Search results for: goal orientations

Authors: Mahendra Singh, Narasimhareddy Ravuru

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For the past decade, the production of biodiesel has significantly increased along with its by-product, glycerol. Biodiesel-derived glycerol massive entry into the glycerol market has caused its value to plummet. Newer ways to utilize the glycerol by-product must be implemented or the biodiesel industry will face serious economic problems. The biodiesel industry should consider steam reforming glycerol to produce hydrogen gas. Steam reforming is the most efficient way of producing hydrogen and there is a lot of demand for it in the petroleum and chemical industries. This study investigates the feasibility of glycerol steam reforming in an industrial sized fixed bed reactor. In this paper, using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations, the extent of the transport resistances that would occur in an industrial sized reactor can be visualized. An important parameter in reactor design is the size of the catalyst particle. The size of the catalyst cannot be too large where transport resistances are too high, but also not too small where an extraordinary amount of pressure drop occurs. The goal of this paper is to find the best catalyst size under various flow rates that will result in the highest conversion. Computational fluid dynamics simulated the transport resistances and a pseudo-homogenous reactor model was used to evaluate the pressure drop and conversion. CFD simulations showed that glycerol steam reforming has strong internal diffusion resistances resulting in extremely low effectiveness factors. In the pseudo-homogenous reactor model, the highest conversion obtained with a Reynolds number of 100 (29.5 kg/h) was 9.14% using a 1/6 inch catalyst diameter. Due to the low effectiveness factors and high carbon deposition rates, a fluidized bed is recommended as the appropriate reactor to carry out glycerol steam reforming.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamic, fixed bed reactor, glycerol, steam reforming, biodiesel

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Barbara Pittau, Piergiorgio Palla, Antonio Mastino

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Communication is fundamental to health education. The proper use of medicinal products is a crucial aspect of the health of citizens that affects both safety and health care spending. Therefore, encouraging/promoting communication, concerning the importance of proper use of pharmaceuticals, has substantial implications in terms of individual health, health care, and health care system sustainability. In view of these considerations, in the context of two projects, one of which is still in progress, a relational database-backed web application named COLLABORAFARMACISOLA has been designed and developed as a tool to analyze and visualize how people approach the use of medicinal products, with the aim of improving and enhancing communication efficacy. The software application is being used to collect information (anonymously and voluntarily) from the citizens of Sardinia, an Italian region, regarding their knowledge, experiences, and opinions towards pharmaceuticals. This study that was conducted to date on thousand of interviewed people, has focused on different aspects such as: the treatment interruption and the "self-prescription” without medical consultation, the attention paid to reading the leaflets, the awareness of the economic value of the pharmaceuticals, the importance of avoiding the waste of medicinal products and the attitudes towards the use of generics. To this purpose, our software application provides a set of ad hoc parsing routines, to store information into the structure of a relational database and to process and visualize it through a set of interactive tools aimed to emphasize the findings and the insights obtained. The results of our preliminary analysis show the efficacy of the awareness plan and, at the same time, the criticality and the needs of the territory under examination. The ultimate goal of our study is to provide a contribution to the community by improving communication that can result in a benefit for public health in a context strictly connected to the reality of the territory.

Keywords: communication, pharmaceuticals, public health, relational database, tool, web application

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Saeed Poormoaied

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Perishability and developing an intelligent control policy for perishable items are the major concerns of marketing managers in a supply chain. In this study, we address a two-echelon supply chain problem for perishable items with a single vendor and a single buyer. The buyer adopts an aged-based continuous review policy which works by taking both the stock level and the aging process of items into account. The vendor works under the warehouse framework, where its lot size is determined with respect to the batch size of the buyer. The model holds for a positive and fixed lead time for the buyer, and zero lead time for the vendor. The demand follows a Poisson process and any unmet demand is lost. We provide exact analytic expressions for the operational characteristics of the system by using the renewal reward theorem. Items have a fixed lifetime after which they become unusable and are disposed of from the buyer's system. The age of items starts when they are unpacked and ready for the consumption at the buyer. When items are held by the vendor, there is no aging process which results in no perishing at the vendor's site. The model is developed under the centralized framework, which takes the expected profit of both vendor and buyer into consideration. The goal is to determine the optimal policy parameters under the service level constraint at the retailer's site. A sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effect of the key input parameters on the expected profit and order quantity in the supply chain. The efficiency of the proposed age-based policy is also evaluated through a numerical study. Our results show that when the unit perishing cost is negligible, a significant cost saving is achieved.

Keywords: two-echelon supply chain, perishable items, age-based policy, renewal reward theorem

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: May Maricel De Gracia

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Different generations respond differently to instruction because of their diverse characteristics, learning styles and study habits. Teaching strategies that were effective many years ago may not be effective now especially to the current generation which is Gen Z. Using quantitative research design, the main goal of this paper is to determine the impact of the implementation of educational technology integration in a private high school in the math performance of its Junior High School (JHS) students on SY 2014-2018 based on their periodical exam performance and on their final math grades. In support, survey on the use of technology was administered to determine the characteristics of both students and teachers of SY 2017-2018. Another survey regarding study habits was also administered to the students to determine their readiness with regards to note-taking skills, time management, test taking/preparation skills, reading, and writing and math skills. Teaching strategies were recommended based on the need of the current Gen Z JHS students. A total of 712 JHS students and 12 math teachers participated in answering the different surveys. Periodic exam means and final math grades between the school years without technology (SY 2004-2008) and with technology (SY 2014-2018) were analyzed through correlation and regression analyses. Result shows that the periodic exam mean has a 35.29% impact to the final grade of the students. In addition, z-test result where p > 0.05 shows that the periodical exam results do not differ significantly between the school years without integration of technology and with the integration of technology. However, with p < 0.01, a significant positive difference was observed in the final math grades of students between the school years without technology integration and with technology integration.

Keywords: classroom instruction, technology, generation z, math performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Selina Schwaabe

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Community pharmacies deliver high-quality health care and are responsible for medication safety. During the pandemic, accessibility to the nearest pharmacy became more essential to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and to get medical aid. The government's goal is to ensure nationwide, reachable, and affordable medical health care services by pharmacies. Therefore, the density of community pharmacies matters. Overall, the density of community pharmacies is fluctuating, with slightly decreasing tendencies in some countries. So far, the literature has shown that changes in the system affect prices and density. However, a European overview of the development of the density of community pharmacies and its triggers is still missing. This research is essential to counteract against decreasing density consulting in a lack of professional health care through pharmacies. The analysis focuses on liberal versus regulated market structures, mail-order prescription drug regulation, and third-party ownership consequences. In a panel analysis, the relative influence of the measures is examined across 27 European countries over the last 21 years. In addition, the paper examines seven selected countries in depth, selected for the substantial variance in their pharmacy system: Germany, Austria, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Poland. Overall, the results show that regulated pharmacy markets have over 10.75 pharmacies/100.000 inhabitants more than liberal markets. Further, mail-order prescription drugs decrease the density by -17.98 pharmacies/100.000 inhabitants. Countries allowing third-party ownership have 7.67 pharmacies/100.000 inhabitants more. The results are statistically significant at a 0.001 level. The output of this analysis recommends regulated pharmacy markets, with a ban on mail-order prescription drugs allowing third-party ownership to support nationwide medical health care through community pharmacies.

Keywords: community pharmacy, market conditions, pharmacy, pharmacy market, pharmacy lobby, prescription, e-prescription, ownership structures

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Izabel Cristina Zattar, Gilberto Passos Lima, Guilherme Schünemann de Oliveira

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In Brazil, there are several institutions committed to the development of new businesses based on product innovation. Among them are business incubators, universities and science institutes. Business incubators can be defined as nurseries for new companies, which may be in the technology segment, discussed in this article. Business incubators provide services related to infrastructure, such as physical space and meeting rooms. Besides these services, incubators also offer assistance in the form of information and communication, access to finance, relationship networks and business monitoring and mentoring processes. Business incubators support not all technology companies. One of the business incubators tasks is to assess the nature and feasibility of new business proposals. To assist in this goal, this paper proposes a methodology for evaluating new business using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This paper presents the concepts used in the assessing methodology application for new business, concepts that have been tested with positive results in practice. This study counts on three main steps: first, a hierarchy was built, based on new business manuals used by the business incubators. These books and manuals relate business selection requirements, such as the innovation status and other technological aspects. Then, a questionnaire was generated, in order to guide incubator experts in the parity comparisons at all hierarchy levels. The weights of each requirement are calculated from information obtained from the questionnaire responses. Finally, the proposed method was applied to evaluate five new business proposals, which were applying to be part of a company incubator. The main result is the classification of these new businesses, which helped the incubator experts to decide what companies were more eligible to work with. This classification may also be helpful to the decision-making process of business incubators in future selection processes.

Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Brazilian companies incubators, technology companies, incubator

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: David Nogueiras Blanco, Amir Alwash, Arnaud Gaudinat, René Schneider

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At a time when the access to and the sharing of information are crucial in the world of research, the use of technologies such as persistent identifiers (PIDs), Current Research Information Systems (CRIS), and ontologies may create platforms for information sharing if they respond to the need of disambiguation of their data by assuring interoperability inside and between other systems. INCIPIT-CRIS is a continuation of the former INCIPIT project, whose goal was to set up an infrastructure for a low-cost attribution of PIDs with high granularity based on Archival Resource Keys (ARKs). INCIPIT-CRIS can be interpreted as a logical consequence and propose a research information management system developed from scratch. The system has been created on and around the Schema.org ontology with a further articulation of the use of ARKs. It is thus built upon the infrastructure previously implemented (i.e., INCIPIT) in order to enhance the persistence of URIs. As a consequence, INCIPIT-CRIS aims to be the hinge between previously separated aspects such as CRIS, ontologies and PIDs in order to produce a powerful system allowing the resolution of disambiguation problems using a combination of an ontology such as Schema.org and unique persistent identifiers such as ARK, allowing the sharing of information through a dedicated platform, but also the interoperability of the system by representing the entirety of the data as RDF triplets. This paper aims to present the implemented solution as well as its simulation in real life. We will describe the underlying ideas and inspirations while going through the logic and the different functionalities implemented and their links with ARKs and Schema.org. Finally, we will discuss the tests performed with our project partner, the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), by the use of large and real-world data sets.

Keywords: current research information systems, linked data, ontologies, persistent identifier, schema.org, semantic web

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Authors: Isabel Medina, Mario Duran

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Although Problem-based learning provides students with multiple opportunities for rigorous instructional experiences in which students are challenged to address problems in the community; there are still gaps in connecting community leaders to the PBL process. At a south Texas high school, community participation serves as an integral component of the PBL process. Problem-based learning (PBL) has recently gained momentum due to the increase in global communities that value collaboration and critical thinking. As an instructional approach, PBL engages high school students in meaningful learning experiences. Furthermore, PBL focuses on providing students with a connection to real-world situations that require effective peer collaboration. For PBL leaders, providing students with a meaningful process is as important as the final PBL outcome. To achieve this goal, STEM high school strategically created a space for community involvement to be woven within the PBL fabric. This study examines the impact community members had on PBL students attending a STEM high school in South Texas. At STEM High School, community members represent a support system that works through the PBL process to ensure students receive real-life mentoring from business and industry leaders situated in the community. A phenomenological study using a semi-structured approach was used to collect data about students’ perception of community involvement within the PBL process for one South Texas high school. In our proposed presentation, we will discuss how community involvement in the PBL process academically impacted the educational experience of high school students at STEM high school. We address the instructional concerns PBL critics have with the lack of direct instruction, by providing a representation of how STEM high school utilizes community members to assist in impacting the academic experience of students.

Keywords: phenomenological, STEM education, student engagement, community involvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: M. E. Kolpakova, A. A. Jakovleva, L. S. Poliakova, H. El Amghari, S. Soliman, D. R. Faizullina, V. V. Sharoyko

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Brain neuroplasticity is associated with blood-brain barrier vascular endothelial proteoglycans and post-stroke microglial activation. The study of the mechanisms of reperfusion injury limitation by remote ischemic postconditioning (RC) is of interest due to the effects on functional recovery after cerebral ischemia. The goal of the study is the assessment of the role of syndecan-1 (SDC-1) in restriction of ischemic-reperfusion injury on middle cerebral artery model in rats using RC protocol. Randomized controlled trials were conducted. Ischemia was performed by middle cerebral artery occlusion by Belayev L. (1996) on the Wistar rat-males (n= 87) weighting 250 ± 50 g. under general anesthesia (Zoletil 100 и Xylazine 2%). Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) concentration difference in plasma samples of false operated animals and animals with brain ischemia was 30% (30 min. МСАо: 41.4 * ± 1.3 ng/ml). SDC-1 concentration in animal plasma samples with ischemia + RC protocol was 112% (30 min МСАо+ RC): 67.8**± 5.8 ng/ml). Calculation of infarction volume in the ischemia group revealed brain injury in 31.97 ± 2.5%; the volume of infarction was 13.6 ± 1.3% in 30 min. МCАо + RC group. Swelling of tissue in the group 30 min. МCАо + RC was 16 ± 2.1%; it was 47 ± 3.3%. in 30 min. МCАо group. Correlation analysis showed a high direct correlation relationship between infarct area and muscle strength in the right forelimb (КК=0.72) in the 30 min. МCАо + RC group. Correlation analysis showed very high inverse correlation between infarct area and capillary blood flow in the 30 min. МCАо + RC group (p <0.01; r = -0.98). We believe the SDC-1 molecule in blood plasma may play role of potential messenger of ischemic-reperfusion injury restriction mechanisms. This leads to infarct-limiting effect of remote ischemic postconditioning and early functioning recovery.

Keywords: ischemia, МСАо, remote ischemic postconditioning, syndecan-1

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Authors: Adya Uluwita, Fernando Pedrosa, Georgi Georgiev, Christian Bernard, Raoul Masterson

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CERN is an international organisation founded by 23 countries that provide the particle physics community with excellence in particle accelerators and other related facilities. Founded in 1954, CERN has a wide range of accelerators that allow groundbreaking science to be conducted. Accelerators bring particles to high levels of energy and make them collide with each other or with fixed targets, creating specific conditions that are of high interest to physicists. A chain of accelerators is used to ramp up the energy of particles and eventually inject them into the largest and most recent one: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Among this chain of machines is, for instance the Proton Synchrotron, which was started in 1959 and is still in operation. These machines, called "injectors”, keep evolving over time, as well as the related infrastructure. Massive decommissioning of obsolete cables started in 2015 at CERN in the frame of the so-called "injectors de-cabling project phase 1". Its goal was to replace aging cables and remove unused ones, freeing space for new cables necessary for upgrades and consolidation campaigns. To proceed with the de-cabling, a project co-ordination team was assembled. The start of this project led to the investigation of legacy cables throughout the organisation. The identification of cables stacked over half a century proved to be arduous. Phase 1 of the injectors de-cabling was implemented for 3 years with success after overcoming some difficulties. Phase 2, started 3 years later, focused on improving safety and structure with the introduction of a quality assurance procedure. This paper discusses the implementation of this quality assurance procedure throughout phase 2 of the project and the transition between the two phases. Over hundreds of kilometres of cable were removed in the injectors complex at CERN from 2015 to 2023.

Keywords: CERN, de-cabling, injectors, quality assurance procedure

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Authors: Alireza Taghdiri, Sara Ghanbarzade Ghomi

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Existing buildings are permanently subjected to change, continuously renovated and repaired in their long service life. Old buildings are destroyed and their material and components are recycled or reused for constructing new ones. In this process, importance of sustainability principles for building construction is obviously known and great significance must be attached to consumption of resources, resulting effects on the environment and economic costs. Utilization strategies for extending buildings service life and delay in destroying have positive effect on environment protection. In addition, simpler alterability or expandability of buildings’ structures and reducing energy and natural resources consumption have benefits for users, producers and environment. To solve these problems, by applying theories of open building, structural components of some conventional building systems have been analyzed and then, a new geometry adaptive building system is developed which can transform and support different imposed loads. In order to achieve this goal, various research methods and tools such as professional and scientific literatures review, comparative analysis, case study and computer simulation were applied and data interpretation was implemented using descriptive statistics and logical arguments. Therefore, hypothesis and proposed strategies were evaluated and an adaptable and reusable 2-dimensional building system was presented which can respond appropriately to dwellers and end-users needs and provide reusability of structural components of building system in new construction or function. Investigations showed that this incremental building system can be successfully applied in achieving the architectural design objectives and by small modifications on components and joints, it is easy to obtain different and adaptable load-optimized component alternatives for flexible spaces.

Keywords: adaptability, durability, open building, service life, structural building system

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: Alaina Caulkett, Audra Selkowitz, Lauren Harter, Aimee DeFoe

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Educational robotics is an effective tool for teaching and learning STEM curricula. Yet, most traditional professional development programs do not cover engineering, coding, or robotics. This paper will give an overview of how and why the VEX Professional Development Plus Introductory Training courses were developed to provide guided, simple professional development in the area of robotics and computer science instruction. These training courses guide educators through learning the basics of VEX robotics platforms, including VEX 123, GO, IQ, and EXP. Because many educators do not have experience teaching robotics or computer science, this course is meant to simulate one on one training or tutoring through video-based instruction. These videos, led by education professionals, can be watched at any time, which allows educators to watch at their own pace and create their own personalized professional development timeline. This personalization expands beyond the course itself into an online community where educators at different points in the self-paced course can converse with one another or with instructors from the videos and learn from a growing community of practice. By the end of each course, educators are armed with the skills to introduce robotics or computer science in their classroom or educational setting. The design of the course was guided by a variation of the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework and included hands-on activities and challenges to keep educators engaged and excited about robotics. Some of the concepts covered include, but are not limited to, following build instructions, building a robot, updating firmware, coding the robot to drive and turn autonomously, coding a robot using multiple methods, and considerations for teaching robotics and computer science in the classroom, and more. A secondary goal of this research is to discuss how this professional development approach can serve as an example in the larger educational community and explore ways that it could be further researched or used in the future.

Keywords: computer science education, online professional development, professional development, robotics education, video-based instruction

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: A. S. Adegoke, O. N. Popoola

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The central purpose of management in any organization is that of coordinating the efforts of people towards the achievement of its goal. Effective and productive management is the function of leadership. Leadership plays a critical role in helping groups, organizations and societies to achieve their goals. Factors considered to make leadership to be effective are intelligence, social maturity, inner motivation and achievement drives and lastly, human relations attitudes. The factors affecting leadership style and effectiveness were examined. Also, the study examined which of the various leadership style best befits an organization and discussed the ways in which the style was determined. In order to meet the objectives of this study, different types of methods of data gathering were carried out. The methods include data from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources include personal interview, personal observation, and questionnaire while data from secondary sources were derived from various books, journal write up and other documentary records. Data were collected from respondents through questionnaire, and the field research carried out through oral interview to test each of the related hypotheses. From the data analysed it was determined that 45% strongly agreed that leadership traits are inborn not acquired and 28.3% agreed that leadership traits are inborn, while 11.7% and 10% strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively and 5% were undecided. 48.4% strongly agreed, and 43.3% agreed that environmental factors determined the appropriate style of leadership to be employed while 3.3% strongly disagreed, 1.7% disagreed and 3.3% were undecided. From the study, no single style of leadership is appropriate in any situation instead of concentrating on single leadership style; leader can vary approaches depending on forces in the leaders, characteristic of the subordinates, situational forces of the organization, lastly the expectations and behaviour of superior.

Keywords: hypothesis, leadership, management, organization

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Freyedon Ahmadi

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Corporate citizenship is considered as one of the most discussed topics in the developed countries, in which a citizen considers a Corporate just like a usual citizen with every civil right as respectful for corporate as for actual citizens, and in return citizens expect that corporate would pay a reciprocal respect to them. The current study’s purpose is to identify the impact of the current state of corporate citizenship along effective factors on its condition on industrial producing units, in order to find an accession plane for corporate citizenship development. In this study corporate citizenship is studied in four dimensions like legal corporate, economical corporate, ethical corporate and voluntary corporate. Moreover, effective factors’ impact on corporate citizenship is explored based on threefold dimensional model: behavioral, structural, and content factors, as well. In this study, 50 corporate of Food industry and of petrochemical industry, along with 200 selected individuals from directors’ board on Tehran province’s scale with stratified random sampling method, are chosen as actuarial sample. If based on functional goal and compilation methods, the present study is a description of correlation type; questionnaire is used for accumulation of initial Data. For Instrument Validity expert’s opinion is used and structural equations and its reliability is qualified by using Cronbach Alpha. The results of this study indicate that close to 70 percent of under survey corporate have not a good condition in corporate citizenship. And all of structural factors, behavioral factors, contextual factors, have a great deal of impression and impact on the advent corporate citizenship behavior in the producing Units. Among the behavioral factors, social responsibility; among structural factors, organic structure and human centered orientation, medium size, high organizational capacity; and among the contextual factors, the clientele’s positive viewpoints toward corporate had the utmost importance in impression on under survey Producing units.

Keywords: corporate citizenship, structural factors, behavioral factors, contextual factors, producing units

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Hussain Ali, Ahmad Ali, Syed Rashid Ali

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The maternal mortality is one of the basic health issues faced by rural women in Pakistan. There are various structural and socio-cultural determinants which confine women to domestic sphere. Such mobility restriction compels women for home delivery which causes high maternal mortality and morbidity. However, it is hard to find out the research findings and well-organized literature that explain the cultural factors act as determinant to home delivery among Pakhtun women. The overall objective of this research is to study men’s decision making within the household in Pakhtun society as determinant of home delivery among Pakhtun women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. In the present study, researchers used the quantitative research design in which the data are collected through household survey technique from (n=503) ever-married women having reproductive age (15-49 years) by using interview schedule. The data are analyzed through SPSS, and binary logistic regression was applied to draw the association between home as a place of delivery and men’s decision making in the Pakhtun society. The results show that majority (76%) of the husbands are key decision makers about the home delivery due to their superior position within household. Similarly, majority (88%) Pakhtun women prefer to stay in home for their delivery due to their dependency on husband’s decision. The researcher concludes that men are key decision makers in Pakhtun society and their decisions affect women maternal health care. Similarly, the women are in subordinate position, and their limited decision making in the domestic sphere are greatly responsible for home delivery which causing high maternal mortality rate in the study area. In order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal No. 3, the study recommends empowering women in the decision making about accessing and utilizing maternal health care services and given financial autonomy to them.

Keywords: home delivery, men’s decision, Pakhtun women, subordinate position

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Thammanoon Raveepong, Craig Wheway

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Originating from a multifaceted research project beginning with the opening of the Green Market at Ban Laow sub-district, Kosum Phisai, Mahasarakham with the support of Kosum Phisai Governor. The project involves key stakeholders related to villagers who have become involved with linking local identity to a more global identity to help ameliorate falling agricultural incomes and casualised work. There have been fifteen formal meetings involving local government stakeholders that took place at the local university, local schools, a public meeting at Ban-Don-Toom and Village meeting shelters. These events hosted 176 local stakeholders consisting of the District Governor, 7 Chairpersons/Heads of the District Development Council, a Health Promotion group, District retired government staff, 4 sub-district local government members, the City Development Council, 2 representatives from Mahasarakham Provincial Culture Council, 4 principles of all local schools, 11 village heads, 15 scholars form local and national universities, 132 villagers and 4 staff from public relation units. The goal of the project was to initiate a variety of local projects including promotion of Local healthy food, farm/homestay accommodation, local uniqueness, Travel guides (in book form and guide youths) and the proposed development of community tourism with the aim to utilise local people and activities to tap into the growing alternative tourism market. This paper aims to document the progress thus far, and the challenges presented working with local communities that have lacked expertise in linking to the global economy to derive economic benefits for their communities.

Keywords: Community-based tourism, community participation, local identity, mahasarakham province

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: F. Lazzeri, I. Reiter

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Energy production optimization has been traditionally very important for utilities in order to improve resource consumption. However, load forecasting is a challenging task, as there are a large number of relevant variables that must be considered, and several strategies have been used to deal with this complex problem. This is especially true also in microgrids where many elements have to adjust their performance depending on the future generation and consumption conditions. The goal of this paper is to present a solution for short-term load forecasting in microgrids, based on three machine learning experiments developed in R and web services built and deployed with different components of Cortana Intelligence Suite: Azure Machine Learning, a fully managed cloud service that enables to easily build, deploy, and share predictive analytics solutions; SQL database, a Microsoft database service for app developers; and PowerBI, a suite of business analytics tools to analyze data and share insights. Our results show that Boosted Decision Tree and Fast Forest Quantile regression methods can be very useful to predict hourly short-term consumption in microgrids; moreover, we found that for these types of forecasting models, weather data (temperature, wind, humidity and dew point) can play a crucial role in improving the accuracy of the forecasting solution. Data cleaning and feature engineering methods performed in R and different types of machine learning algorithms (Boosted Decision Tree, Fast Forest Quantile and ARIMA) will be presented, and results and performance metrics discussed.

Keywords: time-series, features engineering methods for forecasting, energy demand forecasting, Azure Machine Learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Fleura Shkëmbi, Valbona Treska

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In elementary school, we discover that a metaphor is a decorative linguistic device just for poets. But now that we know, it's also a crucial tactic that individuals employ to understand the universe, from fundamental ideas like time and causation to the most pressing societal challenges today. Metaphor is the use of language to refer to something other than what it was originally intended for or what it "literally" means in order to suggest a similarity or establish a connection between the two. People do not identify metaphors as relevant in their decisions, according to a study on metaphor and its effect on decision-making; instead, they refer to more "substantive" (typically numerical) facts as the basis for their problem-solving decision. Every day, metaphors saturate our lives via language, cognition, and action. They argue that our conceptions shape our views and interactions with others and that concepts define our reality. Metaphor is thus a highly helpful tool for both describing our experiences to others and forming notions for ourselves. In therapeutic contexts, their shared goal appears to be twofold. The cognitivist approach to metaphor regards it as one of the fundamental foundations of human communication. The benefits and disadvantages of utilizing the metaphor differ depending on the target domain that the metaphor portrays. The challenge of creating messages and surroundings that affect customers' notions of abstract ideas in a variety of industries, including health, hospitality, romance, and money, has been studied for decades in marketing and consumer psychology. The aim of this study is to examine, through a systematic literature review, the role of the metaphor in communication and in advertising. This study offers a selected analysis of this literature, concentrating on research on customer attitudes and product appraisal. The analysis of the data identifies potential research questions. With theoretical and applied implications for marketing, design, and persuasion, this study sheds light on how, when, and for whom metaphoric communications are powerful.

Keywords: metaphor, communication, advertising, cognition, action

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Mohadese Sukhtesaraii, Mohammad Esmail Esmaili Jelodar, Kosar Sookhtesaraii

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Throughout history, humans have always wanted to have a shelter to live in, and this need and desire became the beginning of building and architecture. It was necessary to build a shelter and a building, dealing with the surrounding nature. The design and construction of architectural spaces are always influenced by nature, climate, and geographical location, and It is believed clearly see this influence even in the use of materials used in the construction of architectural buildings. The historical port of Siraf is located on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf in Bushehr province and 38 km from Kangan port. Geographically and climatically, Siraf is considered one of the hot and humid areas. The Zagros mountains, which continue from the Iranian plateau to the sea, end at Bandar Siraf; As a result, it creates a strip one kilometer wide by the sea. The location of Siraf in the restrictive conditions of the mountains and the sea has made it impossible to expand the city. The main goal of the current research is to investigate the climate of Siraf and the influence of the region's climate on the architecture and design of residential buildings in Siraf, known as noble houses, in the early Islamic centuries. In this research, it is looking for an answer to the question of how the climatic and geographical conditions have affected the architecture of Siraf buildings. The theoretical framework of this research can be expressed based on the influence of climate on the historical architecture of Bandar Seraf and the spatial analysis of archeology. Also, the research method will be analytical-descriptive and using field and library studies. The authors of the article believe that the architectural spaces of the early Islamic centuries of Siraf city were affected by the climate and geographical location, and the architects started building buildings by considering factors such as the sun's radiation, wind direction, and the position of the mountains and the sea. To use the regional and environmental potential for buildings.

Keywords: hose N, noble hose, islamic era, siraf, climate

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Authors: Osamah S. Alanazi, Mohammad G. Kotbi, Mohammed O. AlFadil

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While renewable energy technology is developing in Saudi Arabia, and the ambitious 2030 vision encourages the shift towards more efficient and clean energy usage. The research on the application of geothermal resources in residential use for the Saudi Arabian context will contribute towards a more sustainable environment. This paper is a part of an ongoing master's thesis, which its main goal is to investigate the possibility of achieving a zero-carbon house in Riyadh by applying a ground-coupled system into a current sustainable house that uses a grid-tied solar system. The current house was built and designed by King Saud University for the 2018 middle east solar decathlon competition. However, it failed to reach zero-carbon operation due to the high cooling demand. This study will redesign and validate the house using Revit and Carriers Hourly Analysis 'HAP' software with the use of ordinary least square 'OLS' regression. After that, a ground source ventilation system will be designed using the 'GCV Tool' to reduce cooling loads. After the application of the ground source system, the new electrical loads will be compared with the current house. Finally, a simple economic analysis that includes the cost of applying a ground source system will be reported. The findings of this study will indicate the possibility and feasibility of reaching a zero-carbon house in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using a ground-coupled ventilation system. While cooling in the residential sector is the dominant energy consumer in the Gulf region, this work will certainly help in moving towards using renewable sources to meet those demands. This paper will be limited to highlight the literature review, the methodology of the research, and the expected outcome.

Keywords: renewable energy, zero-carbon houses, sustainable buildings, geothermal energy, solar PV, GCV Tool

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Authors: Marcio S. da Silva, Jose Mauricio de B. Bezerra, Antonio E. de A. Nogueira

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This paper aims to make a performance analysis of shield wire transmission lines against atmospheric discharges when it is made the option of sectioning the shield wire and verify if the tolerability of the change. As a goal of this work, it was established to make complete modeling of a transmission line in the ATPDraw program with shield wire grounded in all the towers and in some towers. The methodology used to make the proposed evaluation was to choose an actual transmission line that served as a case study. From the choice of transmission line and verification of all its topology and materials, complete modeling of the line using the ATPDraw software was performed. Then several atmospheric discharges were simulated by striking the grounded shield wires in each tower. These simulations served to identify the behavior of the existing line against atmospheric discharges. After this first analysis, the same line was reconsidered with shield wire segmentation. The shielding wire segmentation technique aims to reduce induced losses in shield wires and is adopted in some transmission lines in Brazil. With the same conditions of atmospheric discharge the transmission line, this time with shield wire segmentation was again evaluated. The results obtained showed that it is possible to obtain similar performances against atmospheric discharges between a shield wired line in multiple towers and the same line with shield wire segmentation if some precautions are adopted as verification of the ground resistance of the wire segmented shield, adequacy of the maximum length of the segmented gap, evaluation of the separation length of the electrodes of the insulator spark, among others. As a conclusion, it is verified that since the correct assessment and adopted the correct criteria of adjustment a transmission line with shielded wire segmentation can perform very similar to the traditional use with multiple earths. This solution contributes in a very important way to the reduction of energy losses in transmission lines.

Keywords: atmospheric discharges, ATPDraw, shield wire, transmission lines

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Authors: Radhwane Boudjelthia

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The most recent earthquakes occurred in the world have killed thousands of people and severe damage. For all the actors involved in the building process, the earthquake is the litmus test for construction. The goal we set ourselves is to contribute to the implementation of a thoughtful approach to the seismic protection of structures. For many engineers, the most conventional approach to protection works (buildings and bridges) the effects of earthquakes is to increase rigidity. This approach is not always effective, especially when there is a context that favors the phenomenon of resonance and amplification of seismic forces. Therefore, the field of earthquake engineering has made significant inroads, among others catalyzed by the development of computational techniques in computer form and the use of powerful test facilities. This has led to the emergence of several innovative technologies, such as the introduction of special devices insulation between infrastructure and superstructure. This approach, commonly known as "seismic isolation," to absorb the significant efforts without the structure is damaged and thus ensuring the protection of lives and property. In addition, the restraints to the construction by the ground shaking are located mainly at the supports. With these moves, the natural period of construction is increasing, and seismic loads are reduced. Thus, there is an attenuation of the seismic movement. Likewise, the insulation of the base mechanism may be used in combination with earthquake dampers in order to control the deformation of the insulation system and the absolute displacement of the superstructure located above the isolation interface. On the other hand, only can use these earthquake dampers to reduce the oscillation amplitudes and thus reduce seismic loads. The use of damping devices represents an effective solution for the rehabilitation of existing structures. Given all these acceleration reducing means considered passive, much research has been conducted for several years to develop an active control system of the response of buildings to earthquakes.

Keywords: earthquake, building, seismic forces, displacement, resonance, response.

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Authors: Dena A. Hussain

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The objective of this project is to design an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tool based on a standardized platform to assist the work-integrated learning process of caretakers of disabled children. The tool should assist the intercommunication between caretakers and improve the learning process through knowledge bridging between all involved caretakers. Some children are born with disabilities while others have special needs after an illness or accident. Special needs children often need help in their learning process and require tools and services in a different way. In some cases the child has multiple disabilities that affect several capabilities in different ways. These needs are to be transformed into different learning techniques that the staff or personal (called caretakers in this project) caring for the child needs to learn and adapt. The caretakers involved are also required to learn new learning or training techniques and utilities specialized for the child’s needs. In many cases the number of people caring for the child’s development is rather large; the parents, specialist pedagogues, teachers, therapists, psychologists, personal assistants, etc. Each group of specialists has different objectives and in some cases the merge between theses specifications is very unique. This makes the synchronization between different caretakers difficult, resulting often in low level cooperation. By better intercommunication between professions both the child’s development could be improved but also the caretakers’ methods and knowledge of each other’s work processes and their own profession. This introduces a unique work integrated learning environment for all personnel involve, merging learning and knowledge in the work environment and at the same time assist the children’s development process. Creating an iterative process generates a unique learning experience for all involved. Using a work integrated platform will help encourage and support the process of all the teams involved in the process.We believe that working with children who have special needs is a continues learning/working process that is always integrated to achieve one main goal, which is to make a better future for all children.

Keywords: information and communication technologies (ICT), work integrated learning (WIL), sustainable learning, special needs children

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Authors: Lynn Mcquarrie, Charlotte Enns

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The goal of this project was to develop a visually-based, signed language phonological awareness training program and to pilot the intervention with signing deaf children (ages 6 -10 years/ grades 1 - 4) who were beginning readers to assess the effects of systematic explicit American Sign Language (ASL) phonological instruction on both ASL vocabulary and English print vocabulary learning. Growing evidence that signing learners utilize visually-based signed language phonological knowledge (homologous to the sound-based phonological level of spoken language processing) when reading underscore the critical need for further research on the innovation of reading instructional practices for visual language learners. Multiple single-case studies using a multiple probe design across content (i.e., sign and print targets incorporating specific ASL phonological parameters – handshapes) was implemented to examine if a functional relationship existed between instruction and acquisition of these skills. The results indicated that for all cases, representing a variety of language abilities, the visually-based phonological teaching approach was exceptionally powerful in helping children to build their sign and print vocabularies. Although intervention/teaching studies have been essential in testing hypotheses about spoken language phonological processes supporting non-deaf children’s reading development, there are no parallel intervention/teaching studies exploring hypotheses about signed language phonological processes in supporting deaf children’s reading development. This study begins to provide the needed evidence to pursue innovative teaching strategies that incorporate the strengths of visual learners.

Keywords: American sign language phonological awareness, dual language strategies, vocabulary learning, word reading

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Authors: C. Puangsawat, C. Limotai, P. Srikhachin

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Bio-psycho-social caring was required for promoting the quality of life of the patients with epilepsy (PWE), despite controlled seizures. Multifaceted issues emerge at the epilepsy clinic. Unpredicted seizures, antiepileptic drug compliance problems/adverse effects, psychiatric, and social problems are all needed to be explored and managed. The Nursing Service System (NSS) at the tertiary epilepsy clinic (TEC) was consequently developed for improving the clinical care for PWE. Case manager concept was integrated as the framework guiding the processes and strategies used for developing the NSS as well as the roles of the multidisciplinary team at the clinic. This study aimed to report the outcomes of the developed NSS integrated case manager concept. The processes of our developed NSS program included 1) screening for patient’s problems using questionnaire prior to seeing epileptologists i.e., assessing the patient’s risk to develop acute seizures at the clinic, issues related to medication use, and uncovered psychiatric and social problems; and 2) assigning the patients at risk to be evaluated and managed by appropriate team. Nurses specializing in epilepsy in coordination with the multidisciplinary team implemented the NSS to promote coordinated work among the team which consists of epileptologists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, and social workers. Determination of the role of each person and their responsibilities along with joint care plan were clearly established. One year after implementation, the rate of acute seizure occurrence at the clinic was decreased, and satisfactory feedback from the patients was received. In order to achieve an optimal goal to promote self-management behaviors in PWE, continuing the NSS and systematic assessment of its effectiveness is required.

Keywords: case manager concept, nursing service system, patients with epilepsy, quality of life

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Authors: K. Drabczyk, Z. Starowicz, S. Maleczek, P. Zieba

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The army, police and fire brigade commonly use dedicated equipment based on special textile materials. The properties of these textiles should ensure human life and health protection. Equally important is the ability to use electronic equipment and this requires access to the source of electricity. Photovoltaic cells integrated with such textiles can be solution for this problem in the most of outdoor circumstances. One idea may be to laminate the cells to textile without changing their properties. The main goal of this work was analyzed lamination quality of special designed semi-flexible solar module with special textile materials as a backsheet. In the first step of investigation, the quality of lamination was determined using device equipped with dynamometer. In this work, the crystalline silicon solar cells 50 x 50 mm and thin chemical tempered glass - 62 x 62 mm and 0.8 mm thick - were used. The obtained results showed the correlation between breaking force and type of textile weave and fiber. The breaking force was in the ranges: 4.5-5.5 N, 15-20 N and 30-33 N depending on the type of wave and fiber type. To verify these observations the microscopic and FTIR analysis of fibers was performed. The studies showed the special textile can be used as a backsheet of semi-flexible solar modules. This work presents a new composition of solar module with special textile layer which, to our best knowledge, has not been published so far. Moreover, the work presents original investigations on adhesion of EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) polymer to textile with respect to fiber structure of laminated substrate. This work is realized for the GEKON project (No. GEKON2/O4/268473/23/2016) sponsored by The National Centre for Research and Development and The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

Keywords: flexible solar modules, lamination process, solar cells, textile for photovoltaics

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Authors: Liang Wang, Wei Zhang

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Nowadays, sustainable development has increasingly become an important research topic of engineering education. Existing research on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) has highlighted the importance of perceptions for ethical responsibility to address sustainable development in practice. However, whether and how the professional engineering experience affects those perceptions has not been proved, especially in a Chinese context. Our study fills this gap by investigating the perceptions bias of EESD between experienced engineers and engineering students. We specifically examined what EESD means for experienced engineers and engineering students using a triple-dimensional model to understand if there are obvious differences between the two groups. Our goal is to make the benefits of these experiences more accessible in school context. The data (n=438) came from a questionnaire created and adapted from previously published studies containing 288 students from mechanical or civil engineering and 150 civil engineers with rich working experience, and the questionnaire was distributed during Fall 2020. T-test was used to find the difference in different dimensions between the two groups. The statistical results show that there is a significant difference in the perceptions of EESD between experienced engineers and inexperienced engineering students in China. Experienced engineers tend to consider sustainable development from ecological, economic, and social perspectives, while engineering students' answers focus more on ecology and ignore economic and social dimensions to some extend. The findings provide empirical evidence that professional experience is helpful to cultivate the cognition and ability of sustainable development in engineering education. The results of this work indicate that more practical content should be added to engineering education to promote sustainable development. In addition, for the design of engineering courses and professional practice systems for sustainable development, we should not only pay attention to the ecological aspects but also emphasize the coordination of ecological, economic, and socially sustainable development (e.g., engineer's ethical responsibility).

Keywords: engineering education, sustainable development, experienced engineers, engineering students

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Masita Mokeira, Kimani Rita, Obonyo Brian, Kwenda Kennedy, Mugambi Purity, Kirui Joan, Chomba Eric, Orwa Daniel, Waiganjo Peter

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Rugby is a highly intense and physical game requiring speed and strength. The need for physical fitness therefore cannot be over-emphasized. Sports are no longer about lifting weights so as to build muscle. Most professional teams are investing much more in the sport in terms of time, equipment and other resources. To play competitively, Kenyan players may therefore need to complement their ‘home-grown’ and sometimes ad-hoc training and nutrition regimes with carefully measured strength and conditioning, diet, nutrition, and supplementation. Nokia Research Center and University of Nairobi conducted an exploratory study on needs and behaviours surrounding sports in Africa. Rugby being one sport that is gaining ground in Kenya was selected as the main focus. The end goal of the research was to identify areas where mobile technology could be used to address gaps, challenges and/or unmet needs. Themes such as information gap, social culture, growth, and development, revenue flow, and technology adoption among others emerged about the sport. From the growth and development theme, it was clear that as rugby continues to grow in the country, teams, coaches, and players are employing interesting techniques both in training and playing. Though some of these techniques are indeed scientific, those employing them are sometimes not fully aware of their scientific basis. A further case study on sports science in rugby in Kenya focusing on physical fitness and nutrition revealed interesting findings. This paper discusses findings on emerging adoption of techniques in managing physiological and nutritional needs of rugby players across different levels of rugby in Kenya namely high school, club and national levels.

Keywords: rugby, nutrition, physiological needs, sports science

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Authors: Sawsen Jarray, Tahani Hallek, Mabrouk Montacer

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The tectonically damaged terrain in Tunisia's Northwest is seen in the country's numerous oil leaks. Finding a genetic link between these oil seeps and the area's putative source rocks is the goal of this investigation. Here, we use aliphatic biomarkers assessed by GC-MS to describe the organic geochemical data of 18 oil seeps samples and 4 source rocks (M'Cherga, Fahdene, Bahloul, and BouDabbous). In order to establish correlations between oil and oil and oil and source rock, terpanes, hopanes, and steranes biomarkers were identified. The source rocks under study were deposited in a marine environment and were suboxic, with minor signs of continental input for the M'Cherga Formation. There is no connection between the Fahdene and Bahloul source rocks and the udied oil seeps. According to the biomarkers C27 18-22,29,30trisnorneohopane (Ts) and C27 17-22,29,30-trisnorhopane (Tm), these source rocks are mature and have reached the oil window. Regarding oil seeps, geochemical data indicate that, with the exception of four samples that showed some continental markings, the bulk of samples were deposited in an open marine environment. These most recent samples from oil seeps have a unique lithology (marl) that distinguishes them from the others (carbonate). There are two classes of oil seeps, according to statistical analysis of relationships between oil and oil and oil and source rocks. The first comprised samples that showed a positive connection with carbonate-lithological and marine-derived BouDabbous black shales. The second is a result of M'Cherga source rock and is made up of oil seeps with remnants of the terrestrial environment and a lithology with a marl trend. The Fahdene and Bahloul source rocks have no connection to the observed oil seeps. There are two different types of hydrocarbon spills depending on their link to tectonic deformations (oil seeps) and outcropping mature source rocks (oil impregnations), in addition to the existence of two generations of hydrocarbon spills in Northwest Tunisia (Lower Cretaceous/Ypresian).

Keywords: petroleum seeps, source rocks, biomarkers, statistic, Northern Tunisia

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Authors: Somayeh Abedian, Pirhossein Kolivand, Hamid Reza Lornejad, Amin Karampour, Ebrahim Keshavarz Safari

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For emergency and relief service providers such as pre-hospital emergencies, quick arrival at the scene of an accident or any EMS mission is one of the most important requirements of effective service delivery. Response time (the interval between the time of the call and the time of arrival on scene) is a critical factor in determining the quality of pre-hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS). This is especially important for heart attack, stroke, or accident patients. Location-based e-services can be broadly defined as any service that provides information pertinent to the current location of an active mobile handset or precise address of landline phone call at a specific time window, regardless of the underlying delivery technology used to convey the information. According to research, one of the effective methods of meeting this goal is determining the location of the caller via the cooperation of landline and mobile phone operators in the country. The follow-up of the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) organization has resulted in the receipt of two separate secured electronic web services. Thus, to ensure human privacy, a secure technical architecture was required for launching the services in the pre-hospital EMS information management system. In addition, to quicken medics’ arrival at the patient's bedside, rescue vehicles should make use of an intelligent transportation system to estimate road traffic using a GPS-based mobile navigation system independent of the Internet. This paper seeks to illustrate the architecture of the practical national model used by the Iranian EMS organization.

Keywords: response time, geographic location inquiry service (GLIS), location-based service (LBS), emergency medical services information system (EMSIS)

Procedia PDF Downloads 154