Search results for: liveable built environments

Authors: Akbar Rostamabadi, Adel Mazloumi, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani

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This study aimed to determine the Work Ability Index (WAI) and examine the influence of health dimensions and demographic variables on the work ability of Iranian farmers working in small farm enterprises. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 294 male farmers. The WAI and SF-36 questionnaires were used to determine work ability and health status. The effect of demographics variables on the work ability index was investigated with the independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. Also, multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the association between the mean WAI score and the SF-36 scales. The mean WAI score was 35.1 (SD=10.6). One-way ANOVA revealed a significant relationship between the mean WAI and age. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that work ability was more influenced by physical scales of the health dimensions, such as physical function, role-physical, and general health, whereas a lower association was found for mental scales such as mental health. The average WAI was at a moderate work ability level for the sample population of farmers in this study. Based on the WAI guidelines, improvement of work ability and identification of factors affecting it should be considered a priority in interventional programs. Given the influence of health dimensions on WAI, any intervention program for preservation and promotion work ability among the studied farmers should be based on balancing and optimizing the physical and psychosocial work environments, with a special focus on reducing physical work load.

Keywords: farmers, SF-36, Work Ability Index (WAI), Iran

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Authors: Mina Sarabi, Dariush Sattarzadeh, Mitra Asadollahi Oula

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In the old days, gardens reflect the identity and culture of each country. Persian garden in urban planning and architecture has a high position and it is a kind of paradise in Iranian opinion. But nowadays, the gardens were replaced with parks and urban open spaces. On the other hand, due to the industrial development of cities and increasing air pollution in urban environments, living in this spaces make problem for people. And improving ecological conditions will be felt more than ever. The purposes of this study are identification and reproduction of Persian garden pattern and adaptation of it with sustainability features in green spaces in contemporary cities and developing meaningful green spaces instead of designing aimless spaces in urban environment. The research method in this article is analytical and descriptive. Studying and collecting information about Iranian garden pattern is referring to library documents, articles and analysis case studies. The result reveals that Persian garden was the main factor the bond between man and nature. But in the last century, this relationship is in trouble. It has a significant impact in reducing the adverse effects of urban air pollution, noise and etc as well. Nowadays, recreated pattern of Iranian gardens in urban green spaces not only keep Iranian identity for future generations but also, using the principles of sustainability can play an important role in sustainable development and quality space of a city.

Keywords: green open spaces, nature, Persian garden, urban sustainability

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Authors: Sukhbaatar Dorj, Erdenebaatar Altangerel

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As alternative to existing e-government measuring models, here proposed a new customer centric, service oriented, simple approach for measuring countries e-Governments. If successfully implemented, built infrastructure will provide a single e-government index number for countries. Main schema is as follows. Country CIO or equal position government official, at the beginning of each year will provide to United Nations dedicated web site 4 numbers on behalf of own country: 1) Ratio of available online public services, to total number of public services, 2) Ratio of interagency inter ministry online public services to total number of available online public services, 3) Ratio of total number of citizen and business entities served online annually to total number of citizen and business entities served annually online and physically on those services, 4) Simple index for geographical spread of online served citizen and business entities. 4 numbers then combined into one index number by mathematical Average function. In addition to 4 numbers 5th number can be introduced as service quality indicator of online public services. If in ordering of countries index number is equal, 5th criteria will be used. Notice: This approach is for country’s current e-government achievement assessment, not for e-government readiness assessment.

Keywords: countries e-government index, e-government, infrastructure for measuring e-government, measuring e-government

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Wai-Ming Ng

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Nowadays Umeya Shokichi has been commonly regarded as the symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship and a close friend of Sun Yatsen. The images of Umeya have been largely built on contemporary political needs rather than historical sources. Based on Japanese and Chinese primary sources, this paper will challenge existing views of Umeya Shokichi in regard to his role in the 1911 Revolution and his relationship with Sun Yatsen. The study of Umeya Shokichi is handicapped by the accessibility and creditability of primary sources. Records of Umeya are largely kept in his family collection. Scholars are relatively difficult to get access to these materials. In addition, Umeya’s records can hardly be cross-checked as he is seldom mentioned in the writings of Sun Yatsen, Miyazaki Toten, James Cantlie and others. Heretofore, studies about Umeya are few and most are not critical enough to provide a balanced historical account of Umeya. This article will reexamine the role of Umeya Shokichi in the 1911 Revolution by highlighting his relationship with Sun Yatsen in Hong Kong from 1886 to 1911. It demonstrates that the role of Umeya in the 1911 Revolution and his relationship with Sun Yatsen are exaggerated by Chinese and Japanese officials as well as Umeya’s family members. The fact is that Sun did not play a direct role in the 1911 Revolution, not to mention his sponsors. To Sun, Umeya was perhaps merely one of his many sponsors rather than an intimate friend. This study will be a thought-provoking and iconoclast piece of scholarship based on critical reading of primary sources.

Keywords: Umeya Shokichi, Sun Yatsen, 1911 Revolution, Sino-Japanese friendship

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Md. Shakhawat Ullah Chowdhury

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Mobile school is an innovative methodology in non-formal education to increase access to education for children during conflict through theatre for education for appropriate basic education to children during conflict. The continuous exposure to harsh environments and the nature of the lifestyles of children in conflict make them vulnerable. However, the mobile school initiative takes into consideration the mobile lifestyle of children in conflict. Schools are provided considering the pocket area of the street children with portable chalkboards, tin of books and materials as communities move. Teaching is multi-grade to ensure all children in the community benefit. The established mobile schools, while focused on basic literacy and numeracy skills according to traditions of the communities. The school teachers are selected by the community and trained by a theatre activist. These teachers continue to live and move with the community and provide continuous education for children in conflict. The model proposed a holistic team work to deliver education focused services to the street children’s pocket area where the team is mobile. The team consists of three members –an educator (theatre worker), a psychological counsellor and paramedics. The mobile team is responsible to educate street children and also play dramas which specially produce on the basis of national curriculum and awareness issues for street children. Children enjoy play and learn about life skills and basic literacy and numeracy skills which may be a pillar of humanitarian aid during conflict.

Keywords: vulnerable, children in conflict, mobile schooling, child-friendly

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Authors: Hanjie Xie, Raphael Semiat, Ziyi Zhong

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It is well known that many oxidation reactions in nature are closely related to the origin and life activities. One of the features of these natural reactions is that they can proceed under mild conditions employing the oxidant of molecular oxygen (O₂) in the air and enzymes as catalysts. Catalysis is also a necessary part of life for human beings, as many chemical and pharmaceutical industrial processes need to use catalysts. However, most heterogeneous catalytic reactions must be run at high operational reaction temperatures and pressures. It is not strange that, in recent years, research interest has been redirected to green catalysis, e.g., trying to run catalytic reactions under relatively mild conditions as much as possible, which needs to employ green solvents, green oxidants such O₂, particularly air, and novel catalysts. This work reports the efficient binary Fe-Mn metal oxide catalysts for low-temperature formaldehyde (HCHO) oxidation, a toxic pollutant in the air, particularly in indoor environments. We prepared a series of nanosized FeMn oxide catalysts and found that when the molar ratio of Fe/Mn = 1:1, the catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity. At room temperature, we realized the complete oxidation of HCHO on this catalyst for 20 h with a high GHSV of 150 L g⁻¹ h⁻¹. After a systematic investigation of the catalyst structure and the reaction, we identified the reaction intermediates, including dioxymethylene, formate, carbonate, etc. It is found that the oxygen vacancies and the derived active oxygen species contributed to this high-low-temperature catalytic activity. These findings deepen the understanding of the catalysis of these binary Fe-Mn metal oxide catalysts.

Keywords: oxygen vacancy, catalytic oxidation, binary transition oxide, formaldehyde

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Authors: Thanduxolo Nomngcoyiya, Simon M. Kang’ethe

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The paper aimed to critically analyse gaps pertaining to the cultural policy environments governing traditional male circumcision in the Eastern Cape as exemplified by an empirical case study. The original study which this paper is derived from utilized qualitative paradigm; and encompassed 28 participants. It used in-depth one-on-one interviews complemented by focus group discussions and key informants as a method of data collection. It also adopted interview guide as a data collection instrument. The original study was cross-sectional in nature, and the data was audio recorded and transcribed later during the data analysis and coding process. The study data analysis was content thematic analysis and identified the following key major findings on the culture of male circumcision policy: Lack of clarity on culture of male circumcision policy operations; Myths surrounding procedures on culture of male circumcision; Divergent views on cultural policies between government and male circumcision custodians; Unclear cultural policies on selection criteria of practitioners; and Lack of policy enforcement and implementation on transgressors of culture of male circumcision. It recommended: a stringent selection criteria of practitioners; a need to carry out death-free male circumcision; a need for male circumcision stakeholders to work with other culture and tradition-friendly stakeholders.

Keywords: human rights, policy enforcement, traditional male circumcision, traditional surgeons and nurses

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Authors: E. Montesinos-Pedro, L. G. Toscano-Flores, N. Domínguez-Ramírez

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Water scarcity is a worldwide issue, coupled with climate change is a relevant problem, that affect not only large cities, but also rural areas. The Municipality of Santiago Tilantongo belongs to the district of Nochixtlán Oaxaca, it’s built up from 14 communities, one of them San Martin de las Palmas. This community was founded in 1900, at that time the inhabitants were supplied with water through rivers of the region which were abundant (they used containers filled in the river for that purpose); However, over the years the level of the rivers began to drop and in 1994 specific wells were located to store water and at the same time make it drinkable, this whit support of the state of Oaxaca and the program Procampo. By the year 2000 the shortage of water in the supply sources was notorious, the community requested support from the Oaxaca State government to solve the problem. The government’s response consisted in the implementation of ferro-cement tanks (2005) and water wells (2010), both for rainwater collection, Hower, it was not enough. Now days the community has a population of 60 inhabitants who have resisted and adapted to water scarcity, not only with the programs implemented by the government, but they also have implemented important structural analysis strategies. The objective of this research is to know the adaptation strategies used by the community to analyze them and propose improvements for water conservation and mitigation of this scarcity.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, mitigation, resiliencia

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Authors: Dhanpat Singh Dhania

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Kurma-avatara and the Kachchhapraj is the name of the same person. Tortoise is called Kurma in Kerma valley (Nubia) and also called Kachchhap in India. Wherever a culture migrates, its faiths and beliefs remain intact. The tortoise culture of Kurma valley migrated to Dholavira, and its cultural symbolism remained the same as Kurma, the tortoise. Culture is known by burial traditions, pottery formations, language use, faiths, and beliefs. Following the cultural identification methodology, the Kurma culture buried their dead in circular burials found during excavation at Toshka, Nubia, and built their houses the type of tortoise shell. The Nubian tortoise of a specific species had a triangular on the shell found to be extinct was the cultural symbolism of the culture found on the excavated pottery. Kurma cultural head known as the Seth was known as Kurma-avatara. The Seth of Egypt came to know when the combined efforts of the Seth and the Osiris defeated the Egyptian 1st dynastic rule in about 2775 BCE. Osiris became the king of the 2nd dynastic Egypt. It annoyed Seth. He killed the Osiris and went to Rann of Kachchh and declared him as the Chachchhapraj, the king of Kachchh (now Gujarat, India). The Kurma (Kachchhap) culture migration at Dholavira (Gujarat) attested by the Dholavira signboard found during excavation and deciphered as the ‘Chakradhar’, the eighth incarnation of Kurma-avatara.

Keywords: Kurma, Egyptian, Kachchhap, Dholavira, Harappan

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Authors: Simon Keller, Rainer Mueller

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Continuous range queries are a common means to handle mobile clients in high-density areas. Most existing approaches focus on settings in which the range queries for location-based services are more or less static, whereas the mobile clients in the ranges move. We focus on a category called dynamic real-time range queries (DRRQ), assuming that both, clients requested by the query and the inquirers, are mobile. In consequence, the query parameters and the query results continuously change. This leads to two requirements: the ability to deal with an arbitrarily high number of mobile nodes (scalability) and the real-time delivery of range query results. In this paper, we present the highly decentralized solution adaptive quad streaming (AQS) for the requirements of DRRQs. AQS approximates the query results in favor of a controlled real-time delivery and guaranteed scalability. While prior works commonly optimize data structures on the involved servers, we use AQS to focus on a highly distributed cell structure without data structures automatically adapting to changing client distributions. Instead of the commonly used request-response approach, we apply a lightweight streaming method in which no bidirectional communication and no storage or maintenance of queries are required at all.

Keywords: approximation of client distributions, continuous spatial range queries, mobile objects, streaming-based decentralization in spatial mobile environments

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Authors: Gabriela V. Angeles Perez, Jose Castillejos Lopez, Araceli L. Reyes Cabello, Emilio Bravo Grajales, Adriana Perez Espinosa, Jose L. Quiroz Fabian

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Road traffic accidents are among the principal causes of traffic congestion, causing human losses, damages to health and the environment, economic losses and material damages. Studies about traditional road traffic accidents in urban zones represents very high inversion of time and money, additionally, the result are not current. However, nowadays in many countries, the crowdsourced GPS based traffic and navigation apps have emerged as an important source of information to low cost to studies of road traffic accidents and urban congestion caused by them. In this article we identified the zones, roads and specific time in the CDMX in which the largest number of road traffic accidents are concentrated during 2016. We built a database compiling information obtained from the social network known as Waze. The methodology employed was Discovery of knowledge in the database (KDD) for the discovery of patterns in the accidents reports. Furthermore, using data mining techniques with the help of Weka. The selected algorithms was the Maximization of Expectations (EM) to obtain the number ideal of clusters for the data and k-means as a grouping method. Finally, the results were visualized with the Geographic Information System QGIS.

Keywords: data mining, k-means, road traffic accidents, Waze, Weka

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Authors: Mohammadreza Ashouria, Majid Motamedzadeb

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Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and Quick Exposure Check (QEC) are two general methods to assess the risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). This study aimed to compare ergonomic risk assessment outputs from QEC and REBA in terms of agreement in distribution of postural loading scores based on analysis of working postures. This cross-sectional study was conducted in an engine oil company in which 40 jobs were studied. A trained occupational health practitioner observed all jobs. Job information was collected to ensure the completion of ergonomic risk assessment tools, including QEC, and REBA. The result revealed that there was a significant correlation between final scores (r=0.731) and the action levels (r =0.893) of two applied methods. Comparison between the action levels and final scores of two methods showed that there was no significant difference among working departments. Most of the studied postures acquired low and moderate risk level in QEC assessment (low risk=20%, moderate risk=50% and High risk=30%) and in REBA assessment (low risk=15%, moderate risk=60% and high risk=25%).There is a significant correlation between two methods. They have a strong correlation in identifying risky jobs and determining the potential risk for incidence of WMSDs. Therefore, there is a possibility for researchers to apply interchangeably both methods, for postural risk assessment in appropriate working environments.

Keywords: observational method, QEC, REBA, musculoskeletal disorders

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Authors: F. Esfandyari Darabad, Z. Samadi

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Natural environments have always been affected by one of the most important natural hazards, which is called, the mass movements that cause instability. Identifying the unstable regions and separating them so as to detect and determine the risk of environmental factors is one of the important issues in mountainous areas development. In this study, the northwest of Sabalan hillsides overlooking the Meshkin city and the surrounding area of that have been delimitated, in order to analyze the range processes such as landslides and debris flows based on structural and geomorphological conditions, by means of using GIS. This area due to the high slope of the hillsides and height of the region and the poor localization of roads and so because of them destabilizing the ranges own an inappropriate situation. This study is done with the purpose of identifying the effective factors in the range motion and determining the areas with high potential for zoning these movements by using GIS. The results showed that the most common range movements in the area, are debris flows, rocks falling and landslides. The effective factors in each one of the mass movements, considering a small amount of weight for each factor, the weight map of each factor and finally, the map of risk zoning for the range movements were provided. Based on the zoning map resulted in the study area, the risking level of damaging has specified into the four zones of very high risk, high risk, medium risk, low risk, in which areas with very high and high risk are settled near the road and along the Khyav river and in the  mountainous district.

Keywords: debris flow, environmental hazards, GIS, landslide

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Authors: Luz-Marina Roberts, Ancil Kirk, Aisha Donaldson, Anya Seepaul, Jade Lakhan, Shianna Tikasingh

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Climate change has produced a crisis that particularly threatens small island states in the Caribbean. Developers and climate enthusiasts alike are now forced to find new and sustainable ways of building. Focus on existing buildings is particularly needed in Trinidad and Tobago, like other islands, especially as these countries are vulnerable to climate threats and geographic locations with close proximity to a hurricane. Additionally, since many colonial-era style buildings still exist, the idea that they are energy inefficient is at the forefront of the work of policy-makers. The question that remains is can these buildings be retrofitted to reflect the modern era while considering climate resilience. This paper aims to investigate the energy efficiency of colonial-era buildings in Port of Spain and whether these buildings in Trinidad and Tobago, if found to be energy inefficient, can be more energy efficient and sustainable. This involves collecting surveys from building management in colonial-era buildings and researching literature on colonial architecture in the Caribbean and modern innovations in green building designs. Additionally, the data and experiences from the Town and Country Planning Division in the Ministry of Planning and Development of Trinidad and Tobago will inform the paper. This research will aid in re-envisioning how green infrastructure can be applied to urban environments with older buildings and help inform planning policy as it relates to sustainability and energy efficiency.

Keywords: spatial planning, climate resilience, energy efficiency, sustainable development

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Authors: Suzanne Ahmed

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Nanomotors, also commonly referred to as nanorobotics or nanomachines, have garnered considerable research attention due to their numerous potential applications in biomedicine, including drug delivery and microsurgery. Nanomotors typically consist of inorganic or polymeric particles that are powered to undergo motion. These artificial, man-made nanoscale motors operate in the low Reynolds number regime and typically have no moving parts. Several methods have been developed to actuate the motion of nanomotors including magnetic fields, electrical fields, electromagnetic waves, and chemical fuel. Since their introduction in 2012, ultrasonically powered nanomotors have been explored in biocompatible fluids and even within living cells. Due to the common use of ultrasound within the biomedical community for both imaging and therapeutics, the introduction of ultrasonically propelled nanomotors holds significant potential for biomedical applications. In this work, metallic nanomotors are electrochemically plated within porous anodic alumina templates to have a diameter of 300 nm and a length that is 2-4 µm. Nanomotors are placed within an acoustic chamber capable of producing bulk acoustic waves in the ultrasonic range. The motion of nanomotors within biomimetic confines is explored. The control over nanomotor motion is exerted by virtue of the properties of the acoustic signal within these biomimetic confines to control speed, modes of motion and directionality of motion. To expand the range of control over nanorod motion within biomimetic confines, external forces from biocompatible magnetic fields, are exerted onto the acoustically propelled nanomotors.

Keywords: nanomotors, nanomachines, nanorobots, ultrasound

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Authors: Yue Shuai Zhao, Rong Ping Shao, Wei Sun, Guo Hua Ren, Yong Wang, Li Chen Sun

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A large-scale cryopump (DN1250) used in large vacuum leak detecting system was designed and its performance experimentally investigated by Beijing Institute of Spacecraft Environment Engineering. The cryopump was cooled by four closed cycle helium refrigerators (two dual stage refrigerators and two single stage refrigerators). Detailed numerical analysis of the heat transfer in the first stage array and the second stage array were performed by using computational fluid dynamic method (CFD). Several design parameters were considered to find the effect on the temperature distribution and the cooldown time. The variation of thermal conductivity and heat capacity with temperature was taken into account. The thermal analysis method based on numerical techniques was introduced in this study, the heat transfer in the first stage array and the second stage cryopanel was carefully analyzed to determine important considerations in the thermal design of the cryopump. A performance test system according to the RNEUROP standards was built to test main performance of the cryopump. The experimental results showed that the structure of first stage array which was optimized by the method could meet the requirement of the cryopump well. The temperature of the cryopanel was down to 10K within 300 min, and the result of the experiment was accordant with theoretical analysis' conclusion. The test also showed that the pumping speed for N2 of the pump was up to 57,000 L/s, and the crossover was over than 300,000 Pa•L.

Keywords: cryopump, temperature distribution, thermal analysis, CFD Simulation

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Authors: Mohd Aftar Abu Bakar, Noratiqah Mohd Ariff, Abdul Aziz Jemain

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Storm Event Analysis (SEA) provides a method to define rainfalls events as storms where each storm has its own amount and duration. By modelling daily probability of different types of storms, the onset, offset and cycle of rainfall seasons can be determined and investigated. Furthermore, researchers from the field of meteorology will be able to study the dynamical characteristics of rainfalls and make predictions for future reference. In this study, four categories of storms; short, intermediate, long and very long storms; are introduced based on the length of storm duration. Daily probability models of storms are built for these four categories of storms in Peninsular Malaysia. The models are constructed by using Bernoulli distribution and by applying linear regression on the first Fourier harmonic equation. From the models obtained, it is found that daily probability of storms at the Eastern part of Peninsular Malaysia shows a unimodal pattern with high probability of rain beginning at the end of the year and lasting until early the next year. This is very likely due to the Northeast monsoon season which occurs from November to March every year. Meanwhile, short and intermediate storms at other regions of Peninsular Malaysia experience a bimodal cycle due to the two inter-monsoon seasons. Overall, these models indicate that Peninsular Malaysia can be divided into four distinct regions based on the daily pattern for the probability of various storm events.

Keywords: daily probability model, monsoon seasons, regions, storm events

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Authors: Youngmok Yun, Bosung Kim, Sungho Lee, Kyeongsu Jeon, Hyunwook Hwangbo, Byounggun Choi

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A betavoltaic battery converts nuclear energy released as beta particles (β-) directly into electrical energy. Betavoltaic cells are analogous to photovoltaic cells. The beta particle’s kinetic energy enters a p-n junction and creates electron-hole pairs. Subsequently, the built-in potential of the p-n junction accelerates the electrons and ions to their respective collectors. The major challenges are electrical conversion efficiencies and exact evaluation. In this study, the performance of betavoltaic battery was evaluated. The betavoltaic cell was evaluated in the same condition as radiation from radioactive isotope using by FE-SEM(field emission scanning electron microscope). The average energy of the radiation emitted from the Ni-63 radioisotope is 17.42 keV. FE-SEM is capable of emitting an electron beam of 1-30keV. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate betavoltaic cell without radioactive isotopes. The betavoltaic battery consists of radioisotope that is physically connected on the surface of Si-based PN diode. The performance of betavoltaic battery can be estimated by the efficiency of PN diode unit cell. The current generated by scanning electron microscope with fixed accelerating voltage (17keV) was measured by using faraday cup. Electrical characterization of the p-n junction diode was performed by using Nano Probe Work Station and I-V measurement system. The output value of the betavoltaic cells developed by this research team was 0.162 μw/cm2 and the efficiency was 1.14%.

Keywords: betavoltaic, nuclear, battery, Ni-63, radio-isotope

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Authors: Paul Dunst, Ing. Tobias Hemsel, Ing. Habil. Walter Sextro

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The use of fine powders with high cohesive and adhesive properties leads to challenges during transport, mixing and dosing in industrial processes, which have not been satisfactorily solved so far. Due to the increased contact forces at the transporting parts (e. g. pipe-wall and transport screws), conventional transport systems and also vibratory conveyors reach their limits. Often, flowability increasing additives that need to be removed again in later process steps are the only option to achieve wanted transport results. A rather new ultrasound-assisted powder transport system showed to overcome some of the issues by manipulating the effective friction between powder and transport pipe. Within this contribution, the transport mechanism will be introduced shortly, together with preliminary transport results. As the tangential force of the transport pipe and the powder is the main influencing factor within the transport process, a test stand for measuring tangential forces of a powder-wall contact in the presence of an ultrasonic vibration orthogonal to the contact plane was built. Measurements for a sample powder show that the effective tangential force can already be significantly reduced at very low ultrasonic amplitude. As a result of the measurements, an empirical model for the relationship of tangential force, contact parameters and ultrasonic excitation is presented. This model was used to adjust the driving parameters of the powder transport system, resulting in better performance.

Keywords: powder transport, ultrasound, friction, friction manipulation, vibratory conveyor

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Authors: Emmanuel Osaze Oshoiribhor, Adetokunbo MacGregor John-Otumu

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In recent years, there has been a desire to forecast student academic achievement prior to graduation. This is to help them improve their grades, particularly for individuals with poor performance. The goal of this study is to employ supervised learning techniques to construct a predictive model for student academic achievement. Many academics have already constructed models that predict student academic achievement based on factors such as smoking, demography, culture, social media, parent educational background, parent finances, and family background, to name a few. This feature and the model employed may not have correctly classified the students in terms of their academic performance. This model is built using a logistic regression classifier with basic features such as the previous semester's course score, attendance to class, class participation, and the total number of course materials or resources the student is able to cover per semester as a prerequisite to predict if the student will perform well in future on related courses. The model outperformed other classifiers such as Naive bayes, Support vector machine (SVM), Decision Tree, Random forest, and Adaboost, returning a 96.7% accuracy. This model is available as a desktop application, allowing both instructors and students to benefit from user-friendly interfaces for predicting student academic achievement. As a result, it is recommended that both students and professors use this tool to better forecast outcomes.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, ML, logistic regression, performance, prediction

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Authors: Rachel M. Lørum, Henrik Eriksson, Frida Smith

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Purpose: In recent years, the use of benchmarks for the improvement of healthcare has become increasingly common. There has been an increasing interest in why improvement initiatives so often fail to eliminate the problems they aspire to solve. Benchmarking comes with its fair share of challenges and problems, such as capturing the dynamics and complexities of the care environments, among others. In this study, we demonstrate how learning-oriented, voluntary benchmarks in the complex environment of public healthcare could be designed. Findings: Our four most important findings were the following: first, important organizational learning (OL) regarding the complexity of the service and implications on how to design a benchmark for learning and improvement occurred during the process. Second, participation by a wide range of professionals and stakeholders was crucial for capturing the complexity of people and organizations and increasing the quality of the template. Third, the continuous dialogue between all organizations involved was an important tool for ongoing organizational learning throughout the process. The last important finding was the impact of the facilitator’s role through supporting progress, coordination, and dialogue. Design: We chose participatory design as the research design. Data were derived from written materials such as e-mails, protocols, observational notes, and reflection notes collected during a period of 1.5 years. Originality: Our main contributions are the identification of important strategies, initiatives, and actors to involve when designing voluntary benchmarks for learning and improvement.

Keywords: organizational learning, quality improvement, learning-oriented benchmark, healthcare, patient safety

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Authors: Mario A. Blanco, Nicholas Burkhardt

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An important problem in satellite communication systems which operate in the Ka and EHF frequency bands consists of the overall degradation in link performance of mobile terminals due to various types of degradations in the link/channel, such as fading, blockage of the link to the satellite (especially in urban environments), intentional as well as other types of interference, etc. In this paper, we focus primarily on the interference problem, and we develop a very efficient and cost-effective solution based on the use of fountain codes. We first introduce a satellite communications (SATCOM) terminal uplink interference channel model that is classically used against communication systems that use spread-spectrum waveforms. We then consider the use of fountain codes, with focus on Raptor codes, as our main mitigation technique to combat the degradation in link/receiver performance due to the interference signal. The performance of the receiver is obtained in terms of average probability of bit and message error rate as a function of bit energy-to-noise density ratio, Eb/N0, and other parameters of interest, via a combination of analysis and computer simulations, and we show that the use of fountain codes is extremely effective in overcoming the effects of intentional interference on the performance of the receiver and associated communication links. We then show this technique can be extended to mitigate other types of SATCOM channel degradations, such as those caused by channel fading, shadowing, and hard-blockage of the uplink signal.

Keywords: SATCOM, interference mitigation, fountain codes, turbo codes, cross-layer

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Authors: Charles L. Sigmund, M. A. Aed, Lissa Graciela Rivera Picado

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One critical component of the training development process is the evaluation of the impact and value of the program. Oftentimes, however, learning organizations bypass this phase either because they are unfamiliar with effective methods for measuring the success or effect of the training or because they believe the effort to be too time-consuming or cumbersome. As a result, most organizations that do conduct evaluation limit their scope to Kirkpatrick L1 (reaction) and L2 (learning), or at most carry through to L4 (results). In 2021 Microsoft made a strategic decision to assess the measurable and monetized impact for all training launches and designed a scalable and program-agnostic tool for providing full-scale L5 return on investment (ROI) estimates for each. In producing this measurement tool, the learning and development organization built a framework for making business prioritizations and resource allocations that is based on the projected ROI of a course. The analysis and measurement posed by this process use a combination of training data and operational metrics to calculate the effective net benefit derived from a given training effort. Business experts in the learning field generally consider a 10% ROI to be an outstanding demonstration of the value of a project. Initial findings from this work applied to a critical customer-facing program yielded an estimated ROI of more than 49%. This information directed the organization to make a more concerted and concentrated effort in this specific line of business and resulted in additional investment in the training methods and technologies being used.

Keywords: evaluation, measurement, return on investment, value

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Authors: Javier A. Maldonado E., Duvert A. Puentes T., Diego F. Villegas B.

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The SLAP lesion (Superior Labral Anterior to Posterior) involves the labrum, causing pain and mobility problems in the glenohumeral joint. This injury is common in athletes practicing sports that requires throwing or those who receive traumatic impacts on the shoulder area. This paper determines the biomechanical behavior of soft tissues of the glenohumeral joint when type II SLAP lesion is present. This pathology is characterized for a tear in the superior labrum which is simulated in a 3D model of the shoulder joint. A 3D model of the glenohumeral joint was obtained using the free software Slice. Then, a Finite Element analysis was done using a general purpose software which simulates a compression test with external rotation. First, a validation was done assuming a healthy joint shoulder with a previous study. Once the initial model was validated, a lesion of the labrum built using a CAD software and the same test was done again. The results obtained were stress and strain distribution of the synovial capsule and the injured labrum. ANOVA was done for the healthy and injured glenohumeral joint finding significant differences between them. This study will help orthopedic surgeons to know the biomechanics involving this type of lesion and also the other surrounding structures affected by loading the injured joint.

Keywords: biomechanics, computational model, finite elements, glenohumeral joint, superior labral anterior to posterior lesion

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Authors: Chrysanthi Nega, Fotini-Sonia Apergi

Abstract:

Child sexual abuse (CSA) in Greece is a highly prevalent phenomenon and yet remains largely underreported. CSA can negatively impact cognitive, emotional and psychosocial development, as well as personality formation and capacity for initiation and maintenance of healthy interpersonal relationships. It is particularly important for school-based prevention programs to be implemented early in elementary school, as they are reportedly effective in lowering abuse incidences and providing knowledge for coping in threatening environments. The purpose of the current study was to test the effectiveness of a school-based CSA prevention program (Safe-Touches) on Greek elementary school students (grades 1-3, N=272) and explore the effect of age and time of testing (academic term). There was a significant effect of age in the knowledge of Inappropriate Touch, when comparing pre and post-intervention assessments, with third graders showing greatest gains in knowledge, followed by second and first graders. Time of testing during the academic year also had a significant effect, as first graders tested later in the school year, scored higher on knowledge of Inappropriate Touch. The findings of the current study provide insight into the optimal timing to implement CSA prevention programs. Exposure to such programs and incorporation in the school curricula could largely benefit children of the Greek community in terms of safety and awareness.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, Safe-Touches, school-based prevention, schooling

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Authors: Kwadwo Afari Gyan

Abstract:

Cities are growing at unprecedented levels. Meanwhile, governments in the Global South are already overwhelmed by this growth and are unable to provide infrastructure proactively as expected. As a result, urban residents resort to providing their own infrastructure, such as drainage systems, as part of self-built housing development. Their small-scale, incremental housing practices, which often represent the formation of dense and diverse housing types, styles, and ages, have been identified to affect the planning of drainage systems at the regional scale. Such developments reflect the varied, affordable responses as part of a collective effort to curb regional problems, specifically flooding in this case. However, while some are included in this collective action, others are excluded as they are unable to afford to be included. This phenomenon, in addition to the formation of new autonomous localities, has led to challenges in mitigating flooding and has affected resilience to climate change. Using a qualitative approach, this paper explores how the mismatch between housing development, which occurs at an individual scale, and drainage infrastructure, which is provided at a regional scale, affects a regional effort to mitigate flooding in Tema, Ghana. It seeks to explore and reveal a relationship between affordability and inclusiveness. It also explores how density and diversity influence public infrastructure provision and their connection with affordability.

Keywords: climate change, affordability, inclusivity, equity, contextualization, regionalism

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Authors: Yih-Chien Chen, Yue-Xuan Du, Min-Zhe Weng

Abstract:

Carbon monoxide is a substance produced by the incomplete combustion. It is toxic even at concentrations of less than 100ppm. Since it is colorless and odorless, it is difficult to detect. CO sensors have been developed using a variety of physical mechanisms, including semiconductor oxides, solid electrolytes, and organic semiconductors. Many works have focused on using semiconducting sensors composed of sensitive layers such as ZnO, TiO₂, and NiO with high sensitivity for gases. However, these sensors working at high temperatures increased their power consumption. On the other hand, the dielectric resonator (DR) is attractive for gas detection due to its large surface area and sensitivity for external environments. Materials that are to be employed in sensing devices must have a high-quality factor. Numerous researches into the fergusonite-type structure and related ceramic systems have explored. Extensive research into RENbO₄ ceramics has explored their potential application in resonators, filters, and antennas in modern communication systems, which are operated at microwave frequencies. Nd(Ti₀.₅W₀.₅)O₄ ceramics were synthesized herein using the conventional mixed-oxide method. The Nd(Ti₀.₅W₀.₅)O₄ ceramics were prepared using the conventional solid-state method. Dielectric constants (εᵣ) of 15.4-19.4 and quality factor (Q×f) of 3,600-11,100 GHz were obtained at sintering temperatures in the range 1425-1525°C for 4 h. The dielectric properties of the Nd(Ti₀.₅W₀.₅)O₄ ceramics at microwave frequencies were found to vary with the sintering temperature. For a further understanding of these microwave dielectric properties, they were analyzed by densification, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and by making microstructural observations.

Keywords: dielectric constant, dielectric resonators, sensors, quality factor

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Authors: Jummai Sekinat Seriki-Mosadolorun, Oyebamiji John Okesoto

Abstract:

School-aged children in Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos State, were surveyed to determine their food habits, environmental exposures and nutritional status. The method used in this study was a descriptive survey. A systematic questionnaire and anthropometric measurement scales were utilized to compile the data. Information about the children's environment, diets, and demographics were collected using a questionnaire. The children's Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated using anthropometric measuring scales. The sample size of 400 people was determined by a multi-stage sampling procedure. Chi-square test mean, and Analysis of Variance were used to examine the data. The study's findings suggested that the quality of the children’s natural environments was fairly satisfactory. The youngsters had an unhealthy diet consisting mostly of high-calorie items, including fufu/yam/Eba/pounded yam, biscuits, bread, vegetables, soups, meat, and sweetened drinks. The incidence of malnutrition among school-aged children varied dramatically. The children's environmental quality, eating pattern, and nutritional status were also significantly related to one another (p <0.005). The research came to the conclusion that historic structures should be updated with current technology to promote healthy growth in children, and it suggests that this be done as a matter of strategy.

Keywords: environmental quality, dietary pattern, nutritional status, school-aged children., dietary pattern, school-aged children, nutritional status

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Authors: Berhanu Keno Terfa

Abstract:

To realize the consequences of urbanization, accurate, and up-to-date representation of the urban landscape patterns is critical for urban planners and policymakers. Thus, the study quantitatively characterized the spatiotemporal composition and configuration of the urban landscape and urban expansion process in Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia, form the year 2006 to 2018. The integrated approaches of various sensors satellite data, Spot (2006) and Sentinel 2 (2018) combined with landscape metrics analysis was employed to explore the pattern, process, and overall growth status in the city. The result showed that the built-up area had increased by 62% between 2006 and 2018, at an average annual increment of 3.6%, while the other land covers were lost significantly due to urban expansion. The highest urban expansion has occurred in the northwest direction, whereas the most fragmented landscape pattern was recorded in the west direction. Overall, the analysis showed that Dire Dawa City experienced accelerated urban expansion with a fragmented and complicated spatiotemporal urban landscape patterns, suggesting a strong tendency towards sprawl over the past 12 years. The findings in the study could help planners and policy developers to insight the historical dynamics of the urban region for sustainable development.

Keywords: zonal metrics, multi-temporal, multi-resolution, urban growth, remote sensing data

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Authors: Mst Shapna Akter, Hossain Shahriar

Abstract:

Neural network approaches are machine learning methods used in many domains, such as healthcare and cyber security. Neural networks are mostly known for dealing with image datasets. While training with the images, several fundamental mathematical operations are carried out in the Neural Network. The operation includes a number of algebraic and mathematical functions, including derivative, convolution, and matrix inversion and transposition. Such operations require higher processing power than is typically needed for computer usage. Central Processing Unit (CPU) is not appropriate for a large image size of the dataset as it is built with serial processing. While Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has parallel processing capabilities and, therefore, has higher speed. This paper uses advanced Neural Network techniques such as VGG16, Resnet50, Densenet, Inceptionv3, Xception, Mobilenet, XGBOOST-VGG16, and our proposed models to compare CPU and GPU resources. A system for classifying autism disease using face images of an autistic and non-autistic child was used to compare performance during testing. We used evaluation matrices such as Accuracy, F1 score, Precision, Recall, and Execution time. It has been observed that GPU runs faster than the CPU in all tests performed. Moreover, the performance of the Neural Network models in terms of accuracy increases on GPU compared to CPU.

Keywords: autism disease, neural network, CPU, GPU, transfer learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 97