Search results for: economic order quantity

Authors: Jaishree Ellis

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The United States Centers for Disease Control tells us that many women with disabilities will not receive regular health screenings, including Pap Smears and mammograms. This article was comprised and written to recognize the barriers to care, gaps in existing healthcare implementation, and viable methodologies for the provision of comprehensive and robust gynecologic care for women with disabilities. According to the World Health Organization, 15% of the world's population, or approximately 1 billion people, have disabilities, most of whom are identified as women. Women with disabilities are described as being multi-disabled, as in some places, they suffer exclusion because of their disabilities as well as their gender. The paucity of information regarding how to create a healthcare system that is inclusive of every woman, regardless of her type of disability (physical, mental, intellectual or medical), has made it challenging to establish an environment that makes it possible for individuals to access care in an equitable, respectful and comprehensive way. A review of the current literature, institutional websites within the United States and American resource guides was implemented to determine where comprehensive models of care for women with disabilities exist, as well as the modalities that are being employed to meet their healthcare needs. The many barriers to care that women with disabilities face were also extracted from various sources within the literature to provide an exhaustive list that can be tackled, one by one. Of the 637 Hospital Systems in the United States, only 7 provide website documentation of health care services that address the unique needs of women with disabilities. The presumption is that if institutions have not marketed such interventions to the community, then it is likely that they do not have a robust suite of services with which to make gynecologic care available to patients with disabilities. Through this review, 7 main barriers to comprehensive gynecologic care were identified, with more than 20 sub-categories existing within those. As with many other areas of community life, inclusion remains lacking in the delivery of healthcare for women with disabilities. There are at least 7 barriers that must be overcome in order to provide equity in the medical office, the exam room, the hospital and the operating room. While few institutions have prioritized this, those few have provided blueprints that can easily be adopted by others. However, as the general population lives longer and ages, the incidence of disabilities increases, as do the healthcare disparities surrounding them. Further compounded by this is a lack of formal education for medical providers in the United States.

Keywords: health equity, inclusion, healthcare disparities, education

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Authors: Petre Voicu, Mircea Oaida, Radu Vasiu, Catalin Gheorghiu, Aurel Dumitru

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The present work deals with the way in which food and tobacco waste can be used in agriculture. As a result of the lack of efficient technologies for their recycling, we are currently faced with the appearance of appreciable quantities of residual organic residues that find their use only very rarely and only after long storage in landfills. The main disadvantages of long storage of organic waste are the unpleasant smell, the high content of pathogenic agents, and the high content in the water. The release of these enormous amounts imperatively demands the finding of solutions to ensure the avoidance of environmental pollution. The measure practiced by us consists of the processing of this waste in special installations, testing in pilot experimental perimeters, and later administration on agricultural lands without harming the quality of the soil, agricultural crops, and the environment. The current crisis of raw materials and energy also raises special problems in the field of organic waste valorization, an activity that takes place with low energy consumption. At the same time, their composition recommends them as useful secondary sources in agriculture. The transformation of food scraps and other residues concentrated organics thus acquires a new orientation, in which these materials are seen as important secondary resources. The utilization of food and tobacco waste in agriculture is also stimulated by the increasing lack of chemical fertilizers and the continuous increase in their price, under the conditions that the soil requires increased amounts of fertilizers in order to obtain high, stable, and profitable production. The need to maintain and increase the humus content of the soil is also taken into account, as an essential factor of its fertility, as a source and reserve of nutrients and microelements, as an important factor in increasing the buffering capacity of the soil, and the more reserved use of chemical fertilizers, improving the structure and permeability for water with positive effects on the quality of agricultural works and preventing the excess and/or deficit of moisture in the soil.

Keywords: ecology, soil, organic waste, fertility

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Authors: Prashant Neupane, Sumitra Kafle, Asmi Pandey, Laura Mitchell

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Pain following caesarean section can influence recovery, patient satisfaction, breast feeding success and mother-child bonding. Since the introduction of enhanced recovery protocols, mothers are often discharged 24 hours later. We identified concerns within our hospital with mothers tolerating poorly controlled pain in order to achieve earlier discharge and subsequently suffering significant pain at home with inadequate analgesia. Methods: We conducted a prospective audit of analgesic prescribing and post-operative pain scores after caesarean section. Mothers were seen on post-operative day one, their pain score recorded on a verbal analogue score from 0-10, and their prescription chart reviewed. A follow-up phone call was then made on post-operative day 3-7 to enquire about pain scores and analgesia use at home. Following this, a standardized proforma for prescribing after the caesarean section was introduced, including the addition of dihydrocodeine that patients can take home following discharge. There were educational update sessions for anesthetists and midwifes, and then a re-audit was conducted months later. Results: Data was collected from 50 women before and after the introduction of the change. Initial audit showed that there was considerable variation in prescribing, with four women prescribed no regular analgesia at all and inconsistency in the dose of oral morphine prescribed. Women were not given any form of analgesia to take home after discharge and were advised to take regular paracetamol and ibuprofen. However, 31/50 (62%) reported that they needed additional analgesia and eight women (16%) even sought prescription for additional analgesia from elsewhere. After the introduction of the change, prescribing was more consistent with all patients prescribed regular analgesia. 46/50 patients were given dihydrocodeine on discharge. Mean pain scores on post-operative day one improved from 5.16 to 3.9, and at home improved from 6.18 to 2.58. Use of dihydrocodeine at home significantly improved patients reporting of severe pain at home from 24% to zero. Discussion: Lack of strong analgesia out of the hospital and the increased demands on activity levels means that women are frequently in more pain at home after discharge. Introduction of a standardized prescription proforma, including the use of to-take-out dihydrocodeine, was successful in improving patient pain scores and the requirement for additional analgesia, both in hospital and at home.

Keywords: analgesia, caesarean section, post-operative pain, standardised

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Authors: Katherine Maurer

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Background and purpose: Violence that occurs within families is a global social problem. Children who are victims or witness to family violence are at risk for many negative effects both proximally and distally. One of the most disconcerting long-term effects occurs when child victims become adult perpetrators: the intergenerational transmission of family violence (ITFV). Early identification of those children most at risk for ITFV is needed to inform interventions to prevent future family violence perpetration and victimization. Only about 25-30% of child family violence victims become perpetrators of adult family violence (either child abuse, partner abuse, or both). Prior research has primarily been conducted using dichotomous measures of exposure (yes; no) to predict ITFV, given the low incidence rate in community samples. It is often assumed that exposure to greater amounts of violence predicts greater risk of ITFV. However, no previous longitudinal study with a community sample has tested a dose-response model of exposure to physical child abuse and parental physical intimate partner violence (IPV) using count data of frequency and severity of violence to predict adult ITFV. The current study used advanced statistical methods to test if increased childhood exposure would predict greater risk of ITFV. Methods: The study utilized 3 panels of prospective data from a cohort of 15 year olds (N=338) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods longitudinal study. The data were comprised of a stratified probability sample of seven ethnic/racial categories and three socio-economic status levels. Structural equation modeling was employed to test a hurdle regression model of dose-response to predict ITFV. A version of the Conflict Tactics Scale was used to measure physical violence victimization, witnessing parental IPV and young adult IPV perpetration and victimization. Results: Consistent with previous findings, past 12 months incidence rates severity and frequency of interpersonal violence were highly skewed. While rates of parental and young adult IPV were about 40%, an unusually high rate of physical child abuse (57%) was reported. The vast majority of a number of acts of violence, whether minor or severe, were in the 1-3 range in the past 12 months. Reported frequencies of more than 5 times in the past year were rare, with less than 10% of those reporting more than six acts of minor or severe physical violence. As expected, minor acts of violence were much more common than acts of severe violence. Overall, regression analyses were not significant for the dose-response model of ITFV. Conclusions and implications: The results of the dose-response model were not significant due to a lack of power in the final sample (N=338). Nonetheless, the value of the approach was confirmed for the future research given the bi-modal nature of the distributions which suggest that in the context of both child physical abuse and physical IPV, there are at least two classes when frequency of acts is considered. Taking frequency into account in predictive models may help to better understand the relationship of exposure to ITFV outcomes. Further testing using hurdle regression models is suggested.

Keywords: intergenerational transmission of family violence, physical child abuse, intimate partner violence, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Omaymah Al-Otoom, Rajesh Mehta

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Introduction: Migration is an established risk factor in the development of schizophrenia and other forms of psychosis. The exposure to different social adversities, including social isolation, discrimination, and economic stress, is thought to contribute to elevated rates of psychosis in immigrants and their children. We present a case of resistant schizophrenia in an immigrant adolescent. Case: The patient is a 15-year-old male immigrant. In October 2021, the patient was admitted for irritability, suicidal ideations, and hallucinations. He was treated with Fluoxetine 10 mg daily for irritability. In November 2021, he presented with similar manifestations. Fluoxetine was discontinued, and Risperidone 1 mg at bedtime was started for psychotic symptoms. In March 2022, he presented with commanding auditory hallucinations (voices telling him that people were going to kill his father). Risperidone was gradually increased to 2.5 mg twice daily for hallucinations. The outpatient provider discontinued Risperidone and started Olanzapine 7.5 mg and Lurasidone 40 mg daily. In August 2022, he presented with worsening paranoia due to medication non-adherence. The patient had limited improvement on medications. In October 2022, the patient presented to the ED for visual hallucinations and aggression towards the family. His medications were Olanzapine 10 mg daily, Lurasidone 60 mg daily, and Haloperidol 2.5 mg twice daily. In the ED, he received multiple as-needed medications and was placed in seclusion for his aggressive behavior. The patient showed a positive response to a higher dose of Olanzapine and decreased dose of Lurasidone. The patient was discharged home in stable condition. Two days after discharge, he was brought for bizarre behavior, visual hallucinations, and homicidal ideations at school. Due to concerns for potential antipsychotic side effects and poor response, Lurasidone and Olanzapine were discontinued, and he was discharged home on Haloperidol 5 mg in the morning and 15 mg in the evening. Clozapine treatment was recommended on an outpatient basis. He has no family history of psychotic disorders. He has no history of substance use. A medical workup was done, the electroencephalogram was normal, and the urine toxicology was negative. Discussion: Our patient was on three antipsychotics at some point with no improvement in his psychotic symptoms, which qualifies as treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRP). It is well recognized that migrants are at higher risk of different psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, affective disorders, schizophrenia, and psychosis. This is thought to be related to higher exposure to traumatic life events compared to the general population. In addition, migrants are more likely to experience poverty, separation from family members, and discrimination which could contribute to mental health issues. In one study, they found that people who migrated before the age of 18 had twice the risk of psychotic disorders compared to the native-born population. It is unclear whether migration increases the risk of treatment resistance. In a Canadian study, neither ethnicity nor migrant status was associated with treatment resistance; however, this study was limited by its small sample size. There is a need to implement psychiatric prevention strategies and outreach programs through research to mitigate the risk of mental health disorders among immigrants.

Keywords: psychosis, immigrant, adolescent, treatment resistant schizophrenia

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Authors: A. Ghribi, M. Bagane

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The discharge of dye in industrial effluents is of great concern because their presence and accumulation have a toxic or carcinogenic effect on living species. The removals of such compounds at such low levels are a difficult problem. Physicochemical technique such as coagulation, flocculation, ozonation, reverse osmosis and adsorption on activated carbon, manganese oxide, silica gel and clay are among the methods employed. The adsorption process is an effective and attractive proposition for the treatment of dye contaminated wastewater. Activated carbon adsorption in fixed beds is a very common technology in the treatment of water and especially in processes of decolouration. However, it is expensive and the powdered one is difficult to be separated from aquatic system when it becomes exhausted or the effluent reaches the maximum allowable discharge level. The regeneration of exhausted activated carbon by chemical and thermal procedure is also expensive and results in loss of the sorbent. Dye molecules also have very high affinity for clay surfaces and are readily adsorbed when added to clay suspension. The elimination of the organic dye by clay was studied by serval researchers. The focus of this research was to evaluate the adsorption potential of the raw clay in removing congo red from aqueous solutions using a laboratory fixed-bed column. The continuous sorption process was conducted in this study in order to simulate industrial conditions. The effect of process parameters, such as inlet flow rate, adsorbent bed height and initial adsorbate concentration on the shape of breakthrough curves was investigated. A glass column with an internal diameter of 1.5 cm and height of 30 cm was used as a fixed-bed column. The pH of feed solution was set at 7.Experiments were carried out at different bed heights (5-20 cm), influent flow rates (1.6- 8 mL/min) and influent congo red concentrations (10-50 mg/L). The obtained results showed that the adsorption capacity increases with the bed depth and the initial concentration and it decreases at higher flow rate. The column regeneration was possible for four adsorption–desorption cycles. The clay column study states the value of the excellent adsorption capacity for the removal of congo red from aqueous solution. Uptake of congo red through a fixed-bed column was dependent on the bed depth, influent congo red concentration and flow rate.

Keywords: adsorption, breakthrough curve, clay, congo red, fixed bed column, regeneration

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Authors: Mohamed Abdalla Saleem, Hana Ellafi

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The study area is located in the eastern part of the Sirt Basin, in the Sarir-Hameimat arm of the basin, south of Amal High. The area covers the northern part of the Hamemat Trough and the Rakb High. All of these tectonic elements are part of the major and common tectonics that were created when the old Sirt Arch collapsed, and most of them are trending NW-SE. This study has been conducted to investigate the subsurface structures and the sedimentology characterization of the area and attempt to define its development tectonically and stratigraphically. About 7600 land gravity measurements, 22500 gridded magnetic data, and petrographic core data from some wells were used to investigate the subsurface structural features both vertically and laterally. A third-order separation of the regional trends from the original Bouguer gravity data has been chosen. The residual gravity map reveals a significant number of high anomalies distributed in the area, separated by a group of thick sediment centers. The reduction to the pole magnetic map also shows nearly the same major trends and anomalies in the area. Applying the further interpretation filters reveals that these high anomalies are sourced from different depth levels; some are deep-rooted, and others are intruded igneous bodies within the sediment layers. The petrographic sedimentology study for some wells in the area confirmed the presence of these igneous bodies and defined their composition as most likely to be gabbro hosted by marine shale layers. Depth investigation of these anomalies by the average depth spectrum shows that the average basement depth is about 7.7 km, while the top of the intrusions is about 2.65 km, and some near-surface magnetic sources are about 1.86 km. The depth values of the magnetic anomalies and their location were estimated specifically using the 3D Euler deconvolution technique. The obtained results suggest that the maximum depth of the sources is about 4938m. The total horizontal gradient of the magnetic data shows that the trends are mostly extending NW-SE, others are NE-SW, and a third group has an N-S extension. This variety in trend direction shows that the area experienced different tectonic regimes throughout its geological history.

Keywords: sirt basin, tectonics, gravity, magnetic

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Authors: Sukruthai Sapniwat, Falan Srisuriyachai

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Polymer Flooding is one of the most well-known methods in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology which can be implemented after either primary or secondary recovery, resulting in favorable conditions for the displacement mechanism in order to lower the residual oil in the reservoir. Polymer substances can lower the mobility ratio of the whole process by increasing the viscosity of injected water. Therefore, polymer flooding can increase volumetric sweep efficiency, which leads to a better recovery factor. Moreover, polymer adsorption onto rock surface can help decrease reservoir permeability contrast with high heterogeneity. Due to the reduction of the absolute permeability, effective permeability to water, representing flow ability of the injected fluid, is also reduced. Once polymer is adsorbed onto rock surface, polymer molecule can be desorbed when different fluids are injected. This study is performed to evaluate the effects of the adsorption and desorption process of polymer solutions to yield benefits on the oil recovery mechanism. A reservoir model is constructed by reservoir simulation program called STAR® commercialized by the Computer Modeling Group (CMG). Various polymer concentrations, starting times of polymer flooding process and polymer injection rates were evaluated with selected values of polymer desorption degrees including 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. The higher the value, the more adsorbed polymer molecules to return back to flowing fluid. According to the results, polymer desorption lowers polymer consumption, especially at low concentrations. Furthermore, starting time of polymer flooding and injection rate affect the oil production. The results show that waterflooding followed by earlier polymer flooding can increase the oil recovery factor while the higher injection rate also enhances the recovery. Polymer concentration is related to polymer consumption due to the two main benefits of polymer flooding control described above. Therefore, polymer slug size should be optimized based on polymer concentration. Polymer desorption causes polymer re-employment that is previously adsorbed onto rock surface, resulting in an increase of sweep efficiency in the further period of polymer flooding process. Even though waterflooding supports polymer injectivity, water cut at the producer can prematurely terminate the oil production. The injection rate decreases polymer adsorption due to decreased retention time of polymer flooding process.

Keywords: enhanced oil recovery technology, polymer adsorption and desorption, polymer flooding, reservoir simulation

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Authors: Andres Manuel Garcia Lamparte, Rocio Losada Iglesias, Marcos BoullóN Magan, David Miranda Barros

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The biodiversity strategy of the European Union for 2030, mentions climate change as one of the key factors for biodiversity loss and considers green infrastructure as one of the solutions to this problem. In this line, the European Commission has developed a green infrastructure strategy which commits members states to consider green infrastructure in their territorial planning. This green infrastructure is aimed at granting the provision of a wide number of ecosystem services to support biodiversity and human well-being by countering the effects of climate change. Yet, there are not too many tools available to delimit green infrastructure. The available ones consider the potential of the territory to provide ecosystem services. However, these methods usually aggregate several maps of ecosystem services potential without considering possible trade-offs. This can lead to excluding areas with a high potential for providing ecosystem services which have many trade-offs with other ecosystem services. In order to tackle this problem, a methodology is proposed to consider ecosystem services trade-offs in the objective function of a simulated annealing algorithm aimed at delimiting green infrastructure multifunctional buffer areas. To this end, the provision potential maps of the regulating ecosystem services considered to delimit the multifunctional buffer areas are clustered in groups, so that ecosystem services that create trade-offs are excluded in each group. The normalized provision potential maps of the ecosystem services in each group are added to obtain a potential map per group which is normalized again. Then the potential maps for each group are combined in a raster map that shows the highest provision potential value in each cell. The combined map is then used in the objective function of the simulated annealing algorithm. The algorithm is run both using the proposed methodology and considering the ecosystem services individually. The results are analyzed with spatial statistics and landscape metrics to check the number of ecosystem services that the delimited areas produce, as well as their regularity and compactness. It has been observed that the proposed methodology increases the number of ecosystem services produced by delimited areas, improving their multifunctionality and increasing their effectiveness in preventing climate change impacts.

Keywords: ecosystem services trade-offs, green infrastructure delineation, multifunctional buffer areas, climate change

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Authors: Onyekachi Onwudike, Russell Lock, Iain Phillips

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The variability that exists across governments, her departments and the provisioning of services has been areas of concern in the E-Government domain. There is a need for reuse and integration across government departments which are accompanied by varying degrees of risks and threats. There is also the need for assessment, prevention, preparation, response and recovery when dealing with these risks or threats. The ability of a government to cope with the emerging changes that occur within it is known as resilience. In order to forge ahead with concerted efforts to manage reuse and integration induced risks or threats to governments, the ambiguities contained within resilience must be addressed. Enhancing resilience in the E-Government domain is synonymous with reducing risks governments face with provisioning of services as well as reuse of components across departments. Therefore, it can be said that resilience is responsible for the reduction in government’s vulnerability to changes. In this paper, we present the use of the ontology to measure the resilience of governments. This ontology is made up of a well-defined construct for the taxonomy of resilience. A specific class known as ‘Resilience Requirements’ is added to the ontology. This class embraces the concept of resilience into the E-Government domain ontology. Considering that the E-Government domain is a highly complex one made up of different departments offering different services, the reliability and resilience of the E-Government domain have become more complex and critical to understand. We present questions that can help a government access how prepared they are in the face of risks and what steps can be taken to recover from them. These questions can be asked with the use of queries. The ontology focuses on developing a case study section that is used to explore ways in which government departments can become resilient to the different kinds of risks and threats they may face. A collection of resilience tools and resources have been developed in our ontology to encourage governments to take steps to prepare for emergencies and risks that a government may face with the integration of departments and reuse of components across government departments. To achieve this, the ontology has been extended by rules. We present two tools for understanding resilience in the E-Government domain as a risk analysis target and the output of these tools when applied to resilience in the E-Government domain. We introduce the classification of resilience using the defined taxonomy and modelling of existent relationships based on the defined taxonomy. The ontology is constructed on formal theory and it provides a semantic reference framework for the concept of resilience. Key terms which fall under the purview of resilience with respect to E-Governments are defined. Terms are made explicit and the relationships that exist between risks and resilience are made explicit. The overall aim of the ontology is to use it within standards that would be followed by all governments for government-based resilience measures.

Keywords: E-Government, Ontology, Relationships, Resilience, Risks, Threats

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Authors: Chi-Chang Lin, Jian-Rong Wu, Jiun-Yan Chiu

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Myopia, ubiquitous symptom that is necessary to correct the eyesight by optical lens struggles many people for their daily life. Recent years, younger people raise interesting on using contact lens because of its convenience and aesthetics. In clinical, the risk of eye infections increases owing to the behavior of incorrectly using contact lens unsupervised cleaning which raising the infection risk of cornea, named ocular keratitis. In order to overcome the identification needs, new detection or analysis method with rapid and more accurate identification for clinical microorganism is importantly needed. In our study, we take advantage of Raman spectroscopy having unique fingerprint for different functional groups as the distinct and fast examination tool on microorganism. As we know, Raman scatting signals are normally too weak for the detection, especially in biological field. Here, we applied special SERS enhancement substrates to generate higher Raman signals. SERS filter we designed in this article that prepared by deposition of silver nanoparticles directly onto cellulose filter surface and suspension nanoparticles - gold nanostars (AuNSs) also be introduced together to achieve better enhancement for lower concentration analyte (i.e., various bacteria). Research targets also focusing on studying the shape effect of synthetic AuNSs, needle-like surface morphology may possible creates more hot-spot for getting higher SERS enhance ability. We utilized new designed SERS technology to distinguish the bacteria from ocular keratitis under strain level, and specific Raman and SERS fingerprint were grouped under pattern recognition process. We reported a new method combined different SERS substrates can be applied for clinical microorganism detection under strain level with simple, rapid preparation and low cost. Our presenting SERS technology not only shows the great potential for clinical bacteria detection but also can be used for environmental pollution and food safety analysis.

Keywords: bacteria, gold nanostars, Raman spectroscopy surface-enhanced Raman scattering filter

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Authors: B. Arzhanov, A. Correia, P. Delgado, J. Meireles

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Quad Flat No-Lead (QFN) packages have become very popular for turners, converters and audio amplifiers, among others applications, needing efficient power dissipation in small footprints. Since semiconductor junction temperature (TJ) is a critical parameter in the product quality. And to ensure that die temperature does not exceed the maximum allowable TJ, a thermal analysis conducted in an earlier development phase is essential to avoid repeated re-designs process with huge losses in cost and time. A simulation tool capable to estimate die temperature of components with QFN package was developed. Allow establish a non-empirical way to define an acceptance criterion for amount of voids in solder interface between its exposed pad and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) to be applied during industrialization process, and evaluate the impact of PCB designs parameters. Targeting PCB layout designer as an end user for the application, a user-friendly interface (GUI) was implemented allowing user to introduce design parameters in a convenient and secure way and hiding all the complexity of finite element simulation process. This cost effective tool turns transparent a simulating process and provides useful outputs after acceptable time, which can be adopted by PCB designers, preventing potential risks during the design stage and make product economically efficient by not oversizing it. This article gathers relevant information related to the design and implementation of the developed tool, presenting a parametric study conducted with it. The simulation tool was experimentally validated using a Thermal-Test-Chip (TTC) in a QFN open-cavity, in order to measure junction temperature (TJ) directly on the die under controlled and knowing conditions. Providing a short overview about standard thermal solutions and impacts in exposed pad packages (i.e. QFN), accurately describe the methods and techniques that the system designer should use to achieve optimum thermal performance, and demonstrate the effect of system-level constraints on the thermal performance of the design.

Keywords: QFN packages, exposed pads, junction temperature, thermal management and measurements

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Authors: Eleonora Carloni, Michela Arnaboldi

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In academia, the investigation of the relationship between cultural heritage and corporations is ubiquitous in several fields of studies. In practice corporations are more and more integrating arts and cultural heritage in their strategies for disparate benefits, such as: to foster customer’s purchase intention with authentic and aesthetic experiences, to improve their reputation towards local communities, and to motivate employees with creative thinking. There are diverse forms under which corporations set these artistic interventions, from sponsorships to arts-based training centers for employees, but scholars agree that the maximum expression of this cultural trend are corporate museums, growing in number and relevance. Corporate museums are museum-like settings, hosting artworks of corporations’ history and interests. In academia they have been ascribed as strategic asset and they have been associated with diverse uses for corporations’ benefits, from place for preservation of cultural heritage, to tools for public relations and cultural flagship stores. Previous studies have thus extensively but fragmentally studied the diverse benefits of corporate museum opening to corporations, with a lack of comprehensive approach and a digression on how to evaluate and report corporate museum’s performances. Stepping forward, the present study aims to investigate: 1) what are the key performance measures corporate museums need to report to the associated corporations; 2) how are the key performance measures reported to the concerned corporations. This direction of study is not only suggested as future direction in academia but it has solid basis in practice, aiming to answer to the need of corporate museums’ directors to account for corporate museum’s activities to the concerned corporation. Coherently, at an empirical level the study relies on action research method, whose distinctive feature is to develop practical knowledge through a participatory process. This paper indeed relies on the experience of a collaborative project between the researchers and a set of corporate museums in Italy, aimed at co-developing a performance measurement system. The project involved two steps: a first step, in which researchers derived the potential performance measures from literature along with exploratory interviews; a second step, in which researchers supported the pool of corporate museums’ directors in co-developing a set of key performance indicators for reporting. Preliminary empirical findings show that while scholars insist on corporate museums’ capability to develop networking relations, directors insist on the role of museums as internal supplier of knowledge for innovation goals. Moreover, directors stress museums’ cultural mission and outcomes as potential benefits for corporation, by remarking to include both cultural and business measures in the final tool. In addition, they give relevant attention to the wording used in humanistic terms while struggling to express all measures in economic terms. The paper aims to contribute to corporate museums’ and more broadly to arts-based initiatives’ literature in two directions. Firstly, it elaborates key performance measures with related indicators to report on cultural initiatives for corporations. Secondly, it provides evidence of challenges and practices to handle reporting on these initiatives, because of tensions arising from the co-existence of diverse perspectives, namely arts and business worlds.

Keywords: arts-based initiative, corporate museum, hybrid organization, performance measurement

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Authors: Helena Baffoe

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Context: In the United States, there have been significant advancements in programs aimed at improving the lives of individuals with mental health disorders and substance abuse problems. However, public attitudes and beliefs regarding these issues have not improved correspondingly. This study aims to explore the perceptions and beliefs surrounding mental health disorders and substance abuse in the context of data analytics in the field of social work. Research Aim: The aim of this research is to provide empirical evidence on the beliefs and perceptions regarding mental health disorders and substance abuse. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the question of whether being diagnosed with a mental disorder implies a diagnosis of substance abuse. Additionally, the research aims to analyze the specific roles that social workers can play in addressing individuals with mental disorders. Methodology: This research adopts a data-driven methodology, acquiring comprehensive data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). A noteworthy causal connection between mental disorders and substance abuse exists, a relationship that current literature tends to overlook critically. To address this gap, we applied logistic regression with an Instrumental Variable approach, effectively mitigating potential endogeneity issues in the analysis in order to ensure robust and unbiased results. This methodology allows for a rigorous examination of the relationship between mental disorders and substance abuse. Empirical Findings: The analysis of the data reveals that depressive, anxiety, and trauma/stressor mental disorders are the most common in the United States. However, the study does not find statistically significant evidence to support the notion that being diagnosed with these mental disorders necessarily implies a diagnosis of substance abuse. This suggests that there is a misconception among the public regarding the relationship between mental health disorders and substance abuse. Theoretical Importance: The research contributes to the existing body of literature by providing empirical evidence to challenge prevailing beliefs and perceptions regarding mental health disorders and substance abuse. By using a novel methodological approach and analyzing new US data, the study sheds light on the cultural and social factors that influence these attitudes.

Keywords: mental health disorder, substance abuse, empirical evidence, logistic regression with IV

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Authors: Sarayu Vanga, Jorge Galeano-Cabral, Kaya Wei

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Cerebral hypoxia refers to a condition in which there is a decrease in oxygen supply to the brain. Patients suffering from this condition experience a decrease in their body temperature. While there isn't any cure to treat cerebral hypoxia as of date, certain procedures are utilized to help aid in the treatment of the condition. Regulating the body temperature is an example of one of those procedures. Hypoxia is well known to reduce the body temperature of mammals, although the neural origins of this response remain uncertain. In order to speed recovery from this condition, it is necessary to maintain a stable body temperature. In this study, we present an approach to regulating body temperature for patients who suffer from cerebral hypoxia or other similar conditions. After a thorough literature study, we propose the use of thermoelectric blankets, which are temperature-controlled thermal blankets based on thermoelectric devices. These blankets are capable of heating up and cooling down the patient to stabilize body temperature. This feature is possible through the reversible effect that thermoelectric devices offer while behaving as a thermal sensor, and it is an effective way to stabilize temperature. Thermoelectricity is the direct conversion of thermal to electrical energy and vice versa. This effect is now known as the Seebeck effect, and it is characterized by the Seebeck coefficient. In such a configuration, the device has cooling and heating sides with temperatures that can be interchanged by simply switching the direction of the current input in the system. This design integrates various aspects, including a humidifier, ventilation machine, IV-administered medication, air conditioning, circulation device, and a body temperature regulation system. The proposed design includes thermocouples that will trigger the blanket to increase or decrease a set temperature through a medical temperature sensor. Additionally, the proposed design allows an efficient way to control fluctuations in body temperature while being cost-friendly, with an expected cost of 150 dollars. We are currently working on developing a prototype of the design to collect thermal and electrical data under different conditions and also intend to perform an optimization analysis to improve the design even further. While this proposal was developed for treating cerebral hypoxia, it can also aid in the treatment of other related conditions, as fluctuations in body temperature appear to be a common symptom that patients have for many illnesses.

Keywords: body temperature regulation, cerebral hypoxia, thermoelectric, blanket design

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Authors: Z. Goosen, E. J. Cilliers

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Referring to the entire green network within urban environments, at all spatial scales, green infrastructure is considered as an important constituent of sustainable development within urban areas through planning for a healthy environment and simultaneously improving quality of life for the people. Green infrastructure has made its appearance internationally in terms of the infrastructural urban environment focussing on ecological systems and sustaining society while building with nature. Within South Africa, the terminology of green infrastructure has, however, not continuously been entertained, mainly due to more pressing realities and challenges faced within urban areas of South Africa that include but are not limited to basic service provision, financial constraints and a lack of guiding policies and frameworks. But the notion of green infrastructure planning has changes, creating a newfound movement within urban areas of South Africa encouraging green infrastructure for urban resilience. Although green infrastructure is not an entirely new concept within the local context of South Africa, the benefits thereof constantly needs to be identified in order to measure the value of green infrastructure. Consequently challenges faces within urban areas of South Africa, in terms of human and nature, could be restored through focussing on a sustainable green infrastructure approach. This study does not focus on the pressing challenges and realities faced within urban areas of South Africa but rather aims solely on improving a green infrastructure approach within urban areas of South Africa. At the outset, the study will commence by introducing the concept of a green infrastructure approach by means of a local and international comparison. This will ensure an improved conceptual understanding of green infrastructure within a local South African context. The green infrastructure concept will be elaborated on through the inclusion of South African case study evaluations. The selected case studies will illustrate existing green infrastructure implementation within South Africa along with the benefits provided through the implementation thereof in terms of human (the people) and nature (the natural environment). As green infrastructure within South Africa continues to remain a fairly new concept with moderate levels of implementation thereof, room for improving on the approach in terms of implementation and maintenance exist. For this reason, the study will conclude with alternative green infrastructure suggestions and approaches to possibly be enforced within South Africa, led by international best practices.

Keywords: green infrastructure, international best practices, sustainability, urban South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Svetlana Guryeva, Inna Kornienko, Andrey Usanov, Dmitry Usanov, Elena Petersen

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Every day cells in our organism are exposed to various factors: chemical agents, reactive oxygen species, ionizing radiation, and others. These factors can cause damage to DNA, cellular membrane, intracellular compartments, and proteins. The fate of cells depends on the exposure intensity and duration. The prolonged and intense exposure causes the irreversible damage accumulation, which triggers the permanent cell cycle arrest (cellular senescence) or cell death programs. In the case of low dose of impacts, it can lead to cell renovation and to cell functional state improvement. Therefore, it is a pivotal question to investigate the factors and doses that result in described positive effects. In order to estimate the influence of different agents, the proliferation index and levels of cell death markers (annexin V/propidium iodide), senescence-associated β-galactosidase, and lipofuscin were measured. The experiments were conducted on primary human fibroblasts of the 8th passage. According to the levels of mentioned markers, these cells were defined as senescent cells. The effect of low-frequency magnetic field was investigated. Different modes of magnetic field exposure were tested. The physical agents were compared with chemical agents: metformin (10 mM) and taurine (0.8 mM and 1.6 mM). Cells were incubating with chemicals for 5 days. The highest decrease in the level of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (21%) and lipofuscin (17%) was observed in the primary senescent fibroblasts after 5 days after double treatments with 48 h intervals with low-frequency magnetic field. There were no significant changes in the proliferation index after magnetic field application. The cytotoxic effect of magnetic field was not observed. The chemical agent taurine (1.6 mM) decreased the level of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (23%) and lipofuscin (22%). Metformin improved the activity of senescence-associated β-galactosidase on 15% and the level of lipofuscin on 19% in this experiment. According to these results, the effect of double treatment with 48 h interval with low-frequency magnetic field and the effect of taurine (1.6 mM) were comparable to the effect of metformin, for which anti-aging properties are proved. In conclusion, this study can become the first step towards creation of the standardized system for the investigation of different effects on senescent cells.

Keywords: biomarkers, magnetic field, metformin, primary fibroblasts, senescence, taurine

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Authors: I. Gupta, C. Kathpal

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Introduction: Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he cannot afford to lose. Work life balance is a contested term on which researchers have begun to study in 1960s. Work-life balance refers to how people allocate time between their jobs and other pursuits, such as family, hobbies, and community involvement and includes the mental health fitness of the employees so that the future goal of organization to sustain the employees and earning profits can be achieved. Every organization primarily involves making a parity between the employees' work and their personal life by contributing the maximum. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the present study is to examine the impact of work-life balance as well as employee satisfaction on the organizational performance by evaluating the inter-related factors in order to maintain the healthy growth of concerns. Materials and Methods: To realize the aim of the study, an unstructured questionnaire, as well as face to face interview, was conducted from 100 persons which consisted majority of male members of top as well as middle level positions in the various organizations. The prime source of data collection was primary; however, the study has also used the theoretical contribution done in this respective field by various researchers. Results: Majority of the respondents were males(80%) from age group of 25-45. The collected data was analyzed through hypothesis testing statistical techniques such as correlation analysis, single regression analysis and ANOVA which has rejected the null hypothesis that there is no relation between work-life interface and organizational performance. The major finding of this study is that work-life balance is directly related to the organizations performance. The results show that the organization which works on the employee satisfaction earns more. Along with, there is a reduction of turnout rates, absenteeism, moreover, enhancement of productivity as well as revenue of corporations. Conclusion: The present study reflects that the disparity in the work-life balance gives invitation to many disorders either mental or physical which leads the dearth in performance. As a result, not only employees, however, organizations also suffers which is clearly shown in the interviews conducted face to face with employees. The study is not targeting the particular class of audience; however, it brings out benefits to the masses.

Keywords: work-life balance, performance, culture, organization, satisfaction

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Authors: Hussam Ashwi, Magbool Oraiby, Ali Muyidi, Hamad Al-Oufi, Mohammed Al-Oufi, Adel Al-Juhani, Salman Al-Zemaa, Saeed Al-Shahrani, Amal Abuallah, Wedad Sherwani, Mohammed Alattas, Ibraheem Attafi

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Ethanol must be accurately identified and quantified to establish their use and contribution in criminal cases and forensic medicine. In some situations, it may be necessary to reanalyze an old specimen; therefore, it is essential to comprehend the effect of storage conditions and how long the result of a reanalyzed specimen can be reliable and reproducible. Additionally, ethanol can be produced via multiple in vivo and in vitro processes, particularly in diabetic patients, and the results can be affected by storage conditions and time. In order to distinguish between in vivo and in vitro alcohol generation in diabetes patient urine samples, various factors should be considered. This study identifies and quantifies ethanol and EtG in diabetic patients' urine samples stored in two different settings over time. Ethanol levels were determined using gas chromatography-headspace (GC-HS), and ethyl glucuronide (EtG) levels were determined using the immunoassay (RANDOX) technique. Ten urine specimens were collected and placed in a standard container. Each specimen was separated into two containers. The specimens were divided into two groups: those kept at room temperature (25 °C) and those kept cold (2-8 °C). Ethanol and EtG levels were determined serially over a two-week period. Initial results showed that none of the specimens tested positive for ethanol or EtG. At room temperature (15-25 °C), 7 and 14 days after the sample was taken, the average concentration of ethanol increased from 1.7 mg/dL to 2 mg/dL, and the average concentration of EtG increased from 108 ng/mL to 186 ng/mL. At 2–8 °C, the average ethanol concentration was 0.4 and 0.5 mg/dL, and the average EtG concentration was 138 and 124 ng/mL seven and fourteen days after the sample was collected, respectively. When ethanol and EtG levels were determined 14 days post collection, they were considerably lower than when stored at room temperature. A considerable increase in EtG concentrations (14-day range 0–186 ng/mL) is produced during room-temperature storage, although negative initial results for all specimens. Because EtG might be produced after a sampling collection, it is not a reliable indicator of recent alcohol consumption. Given the possibility of misleading EtG results due to in vitro EtG production in the urine of diabetic patients.

Keywords: ethyl glucuronide, ethanol, forensic toxicology, diabetic

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Authors: Sonia Arradaza-Pajaron

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This study examined the relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and self-efficacy (SE) of academic heads in the implementation of a customized English language curriculum (CELC) among technological state universities and colleges in Leyte provinces and Biliran, Philippines. Results manifested that academic leaders practiced transformational leadership and are self-efficacious enough but with only moderate level in the effectiveness of CELC implementation. It was found out; further, that of the four identified transformational leadership components, except idealized influence, three of which demonstrated a significant relationship with CELC component variables, although in varying degree. Moreover, self-efficacy sources, especially vicarious experiences and verbal persuasion manifested moderate to high significant relationships with effective CELC curriculum implementation. Further, verbal persuasion and physiological/emotional condition manifested significant relationship with CELC-resource and CELC-contextual/community influence, respectively. Regression analysis showed that TL-individualized consideration component explained wider extent when correlated with CELC contextual/community components, while self-efficacy source-verbal persuasion demonstrated a wider extent with the three CELC components, namely; resource, process and physiological/emotional condition. Results further revealed that TL-individualized consideration manifested lesser influence with CELC implementation, while SE-verbal persuasion demonstrated stronger influence or effect on CELC-process, CELC-physiological/emotional, while lesser influence with CELC-resource. This implies that academic leaders, in order to carry out effective curriculum implementation, should provide more emphasis on school culture, its beliefs, practices and academic atmosphere but most of all empower human resources who are considered the backbone of the work place and can be directly affected by any curriculum shifts and challenges. To realize this, more values-skilled training programs must be designed for academic heads are needed to equip them with the necessary leadership skills, beliefs in their capacity to lead and their own enhance emotional well-being in leading subordinates and facilitating curriculum implementation.

Keywords: Customized English Language curriculum, CELC, self-efficacy, transformational leadership, values-skilled training

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Authors: Tomohiko Utsuki

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Currently, brain resuscitation becomes increasingly important due to revising various clinical guidelines pertinent to emergency care. In brain resuscitation, the control of brain temperature (BT), intracranial pressure (ICP), and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is required for stabilizing physiological state of brain, and is described as the essential treatment points in many guidelines of disorder and/or disease such as brain injury, stroke, and encephalopathy. Thus, an integrated control system of BT, ICP, and CBF will greatly contribute to alleviating the burden on medical staff and improving treatment effect in brain resuscitation. In order to develop such a control system, models related to BT, ICP, and CBF are required for control simulation, because trial and error experiments using patients are not ethically allowed. A static model of cerebral blood circulation from intracranial arteries and vertebral artery to jugular veins has already constructed and verified. However, it is impossible to represent the pooling of blood in blood vessels, which is one cause of cerebral hypertension in this model. And, it is also impossible to represent the pulsing motion of blood vessels caused by blood pressure change which can have an affect on the change of cerebral tissue pressure. Thus, a dynamic model of cerebral blood circulation is constructed in consideration of the elasticity of the blood vessel and the inertia of the blood vessel wall. The constructed dynamic model was numerically analyzed using the normal data, in which each arterial blood flow in cerebral blood circulation, the distribution of blood pressure in the Circle of Willis, and the change of blood pressure along blood flow were calculated for verifying against physiological knowledge. As the result, because each calculated numerical value falling within the generally known normal range, this model has no problem in representing at least the normal physiological state of the brain. It is the next task to verify the accuracy of the present model in the case of disease or disorder. Currently, the construction of a migration model of extracellular fluid and a model of heat transfer in cerebral tissue are in progress for making them parts of an integrated model of brain physiological state, which is necessary for developing an future integrated control system of BT, ICP and CBF. The present model is applicable to constructing the integrated model representing at least the normal condition of brain physiological state by uniting with such models.

Keywords: dynamic model, cerebral blood circulation, brain resuscitation, automatic control

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Authors: Amin Karimi, Lele Zhang, Mark Fackrell

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Rural-to-urban population migrations are a global phenomenon, with projections indicating that by 2050, 68% of the world's population will inhabit densely populated urban centers. Concurrently, the popularity of e-commerce shopping has surged, evidenced by a 51% increase in total e-commerce sales from 2017 to 2021. Consequently, distribution and logistics systems, integral to effective supply chain management, confront escalating hurdles in efficiently delivering and distributing products within bustling urban environments. Additionally, events like environmental challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic have indicated that decision-makers are facing numerous sources of uncertainty. Therefore, to design an efficient and reliable logistics system, uncertainty must be considered. In this study, it examine fleet sizing and routing while considering uncertainty in demand rate. Fleet sizing is typically a strategic-level decision, while routing is an operational-level one. In this study, a carrier must make two types of decisions: strategic-level decisions regarding the number and types of drones to be purchased, and operational-level decisions regarding planning routes based on available fleet and realized demand. If the available fleets are insufficient to serve some customers, the carrier must outsource that delivery at a relatively high cost, calculated per order. With this hierarchy of decisions, it can model the problem using two-stage stochastic programming. The first-stage decisions involve planning the number and type of drones to be purchased, while the second-stage decisions involve planning routes. To solve this model, it employ logic-based benders decomposition, which decomposes the problem into a master problem and a set of sub-problems. The master problem becomes a mixed integer programming model to find the best fleet sizing decisions, and the sub-problems become capacitated vehicle routing problems considering battery status. Additionally, it assume a heterogeneous fleet based on load and battery capacity, and it consider that battery health deteriorates over time as it plan for multiple periods.

Keywords: drone-delivery, stochastic demand, VRP, fleet sizing

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Authors: Wei-Kuang Liu, Ya-Hsu Chiang

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In the coming of an aging society, the issues of living quality, health care, and social security for the elderly have been gradually taken seriously. In order to maintain favorable living condition, urban societies are also facing the challenge of disasters caused by extreme climate change. However, in the practice of disaster prevention, elderly people are always weak due to their physiological conditions. That is to say, in the planning of resilient urbanism, the aging society is relatively in need of more care. Thus, this research aims to map areas where have high-density elderly population and fragile environmental condition in Taiwan, and to understand the actual situation of disaster prevention management in these areas, so as to provide suggestions for the development of intellectual resilient urban management. The research takes the cities of Taoyuan and Taichung as examples for explorations. According to GIS mapping of areas with high aging index, high-density population and high flooding potential, the communities of Sihai and Fuyuan in Taoyuan and the communities of Taichang and Nanshih in Taichung are highlighted. In these communities, it can be found that there are more elderly population and less labor population with high-density living condition. In addition, they are located in the areas where they have experienced severe flooding in the recent past. Based on a series of interviews with community organizations, there is only one community out of the four using flood information mobile app and Line messages for the management of disaster prevention, and the others still rely on the traditional approaches that manage the works of disaster prevention by their community security patrol teams and community volunteers. The interview outcome shows that most elderly people are not interested in learning the use of intellectual devices. Therefore, this research suggests to keep doing the GIS mapping of areas with high aging index, high-density population and high flooding potential for grasping the high-risk communities and to help develop smart monitor and forecast systems for disaster prevention practice in these areas. Based on case-study explorations, the research also advises that it is important to develop easy-to-use bottom-up and two-way immediate communication mechanism for the management of aging society’s disaster prevention.

Keywords: aging society, disaster prevention, GIS, resilient, Taiwan

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Authors: Bensaid A., Mostephaoui T., Nedjai R.

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Nowadays, wetlands are the subject of contradictory debates opposing scientific, political and administrative meanings. Indeed, given their multiple services (drinking water, irrigation, hydrological regulation, mineral, plant and animal resources...), wetlands concentrate many socio-economic and biodiversity issues. In some regions, they can cover vast areas (>100 thousand ha) of the landscape, such as the Camargue area in the south of France, inside the Rhone delta. The high biological productivity of wetlands, the strong natural selection pressures and the diversity of aquatic environments have produced many species of plants and animals that are found nowhere else. These environments are tremendous carbon sinks and biodiversity reserves depending on their age, composition and surrounding environmental conditions, wetlands play an important role in global climate projections. Covering more than 3% of the earth's surface, wetlands have experienced since the beginning of the 1990s a tremendous revival of interest, which has resulted in the multiplication of inventories, scientific studies and management experiments. The geographical and physical characteristics of the wetlands of the central region conceal a large number of natural habitats that harbour a great biological diversity. These wetlands, one of the natural habitats, are still influenced by human activities, especially agriculture, which affects its layout and functioning. In this perspective, decision-makers need to delimit spatial objects (natural habitats) in a certain way to be able to take action. Thus, wetlands are no exception to this rule even if it seems to be a difficult exercise to delimit a type of environment as whose main characteristic is often to occupy the transition between aquatic and terrestrial environment. However, it is possible to map wetlands with databases, derived from the interpretation of photos and satellite images, such as the European database Corine Land cover, which allows quantifying and characterizing for each place the characteristic wetland types. Scientific studies have shown limitations when using high spatial resolution images (SPOT, Landsat, ASTER) for the identification and characterization of small wetlands (1 hectare). To address this limitation, it is important to note that these wetlands generally represent spatially complex features. Indeed, the use of very high spatial resolution images (>3m) is necessary to map small and large areas. However, with the recent evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning methods for satellite image processing have shown a much better performance compared to traditional processing based only on pixel structures. Our research work is also based on spectral and textural analysis on THR images (Spot and IRC orthoimage) using two object-oriented approaches, the nearest neighbour approach (k-NN) and the Super Vector Machine approach (SVM). The k-NN approach gave good results for the delineation of wetlands (wet marshes and moors, ponds, artificial wetlands water body edges, ponds, mountain wetlands, river edges and brackish marshes) with a kappa index higher than 85%.

Keywords: land development, GIS, sand dunes, segmentation, remote sensing

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Authors: Eva L. Suarez, Daniel E. Meeroff, Yan Yong

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Current flooding risk modeling focuses on resilience, defined as the probability of recovery from a severe flooding event. However, the long-term damage to property and well-being by nuisance flooding and its long-term effects on communities are not typically included in risk assessments. An approach was developed to address the probability of recovering from a severe flooding event combined with the probability of community performance during a nuisance event. A consolidated model, namely the conflation flooding recovery (&FR) model, evaluates risk-coping mitigation strategies for communities based on the recovery time from catastrophic events, such as hurricanes or extreme surges, and from everyday nuisance flooding events. The &FR model assesses the variation contribution of each independent input and generates a weighted output that favors the distribution with minimum variation. This approach is especially useful if the input distributions have dissimilar variances. The &FR is defined as a single distribution resulting from the product of the individual probability density functions. The resulting conflated distribution resides between the parent distributions, and it infers the recovery time required by a community to return to basic functions, such as power, utilities, transportation, and civil order, after a flooding event. The &FR model is more accurate than averaging individual observations before calculating the mean and variance or averaging the probabilities evaluated at the input values, which assigns the same weighted variation to each input distribution. The main disadvantage of these traditional methods is that the resulting measure of central tendency is exactly equal to the average of the input distribution’s means without the additional information provided by each individual distribution variance. When dealing with exponential distributions, such as resilience from severe flooding events and from nuisance flooding events, conflation results are equivalent to the weighted least squares method or best linear unbiased estimation. The combination of severe flooding risk with nuisance flooding improves flood risk management for highly populated coastal communities, such as in South Florida, USA, and provides a method to estimate community flood recovery time more accurately from two different sources, severe flooding events and nuisance flooding events.

Keywords: community resilience, conflation, flood risk, nuisance flooding

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Authors: Ramona-Niculina Jurcau, Ioana-Marieta Jurcau

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Background: Preparing in the stress field (SF) is, increasingly, a concern for doctors of different specialties. Aims: The aim was to evaluate the importance of an e-learning program for doctors postgraduate courses, in SF. Methods: Doctors (n= 40 male, 40 female) of different specialties and ages (31-71 years), who attended postgraduate courses in SF, voluntarily responded to a questionnaire that included the following themes: Importance of SF courses for specialty practiced by each respondent doctor (using visual analogue scale, VAS); What SF themes would be indicated as e-learning (EL); Preferred form of SF information assimilation: Classical lectures (CL), EL or a combination of these methods (CL+EL); Which information on the SF course are facilitated by EL model versus CL; In their view which are the first four advantages and the first four disadvantages of EL compared to CL, for SF. Results: To most respondents, the SF courses are important for the specialty they practiced (VAS by an average of 4). The SF themes suggested to be done as EL were: Stress mechanisms; stress factor models for different medical specialties; stress assessment methods; primary stress management methods for different specialties. Preferred form of information assimilation was CL+EL. Aspects of the course facilitated by EL versus CL model: Active reading of theoretical information, with fast access to keywords details; watching documentaries in everyone's favorite order; practice through tests and the rapid control of results. The first four EL advantages, mentioned for SF were: Autonomy in managing the time allocated to the study; saving time for traveling to the venue; the ability to read information in various contexts of time and space; communication with colleagues, in good times for everyone. The first three EL disadvantages, mentioned for SF were: It decreases capabilities for group discussion and mobilization for active participation; EL information accession may depend on electrical source or/and Internet; learning slowdown can appear, by temptation of postponing the implementation. Answering questions was partially influenced by the respondent's age and genre. Conclusions: 1) Post-graduate courses in SF are of interest to doctors of different specialties. 2) The majority of participating doctors preferred EL, but combined with CL (CL+EL). 3) Preference for EL was manifested mainly by young or middle age men doctors. 4) It is important to balance the proper formula for chosen EL, to be the most efficient, interesting, useful and agreeable.

Keywords: stress field, doctors’ postgraduate courses, classical lectures, e-learning lecture

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Authors: Keping Zuo, Foad Kabinejadian, Gideon Praveen Kumar Vijayakumar, Fangsen Cui, Pei Ho, Hwa Liang Leo

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Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is the standard procedure for patients with severe carotid stenosis at high risk for carotid endarterectomy (CAE). A major drawback of CAS is the higher incidence of procedure-related stroke compared with traditional open surgical treatment for carotid stenosis - CEA, even with the use of the embolic protection devices (EPD). As the currently available bare metal stents cannot address this problem, our research group developed a novel preferential covered-stent for carotid artery aims to prevent friable fragments of atherosclerotic plaques from flowing into the cerebral circulation, and yet maintaining the flow of the external carotid artery. The preliminary animal studies have demonstrated the potential of this novel covered-stent design for the treatment of carotid atherosclerotic stenosis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of membrane coating on the stent flexibility in order to improve the clinical performance of our novel covered stents. A total of 21 stents were evaluated in this study: 15 self expanding bare nitinol stents and 6 PTFE-covered stents. 10 of the bare stents were coated with 11%, 16% and 22% Polyurethane(PU), 4%, 6.25% and 11% EE, as well as 22% PU plus 5 μm Parylene. Different laser cutting designs were performed on 4 of the PTFE covert stents. All the stents, with or without the covered membrane, were subjected to a three-point flexural test. The stents were placed on two supports that are 30 mm apart, and the actuator is applying a force in the exact middle of the two supports with a loading pin with radius 2.5 mm. The loading pin displacement change, the force and the variation in stent shape were recorded for analysis. The flexibility of the stents was evaluated by the lumen area preservation at three displacement bending levels: 5mm, 7mm, and 10mm. All the lumen areas in all stents decreased with the increase of the displacement from 0 to 10 mm. The bare stents were able to maintain 0.864 ± 0.015, 0.740 ± 0.025 and 0.597 ± 0.031of original lumen area at 5 mm, 7 mm and 10mm displacement respectively. For covered stents, the stents with EE coating membrane showed the best lumen area preservation (0.839 ± 0.005, 0.7334 ± 0.043 and 0.559 ± 0.014), whereas, the stents with PU and Parylene coating were only 0.662, 0.439 and 0.305. Bending stiffness was also calculated and compared. These results provided optimal material information and it was crucial for enhancing clinical performance of our novel covered stents.

Keywords: carotid artery, covered stent, nonlinear, hyperelastic, stress, strain

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Authors: Rafal Sochaczewski, Marcin Szlachetka, Miroslaw Wendeker

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Increasing requirements to reduce exhaust emissions and fuel consumption while increasing the power factor is increasingly becoming applicable to internal combustion engines intended for aircraft applications. As a result, intensive research work is underway to develop a diesel-powered unit for aircraft propulsion. Due to a number of advantages, such as lack of the head (lower heat loss) and timing system, opposite movement of pistons conducive to balancing the engine, the two-stroke compression-ignition engine with the opposite pistons has been developed and upgraded. Of course, such construction also has drawbacks. The main one is the necessity of using a gear connecting two crankshafts or a complicated crank system with one shaft. The peculiarity of the arrangement of pistons with sleeves, as well as the fulfillment of rigorous requirements, makes it necessary to apply the most modern technologies and constructional solutions. In the case of the fuel supply system, it was decided to use common rail system elements. The paper presents an analysis of the possibility of using a common rail pump to supply an aircraft compression-ignition engine. It is an engine with a two-stroke cycle, three cylinders, opposing pistons, and 100 kW power. Each combustion chamber is powered by two injectors controlled by electromagnetic valves. In order to assess the possibility of using a common rail pump, four high-pressure pumps were tested on a bench. They are piston pumps differing in the number and geometry of the pumping sections. The analysis included the torque on the pump drive shaft and the power needed to drive the pump depending on the rotational speed, pumping pressure and fuel dispenser settings. The research allowed to optimize the engine power supply system depending on the fuel demand and the way the pump is mounted on the engine. Acknowledgment: This work has been realized in the cooperation with The Construction Office of WSK ‘PZL-KALISZ’ S.A.’ and is part of Grant Agreement No. POIR.01.02.00-00-0002/15 financed by the Polish Nation-al Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: diesel engine, fuel pump, opposing pistons, two-stroke

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Authors: Antoinette Maarawi, Zoe Anxionnaz-Minvielle, Pierre Coste, Nathalie Di Miceli Raimondi, Michel Cabassud

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Milli-structured heat exchanger/reactors have been recently widely used, especially in the chemical industry, due to their enhanced performances in heat and mass transfer compared to conventional apparatuses. In our work, the ‘DeanHex’ heat exchanger/reactor with a 2D-meandering channel is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The square cross-sectioned channel has a hydraulic diameter of 2mm. The aim of our study is to model local physico-chemical phenomena (heat and mass transfer, axial dispersion, etc.) for a liquid-liquid two-phase flow in our lab-scale meandering channel, which represents the central part of the heat exchanger/reactor design. The numerical approach of the reactor is based on a 1D model for the flow channel encapsulated in a 3D model for the surrounding solid, using COMSOL Multiphysics V5.5. The use of the 1D approach to model the milli-channel reduces significantly the calculation time compared to 3D approaches, which are generally focused on local effects. Our 1D/3D approach intends to bridge the gap between the simulation at a small scale and the simulation at the reactor scale at a reasonable CPU cost. The heat transfer process between the 1D milli-channel and its 3D surrounding is modeled. The feasibility of this 1D/3D coupling was verified by comparing simulation results to experimental ones originated from two previous works. Temperature profiles along the channel axis obtained by simulation fit the experimental profiles for both cases. The next step is to integrate the liquid-liquid mass transfer model and to validate it with our experimental results. The hydrodynamics of the liquid-liquid two-phase system is modeled using the ‘mixture model approach’. The mass transfer behavior is represented by an overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient ‘kLa’ correlation obtained from our experimental results in the millimetric size meandering channel. The present work is a first step towards the scale-up of our ‘DeanHex’ expecting future industrialization of such equipment. Therefore, a generalized scaled-up model of the reactor comprising all the transfer processes will be built in order to predict the performance of the reactor in terms of conversion rate and energy efficiency at an industrial scale.

Keywords: liquid-liquid mass transfer, milli-structured reactor, 1D/3D model, process intensification

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Authors: Sharon Q. Yang, Robert J. Congleton

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Information security is a broad concept that covers any issues and concerns about the proper access and use of information on the Internet, including measures and procedures to protect intellectual property and private data from illegal access and online theft; the act of hacking; and any defensive technologies that contest such cybercrimes. As more research and commercial activities are conducted online, cybercrimes have increased significantly, putting sensitive information at risk. Information security has become critically important for organizations and private citizens alike. Hackers scan for network vulnerabilities on the Internet and steal data whenever they can. Cybercrimes disrupt our daily life, cause financial losses, and instigate fear in the public. Since the start of the pandemic, most data related cybercrimes targets have been either financial or health information from companies and organizations. Libraries also should have a high interest in understanding and adopting information security methods to protect their patron data and copyrighted materials. But according to information security professionals, higher education and cultural organizations, including their libraries, are the least prepared entities for cyberattacks. One recent example is that of Steven’s Institute of Technology in New Jersey in the US, which had its network hacked in 2020, with the hackers demanding a ransom. As a result, the network of the college was down for two months, causing serious financial loss. There are other cases where libraries, colleges, and universities have been targeted for data breaches. In order to build an effective defense, we need to understand the most common types of cybercrimes, including phishing, whaling, social engineering, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, malware and ransomware, and hacker profiles. Our research will focus on each hacking technique and related defense measures; and the social background and reasons/purpose of hacker and hacking. Our research shows that hacking techniques will continue to evolve as new applications, housing information, and data on the Internet continue to be developed. Some cybercrimes can be stopped with effective measures, while others present challenges. It is vital that people understand what they face and the consequences when not prepared.

Keywords: cybercrimes, hacking technologies, higher education, information security, libraries

Procedia PDF Downloads 114