Search results for: popular mind

Authors: Thiago E. Goto, Carla C. Lopes, Helena B. Nader, Anielle C. A. Silva, Noelio O. Dantas, José R. Siqueira Jr., Luciano Caseli

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Quantum dots (QD) are semiconductor nanocrystals that can be employed in biological research as a tool for fluorescence imagings, having the potential to expand in vivo and in vitro analysis as cancerous cell biomarkers. Particularly, cadmium selenide (CdSe) magic-sized quantum dots (MSQDs) exhibit stable luminescence that is feasible for biological applications, especially for imaging of tumor cells. For these facts, it is interesting to know the mechanisms of action of how such QDs mark biological cells. For that, simplified models are a suitable strategy. Among these models, Langmuir films of lipids formed at the air-water interface seem to be adequate since they can mimic half a membrane. They are monomolecular films formed at liquid-gas interfaces that can spontaneously form when organic solutions of amphiphilic compounds are spread on the liquid-gas interface. After solvent evaporation, the monomolecular film is formed, and a variety of techniques, including tensiometric, spectroscopic and optic can be applied. When the monolayer is formed by membrane lipids at the air-water interface, a model for half a membrane can be inferred where the aqueous subphase serve as a model for external or internal compartment of the cell. These films can be transferred to solid supports forming the so-called Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, and an ampler variety of techniques can be additionally used to characterize the film, allowing for the formation of devices and sensors. With these ideas in mind, the objective of this work was to investigate the specific interactions of CdSe MSQDs with tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cells using Langmuir monolayers and LB films of lipids and specific cell extracts as membrane models for diagnosis of cancerous cells. Surface pressure-area isotherms and polarization modulation reflection-absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) showed an intrinsic interaction between the quantum dots, inserted in the aqueous subphase, and Langmuir monolayers, constructed either of selected lipids or of non-tumorigenic and tumorigenic cells extracts. The quantum dots expanded the monolayers and changed the PM-IRRAS spectra for the lipid monolayers. The mixed films were then compressed to high surface pressures and transferred from the floating monolayer to solid supports by using the LB technique. Images of the films were then obtained with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal microscopy, which provided information about the morphology of the films. Similarities and differences between films with different composition representing cell membranes, with or without CdSe MSQDs, was analyzed. The results indicated that the interaction of quantum dots with the bioinspired films is modulated by the lipid composition. The properties of the normal cell monolayer were not significantly altered, whereas for the tumorigenic cell monolayer models, the films presented significant alteration. The images therefore exhibited a stronger effect of CdSe MSQDs on the models representing cancerous cells. As important implication of these findings, one may envisage for new bioinspired surfaces based on molecular recognition for biomedical applications.

Keywords: biomembrane, langmuir monolayers, quantum dots, surfaces

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Authors: Sevdenur Onger, Ali Asram Sagiroglu

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Hyperpigmentation is a cosmetically unappealing skin problem caused by an overabundance of melanin in the skin. Its pathophysiology is caused by melanocytes being exposed to paracrine melanogenic stimuli, which can upregulate melanogenesis-related enzymes (such as tyrosinase) and cause melanosome formation. Tyrosinase is linked to the development of melanosomes biochemically, and it is the main target of hyperpigmentation treatment. therefore, decreasing tyrosinase activity to reduce melanosomes has become the main target of hyperpigmentation treatment. Niacinamide (NA) is a natural chemical found in a variety of plants that is used as a skin-whitening ingredient in cosmetic formulations. NA decreases melanogenesis in the skin by inhibiting melanosome transfer from melanocytes to covering keratinocytes. Furthermore, NA protects the skin from reactive oxygen species and acts as a main barrier with the skin, reducing moisture loss by increasing ceramide and fatty acid synthesis. However, it is very difficult for hydrophilic compounds such as NA to penetrate deep into the skin. Furthermore, because of the nicotinic acid in NA, it is an irritant. As a result, we've concentrated on strategies to increase NA skin permeability while avoiding its irritating impacts. Since nanotechnology can affect drug penetration behavior by controlling the release and increasing the period of permanence on the skin, it can be a useful technique in the development of whitening formulations. Liposomes have become increasingly popular in the cosmetics industry in recent years due to benefits such as their lack of toxicity, high penetration ability in living skin layers, ability to increase skin moisture by forming a thin layer on the skin surface, and suitability for large-scale production. Therefore, liposomes containing NA were developed for this study. Different formulations were prepared by varying the amount of phospholipid and cholesterol and examined in terms of particle sizes, polydispersity index (PDI) and pH values. The pH values of the produced formulations were determined to be suitable with the pH value of the skin. Particle sizes were determined to be smaller than 250 nm and the particles were found to be of homogeneous size in the formulation (pdi<0.30). Despite the important advantages of liposomal systems, they have low viscosity and stability for topical use. For these reasons, in this study, liposomal cream formulations have been prepared for easy topical application of liposomal systems. As a result, liposomal cream formulations containing NA have been successfully prepared and characterized. Following the in-vitro release and ex-vivo diffusion studies to be conducted in the continuation of the study, it is planned to test the formulation that gives the most appropriate result on the volunteers after obtaining the approval of the ethics committee.

Keywords: delivery systems, hyperpigmentation, liposome, niacinamide

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Authors: Naomi Grigoryan, Alexandros Loutsioli Daskalakis, Anna Elisse Uy, Yihe Huang, Aude Laurent (Webanck)

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In response to the building and construction sectors accounting for a third of all energy demand and emissions, the European Union has placed new laws and regulations in the construction sector that emphasize material circularity, energy efficiency, biodiversity, and social impact. Existing design tools assess sustainability in early-stage design for products or buildings; however, there is no standardized methodology for measuring the circularity performance of building components. Existing assessment methods for building components focus primarily on carbon footprint but lack the comprehensive analysis required to design for circularity. The research conducted in this paper covers the parameters needed to assess sustainability in the design process of architectural products such as doors, windows, and facades. It maps a framework for a tool that assists designers with real-time sustainability metrics. Considering the life cycle of building components such as façades, windows, and doors involves the life cycle stages applied to product design and many of the methods used in the life cycle analysis of buildings. The current industry standards of sustainability assessment for metal building components follow cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA), track Global Warming Potential (GWP), and document the parameters used for an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). Developed by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) is a methodology utilizing the data from LCA and EPDs to rate circularity, with a "value between 0 and 1 where higher values indicate a higher circularity+". Expanding on the MCI with additional indicators such as the Water Circularity Index (WCI), the Energy Circularity Index (ECI), the Social Circularity Index (SCI), Life Cycle Economic Value (EV), and calculating biodiversity risk and uncertainty, the assessment methodology of an architectural product's impact can be targeted more specifically based on product requirements, performance, and lifespan. Broadening the scope of LCA calculation for products to incorporate aspects of building design allows product designers to account for the disassembly of architectural components. For example, the Material Circularity Indicator for architectural products such as windows and facades is typically low due to the impact of glass, as 70% of glass ends up in landfills due to damage in the disassembly process. The low MCI can be combatted by expanding beyond cradle-to-grave assessment and focusing the design process on disassembly, recycling, and repurposing with the help of real-time assessment tools. Design for Disassembly and Urban Mining has been integrated within the construction field on small scales as project-based exercises, not addressing the entire supply chain of architectural products. By adopting more comprehensive sustainability metrics and incorporating uncertainty calculations, the sustainability assessment of building components can be more accurately assessed with decarbonization and disassembly in mind, addressing the large-scale commercial markets within construction, some of the most significant contributors to climate change.

Keywords: architectural products, early-stage design, life cycle assessment, material circularity indicator

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Authors: Marike Venter de Villiers, Jessica Ramoshaba

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In recent years, the fashion industry has been associated with the exploitation of both people and resources. This is largely due to the emergence of the fast fashion concept, which entails rapid and continual style changes where clothes quickly lose their appeal, become out-of-fashion, and are then disposed of. This cycle often entails appalling working conditions in sweatshops with low wages, child labor, and a significant amount of textile waste that ends up in landfills. Although the awareness of the negative implications of ‘mindless fashion production and consumption’ is growing, fast fashion remains to be a popular choice among the youth. This is especially prevalent in South Africa, a poverty-stricken country where a vast number of young adults are unemployed and living in poverty. Despite being in poverty, the celebrity conscious culture and fashion products frequently portrayed on the growing intrusive social media platforms in South Africa pressurizes the consumers to purchase fashion and luxury products. Young adults are therefore more vulnerable to the temptation to purchase fast fashion products. A possible solution to the detrimental effects that the fast fashion industry has on the environment is the revival of the secondhand clothing trend. Although the popularity of secondhand clothing has gained momentum among selected consumer segments, the adoption rate of such remains slow. The main purpose of this study was to explore consumers’ perceptions of the secondhand clothing trend and to gain insight into factors that inhibit the adoption of secondhand clothing. This study also aimed to investigate whether consumers are aware of the negative implications of the fast fashion industry and their likelihood to shift their clothing purchases to that of secondhand clothing. By means of a quantitative study, fifty young females were asked to complete a semi-structured questionnaire. The researcher approached females between the ages of 18 and 35 in a face-to-face setting. The results indicated that although they had an awareness of the negative consequences of fast fashion, they lacked detailed insight into the pertinent effects of fast fashion on the environment. Further, a number of factors inhibit their decision to buy from secondhand stores: firstly, the accessibility to the latest trends was not always available in secondhand stores; secondly, the convenience of shopping from a chain store outweighs the inconvenience of searching for and finding a secondhand store; and lastly, they perceived secondhand clothing to pose a hygiene risk. The findings of this study provide fashion marketers, and secondhand clothing stores, with insight into how they can incorporate the secondhand clothing trend into their strategies and marketing campaigns in an attempt to make the fashion industry more sustainable.

Keywords: eco-friendly fashion, fast fashion, secondhand clothing, eco-friendly fashion

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Authors: Milica B. Veljković, Milica B. Simović, Marija M. Ćorović, Ana D. Milivojević, Anja I. Petrov, Katarina M. Banjanac, Dejan I. Bezbradica

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In recent decades, the scientific community has recognized the growing importance of prebiotics, and therefore, numerous studies are focused on their economic production due to their low presence in natural resources. It has been confirmed that prebiotics is a source of energy for probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and enable their proliferation, consequently leading to the normal functioning of the intestinal microbiota. Also, products of their fermentation are short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which play a key role in maintaining and improving the health not only of the GIT but also of the whole organism. Among several confirmed prebiotics, fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are considered interesting candidates for use in a wide range of products in the food industry. They are characterized as low-calorie and non-cariogenic substances that represent an adequate sugar substitute and can be considered suitable for use in products intended for diabetics. The subject of this research will be the production of FOS by transforming sucrose using a fructosyltransferase (FTase) present in commercial preparation Pectinex® Ultra SP-L, with special emphasis on the development of adequate FTase immobilization method that would enable selective isolation of the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of FOS from the complex enzymatic mixture. This would lead to considerable enzyme purification and allow its direct incorporation into different sucrose-based products without the fear that the action of the other hydrolytic enzymes may adversely affect the products' functional characteristics. Accordingly, the possibility of selective immobilization of the enzyme using support with primary amino groups, Purolite® A109, which was previously activated and modified using glutaraldehyde (GA), was investigated. In the initial phase of the research, the effects of individual immobilization parameters such as pH, enzyme concentration, and immobilization time were investigated to optimize the process using support chemically activated with 15% and 0.5% GA to form dimers and monomers, respectively. It was determined that highly active immobilized preparations (371.8 IU/g of support - dimer and 213.8 IU/g of support – monomer) were achieved under acidic conditions (pH 4) provided that an enzyme concentration was 50 mg/g of support after 7 h and 3 h, respectively. Bearing in mind the obtained results of the expressed activity, it is noticeable that the formation of dimers showed higher reactivity compared to the form of monomers. Also, in the case of support modification using 15% GA, the value of the ratio of FTase and pectinase (as dominant enzyme mixture component) activity immobilization yields was 16.45, indicating the high feasibility of selective immobilization of FTase on modified polystyrene resin. After obtaining immobilized preparations of satisfactory features, they were tested in a reaction of FOS synthesis under determined optimal conditions. The maximum FOS yields of approximately 50% of total carbohydrates in the reaction mixture were recorded after 21 h. Finally, it can be concluded that the examined immobilization method yielded highly active, stable and, more importantly, refined enzyme preparation that can be further utilized on a larger scale for the development of continual processes for FOS synthesis, as well as for modification of different sucrose-based mediums.

Keywords: chemical modification, fructooligosaccharides, glutaraldehyde, immobilization of fructosyltransferase

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Authors: Ying-Chang Yu, Yuan-Lung Lo

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Building envelope design is one of the most popular design fields of architectural profession in nowadays. The main design trend of such system is to highlight the designer's aesthetic intention from the outlook of building project. Due to the trend of current façade design, the building envelope contains more and more layers of components, such as double skin façade, photovoltaic panels, solar control system, or even ornamental components. These exterior components are designed for various functional purposes. Most researchers focus on how these exterior elements should be structurally sound secured. However, not many researchers consider these elements would help to improve the performance of façade system. When the exterior elements are deployed in large scale, it creates an additional layer outside of original façade system and acts like a porous interface which would interfere with the aerodynamic of façade surface in micro-scale. A standard façade performance consists with 'water penetration, air infiltration rate, operation force, and component deflection ratio', and these key performances are majorly driven by the 'Design Wind Load' coded in local regulation. A design wind load is usually determined by the maximum wind pressure which occurs on the surface due to the geometry or location of building in extreme conditions. This research was designed to identify the air damping phenomenon of micro turbulence caused by porous exterior layer leading to surface wind load reduction for improvement of façade system performance. A series of wind tunnel test on dynamic pressure sensor array covered by various scale of porous exterior skin was conducted to verify the effect of wind pressure reduction. The testing specimens were designed to simulate the typical building with two-meter extension offsetting from building surface. Multiple porous exterior skins were prepared to replicate various opening ratio of surface which may cause different level of damping effect. This research adopted 'Pitot static tube', 'Thermal anemometers', and 'Hot film probe' to collect the data of surface dynamic pressure behind porous skin. Turbulence and distributed resistance are the two main factors of aerodynamic which would reduce the actual wind pressure. From initiative observation, the reading of surface wind pressure was effectively reduced behind porous media. In such case, an actual building envelope system may be benefited by porous skin from the reduction of surface wind pressure, which may improve the performance of envelope system consequently.

Keywords: multi-layer facade, porous media, facade performance, turbulence and distributed resistance, wind tunnel test

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Authors: Andrea Bertocchi, Alessio Barnaba Di Fonzo, Davide Talarico, Simone Rivaroli, Jeff Konin

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The patient is a 89 years old male (180cm/85kg) retired notary former golfer with no past medical history. He describes a progressive ideomotor slowdown for 14 months. The disorder is characterized by short-term memory deficits and, for some months, also by unstable walking with a broad base with skidding and risk of falling at directional changes and urinary urgency. There were also episodes of aggression towards his wife and staff. At the time, the patient takes no prescribed medications. He has difficulty eating, dressing, and some problems with personal hygiene. In the initial visit, the patient was alert, cooperating, and performed simple tasks; however, he has a hearing impairment, slowed spontaneous speech, and amnestic deficit to the short story. Ideomotor apraxia is not present. He scored 20 points in the MMSE. From a motor function, he has deficits using Medical Research Council (MRC) 3-/5 in bilateral lower limbs and requires maximum assistance from sit to stand with existing premature fatigue. He’s unable to walk for about 1 month. Tremors and hypertonia are absent. BERG was unable to be administered, and BARTHEL was obtained 45/100. An Amyloid Angiopathy is suspected and then confirmed at the neurological examination. Therehabilitation objectives were the recovery of mobility and reinforcement of the UE/LE, especially legs, for recovery of standing and walking. The cognitive aspect was also an essential factor for the patient's recovery. The literature doesn’t demonstrate any particular studies regarding motor and cognitive rehabilitation on this pathology. Failing to manage his attention on exercise and tending to be disinterested and falling asleep constantly, we used golf-specific gestures to stimulate his mind to work and get results because the patient has memory recall of golf related movement. We worked for 4 months with a frequency of 3 sessions per week. Every session lasted for 45 minutes. After 4 months of work, the patient walked independently with the use of a stick for about 120 meters without stopping. MRC 4/5 AI bilaterally andpostural steps performed independently with supervision. BERG 36/56. BARTHEL 65/100. 6 Minutes Walking Test (6MWT), at the beginning, it wasn’t measurable, now, he performs 151,5m with Numeric Rating Scale 4 at the beginning and 7 at the end. Cognitively, he no longer has episodes of aggression, although the short-term memory and concentration deficit remains. Amyloid Angiopathy is a mix of motor and cognitive disorder. It is worth the thought that cerebral amyloid angiopathy manifests with functional deficits due to strokes and bleedings and, as such, has an important rehabilitation indication, as classical stroke is not associated with amyloidosis. Exploring the motor patterns learned at a young age and remained in the implicit and explicit memory of the patient allowed us to set up effective work and to obtain significant results in the short-middle term. Surely many studies will still be done regarding this pathology and its rehabilitation, but the importance of the cognitive sphere applied to the motor sphere could represent an important starting point.

Keywords: amyloid angiopathy, cognitive rehabilitation, golf, motor disorder

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Authors: Lara Marie Pangan Lo, Soo Im Chung, Yao Cheng Zhang, Xingyue Jin, Mi Young Kang

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Being the world’s most consumed grain crop, rice (Oryza sativa L.) demands’ have increase and this prompted the development of new rice cultivars with high bio-functional properties than the commonly used white rice. Ordinary rice variety is already known to be a potential source for a number of nutritional as well as bioactive compounds. To further enhance the rice’s nutritive values, germination is done in addition to making it more tasty and palatable when cooked. Pigmented rice, on the other hand, has become increasingly popular in the recent years for their greater antioxidant potential and other nutraceutical properties which can help alleviate the occurrence of the increasing incidence of metabolic diseases. Combining these two (2) parameters, this research study is sought to quantitatively determine the pre-germinated and germinated quantities of the major bioactive compounds of South Korea’s newly developed purplish pigmented rice grain cultivar Superjami (SJ) and red pigmented rice grain Superhongmi (SH) and compare them against the non-pigmented Normal Brown (NB) rice variety. Powdered rice grain cultivars were subjected to 72-hour germination period and the quantities of GABA, γ-oryzanol, ferulic acid, tocopherol and tocotrienol homologues were compared against their pre-germinated condition using γ- amino butyric acid (GABA) analysis and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Results revealed the effectiveness of germination in enhancing the bioactive components in all rice samples. GABA contents in germinated rice cultivars increased by more than 10-fold following the order: SJ >SH >NB. In addition, purple rice variety (SJ) has higher total γ-oryzanol and ferulic acid contents which increased by > 2-fold after germination followed by the red cultivar SH then the control, NB. Germinated varieties also possess higher total tocotrienol content than their pre-germinated state. As for the total tocopherol content, SJ has higher quantity, but the red-pigmented SH (0.16 mg/kg) is shown to have lower total tocopherol content than the control rice NB (0.86 mg/kg). However, all tocopherol and tocotrienol homologues were present only in small amounts ( < 3.0 mg/kg) in all pre-germinated and germinated samples. In general, all of the analyzed pigmented rice cultivars were found to possess higher bioactive compounds than the control NB rice variety. Also, regardless of their strain, germinated rice samples have higher bioactive compounds than their pre-germinated counterparts. This only shows the effectiveness of germinating rice in enhancing bioactive constituents. Overall, these results suggest the potential of the pigmented rice varieties as natural source of nutraceuticals in bio-functional food development.

Keywords: bioactive compounds, germinated rice, superhongmi, superjami

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Authors: Chiara Cosentino, Carlo Pruneti, Carla Merisio, Domenico Sgromo

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Introduction – Psychoneuroimmunology as approach clearly showed how psychological features can influence health through specific physiological pathways linked to the stress reaction. This can be true also in cancer, in its latter conceptualization seen as a chronic disease. Therefore, it is still not clear how the psychological features can combine with a physiological specific path, for a better adjustment to cancer. The aim of this study is identifying how in Italian survivors, perceived social support, body image, coping and quality of life correlate with or influence Heart Rate Variability (HRV), the physiological parameter that can mirror a condition of chronic stress or a good relaxing capability. Method - The study had an exploratory transversal design. The final sample was made of 38 ovarian cancer survivors aged from 29 to 80 (M= 56,08; SD=12,76) following a program for Ovarian Cancer at the Oncological Clinic, University Hospital of Parma, Italy. Participants were asked to fill: Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS); Derridford Appearance Scale-59 (DAS-59); Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC); Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC). For each participant was recorded Short-Term HRV (5 minutes) using emWavePro. Results– Data showed many interesting correlations within the psychological features. EORTC scores have a significant correlation with DAS-59 (r =-.327 p <.05), MSPSS (r =.411 p<.05), and MAC scores, in particular with the strategy Fatalism (r =.364 p<.05). A good social support improves HRV (F(1,33)= 4.27 p<.05). Perceiving themselves as effective in their environment, preserving a good role functioning (EORTC), positively affects HRV (F(1,33)=9.810 p<.001). Women admitting concerns towards body image seem prone to emotive disclosure, reducing emotional distress and improving HRV (β=.453); emotional avoidance worsens HRV (β=-.391). Discussion and conclusion - Results showed a strong relationship between body image and Quality of Life. These data suggest that higher concerns on body image, in particular, the negative self-concept linked to appearance, was linked to the worst functioning in everyday life. The relation between the negative self-concept and a reduction in emotional functioning is understandable in terms of possible distress deriving from the perception of body appearance. The relationship between a high perceived social support and a better functioning in everyday life was also confirmed. In this sample fatalism, was associated with a better physical, role and emotional functioning. In these women, the presence of a good support may activate the physiological Social Engagement System improving their HRV. Perceiving themselves effective in their environment, preserving a good role functioning, also positively affects HRV, probably following the same physiological pathway. A higher presence of concerns about appearance contributes to a higher HRV. Probably women admitting more body concerns are prone to a better emotive disclosure. This could reduce emotional distress improving HRV and global health. This study reached preliminary demonstration of an ‘Integrated Model of Defense’ in these cancer survivors. In these model, psychological features interact building a better quality of life and a condition of psychological well-being that is associated and influence HRV, then the physiological condition.

Keywords: cancer survivors, heart rate variability, ovarian cancer, psychophysiological adjustment

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Authors: Eoin Kirwan, Christopher Nulty, Declan Browne

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The professional ice hockey season consists of approximately 60 regular season games with periods of fixture congestion occurring several times in the average season. These periods of congestion provide limited time for recovery, exposing the athletes to the risk of competing whilst not fully recovered. Although a body of research is growing with respect to monitoring fatigue, particularly during periods of congested fixtures in team sports such as rugby and soccer, it has received little to no attention thus far in ice hockey athletes. Consequently, there is limited knowledge on monitoring tools that might effectively detect a fatigue response and the magnitude of fatigue that can accumulate when recovery is limited by competitive fixtures. The benefit of quantifying and establishing fatigue status is the ability to optimise training and provide pertinent information on player health, injury risk, availability and readiness. Some commonly used methods to assess fatigue and recovery status of athletes include the use of perceived fatigue and wellbeing questionnaires, tests of muscular force and ratings of perceive exertion (RPE). These measures are widely used in popular team sports such as soccer and rugby and show promise as assessments of fatigue and recovery status for ice hockey athletes. As part of a larger study, this study explored the magnitude of changes in adductor muscle strength after game play and throughout a period of fixture congestion and examined the relationship between internal game load and perceived wellbeing with adductor muscle strength. Methods 8 professional ice hockey players from a British Elite League club volunteered to participate (age = 29.3 ± 2.49 years, height = 186.15 ± 6.75 cm, body mass = 90.85 ± 8.64 kg). Prior to and after competitive games each player performed trials of the adductor squeeze test at 0˚ hip flexion with the lead investigator using hand-held dynamometry. Rate of perceived exertion was recorded for each game and from data of total ice time individual session RPE was calculated. After each game players completed a 5- point questionnaire to assess perceived wellbeing. Data was collected from six competitive games, 1 practice and 36 hours post the final game, over a 10 – day period. Results Pending final data collection in February Conclusions Pending final data collection in February.

Keywords: Conjested fixtures, fatigue monitoring, ice hockey, readiness

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Authors: Amrita Sen

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In the face of a growing insurgent movement and the perceived failure of the state and the market towards sustainable resource management, a range of decentralized forest management policies was formulated in the last two decades, which recognized the need for community representations within the statutory methods of forest management. The recognition conceded on the virtues of ecological sustainability and traditional environmental knowledge, which were considered to be the principal repositories of the forest dependent communities. The present study, in the light of empirical insights, reflects on the contemporary disjunctions between the preconceived communitarian ethic in environmentalism and the lived reality of forest based life-worlds. Many of the popular as well as dominant ideologies, which have historically shaped the conceptual and theoretical understanding of sociology, needs further perusal in the context of the emerging contours of empirical knowledge, which lends opportunities for substantive reworking and analysis. The image of the community appears to be one of those concepts, an identity which has for long defined perspectives and processes associated with people living together harmoniously in small physical spaces. Through an ethnographic account of the implementation of Joint Forest Management (JFM) in a forest fringe village in Sundarban, the study explores the ways in which the idea of ‘community’ gets transformed through the process of state-making, rendering the necessity of its departure from the standard, conventional definition of homogeneity and internal equity. The study necessitates an attention towards the anthropology of micro-politics, disaggregating an essentially constructivist anthropology of ‘collective identities’, which can render the visibility of political mobilizations plausible within the seemingly culturalist production of communities. The two critical questions that the paper seeks to ask in this context are: how the ‘local’ is constituted within community based conservation practices? Within the efforts of collaborative forest management, how accurately does the depiction of ‘indigenous environmental knowledge’, subscribe to its role of sustainable conservation practices? Reflecting on the execution of JFM in Sundarban, the study critically explores the ways in which the state ceases to be ‘trans-national’ and interacts with the rural life-worlds through its local factions. Simultaneously, the study attempts to articulate the scope of constructing a competing representation of community, shaped by increasing political negotiations and bureaucratic alignments which strains against the usual preoccupations with tradition primordiality and non material culture as well as the amorous construction of indigeneity.

Keywords: community, environmentalism, JFM, state-making, identities, indigenous

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Authors: Paulo Da Silva Quadros

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This work aims to point out comparative parameters between the artistic production of two exponents of the contemporary popular culture scene: Caetano Veloso (Brazil) and David Bowie (England). Both Caetano Veloso and David Bowie were pioneers in establishing an aesthetic game between various artistic expressions at the service of the music-visual scene, that is, the conceptual interconnections between several forms of aesthetic processes, such as fine arts, theatre, cinema, poetry, and literature. There are also correlations in their expressive attitudes of art, especially regarding the dialogue between the fields of art and politics (concern with respect to human rights, human dignity, racial issues, tolerance, gender issues, and sexuality, among others); the constant tension and cunning game between market, free expression and critical sense; the sophisticated, playful mechanisms of metalanguage and aesthetic metacritique. Fact is that both of them almost came to cooperate with each other in the 1970s when Caetano was in exile in England, and when both had at the same time the same music producer, who tried to bring them closer, noticing similar aesthetic qualities in both artistic works, which was later glimpsed by some music critics. Among many of the most influential issues in Caetano's and Bowie's game of artistic-aesthetic expression are, for example, the ideas advocated by the sensation of strangeness (Albert Camus), art as transcendence (Friedrich Nietzsche), the deconstruction and reconstruction of auratic reconfiguration of artistic signs (Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol). For deepen more theoretical issues, the following authors will be used as supportive interpretative references: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schiller, Johan Huizinga. In addition to the aesthetic meanings of Ars Ludens characteristics of the two artists, the following supporting references will be also added: the question of technique (Martin Heidegger), the logic of sense (Gilles Deleuze), art as an event and the sense of the gesture of art ( Maria Teresa Cruz), the society of spectacle (Guy Debord), Verarbeitung and Durcharbeitung (Sigmund Freud), the poetics of interpretation and the sign of relation (Cremilda Medina). The purpose of such interpretative references is to seek to understand, from a cultural reading perspective (cultural semiology), some significant elements in the dynamics of aesthetic and media interconnections of both artists, which made them as some of the most influential interlocutors in contemporary music aesthetic thought, as a playful vivid experience of life and art.

Keywords: Caetano Veloso, David Bowie, music aesthetics, symbolic playfulness, cultural reading

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Authors: Pedro Felgueiras, Ana Miguel, Nélson Almeida, Raquel Silva

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Objective: Through the study of a clinical case of delusional somatic disorder secondary to phantogeusia, we aim to highlight the importance of considering psychosomatic conditions in differential diagnosis, as well as to emphasize the complexity of its comprehension, treatment, and respective impact on patients’ functioning. Methods: Bearing this in mind, we conducted a critical analysis of a case series based on patient observations, clinical data, and complementary diagnostic methods, as well as a non-systematic review of the literature on the subject. Results: A 61-year-old female patient with no history of psychiatric conditions. Family psychiatric history of mood disorder (depression), with psychotic features found in her mother. Medical history of many comorbidities affecting different organ systems (endocrine, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, ophthalmological). Documented neuroticism traits of personality. The patient’s family described a persistent concern about several physical symptoms across her life, with a continuous effort to obtain explanations about any sensation out of her normal perception. Since being subjected to endoscopy in 2018, she started complaints of persistent phantogeusia (acid taste) and developed excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with this somatic symptom. The patient was evaluated by several medical specialties, and an extensive panel of medical exams was carried out, excluding any disease. Besides all the investigation and with no evidence of disease signs, acute anxiety, time, and energy dispended to this symptom culminated in severe psychosocial impairment. The patient was admitted to a psychiatric ward for investigation and treatment of this clinical picture, leading to the diagnosis of the delusional somatic disorder. In order to exclude the acute organic etiology of this psychotic disorder, an analytic panel was carried out with no abnormal results. In the context of a psychotic clinical picture, a CT scan was performed, which revealed a right cortical vascular lesion. Neuropsychological evaluation was made, with the description of cognitive functioning being globally normative. During treatment with an antipsychotic (pimozide), a complete remission of the somatic delusion was associated with the disappearance of gustative perception disturbance. In follow-up, a relapse of gustative sensation was documented, and her thoughts and speech were dominated by concerns about multiple somatic symptoms. Conclusion: In terms of abnormal bodily sensations, the oral cavity is one of the frequent sites of delusional disorder. Patients with these gustatory perception distortions complain about unusual sensations without corresponding abnormal findings in the oral area. Its pathophysiology has not been fully elucidated yet. In terms of its comprehensive psychopathology, this case was hypothesized as a paranoid development of a delusional somatic disorder triggered by a post-invasive procedure phantogeusia (which is described as a possible side effect of an endoscopy) in a patient with an anankastic personality. This case presents interesting psychopathology, reinforcing the complexity of psychosomatic disorders in terms of their etiopathogenesis, clinical treatment, and long-term prognosis.

Keywords: psychosomatics, delusional somatic disorder, phantogeusia, paranoid development

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Authors: Amit Kumar Bardhan, Barnali Nag, Chandra Sekhar Mishra

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Microfinance is considered as one of the key drivers of financial inclusion and pro-poor financial growth. Microfinance in India became popular through Self Help Group (SHG) movement initiated by NABARD. In terms of outreach and loan portfolio, SHG Bank Linkage programme (SHG-BLP) has emerged as the largest microfinance initiative in the world. The success of financial inclusion lies in the successful implementation of SHG-BLP. SHGs are generally promoted by social welfare organisations like NGOs, welfare societies, government agencies, Co-operatives etc. and even banks are also involved in SHG formation. Thus, the pro-poor implementation of the scheme largely depends on the credibility of the SHG Promoting Institutions (SHPIs). The rural poor lack education, skills and financial literacy and hence need continuous support and proper training right from planning to implementation. In this study, we have made an attempt to inspect the reasons behind low penetration of SHG financing to the poorest of the poor both from demand and supply side perspective. Banks, SHPIs, and SHGs are three key essential stakeholders in SHG-BLP programmes. All of them have a vital role in programme implementation. The objective of this paper is to find out the drivers and hurdles in the path of financial inclusion through SHG-BLP and the role of SHPIs in reaching out to the ultra poor. We try to address questions like 'what are the challenges faced by SHPIs in targeting the poor?' and, 'what are factors behind the low credit linkage of SHGs?' Our work is based on a qualitative study of SHG programmes in semi-urban towns in the states of West Bengal and Odisha in India. Data are collected through unstructured questionnaire and in-depth interview from the members of SHGs, SHPIs and designated banks. The study provides some valuable insights about the programme and a comprehensive view of problems and challenges faced by SGH, SHPIs, and banks. On the basis of our understanding from the survey, some findings and policy recommendations that seem relevant are: increasing level of non-performing assets (NPA) of commercial banks and wilful default in expectation of loan waiver and subsidy are the prime reasons behind low rate of credit linkage of SHGs. Regular changes in SHG schemes and no incentive for after linkage follow up results in dysfunctional SHGs. Government schemes are mostly focused on creation of SHG and less on livelihood promotion. As a result, in spite of increasing (YoY) trend of number of SHGs promoted, there is no real impact on welfare growth. Government and other SHPIs should focus on resource based SHG promotion rather only increasing the number of SHGs.

Keywords: financial inclusion, inclusive growth, microfinance, Self-Help Group (SHG), Self-Help Group Promoting Institution (SHPI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Najlaa Yousef Qusti, Steven J. Brookes, Paul A. Brunton

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Background: Tooth discoloration can be an aesthetic problem, and tooth whitening using carbamide peroxide bleaching agents are a popular treatment option. However, there are concerns about possible adverse effects such as demineralisation of the bleached enamel; however, the cause of this demineralisation is unclear. Introduction: Teeth can become stained or discoloured over time. Tooth whitening is an aesthetic solution for tooth discoloration. Bleaching solutions of 10% carbamide peroxide (CP) have become the standard agent used in dentist-prescribed and home-applied ’vital bleaching techniques’. These materials release hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), the active whitening agent. However, there is controversy in the literature regarding the effect of bleaching agents on enamel integrity and enamel mineral content. The purpose of this study was to establish if carbamide peroxide bleaching agents affect the acid solubility of enamel (i.e., make teeth more prone to demineralisation). Materials and Methods: Twelve human premolar teeth were sectioned longitudinally along the midline and varnished to leave the natural enamel surface exposed. The baseline behavior of each tooth half in relation to its demineralisation in acid was established by sequential exposure to 4 vials containing 1ml of 10mM acetic acid (1 minute/vial). This was followed by exposure to 10% CP for 8 hours. After washing in distilled water, the tooth half was sequentially exposed to 4 further vials containing acid to test if the acid susceptibility of the enamel had been affected. The corresponding tooth half acted as a control and was exposed to distilled water instead of CP. The mineral loss was determined by measuring [Ca²⁺] and [PO₄³⁻] released in each vial using a calcium ion-selective electrode and the phosphomolybdenum blue method, respectively. The effect of bleaching on the tooth surfaces was also examined using SEM. Results: Exposure to carbamide peroxide did not significantly alter the susceptibility of enamel to acid attack, and SEM of the enamel surface revealed a slight alteration in surface appearance. SEM images of the control enamel surface showed a flat enamel surface with some shallow pits, whereas the bleached enamel appeared with an increase in surface porosity and some areas of mild erosion. Conclusions: Exposure to H₂O₂ equivalent to 10% CP does not significantly increase subsequent acid susceptibility of enamel as determined by Ca²⁺ release from the enamel surface. The effects of bleaching on mineral loss were indistinguishable from distilled water in the experimental system used. However, some surface differences were observed by SEM. The phosphomolybdenum blue method for phosphate is compromised by peroxide bleaching agents due to their oxidising properties. However, the Ca²⁺ electrode is unaffected by oxidising agents and can be used to determine the mineral loss in the presence of peroxides.

Keywords: bleaching, carbamide peroxide, demineralisation, teeth whitening

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Saqib Rasool, Adnan N. Mian

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Web components are introduced as the latest standard of HTML5 for writing modular web interfaces for ensuring maintainability through the isolated scope of web components. Reusability can also be achieved by sharing plug-and-play web components that can be used as off-the-shelf components by other developers. A web component encapsulates all the required HTML, CSS and JavaScript code as a standalone package which must be imported for integrating a web component within an existing web interface. It is then followed by the integration of web component with the web services for dynamically populating its content. Since web components are reusable as off-the-shelf components, these must be equipped with some mechanism for ensuring their proper integration with web services. The consistency of a service behavior can be verified through type-checking. This is one of the popular solutions for improving the quality of code in many programming languages. However, HTML does not provide type checking as it is a markup language and not a programming language. The contribution of this work is to introduce a new extension of HTML called Service Type-checking Markup Language (STML) for adding support of type checking in HTML for JSON based REST services. STML can be used for defining the expected data types of response from JSON based REST services which will be used for populating the content within HTML elements of a web component. Although JSON has five data types viz. string, number, boolean, object and array but STML is made to supports only string, number and object. This is because of the fact that both object and array are considered as string, when populated in HTML elements. In order to define the data type of any HTML element, developer just needs to add the custom STML attributes of st-string, st-number and st-boolean for string, number and boolean respectively. These all annotations of STML are used by the developer who is writing a web component and it enables the other developers to use automated type-checking for ensuring the proper integration of their REST services with the same web component. Two utilities have been written for developers who are using STML based web components. One of these utilities is used for automated type-checking during the development phase. It uses the browser console for showing the error description if integrated web service is not returning the response with expected data type. The other utility is a Gulp based command line utility for removing the STML attributes before going in production. This ensures the delivery of STML free web pages in the production environment. Both of these utilities have been tested to perform type checking of REST services through STML based web components and results have confirmed the feasibility of evaluating service behavior only through HTML. Currently, STML is designed for automated type-checking of integrated REST services but it can be extended to introduce a complete service testing suite based on HTML only, and it will transform STML from Service Type-checking Markup Language to Service Testing Markup Language.

Keywords: REST, STML, type checking, web component

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Velvizhi Dharmalingam, Rajalaksmi Ramalingam, Rekha Prabhu, Ilavarasan Raju

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Background: The use of herbal products for various therapeutic regimens has increased tremendously in the developing countries. Elaeocarpus ganitrus(Rudraksha) is a broad-leaved tree, belonging to the family Elaeocarpaceae found in tropical and subtropical areas. It is popular in an indigenous system of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani. According to Ayurvedic medicine, Rudraksha is used in the managing of blood pressure, asthma, mental disorders, diabetes, gynaecological disorders, neurological disorders such as epilepsy and liver diseases. Objectives: The present study aimed to study the physicochemical parameters of Elaeocarpus ganitrus(fruits) and identify the phenolic compounds (gallic acid, ellagic acid, and chebulinic acid). To estimate the microbial load and the antibacterial activity of extract of Elaeocarpus ganitrus for selective pathogens. Methodology: The dried powdered fruit of Elaeocarpus ganitrus was performed the physicochemical parameters (such as Loss on drying, Alcohol soluble extractive, Water soluble extractive, Total ash and Acid insoluble ash) and pH was measured. The dried coarse powdered fruit of Elaeocarpus ganitrus was extracted successively with hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate and aqueous alcohol by cold percolation method. Identification of phenolic compounds (gallic acid, ellagic acid, chebulinic acid) was done by HPTLC method and confirmed by co-TLC using different solvent system.The successive extracts of Elaeocarpus ganitrus and standards (like gallic acid, ellagic acid, and chebulinic acid) was approximately weighed and made up with alcohol. HPTLC (CAMAG) analysis was performed on a TLC over silica gel 60F254 precoated aluminium plate, layer thickness 0.2 mm (E.Merck, Germany) by using ATS4, Visualizer and Scanner with wavelength at 254 nm, 366 nm and derivatized with different reagents. The microbial load such as total bacterial count, total fungal count, Enterobacteria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by serial dilution method and antibacterial activity of was measured by Kirby bauer method for selective pathogens. Results: The physicochemical parameter of Elaeocarpus ganitrus was studied for standardization of crude drug. Among all the successive extracts were identified with phenolic compounds and Elaeocarpus ganitrus extract having potent antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, Elaeocarpus ganitrus, HPTLC, phenolic compounds

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Anup Anand Deshmukh, Catherine Soladie, Renaud Seguier

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Emotion plays a key role in many applications like healthcare, to gather patients’ emotional behavior. Unlike typical ASR (Automated Speech Recognition) problems which focus on 'what was said', it is equally important to understand 'how it was said.' There are certain emotions which are given more importance due to their effectiveness in understanding human feelings. In this paper, we propose an approach that models human stress from audio signals. The research challenge in speech emotion detection is finding the appropriate set of acoustic features corresponding to an emotion. Another difficulty lies in defining the very meaning of emotion and being able to categorize it in a precise manner. Supervised Machine Learning models, including state of the art Deep Learning classification methods, rely on the availability of clean and labelled data. One of the problems in affective computation is the limited amount of annotated data. The existing labelled emotions datasets are highly subjective to the perception of the annotator. We address the first issue of feature selection by exploiting the use of traditional MFCC (Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients) features in Convolutional Neural Network. Our proposed Emo-CNN (Emotion-CNN) architecture treats speech representations in a manner similar to how CNN’s treat images in a vision problem. Our experiments show that Emo-CNN consistently and significantly outperforms the popular existing methods over multiple datasets. It achieves 90.2% categorical accuracy on the Emo-DB dataset. We claim that Emo-CNN is robust to speaker variations and environmental distortions. The proposed approach achieves 85.5% speaker-dependant categorical accuracy for SAVEE (Surrey Audio-Visual Expressed Emotion) dataset, beating the existing CNN based approach by 10.2%. To tackle the second problem of subjectivity in stress labels, we use Lovheim’s cube, which is a 3-dimensional projection of emotions. Monoamine neurotransmitters are a type of chemical messengers in the brain that transmits signals on perceiving emotions. The cube aims at explaining the relationship between these neurotransmitters and the positions of emotions in 3D space. The learnt emotion representations from the Emo-CNN are mapped to the cube using three component PCA (Principal Component Analysis) which is then used to model human stress. This proposed approach not only circumvents the need for labelled stress data but also complies with the psychological theory of emotions given by Lovheim’s cube. We believe that this work is the first step towards creating a connection between Artificial Intelligence and the chemistry of human emotions.

Keywords: deep learning, brain chemistry, emotion perception, Lovheim's cube

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Rui Pedro de Sousa Guimarães Ferreira, Carlos Alberto Maia Domínguez

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Despite the ambitions to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, to fulfill the Paris Agreement's goals, the building and construction sector remains one of the most resource-intensive and greenhouse gas-emitting industries in the world, accounting for 40% of worldwide CO ₂ emissions. Over the past few decades, globalization and population growth have led to an exponential rise in demand in the housing market and, by extension, in the building industry. Considering this housing crisis, it is obvious that we will not stop building in the near future. However, the transition, which has already started, is challenging and complex because it calls for the worldwide participation of numerous organizations in altering how building systems, which have been a part of our everyday existence for over a century, are used. Wood is one of the alternatives that is most frequently used nowadays (under responsible forestry conditions) because of its physical qualities and, most importantly, because it produces fewer carbon emissions during manufacturing than steel or concrete. Furthermore, as wood retains its capacity to store CO ₂ after application and throughout the life of the building, working as a natural carbon filter, it helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After a century-long focus on other materials, in the last few decades, technological advancements have made it possible to innovate systems centered around the use of wood. However, there are still some questions that require further exploration. It is necessary to standardize production and manufacturing processes based on prefabrication and modularization principles to achieve greater precision and optimization of the solutions, decreasing building time, prices, and waste from raw materials. In addition, this approach will make it possible to develop new architectural solutions to solve the rigidity and irreversibility of buildings, two of the most important issues facing housing today. Most current models are still created as inflexible, fixed, monofunctional structures that discourage any kind of regeneration, based on matrices that sustain the conventional family's traditional model and are founded on rigid, impenetrable compartmentalization. Adaptability and flexibility in housing are, and always have been, necessities and key components of architecture. People today need to constantly adapt to their surroundings and themselves because of the fast-paced, disposable, and quickly obsolescent nature of modern items. Migrations on a global scale, different kinds of co-housing, or even personal changes are some of the new questions that buildings have to answer. Designing with the reversibility of construction systems and materials in mind not only allows for the concept of "looping" in construction, with environmental advantages that enable the development of a circular economy in the sector but also unleashes multiple social benefits. In this sense, it is imperative to develop prefabricated and modular construction systems able to address the formalization of a reversible proposition that adjusts to the scale of time and its multiple reformulations, many of which are unpredictable. We must allow buildings to change, grow, or shrink over their lifetime, respecting their nature and, finally, the nature of the people living in them. It´s the ability to anticipate the unexpected, adapt to social factors, and take account of demographic shifts in society to stabilize communities, the foundation of real innovative sustainability.

Keywords: modular, timber, flexibility, housing

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: T. J. O Ceallaigh

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Subject matter driven programs such as immersion programs are increasingly popular across the world. These programs have allowed for extensive experimentation in the realm of second language teaching and learning and have been at the centre of many research agendas since their inception. Even though immersion programs are successful, especially in terms of second language development, they remain complex to implement and not always as successful as what we would hope them to be. Among all the challenges these varied programs face, research indicates that the primary issue lies in the difficulty to create well-balanced programs where both content instruction and language/literacy instruction can be targeted simultaneously. Initial teacher education and professional development experiences are key drivers of successful language immersion education globally. They are critical to the supply of teachers with the mandatory linguistic and cultural competencies as well as associated pedagogical practices required to ensure learners’ success. However, there is a significant dearth of research on professional development experiences of immersion teachers. We lack an understanding of the nature of their expertise and their needs in terms of professional development as well as their perceptions of the primary challenges they face as they attempt to formulate a coherent pedagogy of integrated language and content instruction. Such an understanding is essential if their specific needs are to be addressed appropriately and thus improve the overall quality of immersion programs. This paper reports on immersion teacher perceptions of online professional development experiences that have a positive impact on their ability to facilitate language and content connections in instruction. Twenty Irish-medium immersion teachers engaged in the instructional integration of language and content in a systematic and developmental way during a year-long online professional development program. Data were collected from a variety of sources e.g., an extensive online questionnaire, individual interviews, reflections, assignments and focus groups. This study provides compelling evidence of the potential of online professional development experiences as a pedagogical framework for understanding the complex and interconnected knowledge demands that arise in content and language integration in immersion. Findings illustrate several points of access to classroom research and pedagogy and uncover core aspects of high impact online experiences. Teachers identified aspects such as experimentation and risk-taking, authenticity and relevance, collegiality and collaboration, motivation and challenge and teacher empowerment. The potential of the online experiences to foster teacher language awareness was also identified as a contributory factor to success. The paper will conclude with implications for designing meaningful and effective online CLIL professional development experiences.

Keywords: content and language integrated learning , immersion pedagogy, professional development, teacher language awareness

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Lorena Blasco-Arcas, Francesca Pucciarelli

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Business contexts have become globalised and digitalised, which requires that managers develop a strong sense of cross-cultural intelligence while working in geographically distant teams by means of digital technologies. How to better equip future managers on these kinds of skills has been put forward as a critical issue in Business Schools. In pursuing these goals, higher education is shifting from a passive lecture approach, to more active and experiential learning approaches that are more suitable to learn skills. For example, through the use of case studies, proposing plausible business problem to be solved by students (or teams of students), these institutions have focused for long in fostering learning by doing. Though, case studies are no longer enough as a tool to promote active teamwork and experiential learning. Moreover, digital advancements applied to educational settings have enabled augmented classrooms, expanding the learning experience beyond the class, which increase students’ engagement and experiential learning. Different authors have highlighted the benefits of digital engagement in order to achieve a deeper and longer-lasting learning and comprehension of core marketing concepts. Clickers, computer-based simulations and business games have become fairly popular between instructors, but still are limited by the fact that are fictional experiences. Further exploration of real digital platforms to implement real, live projects in the classroom seem relevant for marketing and business education. Building on this, this paper describes the development of an experiential learning activity in class, in which students developed a communication campaign in teams using the BuzzFeed platform, and subsequently implementing the campaign by using other social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…). The article details the procedure of using the project for a marketing module in a Bachelor program with students located in France, Italy and Spain campuses working on multi-campus groups. Further, this paper describes the project outcomes in terms of students’ engagement and analytics (i.e. visits achieved). the project included a survey in order to analyze and identify main aspects related to how the learning experience is influenced by the cultural competence developed through working in geographically distant and culturally diverse teamwork. Finally, some recommendations to use project-based social media tools while working with virtual teamwork in the classroom are provided.

Keywords: cultural competences, experiential learning, social media, teamwork, virtual group work

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: F. Ainlhout, S. Boutaleb, M. C. Diaz-Barradas, M. Zunzunegui

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Argania spinosa is an endemic tree of the southwest of Morocco, occupying 828,000 Ha, distributed mainly between Mediterranean vegetation and the desert. This tree can grow in extremely arid regions in Morocco, where annual rainfall ranges between 100-300 mm where no other tree species can live. It has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere reserve since 1998. Argania tree is of great importance in human and animal feeding of rural population as well as for oil production, it is considered as a multi-usage tree. Admine forest located in the suburbs of Agadir city, 5 km inland, was selected to conduct this work. The aim of the study was to investigate the temporal variation in root-zone moisture dynamic in response to variation in climatic conditions and vegetation water uptake, using a geophysical technique called Electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). This technique discriminates resistive woody roots, dry and moisture soil. Time-dependent measurements (from April till July) of resistivity sections were performed along the surface transect (94 m Length) at 2 m fixed electrode spacing. Transect included eight Argan trees. The interactions between the tree and soil moisture were estimated by following the tree water status variations accompanying the soil moisture deficit. For that purpose we measured midday leaf water potential and relative water content during each sampling day, and for the eight trees. The first results showed that ERI can be used to accurately quantify the spatiotemporal distribution of root-zone moisture content and woody root. The section obtained shows three different layers: middle conductive one (moistured); a moderately resistive layer corresponding to relatively dry soil (calcareous formation with intercalation of marly strata) on top, this layer is interspersed by very resistant layer corresponding to woody roots. Below the conductive layer, we find the moderately resistive layer. We note that throughout the experiment, there was a continuous decrease in soil moisture at the different layers. With the ERI, we can clearly estimate the depth of the woody roots, which does not exceed 4 meters. In previous work on the same species, analyzing the δ18O in water of xylem and in the range of possible water sources, we argued that rain is the main water source in winter and spring, but not in summer, trees are not exploiting deep water from the aquifer as the popular assessment, instead of this they are using soil water at few meter depth. The results of the present work confirm the idea that the roots of Argania spinosa are not growing very deep.

Keywords: Argania spinosa, electrical resistivity imaging, root system, soil moisture

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Piotr Wisniewski, Sławomir Dykas

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Condensation has a negative impact on turbomachinery efficiency in many energy processes.In technical applications, it is often impossible to dry the working fluid at the nozzle inlet. One of the most popular working fluid is atmospheric air that always contains water in form of steam, liquid, or ice crystals. Moreover, it always contains some amount of suspended particles which influence the phase change process. It is known that the phenomena of evaporation or condensation are connected with release or absorption of latent heat, what influence the fluid physical properties and might affect the machinery efficiency therefore, the phase transition has to be taken under account. This researchpresents an attempt to evaluate the impact of solid and liquid particles suspended in the air on the expansion of moist air in a low expansion rate, i.e., with expansion rate, P≈1000s⁻¹. The numerical study supported by analytical and experimental research is presented in this work. The experimental study was carried out using an in-house experimental test rig, where nozzle was examined for different inlet air relative humidity values included in the range of 25 to 51%. The nozzle was tested for a supersonic flow as well as for flow with shock waves induced by elevated back pressure. The Schlieren photography technique and measurement of static pressure on the nozzle wall were used for qualitative identification of both condensation and shock waves. A numerical model validated against experimental data available in the literature was used for analysis of occurring flow phenomena. The analysis of the suspended particles number, diameter, and character (solid or liquid) revealed their connection with heterogeneous condensation importance. If the expansion of fluid without suspended particlesis considered, the condensation triggers so called condensation wave that appears downstream the nozzle throat. If the solid particles are considered, with increasing number of them, the condensation triggers upwind the nozzle throat, decreasing the condensation wave strength. Due to the release of latent heat during condensation, the fluid temperature and pressure increase, leading to the shift of normal shock upstream the flow. Owing relatively large diameters of the droplets created during heterogeneous condensation, they evaporate partially on the shock and continues to evaporate downstream the nozzle. If the liquid water particles are considered, due to their larger radius, their do not affect the expanding flow significantly, however might be in major importance while considering the compression phenomena as they will tend to evaporate on the shock wave. This research proves the need of further study of phase change phenomena in supersonic flow especially considering the interaction of droplets with the aerodynamic waves in the flow.

Keywords: aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, condensation, moist air, multi-phase flows

Procedia PDF Downloads 89

Authors: Aneeqa Suhail, Shabana Naveed

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The public sector (in both developed and developing countries) has gone through various waves of radical reforms in recent decades. In Pakistan, under the influence of New Public Management(NPM) Reforms; best practices of private sector are introduced in the public sector to modernize public organizations. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) has been popular in the private sector and proven to be a successful system, therefore it is being adopted in the public sector too. However, implementation of private business practices in public organizations us very challenging due to differences in context. This implementation gets further critical in Pakistan due to a centralizing tendency and lack of autonomy in public organizations. Adoption of HRIS by public organizations in Pakistan raises several questions: What challenges are faced by public organizations in implementation of HRIS? Are benefits of HRIS such as efficiency, process integration and cost reduction achieved? How is the previous system improved with this change and what are the impacts? Yet, it is an under-researched topic, especially in public enterprises. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by empirically exploring benefits and challenges of implementation of HRIS in public organizations. The research adopts a case study approach and uses qualitative data based on in-depth interviews conducted at various levels in the hierarchy including top management, departmental heads and employees. The unit of analysis is LESCO, the Lahore Electric Supply Company, a state-owned entity that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to 4 big cities in Punjab, Pakistan. The findings of the study show that LESCO has not achieved the benefits of HRIS as established in literature. The implementation process remained quite slow and costly. Various functions of HR are still in isolation and integration is a big challenge for the organization. Although the data is automated, the previous system of manually record maintenance and paperwork is still in work, resulting in the presence of parallel practices. The findings also identified resistance to change from top management and labor workforce, lack of commitment and technical knowledge, and costly vendors as major barriers that affect the effective implementation of HRIS. The paper suggests some potential actions to overcome these barriers and to enhance effective implementation of HR-technology. The findings are explained in light of an institutional logics perspective. HRIS’ new logic of automated and integrated HR system is in sharp contrast with the prevailing logic of process-oriented manual data maintenance, leading to resistance to change and deadlock.

Keywords: human resource information system, technological changes, state-owned enterprise, implementation challenges

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Angelis P. Barlampas

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An 89 years old woman came to the emergency department complaining of long-lasting headaches and nausea. A CT examination was performed, and a homogeneous midline anterior cranial fossa lesion was revealed, which was situated near the base and measured 2,4 cm in diameter. The patient was allergic, and an i.v.c injection could not be done on the spot, and neither could an MRI exam because of metallic implants. How could someone narrow down the differential diagnosis? The interhemispheric meningioma is usually a silent midline lesion with no edema, and most often presents as a homogeneous, solid type, isodense, or slightly hyperdense mass ( usually the smallest lesions as this one ). Of them, 20-30% have some calcifications. Hyperostosis is typical for meningiomas that abut the base of the skull but is absent in the current case, presumably of a more cephalad location that is borderline away from the bone. Because further investigation could not be done, as the patient was allergic to the contrast media, some other differential options should be considered. Regarding the site of the lesion, the most common other entities to keep in mind are the following: Metastasis, tumor of skull base, abscess, primary brain tumors, meningioma, giant aneurysm of the anterior cerebral artery, olfactory neuroblastoma, interhemispheric meningioma, giant aneurysm of the anterior cerebral artery, midline lesion. Appearance will depend on whether the aneurysm is non-thrombosed, or partially, or completely thrombosed. Non-contrast: slightly hyperdense, well-defined round extra-axial mass, may demonstrate a peripheral calcified rim, olfactory neuroblastoma, midline lesion. The mass is of soft tissue attenuation and is relatively homogeneous. Focal calcifications are occasionally present. When an intracranial extension is present, peritumoral cysts between it and the overlying brain are often present. Final diagnosis interhemispheric meningioma (Known from the previous patient’s history). Meningiomas come from the meningocytes or the arachnoid cells of the meninges. They are usually found incidentally, have an indolent course, and their most common location is extra-axial, parasagittal, and supratentorial. Other locations include the sphenoid ridge, olfactory groove, juxtasellar, infratentorial, intraventricular, pineal gland area, and optic nerve meningioma. They are clinically silent entities, except for large ones, which can present with headaches, changes in personality status, paresis, or symptomatology according to their specific site and may cause edema of the surrounding brain tissue. Imaging findings include the presence of calcifications, the CSF cleft sign, hyperostosis of adjacent bone, dural tail, and white matter buckling sign. After i.v.c. injection, they enhance brightly and homogenously, except for large ones, which may exhibit necrotic areas or may be heavily calcified. Malignant or cystic variants demonstrate more heterogeneity and less intense enhancement. Sometimes, it is inevitable that the needed CT protocol cannot be performed, especially in the emergency department. In these cases, the radiologist must focus on the characteristic imaging features of the unenhanced lesion, as well as in previous examinations or a known lesion history, in order to come to the right report conclusion.

Keywords: computed tomography, emergency radiology, metastasis, tumor of skull base, abscess, primary brain tumors, meningioma, giant aneurysm of the anterior cerebral artery, olfactory neuroblastoma, interhemispheric meningioma

Procedia PDF Downloads 34

Authors: Kuheli Chakrabarty, Animesh Ghosh, Atanu Roy, Gourab Kanti Das

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Aldol reaction is an important class of carbon-carbon bond forming reactions. One of the popular ways to impose asymmetry in aldol reaction is the introduction of chiral auxiliary that binds the approaching reactants and create dissymmetry in the reaction environment, which finally evolves to enantiomeric excess in the aldol products. The last decade witnesses the usage of natural amino acids as chiral auxiliary to control the stereoselectivity in various carbon-carbon bond forming processes. In this context, L-proline was found to be an effective organocatalyst in asymmetric aldol additions. In last few decades the use of water as solvent or co-solvent in asymmetric organocatalytic reaction is increased sharply. Simple amino acids like L-proline does not catalyze asymmetric aldol reaction in aqueous medium not only that, In organic solvent medium high catalytic loading (~30 mol%) is required to achieve moderate to high asymmetric induction. In this context, huge efforts have been made to modify L-proline and 4-hydroxy-L-proline to prepare organocatalyst for aqueous medium asymmetric aldol reaction. Here, we report the result of our DFT calculations on asymmetric aldol reaction of benzaldehyde, p-NO2 benzaldehyde and t-butyraldehyde with a number of ketones using L-proline hydrazide as organocatalyst in wet solvent free condition. Gaussian 09 program package and Gauss View program were used for the present work. Geometry optimizations were performed using B3LYP hybrid functional and 6-31G(d,p) basis set. Transition structures were confirmed by hessian calculation and IRC calculation. As the reactions were carried out in solvent free condition, No solvent effect were studied theoretically. Present study has revealed for the first time, the direct involvement of two water molecules in the aldol transition structures. In the TS, the enamine and the aldehyde is connected through hydrogen bonding by the assistance of two intervening water molecules forming a supramolecular network. Formation of this type of supramolecular assembly is possible due to the presence of protonated -NH2 group in the L-proline hydrazide moiety, which is responsible for the favorable entropy contribution to the aldol reaction. It is also revealed from the present study that, water assisted TS is energetically more favorable than the TS without involving any water molecule. It can be concluded from this study that, insertion of polar group capable of hydrogen bond formation in the L-proline skeleton can lead to a favorable aldol reaction with significantly high enantiomeric excess in wet solvent free condition by reducing the activation barrier of this reaction.

Keywords: aldol reaction, DFT, organocatalysis, transition structure

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Authors: Maja Martinovic, Valentina Zarkovic, Hrvoje Maljak

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Europe is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, in which tourism occupies a significant place among the most relevant economic activities, and this applies to the Republic of Croatia as well. Based on this study, the authors intended to encourage and support the creation of an effective tourism policy in Croatia that would be based on the profiling of certain target groups. Another objective was to compare the results obtained from the customer analysis with the market analysis of the tourism industry in Croatia. The objective is to adapt the current tourist offer according to the identified needs and expectations of a particular tourist group in order to increase the attractiveness of Croatia as a tourist destination and motivate greater attendance of the targeted tourist groups. The current research was oriented towards the Russian market as the target group. Therefore, the authors wanted to encourage a discussion on how to attract more Russian guests. Consequently, the intention of the research was a detailed analysis of Russian tourists, in order to gain a better understanding of their travelling motives and tendencies. Furthermore, attention was paid to the expectations of Russian customers and to compare them with the Croatian tourist offer, and to determine whether there is a possibility for an overlap. The method used to obtain the information required was a survey conducted among Russian citizens about their travelling habits. The research was carried out on the basis of 166 participants of different age, gender, profession and income group. The sampling and distribution of the survey took place between May and July 2016. The results provided from the research indicate that Croatian tourism has certain unrealized potential considering the popularization of Croatia as a tourist destination, and there is a capacity for increasing the revenues within the group of Russian tourists. Such a conclusion is based on the fact that the Croatian tourist offer and the preferences of the Russian guests are compatible, i.e. they overlap in many aspects. The results demonstrate that beautiful nature, cultural and historical heritage as well as the sun and sea, play a leading role in attracting more Russian tourists. It is precisely these elements that form the three pillars of the Croatian tourist offer. On the other hand, the profiling revealed that the most desirable destinations for the Russian guests are Italy and Spain, both of which provide the same main tourist attractions as Croatia. Therefore, the focus of the strategic ideas given in the paper shifted to other tourism segments, such as type of accommodation, sales channels, travel motives, additional offer and seasonality etc., in order to gain advantage in the Russian market, the Mediterranean region and tourism in general. The purpose of the research is to serve as a foundation for analysing the attractiveness of the other tourist destinations in the Russian market, as well as to be a general basis for a more detailed profiling of the various specific target groups of the Russian and other tourist groups.

Keywords: Croatia, Russian market, target groups, tourism, tourist destination

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Authors: Eunice Oluwakemi Chukwuma-Nwuba

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Nigeria is a developing country with an increasing rate of graduate unemployment. This has triggered successive government administrations to promote the variety of programmes to address the situation. However, none of these efforts yielded the desired outcome. Accordingly, in 2006 the government included entrepreneurship module in the curriculum of universities as a compulsory general programme for all undergraduate courses. This is in the hope that the programme will help to promote entrepreneurial mind-set and new venture creation among graduates and as a result reduce the rate of graduate unemployment. The study explores the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in promoting entrepreneurship. This study is significant in view of the endemic graduate unemployment in Nigeria and the social consequences such as youth restiveness and militancy. It is guided by the theory of planned behaviour. It employed the two-stage structural equation modelling (AMOS) to model entrepreneurial intentions as a function of innovative teaching methods, traditional teaching methods and culture Personal attitude and subjective norm are proposed to mediate the relationships between the exogenous and the endogenous variables. The first stage was tested using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) framework to confirm that the two groups assign the same meaning to the scale items and to obtain goodness-of-fit indices. The multi-group confirmatory factor analysis included the tests of configural, metric and scalar invariance. With the attainment of full configural invariance and partial metric and scalar invariance, the second stage – the structural model was applied hypothesising that, the entrepreneurial intentions of graduates (respondents who have participated in the compulsory entrepreneurship programme) will be higher than those of undergraduates (respondents who are yet to participate in the programme). The study uses the quasi-experimental design. The samples comprised 409 graduates (experimental group) and 402 undergraduates (control group) from six federal universities in Nigeria. Our findings suggest that personal attitude is positively related with entrepreneurial intentions, largely confirming prior literature. However, unlike previous studies, our results indicate that subjective norm has significant direct and indirect impact on entrepreneurial intentions indicating that reference people of the participants have important roles to play in their decision to be entrepreneurial. Furthermore, unlike the assertions in prior studies, the result suggests that traditional teaching methods have indirect effect on entrepreneurial intentions supporting that since personal characteristics can change in an educational situation, an education purposively directed at entrepreneurship might achieve similar results if not better. This study has implication for practice and theory. The research extends to the theoretical understanding of the formation of entrepreneurial intentions and explains the role of the reference others in relation to how graduates perceive entrepreneurship. Further, the study adds to the body of knowledge on entrepreneurship education in Nigeria universities and provides a developing country perspective. It proposes further research in the exploration of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions of graduates from across the country’s universities as necessary and imperative.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial intention, structural equation modeling, theory of planned behaviour

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Authors: Alexandra McKinzie, Lucy Brown, Sarah Komanapalli, Sarah Swiezy, Caitlin Bernard

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Background: While 25% of US women will seek an abortion before age 45, targeted laws have led to a decline in abortion clinics, subsequently leaving 96% of Indiana counties and the 70% of Hoosier women residing in these counties without access to services they desperately need.1,2 Despite the need for a physician workforce that is educated and able to provide full-spectrum reproductive health care, few medical institutions have a standardized family planning and abortion pre-clinical curriculum. Methods: A Qualtrics survey was disseminated to students from Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) to evaluate (1) student interest in curriculum reform, (2) self-assessed preparedness to counsel on contraceptive and pregnancy options, and (3) preferred modality of instruction for family planning and abortion topics. Based on the pre-panel survey feedback, a case-based pregnancy options counseling panel will be implemented in the students’ pre-clinical, didactic course Endocrine, Reproductive, Musculoskeletal, Dermatologic Systems (ERMD) in February 2022. A Qualtrics post-panel survey will be disseminated to evaluate students’ perceived efficacy and quality of the panel, as well as their self-assessed preparedness to counsel on pregnancy options. Results: Participants in the pre-panel survey (n=303) were primarily female (61.72%) and White (74.43%). Across all class levels, many (60.80%) students expected to learn about family planning and abortion in their pre-clinical education. While most (84-88%) participants felt prepared to counsel about common, non-controversial pharmacotherapies (e.g. beta-blockers and diuretics), only 20% of students felt prepared to counsel on abortion options. Overall, 85.67% of students believed that IUSM should enhance its reproductive health coverage in pre-clinical, didactic courses. Traditional lectures, panels, and direct clinical exposure were the most popular instructional modalities. Expected Results: The authors predict that following the panel, students will indicate improved confidence in providing pregnancy options counseling. Additionally, students will provide constructive feedback on the structure and content of the panel for incorporation into future years’ curriculum. Conclusions: IUSM students overwhelmingly expressed interest in expanding their pre-clinical curriculum’s coverage of family planning and abortion topics. To specifically improve students’ self-assessed preparedness to provide pregnancy options counseling and address students’ self-cited learning gaps, a case-based provider panel session will be implemented in response to students’ preferred modality feedback.

Keywords: options counseling, family planning, abortion, curriculum reform, case-based panel

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Authors: Alessandra Swiny, Michalis Georgiou, Yiorgos Hadjichristou

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This paper focuses on the questions raised through the work of Unit 5: ‘In/Out of crisis, emergent and adaptive’; an architectural research-based studio at the University of Nicosia. It focusses on sustainable architectural and urban explorations tackling with the ever growing crises in its various types, phases and locations. ‘Great crisis situations’ are seen as ‘great chances’ that trigger investigations for further development and evolution of the built environment in an ultimate sustainable approach. The crisis is taken as an opportunity to rethink the urban and architectural directions as new forces for inventions leading to emergent and adaptive built environments. The Unit 5’s identity and environment facilitates the students to respond optimistically, alternatively and creatively towards the global current crisis. Mark Wigley’s notion that “crises are ultimately productive” and “They force invention” intrigued and defined the premises of the Unit. ‘Weather and nature are coauthors of the built environment’ Jonathan Hill states in his ‘weather architecture’ discourse. The weather is constantly changing and new environments, the subnatures are created which derived from the human activities David Gissen explains. The above set of premises triggered innovative responses by the Unit’s students. They thoroughly investigated the various kinds of crisis and their causes in relation to their various types of Terrains. The tools used for the research and investigation were chosen in contradictive pairs to generate further crisis situations: The re-used/salvaged competed with the new, the handmade rivalling with the fabrication, the analogue juxtaposed with digital. Students were asked to delve into state of art technologies in order to propose sustainable emergent and adaptive architectures and Urbanities, having though always in mind that the human and the social aspects of the community should be the core of the investigation. The resulting unprecedented spatial conditions and atmospheres of the emergent new ways of living are deemed to be the ultimate aim of the investigation. Students explored a variety of sites and crisis conditions such as: The vague terrain of the Green Line in Nicosia, the lost footprints of the sinking Venice, the endangered Australian coral reefs, the earthquake torn town of Crevalcore, and the decaying concrete urbanscape of Athens. Among other projects, ‘the plume project’ proposes a cloud-like, floating and almost dream-like living environment with unprecedented spatial conditions to the inhabitants of the coal mine of Centralia, USA, not just to enable them to survive but even to prosper in this unbearable environment due to the process of the captured plumes of smoke and heat. Existing water wells inspire inversed vertical structures creating a new living underground network, protecting the nomads from catastrophic sand storms in the Araoune of Mali. “Inverted utopia: Lost things in the sand”, weaves a series of tea-houses and a library holding lost artifacts and transcripts into a complex underground labyrinth by the utilization of the sand solidification technology. Within this methodology, crisis is seen as a mechanism for allowing an emergence of new and fascinating ultimate sustainable future cultures and cities.

Keywords: adaptive built environments, crisis as opportunity, emergent urbanities, forces for inventions

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