Search results for: work/family enrichment

Authors: T. Varazi, M. Pruidze, M. Kurashvili, N. Gagelidze, M. Sutton

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The complex phytoremediation approach given in the presented work implies joint application of natural sorbents, microorganisms, natural biosurfactants and plants. The approach is based on using the natural mineral composites, microorganism strains with high detoxification abilities, plants-phytoremediators and natural biosurfactants for enhancing the uptake of intermediates of pollutants by plant roots. In this complex strategy of phytoremediation technology, the sorbent serves to uptake and trap the pollutants and thus restrain their emission in the environment. The role of microorganisms is to accomplish the first stage biodegradation of organic contaminants. This is followed by application of a phytoremediation technology through purposeful planting of selected plants. Thus, using of different tools will provide restoration of polluted environment and prevention of toxic compounds’ dissemination from hotbeds of pollution for a considerable length of time. The main idea and novelty of the carried out work is the development of a new approach for the ecological safety. The wide spectrum of contaminants: Organochlorine pesticide – DDT, heavy metal –Cu, oil hydrocarbon (hexadecane) and wax have been used in this work. The presented complex biotechnology is important from the viewpoint of prevention, providing total rehabilitation of soil. It is unique to chemical pollutants, ecologically friendly and provides the control of erosion of soils.

Keywords: bioremediation, phytoremediation, pollutants, soil contamination

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: A/Prof Marjan Khajehei

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In the last century, the role of fathers in the birth has changed exponentially. Before the 1970s, the principal view was that birth was a female business and not a man’s place. Changing cultural and professional attitudes around the emotional bond between a man and a woman, family structure and the more proactive involved role of men in the family have encouraged fathers’ attendance at birth. There is evidence that fathers’ support can make birthing less traumatic for some women and can make couples closer. This has made some clinicians to believe the fathers should be more involved throughout the birth process. Some clinicians even go further and ask the fathers to watch the medical procedures, such as inserting vaginal speculum, forceps or vacuum, episiotomy and stitches. Although birth can unfold like a beautiful picture captured by birth photographers, with fathers massaging women’s backs by candle light and the miraculous moment of birth, it can be overshadowed by less attractive images of cervical mucous, emptying bowels and the invasive medical procedures. What happens in the birth room and the fathers’ reaction to the graphic experience of birthing can be unpredictable. Despite the fact that most men are absolutely thrilled to be in the delivery room, for some men, a very intimate body part can become completely desexualised, and they can experience psychological and sexual scarring. They see someone they cherish dramatically sliced open and can then associate their partners with a disturbing scene, and it can dramatically affect their relationships. While most women want the expectant fathers by their side for this life-changing event, not all of them may be happy for their partners to watch the perineum to be cut or stitched or when large blades of forceps are inserted inside the vagina. Anecdotal reports have shown that consent is not sought from the labouring women as to whether they want their partners to watch these procedures. The majority of research1, 2, 3 focuses on men’s and women’s retrospective attitudes towards their birth experience. However, the effect of witnessing invasive procedures during childbirth on a man's attraction to his partner, while she is most vulnerable, and also an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in fathers have not been widely investigated. There is a lack of sufficient research investigating whether women need to be asked for their consent before inviting their partners to closely watch medical procedures during childbirth. Future research is required to provide a basis for better awareness and involve the consumers to understanding the men’s and women’s experience and their expectations for labour and birth.

Keywords: birth, childbirth, father, labour, men, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Shankaran Sitarama

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Teamwork is an extremely effective pedagogical tool in engineering education. New Product Development (NPD) has been an effective strategy of companies to streamline and bring innovative products and solutions to customers. Thus, Engineering curriculum in many schools, some collaboratively with business schools, have brought NPD into the curriculum at the graduate level. Teamwork is invariably used during instruction, where students work in teams to come up with new products and solutions. There is a significant emphasis of grade on the semester long teamwork for it to be taken seriously by students. As the students work in teams and go through this process to develop the new product prototypes, their effectiveness and learning to a great extent depends on how they function as a team and go through the creative process, come together, and work towards the common goal. A core attribute of a successful NPD team is their creativity and innovation. The team needs to be creative as a group, generating a breadth of ideas and innovative solutions that solve or address the problem they are targeting and meet the user’s needs. They also need to be very efficient in their teamwork as they work through the various stages of the development of these ideas resulting in a POC (proof-of-concept) implementation or a prototype of the product. The simultaneous requirement of teams to be creative and at the same time also converge and work together imposes different types of tensions in their team interactions. These ideational tensions / conflicts and sometimes relational tensions / conflicts are inevitable. Effective teams will have to deal with the Team dynamics and manage it to be resilient enough and yet be creative. This research paper provides a computational analysis of the teams’ communication that is reflective of the team dynamics, and through a superimposition of latent semantic analysis with social network analysis, provides a computational methodology of arriving at patterns of visual interaction. These team interaction patterns have clear correlations to the team dynamics and provide insights into the functioning and thus the effectiveness of the teams. 23 student NPD teams over 2 years of a course on Managing NPD that has a blend of engineering and business school students is considered, and the results are presented. It is also correlated with the teams’ detailed and tailored individual and group feedback and self-reflection and evaluation questionnaire.

Keywords: team dynamics, social network analysis, team interaction patterns, new product development teamwork, NPD teams

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Chen Wang, Jared Evans, Yan Asmann

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With the quick evolvement of next-generation sequencing techniques, whole-exome or exome-panel data have become a cost-effective way for detection of small exonic mutations, but there has been a growing desire to accurately detect copy number variations (CNVs) as well. In order to address this research and clinical needs, we developed a sequencing coverage pattern-based method not only for copy number detections, data integrity checks, CNV calling, and visualization reports. The developed methodologies include complete automation to increase usability, genome content-coverage bias correction, CNV segmentation, data quality reports, and publication quality images. Automatic identification and removal of poor quality outlier samples were made automatically. Multiple experimental batches were routinely detected and further reduced for a clean subset of samples before analysis. Algorithm improvements were also made to improve somatic CNV detection as well as germline CNV detection in trio family. Additionally, a set of utilities was included to facilitate users for producing CNV plots in focused genes of interest. We demonstrate the somatic CNV enhancements by accurately detecting CNVs in whole exome-wide data from the cancer genome atlas cancer samples and a lymphoma case study with paired tumor and normal samples. We also showed our efficient reuses of existing exome sequencing data, for improved germline CNV calling in a family of the trio from the phase-III study of 1000 Genome to detect CNVs with various modes of inheritance. The performance of the developed method is evaluated by comparing CNV calling results with results from other orthogonal copy number platforms. Through our case studies, reuses of exome sequencing data for calling CNVs have several noticeable functionalities, including a better quality control for exome sequencing data, improved joint analysis with single nucleotide variant calls, and novel genomic discovery of under-utilized existing whole exome and custom exome panel data.

Keywords: bioinformatics, computational genetics, copy number variations, data reuse, exome sequencing, next generation sequencing

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Authors: Regina Rahimi, Delores Liston

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The advent of COVID-19 has heightened awareness of the need for social emotional learning (SEL) throughout all educational contexts. Given this, schools (most often p12 settings) have begun to embrace practices for addressing social-emotional learning. While there is a growing body of research and literature on common practices of SEL, there is no ‘standard’ for its implementation. Our work proposed here recognizes there is no universal approach for addressing SEL and rather, seeks to explore how SEL can be approached in and through diverse contexts. We assert that left unrecognized and unaddressed by teachers, issues with social and emotional well-being profoundly negatively affect students’ academic performance and exacerbate teacher stress. They contribute to negative student-teacher relationships, poor classroom management outcomes, and compromised academic outcomes. Therefore, teachers and administrators have increasingly turned to developing pedagogical and classroom practices that support the social and emotional dimensions of students. Substantive quantitative evidence indicates professional development training to improve awareness and foster positive teacher-student relationships can provide a protective function for psycho-social outcomes and a promotive factor for improved learning outcomes for students. Our work aims to add to the growing body of literature on improving student well-being by providing a unique examination of SEL through a lens of diverse contexts. Methodology: This presentation hopes to present findings from an edited volume that will seek to highlight works that examine SEL practices in a variety of academic settings. The studies contained within the work represent varied forms of qualitative research. Conclusion: This work provides examples of SEL in higher education/postsecondary settings, a variety of P12 academic settings (public; private; rural, urban; charter, etc.), and international contexts. This work demonstrates the variety of ways educational institutions and educators have used SEL to address the needs of students, providing examples for others to adapt to their own diverse contexts. This presentation will bring together exemplar models of SEL in diverse practice settings.

Keywords: social emotional learning, teachers, classrooms, diversity

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Authors: Ana Verde

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Higher education is now a source of new paradigms, advanced research in various fields of knowledge and an essential element in providing solutions to the major problems it faces today. In the education sector, more and more attention is being paid to the importance of entrepreneurship and the need for students to acquire skills in the classroom in order to be successful in their future careers. In the field of education, the term "teacherpreneur" has been coined in recent years to describe a teacher who is committed to educational change, passionate about his or her work, charismatic, self-confident, flexible, responsible, able to dare to break the established rules and take risks, and whose work is student-centred and action oriented. This research analyses the characteristics of the entrepreneurial professor and educational leader, and how their practice can be directed towards educational improvement.

Keywords: higher education, entrepreneurial, skills, leadership

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Authors: Irina Peterburgsky

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We have been working on finding internship positions for our math and computer science majors. Among many other positive outcomes of internship for students majoring in mathematics, there are: students see new applications of mathematics to real life and see new scientific problems; they learn new methods, tools, etc. that they have not seen in their classes; they appreciate the power of mathematics that increases their interest in learning mathematics; they make decisions to take more advanced math courses; students understand better what their potentials, strong points, and limitations are; learn what work ethic is; learn how to work as a member of a team at a workplace; understand better how to offer their help and how to ask for help; start building their professional relationship; build self-confidence as young professionals, and what is the most important - they get a better understanding of their goals in their future professional careers.

Keywords: internship, mathematics, positive outcoms for students, workplace

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Authors: Mary Booth

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Biophotovoltaics is a method of green energy generation derived from exposing plants to lights. Its vast potential is hampered by the public’s relative ignorance of its existence. This work aims to formalize the principles of the physical processes of biophotovoltaics into a comprehensible visual software model, thus amplifying the human thought process. The methods used involve initially crafting a scale model of a working biophotovoltaic system from household materials inspired by the work of Paolo Bombelli. The scale model is then programmed into a system-level simulation, wherein a 3D animation dissects the system and its general energy generation process. The completed 3D system-level simulation ultimately creates a simplified visual understanding of the complex principles of the biophotovoltaic system.

Keywords: 3D, biophotovoltaics, render

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Authors: N. Bendimerad, M. Lemerini, A. Guen

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In this work, we propose to determine the density of neutral particles of an electric discharge peak - Plan types performed in air at atmospheric pressure by applying a technique based on laser interferometry. The experimental methods used so far as the shadowgraph or stereoscopy, give rather qualitative results with regard to the determination of the neutral density. The neutral rotational temperature has been subject of several studies but direct measurements of kinetic temperature are rare. The aim of our work is to determine quantitatively and experimentally depopulation with a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer. This purely optical appearance of the discharge is important when looking to know the refractive index of any gas for any physicochemical applications.

Keywords: laser source, Mach-Zehnder interferometer, refractive index, corona discharge

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Authors: Ian Campbell, Gillian Mitchell, Paul James, Na Li, Ella Thompson

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The genetic cause of the majority of multiple-case breast cancer families remains unresolved. Next generation sequencing has emerged as an efficient strategy for identifying predisposing mutations in individuals with inherited cancer. We are conducting whole exome sequence analysis of germ line DNA from multiple affected relatives from breast cancer families, with the aim of identifying rare protein truncating and non-synonymous variants that are likely to include novel cancer predisposing mutations. Data from more than 200 exomes show that on average each individual carries 30-50 protein truncating mutations and 300-400 rare non-synonymous variants. Heterogeneity among our exome data strongly suggest that numerous moderate penetrance genes remain to be discovered, with each gene individually accounting for only a small fraction of families (~0.5%). This scenario marks validation of candidate breast cancer predisposing genes in large case-control studies as the rate-limiting step in resolving the missing heritability of breast cancer. The aim of this study is to screen genes that are recurrently mutated among our exome data in a larger cohort of cases and controls to assess the prevalence of inactivating mutations that may be associated with breast cancer risk. We are using the Agilent HaloPlex Target Enrichment System to screen the coding regions of 168 genes in 1,000 BRCA1/2 mutation-negative familial breast cancer cases and 1,000 cancer-naive controls. To date, our interim analysis has identified 21 genes which carry an excess of truncating mutations in multiple breast cancer families versus controls. Established breast cancer susceptibility gene PALB2 is the most frequently mutated gene (13/998 cases versus 0/1009 controls), but other interesting candidates include NPSR1, GSN, POLD2, and TOX3. These and other genes are being validated in a second cohort of 1,000 cases and controls. Our experience demonstrates that beyond PALB2, the prevalence of mutations in the remaining breast cancer predisposition genes is likely to be very low making definitive validation exceptionally challenging.

Keywords: predisposition, familial, exome sequencing, breast cancer

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Authors: Jentel Van Havermaet, Geert Van Hove, Elisabeth De Schauwer

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This study re-conceptualizes visual impairment in the interdependent context of James, his family, and allies. Living with a visual impairment is understood as an entanglement of assemblages, dynamics, disablism, systems… We narrated this diffractively into two meaningful events: decisions and processes on (inclusive) education and hinderances in connecting with others. We entangled and (un)raveled lived experiences in assemblages in which the contextualized meaning of visual impairment became more clearly. The contextualized narrative of James interwove complex intra-actions; showed the complexity and contextualization of entangled relationalities.

Keywords: disability studies, contextualization, visual impairment, assemblage, entanglement, lived experiences

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Authors: Shazia Shamim, Pallavi Gautam

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The present study describes the presence of rare or endangered plants from Poonch Dist., which spread over 1674 Km sq. located between latitude 330 25' N to 340 01' N and longitude 730 58' E to 740 35' E forming a part of the Northwest Himalaya in Jammu and Kashmir state of India, with the aim of suggesting the strategy for the conservation and promotion of cultivation of rare and endangered medicinal plants, as well as developing traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. The main threats to biodiversity and ecosystem are overexploitation, global climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation, pollution, and invasion of alien species and disturbance of community structure. Surveys were carried out during 2015-2016 throughout the Poonch valley. During the field survey, various criteria of International Union for the conservation of nature for categorizing threatened plants, extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, probability of extinction, etc. were measured. The rarity of species was determined by field study, visual estimations, and literature. During the collection, it was observed that few rare and endangered species which were present in the study area, are also mentioned in the prescribed red data book of Indian plants, International Union for conservation of nature, list of threatened species and list of Botanical Survey of India presented by its Northern Regional Centre. The study was based on extensive surveys of the study area and then concluded by preparing a list of plant species occurring in different seasons, the photographs of all these plant species were collected. Actual threats to the population of a selected plant species in a given area were recorded by direct observation. The present paper provides information about 22 rare and endangered medicinal plant species belonging to 18 families that are used by the native of these areas. Information provided includes botanical name, family name, local name, habitat, part used, ethno medicinal uses and brief preparation of the reported plant species is presented in the present work.

Keywords: biodiversity, traditional knowledge, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Botanical Survery of India

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Authors: Julio Vega

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Expression recognition is a field of Artificial Intelligence whose main objectives are to recognize basic forms of affective expression that appear on people’s faces and contributing to behavioral studies. In this work, a ROS node has been developed that, based on Deep Learning techniques, is capable of detecting the facial expressions of the people that appear in the image. These algorithms were optimized so that they can be executed in real time on an embedded platform. The experiments were carried out in a PC with a USB camera and in a Raspberry Pi 4 with a PiCamera. The final results shows a plausible system, which is capable to work in real time even in an embedded platform.

Keywords: python, low-cost, raspberry pi, emotion detection, human-robot interaction, ROS node

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Authors: An-Shik Yang, Chiang-Ho Cheng, Jen-Hao Wu, Yu-Hsuan Juan

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Natural ventilation has played an important role for many low energy-building designs. It has been also noticed as a essential subject to persistently bring the fresh cool air from the outside into a building. This study carried out the computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based simulations to examine the natural ventilation development of a work area in a public building. The simulated results can be useful to better understand the indoor microclimate and the interaction of wind with buildings. Besides, this CFD simulation procedure can serve as an effective analysis tool to characterize the airing performance, and thereby optimize the building ventilation for strengthening the architects, planners and other decision makers on improving the natural ventilation design of public buildings.

Keywords: CFD simulations, natural ventilation, microclimate, wind environment

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Authors: M. S. Haruna, A. R. Agava, N. J. Sani, A. S. Kovo

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The recent effort for cheaper raw material for the production of Zeolite A that is economically beneficial necessitated the reason for this work. The studies explore the use of locally fabricated crystallizer for the production of zeolite A using Nigeria Ahoko Kaolin as the main raw material. To achieve this intention, a systematic chemical engineering approach for the design of processes was adopted. Firstly a unique simplified flowsheet was developed, and then material and energy balance was conducted and finally followed by a detail design of the crystallizer. The summary of the result of the design showed that the optimum design parameters of 0.45 m and 1.125 were obtained for the diameter and height, respectively. The fabricated crystallizer was successfully tested for the production of Zeolite A, which is the expectation of this work.

Keywords: Zeolite A, design, crystallizer, Ahoko, Kaolin

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Authors: Md. Abid Khan

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Arc Flash safety assessment is a critical component for continuous improvement of any company’s safe electrical arc flash standard (SEAFS). The standard requires periodic internal or external audits to verify compliance and assess implementation. Assessments will identify strengths and opportunities for improvement, and serve as the basis for corrective actions. An arc flash safety assessment is comprised of a review of any existing safe electrical arc flash standard documentation (e.g., such as work procedures or other supporting documents), onsite interviews, and observations (e.g., facility inspections and work task observations). Substation-based arc flash assessment is very popular as it is more specific for each substation. The enhanced department-based arc flash safety assessment will shift focus to more effective hazard control measures and emphasis will be placed on highlighting inherently unsafe equipment to support resolution actions by facility management, rather than relying on lessor effective control methods in the hierarchy of controls currently deployed at a number of facilities.

Keywords: assessment, remote racking device (RRD), key performance indicator (KPI), personal protective equipment (PPE), operation & maintenance (O&M), safety management system (SMS), safe electrical arc flash standard (SEAFS)

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Authors: Tazvin Ijaz, Rabia Khan

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The current study was conducted to identify the predictors of burnout among university students. The sample for the study was collected through simple random sampling. The tools to measure burnout and personality characteristics included Indigenous burnout scale and Eysenck personality inventory respectively. Results indicated that neurotic personality traits significantly predicts burnout among university students while extraversion does not lead to burnout. Results also indicated female students experience more burnout than male students. It was also found that family size and birth order did not affected the level of burnout. Results of the study are discussed to explain association between etiological factors and burnout with in Pakistani cultural context.

Keywords: burnout, students, neuroticism, extraversion

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Authors: Krzysztof J. Czarnocki, E. Czarnocka, K. Szaniawska

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Main goal of the research project is Scaffold Use Risk Assessment Model (SURAM) formulation, developed for the assessment of risk levels as a various construction process stages with various work trades. Finally, in 2016, the project received financing by the National Center for Research and development according to PBS3/A2/19/2015–Research Grant. The presented data, calculations and analyzes discussed in this paper were created as a result of the completion on the first and second phase of the PBS3/A2/19/2015 project. Method: One of the arms of the research project is the assessment of worker visual concentration on the sight zones as well as risky visual point inadequate observation. In this part of research, the mobile eye-tracker was used to monitor the worker observation zones. SMI Eye Tracking Glasses is a tool, which allows us to analyze in real time and place where our eyesight is concentrated on and consequently build the map of worker's eyesight concentration during a shift. While the project is still running, currently 64 construction sites have been examined, and more than 600 workers took part in the experiment including monitoring of typical parameters of the work regimen, workload, microclimate, sound vibration, etc. Full equipment can also be useful in more advanced analyses. Because of that technology we have verified not only main focus of workers eyes during work on or next to scaffolding, but we have also examined which changes in the surrounding environment during their shift influenced their concentration. In the result of this study it has been proven that only up to 45.75% of the shift time, workers’ eye concentration was on one of three work-related areas. Workers seem to be distracted by noisy vehicles or people nearby. In opposite to our initial assumptions and other authors’ findings, we observed that the reflective parts of the scaffoldings were not more recognized by workers in their direct workplaces. We have noticed that the red curbs were the only well recognized part on a very few scaffoldings. Surprisingly on numbers of samples, we have not recognized any significant number of concentrations on those curbs. Conclusion: We have found the eye-tracking method useful for the construction of the SURAM model in the risk perception and worker’s behavior sub-modules. We also have found that the initial worker's stress and work visual conditions seem to be more predictive for assessment of the risky developing situation or an accident than other parameters relating to a work environment.

Keywords: accident assessment model, eye tracking, occupational safety, scaffolding

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Authors: Julio Albuja, David Zaldumbide

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Data analysis is an important step before taking a decision about money. The aim of this work is to analyze the factors that influence the final price of the houses through data mining algorithms. To our best knowledge, previous work was researched just to compare results. Furthermore, before using the data of the data set, the Z-Transformation were used to standardize the data in the same range. Hence, the data was classified into two groups to visualize them in a readability format. A decision tree was built, and graphical data is displayed where clearly is easy to see the results and the factors' influence in these graphics. The definitions of these methods are described, as well as the descriptions of the results. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are presented related to the released results that our research showed making it easier to apply these algorithms using a customized data set.

Keywords: algorithms, data, decision tree, transformation

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Authors: I. Khutsishvili, G. Sirbiladze, B. Ghvaberidze

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This work proposes a fuzzy methodology to support the investment decisions. While choosing among competitive investment projects, the methodology makes ranking of projects using the new aggregation OWA operator – AsPOWA, presented in the environment of possibility uncertainty. For numerical evaluation of the weighting vector associated with the AsPOWA operator the mathematical programming problem is constructed. On the basis of the AsPOWA operator the projects’ group ranking maximum criteria is constructed. The methodology also allows making the most profitable investments into several of the project using the method developed by the authors for discrete possibilistic bicriteria problems. The article provides an example of the investment decision-making that explains the work of the proposed methodology.

Keywords: expert evaluations, investment decision making, OWA operator, possibility uncertainty

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Authors: K. Myška, L. Pilařová

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The article deals with possibilities of using cheap mobile devices with the combination of free or open source software tools as an alternative to professional hardware and software equipment. Especially in social work, it is important to find cheap yet functional solution that can compete with complex but expensive solutions for digitizing paper materials. Our research was focused on the analysis of cheap and affordable solutions for digitizing the most frequently used paper materials that are being commonly used by terrain workers in social work. We used comparative analysis as a research method. Social workers need to process data from paper forms quite often. It is still more affordable, time and cost-effective to use paper forms to get feedback in many cases. Collecting data from paper quizzes and questionnaires can be done with the help of professional scanners and software. These technologies are very powerful and have advanced options for digitizing and processing digitized data, but are also very expensive. According to results of our study, the combination of open source software and mobile phone or cheap scanner can be considered as a cost-effective alternative to professional equipment.

Keywords: digitalization, e-learning, mobile devices, questionnaire

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Authors: Supriyono, Sumardiyono, Puti Pertiwi

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Crude palm oil (CPO) is a vegetable oil that came from a palm tree bunch. Palm oil tree was known as highest vegetable oil yield. It was grown across Equatorial County, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. The greenish red color on CPO was came from carotenoid antioxidant, which could be extracted and use separately as functional food and other purposes as antioxidant source. Another antioxidant that also found in CPO is tocopherol. The aim of the research work is to find antioxidant activity on CPO comparing to the synthetic antioxidant that available in a market. On this research work, antioxidant was extracted by using a mixture of acetone and n. hexane, while activity of the antioxidant extract was determine by DPPH method. The extracted matter was shown that their antioxidant activity was about 45% compare to pure tocopherol and beta carotene.

Keywords: antioxidant, , beta carotene, , crude palm oil, , DPPH, , tocopherol

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Authors: Guler Duru Asiret, Cemile Kutmec Yilmaz, Gulcan Bagcivan, Tugce Turten Kaymaz

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This descriptive study was conducted to determine the relationship between caregiver burden and life satisfaction who give home care to elderly individuals. The sample was recruited from the internal medicine unit and palliative unit of a state hospital located in Turkey on June 2016-2017. The study sample consisted of 231 primary caregiver family member, who met the eligibility criteria and agreed to participate in the study. The inclusion criteria were as follows: inpatient’s caregiver, primary caregiver for at least 3 months, at least 18 years of age, no communication problem or mental disorder. Data were gathered using an Information Form prepared by the researchers based on previous literature, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 20.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL). The descriptive characteristics of the participant were analyzed using number, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The suitability of normal distribution of scale scores was analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test. Relationships between scales were analyzed using Spearman’s rank-correlation coefficient. P values less than 0.05 were considered to be significant. The average age of the caregivers was 50.11±13.46 (mean±SD) years. Of the caregivers, 76.2% were women, 45% were primary school graduates, 89.2% were married, 38.1% were the daughters of their patients. Among these, 52.4% evaluated their income level to be good. Of them, 53.6% had been giving care less than 2 years. The patients’ average age was 77.1±8.0 years. Of the patients, 55.8% were women, 56.3% were illeterate, 70.6% were married, and 97.4% had at least one chronic disease. The mean Zarit Burden Interview score was 35.4±1.5 and the Satisfaction with Life Scale score was 20.6±6.8. A negative relationship was found between the patients’ score average on the ZBI, and on the SWLS (r= -0.438, p=0.000). The present study determined that the caregivers have a moderate caregiver burden and the life satisfaction. And the life satisfaction of caregivers decreased as their caregiver burden increase. In line with the results obtained from the research, it is recommended that to increase the effectiveness of discharge training, to arrange training and counseling programs for caregivers to cope with the problems they experienced, to monitor the caregivers at regular intervals and to provide necessary institutional support.

Keywords: caregiver burden, family caregivers, nurses, satisfaction

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Authors: Lubisi L. V., Madumo M. B., Mudau N. P., Makhuvele L., Sibuyi M. M.

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Background and Aims: Learners with disabilities can be integrated into mainstream schools, whereas there are those learners that are accommodated in special schools based on the support needs they require. These needs, among others, pertain to access to high-intensity therapeutic support by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. However, access to physiotherapists in low- and middle-income countries is limited, and this creates a knowledge gap in identifying, to the best of our knowledge, best practice patterns aligned with physiotherapy at special schools. This gap compromises the quality of support to be rendered towards strengthening rehabilitation and optimising the participation of learners with disabilities in special schools. The aim of the scoping review was to map the evidence on practice patterns employed by physiotherapists at special schools for learners with disabilities. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Key terms regarding physiotherapy practice patterns for learners with disabilities at special schools were used to search the literature on the databases. Literature was sourced from Google Scholar, EBSCO, PEDro, PubMed, and Research Gate from 2013 to 2023. A total of 28 articles were initially retrieved and after a process of screening and exclusion, nine articles were included. All the researchers reviewed the articles for eligibility. Articles were initially screened based on the titles, followed by full text. Articles written in English or translated into English mentioned physical / physiotherapy interventions in special schools, both published and unpublished, were included. A qualitative data extraction template was developed and an inductive approach to thematic data analysis was used for included articles to see which themes emerged. Results: Three themes emerged after inductive thematic data analysis. 1. Collaboration with educators, parents, and therapists 2. Family Centred Approach 3. Telehealth. Conclusion: Collaboration is key in delivering therapeutic support to learners with disabilities at special schools. Physiotherapists need to be collaborators at the level of interprofessional and transprofessional. In addition, they need to explore technology to work remotely, especially when learners become absent physically from school.

Keywords: learners with disabilities, special school, physiotherapists, therapeutic support

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Authors: Prasanna Belur, P. R. Ashwini, Sampath Charanyaa, I. Regupathi

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Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps) are one of the richest and cheapest sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) such as Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The health benefits conferred by n-3 PUFA upon consumption, in the prevention and treatment of coronary, neuromuscular, immunological disorders and allergic conditions are well documented. Natural refined Indian Sardine oil generally contain about 25% (w/w) n-3 PUFA along with various unsaturated and saturated fatty acids in the form of mono, di, and triglycerides. Having high concentration of n-3 PUFA content in the glyceride form is most desirable for human consumption to avail maximum health benefits. Thus, enhancing the n-3 PUFA content while retaining it in the glyceride form with green technology is the need of the hour. In this study, refined Indian Sardine oil was subjected to selective hydrolysis by Candida antartica lipase to enhance n-3 PUFA content. The degree of hydrolysis and enhancement of n-3 PUFA content was estimated by determining acid value, Iodine value, EPA and DHA content (by Gas Chromatographic methods after derivitization) before and after hydrolysis. Various reaction parameters such as pH, temperature, enzyme load, lipid to aqueous phase volume ratio and incubation time were optimized by conducting trials with one parameter at a time approach. Incubating enzyme solution with refined sardine oil with a volume ratio of 1:1, at pH 7.0, for 60 minutes at 50 °C, with an enzyme load of 60 mg/ml was found to be optimum. After enzymatic treatment, the oil was subjected to refining to remove free fatty acids and moisture content using previously optimized refining technology. Enzymatic treatment at the optimal conditions resulted in 12.11 % enhancement in Degree of hydrolysis. Iodine number had increased by 9.7 % and n-3 PUFA content was enhanced by 112 % (w/w). Selective enhancement of n-3 PUFA glycerides, eliminating saturated and unsaturated fatty acids from the oil using enzyme is an interesting preposition as this technique is environment-friendly, cost effective and provide natural source of n-3 PUFA rich oil.

Keywords: Candida antartica, lipase, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, sardine oil

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Authors: Isabel Roiz, Alejandra Cossio

Abstract:

This essay will talk about the problems of forced prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation in the Netherlands. This work conveys information from different sources stating the numbers and statistics of human trafficking throughout Europe and the different types of sexual exploitation as well as the means used for coercing victims into this illegal net. The research aims to inform and compare the way this business is handled and the ways used by criminals to lure and retain victims in spite of the law. It also tries to compare the laws in the Netherlands and Sweden regarding prostitution affects the illegal migration problems and how they change the ways those who work as prostitutes are treated. The aim of the paper is to take all of these aspects into consideration and reach a decision of what laws would most beneficiate the victims.

Keywords: human trafficking, prostitution, laws of migration, Amsterdam

Procedia PDF Downloads 336

Authors: Sze Ming Yau

Abstract:

Social worker-client interacting experience is scarcely studied in Hong Kong. Through this qualitative study, the experiences of Hong Kong social work practitioners in relating with clients provide new insights on social worker training and development. Thematic analysis is applied to examine the data collected by in-depth interviews with six local social work practitioners. The results show all practitioners have experienced both positive and challenging situations during the relating process. Their reactions either facilitate or hinder the process. Most of the practitioners’ strong reactions can be accounted for by using the concept of countertransference reactions during the interview session with clients. Moreover, they also have rarely reviewed the implications of those reactions after the session. In addition to countertransference, the self-expectation of practitioners also influences the relating process. Their self-expectations of being capable to help lead to anxiety. Though countertransference and anxiety of practitioners significantly influence the relating process, the practitioners do not adequately address personal issues and anxiety. Enhancing case conceptualization ability is their major coping strategy. The study has implications, including enhancement of social work training, workplace support, practitioner’s self-reflection, and integration of theory and practice.

Keywords: coping, countertransference, reactions, relating process, social workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Arlene Caney, Linda Fellag

Abstract:

To counter the adverse effect of Covid-19 on college student success, two faculty members at a US community college have used web-based assessment data to improve curricula and, thus, student outcomes. This case study exemplifies how “closing the loop” by analyzing outcome assessments in real time can improve student learning for academically underprepared students struggling during the pandemic. The purpose of the study was to develop ways to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 on student success of underprepared college students. Using the Assessment, Evaluation, Feedback and Intervention System (AEFIS) and other assessment tools provided by the college’s Office of Institutional Research, an English professor and a Music professor collected data in skill areas related to their curricula over four semesters, gaining insight into specific course sections and learners’ performance across different Covid-driven course formats—face-to-face, hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous. Real-time data collection allowed faculty to shorten and close the assessment loop, and prompted faculty to enhance their curricula with engaging material, student-centered activities, and a variety of tech tools. Frequent communication, individualized study, constructive criticism, and encouragement were among other measures taken to enhance teaching and learning. As a result, even while student success rates were declining college-wide, student outcomes in these faculty members’ asynchronous and synchronous online classes improved or remained comparable to student outcomes in hybrid and face-to-face sections. These practices have demonstrated that even high-risk students who enter college with remedial level language and mathematics skills, interrupted education, work and family responsibilities, and language and cultural diversity can maintain positive outcomes in college across semesters, even during the pandemic.

Keywords: AEFIS, assessment, distance education, institutional research center

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Saeed Saffar-Heidari

Abstract:

This article aims to study the recent Iranian national uprising of “Women, Life, Freedom” as a site of memory which renders the political possibility of imagining the post-Islamic futures in Iran. “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran has been arguably the most pervasive social movement since the Islamic Revolution (1979) as it has posed serious issues and conflicts for the present Islamic state in Iran. The core argument of this article, however, is oriented toward the critical role of collective memory as a means of political transition and revolutionary mobilization. “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, among other things, has revitalized the popular binary opposition of pre-1979 and post-1979 Iran through which the Ancien Régime or the pre-1979 era is likely to be interpreted, read, and remembered in terms of present post-1979 cultural and political demands. As remembering involves everyday participation in shaping and reshaping the past through new codes, criteria, and values, it is argued that the presentist refashioning and remembering of the pre-1979 monarchical era has been one of the major facilitatory forces for the on-going revolutionary mobilization in Iran. The construction of the pre-1979 memory and the return of the dynastic specter has played a significant role in revolutionary mobilization as it has provided the protesters with the possible perspectives of post-Islamic regime in Iran. Additionally, the question of compulsory “Hijab” (veiling) as the prime mover of "Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran has strongly contributed to the everyday comparative discourse of pre/post 1979 memory. According to this presentist remembering of pre-1979, the Pahlavi dynasty would be conceived as a symbol of modernization, westernization, secularization, and non-compulsory Hijab. While the memory of the pre-revolutionary Iran is genuinely an imaginative as well as a constructed entity that finally culminates in the public condemnation of the very Islamic revolution (1979), it serves the enrichment of the Iranian political imagination as it paves the ways for the revolutionary mobilization and then the overthrowing of the Islamic regime in Iran. This article makes a case for the ways that the public narrative and discourse around the Islamic regime (especially the Islamic Hijab) led to the refashioning of the memory of pre-1979 era and inspired he revolutionary mobilization in Iran.

Keywords: post-islamic, utopias, memory, revolutionary, mobilization, Iran

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Yuhei Kunihiro, Sorin V. Sabau, Kazuhiro Shibuya

Abstract:

We study the molecular evolution of insulin from the metric geometry point of view. In mathematics, and particularly in geometry, distances and metrics between objects are of fundamental importance. Using a weaker notion than the classical distance, namely the weighted quasi-metrics, one can study the geometry of biological sequences (DNA, mRNA, or proteins) space. We analyze from the geometrical point of view a family of 60 insulin homologous sequences ranging on a large variety of living organisms from human to the nematode C. elegans. We show that the distances between sequences provide important information about the evolution and function of insulin.

Keywords: metric geometry, evolution, insulin, C. elegans

Procedia PDF Downloads 321