Search results for: quality of urban life of disadvantaged people
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 22683

Search results for: quality of urban life of disadvantaged people

3423 Case Study of the Impact of Sport Tourism Event on Local Residents in Cameroon: The African Cup of Nations

Authors: Zita Fomukong Andam

Abstract:

The decision on where to host sport events does not depend on the national politicians or specific international sport event bodies but also involves the residents of the hosting country. Sport tourism is one of the fast growing industries in the world. Cameroonians consider sport as a point of unity and growth within the country. It has a huge variety of sporting activities like swimming, canoe racing, tug of war and most especially soccer well known as football. The football national team made an impact in 1990 at the FIFA world cup. They also won the African Nations Cup five times. Being the winner of the 2017 African Cup of Nations, they are to host the 2019 African cup of Nations. The purpose of this research is to analyse the impacts of sport tourism event in Cameroon and specifically examine how this event influences the residents. A deep research discourse conducted with randomly selected 300 inbound residents and 200 Cameroonian residents living abroad. Survey questionnaires, interviews and direct observations were carried out as a method of collecting data. The results showed that sport events brings a lot of prestige and honor to the country; generate revenues to the country’s economy and particularly to the local businesses. On the other hand, the results showed that the local residents lose their intimacy, privacy, and their daily life routine is affected. In addition to this, they face negative social inequalities and environmental impacts. Understanding these results the national government and international bodies might be able to contribute to future studies and propose efficient measures to maximize the positive benefits and minimize the negative benefits.

Keywords: sport Tourism, economic impact, resident altitude, african Cup of nations

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3422 Evaluating the Dosimetric Performance for 3D Treatment Planning System for Wedged and Off-Axis Fields

Authors: Nashaat A. Deiab, Aida Radwan, Mohamed S. Yahiya, Mohamed Elnagdy, Rasha Moustafa

Abstract:

This study is to evaluate the dosimetric performance of our institution's 3D treatment planning system for wedged and off-axis 6MV photon beams, guided by the recommended QA tests documented in the AAPM TG53; NCS report 15 test packages, IAEA TRS 430 and ESTRO booklet no.7. The study was performed for Elekta Precise linear accelerator designed for clinical range of 4, 6 and 15 MV photon beams with asymmetric jaws and fully integrated multileaf collimator that enables high conformance to target with sharp field edges. Ten tests were applied on solid water equivalent phantom along with 2D array dose detection system. The calculated doses using 3D treatment planning system PrecisePLAN were compared with measured doses to make sure that the dose calculations are accurate for simple situations such as square and elongated fields, different SSD, beam modifiers e.g. wedges, blocks, MLC-shaped fields and asymmetric collimator settings. The QA results showed dosimetric accuracy of the TPS within the specified tolerance limits. Except for large elongated wedged field, the central axis and outside central axis have errors of 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively, and off- planned and off-axis elongated fields the region outside the central axis of the beam errors are 0.2% and 1.1%, respectively. The dosimetric investigated results yielded differences within the accepted tolerance level as recommended. Differences between dose values predicted by the TPS and measured values at the same point are the result from limitations of the dose calculation, uncertainties in the measurement procedure, or fluctuations in the output of the accelerator.

Keywords: quality assurance, dose calculation, wedged fields, off-axis fields, 3D treatment planning system, photon beam

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3421 Small Scale Waste to Energy Systems: Optimization of Feedstock Composition for Improved Control of Ash Sintering and Quality of Generated Syngas

Authors: Mateusz Szul, Tomasz Iluk, Aleksander Sobolewski

Abstract:

Small-scale, distributed energy systems enabling cogeneration of heat and power based on gasification of sewage sludge, are considered as the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways of their treatment. However, economic aspects of such an investment are very demanding; therefore, for such a small scale sewage sludge gasification installation to be profitable, it needs to be efficient and simple at the same time. The article presents results of research on air gasification of sewage sludge in fixed bed GazEla reactor. Two of the most important aspects of the research considered the influence of the composition of sewage sludge blends with other feedstocks on properties of generated syngas and ash sintering problems occurring at the fixed bed. Different means of the fuel pretreatment and blending were proposed as a way of dealing with the above mentioned undesired characteristics. Influence of RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) and biomasses in the fuel blends were evaluated. Ash properties were assessed based on proximate, ultimate, and ash composition analysis of the feedstock. The blends were specified based on complementary characteristics of such criteria as C content, moisture, volatile matter, Si, Al, Mg, and content of basic metals in the ash were analyzed, Obtained results were assessed with use of experimental gasification tests and laboratory ISO-procedure for analysis of ash characteristic melting temperatures. Optimal gasification process conditions were determined by energetic parameters of the generated syngas, its content of tars and lack of ash sinters within the reactor bed. Optimal results were obtained for co-gasification of herbaceous biomasses with sewage sludge where LHV (Lower Heating Value) of the obtained syngas reached a stable value of 4.0 MJ/Nm3 for air/steam gasification.

Keywords: ash fusibility, gasification, piston engine, sewage sludge

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3420 Fatal Attractions: Exploiting Olfactory Communication between Invasive Predators for Conservation

Authors: Patrick M. Garvey, Roger P. Pech, Daniel M. Tompkins

Abstract:

Competition is a widespread interaction and natural selection will encourage the development of mechanisms that recognise and respond to dominant competitors, if this information reduces the risk of a confrontation. As olfaction is the primary sense for most mammals, our research tested whether olfactory ‘eavesdropping’ mediates alien species interactions and whether we could exploit our understanding of this behaviour to create ‘super-lures’. We used a combination of pen and field experiments to evaluate the importance of this behaviour. In pen trials, stoats (Mustela erminea) were exposed to the body odour of three dominant predators (cat / ferret / African wild dog) and these scents were found to be attractive. A subsequent field trial tested whether attraction displayed towards predator odour, particularly ferret (Mustela furo) pheromones, could be replicated with invasive predators in the wild. We found that ferret odour significantly improved detection and activity of stoats and hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), while also improving detections of ship rats (Rattus rattus). Our current research aims to identify the key components of ferret odour, using chemical analysis and behavioural experiments, so that we can produce ‘scent from a can’. A lure based on a competitors’ odour would be beneficial in many circumstances including: (i) where individuals display variability in attraction to food lures, (ii) there are plentiful food resources available, (iii) new immigrants arrive into an area, (iv) long-life lures are required. Pest management can therefore benefit by exploiting behavioural responses to odours to achieve conservation goals.

Keywords: predator interactions, invasive species, eavesdropping, semiochemicals

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3419 Non-Revenue Water Management in Palestine

Authors: Samah Jawad Jabari

Abstract:

Water is the most important and valuable resource not only for human life but also for all living things on the planet. The water supply utilities should fulfill the water requirement quantitatively and qualitatively. Drinking water systems are exposed to both natural (hurricanes and flood) and manmade hazards (risks) that are common in Palestine. Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is a manmade risk which remains a major concern in Palestine, as the NRW levels are estimated to be at a high level. In this research, Hebron city water distribution network was taken as a case study to estimate and audit the NRW levels. The research also investigated the state of the existing water distribution system in the study area by investigating the water losses and obtained more information on NRW prevention and management practices. Data and information have been collected from the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Hebron Municipality (HM) archive. In addition to that, a questionnaire has been designed and administered by the researcher in order to collect the necessary data for water auditing. The questionnaire also assessed the views of stakeholder in PWA and HM (staff) on the current status of the NRW in the Hebron water distribution system. The important result obtained by this research shows that NRW in Hebron city was high and in excess of 30%. The main factors that contribute to NRW were the inaccuracies in billing volumes, unauthorized consumption, and the method of estimating consumptions through faulty meters. Policy for NRW reduction is available in Palestine; however, it is clear that the number of qualified staff available to carry out the activities related to leak detection is low, and that there is a lack of appropriate technologies to reduce water losses and undertake sufficient system maintenance, which needs to be improved to enhance the performance of the network and decrease the level of NRW losses.

Keywords: non-revenue water, water auditing, leak detection, water meters

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3418 Structure-Guided Optimization of Sulphonamide as Gamma–Secretase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Authors: Vaishali Patil, Neeraj Masand

Abstract:

In older people, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is turning out to be a lethal disease. According to the amyloid hypothesis, aggregation of the amyloid β–protein (Aβ), particularly its 42-residue variant (Aβ42), plays direct role in the pathogenesis of AD. Aβ is generated through sequential cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β–secretase (BACE) and γ–secretase (GS). Thus in the treatment of AD, γ-secretase modulators (GSMs) are potential disease-modifying as they selectively lower pathogenic Aβ42 levels by shifting the enzyme cleavage sites without inhibiting γ–secretase activity. This possibly avoids known adverse effects observed with complete inhibition of the enzyme complex. Virtual screening, via drug-like ADMET filter, QSAR and molecular docking analyses, has been utilized to identify novel γ–secretase modulators with sulphonamide nucleus. Based on QSAR analyses and docking score, some novel analogs have been synthesized. The results obtained by in silico studies have been validated by performing in vivo analysis. In the first step, behavioral assessment has been carried out using Scopolamine induced amnesia methodology. Later the same series has been evaluated for neuroprotective potential against the oxidative stress induced by Scopolamine. Biochemical estimation was performed to evaluate the changes in biochemical markers of Alzheimer’s disease such as lipid peroxidation (LPO), Glutathione reductase (GSH), and Catalase. The Scopolamine induced amnesia model has shown increased Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) levels and the inhibitory effect of test compounds in the brain AChE levels have been evaluated. In all the studies Donapezil (Dose: 50µg/kg) has been used as reference drug. The reduced AChE activity is shown by compounds 3f, 3c, and 3e. In the later stage, the most potent compounds have been evaluated for Aβ42 inhibitory profile. It can be hypothesized that this series of alkyl-aryl sulphonamides exhibit anti-AD activity by inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme as well as inhibition of plaque formation on prolong dosage along with neuroprotection from oxidative stress.

Keywords: gamma-secretase inhibitors, Alzzheimer's disease, sulphonamides, QSAR

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3417 Regeneration Study on the Athens City Center: Transformation of the Historical Triangle to “Low Pollution and Restricted Vehicle Traffic Zone”

Authors: Chondrogianni Dimitra, Yorgos J. Stephanedes

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The impact of the economic crisis, coupled with the aging of the city's old core, is reflected in central Athens. Public and private users, residents, employees, visitors desire the quality upgrading of abandoned buildings and public spaces through environmental upgrading and sustainable mobility, and promotion of the international metropolitan character of the city. In the study, a strategy for reshaping the character and function of the historic Athenian triangle is proposed, aiming at its economic, environmental, and social sustainable development through feasible, meaningful, and non-landscaping solutions of low cost and high positive impact. Sustainable mobility is the main principle in re-planning the study area and transforming it into a “Low Pollution and Limited Vehicle Traffic Zone” is the main strategy. Τhe proposed measures include the development of pedestrian mobility networks by expanding the pedestrian roads and limited-traffic routes, of bicycle networks based on the approved Metropolitan Bicycle Route of Athens, of public transportation networks with new lines of electric mini-buses, and of new regulations for vehicle mobility in the historic triangle. In addition, complementary actions are proposed regarding the provision of Wi-Fi on fixed track media, development of applications that facilitate combined travel and provide real-time data, integration of micromobility (roller skates, Segway, Hoverboard), and its enhancement as a flexible means of personal mobility, and development of car-sharing, ride-sharing and dynamic carpooling initiatives.

Keywords: regeneration plans, sustainable mobility, environmental upgrading, athens historical triangle

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3416 Management Effects on Different Sustainable Agricultural with Diverse Topography

Authors: Kusay Wheib, Alexandra Krvchenko

Abstract:

Crop yields are influenced by many factors, including natural ones, such as soil and environmental characteristics of the agricultural land, as well as manmade ones, such as management applications. One of the factors that frequently affect crop yields in undulating Midwest landscapes is topography, which controls the movement of water and nutrients necessary for plant life. The main objective of this study is to examine how field topography influences performance of different management practices in undulated terrain of southwest Michigan. A total of 26 agricultural fields, ranging in size from 1.1 to 7.4 ha, from the Scale-Up at Kellogg Biological Station were included in the study. The two studied factors were crop species with three levels, i.e., corn (Zea mays L.) soybean (Glycine max L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and management practice with three levels, i.e., conventional, low input, and organic managements. They were compared under three contrasting topographical settings, namely, summit (includes summits and shoulders), slope (includes backslopes), and depression (includes footslope and toeslope). Yield data of years 2007 through 2012 was processed, cleaned, and filtered, average yield then was calculated for each field, topographic setting, and year. Topography parameters, including terrain, slope, curvature, flow direction and wetness index were computed under ArcGIS environment for each topographic class of each field to seek their effects on yield. Results showed that topographical depressions produced greatest yields in most studied fields, while managements with chemical inputs, both low input and conventional, resulted in higher yields than the organic management.

Keywords: sustainable agriculture, precision agriculture, topography, yield

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3415 Developing A Third Degree Of Freedom For Opinion Dynamics Models Using Scales

Authors: Dino Carpentras, Alejandro Dinkelberg, Michael Quayle

Abstract:

Opinion dynamics models use an agent-based modeling approach to model people’s opinions. Model's properties are usually explored by testing the two 'degrees of freedom': the interaction rule and the network topology. The latter defines the connection, and thus the possible interaction, among agents. The interaction rule, instead, determines how agents select each other and update their own opinion. Here we show the existence of the third degree of freedom. This can be used for turning one model into each other or to change the model’s output up to 100% of its initial value. Opinion dynamics models represent the evolution of real-world opinions parsimoniously. Thus, it is fundamental to know how real-world opinion (e.g., supporting a candidate) could be turned into a number. Specifically, we want to know if, by choosing a different opinion-to-number transformation, the model’s dynamics would be preserved. This transformation is typically not addressed in opinion dynamics literature. However, it has already been studied in psychometrics, a branch of psychology. In this field, real-world opinions are converted into numbers using abstract objects called 'scales.' These scales can be converted one into the other, in the same way as we convert meters to feet. Thus, in our work, we analyze how this scale transformation may affect opinion dynamics models. We perform our analysis both using mathematical modeling and validating it via agent-based simulations. To distinguish between scale transformation and measurement error, we first analyze the case of perfect scales (i.e., no error or noise). Here we show that a scale transformation may change the model’s dynamics up to a qualitative level. Meaning that a researcher may reach a totally different conclusion, even using the same dataset just by slightly changing the way data are pre-processed. Indeed, we quantify that this effect may alter the model’s output by 100%. By using two models from the standard literature, we show that a scale transformation can transform one model into the other. This transformation is exact, and it holds for every result. Lastly, we also test the case of using real-world data (i.e., finite precision). We perform this test using a 7-points Likert scale, showing how even a small scale change may result in different predictions or a number of opinion clusters. Because of this, we think that scale transformation should be considered as a third-degree of freedom for opinion dynamics. Indeed, its properties have a strong impact both on theoretical models and for their application to real-world data.

Keywords: degrees of freedom, empirical validation, opinion scale, opinion dynamics

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3414 Albendazole Ameliorates Inflammatory Response in a Rat Model of Acute Mesenteric Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

Authors: Kamyar Moradi

Abstract:

Background: Acute mesenteric ischemia is known as a life-threatening condition. Re-establishment of blood flow in this condition can lead to mesenteric ischemia reperfusion (MIR) injury, which is accompanied by inflammatory response. Still, clear blueprint of inflammatory mechanism underlying MIR injury has not been provided. Interestingly, Albendazole has exhibited notable effects on inflammation and cytokine production. In this study, we aimed to evaluate outcomes of MIR injury following pretreatment with Albendazole with respect to assessment of mesenteric inflammation and ischemia threshold. Methods: Male rats were randomly divided into sham operated, vehicle treated, Albendazole 100 mg/kg, and Albendazole 200 mg/kg groups. MIR injury was induced by occlusion of superior mesenteric artery for 30 minutes followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion. Samples were utilized for assessment of epithelial survival and villous height. Immunohistochemistry study revealed intestinal expression of TNF-α and HIF-1-α. Gene expression of NF-κB/TLR4/TNF-α/IL-6 was measured using RTPCR. Also, protein levels of inflammatory cytokines in serum and intestine were assessed by ELISA method. Results: Histopathological study demonstrated that pretreatment with Albendazole could ameliorate decline in villous height and epithelial survival following MIR injury. Also, systemic inflammation was suppressed after administration of Albendazole. Analysis of possible participating inflammatory pathway could demonstrate that intestinal expression of NF-κB/TLR4/TNF-α/IL-6 is significantly attenuated in treated groups. Eventually, IHC study illustrated concordant decline in mesenteric expression of HIF-1-α/TNF-α. Conclusion: Single dose pretreatment with Albendazole could ameliorate inflammatory response and enhance ischemia threshold following induction of MIR injury. Still, more studies would clarify existing causality in this phenomenon.

Keywords: albendazole, ischemia reperfusion injury, inflammation, mesenteric ischemia

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3413 Uptake and Determinants of Rabies Pre-exposure Prophylaxis among At-Risk Travelers

Authors: Florian Lienert, Peter Costa, Caroline Aurensan, Elaine Melander

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Introduction: Rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be given before travel and simplifies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). We studied the knowledge about rabies, the uptake of PrEP, and reasons for deciding for or against PrEP in at-risk travelers. We also examined how healthcare professionals (HCPs) counsel on rabies prevention. Methods: On behalf of Bavarian Nordic, Ipsos MORI conducted two online surveys in the USA. Fieldwork from February 24th to April 23rd, 2021, 689 participants aged 18-85 years, visited one of 91 endemic rabies countries in the past 3 years for at least one week, involved in at least 1 of 7 at-risk activities, heard of rabies, positive towards vaccination and chose to take part (surveyed travelers). Secondly, 76 HCPs, with responsibility for advising/ making decisions about vaccination requirements for their patients, personally recommend or prescribe vaccines for rabies, positive towards vaccination and chose to take part (surveyed HCPs). Results: A minority (36%) of surveyed travelers classified rabies as a life-threatening disease. A third of surveyed HCPs (37%) did not discuss rabies vaccination with at-risk travelers, 18% discussed only PEP, 23% only PrEP and 22% both. A minority (21%) of surveyed travelers reported having received rabies vaccination since they were 18. Among those participants (n=145), the most common reasons for deciding to get PrEP were for their own peace of mind (35%) and following an HCP recommendation (32%). Of those who decided not to receive the rabies vaccine (n=319), the most common reasons were that they did not think their risk of rabies was sufficient (23%) and that the HCP did not suggest it (23%). Conclusions: The survey demonstrated knowledge gaps around rabies and low PrEP coverage among surveyed travelers. It also highlighted the role of HCP recommendations and showed that most HCPs did not discuss PrEP with at-risk travelers.

Keywords: rabies, pre-exposure prophylaxis, travel, travel health, post-travel care, rabies treatment, vaccine, post-exposure, prophylaxis, at-risk, education, PrEP, PEP

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3412 Investigating the Relative Priority of the Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction in Gaining the Competitive Advantage in Pars-Khazar Company

Authors: Samaneh Pouyanfar, Michael Oliff

Abstract:

The industry of home appliances may beone of theindustries which has the highest competition, and actually what can guarantee the survival of this industry is discovering the superior services. A trend to provide quality products and services plays an important role in this industry because discovering the services is counted as a vital affair for Manufacturing Organizations’ survival and profitability. Given the importance of the topic, this paper attempts to investigate the relative priority of the factors influencing the customer satisfaction in gaining the competitive advantage in Pars-Khazar Company. In sum, 96 executives of Pars-Khazar Company where investigated in a census. For this purpose, after reviewing the research literature and performing deep interviews between pundits and experts active in the industry, the research questionnaire was made based on variables affecting customer satisfaction and components determining business competitive advantage. Determining the content validity took place by judgement of the experts. The reliability of each structure was measured based on Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Since the value of Cronbach's alpha was higher than 0.7 for each structure, internal consistency of statements was high and the reliability of the questionnaire was acceptable. The data analysis was also done with Kulmgrf-asmyrnf test and Friedman test using SPSS software. The results showed that in dimension of factors affecting customer satisfaction, the History of trade name (brand), Familiarity with the product brand, Brand reputation and Safety have the highest value of priority respectively, and the variable of firm growth has the highest value of priority among the components determining the performance of competitive advantage.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, brand history, safety, growth

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3411 Grey Relational Analysis Coupled with Taguchi Method for Process Parameter Optimization of Friction Stir Welding on 6061 AA

Authors: Eyob Messele Sefene, Atinkut Atinafu Yilma

Abstract:

The highest strength-to-weight ratio criterion has fascinated increasing curiosity in virtually all areas where weight reduction is indispensable. One of the recent advances in manufacturing to achieve this intention endears friction stir welding (FSW). The process is widely used for joining similar and dissimilar non-ferrous materials. In FSW, the mechanical properties of the weld joints are impelled by property-selected process parameters. This paper presents verdicts of optimum process parameters in attempting to attain enhanced mechanical properties of the weld joint. The experiment was conducted on a 5 mm 6061 aluminum alloy sheet. A butt joint configuration was employed. Process parameters, rotational speed, traverse speed or feed rate, axial force, dwell time, tool material and tool profiles were utilized. Process parameters were also optimized, making use of a mixed L18 orthogonal array and the Grey relation analysis method with larger is better quality characteristics. The mechanical properties of the weld joint are examined through the tensile test, hardness test and liquid penetrant test at ambient temperature. ANOVA was conducted in order to investigate the significant process parameters. This research shows that dwell time, rotational speed, tool shape, and traverse speed have become significant, with a joint efficiency of about 82.58%. Nine confirmatory tests are conducted, and the results indicate that the average values of the grey relational grade fall within the 99% confidence interval. Hence the experiment is proven reliable.

Keywords: friction stir welding, optimization, 6061 AA, Taguchi

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3410 Assessment of Heavy Metals in Irrigation Water Collected from Various Vegetables Growing Areas of Swat Valley

Authors: Islam Zeb

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The water of poor quality used for irrigation purposes has the potential to be the direct source of contamination and a vehicle for spreading contamination in the field. A number of wide-ranging review articles have been published that highlight irrigation water as a source of heavy metals toxicity which leads to chronic diseases in the human body. Here a study was planned to determine the microbial and heavy metals status of irrigation water collected from various locations of district Swat in various months. The analyses were carried out at the Environmental Horticulture Laboratory, Department of Horticulture, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, during the year 2018 – 19. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two factors and three replicates. Factor A consist of different locations and factor B represent various months. The result of heavy metals concentration in different regions, maximum Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel and Copper (4.27, 0.56, 0.81, 1.33 and 1.51 mg L-1 respectively) were noted for the irrigation water samples collected from Mingora while minimum Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel and Copper concentration (2.59, 0.30, 0.27, 0.40 and 0.54 mg L-1 respectively) were noted for the samples of matta. Whereas results of heavy metals content in irrigation water samples for various months maximum content of Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel and Copper (4.56, 0.63, 1.15, 1.31 and 1.48 mg L-1 respectively) were noted for the samples collected in Jan/Feb while lowest values for Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel and Copper (2.38, 0.24, 0.21, 0.41 and 0.52 mg L-1 respectively) were noted in the samples of July/August. A significant interaction was found for all the studied parameters. It was concluded that the concentration of heavy metal was maximum in irrigation water samples collected from the Mingora location during the month of Jan/Feb because Mingora is the most polluted area as compared to other studied regions, whereas the water content in winter goes to freeze and mostly contaminated water is used for irrigation purposes.

Keywords: irrigation water, various months, different regions, heavy metals contamination, Swat

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3409 Accessible Mobile Augmented Reality App for Art Social Learning Based on Technology Acceptance Model

Authors: Covadonga Rodrigo, Felipe Alvarez Arrieta, Ana Garcia Serrano

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Mobile augmented reality technologies have become very popular in the last years in the educational field. Researchers have studied how these technologies improve the engagement of the student and better understanding of the process of learning. But few studies have been made regarding the accessibility of these new technologies applied to digital humanities. The goal of our research is to develop an accessible mobile application with embedded augmented reality main characters of the art work and gamification events accompanied by multi-sensorial activities. The mobile app conducts a learning itinerary around the artistic work, driving the user experience in and out the museum. The learning design follows the inquiry-based methodology and social learning conducted through interaction with social networks. As for the software application, it’s being user-centered designed, following the universal design for learning (UDL) principles to assure the best level of accessibility for all. The mobile augmented reality application starts recognizing a marker from a masterpiece of a museum using the camera of the mobile device. The augmented reality information (history, author, 3D images, audio, quizzes) is shown through virtual main characters that come out from the art work. To comply with the UDL principles, we use a version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to study the easiness of use and perception of usefulness, extended by the authors with specific indicators for measuring accessibility issues. Following a rapid prototype method for development, the first app has been recently produced, fulfilling the EN 301549 standard and W3C accessibility guidelines for mobile development. A TAM-based web questionnaire with 214 participants with different kinds of disabilities was previously conducted to gather information and feedback on user preferences from the artistic work on the Museo del Prado, the level of acceptance of technology innovations and the easiness of use of mobile elements. Preliminary results show that people with disabilities felt very comfortable while using mobile apps and internet connection. The augmented reality elements seem to offer an added value highly engaging and motivating for the students.

Keywords: H.5.1 (multimedia information systems), artificial, augmented and virtual realities, evaluation/methodology

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3408 Using Problem-Based Learning on Teaching Early Intervention for College Students

Authors: Chen-Ya Juan

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In recent years, the increasing number of children with special needs has brought a lot of attention by many scholars and experts in education, which enforced the preschool teachers face the harsh challenge in the classroom. To protect the right of equal education for all children, enhance the quality of children learning, and take care of the needs of children with special needs, the special education paraprofessional becomes one of the future employment trends for students of the department of the early childhood care and education. Problem-based learning is a problem-oriented instruction, which is different from traditional instruction. The instructor first designed an ambiguous problem direction, following the basic knowledge of early intervention, students had to find clues to solve the problem defined by themselves. In the class, the total instruction included 20 hours, two hours per week. The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship of student academic scores, self-awareness, learning motivation, learning attitudes, and early intervention knowledge. A total of 105 college students participated in this study and 97 questionnaires were effective. The effective response rate was 90%. The student participants included 95 females and two males. The average age of the participants was 19 years old. The questionnaires included 125 questions divided into four major dimensions: (1) Self-awareness, (2) learning motivation, (3) learning attitudes, and (4) early intervention knowledge. The results indicated (1) the scores of self-awareness were 58%; the scores of the learning motivations was 64.9%; the scores of the learning attitudes was 55.3%. (2) After the instruction, the early intervention knowledge has been increased to 64.2% from 38.4%. (3) Student’s academic performance has positive relationship with self-awareness (p < 0.05; R = 0.506), learning motivation (p < 0.05; R = 0.487), learning attitudes (p < 0.05; R = 0.527). The results implied that although students had gained early intervention knowledge by using PBL instruction, students had medium scores on self-awareness and learning attitudes, medium high in learning motivations.

Keywords: college students, children with special needs, problem-based learning, learning motivation

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3407 Structural Analysis of Polymer Thin Films at Single Macromolecule Level

Authors: Hiroyuki Aoki, Toru Asada, Tomomi Tanii

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The properties of a spin-cast film of a polymer material are different from those in the bulk material because the polymer chains are frozen in an un-equilibrium state due to the rapid evaporation of the solvent. However, there has been little information on the un-equilibrated conformation and dynamics in a spin-cast film at the single chain level. The real-space observation of individual chains would provide direct information to discuss the morphology and dynamics of single polymer chains. The recent development of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy methods allows the conformational analysis of single polymer chain. In the current study, the conformation of a polymer chain in a spin-cast film by the super-resolution microscopy. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with the molecular weight of 2.2 x 10^6 was spin-cast onto a glass substrate from toluene and chloroform. For the super-resolution fluorescence imaging, a small amount of the PMMA labeled by rhodamine spiroamide dye was added. The radius of gyration (Rg) was evaluated from the super-resolution fluorescence image of each PMMA chain. The mean-square-root of Rg was 48.7 and 54.0 nm in the spin-cast films prepared from the toluene and chloroform solutions, respectively. On the other hand, the chain dimension in a bulk state (a thermally annealed 10- μm-thick sample) was observed to be 43.1 nm. This indicates that the PMMA chain in the spin-cast film takes an expanded conformation compared to the unperturbed chain and that the chain dimension is dependent on the solvent quality. In a good solvent, the PMMA chain has an expanded conformation by the excluded volume effect. The polymer chain is frozen before the relaxation from an un-equilibrated expanded conformation to an unperturbed one by the rapid solvent evaporation.

Keywords: chain conformation, polymer thin film, spin-coating, super-resolution optical microscopy

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3406 Making Permanent Supportive Housing Work for Vulnerable Populations

Authors: Olayinka Ariba, Abe Oudshoorn, Steve Rolfe, Carrie Anne Marshall, Deanna Befus, Jason Gilliland, Miranda Crockett, Susana Caxaj, Sarah McLean, Amy Van Berkum, Natasha Thuemler

Abstract:

Background: Secure housing is a platform for health and well-being. Those who struggle with housing stability have complex life and health histories and often require some support services such as the provision of permanent supportive housing. Poor access to supportive resources creates an exacerbation of chronic homelessness, particularly affecting individuals who need immediate access to mental health and addiction supports. This paper presents the first phase of a three-part study examining how on-site support impacts housing stability for recently-re-housed persons. Method: This study utilized a community-based participatory research methodology. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with permanent supportive housing residents from a single-site dwelling. Interpretative description analysis was used to draw common themes and understand the experiences and challenges of housing support. Results: Three interconnected themes were identified: 1) Available and timely supports; 2) Affordability; and 3) Community, but with independence as desired. These interconnected components are helping residents transition from homelessness or long-term mental health inpatient care to live in the community. Despite some participant concerns about resident conflicts, staff availability, and affordability, this has been a welcome and successful move for most. Conclusion: Supportive housing is essential for successful tenancies as a platform for health and well-being among Canada’s most vulnerable and, from the perspective of persons recently re-housed, permanent supportive housing is a worthwhile investment.

Keywords: homelessness, supportive housing, rehoused, housing stability

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3405 Impact of Civil Engineering and Economic Growth in the Sustainability of the Environment: Case of Albania

Authors: Rigers Dodaj

Abstract:

Nowadays, the environment is a critical goal for civil engineers, human activity, construction projects, economic growth, and whole national development. Regarding the development of Albania's economy, people's living standards are increasing, and the requirements for the living environment are also increasing. Under these circumstances, environmental protection and sustainability this is the critical issue. The rising industrialization, urbanization, and energy demand affect the environment by emission of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), a significant parameter known to impact air pollution directly. Consequently, many governments and international organizations conducted policies and regulations to address environmental degradation in the pursuit of economic development, for instance in Albania, the CO2 emission calculated in metric tons per capita has increased by 23% in the last 20 years. This paper analyzes the importance of civil engineering and economic growth in the sustainability of the environment focusing on CO2 emission. The analyzed data are time series 2001 - 2020 (with annual frequency), based on official publications of the World Bank. The statistical approach with vector error correction model and time series forecasting model are used to perform the parameter’s estimations and long-run equilibrium. The research in this paper adds a new perspective to the evaluation of a sustainable environment in the context of carbon emission reduction. Also, it provides reference and technical support for the government toward green and sustainable environmental policies. In the context of low-carbon development, effectively improving carbon emission efficiency is an inevitable requirement for achieving sustainable economic and environmental protection. Also, the study reveals that civil engineering development projects impact greatly the environment in the long run, especially in areas of flooding, noise pollution, water pollution, erosion, ecological disorder, natural hazards, etc. The potential for reducing industrial carbon emissions in recent years indicates that reduction is becoming more difficult, it needs another economic growth policy and more civil engineering development, by improving the level of industrialization and promoting technological innovation in industrial low-carbonization.

Keywords: CO₂ emission, civil engineering, economic growth, environmental sustainability

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3404 Effect of Tool Size and Cavity Depth on Response Characteristics during Electric Discharge Machining on Superalloy Metal - An Experimental Investigation

Authors: Sudhanshu Kumar

Abstract:

Electrical discharge machining, also known as EDM, process is one of the most applicable machining process for removal of material in hard to machine materials like superalloy metals. EDM process utilizes electrical energy into sparks to erode the metals in presence of dielectric medium. In the present investigation, superalloy, Inconel 718 has been selected as workpiece and electrolytic copper as tool electrode. Attempt has been made to understand the effect of size of tool with varying cavity depth during drilling of hole through EDM process. In order to systematic investigate, tool size in terms of tool diameter and cavity depth along with other important electrical parameters namely, peak current, pulse-on time and servo voltage have been varied at three different values and the experiments has been designed using fractional factorial (Taguchi) method. Each experiment has been repeated twice under the same condition in order to understand the variability within the experiments. The effect of variations in parameters has been evaluated in terms of material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface roughness. Results revel that change in tool diameter during machining affects the response characteristics significantly. Larger tool diameter yielded 13% more material removal rate than smaller tool diameter. Analysis of the effect of variation in cavity depth is notable. There is no significant effect of cavity depth on material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface quality. This indicates that number of experiments can be performed to analyze other parameters effect even at smaller depth of cavity which can reduce the cost and time of experiments. Further, statistical analysis has been carried out to identify the interaction effect between parameters.

Keywords: EDM, Inconel 718, material removal rate, roughness, tool wear, tool size

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3403 The Effect of Speech-Shaped Noise and Speaker’s Voice Quality on First-Grade Children’s Speech Perception and Listening Comprehension

Authors: I. Schiller, D. Morsomme, A. Remacle

Abstract:

Children’s ability to process spoken language develops until the late teenage years. At school, where efficient spoken language processing is key to academic achievement, listening conditions are often unfavorable. High background noise and poor teacher’s voice represent typical sources of interference. It can be assumed that these factors particularly affect primary school children, because their language and literacy skills are still low. While it is generally accepted that background noise and impaired voice impede spoken language processing, there is an increasing need for analyzing impacts within specific linguistic areas. Against this background, the aim of the study was to investigate the effect of speech-shaped noise and imitated dysphonic voice on first-grade primary school children’s speech perception and sentence comprehension. Via headphones, 5 to 6-year-old children, recruited within the French-speaking community of Belgium, listened to and performed a minimal-pair discrimination task and a sentence-picture matching task. Stimuli were randomly presented according to four experimental conditions: (1) normal voice / no noise, (2) normal voice / noise, (3) impaired voice / no noise, and (4) impaired voice / noise. The primary outcome measure was task score. How did performance vary with respect to listening condition? Preliminary results will be presented with respect to speech perception and sentence comprehension and carefully interpreted in the light of past findings. This study helps to support our understanding of children’s language processing skills under adverse conditions. Results shall serve as a starting point for probing new measures to optimize children’s learning environment.

Keywords: impaired voice, sentence comprehension, speech perception, speech-shaped noise, spoken language processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 194
3402 Promoting Public Participation in the Digital Memory Project: Experience from My Peking Memory Project(MPMP)

Authors: Xiaoshuang Jia, Huiling Feng, Li Niu, Wei Hai

Abstract:

Led by Humanistic Beijing Studies Center in Renmin University of China, My Peking Memory Project(MPMP) is a long-time digital memory project under guarantee of public participation to enable the cultural and intellectual memory of Beijing to be collected, organized, preserved and promoted for discovery and research. Taking digital memory as a new way, MPMP is an important part of Peking Memory Project(PMP) which is aimed at using digital technologies to protect and (re)present the cultural heritage in Beijing. The key outcome of MPMP is the co-building of a total digital collection of knowledge assets about Beijing. Institutional memories are central to Beijing’s collection and consist of the official published documentary content of Beijing. These have already fall under the archival collection purview. The advances in information and communication technology and the knowledge form social memory theory have allowed us to collect more comprehensively beyond institutional collections. It is now possible to engage citizens on a large scale to collect private memories through crowdsourcing in digital formats. Private memories go beyond official published content to include personal narratives, some of which are just in people’s minds until they are captured by MPMP. One aim of MPMP is to engage individuals, communities, groups or institutions who have formed memories and content about Beijing, and would like to contribute them. The project hopes to build a culture of remembering and it believes ‘Every Memory Matters’. Digital memory contribution was achieved through the development of the MPMP. In reducing barriers to digital contribution and promoting high public Participation, MPMP has taken explored the harvesting of transcribe service for digital ingestion, mobile platform and some off-line activities like holding social forum. MPMP has also cooperated with the ‘Implementation Plan of Support Plan for Growth of Talents in Renmin University of China’ to get manpower and intellectual support. After six months of operation, now MPMP have more than 2000 memories added and 7 Special Memory Collections now online. The work of MPMP has ultimately helped to highlight the important role in safeguarding the documentary heritage and intellectual memory of Beijing.

Keywords: digital memory, public participation, MPMP, cultural heritage, collection

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3401 Combined Use of Microbial Consortia for the Enhanced Degradation of Type-IIx Pyrethroids

Authors: Parminder Kaur, Chandrajit B. Majumder

Abstract:

The unrestrained usage of pesticides to meet the burgeoning demand of enhanced crop productivity has led to the serious contamination of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. The remediation of mixture of pesticides is a challenging affair regarding inadvertent mixture of pesticides from agricultural lands treated with various compounds. Global concerns about the excessive use of pesticides have driven the need to develop more effective and safer alternatives for their remediation. We focused our work on the microbial degradation of a mixture of three Type II-pyrethroids, namely Cypermethrin, Cyhalothrin and Deltamethrin commonly applied for both agricultural and domestic purposes. The fungal strains (Fusarium strain 8-11P and Fusarium sp. zzz1124) had previously been isolated from agricultural soils and their ability to biotransform this amalgam was studied. In brief, the experiment was conducted in two growth systems (added carbon and carbon-free) enriched with variable concentrations of pyrethroids between 100 to 300 mgL⁻¹. Parameter optimization (pH, temperature, concentration and time) was done using a central composite design matrix of Response Surface Methodology (RSM). At concentrations below 200 mgL⁻¹, complete removal was observed; however, degradation of 95.6%/97.4 and 92.27%/95.65% (in carbon-free/added carbon) was observed for 250 and 300 mgL⁻¹ respectively. The consortium has been shown to degrade the pyrethroid mixture (300 mg L⁻¹) within 120 h. After 5 day incubation, the residual pyrethroids concentration in unsterilized soil were much lower than in sterilized soil, indicating that microbial degradation predominates in pyrethroids elimination with the half-life (t₁/₂) of 1.6 d and R² ranging from 0.992-0.999. Overall, these results showed that microbial consortia might be more efficient than single degrader strains. The findings will complement our current understanding of the bioremediation of mixture of Type II pyrethroids with microbial consortia and potentially heighten the importance for considering bioremediation as an effective alternative for the remediation of such pollutants.

Keywords: bioremediation, fungi, pyrethroids, soil

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3400 Necessary Condition to Utilize Adaptive Control in Wind Turbine Systems to Improve Power System Stability

Authors: Javad Taherahmadi, Mohammad Jafarian, Mohammad Naser Asefi

Abstract:

The global capacity of wind power has dramatically increased in recent years. Therefore, improving the technology of wind turbines to take different advantages of this enormous potential in the power grid, could be interesting subject for scientists. The doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbine is a popular system due to its many advantages such as the improved power quality, high energy efficiency and controllability, etc. With an increase in wind power penetration in the network and with regard to the flexible control of wind turbines, the use of wind turbine systems to improve the dynamic stability of power systems has been of significance importance for researchers. Subsynchronous oscillations are one of the important issues in the stability of power systems. Damping subsynchronous oscillations by using wind turbines has been studied in various research efforts, mainly by adding an auxiliary control loop to the control structure of the wind turbine. In most of the studies, this control loop is composed of linear blocks. In this paper, simple adaptive control is used for this purpose. In order to use an adaptive controller, the convergence of the controller should be verified. Since adaptive control parameters tend to optimum values in order to obtain optimum control performance, using this controller will help the wind turbines to have positive contribution in damping the network subsynchronous oscillations at different wind speeds and system operating points. In this paper, the application of simple adaptive control in DFIG wind turbine systems to improve the dynamic stability of power systems is studied and the essential condition for using this controller is considered. It is also shown that this controller has an insignificant effect on the dynamic stability of the wind turbine, itself.

Keywords: almost strictly positive real (ASPR), doubly-fed induction generator (DIFG), simple adaptive control (SAC), subsynchronous oscillations, wind turbine

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3399 Is More Inclusive More Effective? The 'New Style' Public Distribution System in India

Authors: Avinash Kishore, Suman Chakrabarti

Abstract:

In September 2013, the parliament of India enacted the National Food Security Act (NFSA) which entitles two-thirds of India’s population to five kilograms of rice, wheat or coarse cereals per person per month at one to three rupees per kilogram. Five states in India—Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal—had already implemented somewhat similar changes in the TPDS a few years earlier using their own budgetary resources. They made rice—coincidentally, all five states are predominantly rice-eating—available in fair price shops to a majority of their population at very low prices (less than Rs.3/kg). This paper tries to account for the changes in household consumption patterns associated with the change in TPDS policy in these states using data from household consumption surveys by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). NSS data show improvement in the coverage of TPDS and average off-take of grains from fair price shops between 2004-05 and 2009-10 across all states of India. However, the increase in coverage and off-take was significantly higher in four out of these five states than in the rest of India. An average household in these states purchased three kilos more rice per month from fair price shops than its counterpart in non-treated states as a result of more generous TPDS policies backed by administrative reforms. The increase in consumption of PDS rice was the highest in Chhattisgarh, the poster state of PDS reforms. Households in Chhattisgarh used money saved on rice to spend more on pulses, edible oil, vegetables and sugar and other non-food items. We also find evidence that making TPDS more inclusive and more generous is not enough unless it is supported by administrative reforms to improve grain delivery and control diversion to open markets.

Keywords: public distribution system, social safety-net, national food security act, diet quality, Chhattisgarh

Procedia PDF Downloads 375
3398 Assessment of Oral and Dental Health Status of Pregnant Women in Malaga, Spain

Authors: Nepton Kiani

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Dental decay is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide and imposes significant costs annually on people and healthcare systems. Addressing this issue is among the important programs of the World Health Organization in the field of oral and dental disease prevention and health promotion. In this context, oral and dental health in vulnerable groups, especially pregnant women, is of greater importance due to the health maintenance of the mother and fetus. The aim of this study is to investigate the DMFT index and various factors affecting it in order to identify different factors influencing the process of dental decay and to take an effective step in reducing the progression of this disease, control, and prevention. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 120 pregnant women attending Nepton Policlinica clinic in Malaga, Spain, were evaluated for the DMFT index and oral and dental hygiene. In this regard, interviews, precise observations, and data collection were used. Subsequently, data analysis was performed using SPSS software and employing correlation tests, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney tests. The DMFT index for pregnant women in three age groups 22-26, 27- 31, and 32-36 years was respectively 2.8, 4.5, and 5.6. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that demographic variables (age, education, job, economic status) and the frequency of brushing and flossing lead to preventive behavior up to 49.58 percent (P<0.05). Generally, the results indicated that oral and dental care during pregnancy is poor. Only a small number of pregnant women regularly used toothbrush and dental floss or visited the dentist regularly. On the other hand, poor performance in adopting oral and dental care was more observed in pregnant women with lower economic and educational status. The present study showed that raising the level of awareness and education on oral and dental health in pregnant women is essential. In this field, it is necessary to focus on conducting educational-care courses at the level of healthcare centers for midwives, healthcare personnel, and at the community level for families, to prevent and perform dental treatments before the pregnancy period

Keywords: Malaga, oral and dental health, pregnant women, Spain

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3397 Manager-Sensitive Theological Curricula: Rethinking Pastoral Care for Christians in High Positions Based on a Namibian Case Study

Authors: Florence Matsveru

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The 21st-century church in Africa is faced with a myriad of challenges, which need attention. One of those challenges is pastoral ministry to congregants in high positions. This paper is based on a Ph.D. study entitled, ‘Wellbeing and work performance of Christians in managerial positions: A Namibian case study’ conducted between 2015 and 2018. The study was conducted with 32 purposively selected Christians working in managerial positions in Ohangwena Region, Namibia. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, i.e., both qualitative (to get participants’ feelings and perceptions) and quantitative (to get proportions of the experiences and perceptions). The research process involved a questionnaire survey and interviews. The study revealed that Christians in managerial positions have both common and unique experiences in three spheres: the workplace, the family and the church. The experiences lead to physical, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual needs. The findings also showed that some of the expectations placed upon Christians in managerial positions in the church may be unrealistic, while at the same time this group of congregants want to use their work experiences for the benefit of the church. A worrying finding was that pastors are generally not well-trained for ministry to congregants in high positions. Since these were perceptions of the participants (some of whom were also pastors), the researcher went further to do a short internet survey of the curricula of a number of theological colleges in Southern Africa. This survey did not show any ‘manager-sensitive’ modules in the surveyed colleges. Theological education for pastors, especially in African theological institutions, seems to ignore the unique needs of congregants in high positions. This paper argues that the needs of Christians in high positions should be considered in pastoral care and that theological education is key in equipping pastors with the necessary knowledge and skills. This paper is, therefore, a call to theological institutions to include ministry to people in high positions in their curricula. Pastors who are already beyond theological school may find it helpful to attend or hold workshops that focus on congregants in high positions so that this kind of 'sheep' will find good pasture in the church. A paper of this nature helps to strengthen pastoral ministry and to enhance the relevance of theological education.

Keywords: Christian managers, theological curricula, pastoral care, African

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3396 Developing a DNN Model for the Production of Biogas From a Hybrid BO-TPE System in an Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment Plant

Authors: Hadjer Sadoune, Liza Lamini, Scherazade Krim, Amel Djouadi, Rachida Rihani

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Deep neural networks are highly regarded for their accuracy in predicting intricate fermentation processes. Their ability to learn from a large amount of datasets through artificial intelligence makes them particularly effective models. The primary obstacle in improving the performance of these models is to carefully choose the suitable hyperparameters, including the neural network architecture (number of hidden layers and hidden units), activation function, optimizer, learning rate, and other relevant factors. This study predicts biogas production from real wastewater treatment plant data using a sophisticated approach: hybrid Bayesian optimization with a tree-structured Parzen estimator (BO-TPE) for an optimised deep neural network (DNN) model. The plant utilizes an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) digester that treats industrial wastewater from soft drinks and breweries. The digester has a working volume of 1574 m3 and a total volume of 1914 m3. Its internal diameter and height were 19 and 7.14 m, respectively. The data preprocessing was conducted with meticulous attention to preserving data quality while avoiding data reduction. Three normalization techniques were applied to the pre-processed data (MinMaxScaler, RobustScaler and StandardScaler) and compared with the Non-Normalized data. The RobustScaler approach has strong predictive ability for estimating the volume of biogas produced. The highest predicted biogas volume was 2236.105 Nm³/d, with coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.712, 164.610, and 223.429, respectively.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas production, deep neural network, hybrid bo-tpe, hyperparameters tuning

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3395 A Case Study in Montreal: Strategies Implemented by Immigrant Parents to Support Their Child's Educational and Academic Success: Managing Distance between School in the Country of Origin and School in the Host Society

Authors: Josée Charette

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The academic and educational success of immigrant students is a current issue in education, especially in western societies such in the province of Quebec, in Canada. For people who immigrate with school-age children, the success of the family’s migratory project is often measured by the benefits drawn by children from the educational institutions of their host society. In order to support the academic achievement of their children, immigrant parents try to develop practices that derive from their representations of school and related challenges inspired by the socio-cultural context of their country of origin. These findings lead us to the following question: How does strategies implemented by immigrant parents to manage the representational distance between school of their country of origin and school of the host society support or not the academic and educational success of their child? In the context of a qualitative exploratory approach, we have made interviews in the French-, English- and Spanish-languages with 32 newly immigrated parents and 10 of their children. Parents were invited to complete a network of free associations about «School in Quebec» as a premise for the interview. The objective of this communication is to present strategies implemented by immigrant parents to manage the distance between their representations of schools in their country of origin and in the host society, and to explore the influence of this management on their child’s academic and educational trajectories. Data analysis led us to develop various types of strategies, such as continuity, adaptation, resources mobilization, compensation and "return to basics" strategies. These strategies seem to be part of a continuum from oppositional-conflict scenario, in which parental strategies act as a risk factor, to conciliator-integrator scenario, in which parental strategies act as a protective factor for immigrant students’ academic and educational success. In conclusion, we believe that our research helps in providing a more efficient support to immigrant parents and contributes to develop a wider portrait of immigrant students’ academic achievement. In addition, we think that by improving the experience of immigrant families in Quebec schools, a greater number of migratory projects will be effective.

Keywords: immigrant students, family’s migratory project, school of origin and school of host society, immigrants parental strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 447
3394 Geographic Information System Application for Predicting Tourism Development in Gunungkidul Regency, Indonesia

Authors: Nindyo Cahyo Kresnanto, Muhamad Willdan, Wika Harisa Putri

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Gunungkidul is one of the emerging tourism industry areas in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. This article describes how GIS can predict the development of tourism potential in Gunungkidul. The tourism sector in Gunungkidul Regency contributes 3.34% of the total gross regional domestic product and is the economic sector with the highest growth with a percentage of 18.37% in the post-Covid-19 period. This contribution makes researchers consider that several tourist sites need to be explored more to increase regional economic development gradually. This research starts by collecting spatial data from tourist locations tourists want to visit in Gunungkidul Regency based on survey data from 571 respondents. Then the data is visualized with ArcGIS software. This research shows an overview of tourist destinations interested in travellers depicted from the lowest to the highest from the data visualization. Based on the data visualization results, specific tourist locations potentially developed to influence the surrounding economy positively. The visualization of the data displayed is also in the form of a desire line map that shows tourist travel patterns from the origin of the tourist to the destination of the tourist location of interest. From the desire line, the prediction of the path of tourist sites with a high frequency of transportation activity can figure out. Predictions regarding specific tourist location routes that high transportation activities can burden can consider which routes will be chosen. The route also needs to be improved in terms of capacity and quality. The goal is to provide a sense of security and comfort for tourists who drive and positively impact the tourist sites traversed by the route.

Keywords: tourism development, GIS and survey, transportation, potential desire line

Procedia PDF Downloads 69