Search results for: energy life cycle assessment

Authors: Ayman M. Mansour, Bilal Hawashin, Hesham Alsalem

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Faster delivery of laboratory test results is one of the most noticeable signs of good laboratory service and is often used as a key performance indicator of laboratory performance. Despite the availability of technology, the delivery time of clinical laboratory test results continues to be a cause of customer dissatisfaction which makes patients feel frustrated and they became careless to get their laboratory test results. The Medical Clinical Laboratory test results are highly sensitive and could harm patients especially with the severe case if they deliver in wrong time. Such results affect the treatment done by physicians if arrived at correct time efforts should, therefore, be made to ensure faster delivery of lab test results by utilizing new trusted, Robust and fast system. In this paper, we proposed a distributed Multi-Agent System to enhance and faster the process of laboratory test results delivery using SMS. The developed system relies on SMS messages because of the wide availability of GSM network comparing to the other network. The software provides the capability of knowledge sharing between different units and different laboratory medical centers. The system was built using java programming. To implement the proposed system we had many possible techniques. One of these is to use the peer-to-peer (P2P) model, where all the peers are treated equally and the service is distributed among all the peers of the network. However, for the pure P2P model, it is difficult to maintain the coherence of the network, discover new peers and ensure security. Also, security is a quite important issue since each node is allowed to join the network without any control mechanism. We thus take the hybrid P2P model, a model between the Client/Server model and the pure P2P model using GSM technology through SMS messages. This model satisfies our need. A GUI has been developed to provide the laboratory staff with the simple and easy way to interact with the system. This system provides quick response rate and the decision is faster than the manual methods. This will save patients life.

Keywords: multi-agent system, delivery process, GSM technology, clinical laboratory results

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Authors: Shweta Hoyani, Charlie Oommen

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HAN-based liquid propellants are perceived as potential substitute for hydrazine in space propulsion. Storage stability for long service life in orbit is one of the key concerns for HAN-based monopropellants because of its reactivity with metallic and non-metallic impurities which could entrain from the surface of fuel tanks and the tubes. The end result of this reactivity directly affects the handling, performance and storability of the liquid propellant. Gaseous products resulting from the decomposition of the propellant can lead to deleterious pressure build up in storage vessels. The partial loss of an energetic component can change the ignition and the combustion behavior and alter the performance of the thruster. The effect of largely plausible metals- iron, copper, chromium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, titanium and cadmium on the thermal decomposition mechanism of HAN has been investigated in this context. Studies involving different concentrations of metal ions and HAN at different preheat temperatures have been carried out. Effect of metal ions on the decomposition behavior of HAN has been studied earlier in the context of use of HAN as gun propellant. However the current investigation pertains to the decomposition mechanism of HAN in the context of use of HAN as monopropellant for space propulsion. Decomposition onset temperature, rate of weight loss, heat of reaction were studied using DTA- TGA and total pressure rise and rate of pressure rise during decomposition were evaluated using an in-house built constant volume batch reactor. Besides, reaction mechanism and product profile were studied using TGA-FTIR setup. Iron and copper displayed the maximum reaction. Initial results indicate that iron and copper shows sensitizing effect at concentrations as low as 50 ppm with 60% HAN solution at 80°C. On the other hand 50 ppm zinc does not display any effect on the thermal decomposition of even 90% HAN solution at 80°C.

Keywords: hydroxylammonium nitrate, monopropellant, reaction mechanism, thermal stability

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Authors: Umair Ahmed, Muhammad Bin Irfan

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This study focuses on designing and optimization of an alkaline water electrolyser for the production of green hydrogen. The aim is to enhance the durability and efficiency of this technology while simultaneously reducing the cost associated with the production of green hydrogen. The experimental results obtained from the alkaline water electrolyser are compared with simulated results using Aspen Plus software, allowing a comprehensive analysis and evaluation. To achieve the aforementioned goals, several design and operational parameters are investigated. The electrode material, electrolyte concentration, and operating conditions are carefully selected to maximize the efficiency and durability of the electrolyser. Additionally, cost-effective materials and manufacturing techniques are explored to decrease the overall production cost of green hydrogen. The experimental setup includes a carefully designed alkaline water electrolyser, where various performance parameters (such as hydrogen production rate, current density, and voltage) are measured. These experimental results are then compared with simulated data obtained using Aspen Plus software. The simulation model is developed based on fundamental principles and validated against the experimental data. The comparison between experimental and simulated results provides valuable insight into the performance of an alkaline water electrolyser. It helps to identify the areas where improvements can be made, both in terms of design and operation, to enhance the durability and efficiency of the system. Furthermore, the simulation results allow cost analysis providing an estimate of the overall production cost of green hydrogen. This study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of alkaline water electrolysis technology. The findings of this research can contribute to the development of more efficient and durable electrolyser technology while reducing the cost associated with this technology. Ultimately, these advancements can pave the way for a more sustainable and economically viable hydrogen economy.

Keywords: sustainable development, green energy, green hydrogen, electrolysis technology

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Authors: Neo Mohlabane

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-- Feminists across various contexts have written extensively on the subject of ‘Woman.’ Recently the question of difference; to account for the cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity among women themselves has become a highly contested issue in feminist theories. Tensions have ensued where ‘western feminisms’ have been criticized for bias that is embedded in the objectification of ‘different’ women often regarded as ‘other’; traditional, therefore inferior. Thus, it is argued that womanhood; a set of socially defined attributes appropriate for women, holds different meanings depending on the context in which it is defined. Drawing on decolonial feminist approaches, this qualitative study explored the constructions of ‘womanhood’ from the perspective of unmarried Basotho women in Lesotho, where womanhood is predominantly defined in marital terms. Through the narrated life-stories of twenty unmarried Basotho women, the study revealed that as opposed to the ‘traditional’ definition that accounts for a single attribute woman as ‘wife,’ unmarried Basotho women defined ‘womanhood’ in different ways that deconstructed fixed gendered categories. The women drew meaning from their past personal experiences of childhood to construct and re-construct womanhood in adulthood. By transforming their embodied experiences of hardship and sorrow into valuable constructs with which they self-evaluated as resilient and perseverant, the women constructed a base for self-affirmation as woman. In addition, the women anchored their constructions and reconstructions of woman by transforming the meanings attached to the realms of respectability, sexuality and motherhood. Thus, to the question; what is a Woman? In part, the study concluded that there is no such thing as a ‘unitary’ definition of womanhood, instead Mosotho womanhood has always been and will always be in a state of flux; bearing multiplicity and complexity. This study highlights the need to exercise caution when using western concepts to understand the experiences of women in local African contexts. In order to decolonize feminist scholarship, African feminisms need to re-construct conceptual and theoretical frameworks appropriate for analyzing and understanding gender issues in African contexts.

Keywords: decoloniality, feminism, Lesotho, womanhood

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Authors: Thomas Wetere

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (COVID-19) virus infection is a severe infectious disease with the highly transmissible variant, which become the global public health treat now. It has taken the life of more than 4 million people so far. What makes the disease the worst of all is no specific effective treatment available, its dynamics is not much researched and understood. Methodology: To end the global COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of multiple population-wide strategies, including vaccination, environmental factors, Government action, testing, and contact tracing, is required. In this article, a new mathematical model incorporating both temperature and government action to study the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic has been developed and comprehensively analysed. The model considers eight stages of infection: susceptible (S), infected Asymptomatic and Undetected(IAU ), infected Asymptomatic and detected(IAD), infected symptomatic and Undetected(ISU ), infected Symptomatic and detected(ISD), Hospitalized or threatened(H), Recovered(R) and Died(D). Results: The existence as well as non-negativity of the solution to the model is also verified, and the basic reproduction number is calculated. Besides, stability conditions are also checked, and finally, simulation results are compared with real data. The results demonstrates that effective government action will need to be combined with vaccination to end the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Vaccination and Government action are highly the crucial measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, as the cost of vaccination might be high, we recommend an optimal control to reduce the cost and number of infected individuals. Moreover, in order to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, through the analysis of the model, the government must strictly manage the policy on COVID-19 and carry it out. This, in turn, helps for health campaigning and raising health literacy which plays a role to control the quick spread of the disease. We finally strongly believe that our study will play its own role in the current effort of controlling the pandemic.

Keywords: modeling, COVID-19, MCMC, stability

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Authors: T. Marinaci, C. Venuleo

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Different conceptualizations of disease affect patient care. This study aims to address this gap. It explores how health professionals conceptualize gambling problem, addiction and the goals of recovery process. In-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with Italian psychologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners, and support staff (N= 114), working within health centres for the treatment of addiction (public health services or therapeutic communities) or medical offices. A Lexical Correspondence Analysis (LCA) was applied to the verbatim transcripts. LCA allowed to identify two main factorial dimensions, which organize similarity and dissimilarity in the discourses of the interviewed. The first dimension labelled 'Models of relationship with the problem', concerns two different models of relationship with the health problem: one related to the request for help and the process of taking charge and the other related to the identification of the psychopathology underlying the disorder. The second dimension, labelled 'Organisers of the intervention' reflects the dialectic between two ways to address the problem. On the one hand, they are the gambling dynamics and its immediate life-consequences to organize the intervention (whatever the request of the user is); on the other hand, they are the procedures and the tools which characterize the health service to organize the way the professionals deal with the user’ s problem (whatever it is and despite the specify of the user’s request). The results highlight how, despite the differences, the respondents share a central assumption: understanding gambling problem implies the reference to the gambler’s identity, more than, for instance, to the relational, social, cultural or political context where the gambler lives. A passive stance is attributed to the user, who does not play any role in the definition of the goal of the intervention. The results will be discussed to highlight the relationship between professional models and users’ ways to understand and deal with the problems related to gambling.

Keywords: cultural models, health professionals, intervention models, problem gambling

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Authors: Ola Jon Mork, Irina Emily Hansen

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The European Growth Strategy Program calls for more efficient methods for knowledge creation and innovation. This study contributes with new insights into the Singapore Innovation System; more precisely how knowledge processes are facilitated. The research material is collected by visiting the different innovation locations in Singapore and depth interview with key persons. The different innovation actors web sites and brochures have been studied. Governmental reports and figures have also been studied. The findings show that facilitation of Knowledge Processes in the Singapore Innovation System has a basic structure with three processes, which is 1) Idea capturing – 2)Technology and Business Execution – 3)Idea Realization. Dedicated innovation parks work with the most promising entrepreneurs; more precisely: finding the persons with the motivation to 'change the world'. The innovation park will facilitate these entrepreneurs for 100 days, where they also will be connected to a global network of venture capital. And, the entrepreneurs will have access to mentors from these venture companies. Research institutes parks work with the development of world leading technology. To facilitate knowledge development they connect with industrial companies which are the most promising applicators of their technology. Knowledge facilitation is the main purpose, but this cooperation/testing is also serving as a platform for funding. Probably this is cooperation is also attractive for world leading companies. Dedicated innovation parks work with facilitation of innovators of new applications and perfection of products for the end- user. These parks can be specialized in special areas, like health products and life science products. Another example of this is automotive companies giving research call for these parks to develop and innovate new products and services upon their technology. Common characteristics for the knowledge facilitation in the Singapore Innovation System are a short trial period for promising actors, normally 100 days. It is also a strong focus on training of the entrepreneurs. Presentations and diffusion of knowledge is an important part of the facilitation. Funding will be available for the most successful entrepreneurs and innovators.

Keywords: knowledge processes, facilitation, innovation, Singapore innovation web

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Authors: Yiea Funk Te, Daniel Mueller, Irena Pletikosa Cvijikj

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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the economy of many countries. When the overall world economy is considered, SMEs represent 95% of all businesses in the world, accounting for 66% of the total employment. Existing studies show that the current business environment is characterized as highly turbulent and strongly influenced by modern information and communication technologies, thus forcing SMEs to experience more severe challenges in maintaining their existence and expanding their business. To support SMEs at improving their competitiveness, researchers recently turned their focus on applying data mining techniques to build risk and growth prediction models. However, data used to assess risk and growth indicators is primarily obtained via questionnaires, which is very laborious and time-consuming, or is provided by financial institutes, thus highly sensitive to privacy issues. Recently, web mining (WM) has emerged as a new approach towards obtaining valuable insights in the business world. WM enables automatic and large scale collection and analysis of potentially valuable data from various online platforms, including companies’ websites. While WM methods have been frequently studied to anticipate growth of sales volume for e-commerce platforms, their application for assessment of SME risk and growth indicators is still scarce. Considering that a vast proportion of SMEs own a website, WM bears a great potential in revealing valuable information hidden in SME websites, which can further be used to understand SME risk and growth indicators, as well as to enhance current SME risk and growth prediction models. This study aims at developing an automated system to collect business-relevant data from the Web and predict future growth trends of SMEs by means of WM and data mining techniques. The envisioned system should serve as an 'early recognition system' for future growth opportunities. In an initial step, we examine how structured and semi-structured Web data in governmental or SME websites can be used to explain the success of SMEs. WM methods are applied to extract Web data in a form of additional input features for the growth prediction model. The data on SMEs provided by a large Swiss insurance company is used as ground truth data (i.e. growth-labeled data) to train the growth prediction model. Different machine learning classification algorithms such as the Support Vector Machine, Random Forest and Artificial Neural Network are applied and compared, with the goal to optimize the prediction performance. The results are compared to those from previous studies, in order to assess the contribution of growth indicators retrieved from the Web for increasing the predictive power of the model.

Keywords: data mining, SME growth, success factors, web mining

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Authors: Anna Słupik, Krzysztof Jaworski, Anna Mosiołek, Dariusz Białoszewski

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Background: Maintaining the correct body balance is essential in the prevention of falls in the elderly, which is especially important for women because of postmenopausal osteoporosis and the serious consequences of falls. One of the exercise methods which is very popular among adults, and which may affect body balance in a positive way is the pilates method. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of regular pilates exercises on the ability to maintain body balance in static conditions in adult healthy women. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 20 healthy women attending pilates twice a week for at least 1 year. The control group consisted of 20 healthy women physically inactive. Women in the age range from 35 to 50 years old without pain in musculoskeletal system or other pain were only qualified to the groups. Body balance was assessed using MatScan VersaTek platform with Sway Analysis Module based on Matscan Clinical 6.7 software. The balance was evaluated under the following conditions: standing on both feet with eyes open, standing on both feet with eyes closed, one-leg standing (separately on the right and left foot) with eyes open. Each test lasted 30 seconds. The following parameters were calculated: estimated size of the ellipse of 95% confidence, the distance covered by the Center of Gravity (COG), the size of the maximum shift in the sagittal and frontal planes and load distribution between the left and right foot, as well as between rear- and forefoot. Results: It was found that there is significant difference between the groups in favor of the study group in the size of the confidence ellipse and maximum shifts of COG in the sagittal plane during standing on both feet, both with the eyes open and closed (p < 0.05). While standing on one leg both on the right and left leg, with eyes opened there was a significant difference in favor of the study group, in terms of the size of confidence ellipse, the size of the maximum shifts in the sagittal and in the frontal plane (p < 0.05). There were no differences between the distribution of load between the right and left foot (standing with both feet), nor between fore- and rear foot (in standing with both feet or one-leg). Conclusions: 1. Static balance in women exercising regularly by pilates method is better than in inactive women, which may in the future prevent falls and their consequences. 2. The observed differences in maintaining balance in frontal plane in one-leg standing may indicate a positive impact of pilates exercises on the ability to maintain global balance in terms of the reduced support surface. 3. Pilates method can be used as a form preventive therapy for all people who are expected to have problems with body balance in the future, for example in chronic neurological disorders or vestibular problems. 4. The results have shown that further prospective randomized research on a larger and more representative group is needed.

Keywords: balance exercises, body balance, pilates, pressure distribution, women

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Authors: R. Gwynn, P. Panwalkar, K. Veravalli , M. Tofighi, R. Clement, A. Mofidi

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The aim of this study was to access the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on the incidence, injury pattern, and treatment of tibial plateau fractures in a combined rural and urban population in wales. Methods: Retrospective study was performed to identify tibial plateau fractures in 15-month period of Covid-19 lockdown 15-month period immediately before lockdown. Patient demographics, injury mechanism, injury severity (based on Schatzker classification), and associated injuries, treatment methods, and outcome of fractures in the Covid-19 period was studied. Results: The incidence oftibial plateau fracture was 9 per 100000 during Covid-19, and 8.5 per 100000, and both were similar to previous studies. The average age was 52, and female to male ratio was 1:1 in both control and study group. High energy injury was seen in only 20% of the patients and 35% in the control groups (2=12, p<0025). 14% of the covid-19 population sustained other injuries as opposed 16% in the control group(2=0.09, p>0.95). Lower severity isolated lateral condyle fracturesinjury (Schatzker 1-3) were seen in 40% of fractures this was 60% in the control populations. Higher bicondylar and shaft fractures (Schatzker 5-6) were seen in 60% of the Covid-19 group and 35% in the control groups(2=7.8, p<0.02). Treatment mode was not impacted by Covid-19. The complication rate was low in spite of higher number of complex fractures and the impact of covid-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The associated injuries were similar in spite of a significantly lower mechanism of injury. There were unexpectedly worst tibial plateau fracture based Schatzker classification in the Covid-19 period as compared to the control groups. This was especially relevant for medial condyle and shaft fractures. This was postulated to be caused by reduction in bone density caused by lack of vitamin D and reduction in activity. The treatment mode and outcome was not impacted by the impact of Covid-19 on care for tibial plateau fractures.

Keywords: Covid-19, knee, tibial plateau fracture, trauma

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Authors: Jai Prakash, Promod Kumar, Chantel Swart, J. H. Neethling, A. Janse van Vuuren, H. C. Swart

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Ag nanoparticles (NPs) have been used as functional nanomaterials due to their optical and antibacterial properties. Similarly, TiO2 photocatalysts have also been used as suitable nanomaterials for killing cancer cells, viruses and bacteria. Here, we report on multifunctional plasmonic Ag-TiO2 nano-biocomposite synthesized by the sol-gel technique and their optical, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and antibacterial activities. The as-prepared composites of Ag–TiO2 with different silver content and TiO2 nanopowder were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersed X-ray analysis (EDX), UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy. The Ag NPs were found to be uniformly distributed and strongly attached to the TiO2 matrix. The novel optical response of the Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites is due to the strong electric field from the surface plasmon excitation of the Ag NPs. The Raman spectrum of Ag-TiO2 nanocomposite was found to be enhanced as compared to TiO2. The enhancement of the low frequency band is evident. This indicates the SERS effect of the TiO2 NPs in close vicinity of Ag NPs. In addition, nanocomposites showed enhancement in the SERS signals of methyl orange (MO) dye molecules with increasing Ag content. The localized electromagnetic field from the surface plasmon excitation of the Ag NPs was responsible for the SERS signals of the TiO2 NPs and MO molecules. The antimicrobial effect of the Ag–TiO2 nanocomposites with different silver content and TiO2 nanopowder were carried out against the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. The Ag–TiO2 composites showed antibacterial activity towards S. aureus with increasing Ag content as compared to the TiO2 nanopowder. These results foresee promising applications of the functional plasmonic metal−semiconductor based nanobiocomposites for both chemical and biological samples.

Keywords: metal-Semiconductor, nano-Biocomposites, anti-microbial activity, surface enhanced Raman scattering

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Authors: Naamane Remita, Mohammed laïd Mechri, Nouredine Zekri, Smaïl Chihi

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The goal of this study is the estimation real and imaginary components of both electrical impedance and permittivity z', z'' and ε', ε'' respectively, in Ouargla dunes sand at different temperatures and different frequencies, with alternating current (AC) equal to 1 volt, using the impedance spectroscopy (IS). This method is simple and non-destructive. the results can frequently be correlated with a number of physical properties, dielectric properties and the impacts of the composition on the electrical conductivity of solids. The experimental results revealed that the real part of impedance is higher at higher temperature in the lower frequency region and gradually decreases with increasing frequency. As for the high frequencies, all the values of the real part of the impedance were positive. But at low frequency the values of the imaginary part were positive at all temperatures except for 1200 degrees which were negative. As for the medium frequencies, the reactance values were negative at temperatures 25, 400, 200 and 600 degrees, and then became positive at the rest of the temperatures. At high frequencies of the order of MHz, the values of the imaginary part of the electrical impedance were in contrast to what we recorded for the middle frequencies. The results showed that the electrical permittivity decreases with increasing frequency, at low frequency we recorded permittivity values of 10+ 11, and at medium frequencies it was 10+ 07, while at high frequencies it was 10+ 02. The values of the real part of the electrical permittivity were taken large values at the temperatures of 200 and 600 degrees Celsius and at the lowest frequency, while the smallest value for the permittivity was recorded at the temperature of 400 degrees Celsius at the highest frequency. The results showed that there are large values of the imaginary part of the electrical permittivity at the lowest frequency and then it starts decreasing as the latter increases (the higher the frequency the lower the values of the imaginary part of the electrical permittivity). The character of electrical impedance variation indicated an opportunity to realize the polarization of Ouargla dunes sand and acquaintance if this compound consumes or produces energy. It’s also possible to know the satisfactory of equivalent electric circuit, whether it’s miles induction or capacitance.

Keywords: electrical impedance, electrical permittivity, temperature, impedance spectroscopy, dunes sand ouargla

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Authors: V. Thomas, O. Delaune, W. Hennig, S. Hoover

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Measurement of radioactive isotopes of atmospheric xenon is used to detect, locate and identify any confined nuclear tests as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). In this context, the Alternative Energies and French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has developed a fixed device to continuously measure the concentration of these fission products, the SPALAX process. During its atmospheric transport, the radioactive xenon will undergo a significant dilution between the source point and the measurement station. Regarding the distance between fixed stations located all over the globe, the typical volume activities measured are near 1 mBq m⁻³. To avoid the constraints induced by atmospheric dilution, the development of a mobile detection system is in progress; this system will allow on-site measurements in order to confirm or infringe a suspicious measurement detected by a fixed station. Furthermore, this system will use beta/gamma coincidence measurement technique in order to drastically reduce environmental background (which masks such activities). The detector prototype consists of a gas cell surrounded by two large silicon wafers, coupled with two square NaI(Tl) detectors. The gas cell has a sample volume of 30 cm³ and the silicon wafers are 500 µm thick with an active surface area of 3600 mm². In order to minimize leakage current, each wafer has been segmented into four independent silicon pixels. This cell is sandwiched between two low background NaI(Tl) detectors (70x70x40 mm³ crystal). The expected Minimal Detectable Concentration (MDC) for each radio-xenon is in the order of 1-10 mBq m⁻³. Three 4-channels digital acquisition modules (Pixie-NET) are used to process all the signals. Time synchronization is ensured by a dedicated PTP-network, using the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol. We would like to present this system from its simulation to the laboratory tests.

Keywords: beta/gamma coincidence technique, low level measurement, radioxenon, silicon pixels

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Authors: A. Camões, M. Ferreira Dias, M. Amorim

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In recent years, the social economy is increasingly seen as a viable means to address social problems. Social enterprises, as well as public projects and initiatives targeted to meet social purposes, offer organizational models that assume heterogeneity, flexibility and adaptability to the ‘real world and real problems’. Despite the growing popularity of social initiatives, decision makers still face a paucity in what concerns the available models and tools to adequately assess its sustainability, and its impacts, notably the nature of its contribution to economic growth. This study was carried out at the local level, by analyzing the social impact initiatives and projects promoted by the Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha (Câmara Municipal de Albergaria-a-Velha -CMA), a municipality of 25,000 inhabitants in the central region of Portugal. This work focuses on the challenges related to the qualifications and employability of citizens, which stands out as one of the key concerns in the Portuguese economy, particularly expressive in the context of small-scale cities and inland territories. The study offers a characterization of the Municipality, its socio-economic structure and challenges, followed by an exploratory analysis of multiple sourced data, collected from the CMA's documental sources as well as from privileged informants. The purpose is to conduct detailed analysis of the CMA's social projects, aimed at characterizing its potential impact for the model of qualifications and employability of the citizens of the Municipality. The study encompasses a discussion of the socio-economic profile of the municipality, notably its asymmetries, the analysis of the social projects and initiatives, as well as of data derived from inquiry actors involved in the implementation of the social projects and its beneficiaries. Finally, the results obtained with the Better Life Index will be included. This study makes it possible to ascertain if what is implicit in the literature goes to the encounter of what one experiences in reality.

Keywords: measurement, municipalities, social economy, social impact

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Authors: Harvey Sanchez-Restrepo, Jorge Louca

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Equity and education are major focus of government policies around the world due to its relevance for addressing the sustainable development goals launched by Unesco. In this research, we developed a primary analysis of a data set of more than one hundred educational and non-educational factors associated with learning, coming from a census-based large-scale assessment carried on in Ecuador for 1.038.328 students, their families, teachers, and school directors, throughout 2014-2018. Each participating student was assessed by a standardized computer-based test. Learning outcomes were calibrated through item response theory with two-parameters logistic model for getting raw scores that were re-scaled and synthetized by a learning index (LI). Our objective was to develop a network for modelling educational deprivation and analyze the structure of inequality gaps, as well as their relationship with socioeconomic status, school financing, and student's ethnicity. Results from the model show that 348 270 students did not develop the minimum skills (prevalence rate=0.215) and that Afro-Ecuadorian, Montuvios and Indigenous students exhibited the highest prevalence with 0.312, 0.278 and 0.226, respectively. Regarding the socioeconomic status of students (SES), modularity class shows clearly that the system is out of equilibrium: the first decile (the poorest) exhibits a prevalence rate of 0.386 while rate for decile ten (the richest) is 0.080, showing an intense negative relationship between learning and SES given by R= –0.58 (p < 0.001). Another interesting and unexpected result is the average-weighted degree (426.9) for both private and public schools attending Afro-Ecuadorian students, groups that got the highest PageRank (0.426) and pointing out that they suffer the highest educational deprivation due to discrimination, even belonging to the richest decile. The model also found the factors which explain deprivation through the highest PageRank and the greatest degree of connectivity for the first decile, they are: financial bonus for attending school, computer access, internet access, number of children, living with at least one parent, books access, read books, phone access, time for homework, teachers arriving late, paid work, positive expectations about schooling, and mother education. These results provide very accurate and clear knowledge about the variables affecting poorest students and the inequalities that it produces, from which it might be defined needs profiles, as well as actions on the factors in which it is possible to influence. Finally, these results confirm that network analysis is fundamental for educational policy, especially linking reliable microdata with social macro-parameters because it allows us to infer how gaps in educational achievements are driven by students’ context at the time of assigning resources.

Keywords: complex network, educational deprivation, evidence-based policy, large-scale assessments, policy informatics

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Authors: C. von Essen

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This study outlines and evaluates a constructivist design approach to the creation of educational video on postgraduate business degree programmes. Many online courses are tapping into the educational affordances of video, as this form of online learning has the potential to create rich, multimodal experiences. And yet, in many learning contexts video is still being used to transmit instruction to passive learners, rather than promote learner engagement and knowledge creation. Constructivism posits the notion that learning is shaped as students make connections between their experiences and ideas. This paper pivots on the following research question: how can we design educational video in ways which promote constructivist learning and stimulate analytic viewing? By exploring and categorizing over two thousand educational videos created since 2014 for over thirty postgraduate courses in business, economics, mathematics and statistics, this paper presents and critically reflects on a taxonomy of video styles and features. It links the pedagogical intent of video – be it concept explanation, skill demonstration, feedback, real-world application of ideas, community creation, or the cultivation of course narrative – to specific presentational characteristics such as visual effects including diagrammatic and real-life graphics and aminations, commentary and sound options, chronological sequencing, interactive elements, and presenter set-up. The findings of this study inform a framework which captures the pedagogical, technological and production considerations instructional designers and educational media specialists should be conscious of when planning and preparing the video. More broadly, the paper demonstrates how learning theory and technology can coalesce to produce informed and pedagogical grounded instructional design choices. This paper reveals how crafting video in a more conscious and critical manner can produce powerful, new educational design.

Keywords: educational video, constructivism, instructional design, business education

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Authors: Clémence Royer, Stéphane Mazouffre

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Nowadays, electric propulsion systems play a crucial role in space exploration missions due to their high specific impulse and long operational life. The Hall thrusters are one of the most mature EP technologies. It is a gridless ion thruster that has proved reliable and high-performance for decades in various space missions. Operation of HT relies on electron emissions through a cathode placed outside a hollow dielectric channel that includes an anode at the back. Negatively charged particles are trapped in a magnetic field and efficiently slow down. By collisions, the electron cloud ionizes xenon atoms. A large electric field is generated in the axial direction due to the low electron transverse mobility in the region of a strong magnetic field. Positive particles are pulled out of the chamber at high velocity and are neutralized directly at the exhaust area. This phenomenon leads to the acceleration of the spacecraft system at a high specific impulse. While HT’s architecture and operating principle are relatively simple, the physics behind thrust is complex and still partly unknown. Current and voltage oscillations, as well as electron properties, have been captured over a 30 mn time period after ignition. The observed low-frequency oscillations exhibited specific frequency ranges, amplitudes, and stability patterns. Correlations between the oscillations and plasma characteristics we analyzed. The impact of these instabilities on thruster performance, including thrust efficiency, has been evaluated as well. Moreover, strategies for mitigating and controlling these instabilities have been developed, such as filtering. In this contribution, in addition to presenting a summary of the results obtained in the transient regime, we will present and discuss recent advances in Hall thruster plasma discharge filtering and control.

Keywords: electric propulsion, Hall Thruster, plasma diagnostics, low-frequency oscillations

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Authors: Shilpa Balan

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Radio Frequency Identification, also popularly known as RFID is used to automatically identify and track tags attached to items. This study focuses on the application of RFID in healthcare. The adoption of RFID in healthcare is a crucial technology to patient safety and inventory management. Data from RFID tags are used to identify the locations of patients and inventory in real time. Medical errors are thought to be a prominent cause of loss of life and injury. The major advantage of RFID application in healthcare industry is the reduction of medical errors. The healthcare industry has generated huge amounts of data. By discovering patterns and trends within the data, big data analytics can help improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. The number of increasing research publications leading to innovations in RFID applications shows the importance of this technology. This study explores the current state of research of RFID in healthcare using a text mining approach. No study has been performed yet on examining the current state of RFID research in healthcare using a data mining approach. In this study, related articles were collected on RFID from healthcare journal and news articles. Articles collected were from the year 2000 to 2015. Significant keywords on the topic of focus are identified and analyzed using open source data analytics software such as Rapid Miner. These analytical tools help extract pertinent information from massive volumes of data. It is seen that the main benefits of adopting RFID technology in healthcare include tracking medicines and equipment, upholding patient safety, and security improvement. The real-time tracking features of RFID allows for enhanced supply chain management. By productively using big data, healthcare organizations can gain significant benefits. Big data analytics in healthcare enables improved decisions by extracting insights from large volumes of data.

Keywords: RFID, data mining, data analysis, healthcare

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Authors: Ibrahim Mohammed

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Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that can cause devastating secondary complications, reducing the quality and length of life as well as increasing medical costs for the patient and society. The guidelines recommend both clinical and preventive strategies for diabetes management and are regularly updated. The aim of the study is to assess the level of adherence of physicians to American Diabetes Association Guidelines. Method: Observational multicenter retrospective study will be conducted among different hospitals in the central region. Patient data will be collected from the records of the last three years (2017- 2020). Records will be selected randomly after a complete randomized design. The study focuses on the management of type 2 according to ADA not changed in the last three updating; those standards; all patients should be taking Metformin 1500 to 2000 mg/day as recommended dose and should be received a high dose of statin if the high risk to ASCVD or moderate statin if not at risk, patients with hypertension and diabetes should taking ACE or ARBS. Result: The study aimed to evaluate the commitment of physicians in the central region to the ADA. Out of the 153 selected patients, only 17 % were able to control their diabetes with an average A1c below 7. ADA stated that to reach the minimum benefit of using Metformin, the daily dose should be between 1500 and 2000 mg. Results showed that 110 patients were on Metformin, where 68% of them were on the recommended dose. ADA recommended the intake of high statin for diabetic patients with ASCVD risk, while diabetic patients without ASCVD risk should be on a moderate statin. Results showed that 61.5% of patients with ASCVD risk were at high statin while only 36% of patients without ASCVD risk were at moderate statin. Results showed that 89 patients have hypertension, and 80% of them are getting ACE/ARBs as recommended by the ADA. Recommendation: It is necessary to implement periodic training courses for some physicians to enhance and update their knowledge.

Keywords: American Diabetic Association, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, ACE inhibitors

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Authors: Kuo-Kai Lin, Po-Lun Chang

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Background: The Emergency Care Research Institute released a list for the top 10 medical technology hazards in 2017, with the following hazard topping the list: ‘infusion errors can be deadly if simple safety steps are overlooked.’ In addition, hospitals use various assessment items to evaluate the safety of their medical equipment, confirming the importance of medical equipment safety. In recent years, the topic of patient safety has garnered increasing attention. Accordingly, various agencies have established patient safety-related committees to coordinate, collect, and analyze information regarding abnormal events associated with medical practice. Activities to promote and improve employee training have been introduced to diminish the recurrence of medical malpractice. Objective: To allow nursing personnel to acquire the skills needed to operate common medical equipment and update and review such skills whenever necessary to elevate medical care quality and reduce patient injuries caused by medical equipment operation errors. Method: In this study, a quasi-experimental design was adopted and nurses from a regional teaching hospital were selected as the study sample. Online videos instructing the operation method of common medical equipment were made and quick response codes were designed for the nursing personnel to quickly access the videos when necessary. Senior nursing supervisors and equipment experts were invited to formulate a ‘Scale-based Questionnaire for Assessing Nursing Personnel’s Operational Knowledge of Common Medical Equipment’ to evaluate the nursing personnel’s literacy regarding the operation of the medical equipment. From March to October 2017, an employee training on medical equipment operation and a practice course (simulation course) were implemented, after which the effectiveness of the training and practice course were assessed. Results: Prior to and after the training and practice course, the 66 participating nurses scored 58 and 87 on ‘operational knowledge of common medical equipment,’ respectively (showing a significant statistical difference; t = -9.407, p < .001); 53.5 and 86.3 on ‘operational knowledge of 12-lead electrocardiography’ (z = -2.087, p < .01), respectively; 40 and 79.5 on ‘operational knowledge of cardiac defibrillators’ (z = -3.849, p < .001), respectively; 90 and 98 on ‘operational knowledge of Abbott pumps’ (z = -1.841, p = 0.066), respectively; and 8.7 and 13.7 on ‘perceived competence’ (showing a significant statistical difference; t = -2.77, p < .05). In the participating hospital, medical equipment operation errors were observed in both 2016 and 2017. However, since the implementation of the intervention, medical equipment operation errors have not yet been observed up to October 2017, which can be regarded as the secondary outcome of this study. Conclusion: In this study, innovative teaching strategies were adopted to effectively enhance the professional literacy and skills of nursing personnel in operating medical equipment. The training and practice course also elevated the nursing personnel’s related literacy and perceived competence of operating medical equipment. The nursing personnel was thus able to accurately operate the medical equipment and avoid operational errors that might jeopardize patient safety.

Keywords: medical equipment, digital teaching plan, simulation-based teaching plan, operational knowledge, patient safety

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Authors: F. Slaven, M. Uys, Y. Erasmus

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The South African National Mental Health Education Programme (SANMHEP) was a National Department of Health (NDoH) initiative to strengthen mental health services in South Africa in collaboration with the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), SANOFI and the various provincial departments of health. The programme was implemented against the backdrop of a number of challenges in the management of mental health in the country related to staff shortages and infrastructure, the intersection of mental health with the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and various forms of violence, and challenges around substance abuse and its relationship with mental health. The Mental Health Care Act (No. 17 of 2002) prescribes that mental health should be integrated into general health services including primary, secondary and tertiary levels to improve access to services and reduce stigma associated with mental illness. In order for the provisions of the Act to become a reality, and for the journey of mental health patients through the system to improve, sufficient and skilled health care providers are critical. SANMHEP specifically targeted Medical Doctors and Professional Nurses working within the facilities that are listed to conduct 72-hour assessments, as well as District Hospitals. The aim of the programme was to improve the clinical diagnosis and management of mental disorders/conditions and the understanding of and compliance with the Mental Health Care Act and related Regulations and Guidelines in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of mental health care users. The course used a blended-learning approach and trained 1 120 health care providers through 36 workshops between February and November 2019. Of those trained, 689 (61.52%) were Professional Nurses, 337 (30.09%) were Medical Doctors, and 91 (8.13%) indicated their occupation as ‘other’ (of these more than half were psychologists). The pre- and post-evaluation of the face-to-face training sessions indicated a marked improvement in knowledge and confidence level scores (both clinical and legislative) in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of mental health care users by participants in all the training sessions. There was a marked improvement in the knowledge and confidence of participants in performing certain mental health activities (on average the ratings increased by 2.72; or 27%) and in managing certain mental health conditions (on average the ratings increased by 2.55; or 25%). The course also required that participants obtain 70% or higher in their formal assessments as part of the online component. The 337 participants who completed and passed the course scored 90% on average. This illustrates that when participants attempted and completed the course, they did very well. To further assess the effect of the course on the knowledge and behaviour of the trained mental health care practitioners a mixed-method outcome evaluation is currently underway consisting of a survey with participants three months after completion, follow-up interviews with participants, and key informant interviews with department of health officials and course facilitators. This will enable a more detailed assessment of the impact of the training on participants' perceived ability to manage and treat mental health patients.

Keywords: mental health, public health facilities, South Africa, training

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Authors: S. C. Lin, W. W. Cheng, M. S. Wu

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This study attempted to investigate the connection between teacher professional development program and students’ Learning. This study took Readers’ Theater Teaching Program (RTTP) for professional development as an example to inquiry how participants apply their new knowledge and skills learned from RTTP to their teaching practice and how the impact influence students learning. The goals of the RTTP included: 1) to enhance teachers RT content knowledge; 2) to implement RT instruction in teachers’ classrooms in response to their professional development. 2) to improve students’ ability of reading fluency in professional development teachers’ classrooms. This study was a two-year project. The researchers applied mixed methods to conduct this study including qualitative inquiry and one-group pretest-posttest experimental design. In the first year, this study focused on designing and implementing RTTP and evaluating participants’ satisfaction of RTTP, what they learned and how they applied it to design their English reading curriculum. In the second year, the study adopted quasi-experimental design approach and evaluated how participants RT instruction influenced their students’ learning, including English knowledge, skill, and attitudes. The participants in this study composed two junior high school English teachers and their students. Data were collected from a number of different sources including teaching observation, semi-structured interviews, teaching diary, teachers’ professional development portfolio, Pre/post RT content knowledge tests, teacher survey, and students’ reading fluency tests. To analyze the data, both qualitative and quantitative data analysis were used. Qualitative data analysis included three stages: organizing data, coding data, and analyzing and interpreting data. Quantitative data analysis included descriptive analysis. The results indicated that average percentage of correct on pre-tests in RT content knowledge assessment was 40.75% with two teachers ranging in prior knowledge from 35% to 46% in specific RT content. Post-test RT content scores ranged from 70% to 82% correct with an average score of 76.50%. That gives teachers an average gain of 35.75% in overall content knowledge as measured by these pre/post exams. Teachers’ pre-test scores were lowest in script writing and highest in performing. Script writing was also the content area that showed the highest gains in content knowledge. Moreover, participants hold a positive attitude toward RTTP. They recommended that the approach of professional learning community, which was applied in RTTP was benefit to their professional development. Participants also applied the new skills and knowledge which they learned from RTTP to their practices. The evidences from this study indicated that RT English instruction significantly influenced students’ reading fluency and classroom climate. The result indicated that all of the experimental group students had a big progress in reading fluency after RT instruction. The study also found out several obstacles. Suggestions were also made.

Keywords: teacher’s professional development, program evaluation, readers’ theater, english reading instruction, english reading fluency

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Authors: Hande Yavuz, Grégory Girard, Jinbo Bai

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Manufacturing of hybrid composites requires particular attention to overcome various critical weaknesses that are originated from poor interfacial compatibility. A large number of parameters have to be considered to optimize the interfacial bond strength either to avoid flaw sensitivity or delamination that occurs in composites. For this reason, surface characterization of reinforcement phase is needed in order to provide necessary data to drive an assessment of fiber-matrix interfacial compatibility prior to fabrication of composite structures. Compared to conventional plasma polymerization processes such as radiofrequency and microwave, dielectric barrier discharge assisted plasma polymerization is a promising process that can be utilized to modify the surface properties of carbon fibers in a continuous manner. Finding the most suitable conditions (e.g., plasma power, plasma duration, precursor proportion) for plasma polymerization of pyrrole in post-discharge region either in the presence or in the absence of p-toluene sulfonic acid monohydrate as well as the characterization of plasma polypyrrole coated fibers are the important aspects of this work. Throughout the current investigation, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are used to characterize plasma treated hybrid fibers (CNT-grafted Toray T700-12K carbon fibers, referred as T700/CNT). TGA results show the trend in the change of decomposition process of deposited polymer on fibers as a function of temperature up to 900 °C. Within the same period of time, all plasma pyrrole treated samples began to lose weight with relatively fast rate up to 400 °C which suggests the loss of polymeric structures. The weight loss between 300 and 600 °C is attributed to evolution of CO2 due to decomposition of functional groups (e.g. carboxyl compounds). With keeping in mind the surface chemical structure, the higher the amount of carbonyl, alcohols, and ether compounds, the lower the stability of deposited polymer. Thus, the highest weight loss is observed in 1400 W 45 s pyrrole+pTSA.H2O plasma treated sample probably because of the presence of less stable polymer than that of other plasma treated samples. Comparison of the AFM images for untreated and plasma treated samples shows that the surface topography may change on a microscopic scale. The AFM image of 1800 W 45 s treated T700/CNT fiber possesses the most significant increase in roughening compared to untreated T700/CNT fiber. Namely, the fiber surface became rougher with ~3.6 fold that of the T700/CNT fiber. The increase observed in surface roughness compared to untreated T700/CNT fiber may provide more contact points between fiber and matrix due to increased surface area. It is believed to be beneficial for their application as reinforcement in composites.

Keywords: hybrid fibers, surface characterization, surface roughness, thermal stability

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Authors: Tansa Nisan Gunerhan

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Dementia comes in different forms, including Alzheimer's disease. The most common dementia diagnosis among elderly individuals is Alzheimer's disease. On average, for patients with Alzheimer’s, life expectancy is around 4-8 years after the diagnosis; however, expectancy can go as high as twenty years or more, depending on the shrinkage of the brain. Normally, along with aging, the brain shrinks at some level but doesn’t lose a vast amount of neurons. However, Alzheimer's patients' neurons are destroyed rapidly; hence problems with loss of memory, communication, and other metabolic activities begin. The toxic changes in the brain affect the stability of the neurons. Beta-amyloid and tau are two proteins that are believed to play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease through their toxic changes. Beta-amyloid is a protein that is produced in the brain and is normally broken down and removed from the body. However, in people with Alzheimer's disease, the production of beta-amyloid increases, and it begins to accumulate in the brain. These plaques are thought to disrupt communication between nerve cells and may contribute to the death of brain cells. Tau is a protein that helps to stabilize microtubules, which are essential for the transportation of nutrients and other substances within brain cells. In people with Alzheimer's disease, tau becomes abnormal and begins to accumulate inside brain cells, forming neurofibrillary tangles. These tangles disrupt the normal functioning of brain cells and may contribute to their death, forming amyloid plaques which are deposits of a protein called amyloid-beta that build up between nerve cells in the brain. The accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain is thought to contribute to the shrinkage of brain tissue. As the brain shrinks, the size of the brain may decrease, leading to a reduction in brain volume. Brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease is often accompanied by changes in the structure and function of brain cells and the connections between them, leading to a decline in brain function. These toxic changes that accumulate can cause symptoms such as memory loss, difficulty with thinking and problem-solving, and changes in behavior and personality.

Keywords: Alzheimer, amyloid-beta, brain atrophy, neuron, shrinkage

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Authors: Deborah Nicholson, Fiona McCormack, Pete Seaman, Karen Bell

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This paper explores alcohol consumption amongst retirees in the West of Scotland in the context of active and healthy ageing discourses. The public health consequences of alcohol use are well documented and of growing concern to policy makers in Scotland and elsewhere. However, alcohol occupies a prominent position in a range of cultural and social practices and has associated meanings for users related to conviviality, leisure, sociability, and inclusion- features closely tied to active and healthy ageing. These perceived positive and negative meanings place alcohol in an ambiguous and contradictory position in relation to the Scottish Government’s key health policy initiatives aimed at healthy ageing and the reduction of alcohol-related ill-health. This paper explores these positive and negative associations through an examination of the meanings which retirees attach to alcohol and the routines and rituals they develop to navigate wider health concerns. Methods: participants were recruited from the West of Scotland area using a quota sampling design based around gender, age, and socioeconomic position. Forty participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule and qualitative techniques. The interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Results: Alcohol use amongst retirees in Scotland was widely varied with marked differences noted in terms of gender and age group, but with less clear variance by socioeconomic position. A range of strategies was employed to limit alcohol use by time, context, location and/or volume and these strategies clearly drew on a perception of alcohol use in retirement as potentially more problematic than at earlier stage of life. Thus, the retirees in the sample used these limiting strategies to navigate the positive and negative meanings they attached to alcohol use.

Keywords: alcohol, health, retirement, routines

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Authors: Sonia Anand Knowlton

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With the rise of artificial intelligence, computer science is becoming increasingly integrated in virtually every area of life. Of course, the law is no exception. Through argumentation frameworks (AFs), computer scientists have used abstract algebra to structure the legal reasoning process in a way that allows conclusions to be drawn from a formalized system of arguments. In AFs, arguments compete against each other for logical success and are related to one another through the binary operation of the attack. The prevailing arguments make up the preferred extension of the given argumentation framework, telling us what set of arguments must be accepted from a logical standpoint. There have been several developments of AFs since its original conception in the early 90’s in efforts to make them more aligned with the human reasoning process. Generally, these developments have sought to add nuance to the factors that influence the logical success of competing arguments (e.g., giving an argument more logical strength based on the underlying value it promotes). The most cogent development was that of the Extended Argumentation Framework (EAF), in which attacks can themselves be attacked by other arguments, and the promotion of different competing values can be formalized within the system. This article applies the logical structure of EAFs to current theoretical understandings of judicial reasoning to contribute to theories of judging and to the evolution of AFs simultaneously. The argument is that the main limitation of EAFs, when applied to judicial reasoning, is that they require judges to themselves assign values to different arguments and then lexically order these values to determine the given framework’s preferred extension. Drawing on John Rawls’ Theory of Justice, the examination that follows is whether values are lexical and commensurable to this extent. The analysis that follows then suggests a potential extension of the EAF system with an approach that formalizes different “planes of attack” for competing arguments that promote lexically ordered values. This article concludes with a summary of how these insights contribute to theories of judging and of legal reasoning more broadly, specifically in indeterminate cases where judges must turn to value-based approaches.

Keywords: computer science, mathematics, law, legal theory, judging

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Authors: Amna Ali Nasser Al-Saadi, Riken Homma, Kazuhisa Iki

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Need to generate objective communication between researchers, Practitioners and policy makers are top concern of sustainability. Despite the fact that many places have successes in achieving some aspects of sustainable urban development, there are no scientific facts to convince policy makers in the rest of the world to apply their guides and manuals. This is because each of them was developed to fulfill the need of specific city. The question is, how to learn the lesson from each case study? And how distinguish between the potential criteria and negative one? And how quantify their effects in the future development? Walkability has been found as a solution to achieve healthy life style as well as social, environmental and economic sustainability. Moreover, it is complicated as every aspect of sustainable development. This research is stand on quantitative- comparative methodology in order to assess pedestrian oriented development. Three Analyzed Areas (AAs) were selected. One site is located in Oman in which hypotheses as motorized oriented development, while two sites are in Japan where the development is pedestrian friendly. The study used Multi-Criteria Evaluation Method (MCEM). Initially, MCEM stands on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The later was structured into main goal (walkability), objectives (functions and layout) and attributes (the urban form criteria). Secondly, the GIS were used to evaluate the attributes in multi-criteria maps. Since each criterion has different scale of measurement, all results were standardized by z-score and used to measure the co-relations among cr iteria. Different scenario was generated from each AA. After that, MCEM (AHP- OWA) based on GIS measured the walkability score and determined the priority of criteria development in the non-walker friendly environment. As results, the comparison criteria for z-score presented a measurable distinguished orientation of development. This result has been used to prove that Oman is motorized environment while Japan is walkable. Also, it defined the powerful criteria and week criteria regardless to the AA. This result has been used to generalize the priority for walkable development.

Keywords: walkability, sustainable development, multi- criteria evaluation method, gis

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Authors: Emmanuel Chinaguh, Kehinde Adeosun

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Nigerians die untimely, with 55.75 years of life expectancy, which is 17.45 below the world average of 73.2 (Worldometer, 2020). This is due, among other factors, to the country's limited access to high-quality healthcare. To increase access to good and affordable healthcare services, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Bill 2022 – which repealed the National Health Insurance Scheme Act 2004 – was passed into law. Applying Jacob Mey’s (2001) pragmatics act (pract) theory, this study explores how NHIA seeks to actualise these healthcare goals by characterising the general situational prototype or pragmemes and pragmatic acts in institutional communications. Data was sourced from the NHIA operational guidelines, which has 147 pages and four sections, and shared posters on NHIA Nigeria Twitter Handle with 14,200 followers. Digital humanities tools, like AntConc and Voyant, were engaged in the data analysis for text encoding and data visualisation. This study identifies these discourse tokens in the data: advertisement and programmes, standards and accreditation, records and information, and offences and penalties. Advertisement and programmes pract facilitating, propagating, prospecting, advising and informing; standards and accreditation, and records and information pract stating, informing and instructing; and offences and penalties pract stating and sanctioning. These practs combined to advance the goals of affordable care and universal accessibility to quality healthcare services. The pragmatic acts were marked by these pragmatic tools: shared situational knowledge (SSK), relevance (REL), reference (REF) and inference (INF). This paper adds to the understanding of health insurance discourse in Nigeria as a mediated social practice that promotes the health of Nigerians.

Keywords: affordable care, NHIA, Nigeria’s health insurance discourse, pragmatic acts.

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Authors: Thomas Kipkurgat, Silahs Chemwaina

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Communication and ICT is a crucial component in realization of vision 2030, radio has played a key role in dissemination of information to mass audience. Since time immemorial, mass media has played a vital role in passing information on agricultural development issues both locally and internationally. This paper aimed at assessing the role of community radio stations in enhancing agricultural development in Kenya. The paper sought to identify the main contributions of KASS FM radio in the agricultural development especially in rural areas, the study also aimed to establish the appropriate adjustments in editorial policies of KASS FM radio in helping to promote agricultural development related programmes in rural areas. Despite some weaknesses in radio programming and the mode of interaction with the rural people, the findings of this study showed that the rural communities are better off today than in the old days when FM radios were non-existent. KASS FM has come up with different developmental programmes that have positively contributed to changing the rural people’s ways of life. These programmes include farming, health, marital values, environment, cultural issues, human rights, democracy, religious teachings, peace and reconciliation. Such programmes feature experts, professionals and opinion leaders who address numerous topics of interest to the community. The local people participate in the production of these programmes through letters to the editor, and phone-ins, among others. Programmes such as political talk shows, which feature in KASS FM, has become one of the most important ways of community participation. The interpretation and conclusions are based on the empirical data analysis and the theories of development advanced by international development communication scholars, as presented in the paper. The study ends with some recommendations on how KASS FM can best serve the interests of the poor people in rural areas, and helps improve their lives.

Keywords: agriculture, development, communication, KASS FM, radio, rural areas, Kenya

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Authors: Daisy Biswas, Samar Kanti Bose, M. Mozaffar Hossain

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The development of value added composite products from bamboo with the application of gluing technology can play a vital role in economic development and also in forest resource conservation of any country. In this study, the gluability of Bambusa balcooa and Bambusa vulgaris, two locally grown bamboo species of Bangladesh was assessed. As the culm wall thickness of bamboos decreases from bottom to top, a culm portion of up to 5.4 m and 3.6 m were used from the base of B. balcooa and B. vulgaris, respectively, to get rectangular strips of uniform thickness. The color of the B. vulgaris strips was yellowish brown and that of B. balcooa was reddish brown. The strips were treated in borax-boric, bleaching and carbonization for extending the service life of the laminates. The preservative treatments changed the color of the strips. Borax–boric acid treated strips were reddish brown. When bleached with hydrogen peroxide, the color of the strips turned into whitish yellow. Carbonization produced dark brownish strips having coffee flavor. Chemical constituents for untreated and treated strips were determined. B. vulgaris was more acidic than B. balcooa. Then the treated strips were used to develop three-layered bamboo laminated panel. Urea formaldehyde (UF) and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) were used as binder. The shear strength and abrasive resistance of the panel were evaluated. It was found that the shear strength of the UF-panel was higher than the PVA-panel for all treatments. Between the species, gluability of B. vulgaris was better and in some cases better than hardwood species. The abrasive resistance of B. balcooa is slightly higher than B. vulgaris; however, the latter was preferred as it showed well gluability. The panels could be used as structural panel, floor tiles, flat pack furniture component, and wall panel etc. However, further research on durability and creep behavior of the product in service condition is warranted.

Keywords: Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa vulgaris, polyvinyl acetate, urea formaldehyde

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