Search results for: smart training

Authors: Suresh Salla

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In this paper, author explores for most sustainable last mile transport mode addressing present problems of traffic congestion, jams, pollution and travel stress. Development of energy-efficient sustainable integrated transport system(s) is/are must to make our cities more livable. Emphasis on autonomous, connected, electric, sharing system for effective utilization of systems (vehicles and public infrastructure) is on the rise. Many surface mobility innovations like PBS, Ride hailing, ride sharing, etc. are, although workable but if we analyze holistically, add to the already congested roads, difficult to ride in hostile weather, causes pollution and poses commuter stress. Sustainability of transportation is evaluated with respect to public adoption, average speed, energy consumption, and pollution. Why public prefer certain mode over others? How commute time plays a role in mode selection or shift? What are the factors play-ing role in energy consumption and pollution? Based on the study, it is clear that public prefer a transport mode which is exhaustive (i.e., less need for interchange – network is widespread) and intensive (i.e., less waiting time - vehicles are available at frequent intervals) and convenient with latest technologies. Average speed is dependent on stops, number of intersections, signals, clear route availability, etc. It is clear from Physics that higher the kerb weight of a vehicle; higher is the operational energy consumption. Higher kerb weight also demands heavier infrastructure. Pollution is dependent on source of energy, efficiency of vehicle, average speed. Mode can be made exhaustive when the unit infrastructure cost is less and can be offered intensively when the vehicle cost is less. Reliable and seamless integrated mobility till last ¼ mile (Five Minute Walk-FMW) is a must to encourage sustainable public transportation. Study shows that average speed and reliability of dedicated modes (like Metro, PRT, BRT, etc.) is high compared to road vehicles. Electric vehicles and more so battery-less or 3rd rail vehicles reduce pollution. One potential mode can be Cycleloop PRT, where commuter rides e-cycle in a dedicated path – elevated, at grade or underground. e-Bike with kerb weight per rider at 15 kg being 1/50th of car or 1/10th of other PRT systems makes it sustainable mode. Cycleloop tube will be light, sleek and scalable and can be modular erected, either on modified street lamp-posts or can be hanged/suspended between the two stations. Embarking and dis-embarking points or offline stations can be at an interval which suits FMW to mass public transit. In terms of convenience, guided e-Bike can be made self-balancing thus encouraging driverless on-demand vehicles. e-Bike equipped with smart electronics and drive controls can intelligently respond to field sensors and autonomously move reacting to Central Controller. Smart switching allows travel from origin to destination without interchange of cycles. DC Powered Batteryless e-cycle with voluntary manual pedaling makes it sustainable and provides health benefits. Tandem e-bike, smart switching and Platoon operations algorithm options provide superior through-put of the Cycleloop. Thus Cycleloop PRT will be exhaustive, intensive, convenient, reliable, speedy, sustainable, safe, pollution-free and healthy alternative mode for last mile connectivity in cities.

Keywords: cycleloop PRT, five-minute walk, lean modular infrastructure, self-balanced intelligent e-cycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Rostam Abdi, Ahmad Abdi, Zahra Vahedi Langrodi

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The aim of this study is to investigate four-week resistance exercise and milk supplement on NT-proBNP and plasma troponin I of male students. Concerning the methodology of the study, 21 senior high school students of Ardebil city were selected. The selected subjects were randomly shared in three groups of control, exercise- water and exercise- milk. The exercise program includes resistance exercise for a big muscle group. The subjects of control group rested during the study and did not participate in any training. The subjects of exercise- water experimental group immediately received 400 cc water after exercise and exercise- milk group immediately received 400 cc low fat milk. Control-water groups consumed the same amount of water. 48 hours before and after the last exercise session, the blood sample of the subjects were taken for measuring the variables. NT-proBNP and Troponin I concentrations were measured by ELISA. For data analysis, one-way variance analysis test, correlated t-test and Bonferroni post hoc test were used. The significant difference of p ≤ 0.05 was accepted. Resistance training along with milk consumption leads to increase of plasma NT-proBNP, however; this increase has not reached the significant level. Furthermore, meaningful increase was observed in plasma NT–proBNP in exercise group between pretest and posttest values. Furthermore, no meaningful difference was observed between groups in terms of Troponin I after milk consumption. It seems that endurance exercises lead to change in the structure of heart muscle and is along with an increase of NT-proBNP. Furthermore, there is the possibility that milk consumption can lead to release of heart troponin I. The mechanism through which protein supplements have been put on heart troponin I is unknown and requires more research.

Keywords: resistance exercise, milk, NT-proBNP, Troponin I

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Sherry Ann Ganase, Sandra Sookram

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This study investigates the level of awareness to climate change and major factors that influence such awareness in Grande Riviere, Trinidad. Through the development of an Awareness Index and application of a Structural Equation Model to survey data, the findings suggest an Awareness index value of 0.459 in Grande Riviere. These results suggest that households have climate smart attitudes and behaviors but climate knowledge is lacking. This is supported by the structural equation model which shows a negative relationship between awareness and causes of climate change. The study concludes by highlighting the need for immediate action on increasing knowledge.

Keywords: awareness, climate change, climate education, index structural equation model

Procedia PDF Downloads 445

Authors: Ahmed Khattab, Bassem Shetta

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Today, there are many branches of technology, one of them is the internet of things. In this paper, it's focused specifically on automating all the home appliances through E-mail using Node JS server, the server side stores, and processes this data. The server side contains user interface and notification system functionalities which is operated by Raspberry Pi. It will present the security requirements for the smart home. In this application, the privilege of home control including special persons to use it, using the hardware appliances through mobiles and tablets is achieved. The proposed application delivers high quality of service, long lifetime, low maintenance, fast deployment, and low power requirements with low cost needed for development.

Keywords: Raspberry Pi, E-mail, home automation, temperature sensor, PIR sensor, actuators, relay

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Tetsuya Yabuki, Yasunori Arizumi, Tetsuhiro Shimozato, Samy Guezouli, Hiroaki Matsusita, Masayuki Tai

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The main object of this paper is to present the research results of the development of a hybrid stainless steel girder system for bridge construction undertaken at University of Ryukyu. In order to prevent the corrosion damage and reduce the fabrication costs, a hybrid stainless steel girder in bridge construction is developed, the stainless steel girder of which is stiffened and braced by structural carbon steel materials. It is verified analytically and experimentally that the ultimate strength of the hybrid stainless steel girder is equal to or greater than that of conventional carbon steel girder. The benefit of the life-cycle cost of the hybrid stainless steel girder is also shown.

Keywords: smart structure, hybrid stainless steel members, ultimate strength, steel bridge, corrosion prevention

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Siddhartha Khare, Nitish Kr Boro, Omm Animesh Mishra

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Recent food price hikes may signal the end of an era of predictable global grain crop plenty due to climate change, population expansion, and dietary changes. Food consumption will treble in 20 years, requiring enormous production expenditures. Climate and the atmosphere changed owing to rainfall and seasonal cycles in the past decade. India's tropical agricultural relies on evapotranspiration and monsoons. In places with limited resources, the global environmental change affects agricultural productivity and farmers' capacity to adjust to changing moisture patterns. Motivated by these difficulties, satellite remote sensing might be combined with near-surface imaging data (smartphones, UAVs, and PhenoCams) to enable phenological monitoring and fast evaluations of field-level consequences of extreme weather events on smallholder agriculture output. To accomplish this technique, we must digitally map all communities agricultural boundaries and crop kinds. With the improvement of satellite remote sensing technologies, a geo-referenced database may be created for rural Indian agriculture fields. Using AI, we can design digital agricultural solutions for individual farms. Main objective is to Geo-enable each farm along with their seasonal crop information by combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) with satellite and near-surface data and then prepare long term crop monitoring through in-depth field analysis and scanning of fields with satellite derived vegetation indices. We developed an AI based algorithm to understand the timelapse based growth of vegetation using PhenoCam or Smartphone based images. We developed an android platform where user can collect images of their fields based on the android application. These images will be sent to our local server, and then further AI based processing will be done at our server. We are creating digital boundaries of individual farms and connecting these farms with our smart phone application to collect information about farmers and their crops in each season. We are extracting satellite-based information for each farm from Google earth engine APIs and merging this data with our data of tested crops from our app according to their farm’s locations and create a database which will provide the data of quality of crops from their location.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, satellite remote sensing, crop monitoring, android and web application

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Euan Donley

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Emergency Departments (EDs) are heavily burdened as presentation rates continue to rise. To improve patient flow National Emergency Access Targets (NEAT) were introduced. NEAT implements timelines for ED presentations, such as discharging patients within four hours of arrival. Mental health patients use EDs more than the general population and are generally more complex in their presentations. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of NEAT on psychiatric risk assessment of mental health patients in the ED. Seventy-eight mental health clinicians from 7 Victoria, Australia, hospital EDs participated in a mixed method analysis via anonymous online survey. NEAT was considered helpful as mental health patients were seen quicker, were less likely to abscond, could improve teamwork amongst ED staff, and in some cases administrative processes were better streamlined. However, clinicians felt that NEAT was also responsible for less time with patients and relatives’, resulted in rushed assessments, placed undue pressure on mental health clinicians, was not conducive to training, and the emphasis on time was the wrong focus for patient treatment. The profile of a patient typically likely to be treated within NEAT timelines showed a perfect storm of luck and compliance. If a patient was sober, medically stable, referred early, did not require much collateral information and did not have distressed relatives, NEAT was more likely to be met. Organisationally participants reported no organisational change or training to meet NEAT. Poor mental health staffing, multiple ED presentations and a shortage of mental health beds also hamper meeting NEAT. Findings suggest participants were supportive of NEAT in principle, but a demanding workload and organisational barriers meant NEAT had an overall negative effect on psychiatric risk assessment of mental health patients in ED.

Keywords: assessment, emergency, risk, psychiatric

Procedia PDF Downloads 503

Authors: O. Nthoi-Molefe, V. Makwinja

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In the North West district of Botswana, Heritage tourism has the potential to offer tremendous economic and social opportunities for local communities in terms of supporting Tourism product development and entrepreneurship. This paper Identifies that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneur brings to the market goods and services, organizes and runs cultural heritage in a commercial or non-profit manner depending on characteristics of cultural resources identified. Data was collected through a series of focus group discussions that included sixteen village community members within the region. Data collected was transcribed and then further analyzed thematically to bring forward results to be analysed. Using Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site as a case study, the researchers acknowledged that Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs in that area should use a creative approach in order toidentify suitable solutions for financing different tourism activities starting with sponsored events, grant funds, donations, including the benefits of financial opportunities brough be foreign visitors and domestic tourists alike. The researchers also identified a need for specialized training for the identified entrepreneurs in order to maintain quality services of tourism products and sites (interpretation), information for tourists, visitation services, diversification, and upgrading of the heritage experience. The research reveals that the identified Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurs prefer economic motivation, exploitation over the cultural value of their resources, further calling for recommendations of the research that emphasize on the need for detailed training on how to valorize their cultural resources for the growth of Tourism in the area.

Keywords: education, community development, entrepreneurship, cultural tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Joseph Ippolito, David Megenhardt

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In the United States, displaced workers, the unemployed and those seeking to build additional work skills are provided employment training and job placement services through a system of One-Stop Career Centers that are sponsored by the country’s 593 local Workforce Boards. During the period 2010-2015, these centers served roughly 8 million individuals each year. The quality of services provided at these centers rests upon professional employment specialists who work closely with clients to identify their job interests, to connect them to appropriate training opportunities, to match them with needed supportive social services and to guide them to eventual employment. Despite the crucial role these Employment Specialists play, currently there are no broadly accepted standards that establish what these individuals are expected to do in the workplace, nor are there indicators to assess how well an individual performs these responsibilities. Education Development Center (EDC) and the United Labor Agency (ULA) have partnered to create a foundation upon which curriculum can be developed that addresses the skills, knowledge and behaviors that Employment Specialists must master in order to serve their clients effectively. EDC is a non-profit, education research and development organization that designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health and economic opportunity worldwide. ULA is the social action arm of organized labor in Greater Cleveland, Ohio. ULA currently operates One-Stop Career Centers in both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This case study outlines efforts taken to create standards that define the work of Employment Specialists and to establish indicators that can guide assessment of work performance. The methodology involved in the study has engaged a panel of expert Employment Specialists in rigorous, structured dialogues that analyze and identify the characteristics that enable them to be effective in their jobs. It has also drawn upon and integrated reviews of the panel’s work by more than 100 other Employment Specialists across the country. The results of this process are two documents that provide resources for developing training curriculum for future Employment Specialists, namely: an occupational profile of an Employment Specialist that offers a detailed articulation of the skills, knowledge and behaviors that enable individuals to be successful at this job, and; a collection of performance based indicators, aligned to the profile, which illustrate what the work responsibilities of an Employment Specialist 'look like' a four levels of effectiveness ranging from novice to expert. The method of occupational analysis used by the study has application across a broad number of fields.

Keywords: assessment, employability, job standards, workforce development

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Thomas J. Bell III

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Pursuing a business degree is fraught with perplexing questions regarding the rising tuition cost and the immediate value of earning a degree. Any decision to pursue an undergraduate business degree is perceived to have value if it facilitates post-graduate job placement. Business programs have decreased value in the absence of innovation in business programs that close the skills gap between recent graduates and employment opportunities. Industry-based certifications are seemingly becoming a requirement differentiator among job applicants. Texas Wesleyan University offers a Computer Information System (CIS) program with an innovative curriculum that integrates industry-recognized certification training into its traditional curriculum with core subjects and electives. This paper explores a culture of innovation in the CIS business program curriculum that creates sustainable stakeholder value for students, employers, the community, and the university. A quantitative research methodology surveying over one-hundred students in the CIS program will be used to examine factors influencing the success or failure of students taking certification exams. Researchers will analyze control variables to identify specific correlations between practice exams, teaching pedagogy, study time, age, work experience, etc. This study compared various exam preparation techniques to corresponding exam results across several industry certification exams. The findings will aid in understanding control variables with correlations that positively and negatively impact exam results. Such discovery may provide useful insight into pedagogical impact indicators that positively contribute to certification exam success and curriculum enhancement.

Keywords: taking certification exams, exam training, testing skills, exam study aids, certification exam curriculum

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Shweta Pinjarkar, Shrutika Yawale, Mayuri Patil, Reshma Adagale

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Face recognition is the technique which can be applied to the wide variety of problems like image and film processing, human computer interaction, criminal identification etc. This has motivated researchers to develop computational models to identify the faces, which are easy and simple to implement. In this, demonstrates the face recognition system in android device using eigenface. The system can be used as the base for the development of the recognition of human identity. Test images and training images are taken directly with the camera in android device.The test results showed that the system produces high accuracy. The goal is to implement model for particular face and distinguish it with large number of stored faces. face recognition system detects the faces in picture taken by web camera or digital camera and these images then checked with training images dataset based on descriptive features. Further this algorithm can be extended to recognize the facial expressions of a person.recognition could be carried out under widely varying conditions like frontal view,scaled frontal view subjects with spectacles. The algorithm models the real time varying lightning conditions. The implemented system is able to perform real-time face detection, face recognition and can give feedback giving a window with the subject's info from database and sending an e-mail notification to interested institutions using android application. Face recognition is the technique which can be applied to the wide variety of problems like image and film processing, human computer interaction, criminal identification etc. This has motivated researchers to develop computational models to identify the faces, which are easy and simple to implement. In this , demonstrates the face recognition system in android device using eigenface. The system can be used as the base for the development of the recognition of human identity. Test images and training images are taken directly with the camera in android device.The test results showed that the system produces high accuracy. The goal is to implement model for particular face and distinguish it with large number of stored faces. face recognition system detects the faces in picture taken by web camera or digital camera and these images then checked with training images dataset based on descriptive features. Further this algorithm can be extended to recognize the facial expressions of a person.recognition could be carried out under widely varying conditions like frontal view,scaled frontal view subjects with spectacles. The algorithm models the real time varying lightning conditions. The implemented system is able to perform real-time face detection, face recognition and can give feedback giving a window with the subject's info from database and sending an e-mail notification to interested institutions using android application.

Keywords: face detection, face recognition, eigen faces, algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: Yufeng Li, Yinan Ma, Jing Wu, Chengnian Long

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Infrared object detection aims at separating small and dim target from clutter background and its capabilities extend beyond the limits of visible light, making it invaluable in a wide range of applications such as improving safety, security, efficiency, and functionality. However, existing methods are usually sensitive to the noise of the input infrared image, leading to a decrease in target detection accuracy and an increase in the false alarm rate in high-noise environments. To address this issue, an infrared small target detection algorithm called YOLO-IR is proposed in this paper to improve the robustness to high infrared noise. To address the problem that high noise significantly reduces the clarity and reliability of target features in infrared images, we design a soft-threshold coordinate attention mechanism to improve the model’s ability to extract target features and its robustness to noise. Since the noise may overwhelm the local details of the target, resulting in the loss of small target features during depth down-sampling, we propose a deep and shallow feature fusion neck to improve the detection accuracy. In addition, because the generalized Intersection over Union (IoU)-based loss functions may be sensitive to noise and lead to unstable training in high-noise environments, we introduce a Wasserstein-distance based loss function to improve the training of the model. The experimental results show that YOLO-IR achieves a 5.0% improvement in recall and a 6.6% improvement in F1-score over existing state-of-art model.

Keywords: infrared small target detection, high noise, robustness, soft-threshold coordinate attention, feature fusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Manal Bouasria, Mohammed-Hichem Benzaama, Valérie Pralong, Yassine El Mendili

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Reducing the quantity of cement in cementitious composites can help to reduce the environmental effect of construction materials. By-products such as ferronickel slags (FNS), fly ash (FA), and Crepidula fornicata (CR) are promising options for cement replacement. In this work, we investigated the relevance of substituting cement with FNS-CR and FA-CR on the mechanical properties of mortar and on the thermal properties of concrete. Foraging intervals ranging from 2 to 28 days, the mechanical properties are obtained by 3-point bending and compression tests. The chosen mix is used to construct a prototype in order to study the material’s hygrothermal performance. The data collected by the sensors placed on the prototype was utilized to build an artificial neural network.

Keywords: artificial neural network, cement, circular economy, concrete, by products

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Ahmedou Moulaye Idriss, Yahya Tfeil

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Medical imaging technology has become an indispensable tool in many branches of the biomedical, health area, and research and is vitally important for the training of professionals in these fields. It is not only about the tools, technologies, and knowledge provided but also about the community that this training project proposes. In order to be able to raise the level of anatomy teaching in the medical school of Nouakchott in Mauritania, it is necessary and even urgent to facilitate access to modern technology for African countries. The role of technology as a key driver of justifiable development has long been recognized. Anatomy is an essential discipline for the training of medical students; it is a key element for the training of medical specialists. The quality and results of the work of a young surgeon depend on his better knowledge of anatomical structures. The teaching of anatomy is difficult as the discipline is being neglected by medical students in many academic institutions. However, anatomy remains a vital part of any medical education program. When anatomy is presented in various planes medical students approve of difficulties in understanding. They do not increase their ability to visualize and mentally manipulate 3D structures. They are sometimes not able to correctly identify neighbouring or associated structures. This is the case when they have to make the identification of structures related to the caudate lobe when the liver is moved to different positions. In recent decades, some modern educational tools using digital sources tend to replace old methods. One of the main reasons for this change is the lack of cadavers in laboratories with poorly qualified staff. The emergence of increasingly sophisticated mathematical models, image processing, and visualization tools in biomedical imaging research have enabled sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) representations of anatomical structures. In this paper, we report our current experience in the Faculty of Medicine in Nouakchott Mauritania. One of our main aims is to create a local learning community in the fields of anatomy. The main technological platform used in this project is called 3D Slicer. 3D Slicer platform is an open-source application available for free for viewing, analysis, and interaction with biomedical imaging data. Using the 3D Slicer platform, we created from real medical images anatomical atlases of parts of the human body, including head, thorax, abdomen, liver, and pelvis, upper and lower limbs. Data were collected from several local hospitals and also from the website. We used MRI and CT-Scan imaging data from children and adults. Many different anatomy atlases exist, both in print and digital forms. Anatomy Atlas displays three-dimensional anatomical models, image cross-sections of labelled structures and source radiological imaging, and a text-based hierarchy of structures. Open and free online anatomical atlases developed by our anatomy laboratory team will be available to our students. This will allow pedagogical autonomy and remedy the shortcomings by responding more fully to the objectives of sustainable local development of quality education and good health at the national level. To make this work a reality, our team produced several atlases available in our faculty in the form of research projects.

Keywords: anatomy, education, medical imaging, three dimensional

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Qingsong Xiong, Cheng Yuan, Qingzhao Kong, Haibei Xiong

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Deep-learning-driven approaches based on vibration responses have attracted larger attention in rapid structural condition assessment while obtaining sufficient measured training data with corresponding labels is relevantly costly and even inaccessible in practical engineering. This study proposes an integrated label propagation network for structural condition assessment, which is able to diffuse the labels from continuously-generating measurements by intact structure to those of missing labels of damage scenarios. The integrated network is embedded with damage-sensitive features extraction by deep autoencoder and pseudo-labels propagation by optimized fuzzy clustering, the architecture and mechanism which are elaborated. With a sophisticated network design and specified strategies for improving performance, the present network achieves to extends the superiority of self-supervised representation learning, unsupervised fuzzy clustering and supervised classification algorithms into an integration aiming at assessing damage conditions. Both numerical simulations and full-scale laboratory shaking table tests of a two-story building structure were conducted to validate its capability of detecting post-earthquake damage. The identifying accuracy of a present network was 0.95 in numerical validations and an average 0.86 in laboratory case studies, respectively. It should be noted that the whole training procedure of all involved models in the network stringently doesn’t rely upon any labeled data of damage scenarios but only several samples of intact structure, which indicates a significant superiority in model adaptability and feasible applicability in practice.

Keywords: autoencoder, condition assessment, fuzzy clustering, label propagation

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: John E. Muñoz, Jose F. Lopez, David S. Lopez

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that affects 1 out of 5 Colombian children, converting into a real public health problem in the country. Conventional treatments such as medication and neuropsychological therapy have been proved to be insufficient in order to decrease high incidence levels of ADHD in the principal Colombian cities. This work demonstrates a design and development of a videogame that uses a brain computer interface not only to serve as an input device but also as a tool to monitor neurophysiologic signal. The video game named “The Harvest Challenge” puts a cultural scene of a Colombian coffee grower in its context, where a player can use his/her avatar in three mini games created in order to reinforce four fundamental aspects: i) waiting ability, ii) planning ability, iii) ability to follow instructions and iv) ability to achieve objectives. The details of this collaborative designing process of the multimedia tool according to the exact clinic necessities and the description of interaction proposals are presented through the mental stages of attention and relaxation. The final videogame is presented as a tool for sustained attention training in children with ADHD using as an action mechanism the neuromodulation of Beta and Theta waves through an electrode located in the central part of the front lobe of the brain. The processing of an electroencephalographic signal is produced automatically inside the videogame allowing to generate a report of the theta/beta ratio evolution - a biological marker, which has been demonstrated to be a sufficient measure to discriminate of children with deficit and without.

Keywords: BCI, neuromodulation, ADHD, videogame, neurofeedback, theta/beta ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Moet Moet Myint Lay

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Continuing professional development involves acquiring new knowledge and skills for current work and improving career opportunities in the field through continuing education (OECD, 2000). This article examines the effectiveness of CPD in improving teacher quality and the resulting need for CPD for teacher educators in Myanmar. The purpose of this study is to explore a deeper understanding of teacher-to-teacher continuing professional development in improving teacher education programs. Research questions: (1) How do teachers in Myanmar understand the idea of continuous professional development for professional development? (2) What CPD activities are required for all teachers in teachers' colleges? (3) What are the main challenges of CPD implementation in Myanmar Education College? A qualitative method using semi-structured interviews was used in this study. Seven teacher educators from Mandalay Education College participated in this study. There are three male teacher educators and four female teacher educators. All participants who responded to the semi-structured interviews were between 29 and 45 years old.The interviews revealed that professional development involves acquiring the necessary pedagogical knowledge and skills to encourage students to think creatively and critically. Teachers must participate in a variety of activities, including professional interviews, lesson study, training programs, workshops, and seminars. All results showed that teachers need English and ICT skills for teaching and learning, including extended ICT courses for those who have completed a foundation course, access to e-libraries, and inclusive education (including language teaching and learning), facilitate the assessment (formative and summative), practicum, mentoring, and coaching skills. The study concludes with practical findings that suggest an urgent need for CPD activities for teachers.

Keywords: continuous professional development, teacher educator, teacher training program), mentoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Aboubacar Garba Konte, Wei Jun, Li Xiaohui

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Nowadays companies are facing increasing pressure. The market environment changes more frequently than ever. Therefore, managers have to develop their agility, their performance and their capacity for innovation. Most companies look for managerial innovations to develop in their employees qualities such as motivation, commitment, creativity, autonomy or even the ability to adapt to change and manage intensive pressure. On a more collective level, companies are looking for teams that are able to organize, communicate and develop a form of collective intelligence based on cooperation and solidarity. Among the many managerial innovations that are currently developing, mindfulness (or mindfulness) is drawing the attention of a growing number of companies (Google, Apple, Sony, ING ...), These companies have implemented programs based on mindfulness. Although the concept of mindfulness and its effects have been the subject of in-depth research in the psychological field, research on mindfulness in the field of management is still in its infancy and it is necessary to evaluate its contribution to organizations. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effects of a mindfulness training among the managers of a Malian textile company (CMDT). We conducted a case study on their experience and their managerial practices. In addition, we discuss the innovative nature of mindfulness in terms of managerial practice The results show significant positive effects on two major skills identified by managers that raise significant difficulties in their daily lives: their ability to supervise a team of employees with all that this implies in terms of interpersonal skills and their ability to organize and prioritize their activities. In addition, the research methodology sheds light on the innovative nature of mindfulness in a favorable organizational environment.

Keywords: mindfulness, manager, managerial innovation, relational skills, organization and prioritization

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: George Oliveira, Luana D. Fronza, Luiza Medeiros, Patricia D. M. Plentz

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The research presented in this article is part of a wide project that proposes a scheduling system for multi-robots in intelligent warehouses employing multi-robot path-planning (MPP) and multi-robot task allocation (MRTA) to reconcile multiple restrictions (task delivery time, task priorities, charging capacity, and robots battery capacity). We present the software component capable of interconnecting an open streaming processing architecture and robot operating system (ROS), ensuring communication and message exchange between robots and the environment in which they are inserted. Simulation results show the good performance of our proposed technique for connecting ROS and streaming platforms.

Keywords: complex distributed systems, mobile robots, smart warehouses, streaming platforms

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Özge Çeliker Tosun, Melda Başer Secer, İsmail Düşmez, Sedat Çapar, İlkay Kozak, Melahat Aktaş, Furkan Can Şimşek, Gökhan Tosun

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Purpose: Portable innovative balance room system with digital game program; It was created to be able to be divided into small areas, such as inside the house, garden, balcony, to enable the person to enter and perform both evaluation and exercise safely, and to ensure that these results can be stored and sent to the therapist live or later when desired. The aim is to compare the effectiveness of the exercise program applied by the elderly within this system and the exercise program implemented under the supervision of a physiotherapist on balance and urinary incontinence symptoms. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a randomized controlled manner on 63 people with urinary incontinence (mean age: 75.5 years) at Narlıdere Nursing Home Elderly Care and Rehabilitation Center. Elderly people participating in the study were divided into 3 groups: 1. Group, an exercise program consisting of pelvic floor muscle training and OTOGA exercises, 2. Group, only pelvic floor muscle training, and 3. Group, pelvic floor muscle training and Otoga exercises in the form of a digital game program in a portable balance room system. (self-administered) for 12 weeks. Pelvic floor distress inventory (PTDE-20) and bladder diary were used to evaluate the incontinance symptoms of the cases. Pelvic floor muscle function was evaluated with superficial EMG. Berg, Fall Effectiveness Scale (FES) and Functional Status Evaluations (Chair Stand Test, Eight (8) Food Up and Go Test, Chair Sit and Reach Test, Two Minutes Step Test) were used to evaluate balance. The existence of differences between groups was analyzed using Krusskal Wallis analysis of variance, and the difference between before and after exercise was analyzed with Wilcoxon tests. Results: After treatment, PTDE-20, daily urinary incontinence and toilet visits values decreased significantly in all three groups (p < 0.001). While there was a statistically significant increase in pelvic floor muscle EMG values in the 2nd and third groups after treatment, there was no change in the other group (2nd Group PFM average EMG before-after: 5.5 (4.15-10.95) - 10.95 (8.68-13.68), P=0.05, 3 Group PFM average EMG before-after: 6.5 (4.28-11.55) - 11.75 (8.67-14.26), p=0.04). While BERG score, Chair Stand Test, Eight (8) Food Up and Go Test, and Two Minutes Step Test values increased in all groups (p<0.05), Fall Effectiveness Scale (FES) values did not change after treatment. Conclusion: Although pelvic floor muscle training combined with balance exercises reduces symptoms, it may not lead to a positive improvement in the functions of the pelvic floor muscles. For this reason, recovery lasts for a short time, and then symptoms may reoccur in the future. However, thanks to the new system, when balance exercises are combined with a game program for the pelvic floor muscles, a double effect can be achieved with a single application and both incontinence and balance problems can be treated in a safe environment where the person can do it himself. But more work needs to be done on this subject. However, thanks to the new system, a double effect can be achieved with a single application, and both incontinence and balance problems can be treated in a safe environment where the person can do it himself. But more work needs to be done on new system

Keywords: fall, urinary incontinance, balance, elderly

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Badryah Alshehri, Kevin Gormley, Gillian Prue, Karen McCutcheon

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In a disaster event, sharing patient information between the pre-hospitals Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Department (ED) hospitals is a complex process during which important information may be altered or lost due to poor communication. The aim of this study was to critically discuss the current evidence base in relation to communication between pre-EMS hospital and ED hospital professionals by the use of Information and Communication Systems (ICT). This study followed the systematic approach; six electronic databases were searched: CINAHL, Medline, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore Digital Library were comprehensively searched in January 2018 and a second search was completed in April 2020 to capture more recent publications. The study selection process was undertaken independently by the study authors. Both qualitative and quantitative studies were chosen that focused on factors which are positively or negatively associated with coordinated communication between pre-hospital EMS and ED teams in a disaster event. These studies were assessed for quality and the data were analysed according to the key screening themes which emerged from the literature search. Twenty-two studies were included. Eleven studies employed quantitative methods, seven studies used qualitative methods, and four studies used mixed methods. Four themes emerged on communication between EMTs (pre-hospital EMS and ED staff) in a disaster event using the ICT. (1) Disaster preparedness plans and coordination. This theme reported that disaster plans are in place in hospitals, and in some cases, there are interagency agreements with pre-hospital and relevant stakeholders. However, the findings showed that the disaster plans highlighted in these studies lacked information regarding coordinated communications within and between the pre-hospital and hospital. (2) Communication systems used in the disaster. This theme highlighted that although various communication systems are used between and within hospitals and pre-hospitals, technical issues have influenced communication between teams during disasters. (3) Integrated information management systems. This theme suggested the need for an integrated health information system which can help pre-hospital and hospital staff to record patient data and ensure the data is shared. (4) Disaster training and drills. While some studies analysed disaster drills and training, the majority of these studies were focused on hospital departments other than EMTs. These studies suggest the need for simulation disaster training and drills, including EMTs. This review demonstrates that considerable gaps remain in the understanding of the communication between the EMS and ED hospitals staff in relation to response in disasters. The review shows that although different types of ICTs are used, various issues remain which affect coordinated communication among the relevant professionals.

Keywords: communication, emergency communication services, emergency medical teams, emergency physicians, emergency nursing, paramedics, information and communication technology, communication systems

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Authors: Hyun Chul Cho, Hyunkyoung Oh, Hyun Yoon, Jooyeon Jin, Jae Won Lee

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Identifying, structuring, and racking the most important factors related to improving athletes’ performances could pave the way for improve training system. The purpose of this study was to identify the relative importance factors to improve performance of the of judo athletes with visual impairments, including blindness by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). After reviewing the literature, the relative importance of factors affecting performance of the blind judo was selected. A group of expert reviewed the first draft of the questionnaires, and then finally selected performance factors were classified into the major categories of techniques, physical fitness, and psychological categories. Later, a pre-selected experts group was asked to review the final version of questionnaire and confirm the priories of performance factors. The order of priority was determined by performing pairwise comparisons using Expert Choice 2000. Results indicated that “grappling” (.303) and “throwing” (.234) were the most important lower hierarchy factors for blind judo skills. In addition, the most important physical factors affecting performance were “muscular strength and endurance” (.238). Further, among other psychological factors “competitive anxiety” (.393) was important factor that affects performance. It is important to offer psychological skills training to reduce anxiety of judo athletes with visual impairments and blindness, so they can compete in their optimal states. These findings offer insights into what should be considered when determining factors to improve performance of judo athletes with visual impairments and blindness.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, blind athlete, judo, sport performance

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Authors: A. F. Alves, L. Schmidt, J. Ferrao

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Portugal is one of the more vulnerable European countries to the impacts of climate change. These include: temperature increase; coastal sea level rise; desertification and drought in the countryside; and frequent and intense extreme weather events. Hence, adaptation strategies to climate change are of great importance. This is what was addressed by ClimAdaPT.Local. This policy-oriented project had the main goal of developing 26 Municipal Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change, through the identification of local specific present and future vulnerabilities, the training of municipal officials, and the engagement of local communities. It is intended to be replicated throughout the whole territory and to stimulate the creation of a national network of local adaptation in Portugal. Supported by methodologies and tools specifically developed for this project, our paper is based on the surveys, training and stakeholder engagement workshops implemented at municipal level. In an 'adaptation-as-learning' process, these tools functioned as a social-learning platform and an exercise in knowledge and policy co-production. The results allowed us to explore the nature of local vulnerabilities and the exposure of gaps in the context of reappraisal of both future climate change adaptation opportunities and possible dysfunctionalities in the governance arrangements of municipal Portugal. Development issues are highlighted when we address the sectors and social groups that are both more sensitive and more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We argue that a pluralistic dialogue and a common framing can be established between them, with great potential for transformational adaptation. Observed climate change, present-day climate variability and future expectations of change are great societal challenges which should be understood in the context of the sustainable development agenda.

Keywords: adaptation, ClimAdaPT.Local, climate change, Portugal, sustainable development

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Authors: Maria Sonto Maputle, Rhulani C. Shihundla, Rachel T. Lebese

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Background: Patients’ information must be complete and accurately documented in order to foster quality and continuity of care. The multidisciplinary health care members use patients’ documentation to communicate about health status, preventive health services, treatment, planning and delivery of care. The purpose of this study was to determine the practice of nursing documentation of patients’ information at selected Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Methods: The research approach adopted was qualitative while exploratory and descriptive design was used. The study was conducted at selected PHC facilities. Population included twelve professional nurses. Non-probability purposive sampling method was used to sample professional nurses who were willing to participate in the study. The criteria included participants’ whose daily work and activities, involved creating, keeping and updating nursing documentation of patients’ information. Qualitative data collection was through unstructured in-depth interviews until no new information emerged. Data were analysed through open–coding of, Tesch’s eight steps method. Results: Following data analysis, it was found that professional nurses’ had knowledge deficit related to insufficient training on updates and rendering multiple services daily had negative impact on accurate documentation of patients’ information. Conclusion: The study recommended standardization of registers, books and forms used at PHC facilities, and reorganization of PHC services into open day system.

Keywords: documentation, knowledge, patient care, patient’s information, training

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Authors: Samar Mousa, Rebecca Shirley

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Injuries to the hand account for 20% of all emergency department attendances, with an estimated annual treatment cost of over £100 million in the UK. Functional impairments as a result of hand injuries often necessitate absence from employment, resulting in reduced productivity estimated to incur an additional £600m loss to the UK economy. Appropriate and early management is vital to preserve anatomy, prevent stiffness and allow function. The initial assessment and management of hand injuries are usually undertaken by junior staff, many of whom have little or no training or experience in splinting hand fractures. In our plastic surgery department at Stoke Mandeville hospital Buckinghamshire trust, we carried out an audit project to detect errors in hand splinting in the period between April 2022 and July 2022 and find out measures to support junior doctors, nurses and hand therapists in providing the best possible care for hand trauma patients. Our standards were The British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) standard of care in hand trauma, AO surgery reference and Stoke Mandeville hospital hand therapy mini protocol Feb 2022 During the period of 4 months, 5 cases were identified. Two cases of wrong splint choice, two cases of early removal of the splint and one tight splint that required change. In order to avoid those mistakes, a training program was given to junior doctors and nurses in collaboration with the hand therapy team regarding ways of splinting the hand in different injuries like fractures, tendons injuries, muscle injuries and ligamentous injuries. In addition to, a poster hung in the examination rooms and theatres to help junior doctors reach the correct decision.

Keywords: splinting, hand trauma, plastic surgery, tendon injury, hand fracrture

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Authors: Ejaz Ali M. Phil

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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are playing a vital role in effective management of business functions in large and complex organizations. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is a core module of ERP, providing concrete solutions to implement Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices in an innovative and efficient manner. Over the last decade, there has been considerable increase in the studies on HRIS. Nevertheless, previous studies relatively lacked to examine the moderating role of HRIS in performing HRM practices that may affect the firms’ performance. The current study was carried out to examine the impact of HRM practices (training, performance appraisal) on perceived organizational performance, with moderating role of HRIS, where the system is in place. The study based on Resource Based View (RBV) and Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) Theories, advocating that strengthening of human capital enables an organization to achieve and sustain competitive advantage which leads to improved organizational performance. Data were collected through structured questionnaire based upon adopted instruments after establishing reliability and validity. The structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to assess the model fitness, hypotheses testing and to establish validity of the instruments through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). A total 220 employees of 25 firms in corporate sector were sampled through non-probability sampling technique. Path analysis revealing that HRM practices and HRIS have significant positive impact on organizational performance. The results further showed that the HRIS moderated the relationships between training, performance appraisal and organizational performance. The interpretation of the findings and limitations, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords: enterprise resource planning, human resource, information system, human capital

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Authors: Tewfik Bouchaour, Salah Hamri, Yasmina Houda Bendahma, Ulrich Maschke

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Stimuli-responsive materials based on UV crosslinked acrylic polymer networks are fabricated. A various kinds of polymeric systems, hydrophilic polymers based on 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate have been widely studied because of their ability to simulate biological tissues, which leads to many applications. The acrylic polymer network PHEMA developed by UV photopolymerization has been used for dye retention. For these so-called smart materials, the properties change in response to an external stimulus. In this contribution, we report the influence of some parameters (initial composition, temperature, and nature of components) in the properties of final materials. Optimization of different parameters is examined by experimental design.

Keywords: UV photo-polymerization, PHEMA, external stimulus, optimization

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Authors: Karla Hrbackova, Anna Petr Safrankova, Jakub Hladik

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Machiavellianism as social phenomenon reveals certain methods of communication that man puts in contact with other people in both personal and working life (and work with clients). Especially at the helping-profession students is honesty, openness or low motivation for personal benefit important part of the profession. The aim of a study is to expose intercultural differences influence of Machiavellianism between Czech and Slovak university students and to determine whether these differences manifest themselves differently among students focusing on management and social profession (by helping degrees). The research involved 1120 university students from the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The measurement of Machiavellianism used a test Mach IV. The test contained 20 statements divided into four central dimensions of Machiavellianism: flattery, deception and falsehood, immorality and cynicism. We found out, that Czech and Slovak's student expressed a similar attitude toward Machiavellianism as a means of manipulation in the interpersonal relationship, but this is not true in all dimensions. Czech and Slovak's students perceive differently flattery, deception and falsehood and cynicism too. In addition to specific features of cultural conditionality, we found out differences depending on the helping profession. Students focusing on managerial occupation (lower level of helping) tend towards greater acceptance of the use flattery as a means of communication than students specializing in the social profession (high-grade assisting). If they are an intercultural and interdisciplinary influences combined and effect on the perception of Machiavellianism together, then their significant importance for the perception of flattery and cynicism. The result will help us to reveal certain specific traits that students apply communication and with whom we can continue to work during their training.

Keywords: use of manipulative strategies, Machiavellianism, helping-profession students, professional training of students

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Authors: Wendu Pang, Yaxin Luo, Junhong Li, Yu Zhao, Danni Cheng, Yufang Rao, Minzi Mao, Ke Qiu, Yijun Dong, Fei Chen, Jun Liu, Jian Zou, Haiyang Wang, Wei Xu, Jianjun Ren

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We aimed to compare the prognostic prediction value of positive lymph node number (PLNN) to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor, lymph node, and metastasis (TNM) staging system for patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC). A total of 826 patients with HPSCC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004–2015) were identified and split into two independent cohorts: training (n=461) and validation (n=365). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic effects of PLNN in patients with HPSCC. We further applied six Cox regression models to compare the survival predictive values of the PLNN and AJCC TNM staging system. PLNN showed a significant association with overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (P < 0.001) in both univariate and multivariable analyses, and was divided into three groups (PLNN 0, PLNN 1-5, and PLNN>5). In the training cohort, multivariate analysis revealed that the increased PLNN of HPSCC gave rise to significantly poor OS and CSS after adjusting for age, sex, tumor size, and cancer stage; this trend was also verified by the validation cohort. Additionally, the survival model incorporating a composite of PLNN and TNM classification (C-index, 0.705, 0.734) performed better than the PLNN and AJCC TNM models. PLNN can serve as a powerful survival predictor for patients with HPSCC and is a surrogate supplement for cancer staging systems.

Keywords: hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, positive lymph nodes number, prognosis, prediction models, survival predictive values

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Authors: Nitish Sharma, G. G. Karady

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This paper presents a scheme for the protection of loop system from all type of faults using the direction of fault current. The presence of distributed generation in today’s system increases the complexity of fault detection as the power flow is bidirectional. Hence, protection scheme specific to this purpose needs to be developed. This paper shows a fast protection scheme using communication which can be fiber optic or wireless. In this paper, the possibility of wireless communication for protection is studied to exchange the information between the relays. The negative sequence and positive sequence directional elements are used to determine the direction of fault current. A PSCAD simulation is presented and validated using commercial SEL relays.

Keywords: smart grid protection, pilot protection, power system simulation, wireless communication

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