Search results for: Jesus David Argueta Moreno

Authors: Eworo David

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It is dearly evident that a company which does not and will not innovate faces the grave danger of being pushed out of existence. The purpose of this study is to bring to knowledge of companies the significance of capital budgeting in viable project implementation and for proper investment appraisal as regards steps involved in effective investment strategies. The study examines investment policies of Nigeria companies. It deals with an overview of capital budgeting. The analysis covers the data gathered from two multi-national companies in Nigeria. The population of the study was the senior managers and the top management staff of the companies. The system of capital budgeting structure and project implementation styles were compared and contrasted to determine whether the system has MADE or MARRED the development of the organizations. The recommendations contribute towards Nigeria companies to remain and survive in business through the use of capital budgeting.

Keywords: appraisal, budgeting structure, capital budgeting, effective investment strategies

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Authors: Attila Vámosi, Tamás Mankovits, Dávid Huri, Imre Kocsis, Tamás Szabó

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Non-linear FEM calculations are indispensable when important technical information like operating performance of a rubber component is desired. Rubber bumpers built into air-spring structures may undergo large deformations under load, which in itself shows non-linear behavior. The changing contact range between the parts and the incompressibility of the rubber increases this non-linear behavior further. The material characterization of an elastomeric component is also a demanding engineering task. The shape optimization problem of rubber parts led to the study of FEM based calculation processes. This type of problems was posed and investigated by several authors. In this paper the time demand of certain calculation methods are studied and the possibilities of time reduction is presented.

Keywords: rubber bumper, data acquisition, finite element analysis, support vector regression

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Authors: Sonia Zulfiqar, Daniele Mantione, Muhammad Ilyas Sarwar, Alexander Rothenberger, David Mecerreyes

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Climate change due to escalating carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is an issue of paramount importance that needs immediate attention. CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) is a promising route to mitigate climate change and adsorption is the most widely recognized technology owing to possible energy savings relative to the conventional absorption techniques. In this conference, the potential of a new family of solid sorbents for CO2 capture and separation will be presented. Novel pyridinium containing poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) were synthesized with varying anions i.e bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and hexafluorophosphate. The resulting polymers were characterized using NMR, XRD, TGA, BET surface area and microscopic techniques. Furthermore, CO2 adsorption measurements at two different temperatures were also carried out and revealed great potential of these PILs as CO2 scavengers.

Keywords: climate change, CO2 capture, poly(ionic liquid)s, CO2/N2 selectivity

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Authors: Naresh Radaliyagoda, Nigel M. Jennett, Rong Lan, David Parfitt

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A series of length scale engineered multilayer material with temperature robust mechanical properties has been suggested. A range of polycrystalline copper sub-layers with the thickness varying from 1 to 25μm and buried in between two nickel layers was produced using electrodeposition dual bath technique. The structure of the multilayers was characterized using Electron Backscatter Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscope. The interface effect on the hardness and elastic modulus was tested using Nano-indentation. Results of the grain size and layer thickness measurements, and indentation hardness have been compared. It is found that there is a combined length scale effect that improves mechanical properties in Ni/Cu multilayer structures.

Keywords: nano-indentation, size effect, multilayers, electrodeposition

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Authors: David Wuepper, Marc Patry

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UNESCO’s World Heritage program requests the inscribed locations to promote the World Heritage brand by clearly presenting information about it on-site. Based on feedback from over 319,000 visitors at 791 locations, we create an index that shows how much the World Heritage sites actually brand themselves as such. We find great heterogeneity throughout the list and explain this econometrically mostly with the economic benefit for the sites but also with cultural brand preferences, which are highest in Asia, followed by Europe and North America. We also find a positive relationship between World Heritage branding and conservation status and a U-shaped relationship between visitor numbers and WH branding. Based on our findings, we recommend to make clear World Heritage branding mandatory for all sites.

Keywords: UNESCO World Heritage, collective brand, cultural tourism, heritage conservation, brand equity, spatial econometrics

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Authors: Reut Lanyado, David Mendlovic

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Most biological methods for authentication require special equipment and, some of them are easy to fake. We proposed a method for authentication based on hand movement while typing a sentence with a regular camera. This technique uses the full video of the hand, which is harder to fake. In the first phase, we tracked the hand joints in each frame. Next, we represented a single frame for each individual using our Pose Agnostic Rotation and Movement (PARM) dimensional space. Then, we indicated a full video of hand movement in a fixed low dimensional space using this method: Fixed Dimension Video by Interpolation Statistics (FDVIS). Finally, we identified each individual in the FDVIS representation using unsupervised clustering and supervised methods. Accuracy exceeds 96% for 80 individuals by using supervised KNN.

Keywords: authentication, feature extraction, hand recognition, security, signal processing

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Authors: Othmane Fahim, Naoual Belouaggadia. Charifa David, Mohamed Ezzine

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To make better use of cooling resources, systems have been derived on the basis of the use of night radiator systems for heat pumping. Using the TRNSYS tool we determined the influence of the climatic characteristics of the two zones in Morocco on the temperature of the outer surface of a Photovoltaic Thermal Panel “PVT” made of aluminum. The proposal to improve the performance of the panel allowed us to have little heat absorption during the day and give the same performance of a panel made of aluminum at night. The variation in the granite-based panel temperature recorded a deviation from the other materials of 0.5 °C, 2.5 °C on the first day respectively in Marrakech and Casablanca, and 0.2 °C and 3.2 °C on the second night. Power varied between 110.16 and 32.01 W/m² marked in Marrakech, to be the most suitable area to practice night cooling by night radiation.

Keywords: smart buildings, energy efficiency, Morocco, radiative cooling

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Authors: Menoka Bal, David Bryde

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Sustainability in supply chain has become a topic of great interest and is linked to the assumption that a more sustainable the supply chain is the more the supply chain can perform better. The aim of this paper is to identify the different key aspects of the sustainable supply chain management. This paper will also identify the practices that are required to fulfill the demands of sustainability and, therefore, contributing to improve the sustainability performance. As part of this, the authors will identify how these different practices of implementing to achieve Sustainability in Supply Chain. This paper is conceptual in nature. This paper identifies some of the key categories which are of high importance for the sustainable management of supply chains. These key categories are: Managing the Supply Chain Risk, Improving the Supply Chain Performance, Managing the Supply Chain Value, Making the Supply Chain Leaner, Managing the Supply Chain Relationship. Through in-depth analysis, this paper aims to develop a theory of integrated management process that is most appropriate for sustainability assessment in supply chain.

Keywords: sustainability, risk management, value management, project performance, supply chain management

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Authors: Sophio Kobauri, Vladimir P. Torchilin, David Tugushi, Ramaz Katsarava

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Nanotherapy is an actual newest mode of treatment numerous diseases using nanoparticles (NPs) loading with different pharmaceuticals. NPs of biodegradable polymeric micelles (PMs) are gaining increased attention for their numerous and attractive abilities to be used in a variety of applications in the various fields of medicine. The present paper deals with the synthesis of a class of biodegradable micelle-forming polymers, namely ABA triblock-copolymer in which A-blocks represent amino-poly(ethylene glycol) (H₂N-PEG) and B-block is biodegradable amino acid-based poly(ester amide) constituted of α-amino acid – L-phenylalanine. The obtained copolymer formed micelles of 70±4 nm size at 10 mg/mL concentration.

Keywords: amino acids, biodegradable poly (ester amide), amphiphilic triblock-copolymer, micelles

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Authors: Nhac Thanh Huong

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Legal English, also known as Language of the Law (Mellinkoff, David. 2004), is an indispensable factor contributing to the development of legal field. At Hanoi Law University, legal English is a compulsory subject in the syllabus of legal English major; International Trade law and Fast-track law training program. The question that what obstacles students face with when dealing with legal English, however, has not been answered at that institution. Therefore, this present research, which makes use of survey questionnaires as the main method, aims to study the challenges of learning legal English from the students’ perspective, from which some useful solutions are drawn up to overcome these difficulties and improve the effectiveness of learning legal English. The results indicate notable difficulties arising from the level of general English skills, the characteristics of legal English and legal background knowledge. These findings lay a scientific foundation for suggesting some solutions for practical applications in teaching as well as learning legal English among both teachers and students.

Keywords: challenges, HLU, Legal English, students' perspective

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Authors: Akmez Nabeerasool, Michaelis Massaros, Nigel Brown, David Sanderson, David Parocki, Charlotte Thompson, Mike Lodge, Mikael Khan

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The provision of clean and safe drinking water is of paramount importance and is a basic human need. Water scarcity coupled with tightening of regulations and the inability of current treatment technologies to deal with emerging contaminants and Pharmaceuticals and personal care products means that alternative treatment technologies that are viable and cost effective are required in order to meet demand and regulations for clean water supplies. Logistically, the application of water treatment in rural areas presents unique challenges due to the decentralisation of abstraction points arising from low population density and the resultant lack of infrastructure as well as the need to treat water at the site of use. This makes it costly to centralise treatment facilities and hence provide potable water direct to the consumer. Furthermore, across the UK there are segments of the population that rely on a private water supply which means that the owner or user(s) of these supplies, which can serve one household to hundreds, are responsible for the maintenance. The treatment of these private water supply falls on the private owners, and it is imperative that a chemical free technological solution that can operate unattended and does not produce any waste is employed. Arvia’s patented advanced oxidation technology combines the advantages of adsorption and electrochemical regeneration within a single unit; the Organics Destruction Cell (ODC). The ODC uniquely uses a combination of adsorption and electrochemical regeneration to destroy organics. Key to this innovative process is an alternative approach to adsorption. The conventional approach is to use high capacity adsorbents (e.g. activated carbons with high porosities and surface areas) that are excellent adsorbents, but require complex and costly regeneration. Arvia’s technology uses a patent protected adsorbent, Nyex™, which is a non-porous, highly conductive, graphite based adsorbent material that enables it to act as both the adsorbent and as a 3D electrode. Adsorbed organics are oxidised and the surface of the Nyex™ is regenerated in-situ for further adsorption without interruption or replacement. Treated water flows from the bottom of the cell where it can either be re-used or safely discharged. Arvia™ Technology Ltd. has trialled the application of its tertiary water treatment technology in treating reservoir water abstracted near Glasgow, Scotland, with promising results. Several other pilot plants have also been successfully deployed at various locations in the UK showing the suitability and effectiveness of the technology in removing recalcitrant organics (including pharmaceuticals, steroids and hormones), COD and colour.

Keywords: Arvia™ process, adsorption, water treatment, electrochemical oxidation

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Authors: David Simpson, Kyle Nash

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There is considerable evidence linking slow, deliberative reasoning (system 2) with utilitarian judgments in dilemmas involving the sacrificing of another person for the greater good (other-sacrificial dilemmas). Joshua Greene has argued, based on this kind of evidence, that system 2 drives utilitarian judgments. However, the evidence on whether system 2 is associated with utilitarian judgments in self-sacrificial dilemmas is more mixed. We employed process dissociation to measure a self-sacrificial utilitarian (SU) parameter and an other-sacrificial (OU) utilitarian parameter. It was initially predicted that contra Greene, the cognitive reflection test (CRT) would only be positively correlated with the OU parameter and not the SU parameter. However, Greene’s hypothesis was corroborated: the CRT positively correlated with both the OU parameter and the SU parameter. By contrast, the CRT did not correlate with the other two moral parameters we extracted (altruism and deontology).

Keywords: dual-process model, utilitarianism, altruism, reason, emotion, process dissociation

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Authors: David Suson

Abstract:

In today's work environment, it becomes harder and harder to attract top talent, motivate them to achieve your goals, create a collaborative work environment and then retain them. It is especially challenging when you have remote employees, manage virtually, have different personalities, ages, work ethics and especially when there is a lure of better opportunities elsewhere. Leaders want results. All the strategies and tactics in the world won't make a difference if your people don't execute and "follow you into battle". The key to better leadership is motivating your teams to want to execute, want to work harder, want to work as a team, all while improving morale. Anyone can force employees by threatening them. This session teaches a 180-degree approach. Objectives/Outcomes: 1. Learn the 3 ways this leadership approach differs from traditional leadership, 2. Use a simple process to increase engagement and loyalty, 3. Implement strategies to drive performance. The approach being taught inspires, motivates, engages, and helps to attract better employees.

Keywords: leadership, success, communication, skills

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Authors: Janaina Camile Pasqual Lofhagen, David Savarese, Veronika Vazhnik

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The built environment is considered as a key element in transitioning to clean energy, needed to create resilient buildings and cities, enhance their adaptability to changes, and pursue energy saving. For such energy transition, this paper presents biogas as one of the sustainable sources of energy, as it is produced from organic materials often available in both urban and rural areas and can be converted into electrical and thermal energy, or into vehicular energies fuel. The resilience benefits of this fuel is being a localized alternative energy, and also provides tangible benefits for water, air, and soil quality. Through bibliographic and empirical research, this study analyzed the biogas potential and applications in Brazil and in the U.S. The results indicated that biogas emits 85% less CO2 to the atmosphere compared to diesel and could supply 40% of domestic electricity demand and 70% of diesel consumption in Brazil, with a similar scenario for the U.S.

Keywords: resilience, sustainability, built environment, energy transition, biogas.

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Authors: Dhuha Albusalih, David Weston, Simon Gill

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Nanocomposites Co-SiC with well dispersed nanoparticles and Co nano grain size has produced using Pulse Reverse Plating (PRP) and using anionic surfactant. Different particle contents of nanocomposites were produced by altering the plating parameters. The method allows great control over the level of nanoparticles in the coating, without changing bath chemistry. Examination by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX), TEM and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed to characterize and study the strengthening mechanisms of these nanocomposites. The primary strengthening mechanisms were shown to be grain refinement and dispersion strengthening. Tribological performances of the produced electroplated nanocomposite Co-SiC coatings were examined. Results showed that the coating with the higher volume fraction (vol. %) of SiC and the smallest grain size has the higher hardness and low wear rate.

Keywords: nanocomposites, pulse reverse plating, tribological performance of cobalt nanocomposites

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Authors: P. Nafisi Poor, P. Javid

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Religion and divinity have always held important meaning to humans, and therefore it affects different aspects of life including art and architecture. Numerous works of art are related to religion whether supporting or denying it. Religion and religious scholars have influenced and changed art throughout history. This paper focuses on Islam and Christianity because these two religions have been the most discussed and most popular of all time, starting from the birth of Jesus to the arrival of Mohammad. Based on this popularity, these religions have influenced the arts and especially architecture. Islam on one hand changed Iranian and Arabian architecture and they applied it in different places around the world. From the appearance of Islam at 622 AD to this day, Islamic architecture has been evolving; however, one of the most important periods for this style was between 1501 AD and 1736 AD in Iran. Christianity, on the other hand, changed European architecture especially between 1150 AD and 1450 AD or the so-called "Gothic" era, which begins at medieval time and reaches its peak at International Gothic ages. At both of these periods, designing buildings based on spiritual concepts and divine statements reached its peak, and architects were considering God and religion as their center of attention. This article studies the focus on the religions of Islam and Christianity in terms of architecture and presents a general philosophy of both styles to comprehend the idea behind each one, followed by an analysis of their geometry and architectural aspects derived from the best examples, all to understand the purpose of each style and to realize, which one was more successful in reaching their purpose. Subsequently, a comprehensive review of each building is provided including 3D visualizations to help achieve the goal of the article. These studies can support diverse inquiries about both Islamic and Gothic architecture and can be used as a resource to support studies and research towards designing based on religion or for divine purposes.

Keywords: architecture, Gothic, Islamic, religion

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Authors: Svitov David, Alyamkin Sergey

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The usage of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in conjunction with the margin-based softmax approach demonstrates the state-of-the-art performance for the face recognition problem. Recently, lightweight neural network models trained with the margin-based softmax have been introduced for the face identification task for edge devices. In this paper, we propose a distillation method for lightweight neural network architectures that outperforms other known methods for the face recognition task on LFW, AgeDB-30 and Megaface datasets. The idea of the proposed method is to use class centers from the teacher network for the student network. Then the student network is trained to get the same angles between the class centers and face embeddings predicted by the teacher network.

Keywords: ArcFace, distillation, face recognition, margin-based softmax

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Authors: Behnoush Moghiminia, Jesus Anaya Diaz

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The current study attempts to present the relationship between the structure development and Patkaneh as one of the Iranian geometric patterns and parametric algorithms by introducing two practical methods. While having a structural function, Patkaneh is also used as an ornamental element. It can be helpful in the scientific and practical review of Patkaneh. The current study aims to use Patkaneh as a parametric form generator based on the algorithm. The current paper attempts to express how can a more complete algorithm of this covering be obtained based on the parametric study and analysis of a sample of a Patkaneh and also investigate the relationship between the development of the geometrical pattern of Patkaneh as a structural-decorative element of Iranian architecture and digital design. In this regard, to achieve the research purposes, researchers investigated the oldest type of Patkaneh in the architecture history of Iran, such as the Northern Entrance Patkaneh of Oshtorjan Jame’ Mosque. An accurate investigation was done on the history of the background to answer the questions. Then, by investigating the structural behavior of Patkaneh, the decorative or structural-decorative role of Patkaneh was investigated to eliminate the ambiguity. Then, the geometrical structure of Patkaneh was analyzed by introducing two practical methods. The first method is based on the constituent units of Patkaneh (Square and diamond) and investigating the interactive relationships between them in 2D and 3D. This method is appropriate for cases where there are rational and regular geometrical relationships. The second method is based on the separation of the floors and the investigation of their interrelation. It is practical when the constituent units are not geometrically regular and have numerous diversity. Finally, the parametric form algorithm of these methods was codified.

Keywords: geometric properties, parametric design, Patkaneh, structural analysis

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Authors: David Alejandro Torres-Lopez , Lilia Albores-Gallo, Ronald Soto-Calderon, Roberto Lagunes-Cordoba

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Autism Screening Questionnaire for Daycare Attendees (ASQ-DAT) is a screening instrument that assesses the risk of autism in children between 12 and 47 months, being the first free observational instrument created according to the criteria of the DSM-5 that can be applied by teachers in nurseries. The people in charge of answering the questionnaires are the daycare assistants. Its application presents a series of previous activities with which daycare assistants are familiar (dance, games, oral narration and breakfast), which are executed with the children and then answer a questionnaire with dichotomous questions "Yes/No" in approximately 3 minutes per child. The instrument was developed with the participation of nurseries according to the protocols of the creation of psychometric instruments of the Classical Test Theory having as a gold standard ADOS-2 Modules T and 1. The results of the investigation show that the use of ASQ-DAT combined with the application of M-CHAT / RF provides more information about the risk of ASD in young children, which allows improvements in the screening.

Keywords: diagnosis, screening, autism, daycare

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Authors: Steven M. Sanders, April T. Berry, David W. Hollingsworth

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Previous research has shown that veterans have higher rates of mental health concerns compared to non-veteran populations. A potential risk factor for the development of mental health concerns (i.e., depression & anxiety), particularly in Black veterans, is psychological inflexibility. Psychological inflexibility, a component of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), is a process by which behavior is expressed in ways that attempt to control emotional and psychological reactions to uncomfortable stimuli and situations rather than by direct contingencies or personal values. The present study explored the relationship between psychological inflexibility, symptoms of depression, and symptoms of anxiety in a sample of 131 Black veterans. Results demonstrated that Black veterans who endorsed psychological inflexibility also endorsed higher levels of both depression and anxiety symptomology. These findings indicate the deleterious consequences of experiencing psychological inflexibility, which could be treated through ACT.

Keywords: psychological flexibility, veteran, black, psychological distress

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Authors: Alexandre Gurchumelia, Luca Sorriso-Valvo, David Burgess, Khatuna Elbakidze, Oleg Kharshiladze, Diana Kvaratskhelia

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The terrestrial magnetosheath is a highly turbulent medium, with a high level of magnetic1field fluctuations throughout a broad range of scales. These often include an inertial range where a2magnetohydrodynamic turbulent cascade is observed. The multifractal properties of the turbulent3cascade, strictly related to intermittency, are observed here during the transition from quasi-parallel to4quasi-perpendicular magnetic field with respect to the bow-shock normal. The different multifractal5behavior in the two regions is analyzed. A standard coarse-graining technique has been used6to evaluate the generalized dimensions and the corresponding multifractal spectrumf(α). A7p-model fit provided a quantitative measure of multifractality and intermittency, to be compared with8standard indicators: the width of the multifractal spectrum, the peak of the kurtosis, and its scaling9exponent. Results show a clear transition and sharp differences in the intermittency properties for the two regions.

Keywords: magnetos heath, turbulence, multifractal, instabilities

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Authors: David Ompong, Jai Singh

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A better understanding of the open-circuit voltage (Voc) related losses in organic solar cells (OSCs) is desirable in order to assess the photovoltaic performance of these devices. We have derived Voc as a function of charge carrier mobilities (μe and μh) for organic and hybrid solar cells by optimizing the drift-diffusion current density. The optimum Voc thus obtained depends on the energy difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level and the quasi-Fermi level of holes of the donor material. We have found that the Voc depends on the ratio of the electron (μe) and hole (μh) mobilities and when μh > μe the Voc increases. The most important loss term in the Voc arises from the energetics of the donor and acceptor materials, which will be discussed in detail in this paper.

Keywords: charge carrier mobility, open-circuit voltage, organic solar cells, quasi-fermi levels

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Authors: Charline David, Alexandre Blondin Massé, Arnaud Zinflou

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In 2016, Clements, Hurn, and Li proposed a multiple equation time series approach for the short-term load forecasting, reporting an average mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 1.36% on an 11-years dataset for the Queensland region in Australia. We present an adaptation of their model to the electrical power load consumption for the whole Quebec province in Canada. More precisely, we take into account two additional meteorological variables — cloudiness and wind speed — on top of temperature, as well as the use of multiple meteorological measurements taken at different locations on the territory. We also consider other minor improvements. Our final model shows an average MAPE score of 1:79% over an 8-years dataset.

Keywords: short-term load forecasting, special days, time series, multiple equations, parallelization, clustering

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Authors: Geoffrey Gilfillan, Peter Barham, Lisa Smallwood, David Harper

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The ‘Welland for People and Wildlife’ project aimed to improve the River Welland’s ecology and water quality, and to make it more accessible to the community of Market Harborough. A joint monitoring project by the Welland Rivers Trust & University of Leicester was incorporated into the design. The techniques that have been used to measure its success are hydrological, geomorphological, and water quality monitoring, species and habitat surveys, and community engagement. Early results show improvements to flow and habitat diversity, water quality and biodiversity of the river environment. Barrier removal has increased stickleback mating activity, and decreased parasitically infected fish in sample catches. The habitats provided by the berms now boast over 25 native plant species, and the river is clearer, cleaner and with better-oxygenated water.

Keywords: community engagement, ecological monitoring, river restoration, water quality

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Authors: Saleh Abu Hashanah, Abirami Radhakrishnan, Dessa David

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Sustainable practices in the supply chain have been an area of focus that require consideration of environmental, economic, and social sustainability practices. This paper aims to examine the use of blockchain as a disruptive technology to promote sustainable supply chains. Content analysis was used to analyze the uses of blockchain technology in sustainable supply chains. The results showed that blockchain technology features such as traceability, transparency, smart contracts, accountability, trust, immutability, anti-fraud, and decentralization promote sustainable supply chains. It is found that these features have impacted organizational efficiency in operations, transportation, and production, minimizing costs and reducing carbon emissions. In addition, blockchain technology has been found to elicit customer trust in the products.

Keywords: blockchain technology, sustainability, supply chains, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, social sustainability

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Authors: Firmansyah David

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This paper aims to investigate factors that drive individuals to transfer their knowledge in the context of online communities. By revisiting tacit-to-explicit knowledge creation, this research attempts to contribute empirically using three online forums (1) Software Engineering; (2) Aerospace Simulator; (3) Health Insurance System. A qualitative approach was deployed to map and recognize the pattern of users ‘Knowledge Transfer (KT), particularly from expert to novice. The findings suggest a common form on how experts give their effort to formulate ‘explicit’ knowledge and how novices ‘understand’ such knowledge. This research underlines that skill; intuition, judgment; value and belief are the prominent factors, both for experts and novice. Further, this research has recognized the groups of expert and novice by their ability to transfer and to ‘adopt’ new knowledge. Future research infers to triangulate the method in which the quantitative study is needed to measure the level of adoption of (new) knowledge by individuals.

Keywords: explicit, expert, knowledge, online community

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Authors: Jesus D. Cortes Gil, Fernanda Ewerling, Leonardo Ferreira, Aluisio J. D. Barros

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Background: The sustainable development goals call for inclusive, equitable, and quality learning opportunities for all. This is especially important for children, to ensure they all develop to their full potential. We studied the prevalence and inequalities of suspected delay in child development in 63 low- and middle-income countries. Methods and Findings: We used the early child development module from national health surveys, which covers four developmental domains (physical, social-emotional, learning, literacy-numeracy) and provides a combined indicator (early child development index, ECDI) of whether children are on track. We calculated the age-adjusted prevalence of suspected delay at the country level and stratifying by wealth, urban/rural residence, sex of the child, and maternal education. We also calculated measures of absolute and relative inequality. We studied 330.613 children from 63 countries. The prevalence of suspected delay for the ECDI ranged from 3% in Barbados to 67% in Chad. For all countries together, 25% of the children were suspected of developmental delay. At regional level, the prevalence of delay ranged from 10% in Europe and Central Asia to 42% in West and Central Africa. The literacy-numeracy domain was by far the most challenging, with the highest proportions of delay. We observed very large inequalities, and most markedly for the literacy-numeracy domain. Conclusions: To date, our study presents the most comprehensive analysis of child development using an instrument especially developed for national health surveys. With a quarter of the children globally suspected of developmental delay, we face an immense challenge. The multifactorial aspect of early child development and the large gaps we found only add to the challenge of not leaving these children behind.

Keywords: child development, inequalities, global health, equity

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Authors: Jingxiao Liang, David Rooneyman

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Biogas, which is a valuable renewable energy source, can be produced by anaerobic fermentation of agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, or food waste. It is composed of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) but also contains significant quantities of undesirable compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and siloxanes. Since typical raw biogas contains 25–45% CO2, The requirements for biogas quality depend on its further application. Before biogas is being used more efficiently, CO2 should be removed. One of the existing options for biogas separation technologies is based on chemical absorbents, in particular, mono-, di- and tri-alcohol amine solutions. Such amine solutions have been applied as highly efficient CO2 capturing agents. The benchmark in this experiment is N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) with piperazine (PZ) as an activator, from CO2 absorption Isotherm curve, optimization conditions are collected, such as activator percentage, temperature etc. This experiment makes new alcohol amines, which could have the same CO2 absorbing ability as activated MDEA, using glycidol as one of reactant, the result is quite satisfying.

Keywords: biogas, CO2, MDEA, separation

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Authors: Nader Al-Rashidi, David Greenhalgh

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Mathematical modelling techniques are now being used by health organizations worldwide to help understand the likely impact that intervention strategies treatment options and combinations of these have on the prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the people who inject drugs (PWID) population. In this poster, we develop a deterministic, compartmental mathematical model to approximate the spread of the HCV in a PWID population that has been divided into two groups by time since onset of injection. The model assumes that after injection needles adopt the most infectious state of their previous state or that of the PWID who last injected with them. Using analytical techniques, we find that the model behaviour is determined by the basic reproductive number R₀, where R₀ = 1 is a critical threshold separating two different outcomes. The disease-free equilibrium is globally stable if R₀ ≤ 1 and unstable if R₀ > 1. Additionally, we make some simulations where have confirmed that the model tends to this endemic equilibrium value with realistic parameter values giving an HCV prevalence.

Keywords: hepatitis C, people who inject drugs, HCV, PWID

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Authors: Savannah Rugg, Carlo Moreno, Pushpa Soti, Alexis Racelis

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Situated in deep South Texas, the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is considered one the most productive agricultural regions in the southern US. With the highest concentration of organic farms in the state (Hidalgo county), the LRGV has a strong potential to be leaders in sustainable agriculture. Finding management practices that comply with organic certification and increase the health of the agroecosytem and the farmers working the land is increasingly pertinent. Cover cropping, or the intentional planting of non-cash crop vegetation, can serve multiple functions in an agroecosystem by decreasing environmental pollutants that originate from the agroecosystem, reducing inputs needed for crop production, and potentially decreasing on-farm costs for farmers—overall increasing the sustainability of the farm. Use of cover crops on otherwise fallow lands have shown to enhance ecosystem services such as: attracting native beneficial insects (pollinators), increase nutrient availability in topsoil, prevent nutrient leaching, increase soil organic matter, and reduces soil erosion. In this study, four cover crops (Lablab, Sudan Grass, Sunn Hemp, and Pearl Millet) were analyzed in the subtropical region of south Texas to see how their multiple functions enhance ecosystem services. The four cover crops were assessed to see their potential to harbor native insects, their potential to increase soil nitrogen, to increase soil organic matter, and to suppress weeds. The preliminary results suggest that these subtropical varieties of cover crops have potential to enhance ecosystem services on agricultural land in the RGV by increasing soil organic matter (in all varieties), increasing nitrogen in topsoil (Lablab, Sunn Hemp), and reducing weeds (Sudan Grass).

Keywords: cover crops, ecosystem services, subtropical agriculture, sustainable agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 296