Search results for: maternal choice
380 Investigating Visual Statistical Learning during Aging Using the Eye-Tracking Method
Authors: Zahra Kazemi Saleh, Bénédicte Poulin-Charronnat, Annie Vinter
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This study examines the effects of aging on visual statistical learning, using eye-tracking techniques to investigate this cognitive phenomenon. Visual statistical learning is a fundamental brain function that enables the automatic and implicit recognition, processing, and internalization of environmental patterns over time. Some previous research has suggested the robustness of this learning mechanism throughout the aging process, underscoring its importance in the context of education and rehabilitation for the elderly. The study included three distinct groups of participants, including 21 young adults (Mage: 19.73), 20 young-old adults (Mage: 67.22), and 17 old-old adults (Mage: 79.34). Participants were exposed to a series of 12 arbitrary black shapes organized into 6 pairs, each with different spatial configurations and orientations (horizontal, vertical, and oblique). These pairs were not explicitly revealed to the participants, who were instructed to passively observe 144 grids presented sequentially on the screen for a total duration of 7 min. In the subsequent test phase, participants performed a two-alternative forced-choice task in which they had to identify the most familiar pair from 48 trials, each consisting of a base pair and a non-base pair. Behavioral analysis using t-tests revealed notable findings. The mean score for the first group was significantly above chance, indicating the presence of visual statistical learning. Similarly, the second group also performed significantly above chance, confirming the persistence of visual statistical learning in young-old adults. Conversely, the third group, consisting of old-old adults, showed a mean score that was not significantly above chance. This lack of statistical learning in the old-old adult group suggests a decline in this cognitive ability with age. Preliminary eye-tracking results showed a decrease in the number and duration of fixations during the exposure phase for all groups. The main difference was that older participants focused more often on empty cases than younger participants, likely due to a decline in the ability to ignore irrelevant information, resulting in a decrease in statistical learning performance.Keywords: aging, eye tracking, implicit learning, visual statistical learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 72379 Job Satisfaction among Brigadista in Nicaragua: A Lesson to Be Considered for Task-Shifting
Authors: Rashed Shah, Jeanne Koepsell, Dixmer Rivera, Eric Swedberg, David Marsh
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Success of primary health care goals of health promotion and disease prevention may well be determined by community based health workers’ overall job satisfaction. It is also important to understand the ways community health workers perceive their jobs and the importance they give to the various factors influencing their job satisfaction, which is critical before making a decision for task-shifting and for expanding their scope of work. Although brigadistas are unpaid volunteers, they are formally recognized and receive support and supervision from the Ministry of Health in Nicaragua. Brigadistas are responsible for classifying and diagnosing illnesses, administering treatment, counseling mothers and care givers within the community, encouraging referral in case of serious illness and making follow-up visits at home. Some brigadistas provide more technically advanced services, including treatment for pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis and/or distribution of contraceptives. Expanding brigadistas’ duties could threaten their heretofore ‘job satisfaction’. This study primarily aims to report on job satisfaction of brigadistas in Nicaragua before expanding the scope of their work by adding more responsibilities. The study was guided by the following research questions: 1) What aspects of their job made the brigadistas satisfied or dissatisfied? 2) What is the job satisfaction level of brigadistas in Nicaragua? This cross-sectional study was conducted during March – July 2014, to assess brigadistas’ job satisfaction, prior to deciding on inclusion of care for sick newborns and young infants (<2 months of age) to brigadistas’ existing service package of community case management for children of 2-59 months of age. Following stratified random sampling strategy, 15 brigadistas were randomly selected from each of the following four strata: [(1) females under 25 years of age, (2) females over 30 years of age, (3) males under 25 years of age, and (4) males over 30 years of age. Out of 45 completed in-person interview with eligible and available brigadistas, 20 (44.4%) were with female and 25 (55.6%) were with male respondents; the mean age (±sd) was found as 32.0 (±3.2) years. About 53% (24/45) brigadista mentioned “Training” as the most helpful for performing their job. Another 31% (14/45) mentioned that “feeling of doing good, supporting community, women and children” was helpful to perform their job well. When asked about difficulty, about 35.5% (16/45) brigadistas mentioned about “Lack of time” due to their responsibilities in family, farm, other work places, study and such time constraint made their job performance difficult. Measured on a 0-5 scale, estimated average job satisfaction was 4.2. Current trends in task-shifting and integrated program delivery require community health workers (like the brigadistas) to deliver several essential services, including maternal, newborn and child health, and family planning, and thereby increasing their responsibilities. Given the reported level of job satisfaction among brigadistas (4.2 out of 5), and the mentioned difficulty in performing their current job (as ‘Lack of Time’) in this study results, the policy makers and program managers in MOH should be cautious enough before making a decision to expand current scope of work for brigadistas in Nicaragua.Keywords: Brigadisata, job satisfaction, Nicaragua, task-shifting
Procedia PDF Downloads 225378 Towards Learning Query Expansion
Authors: Ahlem Bouziri, Chiraz Latiri, Eric Gaussier
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The steady growth in the size of textual document collections is a key progress-driver for modern information retrieval techniques whose effectiveness and efficiency are constantly challenged. Given a user query, the number of retrieved documents can be overwhelmingly large, hampering their efficient exploitation by the user. In addition, retaining only relevant documents in a query answer is of paramount importance for an effective meeting of the user needs. In this situation, the query expansion technique offers an interesting solution for obtaining a complete answer while preserving the quality of retained documents. This mainly relies on an accurate choice of the added terms to an initial query. Interestingly enough, query expansion takes advantage of large text volumes by extracting statistical information about index terms co-occurrences and using it to make user queries better fit the real information needs. In this respect, a promising track consists in the application of data mining methods to extract dependencies between terms, namely a generic basis of association rules between terms. The key feature of our approach is a better trade off between the size of the mining result and the conveyed knowledge. Thus, face to the huge number of derived association rules and in order to select the optimal combination of query terms from the generic basis, we propose to model the problem as a classification problem and solve it using a supervised learning algorithm such as SVM or k-means. For this purpose, we first generate a training set using a genetic algorithm based approach that explores the association rules space in order to find an optimal set of expansion terms, improving the MAP of the search results. The experiments were performed on SDA 95 collection, a data collection for information retrieval. It was found that the results were better in both terms of MAP and NDCG. The main observation is that the hybridization of text mining techniques and query expansion in an intelligent way allows us to incorporate the good features of all of them. As this is a preliminary attempt in this direction, there is a large scope for enhancing the proposed method.Keywords: supervised leaning, classification, query expansion, association rules
Procedia PDF Downloads 316377 Emotional Characteristics of Preschoolers Due to Parameters of Family Interaction
Authors: Nadezda Sergunicheva, Victoria Vasilenko
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The emotional sphere is one of the most important aspects of the child's development and significant factor in his psychological well-being. Present research aims to identify the relationships between emotional characteristics of preschoolers and parameters of family interaction: emotional interaction, parental styles, family adaptation, and cohesion. The study involved 40 people from Saint-Petersburg: 20 children (10 boys and 10 girls) from 5 to 6 years, Mage = 5 years 4 months and 20 mothers. Methods used were: Test 'Emotional identification' by E.Izotova, Empathy test by T. Gavrilova, Children's fears test by A. Zakharov, M. Panfilova, 'Parent-child emotional interaction questionnaire' by E. Zakharova, 'Analysis of family relationships questionnaire by E. Eidemiller and V. Yustitskis, Family Adaptation and Cohesion Scales (FACES III) by D. X. Olson, J. Portner, I. Lavi. Сorrelation analysis revealed that the higher index of underdevelopment of parental feelings, the lower the child’s ability to identify emotions (p < 0,05), but at the same time, the higher ability to understand emotional states (p < 0,01), as in the case of hypoprotection (p < 0,05). Two last correlations can be explained by compensatory mechanism. This is also confirmed by negative correlations between maternal educational uncertainty and child’s ability to understand emotional states and between indulgence and child’s ability to perceive emotional states (p < 0,05). The more pronounced the phobia of a child's loss, the higher egocentric nature of child’s empathy (p < 0,05). The child’s fears have the greatest number of relationships with the characteristics of family interaction. The more pronounced mother’s positive feelings in interaction, emotional support, acceptance of himself as a parent, desire for physical contact with child and the more adaptive the family system, the less the total number of child’s fears (p < 0,05). The more the mother's ability to perceive the child's state, positive feelings in interaction, emotional support (p < 0,01), unconditional acceptance of the child, acceptance of himself as a parent and the desire for physical contact (p < 0,05), the less the amount child’s spatial fears. Socially-mediated fears are associated with less pronounced mother's positive feelings in interaction, less emotional support and deficiency of demands, obligations (p < 0,05). Fears of animals and fairy-tale characters positively correlated with the excessive demands, obligations and excessive sanctions (p < 0,05). The more emotional support (p < 0,01), mother's ability to perceive the child's state, positive feelings in interaction, unconditional acceptance of the child, acceptance of himself as a parent (p < 0,05), the less the amount child’s fears of nightmares. This kind of fears is positively correlated with excessive demands, prohibitions (p < 0,05). The more adaptive the family system (p < 0,01), the higher family cohesion, mother's acceptance of himself as a parent and preference to childish traits (p < 0,05), the less fear of death. Thus, the children's fears have the closest relationships with the characteristics of family interaction. The severity of fears, especially spatial, is connected, first of all, with the emotional side of the mother-parent interaction. Fears of animals and fairy-tale characters are associated with some characteristics of the parental styles, connected with the rigor of mothers. Correlations of the emotional identification are contradictory and require further clarification. Research is supported by RFBR №18-013-00990.Keywords: emotional characteristics, family interaction, fears, parental styles, preschoolers
Procedia PDF Downloads 261376 The Role of Car Dealerships in Promoting Electric Vehicles: Covert Participatory Observations of Car Dealerships in Sweden
Authors: Anne Y. Faxer, Ellen Olausson, Jens Hagman, Ana Magazinius, Jenny J. Stier, Tommy Fransson, Oscar Enerback
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While electric vehicles (both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids) have been on the market for around 6 years, they are still far from mainstream and the knowledge of them is still low among the public. This is likely one of the reasons that Sweden, having one of the highest penetrations of electric vehicles in Europe, still has a long way to go in reaching a fossil free vehicle fleet. Car dealerships are an important medium that connects consumers to vehicles, but somehow, their role in introducing electric vehicles has not yet been thoroughly studied. Research from other domains shows that salespeople can affect customer decisions in their choice of products. The aim of this study is to explore the role of car dealerships when it comes to promoting electric vehicles. The long-term goal is to understand how they could be a key in the effort of achieving a mass introduction of electric vehicles in Sweden. By emulating the customer’s experience, this study investigates the interaction between car salespeople and customers, particularly examining whether they present electric vehicles as viable options. Covert participatory observations were conducted for data collection from four different brands at in total twelve car dealers. The observers worked in pairs and played the role of a customer with needs that could be matched by an electric vehicle. The data was summarized in observation protocols and analyzed using thematic coding. The result shows that only one of twelve salespeople offered an electric vehicle as the first option. When environmental factors were brought up by the observers, the salespeople followed up with lower fuel consumption internal combustion engine vehicles rather than suggesting an electric vehicle. All salespeople possessed at least basic knowledge about electric vehicles but their interest of selling them were low in most cases. One of the reasons could be that the price of electric vehicles is usually higher. This could be inferred from the finding that salespeople tend to have a strong focus on price and economy in their dialogues with customers, regardless which type of car they were selling. In conclusion, the study suggests that car salespeople have the potential to help the market to achieve mass introduction of electric vehicles; however, their potential needs to be exploited further. To encourage salespeople to prioritize electric vehicles in the sales process, right incentives need to be in place.Keywords: car dealerships, covert participatory observation, customer perspective , electric vehicle, market penetration
Procedia PDF Downloads 190375 Preventative Programs for At-Risk Families of Child Maltreatment: Using Home Visiting and Intergenerational Relationships
Authors: Kristina Gordon
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One in three children in the United States is a victim of a maltreatment investigation, and about one in nine children has a substantiated investigation. Home visiting is one of several preventative strategies rooted in an early childhood approach that fosters maternal, infant, and early childhood health, protection, and growth. In the United States, 88% of states report administering home visiting programs or state-designed models. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review on home visiting programs in the United States focused on the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This systematic review included 17 articles which found that most of the studies reported optimistic results. Common across studies was program content related to (1) typical child development, (2) parenting education, and (3) child physical health. Although several factors common to home visiting and parenting interventions have been identified, no research has examined the common components of manualized home visiting programs to prevent child maltreatment. Child maltreatment can be addressed with home visiting programs with evidence-based components and cultural adaptations that increase prevention by assisting families in tackling the risk factors they face. An innovative approach to child maltreatment prevention is bringing together at-risk families with the aging community. This innovative approach was prompted due to existing home visitation programs only focusing on improving skillsets and providing temporary relationships. This innovative approach can provide the opportunity for families to build a relationship with an aging individual who can share their wisdom, skills, compassion, love, and guidance, to support families in their well-being and decrease child maltreatment occurrence. Families would be identified if they experience any of the risk factors, including parental substance abuse, parental mental illness, domestic violence, and poverty. Families would also be identified as at risk if they lack supportive relationships such as grandparents or relatives. Families would be referred by local agencies such as medical clinics, hospitals, schools, etc., that have interactions with families regularly. The aging community would be recruited at local housing communities and community centers. An aging individual would be identified by the elderly community when there is a need or interest in a relationship by or for the individual. Cultural considerations would be made when assessing for compatibility between the families and aging individuals. The pilot program will consist of a small group of participants to allow manageable results to evaluate the efficacy of the program. The pilot will include pre-and post-surveys to evaluate the impact of the program. From the results, data would be created to determine the efficacy as well as the sufficiency of the details of the pilot. The pilot would also be evaluated on whether families were referred to Child Protective Services during the pilot as it relates to the goal of decreasing child maltreatment. The ideal findings will display a decrease in child maltreatment and an increase in family well-being for participants.Keywords: child maltreatment, home visiting, neglect, preventative, abuse
Procedia PDF Downloads 109374 Effect of Non-Regulated pH on the Dynamics of Dark Fermentative Biohydrogen Production with Suspended and Immobilized Cell Culture
Authors: Joelle Penniston, E. B. Gueguim-Kana
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Biohydrogen has been identified as a promising alternative to the use of non-renewable fossil reserves, owing to its sustainability and non-polluting nature. pH is considered as a key parameter in fermentative biohydrogen production processes, due to its effect on the hydrogenase activity, metabolic activity as well as substrate hydrolysis. The present study assesses the influence of regulating pH on dark fermentative biohydrogen production. Four experimental hydrogen production schemes were evaluated. Two were implemented using suspended cells under regulated pH growth conditions (Sus_R) and suspended and non-regulated pH (Sus_N). The two others regimes consisted of alginate immobilized cells under pH regulated growth conditions (Imm_R) and immobilized and non-pH regulated conditions (Imm_N). All experiments were carried out at 37.5°C with glucose as sole source of carbon. Sus_R showed a lag time of 5 hours and a peak hydrogen fraction of 36% and a glucose degradation of 37%, compared to Sus_N which showed a peak hydrogen fraction of 44% and complete glucose degradation. Both suspended culture systems showed a higher peak biohydrogen fraction compared to the immobilized cell system. Imm_R experiments showed a lag phase of 8 hours, a peak biohydrogen fraction of 35%, while Imm_N showed a lag phase of 5 hours, a peak biohydrogen fraction of 22%. 100% glucose degradation was observed in both pH regulated and non-regulated processes. This study showed that biohydrogen production in batch mode with suspended cells in a non-regulated pH environment results in a partial degradation of substrate, with lower yield. This scheme has been the culture mode of choice for most reported studies in biohydrogen research. The relatively lower slope in pH trend of the non-regulated pH experiment with immobilized cells (Imm_N) compared to Sus_N revealed that that immobilized systems have a better buffering capacity compared to suspended systems, which allows for the extended production of biohydrogen even under non-regulated pH conditions. However, alginate immobilized cultures in flask systems showed some drawbacks associated to high rate of gas production that leads to increased buoyancy of the immobilization beads. This ultimately impedes the release of gas out of the flask.Keywords: biohydrogen, sustainability, suspended, immobilized
Procedia PDF Downloads 334373 Prevalence and Correlates of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among Diabetic Patients in Lebanon: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Farah Naja, Mohamad Alameddine
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Background: The difficulty of compliance to therapeutic and lifestyle management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) encourages patients to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. Little is known about the prevalence and mode of CAM use among diabetics in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in general and Lebanon in particular. Objective: To assess the prevalence and modes of CAM use among patients with T2DM residing in Beirut, Lebanon. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of T2DM patients was conducted on patients recruited from two major referral centers - a public hospital and a private academic medical center in Beirut. In a face-to-face interview, participants completed a survey questionnaire comprised of three sections: socio-demographic, diabetes characteristics and types and modes of CAM use. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were utilized to assess the prevalence, mode and correlates of CAM use in the study population. The main outcome in this study (CAM use) was defined as using CAM at least once since diagnosis with T2DM. Results: A total of 333 T2DM patients completed the survey (response rate: 94.6%). Prevalence of CAM use in the study population was 38%, 95% CI (33.1-43.5). After adjustment, CAM use was significantly associated with a “married” status, a longer duration of T2DM, the presence of disease complications, and a positive family history of the disease. Folk foods and herbs were the most commonly used CAM followed by natural health products. One in five patients used CAM as an alternative to conventional treatment. Only 7 % of CAM users disclosed the CAM use to their treating physician. Health care practitioners were the least cited (7%) as influencing the choice of CAM among users. Conclusion: The use of CAM therapies among T2DM patients in Lebanon is prevalent. Decision makers and care providers must fully understand the potential risks and benefits of CAM therapies to appropriately advise their patients. Attention must be dedicated to educating T2DM patients on the importance of disclosing CAM use to their physicians especially patients with a family history of diabetes, and those using conventional therapy for a long time.Keywords: nutritional supplements, type 2 diabetes mellitus, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), conventional therapy
Procedia PDF Downloads 343372 Finite Element Analysis of Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured 17-4 PH Stainless Steel
Authors: Bijit Kalita, R. Jayaganthan
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Additive manufacturing (AM) is a novel manufacturing method which provides more freedom in design, manufacturing near-net-shaped parts as per demand, lower cost of production, and expedition in delivery time to market. Among various metals, AM techniques, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is the most prominent one that provides higher accuracy and powder proficiency in comparison to other methods. Particularly, 17-4 PH alloy is martensitic precipitation hardened (PH) stainless steel characterized by resistance to corrosion up to 300°C and tailorable strengthening by copper precipitates. Additively manufactured 17-4 PH stainless steel exhibited a dendritic/cellular solidification microstructure in the as-built condition. It is widely used as a structural material in marine environments, power plants, aerospace, and chemical industries. The excellent weldability of 17-4 PH stainless steel and its ability to be heat treated to improve mechanical properties make it a good material choice for L-PBF. In this study, the microstructures of martensitic stainless steels in the as-built state, as well as the effects of process parameters, building atmosphere, and heat treatments on the microstructures, are reviewed. Mechanical properties of fabricated parts are studied through micro-hardness and tensile tests. Tensile tests are carried out under different strain rates at room temperature. In addition, the effect of process parameters and heat treatment conditions on mechanical properties is critically reviewed. These studies revealed the performance of L-PBF fabricated 17–4 PH stainless-steel parts under cyclic loading, and the results indicated that fatigue properties were more sensitive to the defects generated by L-PBF (e.g., porosity, microcracks), leading to the low fracture strains and stresses under cyclic loading. Rapid melting, solidification, and re-melting of powders during the process and different combinations of processing parameters result in a complex thermal history and heterogeneous microstructure and are necessary to better control the microstructures and properties of L-PBF PH stainless steels through high-efficiency and low-cost heat treatments.Keywords: 17–4 PH stainless steel, laser powder bed fusion, selective laser melting, microstructure, additive manufacturing
Procedia PDF Downloads 112371 Reading Strategy Instruction in Secondary Schools in China
Authors: Leijun Zhang
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Reading literacy has become a powerful tool for academic success and an essential goal of education. The ability to read is not only fundamental for pupils’ academic success but also a prerequisite for successful participation in today’s vastly expanding multi-literate textual environment. It is also important to recognize that, in many educational settings, students are expected to learn a foreign/second language for successful participation in the increasingly globalized world. Therefore, it is crucial to help learners become skilled foreign-language readers. Research indicates that students’ reading comprehension can be significantly improved through explicit instruction of multiple reading strategies. Despite the wealth of research on how to enhance learners’ reading comprehension achievement by identifying an enormous range of reading strategies and techniques for assisting students in comprehending specific texts, relatively scattered studies have centered on whether these reading comprehension strategies and techniques are used in classrooms, especially in Chinese academic settings. Given the central role of ‘the teacher’ in reading instruction, the study investigates the degree of importance that EFL teachers attach to reading comprehension strategies and their classroom employment of those strategies in secondary schools in China. It also explores the efficiency of reading strategy instruction on pupils’ reading comprehension performance. As a mix-method study, the analysis drew on data from a quantitative survey and interviews with seven teachers. The study revealed that the EFL teachers had positive attitudes toward the use of cognitive strategies despite their insufficient knowledge about and limited attention to the metacognitive strategies and supporting strategies. Regarding the selection of reading strategies for instruction, the mandated curriculum and high-stakes examinations, text features and demands, teaching preparation programs and their own EFL reading experiences were the major criteria in their responses, while few teachers took into account the learner needs in their choice of reading strategies. Although many teachers agreed upon the efficiency of reading strategy instruction in developing students’ reading comprehension competence, three challenges were identified in their implementation of the strategy instruction. The study provides some insights into reading strategy instruction in EFL contexts and proposes implications for curriculum innovation, teacher professional development, and reading instruction research.Keywords: reading comprehension strategies, EFL reading instruction, language teacher cognition, teacher education
Procedia PDF Downloads 84370 Importance of CT and Timed Barium Esophagogram in the Contemporary Treatment of Patients with Achalasia
Authors: Sanja Jovanovic, Aleksandar Simic, Ognjan Skrobic, Dragan Masulovic, Aleksandra Djuric-Stefanovic
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Introduction: Achalasia is an idiopathic primary esophageal motility disorder characterized by esophageal peristalsis and impaired swallow-induced relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). It is a rare disease that affects both genders with an incidence of 1/100.000 and a prevalence rate of 10/100,000 per year. Objective: Laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM) represents a therapy of choice for patients with achalasia, providing excellent outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of computed tomography (CT) in analyzing achalasia subtypes and timed barium esophagogram (TBE) in evaluation of LHM success, as a part of standardized diagnostic protocol. Method: Fifty-one patients with achalasia, confirmed by manometric studies, in addition to standardized diagnostic methods, underwent CT and TBE. CT was done with multiplanar reconstruction, measuring the wall thickness above the esophago-gastric junction in the axial plane. TBE was performed preoperatively and two days postoperatively swallowing low-density barium sulfate, and plane upright frontal films were performed 1, 2 and 5 minutes after the ingestion. In all patients, LHM was done, and pre and postoperative height and weight of the barium column were compared. Results: According to CT findings we divided patients into 3 subtypes of achalasia according to wall thickness: < 4mm as subtype one, between 4 - 9mm as II, and > 10 mm as subtype 3. Correlation of manometric results, as a reference values, and CT findings indicated CT sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 70 % in establishing subtypes of achalasia. The preoperative values of TBE at 1, 2 and 5 minutes were: median barium column height 17.4 ± 7.4, 15.9 ± 6.2 and 13.9 ± 6.2 cm; median column width 5 ± 1.5, 4.7 ± 1.6 and 4.5 ± 1.8 cm respectively. LHM significantly reduced these values (height 7 ± 4.6, 5.8 ± 4.2, 3.7 ± 3.4 cm; width 2.9 ± 1.3, 2.6 ± 1.3 and 2.4 ± 1.4 cm), indicating the quantitative estimates of emptying as excellent (p value < 0.01). Conclusion: CT has high sensitivity and specificity in evaluation of achalasia subtypes, and can be introduced as an additional method for standardized evaluation of these patients. The quantitative assessment of TBE based on measurements of the barium column is an accurate and beneficial method, which adequately estimates esophageal emptying success of LHM.Keywords: achalasia, computed tomography, esophagography, myotomy
Procedia PDF Downloads 226369 Quo Vadis, European Football: An Analysis of the Impact of Over-The-Top Services in the Sports Rights Market
Authors: Farangiz Davranbekova
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Subject: The study explores the impact of Over-the-Top services in the sports rights market, focusing on football games. This impact is analysed in the big five European football markets. The research entails how the pay-TV market is combating the disruptors' entry, how the fans are adjusting to these changes and how leagues and football clubs are orienting in the transitional period of more choice. Aims and methods: The research aims to offer a general overview of the impact of OTT players in the football rights market. A theoretical framework of Jenkins’ five layers of convergence is implemented to analyse the transition the sports rights market is witnessing from various angles. The empirical analysis consists of secondary research data as and seven expert interviews from three different clusters. The findings are bound by the combination of the two methods offering general statements. Findings: The combined secondary data as well as expert interviews, conducted on five layers of convergence found: 1. Technological convergence presents that football content is accessible through various devices with innovative digital features, unlike the traditional TV set box. 2. Social convergence demonstrates that football fans multitask using various devices on social media when watching the games. These activities are complementary to traditional TV viewing. 3. Cultural convergence points that football fans have a new layer of fan engagement with leagues, clubs and other fans using social media. Additionally, production and consumption lines are blurred. 4. Economic convergence finds that content distribution is diversifying and/or eroding. Consumers now have more choices, albeit this can be harmful to them. Entry barriers are decreased, and bigger clubs feel more powerful. 5. Global convergence shows that football fans are engaging with not only local fans but with fans around the world that social media sites enable. Recommendation: A study on smaller markets such as Belgium or the Netherlands would benefit the study on the impact of OTT. Additionally, examination of other sports will shed light on this matter. Lastly, once the direct-to-consumer model is fully taken off in Europe, it will be of importance to examine the impact of such transformation in the market.Keywords: sports rights, OTT, pay TV, football
Procedia PDF Downloads 147368 Tools and Techniques in Risk Assessment in Public Risk Management Organisations
Authors: Atousa Khodadadyan, Gabe Mythen, Hirbod Assa, Beverley Bishop
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Risk assessment and the knowledge provided through this process is a crucial part of any decision-making process in the management of risks and uncertainties. Failure in assessment of risks can cause inadequacy in the entire process of risk management, which in turn can lead to failure in achieving organisational objectives as well as having significant damaging consequences on populations affected by the potential risks being assessed. The choice of tools and techniques in risk assessment can influence the degree and scope of decision-making and subsequently the risk response strategy. There are various available qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques that are deployed within the broad process of risk assessment. The sheer diversity of tools and techniques available to practitioners makes it difficult for organisations to consistently employ the most appropriate methods. This tools and techniques adaptation is rendered more difficult in public risk regulation organisations due to the sensitive and complex nature of their activities. This is particularly the case in areas relating to the environment, food, and human health and safety, when organisational goals are tied up with societal, political and individuals’ goals at national and international levels. Hence, recognising, analysing and evaluating different decision support tools and techniques employed in assessing risks in public risk management organisations was considered. This research is part of a mixed method study which aimed to examine the perception of risk assessment and the extent to which organisations practise risk assessment’ tools and techniques. The study adopted a semi-structured questionnaire with qualitative and quantitative data analysis to include a range of public risk regulation organisations from the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The results indicated the public risk management organisations mainly use diverse tools and techniques in the risk assessment process. The primary hazard analysis; brainstorming; hazard analysis and critical control points were described as the most practiced risk identification techniques. Within qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, the participants named the expert judgement, risk probability and impact assessment, sensitivity analysis and data gathering and representation as the most practised techniques.Keywords: decision-making, public risk management organisations, risk assessment, tools and techniques
Procedia PDF Downloads 276367 Studies on Biojetfuel Obtained from Vegetable Oil: Process Characteristics, Engine Performance and Their Comparison with Mineral Jetfuel
Authors: F. Murilo T. Luna, Vanessa F. Oliveira, Alysson Rocha, Expedito J. S. Parente, Andre V. Bueno, Matheus C. M. Farias, Celio L. Cavalcante Jr.
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Aviation jetfuel used in aircraft gas-turbine engines is customarily obtained from the kerosene distillation fraction of petroleum (150-275°C). Mineral jetfuel consists of a hydrocarbon mixture containing paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics, with low olefins content. In order to ensure their safety, several stringent requirements must be met by jetfuels, such as: high energy density, low risk of explosion, physicochemical stability and low pour point. In this context, aviation fuels eventually obtained from biofeedstocks (which have been coined as ‘biojetfuel’), must be used as ‘drop in’, since adaptations in aircraft engines are not desirable, to avoid problems with their operation reliability. Thus, potential aviation biofuels must present the same composition and physicochemical properties of conventional jetfuel. Among the potential feedtstocks for aviation biofuel, the babaçu oil, extracted from a palm tree extensively found in some regions of Brazil, contains expressive quantities of short chain saturated fatty acids and may be an interesting choice for biojetfuel production. In this study, biojetfuel was synthesized through homogeneous transesterification of babaçu oil using methanol and its properties were compared with petroleum-based jetfuel through measurements of oxidative stability, physicochemical properties and low temperature properties. The transesterification reactions were carried out using methanol and after decantation/wash procedures, the methyl esters were purified by molecular distillation under high vacuum at different temperatures. The results indicate significant improvement in oxidative stability and pour point of the products when compared to the fresh oil. After optimization of operational conditions, potential biojetfuel samples were obtained, consisting mainly of C8 esters, showing low pour point and high oxidative stability. Jet engine tests are being conducted in an automated test bed equipped with pollutant emissions analysers to study the operational performance of the biojetfuel that was obtained and compare with a mineral commercial jetfuel.Keywords: biojetfuel, babaçu oil, oxidative stability, engine tests
Procedia PDF Downloads 255366 Effect of Lactone Glycoside on Feeding Deterrence and Nutritive Physiology of Tobacco Caterpillar Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera)
Authors: Selvamuthukumaran Thirunavukkarasu, Arivudainambi Sundararajan
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The plant active molecules with their known mode of action are important leads to the development of newer insecticides. Lactone glycoside was identified earlier as the active principle in Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth. (Fam: Euphorbiaceae). It possessed feeding deterrent, insecticidal and insect growth regulatory actions at varying concentrations. Deducing its mode of action opens a possibility of its further development. A no-choice leaf disc bioassay was carried out with lactone glycoside at different doses for different instars and Deterrence Indices were worked out. Using regression analysis concentrations imparting 10, 30 and 50 per cent deterrence (DI10, DI30 & DI50) were worked out. At these doses, effect on nutritional indices like Relative Consumption and Growth Rates (RCR & RGR), Efficiencies of Conversion of Ingested and Digested food (ECI & ECD) and Approximate Digestibility (AD) were worked out. The Relative Consumption and Growth Rate of control and lactone glycoside larva were compared by regression analysis. Regression analysis of deterrence indices revealed that the concentrations needed for imparting 50 per cent deterrence was 60.66, 68.47 and 71.10 ppm for third, fourth and fifth instars respectively. Relative consumption rate (RCR) and relative growth rate (RGR) were reduced. This confirmed the antifeedant action of the fraction. Approximate digestibility (AD) was found greater in treatments indicating reduced faeces because of poor digestibility and retention of food in the gut. Efficiency of conversion of both ingested and digested (ECI and ECD) food was also found to be greatly reduced. This indicated presence of toxic action. This was proved by comparing growth efficiencies of control and lactone glycoside treated larvae. Lactone glycoside was found to possess both feeding deterrent and toxic modes of action. Studies on molecular targets based on this preliminary site of action lead to new insecticide development.Keywords: Spodoptera litura Fabricius, Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth, feeding deterrence, mode of action
Procedia PDF Downloads 149365 Experiential Language Learning as a Tool for Effective Global Leadership
Authors: Christiane Dumont
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This paper proposes to revisit foreign-language learning as a tool to increase motivation through advocacy and develop effective natural communication skills, which are critical leadership qualities. To this end, collaborative initiatives undertaken by advanced university students of French with local and international community partners will be reviewed. Close attention will be paid to the acquisition of intercultural skills, the reflective process, as well as the challenges and outcomes. Two international development projects conducted in Haiti will be highlighted, i.e., collaboration with a network of providers in the Haitian cultural heritage preservation and tourism sector (2014-15) and development of investigation and teacher training tools for a primary/secondary school in the Port-au-Prince area (current). The choice of community-service learning as a framework to teach French-as-a-second-language stemmed from the need to raise awareness against stereotypes and prejudice, which hinder the development of effective intercultural skills. This type of experiential education also proved very effective in identifying and preventing miscommunication caused by the lack of face-to-face interaction in our increasingly technology-mediated world. Learners experienced first-hand, the challenges and advantages of face-to-face communication, which, in turn, enhanced their motivation for developing effective intercultural skills. Vygotsky's and Kolb's theories, current research on service learning (Dwight, Eyler), action/project-based pedagogy (Beckett), and reflective learning (TSC Farrell), will provide useful background to analyze the benefits and challenges of community-service learning. The ultimate goal of this paper is to find out what makes experiential learning truly unique and transformative for both the learners and the community they wish to serve. It will demonstrate how enhanced motivation, community engagement, and clear, concise, and respectful communication impact and empower learners. The underlying hope is to help students in high-profile, and leading-edge industries become effective global leaders.Keywords: experiential learning, intercultural communication, reflective learning, effective leadership, learner motivation
Procedia PDF Downloads 102364 The Effect of Post Spinal Hypotension on Cerebral Oxygenation Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Neonatal Outcomes in Full Term Parturient Undergoing Lower Segment Caesarean Section: A Prospective Observational Study
Authors: Shailendra Kumar, Lokesh Kashyap, Puneet Khanna, Nishant Patel, Rakesh Kumar, Arshad Ayub, Kelika Prakash, Yudhyavir Singh, Krithikabrindha V.
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Introduction: Spinal anesthesia is considered a standard anesthesia technique for caesarean delivery. The incidence of spinal hypotension during caesarean delivery is 70 -80%. Spinal hypotension may cause cerebral hypoperfusion in the mother, but physiologically cerebral autoregulatory mechanisms accordingly prevent cerebral hypoxia. Cerebral blood flow remains constant in the 50-150 mmHg of Cerebral Perfusion Pressure (CPP) range. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive technology that is used to detect Cerebral Desaturation Events (CDEs) immediately compared to other conventional intraoperative monitoring techniques. Objective: The primary aim of the study is to correlate the change in cerebral oxygen saturation using NIRS with respect to a fall in mean blood pressure after spinal anaesthesia and to find out the effects of spinal hypotension on neonatal APGAR score, neonatal acid-base variations, and presence of Postoperative Delirium (POD). Methodology: NIRS sensors were attached to the forehead of all the patients, and their baseline readings of cerebral oxygenation on the right and left frontal regions and mean blood pressure were noted. Subarachnoid block was given with hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine plus fentanyl, the dose being determined by the individual anaesthesiologist. Co-loading of IV crystalloid solutions was given to the patient. Blood pressure reading and cerebral saturation were recorded every 1 minute till 30min. Hypotension was a fall in MAP less than 20% of the baseline values. Patients going for hypotension were treated with an IV Bolus of phenylephrine/ephedrine. Umbilical cord blood samples were taken for blood gas analysis, and neonatal APGAR was noted by a neonatologist. Study design: A prospective observational study conducted in a population of Thirty ASA 2 and 3 parturients scheduled for lower segment caesarean section (LSCS). Results: Mean fall in regional cerebral saturation is 28.48 ± 14.7% with respect to the mean fall in blood pressure 38.92 ± 8.44 mm Hg. The correlation coefficient between fall in saturation and fall in mean blood pressure is 0.057, and p-value {0.7} after subarachnoid block. A fall in regional cerebral saturation occurred 2±1 min before a fall in mean blood pressure. Twenty-nine out of thirty patients required vasopressors during hypotension. The first dose of vasopressor requirement is needed at 6.02±2 min after the block. The mean APGAR score was 7.86 and 9.74 at 1 and 5 min of birth, respectively, and the mean umbilical arterial pH of 7.3±0.1. According to DRS-98 (Delirium Rating Scale), the mean delirium rating score on postoperative day 1 and day 2 were 0.1 and 0.7, respectively. Discussion: There was a fall in regional cerebral oxygen saturation, which started before with respect to a significant fall in mean blood pressure readings but was statistically not significant. Maximal fall in blood pressure requiring vasopressors occurs within 10 min of SAB. Neonatal APGAR scores and acid-base variations were in the normal range with maternal hypotension, and there was no incidence of postoperative delirium in patients with post-spinal hypotension.Keywords: cerebral oxygenation, LSCS, NIRS, spinal hypotension
Procedia PDF Downloads 63363 Half Dose Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Intermediate-Risk Pulmonary Embolism
Authors: Macie Matta, Ahmad Jabri, Stephanie Jackson
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Introduction: In the absence of hypotension, pulmonary embolism (PE) causing right ventricular dysfunction or strain, whether confirmed by imaging or cardiac biomarkers, is deemed to be an intermediate-risk category. Urgent treatment of intermediate-risk PE can prevent progression to hemodynamic instability and death. Management options include thrombolysis, thrombectomy, or systemic anticoagulation. We aim to evaluate the short-term outcomes of a half-dose tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for the management of intermediate-risk PE. Methods: We retrospectively identified adult patients diagnosed with intermediate-risk PE between the years 2000 and 2021. Demographic data, lab values, imaging, treatment choice, and outcomes were all obtained through chart review. Primary outcomes measured include major bleeding events and in-hospital mortality. Patients on standard systemic anticoagulation without receiving thrombolysis or thrombectomy served as controls. Patient data were analyzed using SAS®️ Software (version 9.4; Cary, NC) to compare individuals that received half-dose tPA with controls, and statistical significance was set at a p-value of 0.05. Results: We included 57 patients in our final analysis, with 19 receiving tPA. Patient characteristics and comorbidities were comparable between both groups. There was a significant difference between PE location, presence of acute deep vein thrombosis, and peak troponin level between both groups. The thrombolytic cohort was more likely to demonstrate a 60/60 sign and thrombus in transit finding on echocardiography than controls. The thrombolytic group was more likely to have major bleeding (17% vs 7.9%, p= 0.4) and in-hospital mortality (5.3% vs 0%, p=0.3); however, this was not statistically significant. Patients who received half-dose tPA had non-significantly higher rates of major bleeding and in-hospital mortality. Larger scale, randomized control trials are needed to establish the benefit and safety of thrombolytics in patients with intermediate-risk PE.Keywords: pulmonary embolism, half dose thrombolysis, tissue plasminogen activator, cardiac biomarkers, echocardiographic findings, major bleeding event
Procedia PDF Downloads 71362 Astronomical Object Classification
Authors: Alina Muradyan, Lina Babayan, Arsen Nanyan, Gohar Galstyan, Vigen Khachatryan
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We present a photometric method for identifying stars, galaxies and quasars in multi-color surveys, which uses a library of ∼> 65000 color templates for comparison with observed objects. The method aims for extracting the information content of object colors in a statistically correct way, and performs a classification as well as a redshift estimation for galaxies and quasars in a unified approach based on the same probability density functions. For the redshift estimation, we employ an advanced version of the Minimum Error Variance estimator which determines the redshift error from the redshift dependent probability density function itself. The method was originally developed for the Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey (CADIS), but is now used in a wide variety of survey projects. We checked its performance by spectroscopy of CADIS objects, where the method provides high reliability (6 errors among 151 objects with R < 24), especially for the quasar selection, and redshifts accurate within σz ≈ 0.03 for galaxies and σz ≈ 0.1 for quasars. For an optimization of future survey efforts, a few model surveys are compared, which are designed to use the same total amount of telescope time but different sets of broad-band and medium-band filters. Their performance is investigated by Monte-Carlo simulations as well as by analytic evaluation in terms of classification and redshift estimation. If photon noise were the only error source, broad-band surveys and medium-band surveys should perform equally well, as long as they provide the same spectral coverage. In practice, medium-band surveys show superior performance due to their higher tolerance for calibration errors and cosmic variance. Finally, we discuss the relevance of color calibration and derive important conclusions for the issues of library design and choice of filters. The calibration accuracy poses strong constraints on an accurate classification, which are most critical for surveys with few, broad and deeply exposed filters, but less severe for surveys with many, narrow and less deep filters.Keywords: VO, ArVO, DFBS, FITS, image processing, data analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 65361 Distribution Routs Redesign through the Vehicle Problem Routing in Havana Distribution Center
Authors: Sonia P. Marrero Duran, Lilian Noya Dominguez, Lisandra Quintana Alvarez, Evert Martinez Perez, Ana Julia Acevedo Urquiaga
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Cuban business and economic policy are in the constant update as well as facing a client ever more knowledgeable and demanding. For that reason become fundamental for companies competitiveness through the optimization of its processes and services. One of the Cuban’s pillars, which has been sustained since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution back in 1959, is the free health service to all those who need it. This service is offered without any charge under the concept of preserving human life, but it implied costly management processes and logistics services to be able to supply the necessary medicines to all the units who provide health services. One of the key actors on the medicine supply chain is the Havana Distribution Center (HDC), which is responsible for the delivery of medicines in the province; as well as the acquisition of medicines from national and international producers and its subsequent transport to health care units and pharmacies in time, and with the required quality. This HDC also carries for all distribution centers in the country. Given the eminent need to create an actor in the supply chain that specializes in the medicines supply, the possibility of centralizing this operation in a logistics service provider is analyzed. Based on this decision, pharmacies operate as clients of the logistic service center whose main function is to centralize all logistics operations associated with the medicine supply chain. The HDC is precisely the logistic service provider in Havana and it is the center of this research. In 2017 the pharmacies had affectations in the availability of medicine due to deficiencies in the distribution routes. This is caused by the fact that they are not based on routing studies, besides the long distribution cycle. The distribution routs are fixed, attend only one type of customer and there respond to a territorial location by the municipality. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned problem, the objective of this research is to optimize the routes system in the Havana Distribution Center. To accomplish this objective, the techniques applied were document analysis, random sampling, statistical inference and tools such as Ishikawa diagram and the computerized software’s: ArcGis, Osmand y MapIfnfo. As a result, were analyzed four distribution alternatives; the actual rout, by customer type, by the municipality and the combination of the two last. It was demonstrated that the territorial location alternative does not take full advantage of the transportation capacities or the distance of the trips, which leads to elevated costs breaking whit the current ways of distribution and the currents characteristics of the clients. The principal finding of the investigation was the optimum option distribution rout is the 4th one that is formed by hospitals and the join of pharmacies, stomatology clinics, polyclinics and maternal and elderly homes. This solution breaks the territorial location by the municipality and permits different distribution cycles in dependence of medicine consumption and transport availability.Keywords: computerized geographic software, distribution, distribution routs, vehicle problem routing (VPR)
Procedia PDF Downloads 155360 Perception of Pre-Clinical Students towards Doctors Lifestyle
Authors: Shalinawati Ramli, Khairani Omar, Nurul Azmawati Mohamed, Zarini Ismail, Nur Syahrina Rahim, Nurul Hayati Chamhuri
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Medical doctors’ work to prevent, diagnose, treat diseases, disorders, and injuries as well as prescribing medication. Many people are attracted to this profession because it gives them the opportunity to help others. Doctors’ improve quality of life by providing advice, healing physical ailments and performing complex surgeries. Medicine is a profession in which dedication to the wellbeing of others is of paramount importance. Balancing the requirements of work and personal life can be a struggle as the demand of work as a doctors’ is great. Perception and expectation of medical students regarding the lifestyle of doctors’ is important to ensure that they had made the right career choice. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the perception of pre-clinical students regarding doctors’ lifestyle. This study is a cross-sectional study involving all third-year pre-clinical medical students at University Sains Islam Malaysia. A total of 81 students participated in this study. Participants were given a set of questionnaire consisting of demographic data, open-ended questions on their perception on doctors’ lifestyle of working environment, salary expectation and family life. Thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. The participants comprised 69% female and their age range was between 20-21 years old. Majority of them were from middle-income families. Majority of the students perceived that the doctors’ lifestyle would be busy (72%). Approximately 30% of them expected that the time schedule will be unpredictable, 21% mentioned that sacrifice is required and 16% perceived it as a tiring job. Other themes emerged were ‘requiring high commitment’ (6%), challenging (7%) and risky (4%). With regards to salary expectation, 48% expected reasonable salary, 33% high salary and 12% described it as 'not worth compared to the workload'. Majority of them perceived that their family life will be restricted (62%) and time management is important (33%). Only 15% mentioned that family members have to sacrifice and spousal understanding is important (7%). About 10% of them perceived that their family will not be affected by their profession. Majority of the medical students perceived a busy doctors’ lifestyle, reasonable salary and restricted family life. However, there was a significant proportion of them who required counselling for better preparation of their future lifestyle.Keywords: doctors lifestyle, pre-clinical students, perception, understanding
Procedia PDF Downloads 302359 Room Temperature Ionic Liquids Filled Mixed Matrix Membranes for CO2 Separation
Authors: Asim Laeeq Khan, Mazhar Amjad Gilani, Tayub Raza
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The use of fossil fuels for energy generation leads to the emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 into the atmosphere. To date, several techniques have been proposed for the efficient removal of CO2 from flue gas mixtures. Membrane technology is a promising choice due to its several inherent advantages such as low capital cost, high energy efficiency, and low ecological footprint. One of the goals in the development of membranes is to achieve high permeability and selectivity. Mixed matrix membranes comprising of inorganic fillers embedded in polymer matrix are a class of membranes that have showed improved separation properties. One of the biggest challenges in the commercialization if mixed matrix membranes are the removal of non-selective voids existing at the polymer-filler interface. In this work, mixed matrix membranes were prepared using polysulfone as polymer matrix and ordered mesoporous MCM-41 as filler materials. A new approach to removing the interfacial voids was developed by introducing room temperature ionic (RTIL) at the polymer-filler interface. The results showed that the imidazolium based RTIL not only provided wettability characteristics but also helped in further improving the separation properties. The removal of interfacial voids and good contact between polymer and filler was verified by SEM measurement. The synthesized membranes were tested in a custom built gas permeation set-up for the measurement of gas permeability and ideal gas selectivity. The results showed that the mixed matrix membranes showed significantly higher CO2 permeability in comparison to the pristine membrane. In order to have further insight into the role of fillers, diffusion and solubility measurements were carried out. The results showed that the presence of highly porous fillers resulted in increasing the diffusion coefficient while the solubility showed a slight drop. The RTIL filled membranes showed higher CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivity than unfilled membranes while the permeability dropped slightly. The increase in selectivity was due to the highly selective RTIL used in this work. The study revealed that RTIL filled mixed matrix membranes are an interesting candidate for gas separation membranes.Keywords: ionic liquids, CO2 separation, membranes, mixed matrix membranes
Procedia PDF Downloads 472358 Simplified Modelling of Visco-Elastic Fluids for Use in Recoil Damping Systems
Authors: Prasad Pokkunuri
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Visco-elastic materials combine the stress response properties of both solids and fluids and have found use in a variety of damping applications – both vibrational and acoustic. Defense and automotive applications, in particular, are subject to high impact and shock loading – for example: aircraft landing gear, firearms, and shock absorbers. Field responsive fluids – a class of smart materials – are the preferred choice of energy absorbents because of their controllability. These fluids’ stress response can be controlled by the application of a magnetic or electric field, in a closed loop. Their rheological properties – elasticity, plasticity, and viscosity – can be varied all the way from that of a liquid such as water to a hard solid. This work presents a simplified model to study the impulse response behavior of such fluids for use in recoil damping systems. The well-known Burger’s equation, in conjunction with various visco-elastic constitutive models, is used to represent fluid behavior. The Kelvin-Voigt, Upper Convected Maxwell (UCM), and Oldroyd-B constitutive models are implemented in this study. Using these models in a one-dimensional framework eliminates additional complexities due to geometry, pressure, body forces, and other source terms. Using a finite difference formulation to numerically solve the governing equation(s), the response to an initial impulse is studied. The disturbance is confined within the problem domain with no-inflow, no-outflow boundary conditions, and its decay characteristics studied. Visco-elastic fluids typically involve a time-dependent stress relaxation which gives rise to interesting behavior when subjected to an impulsive load. For particular values of viscous damping and elastic modulus, the fluid settles into a stable oscillatory state, absorbing and releasing energy without much decay. The simplified formulation enables a comprehensive study of different modes of system response, by varying relevant parameters. Using the insights gained from this study, extension to a more detailed multi-dimensional model is considered.Keywords: Burgers Equation, Impulse Response, Recoil Damping Systems, Visco-elastic Fluids
Procedia PDF Downloads 287357 A Qualitative Study of Approaches Used by Physiotherapists to Educate Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain
Authors: Styliani Soulioti, Helen Fiddler
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The aim of this study was to investigate the approaches used by physiotherapists in the education of patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) and the rationale that underpins their choice of approach. Therapeutic patient education (TPE) is considered to be an important aspect of modern physiotherapy practice, as it helps patients achieve better self-management and a better understanding of their problem. Previous studies have explored this subject, but the reasoning behind the choices physiotherapists make as educators has not been widely explored, thus making it difficult to understand areas that could be addressed in order to improve the application of TPE.A qualitative study design, guided by a constructivist epistemology was used in this research project. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 7 physiotherapists. Inductive coding and thematic analysis were used, which allowed key themes to emerge. Data analysis revealed two overarching themes: 1) patient-centred versus therapist-centred educational approaches, and 2) behaviourist versus constructivist educational approaches. Physiotherapists appear to use a patient-centred-approach when they explore patients’ beliefs about cLBP and treatment expectations. However, treatment planning and goal-setting were guided by a therapist-centred approach, as physiotherapists appear to take on the role of the instructor/expert, whereas patients were viewed as students. Using a constructivist approach, physiotherapists aimed to provide guidance to patients by combining their professional knowledge with the patients’ individual knowledge, to help the patient better understand their problem, reflect upon it and find a possible solution. However, educating patients about scientific facts concerning cLBP followed a behaviourist approach, as an instructor/student relationship was observed and the learning content was predetermined and transmitted in a one-way manner. The results of this study suggest that a lack of consistency appears to exist in the educational approaches used by physiotherapists. Although patient-centeredness and constructivism appear to be the aims set by physiotherapists in order to optimise the education they provide, a student-teacher relationship appears to dominate when it comes to goal-setting and delivering scientific information.Keywords: chronic low back pain, educational approaches, health education, patient education
Procedia PDF Downloads 201356 A Prospective Audit to Look into Antimicrobial Prescribing in the Clinical Setting: In a Teaching Hospital in the UK
Authors: Richa Sinha, Mohammad Irfan Javed, Sanjay Singh
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Introduction: Good antimicrobial prescribing reduces length of stay in hospital, risk of adverse events, antimicrobial resistance, and unnecessary hospital expenditure. The aim of this prospective audit was to identify any problems with antimicrobial prescribing including documentation of the relevant aspects as well as appropriateness of antibiotics use. The audit was conducted on the surgical wards in a teaching hospital in the UK. Methods: Standards included the indication, duration, choice, and prescription of antibiotic should be in line with current Regional Guidelines and should be clearly documented on the prescription chart. There should be an entry in each patients’ medical record of the diagnosis and indication for each acute antibiotic prescription issued. All prescriptions should clearly document the route, frequency and dose of antibiotic. Data collection was done for 2 weeks in the month of March 2014. A proforma including all the questions above was completed for all the patients. The results were analysed using Excel. Results: 35 patients in total were selected for the audit. 85.7% of patients had indication of antibiotic documented on the prescription chart and 68.5% of patients had indication documented in the notes. The antibiotic used was in line with hospital guidelines in 45.7% of patients, however, in a further 28.5% of patients the reason for the antibiotic prescription was microbiology approved. Therefore, in total 74.2% of patients had been prescribed appropriate antibiotics. The duration of antibiotic was documented in 68.6% of patients and the antibiotic was reviewed in 37.1% of patients. The dose, frequency and route was documented clearly in 100% of patients. Conclusion: Overall, prescribing can be improved on the surgical wards in this hospital. Only 37.1% of patients had clear documentation of a review of antibiotics. It may be that antibiotics have been reviewed but this should be clearly highlighted on the prescription chart or the notes. Failure to review antibiotics can lead to poor patient care and antimicrobial resistance and therefore it is important to address this. It is also important to address the appropriateness of antibiotics as inappropriate antibiotic prescription can lead to failure of treatment as well as antimicrobial resistance. The good points from the audit was that all patients had clear documentation of dose, route and frequency which is extremely important in the administration of antibiotics. Recommendations from this audit included to emphasize good antimicrobial prescribing at induction (twice yearly), an antimicrobial handbook for junior doctors, and re-audit in 6 months time.Keywords: prescribing, antimicrobial, indication, duration
Procedia PDF Downloads 295355 Microbiological Examination and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Microorganisms Isolated from Salt Mining Site in Ebonyi State
Authors: Anyimc, C. J. Aneke, J. O. Orji, O. Nworie, U. C. C. Egbule
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The microbial examination and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of microorganism isolated from the salt mining site in Ebonyi state were evaluated in the present study using a standard microbiological technique. A total of 300 samples were randomly collected in three sample groups (A, B, and C) of 100 each. Isolation, Identification and characterization of organization present on the soil samples were determined by culturing, gram-staining and biochemical technique. The result showed the following organisms were isolated with their frequency as follow: Bacillus species (37.3%) and Staphylococcus species(23.5%) had the highest frequency in the whole Sample group A and B while Klebsiella specie (15.7%), Pseudomonas species(13.7%), and Erwinia species (9.8%) had the least. Rhizopus species (42.0%) and Aspergillus species (26.0%) were the highest fungi isolated, followed by Penicillum species (20.0%) while Mucor species (4.0%), and Fusarium species (8.0%) recorded the least. Sample group C showed high microbial population of all the microbial isolates when compared to sample group A and B. Disc diffusion method was used to determine the susceptibility of isolated bacteria to various antibiotics (oxfloxacin, pefloxacin, ciprorex, augumentin, gentamycin, ciproflox, septrin, ampicillin), while agar well diffusion method was used to determine the susceptibility of isolated fungi to some antifungal drugs (metronidazole, ketoconazole, itraconazole fluconazole). The antibacterial activity of the antibiotics used showed that ciproflux has the best inhibitory effect on all the test bacteria. Ketoconazole showed the highest inhibitory effect on the fungal isolates, followed by itraconazole, while metronidazole and fluconazole showed the least inhibitory effect on the entire test fungal isolates. Hence, the multiple drug resistance of most isolates to appropriate drugs of choice are of great public health concern and cells for periodic monitoring of antibiograms to detect possible changing patterns. Microbes isolated in the salt mining site can also be used as a source of gene(s) that can increase salt tolerance in different crop species through genetic engineering.Keywords: microorganisms, antibacterial, antifungal, resistance, salt mining site, Ebonyi State
Procedia PDF Downloads 311354 Analysis of the Annual Proficiency Testing Procedure for Intermediate Reference Laboratories Conducted by the National Reference Laboratory from 2013 to 2017
Authors: Reena K., Mamatha H. G., Somshekarayya, P. Kumar
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Objectives: The annual proficiency testing of intermediate reference laboratories is conducted by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) to assess the efficiency of the laboratories to correctly identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis and to determine its drug susceptibility pattern. The proficiency testing results from 2013 to 2017 were analyzed to determine laboratories that were consistent in reporting quality results and those that had difficulty in doing so. Methods: A panel of twenty cultures were sent out to each of these laboratories. The laboratories were expected to grow the cultures in their own laboratories, set up drug susceptibly testing by all the methods they were certified for and report the results within the stipulated time period. The turnaround time for reporting results, specificity, sensitivity positive and negative predictive values and efficiency of the laboratory in identifying the cultures were analyzed. Results: Most of the laboratories had reported their results within the stipulated time period. However, there was enormous delay in reporting results from few of the laboratories. This was mainly due to improper functioning of the biosafety level III laboratory. Only 40% of the laboratories had 100% efficiency in solid culture using Lowenstein Jensen medium. This was expected as a solid culture, and drug susceptibility testing is not used for diagnosing drug resistance. Rapid molecular methods such as Line probe assay and Genexpert are used to determine drug resistance. Automated liquid culture system such as the Mycobacterial growth indicator tube is used to determine prognosis of the patient while on treatment. It was observed that 90% of the laboratories had achieved 100% in the liquid culture method. Almost all laboratories had achieved 100% efficiency in the line probe assay method which is the method of choice for determining drug-resistant tuberculosis. Conclusion: Since the liquid culture and line probe assay technologies are routinely used for the detection of drug-resistant tuberculosis the laboratories exhibited higher level of efficiency as compared to solid culture and drug susceptibility testing which are rarely used. The infrastructure of the laboratory should be maintained properly so that samples can be processed safely and results could be declared on time.Keywords: annual proficiency testing, drug susceptibility testing, intermediate reference laboratory, national reference laboratory
Procedia PDF Downloads 176353 Ischemic Stroke Detection in Computed Tomography Examinations
Authors: Allan F. F. Alves, Fernando A. Bacchim Neto, Guilherme Giacomini, Marcela de Oliveira, Ana L. M. Pavan, Maria E. D. Rosa, Diana R. Pina
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Stroke is a worldwide concern, only in Brazil it accounts for 10% of all registered deaths. There are 2 stroke types, ischemic (87%) and hemorrhagic (13%). Early diagnosis is essential to avoid irreversible cerebral damage. Non-enhanced computed tomography (NECT) is one of the main diagnostic techniques used due to its wide availability and rapid diagnosis. Detection depends on the size and severity of lesions and the time spent between the first symptoms and examination. The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is a subjective method that increases the detection rate. The aim of this work was to implement an image segmentation system to enhance ischemic stroke and to quantify the area of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke lesions in CT scans. We evaluated 10 patients with NECT examinations diagnosed with ischemic stroke. Analyzes were performed in two axial slices, one at the level of the thalamus and basal ganglion and one adjacent to the top edge of the ganglionic structures with window width between 80 and 100 Hounsfield Units. We used different image processing techniques such as morphological filters, discrete wavelet transform and Fuzzy C-means clustering. Subjective analyzes were performed by a neuroradiologist according to the ASPECTS scale to quantify ischemic areas in the middle cerebral artery region. These subjective analysis results were compared with objective analyzes performed by the computational algorithm. Preliminary results indicate that the morphological filters actually improve the ischemic areas for subjective evaluations. The comparison in area of the ischemic region contoured by the neuroradiologist and the defined area by computational algorithm showed no deviations greater than 12% in any of the 10 examination tests. Although there is a tendency that the areas contoured by the neuroradiologist are smaller than those obtained by the algorithm. These results show the importance of a computer aided diagnosis software to assist neuroradiology decisions, especially in critical situations as the choice of treatment for ischemic stroke.Keywords: ischemic stroke, image processing, CT scans, Fuzzy C-means
Procedia PDF Downloads 363352 Spatial Structure of First-Order Voronoi for the Future of Roundabout Cairo Since 1867
Authors: Ali Essam El Shazly
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The Haussmannization plan of Cairo in 1867 formed a regular network of roundabout spaces, though deteriorated at present. The method of identifying the spatial structure of roundabout Cairo for conservation matches the voronoi diagram with the space syntax through their geometrical property of spatial convexity. In this initiative, the primary convex hull of first-order voronoi adopts the integral and control measurements of space syntax on Cairo’s roundabout generators. The functional essence of royal palaces optimizes the roundabout structure in terms of spatial measurements and the symbolic voronoi projection of 'Tahrir Roundabout' over the Giza Nile and Pyramids. Some roundabouts of major public and commercial landmarks surround the pole of 'Ezbekia Garden' with a higher control than integral measurements, which filter the new spatial structure from the adjacent traditional town. Nevertheless, the least integral and control measures correspond to the voronoi contents of pollutant workshops and the plateau of old Cairo Citadel with the visual compensation of new royal landmarks on top. Meanwhile, the extended suburbs of infinite voronoi polygons arrange high control generators of chateaux housing in 'garden city' environs. The point pattern of roundabouts determines the geometrical characteristics of voronoi polygons. The measured lengths of voronoi edges alternate between the zoned short range at the new poles of Cairo and the distributed structure of longer range. Nevertheless, the shortest range of generator-vertex geometry concentrates at 'Ezbekia Garden' where the crossways of vast Cairo intersect, which maximizes the variety of choice at different spatial resolutions. However, the symbolic 'Hippodrome' which is the largest public landmark forms exclusive geometrical measurements, while structuring a most integrative roundabout to parallel the royal syntax. Overview of the symbolic convex hull of voronoi with space syntax interconnects Parisian Cairo with the spatial chronology of scattered monuments to conceive one universal Cairo structure. Accordingly, the approached methodology of 'voronoi-syntax' prospects the future conservation of roundabout Cairo at the inferred city-level concept.Keywords: roundabout Cairo, first-order Voronoi, space syntax, spatial structure
Procedia PDF Downloads 496351 Urban Meetings: Graphic Analysis of the Public Space in a Cultural Building from São Paulo
Authors: Thalita Carvalho Martins de Castro, Núbia Bernardi
Abstract:
Currently, studies evidence that our cities are portraits of social relations. In the midst of so many segregations, cultural buildings emerge as a place to assemble collective activities and expressions. Through theater, exhibitions, educational workshops, libraries, the architecture approaches human relations and seeks to propose meeting places. The purpose of this research is to deepen the discussions about the contributions of cultural buildings in the use of the spaces of the contemporary city, based on the data and measure collected in the master's research in progress. The graphic analysis of the insertion of contemporary cultural buildings seeks to highlight the social use of space. The urban insertions of contemporary cultural buildings in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) will be analyzed to understand the relations between the architectural form and its audience. The collected data describe a dynamic of flows and the permanence in the use of these spaces, indicating the contribution of the cultural buildings, associated with artistic production, in the dynamics of urban spaces and the social modifications of their milieu. Among the case studies, the research in development is based on the registration and graphic analysis of the Praça das Artes (2012) building located in the historical central region of the city, which after a long period of great degradation undergoes a current redevelopment. The choice of this building was based on four parameters, both on the architectural scale and on the urban scale: urban insertion, local impact, cultural production and a mix of uses. For the analysis will be applied two methodologies of graphic analysis, one with diagrams accompanied by texts and another with the active analysis for open space projects using complementary graphic methodologies, with maps, plants, info-graphics, perspectives, time-lapse videos and analytical tables. This research aims to reinforce the debates between the methodologies of form-use spaces and visual synthesis applied in cultural buildings, in order that new projects can structure public spaces as catalysts for social use, generating improvements in the daily life of its users and in the cities where they are inserted.Keywords: cultural buildings, design methodologies, graphic analysis, public spaces
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