 23% of admissions prior to the pandemic. Furthermore, a three-fold increase of injuries sustained during the pandemic required intensive care. Conclusion: The study reflects increased severity of injuries related to abuse during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic times. A significant increase in injuries requiring intensive care were also seen despite less reported cases.

Keywords: child abuse, COVID-19, violence against children, WCPU, neglect

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Authors: Lucy Tsado

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As cybercrime and cyberattacks continue to increase, the need to respond will follow suit. When cybercrimes occur, the duty to respond sometimes falls on law enforcement. However, criminal justice students are not taught concepts in cybersecurity and digital forensics. There is, therefore, an urgent need for many more institutions to begin teaching cybersecurity and related courses to social science students especially criminal justice students. However, many faculty in universities, colleges, and high schools are not equipped to teach these courses or do not have the knowledge and resources to teach important concepts in cybersecurity or digital forensics to criminal justice students. This research intends to develop curricula and training programs to equip faculty with the skills to meet this need. There is a current call to involve non-technical fields to fill the cybersecurity skills gap, according to experts. There is a general belief among non-technical fields that cybersecurity education is only attainable within computer science and technologically oriented fields. As seen from current calls, this is not entirely the case. Transitioning into the field is possible through curriculum development, training, certifications, internships and apprenticeships, and competitions. There is a need to identify how a cybersecurity eco-system can be created at a university to encourage/start programs that will lead to an interest in cybersecurity education as well as attract potential students. A short-term strategy can address this problem through curricula development, while a long-term strategy will address developing training faculty to teach cybersecurity and digital forensics. Therefore this research project addresses this overall problem in two parts, through curricula development for the criminal justice discipline; and training of faculty in criminal justice to teaching the important concepts of cybersecurity and digital forensics.

Keywords: cybersecurity education, criminal justice, curricula development, nontechnical cybersecurity, cybersecurity, digital forensics

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Mohammad Fereidoonnezhad, Seán Leen, Stephen Nash, Patrick McGarry

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From the perspective of research innovation, the tidal energy industry is still in its early stages. While a very small number of turbines have progressed to utility-scale deployment, blade breakage is commonly reported due to the enormous hydrodynamic loading applied to devices. The aim of this study is the development of computer simulation technologies for the design of next-generation fibre-reinforced composite tidal turbines. This will require significant technical advances in the areas of tidal turbine testing and multi-scale computational modelling. The complex turbine blade profiles are designed to incorporate non-linear distributions of airfoil sections to optimize power output and self-starting capability while reducing power fluctuations. A number of candidate blade geometries are investigated, ranging from spiral geometries to parabolic geometries, with blades arranged in both cylindrical and spherical configurations on a vertical axis turbine. A combined blade element theory (BET-start-up model) is developed in MATLAB to perform computationally efficient parametric design optimisation for a range of turbine blade geometries. Finite element models are developed to identify optimal fibre-reinforced composite designs to increase blade strength and fatigue life. Advanced fluid-structure-interaction models are also carried out to compute blade deflections following design optimisation.

Keywords: tidal turbine, composite materials, fluid-structure-interaction, start-up capability

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Helga Martins, Idália Matias

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Background:Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune demyelinating disease that affects young adults. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease in which the patient needs to self-manage the disease and the therapeutic regimen. Consequently, the promotion of health literacy assumes a relevant role for the accessibility, understanding, and use of information in order to promote and maintain the health of patients with multiple sclerosis. Aim: To determine the impact of lower health literacy in the self-management of patients with a multiple sclerosis. Methods: Literature review based on a search on the following electronic databases: CINAHLand MEDLINE; comprising all results published between September 2016 and September 2021. The search strategy was: (“Self-management [MeSH]” AND “Multiple sclerosis[MeSH]”AND “Health literacy[MeSH]”). The inclusion criteria were: original papers reporting about multiple sclerosis patients; participants with age above 18 years old, written in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese. Two independent reviewers have done the screening and analysis of the results. 38 citations were identified, and after duplicates removal, a total of 25 results were screened; 14 were included after the application of the inclusion criteria. Results: The lower health literacy in the self-management of patients with a multiple sclerosis is related toless healthy choices, riskier health behavior, poor health outcomes, decreased of adhering to the therapeutic regimen after discharge, less self-management of chronic illness, and increased the time of hospitalization. Conclusion: Inadequate levels of health literacy contribute to poor health outcomes, unsuccessful self-management of chronic illness, and inadequate adherence to the therapeutic regimen. Therefore, health literacy is important for health policy and the healthcare services, as it can be understood as a mediator of self-management of multiple sclerosis disease.

Keywords: health literacy, multiple sclerosis, review, self-management

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Néstor Iván Rojas, Wilson Medina Sierra

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Managing spatial information is described through a Geographic Information System (GIS), for some neighborhoods in the city of Tunja, in relation to the structural typology of the buildings. The use of GIS provides tools that facilitate the capture, processing, analysis and dissemination of cartographic information, product quality evaluation of the classification of buildings. Allows the development of a method that unifies and standardizes processes information. The project aims to generate a geographic database that is useful to the entities responsible for planning and disaster prevention and care for vulnerable populations, also seeks to be a basis for seismic vulnerability studies that can contribute in a study of urban seismic microzonation. The methodology consists in capturing the plat including road naming, neighborhoods, blocks and buildings, to which were added as attributes, the product of the evaluation of each of the housing data such as the number of inhabitants and classification, year of construction, the predominant structural systems, the type of mezzanine board and state of favorability, the presence of geo-technical problems, the type of cover, the use of each building, damage to structural and non-structural elements . The above data are tabulated in a spreadsheet that includes cadastral number, through which are systematically included in the respective building that also has that attribute. Geo-referenced data base is obtained, from which graphical outputs are generated, producing thematic maps for each evaluated data, which clearly show the spatial distribution of the information obtained. Using GIS offers important advantages for spatial information management and facilitates consultation and update. Usefulness of the project is recognized as a basis for studies on issues of planning and prevention.

Keywords: microzonation, buildings, geo-processing, cadastral number

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Chanya Inprasit, Yi-Wen Lin

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Inflammation causes changes of peripheral and central nervous system properties, affecting both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, resulting in inflammatory pain. Acupoint injection (AI) was developed in the 1950s and has been widely used for relieving pain. It is an acupoint-stimulating technique that utilizes anatomically based meridians derived from Chinese medicine theory. AI has been accepted as an effective treatment and is thought to display superior results when compared to traditional acupuncture methods. However, the mechanism of AI needs to be ratified by more scientific evidence in order to support the theory and its therapeutic development. In this study, we explored the effect of AI on the comorbidity of chronic pain and depression. Mice hindpaw was injected by complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) to induce the condition of chronic pain. Measurements of mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia and depression-like behavior were analyzed. The results indicated a positive tendency to AI treatment. The comorbidity of chronic pain and depression was investigated with relation to transient receptor potential V1 (TRPV1) mechanism through the use of TRPV1 gene deletion. The expression of nociceptors such as voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) or TRPV1, was significantly down-regulated by AI. The expression of inflammation-activated molecules: astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), the microglial marker Iba-1, S100B, and related kinases, were reversed by AI in both the peripheral and central nervous system. Taken together, these data provided a detailed molecular mechanism of AI-induced analgesia and anti-inflammatory properties. This finding may be utilized for clinical practice to treat chronic pain and depression comorbidity.

Keywords: inflammatory pain, acupoint injection, TRPV1, GFAP, S100B

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Yuanchao Sang, Zhihao Gong, Longsheng Chen, Long Chen

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Clothing fashion represents a human’s aesthetic appreciation towards everyday outfits and appetite for fashion, and it reflects the development of status in society, humanity, and economics. However, modelling fashion by machine is extremely challenging because fashion is too abstract to be efficiently described by machines. Even human beings can hardly reach a consensus about fashion. In this paper, we are dedicated to answering a fundamental fashion-related problem: what image feature best describes clothing fashion? To address this issue, we have designed and evaluated various image features, ranging from traditional low-level hand-crafted features to mid-level style awareness features to various current popular deep neural network-based features, which have shown state-of-the-art performance in various vision tasks. In summary, we tested the following 9 feature representations: color, texture, shape, style, convolutional neural networks (CNNs), CNNs with distance metric learning (CNNs&DML), AutoEncoder, CNNs with multiple layer combination (CNNs&MLC) and CNNs with dynamic feature clustering (CNNs&DFC). Finally, we validated the performance of these features on two publicly available datasets. Quantitative and qualitative experimental results on both intra-domain and inter-domain fashion clothing image retrieval showed that deep learning based feature representations far outweigh traditional hand-crafted feature representation. Additionally, among all deep learning based methods, CNNs with explicit feature clustering performs best, which shows feature clustering is essential for discriminative fashion feature representation.

Keywords: convolutional neural network, feature representation, image processing, machine modelling

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Authors: Azola Agrienette Mayeza, Madifedile Thasi

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Due to the contractual nature of jobs and employment opportunities in the construction industry and the seeming surplus of potential employees in South Africa, there is a little interest on the part of employers to put in place policies to retain experienced workers. Ironically these are the workers that the companies have expended significant resources on, in terms of training and capabilities development. The construction industry has been experiencing high materials wastages and health and safety issues to score very low on the sustainability agenda as regards resources management and safety. This study carried out an assessment of the poor retention of experienced workers in the construction industry on the capacity to deliver sustainable housing in South Africa. It highlights the economic, safety and resources conservation and other benefits accruable from a high retention of key employees to the South African construction industry towards the delivery of sustainable housing. It presents data that strongly support the hypothesis that high turnover of skilled employees as a result of the industry belief of zero incentive to retain employees beyond the contractual period, is responsible for the high wastages of resources in the industry and the safety issues. A high turnover of experienced employees in the construction industry was found to impact on the industry performance in terms of timely, cost effective and quality delivery of construction projects, particularly when measured against the government sustainable housing agenda. It also results in unplanned expenses required to train replacing employees during project executions as well as company goodwill which ultimately has a huge impact on sustainable housing delivery in South Africa.

Keywords: labour turnover, construction industry, sustainable housing, materials wastage, housing delivery, South Africa

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Authors: Jing Niu, Jun X. Wang

Abstract:

Arterial stiffness predicts mortality and morbidity, independently of other cardiovascular risk factors. And it is a major risk factor for age-related morbidity and mortality. The non-invasive industry gold standard measurement system of arterial stiffness utilizes pulse wave velocity method. However, the desktop device is expensive and requires trained professional to operate. The main objective of this research is the proof of concept of the proposed non-invasive method which uses measurement of magnetic flux disturbance and electrocardiogram (ECG) signal for measuring arterial stiffness. The method could enable accurate and easy self-assessment of arterial stiffness at home, and to help doctors in research, diagnostic and prescription in hospitals and clinics. A platform for assessing arterial stiffness through acquisition and analysis of radial artery pulse waveform and ECG signal has been developed based on the proposed method. Radial artery pulse waveform is acquired using the magnetic based sensing technology, while ECG signal is acquired using two dry contact single arm ECG electrodes. The measurement only requires the participant to wear a wrist strap and an arm band. Participants were recruited for data collection using both the developed platform and the industry gold standard system. The results from both systems underwent correlation assessment analysis. A strong positive correlation between the results of the two systems is observed. This study presents the possibility of developing an accurate, easy to use and affordable measurement device for arterial stiffness assessment.

Keywords: arterial stiffness, electrocardiogram, pulse wave velocity, Magnetic Flux Disturbance

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Authors: Jatin Sridhar Naidu, Aryan Arora, Zainab Shafiq, Reza Mirnezami

Abstract:

Background: Robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) promises good outcomes in midgut adenocarcinoma surgery. However, its effectiveness in midgut neuroendocrine tumours (MNETs) is unknown. This study aimed to assess the current use, user interface, and any emerging developments of RAS in MNET treatment using the literature available. Methods: This review was carried out using PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched on 22nd October 2022. All studies reporting primary data on robotic surgery in midgut neuroendocrine tumours or carcinoid tumours were included. The midgut was defined to be from the duodenojejunal flexure to the splenic flexure. Methodological quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs critical appraisal tool. Results: According to our systematic review protocol, nineteen studies were selected. A total of twenty-six patients were identified. RAS was used for right colectomies, right hemicolectomies, ileal resections, caecal resections, intracorporeal anastomoses, and complete mesocolic excisions. It offered an optimal user-interface with enhanced visuals, fine dexterity, and ergonomic work position. Innovative developments in tumour-healthy tissue boundary and vasculature visualisation were reported. Conclusion: RAS for MNETs is safe and feasible, although the evidence base is limited. We recommend large prospective-randomised controlled trials comparing it with laparoscopy and open surgery. Developments in intraoperative contrast dyes and tumour-specific probes are very promising.

Keywords: robotic surgery, colorectal surgery, neuroendocrine neoplasms, midgut neoplasms

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Authors: Zhijun Wu

Abstract:

While social living is considered to be an indispensable part of human life in today's ever-connected world, social distancing has recently received much public attention on its importance since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, social distancing has long been practiced in nature among solitary species and has been taken by humans as an effective way of stopping or slowing down the spread of infectious diseases. A social distancing problem is considered for how a population, when in the world with a network of social sites, decides to visit or stay at some sites while avoiding or closing down some others so that the social contacts across the network can be minimized. The problem is modeled as a population game, where every individual tries to find some network sites to visit or stay so that he/she can minimize all his/her social contacts. In the end, an optimal strategy can be found for everyone when the game reaches an equilibrium. The paper shows that a large class of equilibrium strategies can be obtained by selecting a set of social sites that forms a so-called maximal r-regular subnetwork. The latter includes many well-studied network types, which are easy to identify or construct and can be completely disconnected (with r = 0) for the most-strict isolation or allow certain degrees of connectivity (with r > 0) for more flexible distancing. The equilibrium conditions of these strategies are derived. Their rigidity and flexibility are analyzed on different types of r-regular subnetworks. It is proved that the strategies supported by maximal 0-regular subnetworks are strictly rigid, while those by general maximal r-regular subnetworks with r > 0 are flexible, though some can be weakly rigid. The proposed model can also be extended to weighted networks when different contact values are assigned to different network sites.

Keywords: social distancing, mitigation of spread of epidemics, populations games, networked social environments

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Authors: M. K. Hossain, J. Keidel, O. Hensel, M. Diakite

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Fat reduced dairy products are holding a potential market due to health reason. Due to less creamy, and pleasantness, reduced and/or low-fat dairy products are getting less consumer acceptance whereas the fat molecule provides smooth, creamy and a pleasant mouthfeel in dairy products especially yogurt & ice cream. This study was aimed to investigate whether the application of microparticulated whey proteins (MWPs) processed by extrusion cooking, the reduced fat yogurt can achieve similar or higher creaminess compared to whole milk (3.8% fat) and skimmed milk (0.5% fat) yogurt. Full cream and skimmed milk were used to prepare natural stirred yogurt, as well as the dry matter content, also adjusted up to 16% with skimmed milk powder. Whey protein concentrates (WPC80) were used to produce MWPs in particle size of d50 > 5 µm, d50 3<5 µm and d50 < 3 µm through the hot-extrusion process with a screw speed of 400, 600 and 1000 rpm respectively. Furthermore, the commercially available microparticulated whey protein called Simplesse® was also applied in order to compare with extruded MWPs. The rheological and sensory properties of yogurt were assessed, and data were analyzed statistically. The applications of extruded MWPs with 600 and 1000 rpm were achieved significantly (p < 0.05) higher creaminess and preference compared to the whole and skimmed milk yogurt whereas, 400 rpm got lower preference. On the other hand, Simplesse® obtained the lowest creaminess and preference compared to other yogurts, although the contribution of dry matter in yogurt was same as extruded MWPs. The creaminess and viscosities were strongly (r = 0.62) correlated, furthermore, the viscosity from sensory evaluation and the dynamic viscosity of yogurt was also significantly (r = 0.72) correlated which clarifies that the performance of sensory panelists as well as the quality of the products.

Keywords: microparticulation, hot-extrusion, reduced-fat yogurt, whey protein concentrate

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Authors: Nidal Dwaikat

Abstract:

This work presents the development of alpha spectroscopy method with Solid-state nuclear track detectors using aluminum thin films. The resolution of this method is high, and it is able to discriminate between alpha particles at different incident energy. It can measure the exact number of alpha particles at specific energy without needing a calibration of alpha track diameter versus alpha energy. This method was tested by using Cf-252 alpha standard source at energies 5.11 Mev, 3.86 MeV and 2.7 MeV, which produced by the variation of detector -standard source distance. On front side, two detectors were covered with two Aluminum thin films and the third detector was kept uncovered. The thickness of Aluminum thin films was selected carefully (using SRIM 2013) such that one of the films will block the lower two alpha particles (3.86 MeV and 2.7 MeV) and the alpha particles at higher energy (5.11 Mev) can penetrate the film and reach the detector’s surface. The second thin film will block alpha particles at lower energy of 2.7 MeV and allow alpha particles at higher two energies (5.11 Mev and 3.86 MeV) to penetrate and produce tracks. For uncovered detector, alpha particles at three different energies can produce tracks on it. For quality assurance and accuracy, the detectors were mounted on thick enough copper substrates to block exposure from the backside. The tracks on the first detector are due to alpha particles at energy of 5.11 MeV. The difference between the tracks number on the first detector and the tracks number on the second detector is due to alpha particles at energy of 3.8 MeV. Finally, by subtracting the tracks number on the second detector from the tracks number on the third detector (uncovered), we can find the tracks number due to alpha particles at energy 2.7 MeV. After knowing the efficiency calibration factor, we can exactly calculate the activity of standard source.

Keywords: aluminium thin film, alpha particles, copper substrate, CR-39 detector

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Authors: Yea-Pyng Lin

Abstract:

Evidence-based nursing (EBN) can improve quality of patient care and reduce medical expenses. Development of training and consultation program according to nurses’ needs and difficulties is essential to promote their competence and self-efficacy in EBN. However, limited research evaluated the effects of EBN program on EBN self-efficacy among nurses. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of an EBN consultation program on self-efficacy and outcome expectancy of evidence-based practice (EBP) among nurses. A two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. A purposive sample of full-time nurses was recruited from a hospital. Experimental group (n=28) received the EBN consultation program including 18-hour EBN training courses, hand-on practices and group discussion by faculty mentors. Control group (n=33) received regular in-service education with no EBN program. All participants received baseline and post-test assessment using Chinese version of Self-Efficacy in EBP scale (SE-EBP) and Outcome Expectancy for EBP scale (OE-EBP). After receiving EBN consultation program, experimental group’s posttest scores of SE-EBP (t=-4.98, p<0.001) and OE-SEP (t=-3.65, p=0.001) were significantly higher than those of the pretests. By controlling the age and years of nursing work experience, the experimental group‘s SE-EBP(F=10.47, p=0.002) and OE-SEP(F=9.53, p=0.003) scores were significantly improved compared to those of the control group. EBN program focus on hand-on practice and group discussion by faculty mentors in addition to EBN training courses can improve EBP self-efficacy and outcome expectancy among nurses. EBN program focus on English literature reading, database searching, and appraisal practice according to nurses’ needs and difficulties can promote implementation of EBN.

Keywords: evidence-based nursing, evidence-based practice, consultation program, self-efficacy, outcome expectancy

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Authors: Avinash Kharel

Abstract:

Background: - Linear sprint training is one possible approach to developing sprint performance, a crucial skill to focus on in soccer. Numerous methods, including various on-field training options, can be employed to attain this goal. However, the effect of In-season linear sprint training on sprint performance and related kinetics changes are unknown in a professional setting. The study aimed to investigate the effect of in-season linear sprint training on the sprint kinematics of amateur soccer players. Methods: - After familiarization, a 4-week training protocol was completed with sprint performance and Force Velocity (FV) profiles was compared before and after the training. Eighteen amateur soccer male players (Age 22 ± 2 years: Height: 178 ± 7cm; body-mass: 74 ± 8 Kg, 30-m split-time: 4.398 ± s) participated in the study. Sprint kinematics variables, including maximum Sprint Velocity (V0), Theoretical Maximum Force (F0), Maximum Force Output per kilogram of body weight (N/KG), Maximum Velocity (V(0)), Maximum Power Output (P MAX (W)), Ratio of Force to Velocity (FV), and Ratio of Force to Velocity at Peak power were measured. Results: - Results showed significant improvements in Maximum Sprint Velocity (p<0.01, ES=0.89), Theoretical Maximum Force (p<0.05, ES=0.50), Maximum Force Output per kilogram of body weight (p<0.05, ES=0.42), Maximum Power Output (p<0.05, ES=0.52), and Ratio of Force to Velocity at Peak Power (RF PEAK) (p<0.05, ES=0.44) post-training. There were no significant changes in the ratio of Force to Velocity (FV) and Maximum Velocity V (0) post-training (p>0.05). Conclusion: - These findings suggest that In-season linear sprint training can effectively improve certain sprint kinematics variables in amateur soccer players. Coaches and players should consider incorporating linear sprint training into their in-season training programs to improve sprint performance.

Keywords: sprint performance, training intervention, soccer, kinematics

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