Search results for: risk management failure

Authors: Diana López-Soto, Soumaya Yacout, Francisco Ángel-Bello

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Although inventories are considered as stocks of money sitting on shelve, they are needed in order to secure a constant and continuous production. Therefore, companies need to have control over the amount of inventory in order to find the balance between excessive and shortage of inventory. The classification of items according to certain criteria such as the price, the usage rate and the lead time before arrival allows any company to concentrate its investment in inventory according to certain ranking or priority of items. This makes the decision making process for inventory management easier and more justifiable. The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach for the classification of new items based on the already existing criteria. This approach is called the Logical Analysis of Data (LAD). It is used in this paper to assist the process of ABC items classification based on multiple criteria. LAD is a data mining technique based on Boolean theory that is used for pattern recognition. This technique has been tested in medicine, industry, credit risk analysis, and engineering with remarkable results. An application on ABC inventory classification is presented for the first time, and the results are compared with those obtained when using the well-known AHP technique and the ANN technique. The results show that LAD presented very good classification accuracy.

Keywords: ABC multi-criteria inventory classification, inventory management, multi-class LAD model, multi-criteria classification

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Authors: Hooman Dabirmanesh, Mahmoud Ghazavi, Kazem Barkhordari

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A finite element modeling for determination of the bearing capacity of caissons subjected to inclined loads is presented in this paper. The model investigates the uplift capacity of the caisson with varying cross sectional area. To this aim, the behavior of the soil is assumed to be elasto-plastic, and its failure is controlled by Modified Cam-Clay failure criterion. The simulation takes into account the couple analysis. The approach is verified using available data from other research work especially centrifuge data. Parametric studies are subsequently performed to investigate the effect of contributing parameters such as aspect ratio of the caisson, the loading rate, the loading direction angle, and points where the external load is applied. In addition, the influence of the caisson geometry is taken into account. The results show the bearing capacity of the caisson increases with increasing the taper angle. Hence, the pullout capacity will increase using the same material. In addition, the bearing capacity of caissons strongly depends on the suction that is generated at tip and in sealed surface on top of caisson. Other results concerning the influencing factors will be presented.

Keywords: aspect ratio, finite element method, inclined load, modified Cam clay, taper angle, undrained condition

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Authors: Markéta Gregušová, Vladimíra Schindlerová, Ivana Šajdlerová, Petr Mohyla, Jan Kedroň

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Company managers are always looking for more and more opportunities to succeed in today's fiercely competitive market. To maintain your place among the successful companies on the market today or to come up with a revolutionary business idea is much more difficult than before. Each new or improved method, tool, or approach that can improve the functioning of business processes or even of the entire system is worth checking and verification. The use of simulation in the design of manufacturing systems and their management in practice is one of the ways without increased risk, which makes it possible to find the optimal parameters of manufacturing processes and systems. The paper presents an example of use of simulation for solution of the bottleneck problem in the concrete company.

Keywords: practical applications, business processes, systems, simulation

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Authors: Tas Yong Koh, Steve Rowlinson, Yuzhong Shen

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In construction safety management, safety climate has long been linked to workers' safety behaviors and performance. For this reason, safety climate concept and tools have been used as heuristics to diagnose a range of safety-related issues by some progressive contractors in Hong Kong and elsewhere. However, as a diagnostic tool, safety climate tends to treat the different components of the climate construct in a linear fashion. Safety management in construction projects, in reality, is a multi-faceted and multilevel phenomenon that resembles a complex system. Hence, understanding safety management in construction projects requires not only the understanding of safety climate but also the organizational-systemic nature of the phenomenon. Our involvement, diagnoses, and interpretations of a range of safety climate-related issues which culminated in the project’s sub-optimum safety performance in an infrastructure construction project have brought about such revelation. In this study, a range of data types had been collected from various hierarchies of the project site organization. These include the frontline workers and supervisors from the main and sub-contractors, and the client supervisory personnel. Data collection was performed through the administration of safety climate questionnaire, interviews, observation, and document study. The findings collectively indicate that what had emerged in parallel of the seemingly linear climate-based exploration is the exposition of the organization-systemic nature of the phenomenon. The results indicate the negative impacts of climate perceptions mismatch, insufficient work planning, and risk management, mixed safety leadership, workforce negative attributes, lapsed safety enforcement and resources shortages collectively give rise to the project sub-optimum safety performance. From the dynamic causation and multilevel perspective, the analyses show that the individual, group, and organizational levels issues are interrelated and these interrelationships are linked to negative safety climate. Hence the adoption of both perspectives has enabled a fuller understanding of the phenomenon of safety management that point to the need for an organizational-systemic intervention strategy. The core message points to the fact that intervention at an individual level will only meet with limited success if the risks embedded in the higher levels in group and project organization are not addressed. The findings can be used to guide the effective development of safety infrastructure by linking different levels of systems in a construction project organization.

Keywords: construction safety management, dynamic causation, multilevel analysis, safety climate

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Authors: Reza Akbari, Jalal MontazeriFashtali, PeymanMomeni Taromsari

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Pipeline systems, play an important role as a vital element in reducing or increasing the risk of earthquake damage and vulnerability. Pipelines are suitable, cheap, fast, and safe routes for transporting oil, gas, water, sewage, etc. The sepipelines must pass from a wide geographical area; hence they will structurally face different environmental and underground factors of earthquake forces’ effect. Therefore, structural engineering analysis and design for this type of lines requires the understanding of relevant parameters behavior and lack of familiarity with them can cause irreparable damages and risks to design and execution, especially in the face of earthquakes. Today, buried pipelines play an important role in human life cycle, thus, studying the vulnerability of pipeline systems is of particular importance. This study examines the behavior of buried pipelines affected by strike-slip fault. Studied fault is perpendicular to the tube axis and causes stress and deformation in the tube by sliding horizontally. In this study, the pipe-soil interaction is accurately simulated, so that one can examine the large displacements and strains, nonlinear material behavior and contact and friction conditions of soil and pipe. The results can be used for designing buried pipes and determining the amount of fault displacement that causes the failure of the buried pipes.

Keywords: pipe lines , earthquake , fault , soil-fault interaction

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Authors: Amina Unis, Samah S. El Basateeny, Noha A. H. Nassef

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Introduction: Acute Renal Failure (ARF) is one of the most common problems encountered in hospitalized critically ill patients. In recent years great effort has been focused on the introduction of herbal medicine as a novel therapeutic agent for prevention of ARF. Hence, the current study was designed to investigate the effect of Green Coffee Bean Extract (GCBE) on gentamicin induced ARF in rats. Methods: The study was conducted on 60 male rats divided into six equal groups. Group 1 served as normal control group and GCBE was administered for 7 days at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day in group 2 and 40 mg/kg/day in group 3 to test the effect of GCBE on normal kidneys. ARF was induced by a daily intraperitoneal injection of gentamicin (80 mg/kg) for 7 days in group 4 (model group), group 5 (GCBE 20 mg/kg/day) and group 6 (GCBE 20 mg/kg/day). All rats were sacrificed after 7 days and blood was withdrawn for kidney function tests. Kidneys were removed for determination of renal oxidative stress markers and histopathological examination. Results: The present study showed that rats that received oral GCBE for 7 days without induction of ARF showed no significant change in all the assessed parameters in comparison to the normal control group, while rats in the groups that received oral GCBE for 7 days with induction of ARF showed a significant improvement in kidney functions tests (decrease in serum urea, serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen) when compared to the ARF model group. Moreover, there was significant amelioration in renal oxidative stress markers (renal malondialdehyde, renal superoxide dismutase) and renal histopathological changes in the GCBE treated groups along induction of ARF when compared to ARF model group. The most significant improvement was reported in the group where GCBE was administered for 7 days in a dose 40 mg/kg/day, along with induction of ARF. Conclusion: GCBE has a potential role in ameliorating renal damage involved in ARF mostly through its antioxidant effect.

Keywords: green coffee bean extract, gentamicin, acute renal failure, pharmacology

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Authors: Eunjoo Lee

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Background: As the number of surgeries increases, the incidence of adverse events is likely to become more prevalent. Patients who are somewhat knowledgeable about surgery-related adverse events are more likely to engage in safety initiatives to prevent them. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a smartphone application developed during the study to enhance patients’ knowledge of surgery-related adverse events during hospitalization. Design: Non-randomized, one group, measured pre- and post-intervention. Participants: Thirty-six hospitalized patients admitted to the orthopedics unit of a general hospital in South Korea. Methods. First, a smartphone application to enhance patients’ knowledge of surgery-related adverse events was developed through an iterative process, which included a literature review, expert consultation, and pilot testing. The application was installed on participants’ smartphones, and research assistants taught the participants to use it. Twenty-five true/false questions were used to assess patients’ knowledge of preoperative precautions (eight items), surgical site infection (five items), Foley catheter management (four items), drainage management (four items), and anesthesia-related complications (four items). Results: Overall, the percentage of correct answers increased significantly, from 57.02% to 73.82%, although answers related to a few specific topics did not increase that much. Although the patients’ understanding of drainage management and the Foley catheter did increase substantially after they used the smartphone application, it was still relatively low. Conclusions: The smartphone application developed during this study enhanced the patients’ knowledge of surgery-related adverse events during hospitalization. However, nurses must make an additional effort to help patients to understand certain topics, including drainage and Foley catheter management. Relevance to clinical practice: Insufficient patient knowledge increases the risk of adverse events during hospitalization. Nurses should take active steps to enhance patients’ knowledge of a range of safety issues during hospitalization, in order to decrease the number of surgery-related adverse events.

Keywords: patient education, patient participation, patient safety, smartphone application, surgical errors

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Authors: Vincent Andrew Cappellano

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In the early phases of critical infrastructure system design, translating distributed computing requirements to an architecture has risk given the multitude of approaches (e.g., cloud, edge, fog). In many systems, a single requirement for system uptime / availability is used to encompass the system’s intended operations. However, when architected systems may perform to those availability requirements only during normal operations and not during component failure, or during outages caused by adversary attacks on critical infrastructure (e.g., physical, cyber). System designers lack a structured method to evaluate availability requirements against candidate system architectures through deep degradation scenarios (i.e., normal ops all the way down to significant damage of communications or physical nodes). This increases risk of poor selection of a candidate architecture due to the absence of insight into true performance for systems that must operate as a piece of critical infrastructure. This research effort proposes a process to analyze critical infrastructure system availability requirements and a candidate set of systems architectures, producing a metric assessing these architectures over a spectrum of degradations to aid in selecting appropriate resilient architectures. To accomplish this effort, a set of simulation and evaluation efforts are undertaken that will process, in an automated way, a set of sample requirements into a set of potential architectures where system functions and capabilities are distributed across nodes. Nodes and links will have specific characteristics and based on sampled requirements, contribute to the overall system functionality, such that as they are impacted/degraded, the impacted functional availability of a system can be determined. A machine learning reinforcement-based agent will structurally impact the nodes, links, and characteristics (e.g., bandwidth, latency) of a given architecture to provide an assessment of system functional uptime/availability under these scenarios. By varying the intensity of the attack and related aspects, we can create a structured method of evaluating the performance of candidate architectures against each other to create a metric rating its resilience to these attack types/strategies. Through multiple simulation iterations, sufficient data will exist to compare this availability metric, and an architectural recommendation against the baseline requirements, in comparison to existing multi-factor computing architectural selection processes. It is intended that this additional data will create an improvement in the matching of resilient critical infrastructure system requirements to the correct architectures and implementations that will support improved operation during times of system degradation due to failures and infrastructure attacks.

Keywords: architecture, resiliency, availability, cyber-attack

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Authors: Athini Ntloko

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Mycobacterium bovis and other species of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) can result to a zoonotic infection known as Bovine tuberculosis (bTB). MTBC has members that may contaminate an extensive range of hosts, including wildlife. Diverse wild species are known to cause disease in domestic livestock and are acknowledged as TB reservoirs. It has been a main study worldwide to deliberate on bTB risk factors as a result and some studies focused on particular parts of risk factors such as wildlife and herd management. The significance of the study was to determine the incidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex that is associated with soil, hayfeed and water. Questionnaires were administered to thirty (30) smallholding farm owners in the two villages (kwaMasele and Qungqwala) and three (3) three commercial farms (Fort Hare dairy farm, Middledrift dairy farm and Seven star dairy farm). Detection of M. tuberculosis complex was achieved by Polymerase Chain Reaction using primers for IS6110; whereas a genotypic drug resistance mutation was detected using Genotype MTBDRplus assays. Nine percent (9%) of respondents had more than 40 cows in their herd, while 60% reported between 10 and 20 cows in their herd. Relationship between farm size and vaccination for TB differed from forty one percent (41%) being the highest to the least five percent (5%). The highest number of respondents who knew about relationship between TB cases and cattle location was ninety one percent (91%). Approximately fifty one percent (51%) of respondents had knowledge about wild life access to the farms. Relationship between import of cattle and farm size ranged from nine percent (9%) to thirty five percent (35%). Cattle sickness in relation to farm size differed from forty three (43%) being the highest to the least three percent (3%); while thirty three percent (33%) of respondents had knowledge about health management. Respondents with knowledge about the occurrence of TB infections in farms were forty-eight percent (48%). The frequency of DNA isolation from samples ranged from the highest forty-five percent (45%) from water to the least twenty two percent (22%) from soil. Fort Hare dairy farm had the highest number of positive samples, forty four percent (44%) from water samples; whereas Middledrift dairy farm had the lowest positive from water, seventeen percent (17%). Twelve (22%) out of 55 isolates showed resistance to INH and RIF that is, multi-drug resistance (MDR) and nine percent (9%) were sensitive to either INH or RIF. The mutations at rpoB gene differed from 58% being the highest to the least (23%). Fifty seven percent (57%) of samples showed a S315T1 mutation while only 14% possessed a S531L in the katG gene. The highest inhA mutations were detected in T8A (80 %) and the least was observed in A16G (17%). The results of this study reveal that risk factors for bTB in cattle and dairy farm workers are a serious issue abound in the Eastern Cape of South Africa; with the possibility of widespread dissemination of multidrug resistant determinants in MTBC from the environment.

Keywords: hayfeed, isoniazid, multi-drug resistance, mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, polymerase chain reaction, rifampicin, soil, water

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Authors: Chinedu Bevis Dibia, Hom Nath Dhakal

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Effective waste management in sub-Saharan Africa has been identified as a means of resolving the wicked problems posed by climate change. Municipal solid waste management in Nigeria could be argued to be ineffective and unsustainable, despite the tag of sustainable ascribed to most municipalities’ waste management. Relatively, few studies have enquired on the evolution of Sustainable Municipal Waste Management (SMWM) in Nigeria. The main objective of this research is to examine the evolution of SMWM in Nigeria using Lagos state as a case study. A qualitative method was used as methodology, soft systems analysis is the main tool of evaluation. Results indicated that effective policy implementation and management is the main challenge to the proper evolution of SMWM. These findings highlight the relevance of effective stakeholder’s engagement and management, policy consistency as major determinants in SMWM.

Keywords: high income localities, low middle income localities, SMWM, upper middle income localities, waste collection, waste disposal

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Authors: A. Banovcinova, M. Zakova

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Labor market activity and paid employment should be a key factor in protecting individuals and families from falling into poverty and providing them with sufficient resources to meet the needs of their members. However, due to various processes in the labor market as well as the influence of individual factors and often insufficient social capital, there is a relatively large group of households that cannot eliminate paid employment and find themselves in a state of so-called working poverty. The aim of the research was to find out what strategies families use in managing poverty and meeting their needs and which of these strategies prevail in the Slovak population. A quantitative research strategy was chosen. The method of data collection was a structured interview focused on finding out the use of individual management strategies and also selected demographic indicators. The research sample consisted of members of families in which at least one member has a paid job. The condition for inclusion in the research was that the family's income did not exceed 60% of the national median equalized disposable income. The analysis of the results showed 5 basic areas to which management strategies are related - work, financial security, needs, social contacts and perception of the current situation. The prevailing strategies were strategies aimed at increasing and streamlining labor market activity and the planned and effective management of the family budget. Strategies that were rejected were mainly related to debt creation. The results make it possible to identify the preferred ways of managing poverty in individual areas of life, as well as the factors that influence this behavior. This information is important for working with families living in a state of working poverty and can help professionals develop positive ways of coping for families.

Keywords: copying strategies, family, in-work poverty, quantitative research

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Authors: Giovanni Gonzalez Araujo, Michael Kyrilov, Angelo Kyrilov

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STEAMplug is a web-based innovative educational platform which makes teaching easier and learning more effective. It requires no setup, eliminating the barriers to entry, allowing students to focus on their learning throughreal-world development environments. The student-centric tools enable easy collaboration between peers and teachers. Analyzing user interactions with the system enables us to predict student performance and identify at-risk students, allowing early instructor intervention.

Keywords: plagiarism detection, identifying at-Risk Students, education technology, e-learning system, collaborative development, learning and teaching with technology

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Authors: Armin Solemanifar, Arthur Wilkinson, Kinjalkumar Patel

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Carbon fibre (CF) - polymer laminate composites have very low densities (approximately 40% lower than aluminium), high strength and high stiffness but in terms of toughness properties they often require modifications. For example, adding rubbers or thermoplastics toughening agents are common ways of improving the interlaminar fracture toughness of initially brittle thermoset composite matrices. The main aim of this project was to toughen CF-epoxy resin laminate composites using hybrid CF-fabrics incorporating Innegra™ a commercial highly-oriented polypropylene (PP) fibre, in which more than 90% of its crystal orientation is parallel to the fibre axis. In this study, the damage tolerance of hybrid (carbon-Innegra, CI) composites was investigated. Laminate composites were produced by resin-infusion using: pure CF fabric; fabrics with different ratios of commingled CI, and two different types of pure Innegra fabrics (Innegra 1 and Innegra 2). Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) was used to measure the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composite matrix and values of flexural storage modulus versus temperature. Mechanical testing included drop-weight impact, compression-after-impact (CAI), and interlaminar (short-beam) shear strength (ILSS). Ultrasonic C-Scan imaging was used to determine the impact damage area and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the fracture mechanisms that occur during failure of the composites. For all composites, 8 layers of fabrics were used with a quasi-isotropic sequence of [-45°, 0°, +45°, 90°]s. DMTA showed the Tg of all composites to be approximately same (123 ±3°C) and that flexural storage modulus (before the onset of Tg) was the highest for the pure CF composite while the lowest were for the Innegra 1 and 2 composites. Short-beam shear strength of the commingled composites was higher than other composites, while for Innegra 1 and 2 composites only inelastic deformation failure was observed during the short-beam test. During impact, the Innegra 1 composite withstood up to 40 J without any perforation while for the CF perforation occurred at 10 J. The rate of reduction in compression strength upon increasing the impact energy was lowest for the Innegra 1 and 2 composites, while CF showed the highest rate. On the other hand, the compressive strength of the CF composite was highest of all the composites at all impacted energy levels. The predominant failure modes for Innegra composites observed in cross-sections of fractured specimens were fibre pull-out, micro-buckling, and fibre plastic deformation; while fibre breakage and matrix delamination were a major failure observed in the commingled composites due to the more brittle behaviour of CF. Thus, Innegra fibres toughened the CF composites but only at the expense of reducing compressive strength.

Keywords: hybrid composite, thermoplastic fibre, compression strength, damage tolerance

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Authors: Pierre van Tonder, Christoff Kruger

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Modular concrete elements are used for retaining walls to provide lateral support. Depending on the retaining wall layout, these precast panels may be interlocking and may be tied into the soil backfill via geosynthetic strips. This study investigates the ultimate pull-out load increase, which is possible by adding varied diameter supplementary reinforcement through embedded anchor loops within concrete retaining wall panels. Full-scale panels used in practice have four embedded anchor points. However, only one anchor loop was embedded in the center of the experimental panels. The experimental panels had the same thickness but a smaller footprint (600mm x 600mm x 140mm) area than the full-sized panels to accommodate the space limitations of the laboratory and experimental setup. The experimental panels were also cast without any bending reinforcement as would typically be obtained in the full-scale panels. The exclusion of these reinforcements was purposefully neglected to evaluate the impact of a single bar reinforcement through the center of the anchor loops. The reinforcement bars had of 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, and 12 mm. 30 samples of concrete panels with embedded anchor loops were tested. The panels were supported on the edges and the anchor loops were subjected to an increasing tensile force using an Instron piston. Failures that occurred were loop failures and panel failures and a mixture thereof. There was an increase in ultimate load vs. increasing diameter as expected, but this relationship persisted until the reinforcement diameter exceeded 10 mm. For diameters larger than 10 mm, the ultimate failure load starts to decrease due to the dependency of the reinforcement bond strength to the concrete matrix. Overall, the reinforced panels showed a 14 to 23% increase in the factor of safety. Using anchor loops of 66kN ultimate load together with Y10 steel reinforcement with bent ends had shown the most promising results in reducing concrete panel pull-out failure. The Y10 reinforcement had shown, on average, a 24% increase in ultimate load achieved. Previous research has investigated supplementary reinforcement around the anchor loops. This paper extends this investigation by evaluating supplementary reinforcement placed through the panel anchor loops.

Keywords: supplementary reinforcement, anchor loops, retaining panels, reinforced concrete, pull-out failure

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Authors: Xia Huo

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Children are more vulnerable to environmental toxicants compared to adults, and their developing immune system is among the most sensitive targets regarding toxicity of environmental toxicants. Studies have found that exposure to environmental toxicants is associated with impaired immune function in children, but only a few studies have focused on the relationship between environmental toxicant exposure and vaccine antibody potency and immunoglobulin (Ig) levels in children. These studies investigated the associations of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As, Hg) and PM2.5 with the serum-specific antibody concentrations and Ig levels against different vaccines, such as anti-Hib, tetanus, diphtheria toxoid, and analyze the possible mechanisms underlying exposure-related alterations of antibody titers and Ig levels against different vaccines. Results suggest that exposure to these toxicants is generally associated with decreased potency of antibodies produced from childhood immunizations and an overall deficiency in the protection the vaccines provide. Toxicant exposure is associated with vaccination failure and decreased antibody titers, and increased risk of immune-related diseases in children by altering specific immunoglobulin levels. Age, sex, nutritional status, and co-exposure may influence the effects of toxicants on the immune function in children. Epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure-induced changes to humoral immunerelated tissue/cells/molecules response to vaccines may have predominant roles in the inverse associations between antibody responsiveness to vaccines and environmental toxicants. These results help us to conduct better immunization policies for children under environmental toxicant burden.

Keywords: environmental toxicants, immunotoxicity, vaccination, antibodies, children's health

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Authors: Mohammad Sheikhalishahi, Vahid Ebrahimipour, Amir Hossein Radman-Kian

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This paper proposes an Ontology framework for knowledge modeling and representation of the equipment integrity process in a typical oil and gas production plant. Our aim is to construct a knowledge modeling that facilitates translation, interpretation, and conversion of human-readable integrity interpretation into computer-readable representation. The framework provides a function structure related to fault propagation using ISO 14224 and ISO 15926 OWL-Lite/ Resource Description Framework (RDF) to obtain a generic system-level model of asset integrity that can be utilized in the integrity engineering process during the equipment life cycle. It employs standard terminology developed by ISO 15926 and ISO 14224 to map textual descriptions of equipment failure and then convert it to a causality-driven logic by semantic interpretation and computer-based representation using Lite/RDF. The framework applied for an offshore gas riser. The result shows that the approach can cross-link the failure-related integrity words and domain-specific logic to obtain a representation structure of equipment integrity with causality inference based on semantic extraction of inspection report context.

Keywords: asset integrity modeling, interoperability, OWL, RDF/XML

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Authors: Eiji Okano, Kazuyuki Inagaki

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We revisit Uribe's `Fiscal Theory of Sovereign Risk' advocating that there is a trade-off between stabilizing inflation and suppressing default. We develop a class of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with nominal rigidities and compare two de facto inflation stabilization policies, optimal monetary policy and optimal monetary and fiscal policy with the minimizing interest rate spread policy which completely suppress the default. Under the optimal monetary and fiscal policy, not only the nominal interest rate but also the tax rate work to minimize welfare costs through stabilizing inflation. Under the optimal monetary both inflation and output gap are completely stabilized although those are fluctuating under the optimal monetary policy. In addition, volatility in the default rate under the optimal monetary policy is considerably lower than one under the optimal monetary policy. Thus, there is not the SI-SD trade-off. In addition, while the minimizing interest rate spread policy makes inflation rate severely volatile, the optimal monetary and fiscal policy stabilize both the inflation and the default. A trade-off between stabilizing inflation and suppressing default is not so severe what pointed out by Uribe.

Keywords: sovereign risk, optimal monetary policy, fiscal theory of the price level, DSGE

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Authors: Minbale Aschale, Bitew K. Dessie, Endaweke Assegide, Yosef Abebe, Tena Alamirew, Claire L. Walsh, Gete Zeleke

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The upper Awash Basin faces pollution challenges due to urbanization, population growth, and expanding industries. It receives various pollutants from its catchments. The study aimed to assess the impact of wastewater irrigation on vegetables and inform stakeholders about pollution challenges and consequences. Eighty-two composite samples of matured vegetables were randomly collected from twenty-one agricultural farm sites. These samples were analyzed for potentially toxic elements, including Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, As, Ni, Sr, B, Co, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Se. The results indicated significant variations in concentrations across different sites, with localized contributions from various contaminants. Cr, Cd, and Pb concentrations in most vegetables exceeded recommended levels. Pollution levels varied with metals and vegetable types. Different vegetables contribute differently to health risks. The relative contributions of Ethiopian kale, cabbage, red beet, lettuce, Swiss chard, Gurage cabbage, tomato, zucchini, carrot, onion, watermelon, and potato to the aggregated risk were 12.69%, 12.25%, 11.83%, 11.20%, 10.21%, 9.91%, 8.49%, 5.66%, 3.96%, 3.35%, 3.10%, and 2.72%, respectively. Comparison with permissible standards revealed inadequate environmental management by relevant regulatory bodies and industries. Despite good laws and standards at the federal and regional levels, they are ineffectively implemented or enforced to prevent environmental pollution. Mitigation measures are urgently recommended to address the potential health implications of toxic substances.

Keywords: pollution, upper Awash Basin, health risk, Ethiopia

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Authors: Mehtab Alam, Mudiarasan Kuppusamy

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Image branding is the prominent and well-guided phenomena of managing tourism destinations. It examines the image of cities forming as brand identity. Transformation of cities into tourist destinations is obligatory for the current management practices to be used for foreign policy. The research considers the features of perception, destination accommodation, destination quality, traveler revisit, destination information system, and behavioral image for tourism destination management. Using the quantitative and qualitative research methodology, the objective is to examine and investigate the opportunities for destination branding. It investigates the features and management of tourism destinations in Abbottabad city of Pakistan through SPSS and NVivo 12 software. The prospective outlook of the results and coding reflects the significant contribution of integrated destination management for image branding, where Abbottabad has the potential to become a destination city. The positive impact of branding integrates tourism management as it is fulfilling travelers’ requirements to influence the choice of destination for innovative foreign policy.

Keywords: image branding, destination management, tourism, foreign policy, innovative

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Authors: Xianjia Meng, Chuanyong Qu

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Compact bone produces fatigue damage under the inevitable physiological load. The accumulation of fatigue damage can change the bone’s micro-structure at different scales and cause the catastrophic failure eventually. However, most tests were limited to the macroscopic modulus of bone and there is a need to assess the microscopic modulus during fatigue progress. In this paper, nano-identation was used to investigate the bone specimen subjected to four point bending. The microscopic modulus of the same area were measured at different degrees of damage including fracture. So microscopic damage can be divided into three stages: first, the modulus decreased rapidly and then They fell slowly, before fracture the decline became fast again. After fracture, the average modulus decreased by 20%. The results of inner and outer planes explained the influence of compressive and tensile loads on modulus. Both the compressive and tensile moduli decreased with the accumulation of damage. They reached the minimum at ending and increased after fracture. The modulus evolution under different strains were revealed by the side. They all fell slowly and then fast with the accumulation of damage. The fractured results indicated that the elastic modulus decreased obviously at the high strain while decreased less at the low strain. During the fatigue progress, there was a significant difference in modulus at low degree of damage. However, the dispersed modulus tended to be similar at high degree of damage, but they became different again after the failure.

Keywords: fatigue damage, fracture, microscopic modulus, bone, nano-identation

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity and weight gain are associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and the progression of liver fibrosis. Aspartate transaminase–to-platelet count ratio index (AST-to-PLT, APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) were primarily considered as the formulas capable of differentiating hepatitis from cirrhosis. Recently, they have found clinical use as measures of liver fibrosis and cardiovascular risk. However, their status in children has not been evaluated in detail yet. The aim of this study is to determine APRI and FIB-4 status in obese (OB) children and compare them with values found in children with normal body mass index (N-BMI). A total of sixty-eight children examined in the outpatient clinics of the Pediatrics Department in Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Medical Faculty were included in the study. Two groups were constituted. In the first group, thirty-five children with N-BMI, whose age- and sex-dependent BMI indices vary between 15 and 85 percentiles, were evaluated. The second group comprised thirty-three OB children whose BMI percentile values were between 95 and 99. Anthropometric measurements and routine biochemical tests were performed. Using these parameters, values for the related indices, BMI, APRI, and FIB-4, were calculated. Appropriate statistical tests were used for the evaluation of the study data. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p<0.05. In the OB group, values found for APRI and FIB-4 were higher than those calculated for the N-BMI group. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the N-BMI and OB groups in terms of APRI and FIB-4. A similar pattern was detected for triglyceride (TRG) values. The correlation coefficient and degree of significance between APRI and FIB-4 were r=0.336 and p=0.065 in the N-BMI group. On the other hand, they were r=0.707 and p=0.001 in the OB group. Associations of these two indices with TRG have shown that this parameter was strongly correlated (p<0.001) both with APRI and FIB-4 in the OB group, whereas no correlation was calculated in children with N-BMI. Triglycerides are associated with an increased risk of fatty liver, which can progress to severe clinical problems such as steatohepatitis, which can lead to liver fibrosis. Triglycerides are also independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, the lack of correlation between TRG and APRI as well as FIB-4 in children with N-BMI, along with the detection of strong correlations of TRG with these indices in OB children, was the indicator of the possible onset of the tendency towards the development of fatty liver in OB children. This finding also pointed out the potential risk for cardiovascular pathologies in OB children. The nature of the difference between APRI vs FIB-4 correlations in N-BMI and OB groups (no correlation versus high correlation), respectively, may be the indicator of the importance of involving age and alanine transaminase parameters in addition to AST and PLT in the formula designed for FIB-4.

Keywords: APRI, children, FIB-4, obesity, triglycerides

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Authors: R. A. C. K. Gunathilaka, P. T. D. Peiris, O. S. M. Jayawardane, S. M. A. I. Kulathunga

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Waste management is one of the predominant aspects of resource utilization and sustainability. The absence of a proper waste management system may lead to adverse troubles and catastrophic tragedies ultimately. Sri Lanka has faced different predicaments for a long time due to the unavailability of a systematic manner in the waste management process. The main objective of this research is to design an efficient waste management system for an urban area in Sri Lanka. The research was dispersed into three categories as biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and hazardous waste. Different waste materials were researched for each category by probing the entire process from the beginning to final disposal for perceiving the prevailing problems in the waste management system. The distinctive segment of this research is comparing efficient foreign waste management strategies with efficacious approaches on increasing public commitment to uncovering cognizable ways of implementing such a system in the Sri Lankan context. Waste management systems in Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, USA, Maldives, and China incorporated their exemplary plan of action on tackling the waste problem in diverse sectors were studied. Ultimately, three coherent models were proposed for each category pertaining to the concepts of circular economy and lean manufacturing from the inception to the final disposal of the waste. This research also includes concealed financial opportunities regarding waste management.

Keywords: circular economy, efficient waste management system, lean manufacturing, sustainability, urban area

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Authors: Ruijie Fan, Hao Xu

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Due to the increasing demand for resources, solid waste disposal is becoming an increasingly important issue to be addressed. Solid waste is not only hazardous to human health but also has a negative impact on the environment. The main sources of solid waste are metals, glass, food, plastics, paper, and electrical waste. Different types of waste may require different treatments. The UK currently lags behind other countries, such as Japan and Germany, in terms of waste management. Although the UK is catching up through various incentives, waste management education in the UK still faces challenges. Education requires a lot of work before the UK can achieve a circular economy. This paper first presents the latest information on the five main types of solid waste in the UK today. It delves into the current state of waste paper management in the UK, in addition to gathering information from the literature on the current state of waste management education in the UK as a whole. Potential barriers to the disposal of each waste type in the UK are identified, along with potential barriers to education in the UK. This study was based on a pragmatic philosophy to find possible solutions for these barriers, including questionnaires to conduct an in-depth investigation. In addition, the questionnaire analysis reveals a correlation between educational attainment and individual waste management behaviour and attitudes. This research guides inspiration on the current problems of waste management in the UK.

Keywords: circular economy, education, solid waste, waste management

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Authors: Bishnupriya Sahoo, Prasad K. Bhaskaran

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Tropical cyclone is one among the worst natural hazards that results in a trail of destruction causing enormous damage to life, property, and coastal infrastructures. In a global perspective, the Indian Ocean is considered as one of the cyclone prone basins in the world. Specifically, the frequency of cyclogenesis in the Bay of Bengal is higher compared to the Arabian Sea. Out of the four maritime states in the East coast of India, Odisha is highly susceptible to tropical cyclone landfall. Historical records clearly decipher the fact that the frequency of cyclones have reduced in this basin. However, in the recent decades, the intensity and size of tropical cyclones have increased. This is a matter of concern as the risk and vulnerability level of Odisha coast exposed to high wind speed and gusts during cyclone landfall have increased. In this context, there is a need to assess and evaluate the severity of coastal risk, area of exposure under risk, and associated vulnerability with a higher dimension in a multi-risk perspective. Changing climate can result in the emergence of a new hazard and vulnerability over a region with differential spatial and socio-economic impact. Hence there is a need to have coastal vulnerability projections in a changing climate scenario. With this motivation, the present study attempts to estimate the destructiveness of tropical cyclones based on Power Dissipation Index (PDI) for those cyclones that made landfall along Odisha coast that exhibits an increasing trend based on historical data. The study also covers the futuristic scenarios of integral coastal vulnerability based on the trends in PDI for the Odisha coast. This study considers 11 essential and important parameters; the cyclone intensity, storm surge, onshore inundation, mean tidal range, continental shelf slope, topo-graphic elevation onshore, rate of shoreline change, maximum wave height, relative sea level rise, rainfall distribution, and coastal geomorphology. The study signifies that over a decadal scale, the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) depends largely on the incremental change in variables such as cyclone intensity, storm surge, and associated inundation. In addition, the study also performs a critical analysis on the modulation of PDI on storm surge and inundation characteristics for the entire coastal belt of Odisha State. Interestingly, the study brings to light that a linear correlation exists between the storm-tide with PDI. The trend analysis of PDI and its projection for coastal Odisha have direct practical applications in effective coastal zone management and vulnerability assessment.

Keywords: Bay of Bengal, coastal vulnerability index, power dissipation index, tropical cyclone

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Aayushi Patidar, Nishant Parihar

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One of the principal causes of failure in existing vehicle brokerage solutions is that they require the introduction of a single trusted third party to whom transport offers and requirements are sent, and which solves the scheduling problem. Advances in planning and scheduling could be utilized to address the scalability issues inherent here, but such refinements do not address the key need to decentralize decision-making. This is not to say that matchmaking of potential transport suppliers to consumers is not essential, but information from such a service should inform rather than determining the transport options for customers. The approach that is proposed, is the use of intelligent commuters that act within the system and to identify options open to users, weighing the evidence for desirability of each option given a model of the user’s priorities, and to drive dialogue among commuters in aiding users to solve their individual (or collective) transport goals. Existing research in commuter support for transport resource management has typically been focused on the provider. Our vision is to explore both the efficient use of limited transport resources and also to support the passengers in the transportation flexibility & integration among various modes in India.

Keywords: flexibility, integration, service design, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Selim M. Khan, Dustin D. Pearson, Tryggve Rönnqvist, Markus E. Nielsen, Joshua M. Taron, Aaron A. Goodarzi

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Accumulation of radioactive radon gas in indoor air poses a serious risk to human health by increasing the lifetime risk of lung cancer and is classified by IARC as a category one carcinogen. Radon exposure risks are a function of geologic, geographic, design, and human behavioural variables and can change over time. Using time series and deep machine learning modelling, we analyzed long-term radon test outcomes as a function of building metrics from 25,489 Canadian and 38,596 Swedish residential properties constructed between 1945 to 2020. While Canadian and Swedish properties built between 1970 and 1980 are comparable (96–103 Bq/m³), innate radon risks subsequently diverge, rising in Canada and falling in Sweden such that 21st Century Canadian houses show 467% greater average radon (131 Bq/m³) relative to Swedish equivalents (28 Bq/m³). These trends are consistent across housing types and regions within each country. The introduction of energy efficiency measures within Canadian and Swedish building codes coincided with opposing radon level trajectories in each nation. Deep machine learning modelling predicts that, without intervention, average Canadian residential radon levels will increase to 176 Bq/m³ by 2050, emphasizing the importance and urgency of future building code intervention to achieve systemic radon reduction in Canada.

Keywords: radon health risk, time-series, deep machine learning, lung cancer, Canada, Sweden

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: George Hanna Abdelmelek Henien

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Quality and safety issues are common in Ethiopia's food processing industry, which can negatively impact consumers' health and livelihoods. The country is known for its various agricultural products that are important to the economy. However, food quality and safety policies and management practices in the food processing industry have led to many health problems, foodborne illnesses and economic losses. This article aims to show the causes and consequences of food safety and quality problems in the food processing industry in Ethiopia and discuss possible solutions to solve them. One of the main reasons for food quality and safety in Ethiopia's food processing industry is the lack of adequate regulation and enforcement mechanisms. Inadequate food safety and quality policies have led to inefficiencies in food production. Additionally, the failure to monitor and enforce existing regulations has created a good opportunity for unscrupulous companies to engage in harmful practices that endanger the lives of citizens. The impact on food quality and safety is significant due to loss of life, high medical costs, and loss of consumer confidence in the food processing industry. Foodborne diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid and cholera are common in Ethiopia, and food quality and safety play an important role in . Additionally, food recalls due to contamination or contamination often cause significant economic losses in the food processing industry. To solve these problems, the Ethiopian government began taking measures to improve food quality and safety in the food processing industry. One of the most prominent initiatives is the Ethiopian Food and Drug Administration (EFDA), which was established in 2010 to monitor and control the quality and safety of food and beverage products in the country. EFDA has implemented many measures to improve food safety, such as carrying out routine inspections, monitoring the import of food products and implementing labeling requirements. Another solution that can improve food quality and safety in the food processing industry in Ethiopia is the implementation of food safety management system (FSMS). FSMS is a set of procedures and policies designed to identify, assess and control food safety risks during food processing. Implementing a FSMS can help companies in the food processing industry identify and address potential risks before they harm consumers. Additionally, implementing an FSMS can help companies comply with current safety and security regulations. Consequently, improving food safety policy and management system in Ethiopia's food processing industry is important to protect people's health and improve the country's economy. . Addressing the root causes of food quality and safety and implementing practical solutions that can help improve the overall food safety and quality in the country, such as establishing regulatory bodies and implementing food management systems.

Keywords: food quality, food safety, policy, management system, food processing industry food traceability, industry 4.0, internet of things, block chain, best worst method, marcos

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Authors: Elizabeth Laguaite, Alexandria Purdy

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Heart transplant recipients face psycho-physiological stressors, including pain, lengthy hospitalizations, delirium, and existential crises. They pose an increased risk for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and can be a predictor of poorer mental and physical Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) outcomes and increased mortality. There is limited research on the prevention of Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) in transplant patients. This case report focuses on a collaborative Music and Art Therapy intervention used to improve outcomes for HMH transplant recipient John (Alias). John, a 58-year-old man with congestive heart failure, was admitted to HMH in February of 2021 with cardiogenic shock, cannulated with an Intra-aortic Balloon Pump, Impella 5.5, and Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VA-ECMO) as a bridge to heart and kidney transplant. He was listed as status 1 for transplant. Music Therapy and Art Therapy (MT and AT) were ordered by the physician for mood regulation, trauma processing and anxiety management. During MT/AT sessions, John reported a history of anxiety and depression exacerbated by medical acuity, shortness of breath, and lengthy hospitalizations. He expressed difficulty sleeping, pain, and existential questions. Initially seen individually by MT/AT, it was determined he could benefit from a collaborative approach due to similar thematic content within sessions. A Life Review intervention was developed by MT/AT. The purpose was for him to creatively express, reflect and process his medical narrative, including the identification of positive and negative events leading up to admission at HMH, the journey to transplant, and his hope for the future. Through this intervention, he created artworks that symbolized each event and paired them with songs, two of which were composed with the MT during treatment. As of September 2023, John has not been readmitted to the hospital and expressed that this treatment is what “got him through transplant”. MT and AT can provide opportunities for a patient to reminisce through creative expression, leading to a shift in the personal meaning of these experiences, promoting resolution, and ameliorating associated trauma. The closer to trauma it is processed, the less likely to develop PTSD. This collaborative MT/AT approach could improve long-term outcomes by reducing mortality and readmission rates for transplant patients.

Keywords: art therapy, music therapy, critical care, PTSD, trauma, transplant

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Authors: Deog-Gyu Seo, Jin-Soo Ahn

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Objectives: Recently, the development of adhesive primers on stable bonding between zirconia and resin cement has been on the increase. The bond strength of zirconia-resin cement can be effectively increased with the treatment of primer composed of the adhesive monomer that can chemically bond with the oxide layer, which forms on the surface of zirconia. 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (10-MDP) that contains phosphate ester and acidic monomer 4-methacryloxyethyl trimellitic anhydride(4-META) have been suggested as monomers that can form chemical bond with the surface oxide layer of zirconia. Also, these suggested monomers have proved to be effective zirconia surface treatment for bonding to resin cement. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of primer treatment on the bond strength of Zirconia-resin cement by using three different kinds of primers on the market. Methods: Zirconia blocks were prepared into 60 disk-shaped specimens by using a diamond saw. Specimens were divided into four different groups: first three groups were treated with zirconiaLiner(Sun Medical Co., Ltd., Furutaka-cho, Moriyama, Shiga, Japan), Alloy primer (Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc., Sakaju, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan), and Universal primer (Tokuyama dental Corp., Taitou, Taitou-ku, Tokyo, Japan) respectively. The last group was the control with no surface treatment. Dual cured resin cement (Biscem, Bisco Inc., Schaumburg, IL, USA) was luted to each group of specimens. And then, shear bond strengths were measured by universal tesing machine. The significance of the result was statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey test. The failure sites in each group were inspected under a magnifier. Results: Mean shear bond strength were 0.60, 1.39, 1.03, 1.38 MPa for control, Zirconia Liner (ZL), Alloy primer (AP), Universal primer (UP), respectively. Groups with application of each of the three primers showed significantly higher shear bond strength compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Among the three groups with the treatment, ZL and UP showed significantly higher shear bond strength than AP (p < 0.05), and there were no significant differences in mean shear bond strength between ZL and UP (p < 0.05). While the most specimens of control groups showed adhesive failure (80%), the most specimens of three primer-treated groups showed cohesive or mixed failure (80%).

Keywords: primer, resin cement, shear bond strength, zirconia

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Baba Iddrisu Musah

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Many Ghanaians, including the rich and downtrodden, elite and unlettered, rural and urban dwellers, politicians and civil servants, in one way or the other, believe in and practice witchcraft. The existence of witches’ camp in northern Ghana, the rise of Pentecostal churches, especially in southern Ghana with the penchant to cleanse people of witchcraft, as well as media reports of witchcraft imputations assuming wider dimensions in the country, often classified as a citadel of democracy, good governance and human rights in Africa, buttress the pervasive nature of belief in and the practice of witchcraft in the country. This is in spite of the fact that tremendous efforts, especially by British colonial authorities, were made to regulate witchcraft beliefs and its associated practices. Informed by Western values and philosophy, witchcraft was considered by colonial authorities as illogical and unscientific. This paper, which is largely a review of existing literature, supplemented by archival information from the national archives of Ghana, focuses on the nature of witchcraft regulation in Ghana’s pre-colonial and colonial past, as well as immediately after Ghana obtained her independence in 1957. This article concludes by rhetorically questioning whether or not believing in and the practice of witchcraft in contemporary Ghana in general, and the existence of witches’ camps in the northern region of the country are attributed to the failure of past regulations, as well as the failure of present government policies.

Keywords: colonial, natives, regulation, witchcraft

Procedia PDF Downloads 257