Search results for: explanatory factor analysis

Authors: Nanche Billa Robert

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More and more youth are doubtful of making a satisfactory labour market transition because of the present global economic instability and this is more so in Africa of the Sahara and metropolis like Douala. We use the explanatory sequential mixed method: in the first phase we randomly administered 610 questionnaires in the Douala metropolis respecting the population size of each division and its gender composition. We constructed the questionnaire using the desired values for living a comfortable life in Douala. In the second phase, we purposefully selected and interviewed 50 poor youth in order to explain in detail the initial quantitative results. We obtain the following result: The modal income class is 24,000-74,000 frs Central Africa Franc (CFA) and about 67% of the youth of the Douala metropolis earn below 75,000 frs CFA. They earn only 31.02% of the total income. About 85.7% earn below 126,000 frs CFA and about 92.14% earn below 177,000 frs CFA. The poverty-line is estimated at 177,000 frs CFA per month based on the desired predominant values in Douala and only about 9% of youth earn this sum, therefore, 91% of the youth are poor. We discovered that the salary a youth earns influences his level of poverty. Low income earners eat once or twice per day, rent low-standard houses of below 20,000 frs, are dependent and possess very limited durable goods, consult traditional doctors when they are sick, sleep and gamble during their leisure time. Intermediate income earners feed themselves either twice or thrice per day, eat healthy meals weekly, possess more durable goods, are independent, gamble and drink during their leisure time. High income earners feed themselves at least thrice per day, eat healthy food daily, inhabit high quality and expensive houses, are more stable by living longer in their neighbourhoods, like travelling and drinking during their leisure time. Unsalaried youth, are students, housewives or unemployed youth, they eat four times per day, take healthy meals daily, weekly, fortnightly or occasionally, are dependent or homeless depending on whether they are students or unemployed youth. The situation of the youth can be ameliorated through investing in the productive sector and promoting entrepreneurship as well as formalizing the informal sector.

Keywords: income, inequality, poverty, metropolis

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Authors: Prakash Singh, Thembinkosi Twalo

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The sustainability of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), in South Africa, is being threatened by the reported cases of poor administration, weak management of resources, inappropriate job performance, and inappropriate job behaviour of some of the workers. Since the structural-functionalists assume that formal education is a solution to societal challenges, it therefore means that the BCMM should not be experiencing this threat since many of its workers have various levels of formal education. Consequently, this study using the mixed method research approach, set out to investigate the paradoxical co-existence of inappropriate job behaviour and performance with formal education at the BCMM. Considering the impact of human factors in the labour process, this study draws attention to the divergent objectives of skill and skill bearer, with the application of knowledge subject to the knowledge bearer’s motives, will, attitudes, ethics and values. Consequently, inappropriate job behaviour and performance practices could be due to numerous factors such as lack of the necessary capabilities or refusal to apply what has been learnt due to racial or other prejudices. The role of the human factor in the labour process is a serious omission in human capital theory, which regards schooling as the only factor contributing to the ability to do a job. For this reason this study’s theoretical framework is an amalgamation of the four theories - human capital, social capital, cultural capital, and reputation capital – in an effort to obtain a broader view of the factors that shape job behaviour and performance. Since it has been established that human nature plays a crucial role in how workers undertake their responsibilities, it is important that this be taken into consideration in the BCMM’s monitoring and evaluation of the workers’ job performance practices. Hence, this exploratory study brings to the fore, the effects of poor job performance practices on the job satisfaction of workers.

Keywords: human capital, poor job performance practices, service delivery, workers’ job satisfaction

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Authors: Arash Rafiei, Carroll Moore

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Leaching process as the first stage of hydrometallurgy is a multidisciplinary system including material properties, chemistry, reactor design, mechanics and fluid dynamics. Therefore, doing leaching system optimization by pure scientific methods need lots of times and expenses. In this work, a mixture of two titanium ores and one titanium slag are used for extracting titanium for leaching stage of TiO2 pigment production procedure. Optimum titanium extraction can be obtained from following strategies: i) Maximizing titanium extraction without selective digestion; and ii) Optimizing selective titanium extraction by balancing between maximum titanium extraction and minimum impurity digestion. The main difference between two strategies is due to process optimization framework. For the first strategy, the most important stage of production process is concerned as the main stage and rest of stages would be adopted with respect to the main stage. The second strategy optimizes performance of more than one stage at once. The second strategy has more technical complexity compared to the first one but it brings more economical and technical advantages for the leaching system. Obviously, each strategy has its own optimum operational zone that is not as same as the other one and the best operational zone is chosen due to complexity, economical and practical aspects of the leaching system. Experimental design has been carried out by using Taguchi method. The most important advantages of this methodology are involving different technical aspects of leaching process; minimizing the number of needed experiments as well as time and expense; and concerning the role of parameter interactions due to principles of multifactor-at-time optimization. Leaching tests have been done at batch scale on lab with appropriate control on temperature. The leaching tank geometry has been concerned as an important factor to provide comparable agitation conditions. Data analysis has been done by using reactor design and mass balancing principles. Finally, optimum zone for operational parameters are determined for each leaching strategy and discussed due to their economical and practical aspects.

Keywords: titanium leaching, optimization, experimental design, performance analysis

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Authors: J. R. Wang, H. T. Lin, Y. Chiang, H. C. Chen, C. Shih

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Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is located on the northern coast of Taiwan. Its nuclear steam supply system is a type of BWR/6 designed and built by General Electric on a twin unit concept. First, the methodology of Kuosheng NPP SPU (Stretch Power Uprate) safety analysis TRACE/SNAP model was developed in this research. Then, in order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP under the more severe condition, the SBO (Station Blackout) + LOCA (Loss-of-Coolant Accident) transient analysis of Kuosheng NPP SPU TRACE/SNAP model was performed. Besides, the animation model of Kuosheng NPP was presented using the animation function of SNAP with TRACE/SNAP analysis results.

Keywords: TRACE, safety analysis, BWR/6, severe accident

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Authors: Athena Nguyen, Rojin Belganeh

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Detecting and identifying differences in like polymer materials are key factors in deformulation, comparative analysis as well as reverse engineering. Pyrolysis-GC/MS is an easy solid sample introduction technique which expands the application areas of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The Micro-furnace pyrolyzer is directly interfaced with the GC injector preventing any potential of cold spot, carryover, and cross contamination. This presentation demonstrates the study of two similar polymers by performing different mode of operations in the same system: Evolve gas analysis (EGA), Flash pyrolysis, Thermal desorption analysis, and Heart-cutting analysis. Unknown polymer materials and their chemical compositions are identified.

Keywords: gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, pyrolysis, pyrolyzer, thermal desorption-GC/MS

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Authors: Abidi Myriam, Ben Amor Rim, Gueddari Moncef

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Understanding ecosystem response to the restoration project is essential to assess its rehabilitation. Indeed, the time elapsed after restoration is a critical indicator to shows the real of the restoration success. In this order, the south lagoon of Tunis, a shallow Mediterranean coastal area, has witnessed several pollutions. To resolve this environmental problem, a large restoration project of the lagoon was undertaken. In this restoration works, the main changes are the decrease of the residence time of the lagoon water and the nutrient concentrations. In this paper, we attempt to evaluate the trophic state of lagoon water for evaluating the risk of eutrophication after almost 16 years of its restoration. To attend this objectives water quality monitoring was untaken. In order to identify and to analyze the natural and anthropogenic factor governing the nutrients concentrations of lagoon water geochemical methods and multivariate statistical tools were used. Results show that nutrients have duel sources due to the discharge of municipal wastewater of Megrine City in the south side of the lagoon. The Carlson index shows that the South lagoon of Tunis Lagoon Tunis is eutrophic, and may show limited summer anoxia.

Keywords: geochemistry, nutrients, statistical analysis, the south lagoon of Tunis, trophic state

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Authors: Jayeola A. O., Ayodele O. S., Olususi J. I.

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From field studies, six (6) lithological units were identified to be common around the study area, which includes quartzites, granites, granite gneiss, porphyritic granites, amphibolite and pegmatites. Petrographical analysis was done to establish the major mineral assemblages and accessory minerals present in selected rock samples, which represents the major rock types in the area. For the purpose of this study, twenty (20) pulverized rock samples were taken to the laboratory for geochemical analysis with their results used in the classification, as well as suggest the geochemical attributes of the rocks. Results from petrographical studies of the rocks under both plane and cross polarized lights revealed the major minerals identified under thin sections to include quartz, feldspar, biotite, hornblende, plagioclase and muscovite with opaque other accessory minerals, which include actinolite, spinel and myrmekite. Geochemical results obtained and interpreted using various geochemical plots or discrimination plots all classified the rocks in the area as belonging to both the peralkaline metaluminous and peraluminous types. Results for the major oxides ratios produced for Na₂O/K₂O, Al₂O₃/Na₂O + CaO + K₂O and Na₂O + CaO + K₂O/Al₂O₃ show the excess of alumina, Al₂O₃ over the alkaline Na₂O +CaO +K₂O thus suggesting peraluminous rocks. While the excess of the alkali over the alumina suggests the peralkaline metaluminous rock type. The results of correlation coefficient show a perfect strong positive correlation, which shows that they are of same geogenic sources, while negative correlation coefficient values indicate a perfect weak negative correlation, suggesting that they are of heterogeneous geogenic sources. From factor analysis, five component groups were identified as Group 1 consists of Ag-Cr-Ni elemental associations suggesting Ag, Cr, and Ni mineralization, predicting the possibility of sulphide mineralization. in the study area. Group ll and lll consist of As-Ni-Hg-Fe-Sn-Co-Pb-Hg element association, which are pathfinder elements to the mineralization of gold. Group 1V and V consist of Cd-Cu-Ag-Co-Zn, which concentrations are significant to elemental associations and mineralization. In conclusion, from the potassium radiometric anomaly map produced, the eastern section (northeastern and southeastern) is observed to be the hot spot and mineralization zone for the study area.

Keywords: petrography, Ila Orangun, petrochemistry, pegmatites, peraluminous

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Authors: Bharti Singh, Shri K. Singh

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Child malnutrition is a multifaceted issue that transcends geographical boundaries. Malnutrition not only stunts physical growth but also leads to a spectrum of morbidities and child mortality. It is one of the leading causes of death (~50 %) among children under age five. Despite economic progress and advancements in healthcare, child malnutrition remains a formidable challenge for India. The objective is to investigate the impact of women's empowerment on child nutrition outcomes in India from 2006 to 2021. A composite index of women's empowerment was constructed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), a rigorous technique that validates the measurement model by assessing how well-observed variables represent latent constructs. This approach ensures the reliability and validity of the empowerment index. Secondly, kernel density plots were utilised to visualise the distribution of key nutritional indicators, such as stunting, wasting, and overweight. These plots offer insights into the shape and spread of data distributions, aiding in understanding the prevalence and severity of malnutrition. Thirdly, linear polynomial graphs were employed to analyse how nutritional parameters evolved with the child's age. This technique enables the visualisation of trends and patterns over time, allowing for a deeper understanding of nutritional dynamics during different stages of childhood. Lastly, multilevel analysis was conducted to identify vulnerable levels, including State-level, PSU-level, and household-level factors impacting undernutrition. This approach accounts for hierarchical data structures and allows for the examination of factors at multiple levels, providing a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of child malnutrition. Overall, the utilisation of these statistical methodologies enhances the transparency and replicability of the study by providing clear and robust analytical frameworks for data analysis and interpretation. Our study reveals that NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 exhibit an equal density of severely stunted cases. NFHS-5 indicates a limited decline in wasting among children aged five, while the density of severely wasted children remains consistent across NFHS-3, 4, and 5. In 2019-21, women with higher empowerment had a lower risk of their children being undernourished (Regression coefficient= -0.10***; Confidence Interval [-0.18, -0.04]). Gender dynamics also play a significant role, with male children exhibiting a higher susceptibility to undernourishment. Multilevel analysis suggests household-level vulnerability (intra-class correlation=0.21), highlighting the need to address child undernutrition at the household level.

Keywords: child nutrition, India, NFHS, women’s empowerment

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Authors: Anna Stepien

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The paper presents the results of research on modifications of sand-lime bricks, especially using glass additives (glass fiber and glass sand) and other additives (e.g.:basalt&barite aggregate, lithium silicate and microsilica) as well. The main goal of this paper is to answer the question ‘How to use glass additives in the sand-lime mass and get a better bricks?’ The article contains information on modification of sand-lime bricks using glass fiber, glass sand, microsilica (different structure of silica). It also presents the results of the conducted compression tests, which were focused on compressive strength, water absorption, bulk density, and their microstructure. The Scanning Electron Microscope, spectrum EDS, X-ray diffractometry and DTA analysis helped to define the microstructural changes of modified products. The interpretation of the products structure revealed the existence of diversified phases i.e.the C-S-H and tobermorite. CaO-SiO2-H2O system is the object of intensive research due to its meaning in chemistry and technologies of mineral binding materials. Because the blocks are the autoclaving materials, the temperature of hydrothermal treatment of the products is around 200°C, the pressure - 1,6-1,8 MPa and the time - up to 8hours (it means: 1h heating + 6h autoclaving + 1h cooling). The microstructure of the products consists mostly of hydrated calcium silicates with a different level of structural arrangement. The X-ray diffraction indicated that the type of used sand is an important factor in the manufacturing of sand-lime elements. Quartz sand of a high hardness is also a substrate hardly reacting with other possible modifiers, which may cause deterioration of certain physical and mechanical properties. TG and DTA curves show the changes in the weight loss of the sand-lime bricks specimen against time as well as the endo- and exothermic reactions that took place. The endothermic effect with the maximum at T=573°C is related to isomorphic transformation of quartz. This effect is not accompanied by a change of the specimen weight. The next endothermic effect with the maximum at T=730-760°C is related to the decomposition of the calcium carbonates. The bulk density of the brick it is 1,73kg/dm3, the presence of xonotlite in the microstructure and significant weight loss during DTA and TG tests (around 0,6% after 70 minutes) have been noticed. Silicate elements were assessed on the basis of their compressive property. Orthogonal compositional plan type 3k (with k=2), i.e.full two-factor experiment was applied in order to carry out the experiments both, in the compression strength test and bulk density test. Some modification (e.g.products with barite and basalt aggregate) have improved the compressive strength around 41.3 MPa and water absorption due to capillary raising have been limited to 12%. The next modification was adding glass fiber to sand-lime mass, then glass sand. The results show that the compressive strength was higher than in the case of traditional bricks, while modified bricks were lighter.

Keywords: bricks, fiber, glass, microstructure

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Authors: Leona Ondrejikova, Martin Hill, Antonin Parizek

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The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is higher in women predisposed to developing intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Both diseases are associated with altered steroidogenesis when compared with none-ICP controls. However, the effect of GDM on circulating steroids in ICP patients remains unclear. The question remains, whether the levels of circulating steroids differ between ICP patients with and without GDM. In total 10 ICP patients without GDM (ICP+GDM-), 7 ICP patients with GDM (ICP+GDM+), and 15 controls (ICP-GDM-) were monitored during late gestation, at labor, and during three periods postpartum (day 5, week 3, and week 6 postpartum) (Šimják et al., 2018). The relationships between steroid profiles and patients’ status were evaluated using the ANOVA model consisting of subject factor, between-subject factors Group (ICP+GDM+, ICP+GDM-, ICP-GDM-), gestational age at the diagnosis of ICP and gestational age at labor, and within-subject factor Stage and ICP × Stage interaction. The levels of the C21 and C19 Δ5 steroids and 5α/β-reduced C19 steroids were highest in ICP+GDM+, while those for the ICP-GDM-, and ICP+GDM- groups were lower. In the C21 Δ4 steroids and their 5α/β-reduced metabolites, the steroid levels were highest in the ICP+GDM-, intermediate in the ICP-GDM- and lowest in the ICP+GDM+ group. This higher concentration in ICP+GDM- group may be of importance as the 5α-pregnane-3α,20α-diol disulfate, is considered as the substance inducing ICP. In general, these data show that the comorbidity with GDM substantially changes the steroidome in ICP patients towards the higher activity of steroid CYP17A1 lyase step in adrenal zona reticularis reduced CYP17A1 hydroxylase step in zona fasciculata. This is consistent with our previously published hypothesis about the critical role of maternal zona reticularis in the pathophysiology of ICP. Our present data also indicate that the comorbidity with GDM might moderate the gravity of the ICP in this way.

Keywords: CYP17A1, GC-MS, gestational diabetes mellitus, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy

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Authors: Islam Zeb

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Water of poor quality has a potential of probable contamination and a way to spread pollutant in the field and surrounding environment. A number of comprehensive reviews articles have been published which highlight irrigation water as a source of pathogenic microorganisms and heavy metals toxicity that leads to chronic diseases in human. Here a study was plan to determine the microbial status of irrigation water collected from various location of district Swat in various months. The analyses were carried out at Environmental Horticulture Laboratory, Department of Horticulture, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, during the year 2018 – 19. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two factors and three replicates. Factor A consist of different locations, and factor B represent various months. The results of microbial status for various locations in irrigation water showed the highest value for Total Bacterial Count, Enterobacteriacea, E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria (9.05, 8.54, 6.01, 5.84, and 5.03 log cfu L-1 respectively) for samples collected from mingora location, whereas the lowest values for Total Bacterial Count, Enterobacteriacea, E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria (6.70, 6.38, 4.47, 4.42 and 3.77 log cfu L-1 respectively) were observed for matta location. Data for various months showed maximum Total Bacterial Count, Enterobacteriacea, E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria (12.01, 11.70, 8.46, 8.41, and 6.88 log cfu L-1, respectively) were noted for the irrigation water samples collected in May/June whereas the lowest range for Total Bacterial Count, Enterobacteriacea, E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria (4.41, 4.08, 2.61, 2.55 and 3.39 log cfu L-1 respectively) were observed in Jan/Feb. A significant interaction was found for all the studied parameters it was concluded that maximum bacterial groups were recorded in the months of May/June from Mingora location, it might be due to favorable weather condition.

Keywords: contamination, irrigation water, microbes, SWAT, various months

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Authors: T. Mushiri, K. Tengende, C. Mbohwa, T. Garikayi

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This paper introduces finite element analysis of Run off Mine (ROM) silo subjected to dynamic loading. The proposed procedure is based on the use of theoretical equations to come up with pressure and forces exerted by Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) ore to the silo wall. Finite Element Analysis of the silo involves the use of CAD software (AutoCAD) for3D creation and CAE software (T-FLEX) for the simulation work with an optimization routine to minimize the mass and also ensure structural stiffness and stability. In this research an efficient way to design and analysis of a silo in 3D T-FLEX (CAD) program was created the silo to stay within the constrains and so as to know the points of failure due dynamic loading.

Keywords: reinforced concrete silo, finite element analysis, T-FLEX software, AutoCAD

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Authors: Muhammad Akram, Abdurrahman Ilgan, Oyku Ozu-Cengiz

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The quality of Work life is the general state of wellbeing of employees in the workplace. The quality of work life focuses on changing climate at work so that employees can lead improved work life. This study was designed to compare the quality of work life between Turkish and Pakistani public school teachers based on their location, gender, and marital status. A 30 items scale named The Quality of School Work Life (QSWL) was used for this study. 995 teachers from 8 Turkish provinces and 716 from four Pakistani districts were conveniently selected. The overall reliability coefficient of the scale was measured as .81. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis yielded five subscales of the construct. The Study revealed that Turkish and Pakistani teachers significantly differed, separately, on all the five subscales of Quality of School Work Life. However, no significant differences were found between Turkish and Pakistani teachers perspectives on the composite score of the QSWL. Further, Male, married, and Single teachers did not significantly differ on their perceptions of QSWL in both countries. However, Pakistani female teachers significantly perceived better QSWL than female teachers in Turkey. The study provided initial validity and reliability evidence of the QSWL.

Keywords: developmental opportunities, fair wages, quality of work life, Pakistan

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Authors: A. H. Bekhet, N. Helmy

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Background: Physical therapists are knowledgeable in treatment and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries; however, they have occupational musculoskeletal injuries because Physical therapy profession requires effort that may lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. No previous studies among physical therapists have been reported in Egypt. We aim to assess the prevalence and risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among physical therapist’s seniors versus internship students. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study in faculty of physical therapy Cairo university Prevalence and risk factors of musculoskeletal injuries were assessed using self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions. Seniors therapist was defined as a physical therapist with more than 5 years of work experience. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 for Windows. Results: The study included 106 physical therapists (Junior = 72; senior = 34), the mean age of senior therapists was 30.1 (SD 6.3) years and junior therapists were 22.8 (SD 2.4). Female subjects constituted 83.9% of the studied sample. The mean hours of contact with patients was higher among junior therapists 6.4 (SD 2.6) vs. 5.7 (SD 2.1) among senior therapists. The prevalence of a musculoskeletal injury, once or more in their lifetime, was significantly higher among senior therapists (86% vs. 66.7%; p = 0.04). The highest risk factor in increasing the symptoms of the injury among junior therapists was maintaining a position for a prolonged period of time at 28% while performing manual therapy techniques was the highest risk factor among senior therapists at 32%. 53% of senior therapists have limited their patient contact time as a result of their injury in comparison to 25% of junior therapists (p = 0.09). Conclusion: the presented study shows that the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries, once or more in their lifetime, is significantly higher among senior therapists.

Keywords: musculoskeletal injuries, occupational injuries, physical therapists, work related disorders

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Authors: Esubalew Yehualaw Melaku, Tizazu Abeza

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ZnSe thin films in an aqueous solution of zinc acetate and hydrazine hydrate (HH) using the non-toxic complexing agent EDTA along with the films were annealed at 200, 300, and 400oC. This research aimed to investigate the effect of annealing on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was used to study the structure and crystallite size of the ZnSe thin film. The ZnSe thin films are annealed in an oven at various temperatures which are characterized by structural and optical properties. An increase in annealing temperature distorted the nanocrystillinity and made the ZnSe thin films amorphous. The variation of resistivity indicates the semiconducting nature of the thin film. The electrical resistivity of the films decreases with increasing annealing temperature. In this study, the Band gap of ZnSe decreases from 2.8eV to 2.65eV with the increase in temperature and decreases for as-deposited to 2.5eV. As a result of this research, ZnSe is used for certain applications; it has been widely utilized in various optoelectronic devices such as thin film solar cells, green-blue light emitting diodes, lasers, photo-luminescent, and electro-luminescent devices.

Keywords: chemical bath deposition, ZnSe thin film, band gap, solar cells

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Authors: Fatemeh Najafi

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The major stress factor limiting crop growth and development of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is drought stress in arid and semiarid regions of the world. For this study the effects of water stress on some qualitative and quantitative traits in sesame germplasm was conducted in the Research Farm of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, in the crop year. Genotypes in a randomized complete block design with three replications in two environments (moisture stress and normal) were studied in regard of the seed weight, capsule weight, grain yield, biomass, plant height, number of capsules per plant, etc. The characteristics were evaluated based on the combined analysis. Irrigation was based on first class evaporation basin. After flowering stage drought stress was applied. The water deficit reduced growth period. Days to reach full ripening decreased so that the reduction was significant at the five percent level. Drought stress reduces yield and plant biomass. Genotypes based on combined analysis of these two traits were significant at the one percent level. Genotypes differ in terms of yield stress in terms of density plots, grain yield, days to first flowering and days to the half of the cap on the confidence level of five percent and traits of days to emergence of the first capsule and days to reach full ripening at the one percent level were significant. Other traits were not significant. The correlation of traits in circumstances of stress the number of seeds per capsule has the greatest impact on performance. The sensitivity and stress tolerance index was calculated. Based on the indicators, (Fars variety) and variety Karaj were identified as the most tolerant genotypes among the studied genotypes to drought stress. The highest sensitivity indicator of stress was related to genotype (FARS).

Keywords: sesamum, drought, stress, germplasm, resistance

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Authors: H. Hajimolahoseini, J. Hashemi, D. Redfearn

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Background: Catheter ablation is an effective therapy for symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF). The intracardiac electrocardiogram (IEGM) collected during this procedure contains precious information that has not been explored to its full capacity. Novel processing techniques allow looking at these recordings from different perspectives which can lead to improved therapeutic approaches. In our previous study, we showed that variation in amplitude measured through Shannon Entropy could be used as an AF recurrence risk stratification factor in patients who received Ibutilide before the electrograms were recorded. The aim of this study is to further investigate the effect of Ibutilide on characteristics of the recorded signals from the left atrium (LA) of a patient with persistent AF before and after administration of the drug. Methods: The IEGMs collected from different intra-atrial sites of 12 patients were studied and compared before and after Ibutilide administration. First, the before and after Ibutilide IEGMs that were recorded within a Euclidian distance of 3 mm in LA were selected as pairs for comparison. For every selected pair of IEGMs, the Probability Distribution Function (PDF) of the amplitude in time domain and magnitude in frequency domain was estimated using the regression analysis. The PDF represents the relative likelihood of a variable falling within a specific range of values. Results: Our observations showed that in time domain, the PDF of amplitudes was fitted to a Gaussian distribution while in frequency domain, it was fitted to a Rayleigh distribution. Our observations also revealed that after Ibutilide administration, the IEGMs would have significantly narrower short-tailed PDFs both in time and frequency domains. Conclusion: This study shows that the PDFs of the IEGMs before and after administration of Ibutilide represents significantly different properties, both in time and frequency domains. Hence, by fitting the PDF of IEGMs in time domain to a Gaussian distribution or in frequency domain to a Rayleigh distribution, the effect of Ibutilide can easily be tracked using the statistics of their PDF (e.g., standard deviation) while this is difficult through the waveform of IEGMs itself.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation, catheter ablation, probability distribution function, time-frequency characteristics

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Authors: Young Ik Suh, Tywan G. Martin

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Sports apps in a smartphone provide up-to-date information and fast and convenient access to live games. The market of sports apps has emerged as the second fastest growing app category worldwide. Further, many sports fans use their smartphones to know the schedule of sporting events, players’ position and bios, videos and highlights. In recent years, a growing number of scholars and practitioners alike have emphasized the importance of interactivity with sports apps, hypothesizing that interactivity plays a significant role in enticing sports apps users and that it is a key component in measuring the success of sports apps. Interactivity in sports apps focuses primarily on two functions: (1) two-way communication and (2) active user control, neither of which have been applicable through traditional mass media and communication technologies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine whether the interactivity function on sports apps leads to positive outcomes such as intent to revisit. More specifically, this study investigates how three major functions of interactivity (i.e., two-way communication, active user control, and real-time information) influence the attitude of sports apps users and their intent to revisit the sports apps. The following hypothesis is proposed; interactivity functions will be positively associated with both attitudes toward sports apps and intent to revisit sports apps. The survey questionnaire includes four parts: (1) an interactivity scale, (2) an attitude scale, (3) a behavioral intention scale, and (4) demographic questions. Data are to be collected from ESPN apps users. To examine the relationships among the observed and latent variables and determine the reliability and validity of constructs, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized to test hypothesized relationships among constructs. Additionally, this study compares the proposed interactivity model with a rival model to identify the role of attitude as a mediating factor. The findings of the current sports apps study provide several theoretical and practical contributions and implications by extending the research and literature associated with the important role of interactivity functions in sports apps and sports media consumption behavior. Specifically, this study may improve the theoretical understandings of whether the interactivity functions influence user attitudes and intent to revisit sports apps. Additionally, this study identifies which dimensions of interactivity are most important to sports apps users. From practitioners’ perspectives, this findings of this study provide significant implications. More entrepreneurs and investors in the sport industry need to recognize that high-resolution photos, live streams, and up-to-date stats are in the sports app, right at sports fans fingertips. The result will imply that sport practitioners may need to develop sports mobile apps that offer greater interactivity functions to attract sport fans.

Keywords: interactivity, two-way communication, active user control, real time information, sports apps, attitude, intent to revisit

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Authors: Sarbjit Singh, Amit Kumar Lal

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In India there is no governing body to control advertisement apart from ASCI due to which most of the companies are targeting children in their advertisements that have a negative impact on their behaviour. The main purpose of this research paper is to find out the impact of the television advertisement on the behaviour of the children as observed and reported by parents. The exploratory research design is adopted by using in-depth interviews with 20 parents in various cities of Punjab on the basis semi-structured interviews a self-administered structured Questionnaire was developed for data collection. Exploratory factor analysis using varimax rotation is used to analyse the data from 100 parents from the conjoint cities of Punjab. (Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana) The finding suggests that children demand those products which are more advertised. Parents believe that television advertisements are affecting the study of their children. Moreover, the children are becoming more violent, stubborn and rebellious. They try to start copying from the advertisements and indulge in bad habits. Children demand, nag and pester their parents to purchase the advertised product. This research paper would help advertisers to understand children behaviour towards advertisements and more over what should be done to control the negative impact of advertisement on children. Advertisers can also understand the parental perception towards advertisement.

Keywords: advertisement, consumer behaviour, children perception, teen marketing

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Authors: Sharafat Karimi, Jamil Jafari

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The impact of Western Literature on other nations' pieces of literature (including Arabic) has caused critics to ignore the importance of Arabic cultural & literary heritage in the formation of contemporary Arabic fiction; but on the contrary, an important part of literary genres in any society, especially fiction has been formed in the past and depends on ancient literary events. The current paper, utilizing the descriptive-analytical method and by means of library studies, tries to challenge those critics who regard Western Literature as the only effective factor on the appearance of Arabic fiction. Furthermore, this research tries to find out effective Islamic-Arabic elements on the development of Arabic novel by the investigation of some fictional works. The results show that in addition to regarding Western literature as an important factor, Arab novelists have applied their heritage, culture, and ancient history, either written or orally transmitted to the current generation, in their innovations. Among great historical works containing moral stories, allegorical legends, myths, tales of heroes, and folklore, we can refer to Arabian Nights, Kalila & Dimna, romantic stories, historical puzzles, history of Islam, history of ancient Egypt, Maqama, and Quranic stories. Famous novels like 'Hadith Isa ibn-Hisham', 'Layali Alif Layla', 'Abas al-Aqdar', 'Radoubis', 'Ahlam Shahrzad, and 'Alam Bela Kharaet' were compiled on the basis of ancient literary heritage not only in the theme but also in the structure; so one can conclude that the ancient literary-cultural heritage and Islamic-Arabian history have been influential on Arabic novel appearance and development.

Keywords: Arabic fictional literature, culture, heritage, history, language, novel

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Authors: Ashim Kanti Dey, Briti Sundar Bhowmik

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This paper presents an idea to improve the soft soil by using lime grits which are normally produced as waste product in the paper manufacturing industries. This waste material cannot be used as a construction material because of its light weight, uniform size and poor compaction control. With scarcity in land, effective disposal of lime grit is a major concern of all paper manufacturing industries. Considering its non-plasticity and high permeability characteristics the lime grit may suitably be used as a drainage material for speedy consolidation of cohesive soil. It can also be used to improve the bearing capacity of soft clay. An attempt has been made in this paper to show the usefulness of lime grit in improving the bearing capacity of shallow foundation resting on soft clayey soil. A series of undrained unconsolidated cyclic triaxial tests performed at different area ratios and at three different water contents shows that dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio can be substantially improved with lime grit. Improvement is observed to be more in case of higher area ratio and higher water content. Static triaxial tests were also conducted on lime grit reinforced clayey soil after application of 50 load cycles to determine the effect of lime grit columns on cyclically loaded clayey soils. It is observed that the degradation is less for lime grit stabilized soil. A study of model test with different area ratio of lime column installation is also included to see the field behaviour of lime grit reinforced soil.

Keywords: lime grit column, area ratio, shear modulus, damping ratio, strength ratio, improvement factor, degradation factor

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Authors: Kiri Trier, Theresa Treffers

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In the course of continuous volatility like production stops due to the COVID-19 pandemic, video-on-demand player monopolizing the film industry, filmmakers are stuck in traditional, linear content development processes. The industry has to become more agile in order to react quickly and easily to changes. Since content development in agile project management is scientifically–empirically not at all recorded, and a lack beyond the software development in terms of agile methods consists, we examined if the agile manifesto values and principles from the software development can be adapted to the film industry to enable agility and digitalization of content development in the industry. We conducted an online questionnaire with 184 German filmmakers (producers, authors, directors, actors, film financiers) for a first cross-sectional assessment for adaptability of the agile manifesto from the software development to the film industry, factor analysis was used to validate the construct. Our results show that it is crucial to digitalize traditional content development to agile content development end-to-end, with tools, lean processes, new collaboration structures, and holacracy to prepare for any volatility. Overall, we examined the first construct for an agile manifesto for the film industry with four values related to nine own principles. Our findings help to get a better understanding of the agile manifesto beyond the software development as a guideline for implementing agility in the film industry.

Keywords: agile manifesto, agile project management, agility, film industry

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Authors: Fatemeh Keshavarz

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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, often leading to joint damage and physical disability. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of serum levels of interleukin 17 and anti-CCP factor with disease severity in RA patients. Materials and Methods: Fifty-four patients with RA confirmed by clinical and laboratory criteria were recruited. A 5 ml venous blood sample was taken from every patient, its serum was separated. Based on clinical data and severity of symptoms, patients were classified into three groups of those with mild, moderate, and severe symptoms. Serum levels of IL-17 and anti-CCP in all samples were measured using ELISA. Results: Analysis of IL-17 serum levels in different groups showed that its amount was higher in the group with mild clinical symptoms than in other groups. Comparison of IL-17 serum levels between mild and moderate disease severity groups showed a statistically significant relationship. There was also a positive linear relationship between anti-CCP and serum IL-17 levels in different groups of the disease, and serum IL-17 levels were inversely related to the duration of exposure to the disease. Conclusion: Higher IL-17 serum levels in patients with mild symptom severity confirm that this highly specific marker is involved in the pathogenesis of RA and may be effective in initiating patients’ clinical symptoms.

Keywords: IL-17, anti-CCP, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune

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Authors: Mahima D, Sini T

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The use of geocell in subgrade has been previously studied by various researchers in the past. It was observed that the infill material used could affect the performance of the geocell reinforced subgrade. So, the use of waste materials as infill in geocell reinforced subgrade may prove to be more effective, economical, and environment-friendly. The performance of demolition waste as an infill was studied using flexure testing, and we compared the results with that of the other infill materials; soil and sand. Flexural behaviour is very important to the geosynthetic application in pavements as it acts as a the geocell reinforcement acts as flexible layer embedded in pavements and leads to an improvement in stress distribution and reduction in stress on the soil subgrade. The flexural behaviour was determined using four-point bending tests and results were expressed in terms of modulus improvement factor (MIF) and load-deflection behaviour. The geocell reinforced subgrade with different infill materials was tested for flexural behaviour in a polywood-polywood three-layered beam model. The deflections of the three-layered model beam were measured for the corresponding load increments. Elastic modulus of the soil-geocell composite was calculated using closed-form solutions. Geocells were prepared from geonets with three different aspect ratios 0.45, 0.67, and 1. The demolition waste infilled geocell mattress with aspect ratio 0.67 showed improved flexural behavior with MIF of 2.67 followed by soil and sand. Owing to its improved flexural resistance as seen from the MIF and load-deflection behivour, crushed demolition waste can be effectively used as infill material for geocell reinforced subgrade, thereby reducing the difficulties in the management of demolition waste and improving the load distribution of weaker subgrade.

Keywords: demolition waste, flexural behavior, geocell, modulus improvement factor

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Authors: Naoki Yamamoto, Hidenobu Ozaki, Taiichiro Ookawa, Youming Liu, Kazunori Okada, Aiping Zheng

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Rice sheath blight is one of the destructive fungal diseases in rice. We have thought that rice sheath blight resistance is a polygenic trait. Host-pathogen interactions and secondary metabolites such as lignin and phytoalexins are likely to be involved in defense against R. solani. However, to our knowledge, it is still unknown how sheath blight resistance can be enhanced in rice breeding. To seek for an alternative genetic factor that contribute to sheath blight resistance, we mined relevant allelic variations from rice core collections created in Japan. Based on disease lesion length on detached leaf sheath, we selected 30 varieties of the top tail-end and the bottom tail-end, respectively, from the core collections to perform genome-wide association mapping. Re-sequencing reads for these varieties were used for calling single nucleotide polymorphisms among the 60 varieties to create a SNP panel, which contained 1,137,131 homozygous variant sites after filitering. Association mapping highlighted a locus on the long arm of chromosome 11, which is co-localized with three sheath blight QTLs, qShB11-2-TX, qShB11, and qSBR-11-2. Based on the localization of the trait-associated alleles, we identified an ankyryn repeat-containing protein gene (ANK-M) as an uncharacterized candidate factor for rice sheath blight resistance. Allelic distributions for ANK-M in the whole rice population supported the reliability of trait-allele associations. Gene expression characteristics were checked to evaluiate the functionality of ANK-M. Since an ANK-M homolog (OsPIANK1) in rice seems a basal defense regulator against rice blast and bacterial leaf blight, ANK-M may also play a role in the rice immune system.

Keywords: allele mining, GWAS, QTL, rice sheath blight

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Authors: D. Kokt, T. F. Dreyer

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The main objective of the study was to design a mentoring programme aimed at developing the soft skills of mentors. The mentors are all employed by a multinational corporation. The company had a mentoring plan in place that did not yield the required results, especially related to the development of soft skills. This prompted the researchers to conduct an extensive literature review followed by a mixed methods approach to ascertain the best practices in developing the soft skills of mentors. The outcomes of the study led to the development of a structured mentoring programme using 25 modules to be completed by mentors. The design incorporated a blended modular approach using both face-to-face teaching and teaching supported by Information Communication Technology (ICT). Blended learning was ideal as the ICT component helped to minimise instructor-mentor physical contact as part of the health measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. The blended learning approach also allowed instructors and mentors an online or offline mode, so that mentors could have more time for creative and cooperative exercises. A range of delivery methodologies were spread out across the different modules to ensure mentor engagement and accelerate mentor development. This included concept development through in-person instructor-led training sessions, concept development through virtual instructor-led training sessions, simulations, case studies, e-learning, role plays, interactive learning using mentoring toolkits, and experiential learning through application. The mentor development journey included formal modular competency assessments. All modules contained post-competency assessment consisting of 10 questions (comprising of a combination of explanatory questions and multiple-choice questions) to ensure understanding and deal with identified competency gaps. The minimum pass mark for all modular competency assessments was 80%. Mentors were allowed to retake the assessment if they scored less than 80% until they demonstrated understanding at the required level.

Keywords: mentor, mentee, soft skills, mentor development, blended learning, modular approach

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Authors: Nabilah Zainal Abidin, Fawazul Khair Ibrahim, Raja Nafida Raja Shahminan

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This paper discusses on how componential analysis is used in architecture, mainly in determining the absence and presence of furniture in Traditional Malay Houses. The house samples were retrieved from the reports archived by the Centre of Built Environment in the Malay World (KALAM) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Findings from the analysis indicate that furniture available in the spaces of the houses is determined by the culture of the people and the availability of certain furniture is influenced by the activities that are carried out within the space.

Keywords: componential analysis, sustainable furniture, traditional malay house

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Authors: Kamal Ameis

Abstract:

This study aims to further improve our understanding of the underlying mechanism of local injury that occurs after manual acupuncture needle manipulation, and that initiates the muscle regeneration process, which is essential for muscle maintenance and adaptation. Skeletal muscle is maintained by resident stem cells called muscle satellite cells. These cells are normally in quiescent state, but following muscle injury, they re-enter the cell cycle and execute a myogenic program resulting in muscle fiber regeneration. Our previous work in young rats demonstrated that acupuncture treatment induced injury that activated resident satellite (stem) cells, which leads to muscle regeneration. Skeletal muscle regeneration is an adaptive response to injury that requires a tightly orchestrated event between signaling pathways activated by growth factor and intrinsic regulatory program controlled by myogenic transcription factor. We identified several gene expressions uniquely important for muscle regeneration in response to acupuncture treatment at different time course using different biological techniques, including Immunocytochemistry, western blotting, and Real Time PCR. This study uses a novel but non-invasive model of injury induced by manual acupuncture to further our current understanding of regenerative mechanism of muscle stem cells. From a clinical perspective, this model of injury induced by manual acupuncture may be easily translatable into a clinical tool that can be used as an alternative to physical exercise for patients challenged by bed rest or forced inactivity. Finally, the knowledge gained from this research could be useful for studies of the local effects of various modalities of induced injury, such as the traditional method of healing by cupping (hijamah), which may enhanced muscle stem cells and muscle fiber regeneration.

Keywords: acupuncture, injury, regeneration, muscle stem cells

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Authors: S. Oudjemia, F. Alim, S. Seddiki

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This paper shows the application of multifractal analysis for additional help in cancer diagnosis. The medical image processing is a very important discipline in which many existing methods are in search of solutions to real problems of medicine. In this work, we present results of multifractal analysis of brain MRI images. The purpose of this analysis was to separate between healthy and cancerous tissue of the brain. A nonlinear method based on multifractal detrending moving average (MFDMA) which is a generalization of the detrending fluctuations analysis (DFA) is used for the detection of abnormalities in these images. The proposed method could make separation of the two types of brain tissue with success. It is very important to note that the choice of this non-linear method is due to the complexity and irregularity of tumor tissue that linear and classical nonlinear methods seem difficult to characterize completely. In order to show the performance of this method, we compared its results with those of the conventional method box-counting.

Keywords: irregularity, nonlinearity, MRI brain images, multifractal analysis, brain tumor

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Authors: J. H. Lv, W. Z. Wang, S.W. Liu

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The major concern in the aviation industry is the flight safety. Although great effort has been put onto the development of material and system reliability, the failure cases of fatal accidents still occur nowadays. Due to the complexity of the aviation system, and the interaction among the failure components, the failure analysis of the related equipment is a little difficult. This study focuses on surveying the failure cases in aviation, which are extracted from failure analysis journals, including Engineering Failure Analysis and Case studies in Engineering Failure Analysis, in order to obtain the failure sensitive factors or failure sensitive parts. The analytical results show that, among the failure cases, fatigue failure is the largest in number of occurrence. The most failed components are the disk, blade, landing gear, bearing, and fastener. The frequently failed materials consist of steel, aluminum alloy, superalloy, and titanium alloy. Therefore, in order to assure the safety in aviation, more attention should be paid to the fatigue failures.

Keywords: aerospace, disk, failure analysis, fatigue

Procedia PDF Downloads 326