Search results for: Delphi method in qualitative method

Authors: Dominique Parrish

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Globally, higher education institutions are responsible for the quality assurance and accreditation of their educational programmes (Courses). The primary purpose of these activities is to ensure that the educational standards of the governing higher education authority are met and the quality of the education provided to students is assured. Despite policies and frameworks being established in many countries, to improve the veracity and accountability of quality assurance and accreditation processes, there are reportedly still mistakes, gaps and deficiencies in these processes. An analysis of Australian universities’ quality assurance and accreditation processes noted that significant improvements were needed in managing these processes and ensuring that review recommendations were implemented. It has also been suggested that the following principles are critical for higher education quality assurance and accreditation to be effective and sustainable: academic standards and performance outcomes must be defined, attainable and monitored; those involved in providing the higher education must assume responsibility for the associated quality assurance and accreditation; potential academic risks must be identified and management solutions developed; and the expectations of the public, governments and students should be considered and incorporated into Course enhancements. This phenomenological study, which was conducted in a Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health in an Australian university, sought to systematically and iteratively develop an effective quality assurance and accreditation process that integrated the evidence-based principles of success and promoted meaningful and sustainable change. Qualitative evaluative feedback was gathered, over a period of eleven months (January - November 2014), from faculty staff engaged in the quality assurance and accreditation of forty-eight undergraduate and postgraduate Courses. Reflexive analysis was used to analyse the data and inform ongoing modifications and developments to the assurance and accreditation process as well as the associated supporting resources. The study resulted in the development of a formal quality assurance and accreditation process together with a suite of targeted resources that were identified as critical for success. The research findings also provided some insights into the institutional enablers that were antecedents to successful quality assurance and accreditation processes as well as meaningful change in the educational practices of academics. While longitudinal data will be collected to further assess the value of the assurance and accreditation process on educational quality, early indicators are that there has been a change in the pedagogical perspectives and activities of academic staff and growing momentum to explore opportunities to further enhance and develop Courses. This presentation will explain the formal quality assurance and accreditation process as well as the component parts, which resulted from this study. The targeted resources that were developed will be described, the pertinent factors that contributed to the success of the process will be discussed and early indicators of sustainable academic change as well as suggestions for future research will be outlined.

Keywords: academic standards, quality assurance and accreditation, phenomenological study, process, resources

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Authors: Ngwako Daniel Sebola

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Introductory Statement: Religions are necessary as they offer and teach something to their adherence. People in one religion may not have a complete understanding of the Supreme Being (Deity) in a certain religion other than their own. South Africa, like other countries in the world, consists of various religions, including Christianity. Almost 80% of South African population adheres to the Christian faith, though in different denominations and sects. Each church fulfils spiritual needs that perhaps others cannot fill. African Independent Churches is one of the denominations in the country. These churches arose as a protest to the Western forms and expressions of Christianity. Their major concern was to develop an indigenous expression of Christianity. The relevance of African Independent Churches includes addressing the needs of the people holistically. Controlling diseases was an important aspect of change in different historical periods. Through healing services, leaders of African churches are able to attract many followers. The healing power associated with the founders of many African Initiated Churches leads to people following and respecting them as true leaders within many African communities. Despite its strong points, African Independent Churches, like many others, face a variety of challenges, especially conflicts. Ironically, destructive conflicts resulted in violence.. Such violence demonstrates a lack of informed religious orientation among those concerned. This paper investigates and analyses the causes of conflict and violence in the African Independent Church. The researcher used the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches, in South Africa, as a point of departure. As a solution to curb violence, the researcher suggests useful strategies in handling conflicts. Methodology: Comparative and qualitative approaches have been used as methods of collecting data in this research. The intention is to analyse the similarities and differences of violence among members of the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches. Equally important, the researcher aims to obtain data through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, among others. The researcher aims to interview fifteen individuals from both churches. Finding: Leadership squabbles and power struggle appear to be the main contributing factors of violence in many Independent Churches. Ironically, violence resulted in the loss of life and destruction of properties, like in the case of the Shembe and International Pentecostal Holiness Churches. Violence is an indication that congregations and some leaders have not been properly equipped to deal with conflict. Concluding Statement: Conflict is a common part of every human existence in any given community. The concern is when such conflict becomes contagious; it leads to violence. There is a need to understand consciously and objectively towards devising the appropriate measures to handle the conflict. Conflict management calls for emotional maturity, self-control, empathy, patience, tolerance and informed religious orientation.

Keywords: African, church, religion, violence

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Authors: Lionel Trovalet, Lisa Liu, Dimitri Bigot, Nadia Hammami, Jean-Pierre Habas, Bruno Malet-Damour

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The MCP-iBAT1 project is carried out to study the behavior of Phase Change Materials (PCM) integrated in building envelopes in a tropical environment. Through the phase transitions (melting and freezing) of the material, thermal energy can be absorbed or released. This process enables the regulation of indoor temperatures and the improvement of thermal comfort for the occupants. Most of the commercially available PCMs are more suitable to temperate climates than to tropical climates. The case of Reunion Island is noteworthy as there are multiple micro-climates. This leads to our key question: developing one or multiple bio-based PCMs that cover the thermal needs of the different locations of the island. The present paper focuses on the numerical approach to select the PCM properties relevant to tropical areas. Numerical simulations have been carried out with two softwares: EnergyPlusTM and Isolab. The latter has been developed in the laboratory, with the implicit Finite Difference Method, in order to evaluate different physical models. Both are Thermal Dynamic Simulation (TDS) softwares that predict the building’s thermal behavior with one-dimensional heat transfers. The parameters used in this study are the construction’s characteristics (dimensions and materials) and the environment’s description (meteorological data and building surroundings). The building is modeled in accordance with the experimental setup. It is divided into two rooms, cells A and B, with same dimensions. Cell A is the reference, while in cell B, a layer of commercial PCM (Thermo Confort of MCI Technologies) has been applied to the inner surface of the North wall. Sensors are installed in each room to retrieve temperatures, heat flows, and humidity rates. The collected data are used for the comparison with the numerical results. Our strategy is to implement two similar buildings at different altitudes (Saint-Pierre: 70m and Le Tampon: 520m) to measure different temperature ranges. Therefore, we are able to collect data for various seasons during a condensed time period. The following methodology is used to validate the numerical models: calibration of the thermal and PCM models in EnergyPlusTM and Isolab based on experimental measures, then numerical testing with a sensitivity analysis of the parameters to reach the targeted indoor temperatures. The calibration relies on the past ten months’ measures (from September 2020 to June 2021), with a focus on one-week study on November (beginning of summer) when the effect of PCM on inner surface temperatures is more visible. A first simulation with the PCM model of EnergyPlus gave results approaching the measurements with a mean error of 5%. The studied property in this paper is the melting temperature of the PCM. By determining the representative temperature of winter, summer and inter-seasons with past annual’s weather data, it is possible to build a numerical model of multi-layered PCM. Hence, the combined properties of the materials will provide an optimal scenario for the application on PCM in tropical areas. Future works will focus on the development of bio-based PCMs with the selected properties followed by experimental and numerical validation of the materials. 1Materiaux ´ a Changement de Phase, une innovation pour le B ` ati Tropical

Keywords: energyplus, multi-layer of PCM, phase changing materials, tropical area

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Authors: Emilio Galdeano-Gómez, Juan C. Pérez-Mesa, Laura Piedra-Muñoz, María C. García-Barranco, Jesús Hernández-Rubio

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The situation in which firms engage in simultaneous cooperation and competition with each other is a phenomenon known as co-opetition. This scenario has received increasing attention in business economics and management analyses. In the domain of supply chain networks and for small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, these strategies are of greater relevance given the complex environment of globalization and competition in open markets. These firms face greater challenges regarding technology and access to specific resources due to their limited capabilities and limited market presence. Consequently, alliances and collaborations with both buyers and suppliers prove to be key elements in overcoming these constraints. However, rivalry and competition are also regarded as major factors in successful internationalization processes, as they are drivers for firms to attain a greater degree of specialization and to improve efficiency, for example enabling them to allocate scarce resources optimally and providing incentives for innovation and entrepreneurship. The present work aims to contribute to the literature on SMEs’ internationalization strategies. The sample is constituted by a panel data of marketing firms from the Andalusian food sector and a multivariate regression analysis is developed, measuring variables of co-opetition and international activity. The hierarchical regression equations method has been followed, thus resulting in three estimated models: the first one excluding the variables indicative of channel type, while the latter two include the international retailer chain and wholesaler variable. The findings show that the combination of several factors leads to a complex scenario of inter-organizational relationships of cooperation and competition. In supply chain management analyses, these relationships tend to be classified as either buyer-supplier (vertical level) or supplier-supplier relationships (horizontal level). Several buyers and suppliers tend to participate in supply chain networks, and in which the form of governance (hierarchical and non-hierarchical) influences cooperation and competition strategies. For instance, due to their market power and/or their closeness to the end consumer, some buyers (e.g. large retailers in food markets) can exert an influence on the selection and interaction of several of their intermediate suppliers, thus endowing certain networks in the supply chain with greater stability. This hierarchical influence may in turn allow these suppliers to develop their capabilities (e.g. specialization) to a greater extent. On the other hand, for those suppliers that are outside these networks, this environment of hierarchy, characterized by a “hub firm” or “channel master”, may provide an incentive for developing their co-opetition relationships. These results prove that the analyzed firms have experienced considerable growth in sales to new foreign markets, mainly in Europe, dealing with large retail chains and wholesalers as main buyers. This supply industry is predominantly made up of numerous SMEs, which has implied a certain disadvantage when dealing with the buyers, as negotiations have traditionally been held on an individual basis and in the face of high competition among suppliers. Over recent years, however, cooperation among these marketing firms has become more common, for example regarding R&D, promotion, scheduling of production and sales.

Keywords: co-petition networks, international supply chain, maketing agrifood firms, SMEs strategies

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Authors: Somnath Bhattacharyya

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The mobile adsorbed surface charge on hydrophobic surfaces can modify the velocity slip condition as well as create a Marangoni stress at the interface. The functionalized hydrophobic walls of micro/nanopores, e.g., graphene nanochannels, may possess physio-sorbed ions. The lateral mobility of the physisorbed absorbed ions creates a friction force as well as an electric force, leading to a modification in the velocity slip condition at the hydrophobic surface. In addition, the non-uniform distribution of these surface ions creates a surface tension gradient, leading to a Marangoni stress. The impact of the mobile surface charge on streaming potential and electrochemical energy conversion efficiency in a pressure-driven flow of ionized liquid through the nanopore is addressed. Also, enhanced electro-osmotic flow through the hydrophobic nanochannel is also analyzed. The mean-filed electrokinetic model is modified to take into account the short-range non-electrostatic steric interactions and the long-range Coulomb correlations. The steric interaction is modeled by considering the ions as charged hard spheres of finite radius suspended in the electrolyte medium. The electrochemical potential is modified by including the volume exclusion effect, which is modeled based on the BMCSL equation of state. The electrostatic correlation is accounted for in the ionic self-energy. The extremal of the self-energy leads to a fourth-order Poisson equation for the electric field. The ion transport is governed by the modified Nernst-Planck equation, which includes the ion steric interactions; born force arises due to the spatial variation of the dielectric permittivity and the dielectrophoretic force on the hydrated ions. This ion transport equation is coupled with the Navier-Stokes equation describing the flow of the ionized fluid and the 3fourth-order Poisson equation for the electric field. We numerically solve the coupled set of nonlinear governing equations along with the prescribed boundary conditions by adopting a control volume approach over a staggered grid arrangement. In the staggered grid arrangements, velocity components are stored on the midpoint of the cell faces to which they are normal, whereas the remaining scalar variables are stored at the center of each cell. The convection and electromigration terms are discretized at each interface of the control volumes using the total variation diminishing (TVD) approach to capture the strong convection resulting from the highly enhanced fluid flow due to the modified model. In order to link pressure to the continuity equation, we adopt a pressure correction-based iterative SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations) algorithm, in which the discretized continuity equation is converted to a Poisson equation involving pressure correction terms. Our results show that the physisorbed ions on a hydrophobic surface create an enhanced slip velocity when streaming potential, which enhances the convection current. However, the electroosmotic flow attenuates due to the mobile surface ions.

Keywords: microfluidics, electroosmosis, streaming potential, electrostatic correlation, finite sized ions

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Authors: Charalabos Antonatos, Mariza Panoutsopoulou, Georgios K. Georgakilas, Evangelos Evangelou, Yiannis Vasilopoulos

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The extended tissue damage and severe clinical outcomes of autoimmune diseases, accompanied by the high annual costs to the overall health care system, highlight the need for an efficient therapy. Increasing knowledge over the pathophysiology of specific chronic inflammatory diseases, namely Psoriasis (PsO), Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) consisting of Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC), and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), has provided insights into the underlying mechanisms that lead to the maintenance of the inflammation, such as Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α). Hence, the anti-TNFα biological agents pose as an ideal therapeutic approach. Despite the efficacy of anti-TNFα agents, several clinical trials have shown that 20-40% of patients do not respond to treatment. Nowadays, high-throughput technologies have been recruited in order to elucidate the complex interactions in multifactorial phenotypes, with the most ubiquitous ones referring to transcriptome quantification analyses. In this context, a random effects meta-analysis of available gene expression cDNA microarray datasets was performed between responders and non-responders to anti-TNFα therapy in patients with IBD, PsO, and RA. Publicly available datasets were systematically searched from inception to 10th of November 2020 and selected for further analysis if they assessed the response to anti-TNFα therapy with clinical score indexes from inflamed biopsies. Specifically, 4 IBD (79 responders/72 non-responders), 3 PsO (40 responders/11 non-responders) and 2 RA (16 responders/6 non-responders) datasetswere selected. After the separate pre-processing of each dataset, 4 separate meta-analyses were conducted; three disease-specific and a single combined meta-analysis on the disease-specific results. The MetaVolcano R package (v.1.8.0) was utilized for a random-effects meta-analysis through theRestricted Maximum Likelihood (RELM) method. The top 1% of the most consistently perturbed genes in the included datasets was highlighted through the TopConfects approach while maintaining a 5% False Discovery Rate (FDR). Genes were considered as Differentialy Expressed (DEGs) as those with P ≤ 0.05, |log2(FC)| ≥ log2(1.25) and perturbed in at least 75% of the included datasets. Over-representation analysis was performed using Gene Ontology and Reactome Pathways for both up- and down-regulated genes in all 4 performed meta-analyses. Protein-Protein interaction networks were also incorporated in the subsequentanalyses with STRING v11.5 and Cytoscape v3.9. Disease-specific meta-analyses detected multiple distinct pro-inflammatory and immune-related down-regulated genes for each disease, such asNFKBIA, IL36, and IRAK1, respectively. Pathway analyses revealed unique and shared pathways between each disease, such as Neutrophil Degranulation and Signaling by Interleukins. The combined meta-analysis unveiled 436 DEGs, 86 out of which were up- and 350 down-regulated, confirming the aforementioned shared pathways and genes, as well as uncovering genes that participate in anti-inflammatory pathways, namely IL-10 signaling. The identification of key biological pathways and regulatory elements is imperative for the accurate prediction of the patient’s response to biological drugs. Meta-analysis of such gene expression data could aid the challenging approach to unravel the complex interactions implicated in the response to anti-TNFα therapy in patients with PsO, IBD, and RA, as well as distinguish gene clusters and pathways that are altered through this heterogeneous phenotype.

Keywords: anti-TNFα, autoimmune, meta-analysis, microarrays

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Authors: Sabry A. El Azazy

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The archaeological heritage sites are one of the most important touristic attractions worldwide. Egypt has various archaeological sites and historical locations that are classified within the list of the archaeological heritage destinations in the world, such as Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria, and Sinai. This study focuses on how to manage the archaeological sites and provide them with all services according to the traveler's needs. Tourism management depends on strategic planning for supporting the national economy and sustainable development. Additionally, tourism management has to utilize highly effective standards of security, promotion, advertisement, sales, and marketing while taking into consideration the preservation of monuments. In Egypt, the archaeological heritage sites must be well-managed and protected, which would assist tourism management, especially in times of crisis. Recently, the monumental places and archeological heritage sites were affected by unstable conditions and were threatened. It is essential to focus on preserving our heritage. Moreover, more efforts and cooperation between the tourism organizations and ministry of archaeology have to be done in order to protect the archaeology and promote the tourism industry. Methodology: Qualitative methods have been used as the overall approach to this study. Interviews and observations have provided the researcher with the required in-depth insight to the research subject. The researcher was a lecturer of tourist guidance that allows visiting all historical sites in Egypt. Additionally, the researcher had the privilege to communicate with tourism specialists and attend meetings, conferences, and events that were focused on the research subject. Objectives: The main purpose of the research was gaining information in order to develop theoretical research on how to effectively benefit out of those historical sights both economically and culturally, and pursue further researches and scientific studies to be well-suited for tourism and hospitality sector. The researcher works hard to present further studies in a field related to tourism and archaeological heritage using previous experience. Pursing this course of study enables the researcher to acquire the necessary abilities and competencies to achieve the set goal successfully. Results: The professional tourism management focus on making Egypt one of the most important destinations in the world, and provide the heritage and archaeological sites with all services that will place those locations into the international map of tourism. Tourists interested in visiting Egypt and making tourism flourish supports and strengths Egypt's national economy and the local community, taking into consideration preserving our heritage and archaeology. Conclusions: Egypt has many tourism attractions represented in the heritage, archaeological sites, and touristic places. These places need more attention and efforts to be included in tourism programs and be opened for visitors from all over the world. These efforts will encourage both local and international tourism to see our great civilization and provide different touristic activities.

Keywords: archaeology, archaeological sites, heritage, ministry of archaeology, national economy, touristic attractions, tourism management, tourism organizations

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Authors: Judy M. Obliosca, Olivia Vest, Sandra Poulos, Kelsi Smith, Tammy Ferguson, Abigail Powers Lott, Alicia K. Smith, Yang Xu, Christopher K. Tison

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that people may develop after experiencing traumatic events such as combat, natural disasters, and major emotional challenges. Tragically, the number of military personnel with PTSD correlates directly with the number of veterans who attempt suicide, with the highest rate in the Army. Research has shown epigenetic risks in those who are prone to several psychiatric dysfunctions, particularly PTSD. Once initiated in response to trauma, epigenetic alterations in particular, the DNA methylation in the form of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) alters chromatin structure and represses gene expression. Current methods to detect DNA methylation, such as bisulfite-based genomic sequencing techniques, are laborious and have massive analysis workflow while still having high error rates. A faster and simpler detection method of high sensitivity and precision would be useful in a clinical setting to confirm potential PTSD etiologies, prevent other psychiatric disorders, and improve military health. A nano-enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi)-based assay that simultaneously detects site-specific 5mC base (termed as PTSD base) in methylated genes related to PTSD is being developed. The arrays on a sensing chip were first constructed for parallel detection of PTSD bases using synthetic and genomic DNA (gDNA) samples. For the gDNA sample extracted from the whole blood of a PTSD patient, the sample was first digested using specific restriction enzymes, and fragments were denatured to obtain single-stranded methylated target genes (ssDNA). The resulting mixture of ssDNA was then injected into the assay platform, where targets were captured by specific DNA aptamer probes previously immobilized on the surface of a sensing chip. The PTSD bases in targets were detected by anti-5-methylcytosine antibody (anti-5mC), and the resulting signals were then enhanced by the universal nanoenhancer. Preliminary results showed successful detection of a PTSD base in a gDNA sample. Brighter spot images and higher delta values (control-subtracted reflectivity signal) relative to those of the control were observed. We also implemented the in-house surface activation system for detection and developed SPRi disposable chips. Multiplexed PTSD base detection of target methylated genes in blood DNA from PTSD patients of severity conditions (asymptomatic and severe) was conducted. This diagnostic capability being developed is a platform technology, and upon successful implementation for PTSD, it could be reconfigured for the study of a wide variety of neurological disorders such as traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and Huntington's disease and can be extended to the analyses of other sample matrices such as urine and saliva.

Keywords: epigenetic assay, DNA methylation, PTSD, whole blood, multiplexing

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Authors: Raheel Shakoor Siddiqui, Shahbaz Malik, Manikandar Srinivas Cheruvu, Sanjay Narayana Murthy, Livio DiMascio

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Background: elderly traumatic hip fracture patients frequently present to trauma services globally. Rising low energy falls amongst an osteoporotic aging population is the commonest cause for injury. Hip fractures in this population are a major cause for severe pain, morbidity and mortality. The term hip fracture is interchangeable with neck of femur fracture, fractured neck of femur or proximal femur fracture. Hip fracture pain management protocols and guidelines suggest conventional analgesia, nerve block and opioid based treatment as rescue analgesia. There is a current global opioid crisis with overuse, abuse and dependence. Adverse opioid related complications in vulnerable elderly patients further adds to morbidity and mortality. Systematic reviews in literature have evidenced superiority of multimodal analgesia in osteoarthritic primary joint replacements compared to opioids however, this has not yet been conducted for elderly traumatic hip fracture patients. Aims: The primary aim of this systematic review is to provide standardised evidence following Cochrane and PRISMA guidance in determining advantages of perioperative multimodal analgesia over conventional opioid based treatments in elderly traumatic hip fractures. Methods: 5 databases were searched from January 2000-2023 which identified 8 randomised controlled trials and 446 total participants. These trials met defined PICOS eligibility criteria of patient mean age ≥ 65 years presenting with a unilateral traumatic fractured neck of femur for operative intervention. Analgesic intervention with perioperative multimodal analgesia has been compared to conventional opioid based analgesia. Outcomes of interest include, primarily, the change in postoperative opioid consumption within a 0-30 postoperative period and secondarily, the change in postoperative adverse events and complications. A qualitative synthesis has been performed due to clinical heterogenicity and variance amongst trials. Results: GRADE evidence of moderate quality supports perioperative multimodal analgesia leads to a reduction in postoperative opioid consumption however, low quality evidence supports a reduction of adverse effects and complications. Conclusion: Perioperative multimodal analgesia whether used preoperative, intraoperative and/or postoperative leads to a reduction in postoperative opioid consumption for elderly traumatic hip fracture patients. This review recommends the use of perioperative multimodal analgesia as part of hip fracture pain protocols however, caution and clinical judgement should be used as the risk of adverse effects may not be lower.

Keywords: trauma, orthopaedics, hip, fracture, neck of femur fracture, analgesia, multimodal analgesia, opioid

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Authors: Sadeem Aljamaan, Reem Hariri, Rahaf Alghamdi, Batool Alotaibi, Batool Alsenan, Lama Althunayyan, Areej Alnemer

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The aim of this study is to correlate between radiological findings and histopathological results in regard to the breast imaging-reporting and data system scores, size of breast masses, molecular subtypes and suspicious radiological features, as well as to assess the concordance rate in histological grade between core biopsy and surgical excision among breast cancer patients, followed by analyzing the change of concordance rate in relation to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a Saudi population. A retrospective review was conducted over 6-year period (2017-2022) on all breast core biopsies of women preceded by radiological investigation. Chi-squared test (χ2) was performed on qualitative data, the Mann-Whitney test for quantitative non-parametric variables, and the Kappa test for grade agreement. A total of 641 cases were included. Ultrasound, mammography, and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated diagnostic accuracies of 85%, 77.9% and 86.9%; respectively. magnetic resonance imaging manifested the highest sensitivity (72.2%), and the lowest was for ultrasound (61%). Concordance in tumor size with final excisions was best in magnetic resonance imaging, while mammography demonstrated a higher tendency of overestimation (41.9%), and ultrasound showed the highest underestimation (67.7%). The association between basal-like molecular subtypes and the breast imaging-reporting and data system score 5 classifications was statistically significant only for magnetic resonance imaging (p=0.04). Luminal subtypes demonstrated a significantly higher percentage of speculation in mammography. Breast imaging-reporting and data system score 4 manifested a substantial number of benign pathologies in all the 3 modalities. A fair concordance rate (k= 0.212 & 0.379) was demonstrated between excision and the preceding core biopsy grading with and without neoadjuvant therapy, respectively. The results demonstrated a down-grading in cases post-neoadjuvant therapy. In cases who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy, underestimation of tumor grade in biopsy was evident. In summary, magnetic resonance imaging had the highest sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and accuracy of both diagnosis and estimation of tumor size. Mammography demonstrated better sensitivity than ultrasound and had the highest negative predictive value, but ultrasound had better specificity, positive predictive value and accuracy. Therefore, the combination of different modalities is advantageous. The concordance rate of core biopsy grading with excision was not impacted by neoadjuvant therapy.

Keywords: breast cancer, mammography, MRI, neoadjuvant, pathology, US

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Authors: Sinead Impey, Gaye Stephens, Lucy Hederman, Declan O'Sullivan

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Continued paper use in the clinical area post-Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption is regularly linked to hardware and software usability challenges. Although paper is used as a workaround to circumvent challenges, including limited availability of a computer, this perspective does not consider the important role paper, such as the nurses’ handover sheet, play in practice. The purpose of this study is to confirm the hypothesis that paper use post-EHR adoption continues as paper provides both a cognitive tool (that assists with workflow) and a compensation tool (to circumvent usability challenges). Distinguishing the different motivations for continued paper-use could assist future evaluations of electronic record systems. Methods: Qualitative data were collected from three clinical care environments (ICU, general ward and specialist day-care) who used an electronic record for at least 12 months. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 22 nurses. Data were transcribed, themes extracted using an inductive bottom-up coding approach and a thematic index constructed. Findings: All nurses interviewed continued to use paper post-EHR adoption. While two distinct motivations for paper use post-EHR adoption were confirmed by the data - paper as a cognitive tool and paper as a compensation tool - further finding was that there was an overlap between the two uses. That is, paper used as a compensation tool could also be adapted to function as a cognitive aid due to its nature (easy to access and annotate) or vice versa. Rather than present paper persistence as having two distinctive motivations, it is more useful to describe it as presenting on a continuum with compensation tool and cognitive tool at either pole. Paper as a cognitive tool referred to pages such as nurses’ handover sheet. These did not form part of the patient’s record, although information could be transcribed from one to the other. Findings suggest that although the patient record was digitised, handover sheets did not fall within this remit. These personal pages continued to be useful post-EHR adoption for capturing personal notes or patient information and so continued to be incorporated into the nurses’ work. Comparatively, the paper used as a compensation tool, such as pre-printed care plans which were stored in the patient's record, appears to have been instigated in reaction to usability challenges. In these instances, it is expected that paper use could reduce or cease when the underlying problem is addressed. There is a danger that as paper affords nurses a temporary information platform that is mobile, easy to access and annotate, its use could become embedded in clinical practice. Conclusion: Paper presents a utility to nursing, either as a cognitive or compensation tool or combination of both. By fully understanding its utility and nuances, organisations can avoid evaluating all incidences of paper use (post-EHR adoption) as arising from usability challenges. Instead, suitable remedies for paper-persistence can be targeted at the root cause.

Keywords: cognitive tool, compensation tool, electronic record, handover sheet, nurse, paper persistence

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Authors: Abraham Ampong

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BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: The development of information technology and its influence today is inevitable in the world of education. The development of information technology and communication (ICT) has an impact on the use of teaching aids such as computers and the Internet, for example, E-learning. E-learning is a learning process attained through electronic means. But learning is not merely technology because learning is essentially more about the process of interaction between teacher, student, and source study. The main purpose of the study is to investigate learners’ online learning experiences in a blended learning approach, evaluate how learners’ experience of an online learning environment affects the blended learning approach and examine the future of online learning in a blended learning environment. Blended learning pedagogies have been recognized as a path to improve teacher’s instructional strategies for teaching using technology. Blended learning is perceived to have many advantages for teachers and students, including any-time learning, anywhere access, self-paced learning, inquiry-led learning and collaborative learning; this helps institutions to create desired instructional skills such as critical thinking in the process of learning. Blended learning as an approach to learning has gained momentum because of its widespread integration into educational organizations. METHODOLOGY: Based on the research objectives and questions of the study, the study will make use of the qualitative research approach. The rationale behind the selection of this research approach is that participants are able to make sense of their situations and appreciate their construction of knowledge and understanding because the methods focus on how people understand and interpret their experiences. A case study research design is adopted to explore the situation under investigation. The target population for the study will consist of selected students from selected universities. A simple random sampling technique will be used to select the targeted population. The data collection instrument that will be adopted for this study will be questions that will serve as an interview guide. An interview guide is a set of questions that an interviewer asks when interviewing respondents. Responses from the in-depth interview will be transcribed into word and analyzed under themes. Ethical issues to be catered for in this study include the right to privacy, voluntary participation, and no harm to participants, and confidentiality. INDICATORS OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS: It is suitable for the study to find out that online learning encourages timely feedback from teachers or that online learning tools are okay to use without issues. Most of the communication with the teacher can be done through emails and text messages. It is again suitable for sampled respondents to prefer online learning because there are few or no distractions. Learners can have access to technology to do other activities to support their learning”. There are, again, enough and enhanced learning materials available online. CONCLUSION: Unlike the previous research works focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of blended learning, the present study aims at the respective roles of its two modalities, as well as their interdependencies.

Keywords: online learning, blended learning, technologies, teaching methods

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Authors: A.D. Fredline, Beverly Stiles

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This is a qualitative investigation that examines the social media site, Tumblr, for the goal of analyzing the controversy regarding the inclusion of asexuality in the LGBTQ+ community. As platforms such as Tumblr permit the development of communities for marginalized groups, social media serves as a core component to exclusionary practices and boundary negotiations for community membership. This research is important because there is a paucity of research on the topic and a significant gap in the literature with regards to intracommunity gatekeeping. However, discourse on the topic is blatantly apparent on social media platforms. The objectives are to begin to bridge the gap in the literature by examining attitudes towards the inclusion of asexuality within the LGBTQ+ community. In order to analyze the attitudes developed towards the inclusion of asexuality in the LGBTQ+ community, eight publicly available blogs on Tumblr.com were selected from both the “inclusionist” and “exclusionist” perspectives. Blogs selected were found through a basic search for “inclusionist” and “exclusionist” on the Tumblr website. Out of the first twenty blogs listed for each set of results, those centrally focused on asexuality discourse were selected. For each blog, the fifty most recent postings were collected. Analysis of the collected postings exposed three central themes from the exclusionist perspective as well as for the inclusionist perspective. Findings indicate that from the inclusionist perspective, asexuality belongs to the LGBTQ+ community. One primary argument from this perspective is that asexual individuals face opposition for their identity just as do other identities included in the community. This opposition is said to take a variety of forms, such as verbal shaming, assumption of illness and corrective rape. Another argument is that the LGBTQ+ community and asexuals face a common opponent in cisheterosexism as asexuals struggle with the assumed and expected sexualization. A final central theme is that denying asexual inclusion leads to the assumption of heteronormativity. Findings also indicate that from the exclusionist perspective, asexuality does not belong to the LGBTQ+ community. One central theme from this perspective is the equivalization of cisgender heteroromantic asexuals with cisgender heterosexuals. As straight individuals are not allowed in the community, exclusionists argue that asexuals engaged in opposite gender partnerships should not be included. Another debate is that including asexuality in the community sexualizes all other identities by assuming sexual orientation is inherently sexual rather than romantic. Finally, exclusionists also argue that asexuality encourages childhood labeling and forces sexual identities on children, something not promoted by the LGBTQ+ community. Conclusions drawn from analyzing both perspectives is that integration may be a possibility, but complexities add another layer of discourse. For example, both inclusionists and exclusionists agree that privileged identities do not belong to the LGBTQ+ community. The focus of discourse is whether or not asexuals are privileged. Clearly, both sides of the debate have the same vision of what binds the community together. The question that remains is who belongs to that community.

Keywords: asexuality, exclusionists, inclusionists, Tumblr

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Authors: A. F. Huseynov, N. T. Mardanov, J. Y. Nakhchivanski

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This practical research is aimed to improve the management quality and efficiency of public administration agencies providing e-services. The monitoring system developed will provide continuous review of the websites compliance with the selected indicators, their evaluation based on the selected indicators and ranking of services according to the quality criteria. The responsible departments in the government agencies were surveyed; the questionnaire includes issues of management and feedback, e-services provided, and the application of information systems. By analyzing the main affecting factors and barriers, the recommendations will be given that lead to the relevant decisions to strengthen the state agencies competencies for the management and the provision of their services. Component 1. E-services monitoring system. Three separate monitoring activities are proposed to be executed in parallel: Continuous tracing of e-government sites using built-in web-monitoring program; this program generates several quantitative values which are basically related to the technical characteristics and the performance of websites. The expert assessment of e-government sites in accordance with the two general criteria. Criterion 1. Technical quality of the site. Criterion 2. Usability/accessibility (load, see, use). Each high-level criterion is in turn subdivided into several sub-criteria, such as: the fonts and the color of the background (Is it readable?), W3C coding standards, availability of the Robots.txt and the site map, the search engine, the feedback/contact and the security mechanisms. The on-line survey of the users/citizens – a small group of questions embedded in the e-service websites. The questionnaires comprise of the information concerning navigation, users’ experience with the website (whether it was positive or negative), etc. Automated monitoring of web-sites by its own could not capture the whole evaluation process, and should therefore be seen as a complement to expert’s manual web evaluations. All of the separate results were integrated to provide the complete evaluation picture. Component 2. Assessment of the agencies/departments efficiency in providing e-government services. - the relevant indicators to evaluate the efficiency and the effectiveness of e-services were identified; - the survey was conducted in all the governmental organizations (ministries, committees and agencies) that provide electronic services for the citizens or the businesses; - the quantitative and qualitative measures are covering the following sections of activities: e-governance, e-services, the feedback from the users, the information systems at the agencies’ disposal. Main results: 1. The software program and the set of indicators for internet sites evaluation has been developed and the results of pilot monitoring have been presented. 2. The evaluation of the (internal) efficiency of the e-government agencies based on the survey results with the practical recommendations related to the human potential, the information systems used and e-services provided.

Keywords: e-government, web-sites monitoring, survey, internal efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Johanes Mandowa

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The study evaluated the status of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems’ (OSHMSs) implementation by Mutare urban timber processing factories. A descriptive cross sectional survey method was utilized in the study. Questionnaires, interviews and direct observations were the techniques employed to extract primary data from the respondents. Secondary data was acquired from OSH encyclopedia, OSH journals, newspaper articles, internet, past research papers, African Newsletter on OSH and NSSA On-guard magazines among others. Analysis of data collected was conducted using statistical and descriptive methods. Results revealed an unpleasant low uptake rate (16%) of OSH Management Systems by Mutare urban timber processing factories. On a comparative basis, low implementation levels were more pronounced in small timber processing factories than in large factories. The low uptake rate of OSH Management Systems revealed by the study validates the Government of Zimbabwe and its social partners’ observation that the dismal Zimbabwe OSH performance was largely due to non implementation of safety systems at most workplaces. The results exhibited a relationship between availability of a SHE practitioner in Mutare urban timber processing factories and OSHMS implementation. All respondents and interviewees’ agreed that OSH Management Systems are handy in curbing occupational injuries and diseases. It emerged from the study that the top barriers to implementation of safety systems are lack of adequate financial resources, lack of top management commitment and lack of OSHMS implementation expertise. Key motivators for OSHMSs establishment were cited as provision of adequate resources (76%), strong employee involvement (64%) and strong senior management commitment and involvement (60%). Study results demonstrated that both OSHMSs implementation barriers and motivators affect all Mutare urban timber processing factories irrespective of size. The study recommends enactment of a law by Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in consultation with NSSA to make availability of an OSHMS and qualified SHE practitioner mandatory at every workplace. More so, the enacted law should prescribe minimum educational qualification required for one to practice as a SHE practitioner. Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and NSSA should also devise incentives such as reduced WCIF premiums for good OSH performance to cushion Mutare urban timber processing factories from OSHMS implementation costs. The study recommends the incorporation of an OSH module in the academic curriculums of all programmes offered at tertiary institutions so as to ensure that graduates who later end up assuming influential management positions in Mutare urban timber processing factories are abreast with the necessity of OSHMSs in preventing occupational injuries and diseases. In the quest to further boost management’s awareness on the importance of OSHMSs, NSSA and SAZ are urged by the study to conduct OSHMSs awareness breakfast meetings targeting executive management on a periodic basis. The Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should also engage ILO Country Office for Zimbabwe to solicit for ILO’s technical assistance so as to enhance the effectiveness of NSSA’s and SAZ’s OSHMSs promotional programmes.

Keywords: occupational safety health management system, national social security authority, standard association of Zimbabwe, Mutare urban timber processing factories, ministry of public service, labour and social welfare

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Watin Alkhelaiwi, Iseult Wilson, Marian Traynor, Katherine Rogers

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Clinical nursing education allows nursing students to gain essential knowledge from practice experience and develop nursing skills in a variety of clinical environments. Integrating theoretical knowledge and practical skills is made easier for nursing students by providing opportunities for practice in a clinical environment. Nursing competency is an essential capability required to fulfill nursing responsibilities. Effective mentoring in clinical settings helps nursing students develop the necessary competence and promotes the integration of theory and practice. Preceptors play a considerable role in clinical nursing education, including the supervision of nursing students undergoing a rigorous clinical practicum. Preceptors are also involved in the clinical assessment of nursing students’ competency. The assessment of nursing students’ competence by professional practitioners is essential to investigate whether nurses have developed an adequate level of competence to deliver safe nursing care. Competency assessment remains challenging among nursing educators and preceptors, particularly owing to the complexity of the process. Consistency in terms of assessment methods and tools and valid and reliable assessment tools for measuring competence in clinical practice are lacking. Nurse preceptors must assess students’ competencies to prepare them for future professional responsibilities. Preceptors encounter difficulties in the assessment of competency owing to the nature of the assessment process, lack of standardised assessment tools, and a demanding clinical environment. The purpose of the study is to examine nursing preceptors’ experiences of assessing nursing interns’ competency in Saudi Arabia. There are three objectives in this study; the first objective is to examine the preceptors’ view of the Saudi assessment tool in relation to preceptorship, assessment, the assessment tool, the nursing curriculum, and the grading system. The second and third objectives are to examine preceptors’ view of "competency'' in nursing and their interpretations of the concept of competency and to assess the implications of the research in relation to the Saudi 2030 vision. The study uses an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design that involves a two-phase project: a qualitative focus group study is conducted in phase 1, and a quantitative study- a descriptive cross-sectional design (online survey) is conducted in phase 2. The results will inform the preceptors’ view of the Saudi assessment tool in relation to specific areas, including preceptorship and how the preceptors are prepared to be assessors, and assessment and assessment tools through identifying the appropriateness of the instrument for clinical practice. The results will also inform the challenges and difficulties that face the preceptors. These results will be analysed thematically for the focus group interview data, and SPSS software will be used for the analysis of the online survey data.

Keywords: clinical assessment tools, clinical competence, competency assessment, mentor, nursing, nurses, preceptor

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Michael Sonne Kristensen, Frank Loesche, James Foster, Elif Ozcan, Judy Edworthy

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Auditory alarms play an integral role in intensive care nurses’ daily work. Most medical devices in the intensive care unit (ICU) are designed to produce alarm sounds in order to make nurses aware of immediate or prospective safety risks. The utilisation of sound as a carrier of crucial patient information is highly dependent on nurses’ presence - both physically and mentally. For ICU nurses, especially the ones who work with stationary alarm devices at the patient bed space, it is a challenge to display ‘appropriate’ alarm responses at all times as they have to navigate with great flexibility in a complex work environment. While being primarily responsible for a small number of allocated patients they are often required to engage with other nurses’ patients, relatives, and colleagues at different locations inside and outside the unit. This work explores the social strategies used by a team of nurses to comprehend and react to the information conveyed by the alarms in the ICU. Two main research questions guide the study: To what extent do alarms from a patient bed space reach the relevant responsible nurse by direct auditory exposure? By which means do responsible nurses get informed about their patients’ alarms when not directly exposed to the alarms? A comprehensive video-ethnographic field study was carried out to capture and evaluate alarm-related events in an ICU. The study involved close collaboration with four nurses who wore eye-level cameras and ear-level binaural audio recorders during several work shifts. At all time the entire unit was monitored by multiple video and audio recorders. From a data set of hundreds of hours of recorded material information about the nurses’ location, social interaction, and alarm exposure at any point in time was coded in a multi-channel replay-interface. The data shows that responsible nurses’ direct exposure and awareness of the alarms of their allocated patients vary significantly depending on work load, social relationships, and the location of the patient’s bed space. Distributed listening is deliberately employed by the nursing team as a social strategy to respond adequately to alarms, but the patterns of information flow prompted by alarm-related events are not uniform. Auditory Spatiotemporal Trajectory (AST) is proposed as a methodological label to designate the integration of temporal, spatial and auditory load information. As a mixed-method metrics it provides tangible evidence of how nurses’ individual alarm-related experiences differ from one another and from stationary points in the ICU. Furthermore, it is used to demonstrate how alarm-related information reaches the individual nurse through principles of social and distributed cognition, and how that information relates to the actual alarm event. Thereby it bridges a long-standing gap in the literature on medical alarm utilisation between, on the one hand, initiatives to measure objective data of the medical sound environment without consideration for any human experience, and, on the other hand, initiatives to study subjective experiences of the medical sound environment without detailed evidence of the objective characteristics of the environment.

Keywords: auditory spatiotemporal trajectory, medical alarms, social cognition, video-ethography

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Authors: Farouq Sule Garo, Yahaya Yusuf

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The purpose of this study is to investigate why there is a general lack of successful adoption of sustainable energy in Nigeria. This is particularly important given the current global campaign for net-zero emissions. The 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26), held in 2021, was hosted by the UK, in Glasgow, where, amongst other things, countries including Nigeria agreed to a zero emissions pact. There is, therefore, an obligation on the part of Nigeria for transition from fossil fuel-based economy to a sustainable net-zero emissions economy. The adoption of renewable energy is fundamental to achieving this ambitious target if decarbonisation of economic activities were to become a reality. Nigeria has an abundance of sources of renewable energy and yet there has been poor uptake and where attempts have been made to develop and harness renewable energy resources, there has been limited success. It is not entirely clear why this is the case. When analysts allude to corruption as the reason for failure for successful adoption of renewable energy or project implementation, it is arguable that corruption alone cannot explain the situation. Therefore, there is the need for a thorough investigation into the underlying issues surrounding poor uptake of renewable energy in Nigeria. This pilot study, drawing upon stakeholders’ theory, adopts a multi-stakeholder’ perspectives to investigate the influence and impacts of economic, political, technological, social factors in adoption of renewable energy in Nigeria. The research will also investigate how these factors shape (or fail to shape) strategies for achieving successful adoption of renewable energy in the country. A qualitative research methodology has been adopted given the nature of the research requiring in-depth studies in specific settings rather than a general population survey. There will be a number of interviews and each interview will allow thorough probing of sources. This, in addition to the six interviews that have already been conducted, primarily focused on economic dimensions of the challenges in adoption of renewable energy. The six participants in these initial interviews were all connected to the Katsina Wind Farm Project that was conceived and built with the view to diversifying Nigeria's energy mix and capitalise on the vast wind energy resources in the northern region. The findings from the six interviews provide insights into how the economic factors impacts on the wind farm project. Some key drivers have been identified, including strong governmental support and the recognition of the need for energy diversification. These drivers have played crucial roles in initiating and advancing the Katsina Wind Farm Project. In addition, the initial analysis has highlighted various challenges encountered during the project's implementation, including financial, regulatory, and environmental aspects. These challenges provide valuable lessons that can inform strategies to mitigate risks and improve future wind energy projects.

Keywords: challenges in adoption of renewable energy, economic factors, net-zero emission, political factors

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Authors: Yasinta Ratna Esti Wulandari, Vivitri Dewi Prasasty, Adrianus Rio, Cindy Geniola

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Mulberry is a plant that widely cultivated around the world, mostly for silk industry. In recent years, the study showed that the mulberry leaves have an anti-diabetic effect which mostly comes from the compound known as 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ). DNJ is a very potent α-glucosidase inhibitor. It will decrease the degradation rate of carbohydrates in digestive tract, leading to slower glucose absorption and reducing the post-prandial glucose level significantly. The mulberry leaves also known as the best source of DNJ. Since then, the DNJ in mulberry leaves had received a considerable attention, because of the increased number of diabetic patients and the raise of people awareness to find a more natural cure for diabetic. The DNJ content in mulberry leaves varied depend on the mulberry species, leaf’s age, and the plant’s growth environment. Few of the mulberry varieties that were cultivated in Indonesiaare Morus alba var. kanva-2, M. alba var. multicaulis, M. bombycis var. lembang, and M. cathayana. The lack of data concerning phytochemicals contained in the Indonesian mulberry leaves are restraining their use in the medicinal field. The aim of this study is to fully utilize the use of mulberry leaves cultivated in Indonesia as a medicinal herb in local, national, or global community, by determining the DNJ and other phytochemical contents in them. This study used eight leaf samples which are the young leaves and mature leaves of both Morus alba var. kanva-2, M. alba var. multicaulis, M. bombycis var. lembang, and M. cathayana. The DNJ content was analyzed using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The stationary phase was silica C18 column and the mobile phase was acetonitrile:acetic acid 0.1% 1:1 with elution rate 1 mL/min. Prior to HPLC analysis the samples were derivatized with FMOC to ensure the DNJ detectable by VWD detector at 254 nm. Results showed that the DNJ content in samples are ranging from 2.90-0.07 mg DNJ/ g leaves, with the highest content found in M. cathayana mature leaves (2.90 ± 0.57 mg DNJ/g leaves). All of the mature leaf samples also found to contain higher amount of DNJ from their respective young leaf samples. The phytochemicals in leaf samples was tested using qualitative test. Result showed that all of the eight leaf samples contain alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, and terpenes. The presence of this phytochemicals contribute to the therapeutic effect of mulberry leaves. The pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) analysis was also performed to the eight samples to quantitatively determine their phytochemicals content. The pyrolysis temperature was set at 400 °C, with capillary column Phase Rtx-5MS 60 × 0.25 mm ID stationary phase and helium gas mobile phase. Few of the terpenes found are known to have anticancer and antimicrobial properties. From all the results, all of four samples of mulberry leaves which are cultivated in Indonesia contain DNJ and various phytochemicals like alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, and terpenes which are beneficial to our health.

Keywords: Morus, 1-deoxynojirimycin, HPLC, Py-GC-MS

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Natalia Podkhodova, Olga Sheremeteva, Mariia Soldaeva

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Creating favorable conditions for students’ comprehension of mathematical content is one of the primary problems in teaching mathematics in secondary school. Psychology research has demonstrated that positive comprehension becomes possible when new information becomes part of student’s subjective experience and when linkages between the attributes of notions and various ways of their presentations can be established. The fact of comprehension includes the ability to build a working situational model and thus becomes an important means of solving mathematical problems. The article describes the implementation of a holistic approach to teaching mathematics designed to address the primary challenges of such teaching, specifically, the challenge of students’ comprehension. This approach consists of (1) establishing links between the attributes of a notion: the sense, the meaning, and the term; (2) taking into account the components of student’s subjective experience -emotional and value, contextual, procedural, communicative- during the educational process; (3) links between different ways to present mathematical information; (4) identifying and leveraging the relationships between real, perceptual and conceptual (scientific) mathematical spaces by applying real-life situational modeling. The article describes approaches to the practical use of these foundational concepts. Identifying how proposed methods and technology influence understanding of material used in teaching mathematics was the research’s primary goal. The research included an experiment in which 256 secondary school students took part: 142 in the experimental group and 114 in the control group. All students in these groups had similar levels of achievement in math and studied math under the same curriculum. In the course of the experiment, comprehension of two topics -'Derivative' and 'Trigonometric functions'- was evaluated. Control group participants were taught using traditional methods. Students in the experimental group were taught using the holistic method: under the teacher’s guidance, they carried out problems designed to establish linkages between notion’s characteristics, to convert information from one mode of presentation to another, as well as problems that required the ability to operate with all modes of presentation. The use of the technology that forms inter-subject notions based on linkages between perceptional, real, and conceptual mathematical spaces proved to be of special interest to the students. Results of the experiment were analyzed by presenting students in each of the groups with a final test in each of the studied topics. The test included problems that required building real situational models. Statistical analysis was used to aggregate test results. Pierson criterion was used to reveal the statistical significance of results (pass-fail the modeling test). A significant difference in results was revealed (p < 0.001), which allowed the authors to conclude that students in the study group showed better comprehension of mathematical information than those in the control group. Also, it was revealed (used Student’s t-test) that the students of the experimental group performed reliably (p = 0.0001) more problems in comparison with those in the control group. The results obtained allow us to conclude that increasing comprehension and assimilation of study material took place as a result of applying implemented methods and techniques.

Keywords: comprehension of mathematical content, holistic approach to teaching mathematics in secondary school, subjective experience, technology of the formation of inter-subject notions

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Sopio Totibadze

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Although the legal framework of Georgia reflects the main principles of gender equality and is in line with the international situation, Georgia remains a male-dominated society. This means that men prevail in many areas of social, economic, and political life, which frequently gives women a subordinate status in society and the family. According to the latest studies, “violence against women and girls in Georgia is also recognized as a public problem, and it is necessary to focus on it”. Moreover, the Public Defender's report (2019) reveals that “in the last five years, 151 women were killed in Georgia due to gender and family violence”. Unfortunately, there are frequent cases of crimes based on gender-based oppression in Georgia, which pose a threat not only to women but also to people of any gender whose desires and aspirations do not correspond to the gender norms and roles prevailing in society. It is well-known that language is often used as a tool for gender oppression. Therefore, feminist and gender studies in linguistics ultimately serve to represent the problem, reflect on it, and propose ways to solve it. Together with technical advancement in communication, a new form of discrimination has arisen- hate language against women in electronic media discourse. Due to the nature of social media and the internet, messages containing hate language can spread in seconds and reach millions of people. However, only a few know about the detrimental effects they may have on the addressee and society. This paper aims to analyse the hateful comments directed at women on various media platforms to determine the linguistic strategies used while attacking women and the reasons why women may fall victim to this type of hate language. The data have been collected over six months, and overall, 500 comments will be examined for the paper. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was chosen for the methodology of the study. The comments posted on various media platforms have been selected manually due to several reasons, the most important being the problem of identifying hate speech as it can disguise itself in different ways- humour, memes, etc. The comments on the articles, posts, pictures, and videos selected for sociolinguistic analysis depict a woman, a taboo topic, or a scandalous event centred on a woman that triggered hate language towards the person to whom the post/article was dedicated. The study has revealed that a woman can become a victim of hatred directed at them if they do something considered to be a deviation from a societal norm, namely, get a divorce, be sexually active, be vocal about feministic values, and talk about taboos. Interestingly, people who utilize hate language are not only men trying to “normalize” the prejudiced patriarchal values but also women who are equally active in bringing down a "strong" woman. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the hate language directed at women, as being knowledgeable about the issue at hand is the first step to tackling it.

Keywords: femicide, hate language, media discourse, sociolinguistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Monika Rani, Claudio Marchesi, Stefania Federici, Laura E. Depero

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Degradation of the aquatic environment by plastic litter, especially microplastics (MPs), i.e., any water-insoluble solid plastic particle with the longest dimension in the range 1µm and 1000 µm (=1 mm) size, is an unfortunate indication of the advancement of the Anthropocene age on Earth. Microplastics formed due to natural weathering processes are termed as secondary microplastics, while when these are synthesized in industries, they are called primary microplastics. Their presence from the highest peaks to the deepest points in oceans explored and their resistance to biological and chemical decay has adversely affected the environment, especially marine life. Even though the presence of MPs in the marine environment is well-reported, a legitimate and authentic analytical technique to sample, analyze, and quantify the MPs is still under progress and testing stages. Among the characterization techniques, vibrational spectroscopic techniques are largely adopted in the field of polymers. And the ongoing miniaturization of these methods is on the way to revolutionize the plastic recycling industry. In this scenario, the capability and the feasibility of a miniaturized near-infrared (MicroNIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics tools for qualitative and quantitative analysis of urban plastic waste collected from a recycling plant and microplastic mixture fragmented in the lab were investigated. Based on the Resin Identification Code, 250 plastic samples were used for macroplastic analysis and to set up a library of polymers. Subsequently, MicroNIR spectra were analysed through the application of multivariate modelling. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used as an unsupervised tool to find trends within the data. After the exploratory PCA analysis, a supervised classification tool was applied in order to distinguish the different plastic classes, and a database containing the NIR spectra of polymers was made. For the microplastic analysis, the three most abundant polymers in the plastic litter, PE, PP, PS, were mechanically fragmented in the laboratory to micron size. The distinctive arrangement of blends of these three microplastics was prepared in line with a designed ternary composition plot. After the PCA exploratory analysis, a quantitative model Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) allowed to predict the percentage of microplastics in the mixtures. With a complete dataset of 63 compositions, PLS was calibrated with 42 data-points. The model was used to predict the composition of 21 unknown mixtures of the test set. The advantage of the consolidated NIR Chemometric approach lies in the quick evaluation of whether the sample is macro or micro, contaminated, coloured or not, and with no sample pre-treatment. The technique can be utilized with bigger example volumes and even considers an on-site evaluation and in this manner satisfies the need for a high-throughput strategy.

Keywords: chemometrics, microNIR, microplastics, urban plastic waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Benito Minjarez, Jesse Haramati, Yury Rodriguez-Yanez, Florencio Recendiz-Hurtado, Juan-Pedro Luna-Arias, Salvador Mena-Munguia

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During the last decades, the world has experienced a rapid industrialization and an expanding economy favoring a demographic boom. As a consequence, countries around the world have focused on developing new strategies related to the production of different farm products in order to meet future demands. Consequently, different strategies have been developed seeking to improve the major food products for both humans and livestock. Corn, after wheat and rice, is the third most important crop globally and is the primary food source for both humans and livestock in many regions around the globe. In addition, maize (Zea mays) is an important source of protein accounting for up to 60% of the daily human protein supply. Generally, many of the cereal grains have proteins with relatively low nutritional value, when they are compared with proteins from meat. In the case of corn, much of the protein is found in the endosperm (75 to 85%) and is deficient in two essential amino acids, lysine, and tryptophan. This deficiency results in an imbalance of amino acids and low protein content; normal maize varieties have less than half of the recommended amino acids for human nutrition. In addition, studies have shown that this deficiency has been associated with symptoms of growth impairment, anemia, hypoproteinemia, and fatty liver. Due to the fact that most of the presently available maize varieties do not contain the quality and quantity of proteins necessary for a balanced diet, different countries have focused on the research of quality protein maize (QPM). Researchers have characterized QPM noting that these varieties may contain between 70 to 100% more residues of the amino acids essential for animal and human nutrition, lysine, and tryptophan, than common corn. Several countries in Africa, Latin America, as well as China, have incorporated QPM in their agricultural development plan. Large parts of these countries have chosen a specific QPM variety based on their local needs and climate. Reviews have described the breeding methods of maize and have revealed the lack of studies on genetic and proteomic diversity of proteins in QPM varieties, and their genetic relationships with normal maize varieties. Therefore, molecular marker identification using tools such as mass spectrometry may accelerate the selection of plants that carry the desired proteins with high lysine and tryptophan concentration. To date, QPM maize lines have played a very important role in alleviating the malnutrition, and better characterization of these lines would provide a valuable nutritional enhancement for use in the resource-poor regions of the world. Thus, the objectives of this study were to identify proteins in QPM maize in comparison with a common maize line as a control.

Keywords: corn, mass spectrometry, QPM, tryptophan

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Galit Shiff, Yael Gilad

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The need to retrofit old buildings lies in the fact that buildings are responsible for the main energy use and CO₂ emission. Existing old structures are more dominant in their effect than new energy-efficient buildings. Nevertheless not every case of urban renewal that aims to replace old buildings with new neighbourhoods necessarily has a financial or sustainable justification. Façade design plays a vital role in the building's energy performance and the unit's comfort conditions. A retrofit façade residential methodology and feasibility applicative study has been carried out for the past four years, with two projects already fully renovated. The intention of this study is to serve as a case study for limited budget façade retrofit in Mediterranean climate urban areas. The two case study buildings are set in Israel. However, they are set in different local climatic conditions. One is in 'Sderot' in the south of the country, and one is in' Migdal Hahemek' in the north of the country. The building typology is similar. The budget of the projects is around $14,000 per unit and includes interventions at the buildings' envelope while tenants are living in. Extensive research and analysis of the existing conditions have been done. The building's components, materials and envelope sections were mapped, examined and compared to relevant updated standards. Solar radiation simulations for the buildings in their surroundings during winter and summer days were done. The energy rate of each unit, as well as the building as a whole, was calculated according to the Israeli Energy Code. The buildings’ facades were documented with the use of a thermal camera during different hours of the day. This information was superimposed with data about the electricity use and the thermal comfort that was collected from the residential units. Later in the process, similar tools were further used in order to compare the effectiveness of different design options and to evaluate the chosen solutions. Both projects showed that the most problematic units were the ones below the roof and the ones on top of the elevated entrance floor (pilotis). Old buildings tend to have poor insulation on those two horizontal surfaces which require treatment. Different radiation levels and wall sections in the two projects influenced the design strategies: In the southern project, there was an extreme difference in solar radiations levels between the main façade and the back elevation. Eventually, it was decided to invest in insulating the main south-west façade and the side façades, leaving the back north-east façade almost untouched. Lower levels of radiation in the northern project led to a different tactic: a combination of basic insulation on all façades, together with intense treatment on areas with problematic thermal behavior. While poor execution of construction details and bad installation of windows in the northern project required replacing them all, in the southern project it was found that it is more essential to shade the windows than replace them. Although the buildings and the construction typology was chosen for this study are similar, the research shows that there are large differences due to the location in different climatic zones and variation in local conditions. Therefore, in order to reach a systematic and cost-effective method of work, a more extensive catalogue database is needed. Such a catalogue will enable public housing companies in the Mediterranean climate to promote massive projects of renovating existing old buildings, drawing on minimal analysis and planning processes.

Keywords: facade, low budget, residential, retrofit

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Authors: K. Kalieva, G. Ibraimova

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In literature, poetry stands as a profound genre that bridges the life experiences of everyday people, transcending language and culture to unite people through the universal language of emotion and human connection. This paper explores the collaborative efforts of translators in creating the anthology of post-Soviet Kyrgyz women’s poetry, a project spanning over ten years. This compelling anthology brings together the works of fifty prominent female poets from Kyrgyzstan during the post-Soviet era. It includes the original poems in Kyrgyz and provide English translations, sharing the rich and diverse voices of Kyrgyz women with a global audience and fostering a deep appreciation for the beauty of their words. The paper highlights the unique perspectives on life, love, and identity offered by each poet, and emphasizes the role of translation in making these voices accessible worldwide. Each poet's unique voice offers a glimpse into the rich cultural and literary landscape of Kyrgyzstan, highlighting themes that resonate universally. Methodology of the paper employs a combination of qualitative content analysis, semiotic analysis, and quantitative thematic analysis to examine the translation strategies, and the cultural and emotional peculiarities captured in the translations, as well as the themes explored by the poets in their poems. Through the art of translation, the paper explores the lyrical world of Kyrgyz women poets. Although Kyrgyz poets’ names and poems are unfamiliar to many, their words resonate with an emotional depth that is sure to leave a lasting impression. Kyrgyz women's poetry translated into English celebrates the distinctive voices of women in the contemporary world. It serves as a reminder that poetry possesses the power to transcend life's obstacles, foster mutual understanding, and inspire positive change. The poems created by Kyrgyz women are envisioned to serve as a source of inspiration for readers. The paper proposes a poetic journey created by Kyrgyz women, offering readers an opportunity to experience Kyrgyz landscapes, traditions, and universal human themes through their verses. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of the poem translations, exploring the beauty and depth of the poets' thoughts and feelings. Through these translations, readers are invited to explore the world of Kyrgyz women poets, enriching their understanding of the language, culture, and the profound human experiences conveyed in the poetry. The hypotheses of the paper is that analyzing these translations through translation studies theories and linguistic and semiotic frameworks will reveal the complexities and challenges involved in translating poetry across languages and cultures.

Keywords: Kyrgyz poetry, post-soviet literature, translation, women poets.

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Authors: S. Grinnell

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A PhD Research Project exploring the Social Health and Well-Being Impacts associated with Hydraulic Fracturing, with an aim to produce a Best Practice Support Guidance for those anticipating dealing with planning applications or submitting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). Amid a possible global energy crisis, founded upon a number of factors, including unstable political situations, increasing world population growth, people living longer, it is perhaps inevitable that Hydraulic Fracturing (commonly referred to as ‘fracking’) will become a major player within the global long-term energy and sustainability agenda. As there is currently no best practice guidance for governing bodies the Best Practice Support Document will be targeted at a number of audiences including, consultants undertaking EIAs, Planning Officers, those commissioning EIAs Industry and interested public stakeholders. It will offer a robust, evidence-based criteria and recommendations which provide a clear narrative and consistent and shared approach to the language used along with containing an understanding of the issues identified. It is proposed that the Best Practice Support Document will also support the mitigation of health impacts identified. The Best Practice Support Document will support the newly amended Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (2011/92/EU), to be transposed into UK law by 2017. A significant amendment introduced focuses on, ‘higher level of protection to the environment and health.’ Methodology: A qualitative research methods approach is being taken with this research. It will have a number of key stages. A literature review has been undertaken and been critically reviewed and analysed. This was followed by a descriptive content analysis of a selection of international and national policies, programmes and strategies along with published Environmental Impact Assessments and associated planning guidance. In terms of data collection, a number of stakeholders were interviewed as well as a number of focus groups of local community groups potentially affected by fracking. These were determined from across the UK. A theme analysis of all the data collected and the literature review will be undertaken, using NVivo. Best Practice Supporting Document will be developed based on the outcomes of the analysis and be tested and piloted in the professional fields, before a live launch. Concluding statement: Whilst fracking is not a new concept, the technology is now driving a new force behind the use of this engineering to supply fuels. A number of countries have pledged moratoria on fracking until further investigation from the impacts on health have been explored, whilst other countries including Poland and the UK are pushing to support the use of fracking. If this should be the case, it will be important that the public’s concerns, perceptions, fears and objections regarding the wider social health and well-being impacts are considered along with the more traditional biomedical health impacts.

Keywords: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, socio-economic health, well-being

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Authors: Sundaram Arulmozhiraja, Kanade Shimizu, Yuta Yamamoto, Satoshi Ichikawa, Maenaka Katsumi, Hiroaki Tokiwa

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Drug discovery is shifting from small molecule based drugs targeting local active site to middle molecules (MM) targeting large, flat, and groove-shaped binding sites, for example, protein-protein interface because at least half of all targets assumed to be involved in human disease have been classified as “difficult to drug” with traditional small molecules. Hence, MMs such as peptides, natural products, glycans, nucleic acids with various high potent bioactivities become important targets for drug discovery programs in the recent years as they could be used for ‘undruggable” intracellular targets. Cell membrane permeability is one of the key properties of pharmacodynamically active MM drug compounds and so evaluating this property for the potential MMs is crucial. Computational prediction for cell membrane permeability of molecules is very challenging; however, recent advancement in the molecular dynamics simulations help to solve this issue partially. It is expected that MMs with high membrane permeability will enable drug discovery research to expand its borders towards intracellular targets. Further to understand the chemistry behind the permeability of MMs, it is necessary to investigate their conformational changes during the permeation through membrane and for that their interactions with the membrane field should be studied reliably because these interactions involve various non-bonding interactions such as hydrogen bonding, -stacking, charge-transfer, polarization dispersion, and non-classical weak hydrogen bonding. Therefore, parameters-based classical mechanics calculations are hardly sufficient to investigate these interactions rather, quantum mechanical (QM) calculations are essential. Fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method could be used for such purpose as it performs ab initio QM calculations by dividing the system into fragments. The present work is aimed to study the cell permeability of middle molecules using molecular dynamics simulations and FMO-QM calculations. For this purpose, a natural compound syringolin and its analogues were considered in this study. Molecular simulations were performed using NAMD and Gromacs programs with CHARMM force field. FMO calculations were performed using the PAICS program at the correlated Resolution-of-Identity second-order Moller Plesset (RI-MP2) level with the cc-pVDZ basis set. The simulations clearly show that while syringolin could not permeate the membrane, its selected analogues go through the medium in nano second scale. These correlates well with the existing experimental evidences that these syringolin analogues are membrane-permeable compounds. Further analyses indicate that intramolecular -stacking interactions in the syringolin analogues influenced their permeability positively. These intramolecular interactions reduce the polarity of these analogues so that they could permeate the lipophilic cell membrane. Conclusively, the cell membrane permeability of various middle molecules with potent bioactivities is efficiently studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Insight of this behavior is thoroughly investigated using FMO-QM calculations. Results obtained in the present study indicate that non-bonding intramolecular interactions such as hydrogen-bonding and -stacking along with the conformational flexibility of MMs are essential for amicable membrane permeation. These results are interesting and are nice example for this theoretical calculation approach that could be used to study the permeability of other middle molecules. This work was supported by Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under Grant Number 18ae0101047.

Keywords: fragment molecular orbital theory, membrane permeability, middle molecules, molecular dynamics simulation

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Authors: Nancy Mackin

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Historically, architects from Aalto to Gaudi to Wright have looked to the architectural knowledge of long-resident peoples for forms and structural principles specifically adapted to the regional climate, geology, materials availability, and culture. In this research, structures traditionally built by Inuit peoples in a remote region of the Canadian high Arctic provides a folio of architectural ideas that are increasingly relevant during these times of escalating carbon emissions and climate change. ‘Green architecture from the Thawing Arctic’ researches, draws, models, and reconstructs traditional buildings of Inuit (Eskimo) peoples in three remote, often inaccessible Arctic communities. Structures verified in pre-contact oral history and early written history are first recorded in architectural drawings, then modeled and, with the participation of Inuit young people, local scientists, and Elders, reconstructed as emergency shelters. Three full-sized building types are constructed: a driftwood and turf-clad A-frame (spring/summer); a stone/bone/turf house with inwardly spiraling walls and a fan-shaped floor plan (autumn); and a parabolic/catenary arch-shaped dome from willow, turf, and skins (autumn/winter). Each reconstruction is filmed and featured in a short video. Communities found that the reconstructed buildings and the method of involving young people and Elders in the reconstructions have on-going usefulness, as follows: 1) The reconstructions provide emergency shelters, particularly needed as climate change worsens storms, floods, and freeze-thaw cycles and scientists and food harvesters who must work out of the land become stranded more frequently; 2) People from the communities re-learned from their Elders how to use materials from close at hand to construct impromptu shelters; 3) Forms from tradition, such as windbreaks at entrances and using levels to trap warmth within winter buildings, can be adapted and used in modern community buildings and housing; and 4) The project initiates much-needed educational and employment opportunities in the applied sciences (engineering and architecture), construction, and climate change monitoring, all offered in a culturally-responsive way. Elders, architects, scientists, and young people added innovations to the traditions as they worked, thereby suggesting new sustainable, culturally-meaningful building forms and materials combinations that can be used for modern buildings. Adding to the growing interest in bio-mimicry, participants looked at properties of Arctic and subarctic materials such as moss (insulation), shrub bark (waterproofing), and willow withes (parabolic and catenary arched forms). ‘Green Architecture from the Thawing Arctic’ demonstrates the effective, useful architectural oeuvre of a resilient northern people. The research parallels efforts elsewhere in the world to revitalize long-resident peoples’ architectural knowledge, in the interests of designing sustainable buildings that reflect culture, heritage, and identity.

Keywords: architectural culture and identity, climate change, forms from nature, Inuit architecture, locally sourced biodegradable materials, traditional architectural knowledge, traditional Inuit knowledge

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Authors: Anar Koli

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After the Paris agreement in 2015, a comprehensive initiative both from the developed and developing countries towards the adaptation to climate change is emerging. The Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which is financing a global portfolio of adaptation projects and programs in over 124 countries is playing a significant role to a new financing framework that included the concept of “climate-resilient development”. However, both the adaptation and sustainable development paradigms remain continuously contested, especially the role of the multilateral institutions with their technical and financial assistance to the developing world. Focusing on the adaptation initiatives of the GEF, this study aims to understand to what extent the global multilateral institutions, particularly the GEF is contributing to the climate-resilient development. From the political ecology perspective, the argument of this study is that the global financial framework is highly politicized, and understanding the contribution of the global institutions of the global climate change needs to be related both from the response and causal perspectives. A holistic perspective, which includes the contribution of the GEF as a response to the climate change and as well the cause of global climate change, are needed to understand the broader environment- political economic relation. The study intends to make a critical analysis of the way in which the political economy structure and the environment are related along with the social and ecological implications. It does not provide a narrow description of institutional responses to climate change, rather it looks at how the global institutions are influencing the relationship of the global ecologies and economies. This study thus developed a framework combining the global governance and the political economy perspective. This framework includes environment-society relation, environment-political economy linkage, global institutions as the orchestra, and division between the North and the South. Through the analysis of the GEF as the orchestra of the global governance, this study helps to understand how GEF is coordinating the interactions between the North and the South and responding the global climate resilient development. Through the other components of the framework, the study explains how the role of the global institutions is related to the cause of the human induced global climate change. The study employs a case study based on both the quantitative and qualitative data. Along with the GEF reports and data sets, this study draws from an eclectic range of literature from a range of disciplines to explain the broader relation of the environment and political economy. Based on a case study on GEF, the study found that the GEF has positive contributions in bringing developing countries’ capacity in terms of sustainable development goal, local institutional development. However, through a critical holistic analysis, this study found that this contribution to the resilient development helps the developing countries to conform the fossil fuel based capitalist political economy. The global governance institution is contributing both to the pro market based environment society relation and, to the consequences of this relation.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, global environmental facility (GEF), political economy, the north -south relation

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Kenneth Okelo, Esther Waithaka, Maureen Mweru

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Development of oral language skills is a precursor to writing and reading acquisition. Oral skill is a means of communication through which people express their desires, ideas, excitements, amusements, disappointments and exchange information. In addition, oral skills have been found to be an important tool for thinking and concept development in children. Research carried out in industrialised countries have identified some appropriate teaching strategies used to enhance acquisition of oral language skills such as repetition, substitution, explanation, contrast, exemplification and code-switching. However, these studies’ geographical locations do not reflect the diversity of the Kenyan society. In addition, studies conducted in Kenya in the past have not established why pre-primary school teachers are not using appropriate teaching strategies. The purpose of this study was to find out whether teachers’ experience, academic qualification and type of training influences their choice of teaching strategies in the development of oral language skills inside and out of the classroom in selected preschools in Kibra Sub-County, Nairobi County. In addition, this study aimed at finding out the strategies used by teachers in Kibra Sub-County to promote oral skills development among pre-primary school children. The study was guided by Holdaway’s theory of language acquisition. Descriptive survey design was employed during this study. Questionnaires and observation schedules were used to collect data. Eighty-three (83) preschool teachers were sampled using multistage sampling methods for observation. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20. The researcher carried out content analysis on the qualitative data. The main descriptive methods used were tabulation of frequencies and percentages. Chi squire test was the inferential statistic used to test the relationship between variables. The main findings of the study indicate that teaching strategies that were mostly used by pre-primary school teachers were code-switching, examples, repetition, substitution and explanation. While questions, direction, expansion of children words and contrast were the least used teaching strategies when teaching oral language skills. The study revealed that the there is a slight correlation between the type of training of teachers and the teaching strategies as most of DICECE trained teachers used more teaching strategies when teaching oral skills compared to other teachers. The findings also revealed that there was a partial significant correlation between teacher’s academic qualifications and a few teaching strategies. A similar correlation was also observed between teaching experience and a few teaching strategies. Since the strategies used by pre-primary school teachers under the study were less than half of the recommended teaching strategies to promote oral skills, the study recommends that teachers should be encouraged to use more in structural strategies to improve children’s oral language skills.

Keywords: Kenya early childhood education, Kenya education, oral language skills acquisition, teaching methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 258