Search results for: highly patterned development environment

Authors: Irena Balaban Cakirpaloglu, Karla Hrbackova

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This paper focuses on the issue of intercultural competencies of university students who are preparing to work in assisting professions. In recent years, the Czech Republic has become a major destination for many people from different cultural environments, and there is a growing need for workers in assisting professions to be able to respond flexibly and adequately to the changing living conditions of multicultural coexistence. The main objective of this study is to analyse the preparedness of students in assisting professions in relation to intercultural competencies. Intercultural competences include several essential skills for working successfully with diversity. Taking into account the main objective of this research, a pilot study was conducted among students of Social Pedagogy at the Faculty of Humanities at Tomas Bata University in Zlin in the academic year 2017/2018. The research sample consisted of 116 students. To obtain the data, we used the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI) by Kelley and Meyers. The inventory maps strengths and weaknesses in 4 skill areas: Emotional Resilience, Flexibility/Openness, Perceptual Acuity and Personal Autonomy. This inventory also examines individual ability to succeed in intercultural interaction and communication. The results obtained from the survey were statistically processed and analysed using the relevant statistical methods. The results of the survey point to the fact that students of social pedagogy achieve average to below average results in individual skill areas. At the same time, significant differences have been detected among the students with work experience in multicultural environment and those with no experience.

Keywords: cross–cultural adaptability inventory, diversity, intercultural competences, students of social pedagogy

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Authors: Nuchanat Handumrongkul, Suwaree Yordchim, Anantachai Aeka

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Despite four years of study in the tourism industry, the Bachelor’s graduates cannot perform their jobs as experienced tour guides. This research aimed to develop French teaching and studying for Tourism with two main purposes: to analyze ‘Moves’ used in oral presentations at tourist attractions; and to study content in guiding presentations or 'Guide Speak'. The study employed audio recording of these presentations as an interview method in authentic situations, having four tour guides as respondents and information providers. The data was analyzed via moves and content analysis. The results found that there were eight moves used; namely: welcoming, introducing oneself, drawing someone’s attention, giving information, explaining, highlighting, persuading, and saying goodbye. In terms of content, the information being presented covered the outstanding characteristics of the places and well-integrated with other related content. The findings were used as guidelines for curriculum development; in particular, the core content and the presentation forming the basis for students to meet the standard requirements of the labor-market and professional schemes.

Keywords: moves, guiding presentation, french, tourism

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Authors: Sabrina Azzi, Michal Iglewski, Véronique Nabelsi

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Diagnosis error problem is frequent and one of the most important safety problems today. One of the main objectives of our work is to propose an ontological representation that takes into account the diagnostic criteria in order to improve the diagnostic. We choose pneumonia disease since it is one of the frequent diseases affected by diagnosis errors and have harmful effects on patients. To achieve our aim, we use a semi-automated method to integrate diverse knowledge sources that include publically available pneumonia disease guidelines from international repositories, biomedical ontologies and electronic health records. We follow the principles of the Open Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry. The resulting ontology covers symptoms and signs, all the types of pneumonia, antecedents, pathogens, and diagnostic testing. The first evaluation results show that most of the terms are covered by the ontology. This work is still in progress and represents a first and major step toward a development of a diagnosis decision support system for pneumonia.

Keywords: Clinical decision support system, Diagnostic errors, Ontology, Pneumonia

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Authors: Alexis Grandcoin, Stephanie Piel, Estelle Baures

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Brittany (France) is an agricultural region, where emerging pollutants are highly at risk to reach water bodies. Among them, pesticides metabolites are frequently detected in surface waters. The Vilaine watershed (11 000 km²) is of great interest, as a large drinking water treatment plant (100 000 m³/day) is located at the extreme downstream of it. This study aims to provide an evaluation of the pesticides metabolites pollution in the Vilaine watershed, and an understanding of their availability, in order to protect the water resource. Hydroclimatic conditions, land use, and water quality parameters controlling metabolites availability are emphasized. Later this knowledge will be used to understand the favoring conditions resulting in metabolites export towards surface water. 19 sampling points have been strategically chosen along the 220 km of the Vilaine river and its 3 main influents. Furthermore, the intakes of two drinking water plants have been sampled, one is located at the extreme downstream of the Vilaine river and the other is the riparian groundwater under the Vilaine river. 5 sampling campaigns with various hydroclimatic conditions have been carried out. Water quality parameters and hydroclimatic conditions have been measured. 15 environmentally relevant pesticides and metabolites have been analyzed. Also, these compounds are recalcitrant to classic water treatment that is why they have been selected. An evaluation of the watershed contamination has been done in 2016-2017. First observations showed that aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) and metolachlor ethanesulfonic acid (MESA) are the most detected compounds in surface waters samples with 100 % and 98 % frequency of detection respectively. They are the main pollutants of the watershed regardless of the hydroclimatic conditions. AMPA concentration in the river strongly increases downstream of Rennes agglomeration (220k inhabitants) and reaches a maximum of 2.3 µg/l in low waters conditions. Groundwater contains mainly MESA, Diuron and metazachlor ESA at concentrations close to limits of quantification (LOQ) (0.02 µg/L). Metolachlor, metazachlor and alachlor due to their fast degradation in soils were found in small amounts (LOQ – 0.2 µg/L). Conversely glyphosate was regularly found during warm and sunny periods up to 0.6 µg/L. Soil uses (agricultural cultures types, urban areas, forests, wastewater treatment plants implementation), water quality parameters, and hydroclimatic conditions have been correlated to pesticides and metabolites concentration in waters. Statistical treatments showed that chloroacetamides metabolites and AMPA behave differently regardless of the hydroclimatic conditions. Chloroacetamides are correlated to each other, to agricultural areas and to typical agricultural tracers as nitrates. They are present in waters the whole year, especially during rainy periods, suggesting important stocks in soils. Also Chloroacetamides are negatively correlated with AMPA, the different forms of phosphorus, and organic matter. AMPA is ubiquitous but strongly correlated with urban areas despite the recent French regulation, restricting glyphosate to agricultural and private uses. This work helps to predict and understand metabolites present in the water resource used to craft drinking water. As the studied metabolites are difficult to remove, this project will be completed by a water treatment part.

Keywords: agricultural watershed, AMPA, metolachlor-ESA, water resource

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Authors: Valentina Dolmova

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What consumers choose to buy and who voters select on election days are two questions that have captivated the interest of both academics and practitioners for many decades. The importance of understanding what influences the behavior of those groups and whether or not we can predict or control it fuels a steady stream of research in a range of fields. By looking only at the past 40 years, more than 70 thousand scientific papers have been published in each field – consumer behavior and political psychology, respectively. From marketing, economics, and the science of persuasion to political and cognitive psychology - we have all remained heavily engaged. The ever-evolving technology, inevitable socio-cultural shifts, global economic conditions, and much more play an important role in choice-equations regardless of context. On one hand, this makes the research efforts always relevant and needed. On the other, the relatively low number of cross-field collaborations, which seem to be picking up only in more in recent years, makes the existing findings isolated into framed bubbles. By performing systematic research across both areas of psychology and building a parallel between theories and factors of influence, however, we find that there is not only a definitive common ground between the behaviors of consumers and voters but that we are moving towards a global model of choice. This means that the lines between contexts are fading which has a direct implication on what we should focus on when predicting or navigating buyers and voters’ behavior. Internal and external factors in four main categories determine the choices we make as consumers and as voters. Together, personal, psychological, social, and cultural create a holistic framework through which all stimuli in relation to a particular product or a political party get filtered. The analogy “consumer-voter” solidifies further. Leading academics suggest that this fundamental parallel is the key to managing successfully political and consumer brands alike. However, we distinguish additional four key stimuli that relate to those factor categories (1/ opportunity costs; 2/the memory of the past; 3/recognisable figures/faces and 4/conflict) arguing that the level of expertise a person has determines the prevalence of factors or specific stimuli. Our efforts take into account global trends such as the establishment of “celebrity politics” and the image of “ethically concerned consumer brands” which bridge the gap between contexts to an even greater extent. Scientists and practitioners are pushed to accept the transformative nature of both fields in social psychology. Existing blind spots as well as the limited number of research conducted outside the American and European societies open up space for more collaborative efforts in this highly demanding and lucrative field. A mixed method of research tests three main hypotheses, the first two of which are focused on the level of irrelevance of context when comparing voting or consumer behavior – both from the factors and stimuli lenses, the third on determining whether or not the level of expertise in any field skews the weight of what prism we are more likely to choose when evaluating options.

Keywords: buyers’ behaviour, decision-making, voters’ behaviour, social psychology

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Authors: Merve Begum Terzi, Orhan Arikan, Adnan Abaci, Mustafa Candemir

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Acute myocardial infarction is a major cause of death in the world. Therefore, its fast and reliable diagnosis is a major clinical need. ECG is the most important diagnostic methodology which is used to make decisions about the management of the cardiovascular diseases. In patients with acute myocardial ischemia, temporary chest pains together with changes in ST segment and T wave of ECG occur shortly before the start of myocardial infarction. In this study, a technique which detects changes in ST/T sections of ECG is developed for the early diagnosis of acute myocardial ischemia. For this purpose, a database of real ECG recordings that contains a set of records from 75 patients presenting symptoms of chest pain who underwent elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is constituted. 12-lead ECG’s of the patients were recorded before and during the PCI procedure. Two ECG epochs, which are the pre-inflation ECG which is acquired before any catheter insertion and the occlusion ECG which is acquired during balloon inflation, are analyzed for each patient. By using pre-inflation and occlusion recordings, ECG features that are critical in the detection of acute myocardial ischemia are identified and the most discriminative features for the detection of acute myocardial ischemia are extracted. A classification technique based on support vector machine (SVM) approach operating with linear and radial basis function (RBF) kernels to detect ischemic events by using ST-T derived joint features from non-ischemic and ischemic states of the patients is developed. The dataset is randomly divided into training and testing sets and the training set is used to optimize SVM hyperparameters by using grid-search method and 10fold cross-validation. SVMs are designed specifically for each patient by tuning the kernel parameters in order to obtain the optimal classification performance results. As a result of implementing the developed classification technique to real ECG recordings, it is shown that the proposed technique provides highly reliable detections of the anomalies in ECG signals. Furthermore, to develop a detection technique that can be used in the absence of ECG recording obtained during healthy stage, the detection of acute myocardial ischemia based on ECG recordings of the patients obtained during ischemia is also investigated. For this purpose, a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is used to represent the joint pdf of the most discriminating ECG features of myocardial ischemia. Then, a Neyman-Pearson type of approach is developed to provide detection of outliers that would correspond to acute myocardial ischemia. Neyman – Pearson decision strategy is used by computing the average log likelihood values of ECG segments and comparing them with a range of different threshold values. For different discrimination threshold values and number of ECG segments, probability of detection and probability of false alarm values are computed, and the corresponding ROC curves are obtained. The results indicate that increasing number of ECG segments provide higher performance for GMM based classification. Moreover, the comparison between the performances of SVM and GMM based classification showed that SVM provides higher classification performance results over ECG recordings of considerable number of patients.

Keywords: ECG classification, Gaussian mixture model, Neyman–Pearson approach, support vector machine

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Authors: Fiona S. Motswaiso, Kengo Nakamura, Takeshi Komai

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Heavy metals may occur naturally in rocks and soils, but elevated quantities of them are being gradually released into the environment by anthropogenic activities such as mining. In order to address issues of heavy metal water and soil pollution, a distinction needs to be made between natural and anthropogenic anomalies. The current study aims at characterizing the spatial distribution of trace elements and evaluate site-specific geochemical background concentrations of trace elements in the mine soils examined, and also to discriminate between lithogenic and anthropogenic sources of enrichment around a copper-nickel mining town in Selibe-Phikwe, Botswana. A total of 20 Soil samples, 11 river sediment, and 9 river water samples were collected from an area of 625m² within the precincts of the mine and the smelter. The concentrations of metals (Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cr, Ni, Mn, As, Pb, and Co) were determined by using an ICP-MS after digestion with aqua regia. Major elements were also determined using ED-XRF. Water pH and EC were measured on site and recorded while soil pH and EC were also determined in the laboratory after performing water elution tests. The highest Cu and Ni concentrations in soil are 593mg/kg and 453mg/kg respectively, which is 3 times higher than the crustal composition values and 2 times higher than the South African minimum allowable levels of heavy metals in soils. The level of copper contamination was higher than that of nickel and other contaminants. Water pH levels ranged from basic (9) to very acidic (3) in areas closer to the mine/smelter. There is high variation in heavy metal concentration, eg. Cu suggesting that some sites depict regional natural background concentrations while other depict anthropogenic sources.

Keywords: contamination, geochemical baseline, heavy metals, soils

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Authors: Rossella Arcucci, Luisa D'Amore, Simone Celestino, Giuseppe Scotti, Giuliano Laccetti

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This work is the first dowel in a rather wide research activity in collaboration with Euro Mediterranean Center for Climate Changes, aimed at introducing scalable approaches in Ocean Circulation Models. We discuss designing and implementation of a parallel algorithm for solving the Variational Data Assimilation (DA) problem on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The algorithm is based on the fully scalable 3DVar DA model, previously proposed by the authors, which uses a Domain Decomposition approach (we refer to this model as the DD-DA model). We proceed with an incremental porting process consisting of 3 distinct stages: requirements and source code analysis, incremental development of CUDA kernels, testing and optimization. Experiments confirm the theoretic performance analysis based on the so-called scale up factor demonstrating that the DD-DA model can be suitably mapped on GPU architectures.

Keywords: data assimilation, GPU architectures, ocean models, parallel algorithm

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Authors: Addisu H. Addis, Hugh T. Blair, Paul R. Kenyon, Stephen T. Morris, Nicola M. Schreurs, Dorian J. Garrick

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Agent-based modeling (ABM) enables an in silico representation of complex systems and cap-tures agent behavior resulting from interaction with other agents and their environment. This study developed an ABM to represent a pasture-based beef cattle finishing systems in New Zea-land (NZ) using attributes of the rearer, finisher, and processor, as well as specific attributes of dairy-origin beef cattle. The model was parameterized using values representing 1% of NZ dairy-origin cattle, and 10% of rearers and finishers in NZ. The cattle agent consisted of 32% Holstein-Friesian, 50% Holstein-Friesian–Jersey crossbred, and 8% Jersey, with the remainder being other breeds. Rearers and finishers repetitively and simultaneously interacted to determine the type and number of cattle populating the finishing system. Rearers brought in four-day-old spring-born calves and reared them until 60 calves (representing a full truck load) on average had a live weight of 100 kg before selling them on to finishers. Finishers mainly attained weaners from rearers, or directly from dairy farmers when weaner demand was higher than the supply from rearers. Fast-growing cattle were sent for slaughter before the second winter, and the re-mainder were sent before their third winter. The model finished a higher number of bulls than heifers and steers, although it was 4% lower than the industry reported value. Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian–Jersey-crossbred cattle dominated the dairy-origin beef finishing system. Jersey cattle account for less than 5% of total processed beef cattle. Further studies to include re-tailer and consumer perspectives and other decision alternatives for finishing farms would im-prove the applicability of the model for decision-making processes.

Keywords: agent-based modelling, dairy cattle, beef finishing, rearers, finishers

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Authors: Nomin-Erdene Erdenetsogt, Tseedulam Khuut, Batsaikhan Tserenpil, Bayarsaikhan Enkhee

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As the framework of 60 years of development of Astronomical and Geophysical science in modern Mongolia, various geophysical methods (electrical tomography, ground-penetrating radar, and high-resolution reflection seismic profiles) were used to image an active fault in-depth range between few decimeters to few tens meters. An active fault was fractured by an earthquake magnitude 7.6 during 1967. After geophysical investigations, trench excavations were done at the sites to expose the fault surfaces. The complex geophysical survey in the Mogod fault, Bulgan region of central Mongolia shows an interpretable reflection arrivals range of < 5 m to 50 m with the potential for increased resolution. Reflection profiles were used to help interpret the significance of neotectonic surface deformation at earthquake active fault. The interpreted profiles show a range of shallow fault structures and provide subsurface evidence with support of paleoseismologic trenching photos, electrical surveys.

Keywords: Mogod fault, geophysics, seismic processing, seismic reflection survey

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Authors: Linda Ana-Maria Ungureanu

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As space exploration opens to new actors, we are faced with the interesting question of regulating more complex structures that enable private experiments. From intellectual property implications to private and public law, there is a multitude of factors and legal structures that need to be taken into consideration when opening space, and these structures need to be harmonized with the International Space Treaties governing space exploration. In this sense, this article presents an overview of the legal and contractual framework applicable to private experiments conducted in space and/or in relation to off-world environments. Additionally, the article analyses the manner in which national space agencies regulate agreements concluded with private actors and research institutions. Finally, the article sets a series of de lege ferenda proposals for the regulation of general research and development rules and intellectual property matters that are connected to experiments and research conducted in space and/or concerning off-world environments.

Keywords: private space, intellectual property, contracts, ESA guidelines, EU legislation, Intellectual property law, international IP treaties

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Authors: Jacqueline Zammit

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Currently, a considerable number of individuals from different backgrounds are being drawn to Malta due to its favourable environment for business, investment, and employment. This influx has led to a growing interest among expats in learning Maltese as a second language (ML2) to enrich their experience of working and residing in Malta. However, the intricacies of Maltese grammar, particularly challenging for second language (L2) learners unfamiliar with Arabic, can pose difficulties in the learning process. Furthermore, it's worth noting that the teaching of ML2 is an emerging field with limited existing research on effective pedagogical strategies. The realm of second language acquisition (SLA) can be notably demanding for adults, requiring well-founded interventions to facilitate learning. Among these interventions, approaches grounded in empirical evidence have incorporated artistic and musical elements to augment SLA. Both art and music have proven roles in facilitating L2 communication, aiding vocabulary retention, and improving comprehension skills. This study aims to delve into the utilization of music and art as catalysts for enhancing the progress of adult learners in mastering ML2. The research employs a qualitative methodology, employing a sample selected through convenience sampling, which encompassed 37 adult learners of ML2. These participants engaged in individual interviews. The data derived from these interviews were subjected to thorough analysis. The outcomes of the study underscore the substantial positive influence exerted by art and music on the academic advancement of adult ML2 learners. Notably, it emerged from the participants' accounts that the current ML2 curricula lack the integration of art and music. Therefore, this study advocates for the incorporation of art and music components within both traditional classroom settings and online ML2 courses. The intention is to bolster the academic accomplishments of adult learners in the realm of Maltese as a second language, bridging the current gap between theory and practice.

Keywords: academic accomplishment, mature learners, visual art, learning Maltese as a second language, musical involvement, acquiring a second language

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Authors: Anupam Deka

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Gender discrimination has been considered as a major obstacle in granting equal opportunity for woman in Higher education as education plays a pivotal role in a country’s socio-economic development. To examine the empowerment of women in the higher education field of Assam, a case study has been carried out. In the first stage, an overview of enrolment of students in different courses has been made by considering the whole state. In the second stage a study has been conducted regarding the enrolment of students in various degree and P-G courses for the period 2000-2007 under Gauhati University (which is one of the four universities of Assam) and the relevant data has been collected. It has been found that though the enrolment of students in the degree levels has been constantly increasing, but the enrolment of girls are not proportionately increasing, specially in commerce and law. On the other hand, in the post-graduate level, these proportions are higher in almost all the subjects (except some subjects like M. COM., L.L.M, M. C. A., Mathematics, etc.), indicating that more number of girls than boys are taking admission in the P-G courses.

Keywords: field study, enrolment of girls in degree and P G levels, regression lines, Chi Square test, diagrams and statistical tables

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Authors: A. K. Tekile, I. L. Kim, J. Y. Lee

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Human activities put freshwater quality under risk, mainly due to expansion of agriculture and industries, damming, diversion and discharge of inadequately treated wastewaters. The rapid human population growth and climate change escalated the problem. External controlling actions on point and non-point pollution sources are long-term solution to manage water quality. To have a holistic approach, these mechanisms should be coupled with the in-water control strategies. The available in-lake or river methods are either costly or they have some adverse effect on the ecological system that the search for an alternative and effective solution with a reasonable balance is still going on. This study aimed at the physical and chemical water quality improvement in a stagnant Yeo-cheon River reach (Korea), which has recently shown sign of water quality problems such as scum formation and fish death. The river water quality was monitored, for the duration of three months by operating only water flow generator in the first two weeks and then ultrasonic irradiation device was coupled to the flow unit for the remaining duration of the experiment. In addition to assessing the water quality improvement, the correlation among the parameters was analyzed to explain the contribution of the ultra-sonication. Generally, the combined strategy showed localized improvement of water quality in terms of dissolved oxygen, Chlorophyll-a and dissolved reactive phosphate. At locations under limited influence of the system operation, chlorophyll-a was highly increased, but within 25 m of operation the low initial value was maintained. The inverse correlation coefficient between dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-a decreased from 0.51 to 0.37 when ultrasonic irradiation unit was used with the flow, showing that ultrasonic treatment reduced chlorophyll-a concentration and it inhibited photosynthesis. The relationship between dissolved oxygen and reactive phosphate also indicated that influence of ultra-sonication was higher than flow on the reactive phosphate concentration. Even though flow increased turbidity by suspending sediments, ultrasonic waves canceled out the effect due to the agglomeration of suspended particles and the follow-up settling out. There has also been variation of interaction in the water column as the decrease of pH and dissolved oxygen from surface to the bottom played a role in phosphorus release into the water column. The variation of nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon concentrations showed mixed trend probably due to the complex chemical reactions subsequent to the operation. Besides, the intensive rainfall and strong wind around the end of the field trial had apparent impact on the result. The combined effect of water flow and ultrasonic irradiation was a cumulative water quality improvement and it maintained the dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-a requirement of the river for healthy ecological interaction. However, the overall improvement of water quality is not guaranteed as effectiveness of ultrasonic technology requires long-term monitoring of water quality before, during and after treatment. Even though, the short duration of the study conducted here has limited nutrient pattern realization, the use of ultrasound at field scale to improve water quality is promising.

Keywords: stagnant, ultrasonic irradiation, water flow, water quality

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Authors: Srishty Gulati, Anju Singh, Shrikant Kukreti

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The manifestation of structural polymorphism in DNA depends on the sequence and surrounding environment. Ample of folded DNA structures have been found in the cellular system out of which DNA hairpins are very common, however, are indispensable due to their role in the replication initiation sites, recombination, transcription regulation, and protein recognition. We enumerate this approach in our study, where the two base substitutions and change in temperature embark destabilization of DNA structure and misbalance the equilibrium between two structures of a sequence present at the overlapping region of the human COMT gene and MIR4761 gene. COMT and MIR4761 gene encodes for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme and microRNAs (miRNAs), respectively. Environmental changes and errors during cell division lead to genetic abnormalities. The COMT gene entailed in dopamine regulation fosters neurological diseases like Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, velocardiofacial syndrome, etc. A 19-mer deoxyoligonucleotide sequence 5'-AGGACAAGGTGTGCATGCC-3' (COMT19) is located at exon-4 on chromosome 22 and band q11.2 at the intersection of COMT and MIR4761 gene. Bioinformatics studies suggest that this sequence is conserved in humans and few other organisms and is involved in recognition of transcription factors in the vicinity of 3'-end. Non-denaturating gel electrophoresis and CD spectroscopy of COMT sequences indicate the formation of hairpin type DNA structures. Temperature-dependent CD studies revealed an unusual shift in the slipped DNA-Hairpin DNA equilibrium with the change in temperature. Also, UV-thermal melting techniques suggest that the two base substitutions on the complementary strand of COMT19 did not affect the structure but reduces the stability of duplex. This study gives insight about the possibility of existing structurally polymorphic transient states within DNA segments present at the intersection of COMT and MIR4761 gene.

Keywords: base-substitution, catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT), hairpin-DNA, structural polymorphism

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Authors: Gurleen Kaur

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Being tall-short, fat-thin, black-white, etc. is an inevitable part of how people perceive you. This association of people with your external appearance carves out an identity for you. This paper will look at the reasons why people relate a person to a particular categorization on the basis of his/her physical appearance. The paper delves into reasons for this categorization into groups: Subconscious grouping, personal gain, ease of relating to the group, and social acceptance. Development of certain unique physical features also leads to a person relating himself to a collective identity. Thus, this paper will support the fact that physical appearance plays a crucial role in categorization of people into groups and hence forming a group identity for them. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part will discuss what physical appearance is and how is it linked to our daily lives. The second part will talk about why it works i.e. why this factor of external appearance is important in formation of identity. The last part will talk about the factors which lead to categorization of identity because of physical appearance.

Keywords: group identity, physical appearance, subconscious grouping, collective identity

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Authors: Nkongho Ayuketang Arreyndip, Ebobenow Joseph

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In this paper, temperature extremes are forecast by employing the block maxima method of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution to analyse temperature data from the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC). By considering two sets of data (raw data and simulated data) and two (stationary and non-stationary) models of the GEV distribution, return levels analysis is carried out and it was found that in the stationary model, the return values are constant over time with the raw data, while in the simulated data the return values show an increasing trend with an upper bound. In the non-stationary model, the return levels of both the raw data and simulated data show an increasing trend with an upper bound. This clearly shows that although temperatures in the tropics show a sign of increase in the future, there is a maximum temperature at which there is no exceedance. The results of this paper are very vital in agricultural and environmental research.

Keywords: forecasting, generalized extreme value (GEV), meteorology, return level

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Authors: Evren Aysev Denec

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As an urban settlement dating as early as 8000 years and the capital for Byzantine and Ottoman empires; İstanbul has been a significant global city throughout history. The most drastic changes in the macro form of Istanbul have taken place in the last seven decades; starting from 1950’s with rapid industrialization and population growth; pacing up after the 1980’s with the efforts of integration to the global capitalist system; reaching to a climax in the 2000’s with the adaptation of a neoliberal urban regime. Today, the rate of urbanization together with land speculation and real estate investment has been growing enormously. Every inch of urban land is conceptualized as a commodity to be capitalized. This neoliberal mindset has many controversial implementations, from the privatization of public land to the urban transformation of historic neighbourhoods and consumption of natural resources. The planning decisions concerning the city have been mainly top down initiations; conceptualising historical, cultural and natural heritage as commodities to be capitalised and consumed in favour of creating rent value. One of the most crucial implementations of this neoliberal urban regime is the project of establishing a ‘new city’ around northern Istanbul; together with a number of large-scale infrastructural projects such as the Third Bosporus Bridge; a new highway system, a Third Airport Project and a secondary Bosporus project called the ‘Canal Istanbul’. Urbanizing northern Istanbul is highly controversial as this area consists of major natural resources of the city; being the northern forests, water supplies and wildlife; which are bound to be destroyed to a great extent following the implementations. The construction of the third bridge and the third airport has begun in 2013, despite environmental objections and protests. Over five hundred thousand trees are planned be cut for solely the construction of the bridge and the Northern Marmara Motorway. Yet the real damage will be the urbanization of the forest area; irreversibly corrupting the natural resources and attracting millions of additional population towards Istanbul. Furthermore, these projects lack an integrated planning scope as the plans prepared for Istanbul are constantly subjected to alterations forced by the central government. Urban interventions mentioned above are executed despite the rulings of Istanbul Environmental plan, due to top down planning decisions. Instead of an integrated action plan that prepares for the future of the city, Istanbul is governed by partial plans and projects that are issued by a profit based agenda; supported by legal alterations and laws issued by the central government. This paper aims to discuss the ongoing implementations with regards to northern Istanbul; claiming that they are not merely infrastructural interventions but parts of a greater neoliberal urbanization strategy. In the course of the study, firstly a brief account on the northern forests of Istanbul will be presented. Then, the projects will be discussed in detail, addressing how the current planning schemes deal with the natural heritage of the city. Lastly, concluding remarks on how the implementations could affect the future of Istanbul will be presented.

Keywords: Istanbul, urban design, urban planning, natural resources

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Authors: Patricia Huedo, Maria José Ruá, Raquel Agost-Felip

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Ensuring sustainable development of urban environments means guaranteeing adequate environmental conditions, being resilient and meeting conditions of safety and inclusion for all people, regardless of their condition. All existing buildings should meet basic safety conditions and be equipped with safe and accessible routes, along with visual, acoustic and tactile signals to protect their users or potential visitors, and regardless of whether they undergo rehabilitation or change of use processes. Moreover, from a social perspective, we consider the need to prioritize buildings occupied by the most vulnerable groups of people that currently do not have specific regulations tailored to their needs. Some residential models in operation are not only outside the scope of application of the regulations in force; they also lack a project or technical data that would allow knowing the fire behavior of the construction materials. However, the difficulty and cost involved in adapting the entire building stock to current regulations can never justify the lack of safety for people. Hence, this work develops a simplified model to assess compliance with the basic safety conditions in case of fire and its compatibility with the specific accessibility needs of each user. The purpose is to support the designer in decision making, as well as to contribute to the development of a basic fire safety certification tool to be applied in inclusive residential models. This work has developed a methodology to support designers in adapting Social Services Centers, usually intended to vulnerable people. It incorporates a checklist of 9 items and information from sources or standards that designers can use to justify compliance or propose solutions. For each item, the verification system is justified, and possible sources of consultation are provided, considering the possibility of lacking technical documentation of construction systems or building materials. The procedure is based on diagnosing the degree of compliance with fire conditions of residential models used by vulnerable groups, considering the special accessibility conditions required by each user group. Through visual inspection and site surveying, the verification model can serve as a support tool, significantly streamlining the diagnostic phase and reducing the number of tests to be requested by over 75%. This speeds up and simplifies the diagnostic phase. To illustrate the methodology, two different buildings in the Valencian Region (Spain) have been selected. One case study is a mental health facility for residential purposes, located in a rural area, on the outskirts of a small town; the other one, is a day care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities, located in a medium-sized city. The comparison between the case studies allow to validate the model in distinct conditions. Verifying compliance with a basic security level can allow a quality seal and a public register of buildings adapted to fire regulations to be established, similarly to what is being done with other types of attributes such as energy performance.

Keywords: fire safety, inclusive housing, universal accessibility, vulnerable people

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Authors: Qiao Qiao

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With the development of The Times, the elderly demand for pension service facilities is increasing. Taking 26 street towns in Jiangjin District of Chongqing as examples, ArcGIS spatial analysis method was used to analyze the distribution status of the elderly population, the core density of the elderly population, and the spatial layout characteristics of institutional elderly care facilities in Jiangjin District of Chongqing. The results showed that there were differences in the structure and aging degree of the elderly population in each street town. There is a certain imbalance between the spatial distribution of the elderly population and the planning and construction of elderly care facilities. The accessibility of elderly care facilities is uneven. Therefore, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the spatial layout of institutional elderly care facilities, improve the accessibility of facilities, strengthen the participation of multiple subjects, and provide a reference for the future construction planning of elderly care facilities.

Keywords: institutional pension facilities, spatial layout, accessibility, ArcGIS

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Authors: Adrian Sauer, Lorenz Einberger, Florian Hilpert

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The advancements and technical innovations in the field of electric unmanned aviation over the past years opened the third dimension in areas like surveillance, logistics, and mobility for a wide range of private and commercial users. Researchers and companies are faced with the task of integrating their technology into airborne platforms. Especially start-ups and researchers require unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which can be quickly developed for specific use cases without spending significant time and money. This paper shows a design approach for the rapid development of a lightweight automatic separate-lift-thrust (SLT) electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) UAV prototype, which is able to fulfill basic transportation as well as surveillance missions. The design approach does not require expensive or time-consuming design loop software. Thereby developers can easily understand, adapt, and adjust the presented method for their own project. The approach is mainly focused on crucial design aspects such as aerofoil, tuning, and powertrain.

Keywords: aerofoil, drones, rapid prototyping, powertrain

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Authors: Johanna Aromaa

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This paper presents a development project aimed at enhancing student-teachers' awareness of the role of the body in teaching and learning. In this project, theory and practice are brought into dialogue through workshops of body work that utilize art-based and somatic methods. They are carried out in a special course for educating teachers in a Finnish University. Expected results from the project include: 1) the participants become aware of the multiple roles that the body has in educational encounters, and with it, develop a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, 2) the participants gain access to and learn to form bodily knowledge, 3) a working model on enhancing student-teachers' awareness of the role of bodily knowledge in teacher’s work is developed. Innovative methods as well as a radical rethinking of the nature of teaching and learning are needed if we are to appreciate knowing body in the future schools.

Keywords: bodily knowledge, the body, somatic methods, teacher education

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Authors: Anindita Banik, Anjali Kant, Aninda Duti Banik, Arun Banik

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Speech is a complex, dynamic unique motor activity through which we express thoughts and emotions and respond to and control our environment. The aim was based to compare select Motor Speech parameters and their sub parameters across typical Marathi speaking adults and children. The subjects included a total of 300 divided into Group I, II, III including males and females. Subjects included were reported of no significant medical history and had a rating of 0-1 on GRBAS scale. The recordings were obtained utilizing three stimuli for the acoustic analysis of Diadochokinetic rate (DDK), Second Formant Transition, Voice and Tremor and its sub parameters. And these aforementioned parameters were acoustically analyzed in Motor Speech Profile software in VisiPitch IV. The statistical analyses were done by applying descriptive statistics and Two- Way ANOVA.The results obtained showed statistically significant difference across age groups and gender for the aforementioned parameters and its sub parameters.In DDK, for avp (ms) there was a significant difference only across age groups. However, for avr (/s) there was a significant difference across age groups and gender. It was observed that there was an increase in rate with an increase in age groups. The second formant transition sub parameter F2 magn (Hz) also showed a statistically significant difference across both age groups and gender. There was an increase in mean value with an increase in age. Females had a higher mean when compared to males. For F2 rate (/s) a statistically significant difference was observed across age groups. There was an increase in mean value with increase in age. It was observed for Voice and Tremor MFTR (%) that a statistically significant difference was present across age groups and gender. Also for RATR (Hz) there was statistically significant difference across both age groups and gender. In other words, the values of MFTR and RATR increased with an increase in age. Thus, this study highlights the variation of the motor speech parameters amongst the typical population which would be beneficial for comparison with the individuals with motor speech disorders for assessment and management.

Keywords: adult, children, diadochokinetic rate, second formant transition, tremor, voice

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Authors: Gabriela Prins, Quinette Louw, Dawn Ernstzen

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Background: Access to rehabilitation services is a major challenge globally, especially in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) where resources and infrastructure are extremely limited. Telerehabilitation (TR) has emerged in recent decades as a highly promising method to dramatically expand accessibility to rehabilitation services globally. TR provides rehabilitation care remotely using communication technologies such as video conferencing, smartphones, and internet-connected devices. This boosts accessibility to underprivileged regions and allows for greater flexibility for patients. Despite this, TR is hindered by several factors, including limited technological resources, high costs, lack of digital access, and the unavailability of healthcare systems, which are major barriers to widespread adoption among LMIC patients. These barriers have collectively hindered the potential implementation and adoption of TR services in LMICs healthcare settings. Adoption of TR will also require the buy-in of end users and limited information is known on the perspectives of the SA population. Aim: The study aimed to understand patients' perspectives regarding the use of digital technology as part of their OA rehabilitation at a public community healthcare centre in the Cape Metropole Area. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study design was used on 10 OA patients from a public community rehabilitation centre in South Africa. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and patient-reported outcome measures (PSFS, ASES-8, and EuroQol EQ-5D-5L) on functioning and quality of life. Transcribed interview data were coded in Atlas.ti. 22.2 and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results were narratively documented. Results: Four themes arose from the interviews. The themes were Telerehabilitation awareness (Use of Digital Technology Information Sources and Prior Experience with Technology /TR), Telerehabilitation Benefits (Access to healthcare providers, Access to educational information, Convenience, Time and Resource Efficiency and Facilitating Family Involvement), Telerehabilitation Implementation Considerations (Openness towards TR Implementation, Learning about TR and Technology, Therapeutic relationship, and Privacy) and Future use of Telerehabilitation (Personal Preference and TR for the next generation). The ten participants demonstrated limited awareness and exposure to TR, as well as minimal digital literacy and skills. Skepticism was shown when comparing the effectiveness of TR to in-person rehabilitation and valued physical interactions with health professionals. However, some recognized potential benefits of TR for accessibility, convenience, family involvement and improving community health in the long term. Willingness existed to try TR with sufficient training. Conclusion: With targeted efforts addressing identified barriers around awareness, technological literacy, clinician readiness and resource availability, perspectives on TR may shift positively from uncertainty towards endorsement of this expanding approach for simpler rehabilitation access in LMICs.

Keywords: digital technology, osteoarthritis, primary health care, telerehabilitation

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Authors: Reenu Yadav, Vidhi Guha, Udit N. Soni, Jay Ram Patel

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Chewing gums are mobile novel drug delivery systems, with a potential for administering drugs either for local action or for systemic absorption via the buccal route. An antimicrobial chewing gum delivery system of the methanolic extracts of Beatea monosperma (barks and twigs), Cordia obliqua (leaves and seeds) and Cuminun cyminum (seeds) against periodontal diseases caused by some oral pathogens, was designed and characterized on various parameters.The results of the study support the traditional application of the plants and suggest, plant extracts possess compounds with antimicrobial properties that can be used as potential antimicrobial agents and gums can be a good carrier of herbal extracts. Developed formulation will cure/protect from various periodontal diseases. Further development and evaluations chewing gums including the isolated compounds on the commercial scale and their clinical and toxicological studies are the future challenges.

Keywords: periodontal diseases, herbal chewing gum, herbal extracts, novel drug delivery systems

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Authors: Bayan Almofty, Yuto Yamaki, Tadamasa Terai, Sadahito Uto

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Culture techniques of skeletal muscle cells are advanced in the field of regenerative medicine and applied research of cultured muscle. As applied research of cultured muscle, myopathy (muscles disease) treatment is expected and development bio of actuator is also expected in biomedical engineering. Grayanotoxins (GTXs) is known as neurotoxins that enhance the permeability of cell membrane for Na ions. Grayanotoxins are extracted from a famous Pieris japonica and Ericaceae as well as a phytotoxin. In this study, we investigated the effect of GTXs on muscle cells (C2C12) contraction and membrane potential. Contraction of myotubes is induced by applied external electrical stimulation. Contraction and membrane potential change of skeletal muscle cells are induced by injection of current. We, therefore, concluded that effect of Grayanotoxins on contraction and membrane potential of C2C12 relate to acute toxicity of GTXs.

Keywords: skeletal muscle cells C2C12, grayanotoxins, contraction, membrane potential, acute toxicity, pytotoxin, motubes

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Authors: Muluegziabher Semagne Mekonnen

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This study was intended to show the irrigation water requirements and evaluation of canal hydraulics steady state conditions to improve on scheme performance of the Meki-Ziway irrigation project. The methodology used was the CROPWAT 8.0 model to estimate the irrigation water requirements of five major crops irrigated in the study area. The results showed that for the whole existing and potential irrigation development area of 2000 ha and 2599 ha, crop water requirements were 3,339,200 and 4,339,090.4 m³, respectively. Hydraulic simulation models are fundamental tools for understanding the hydraulic flow characteristics of irrigation systems. Hydraulic simulation models are fundamental tools for understanding the hydraulic flow characteristics of irrigation systems. In this study Hydraulic Analysis of Irrigation Canals Using HEC-RAS Model was conducted in Meki-Ziway Irrigation Scheme. The HEC-RAS model was tested in terms of error estimation and used to determine canal capacity potential.

Keywords: HEC-RAS, irrigation, hydraulic. canal reach, capacity

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Authors: Timothy Gray

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This paper will present work and discuss lessons learned during a semester-long travel study based in Southeast Asia, which was run in the Spring Semester of 2019 and again in the summer of 2023. The first travel group consisted of fifteen students, and the second group consisted of twelve students ranging from second-year to graduate level, student participants majoring in either architecture or planning. Students worked in interdisciplinary teams, each team beginning their travel study, living together in a separate small town for over a month in (relatively) remote conditions in rural Thailand. Students became intimately familiar with these towns, forged strong personal relationships, and built reservoirs of knowledge one conversation at a time. Rather than impose external ideas and solutions, students were asked to learn from and be open to lessons from the people and the place. The following design statement was used as a point of departure for their investigations: It is our shared premise that architecture exists in small villages and towns of Southeast Asia in the ingenuity of the people, that architecture exists in a shared language of making, modifying, and reusing. It is a modest but vibrant architecture, an architecture that is alive and evolving, an architecture that is small in scale, accessible, and one that emerges from the people. It is an architecture that can exist in a modified bicycle, a woven bamboo bridge, or a self-built community. Students were challenged to engage in existing conditions as design professionals, both empowering and lending coherence to the energies that already existed in the place. As one of the student teams noted in their design narrative: “During our field study, we had the unique opportunity to tour a number of informal settlements and meet and talk to residents through interpreters. We found that many of the residents work in nearby factories for dollars a day. Others find employment in self-generated informal economies such as hand carving and textiles. Despite extreme poverty, we found these places to be vibrant and full of life as people navigate these challenging conditions to live lives with purpose and dignity.” Students worked together with local community members and colleagues to develop a series of varied proposals that emerged from their interrogations of place and partnered with community members and professional colleagues in the development of these proposals. Project partners included faculty and student colleagues Yangon University, the mayor's Office, Planning Department Officials and religious leaders in Sawankhalok, Thailand, and community leaders in Natonchan, Thailand, to name a few. This paper will present a series of student community-based design projects that emerged from these conditions. The paper will also discuss this model of travel study as a way of building an architecture which uses social and cultural issues as a catalyst for design. The paper will discuss lessons relative to sustainable development that the Western students learned through their travels in Southeast Asia.

Keywords: travel study, CAPasia, architecture of empowerment, modular housing

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Authors: Lucile Rapin, Cynthia El Hage, Rihab Gamaoun, Maria-Fernanda Arboleda, Erin Prosk

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Introduction: Sante Cannabis (SC), a Canadian group of clinics dedicated to medical cannabis, based in Montreal and in the province of Quebec, has served more than 8000 patients seeking cannabis-based treatment over the past five years. As randomized clinical trials with natural medical cannabis are scarce, real-world evidence offers the opportunity to fill research gaps between scientific evidence and clinical practice. Data on the use of medical cannabis products from SC patients were prospectively collected, leading to a large real-world database on the use of medical cannabis. The aim of this study was to report information on the profiles of both patients and prescribed medical cannabis products at SC clinics, and to assess the safety of medical cannabis among Canadian patients. Methods: This is an observational retrospective study of 1342 adult patients who were authorized with medical cannabis products between October 2017 and September 2019. Information regarding demographic characteristics, therapeutic indications for medical cannabis use, patterns in dosing and dosage form of medical cannabis and adverse effects over one-year follow-up (initial and 4 follow-up (FUP) visits) were collected. Results: 59% of SC patients were female, with a mean age of 56.7 (SD= 15.6, range= (19-97)). Cannabis products were authorized mainly for patients with a diagnosis of chronic pain (68.8% of patients), cancer (6.7%), neurological disorders (5.6%), and mood disorders (5.4 %). At initial visit, a large majority (70%) of patients were authorized exclusively medical cannabis products, 27% were authorized a combination of pharmaceutical cannabinoids and medical cannabis and 3% were prescribed only pharmaceutical cannabinoids. This pattern was recurrent over the one-year follow-up. Overall, oil was the preferred formulation (average over visits 72.5%) followed by a combination of oil and dry (average 19%), other routes of administration accounted for less than 4%. Patients were predominantly prescribed products with a balanced THC:CBD ratio (59%-75% across visits). 28% of patients reported at least one adverse effect (AE) at the 3-month follow-up visit and 12% at the six-month FUP visit. 84.8% of total AEs were mild and transient. No serious AE was reported. Overall, the most common side effects reported were dizziness (11.95% of total AEs), drowsiness (11.4%), dry mouth (5.5%), nausea (4.8%), headaches (4.6%), cough (4.4%), anxiety (4.1%) and euphoria (3.5%). Other adverse effects accounted for less than 3% of total AE. Conclusion: Our results confirm that the primary area of clinical use for medical cannabis is in pain management. Patients in this cohort are largely utilizing plant-based cannabis oil products with a balanced ratio of THC:CBD. Reported adverse effects were mild and included dizziness and drowsiness. This real-world data confirms the tolerable safety profile of medical cannabis and suggests medical indications not yet validated in controlled clinical trials. Such data offers an important opportunity for the investigation of the long-term effects of cannabinoid exposure in real-life conditions. Real-world evidence can be used to direct clinical trial research efforts on specific indications and dosing patterns for product development.

Keywords: medical cannabis, safety, real-world data, Canada

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Authors: Zeba Mahmood

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The modern business organizations are adopting technological advancement to achieve competitive edge and satisfy their consumer. The development in the field of Information technology systems has changed the way of conducting business today. Business operations today rely more on the data they obtained and this data is continuously increasing in volume. The data stored in different locations is difficult to find and use without the effective implementation of Data mining and Knowledge management techniques. Organizations who smartly identify, obtain and then convert data in useful formats for their decision making and operational improvements create additional value for their customers and enhance their operational capabilities. Marketers and Customer relationship departments of firm use Data mining techniques to make relevant decisions, this paper emphasizes on the identification of different data mining and Knowledge management techniques that are applied to different business industries. The challenges and issues of execution of these techniques are also discussed and critically analyzed in this paper.

Keywords: knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge discovery in databases, business, operational, information, data mining

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