Search results for: focused free-writing

Authors: Geraldine Landon, Enora Clero, Jean-Rene Jourdain

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In 2005, the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN, France) launched a research program named EPICE (acronym for 'Evaluation of Pathologies potentially Induced by CaEsium') to collect scientific information on non-cancer effects possibly induced by chronic exposures to low doses of ionizing radiation with the view of addressing a question raised by several French NGOs related to health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in children. The implementation of the program was preceded by a pilot phase to ensure that the project would be feasible and determine the conditions for implementing an epidemiological study on a population of several thousand children. The EPICE program focused on childhood cardiac arrhythmias started in May 2009 for 4 years, in partnership with the Russian Bryansk Diagnostic Center. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias in the Bryansk oblast (depending on the contamination of the territory and the caesium-137 whole-body burden) and to assess whether caesium-137 was or not a factor associated with the onset of cardiac arrhythmias. To address these questions, a study bringing together 18 152 children aged 2 to 18 years was initiated; each child received three medical examinations (ECG, echocardiography, and caesium-137 whole-body activity measurement) and some of them were given with a 24-hour Holter monitoring and blood tests. The findings of the study, currently submitted to an international journal justifying that no results can be given at this step, allow us to answer clearly to the issue of radiation-induced childhood arrhythmia, a subject that has been debated for many years. Our results will be certainly helpful for health professionals responsible for the monitoring of population exposed to the releases from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant and also useful for future comparative study in children exposed to ionizing radiation in other contexts, such as cancer radiation therapies.

Keywords: Caesium-137, cardiac arrhythmia, Chernobyl, children

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Authors: Dammar Bahadur Adhikari

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Community forestry in Nepal has got disproportionately high level of support from government and other actors in forestry sector. Even though master plan for forestry sector (1989) has highlighted community and private forestry as one component, the government policies and other intervention deliberately left out private forestry in its structure and programs. The study aimed at providing the pathway for formulating appropriate policies to address need of different kind of forest management regimes in Rautahat district, Nepal. The key areas the research focused were assessment of current status of private forestry, community forest users' understanding on private forestry; criteria for choosing species of private forestry and factors affecting establishment of private forestry in the area. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected employing questionnaire survey, rapid forest assessment and key informant interview. The study found out that forest policies are imposed due to intense pressure of exogenous forces than due to endogenous demand. Most of the local people opine that their traditional knowledge and skills are not sufficient for private forestry and hence need training on the matter. Likewise, local use, market value and rotation dictate the choice of species for plantation in private forests. Currently district forest office is the only government institution working in the area of private forestry all other governmental and non-governmental organizations have condoned. private forestry. Similarly, only permanent settlers in the area are found to establish private forests other forest users such as migrants and forest encroachers follow opportunistic behavior to meet their forest product need from community and national forests. In this regard, the study recommends taking appropriate step to support other forest management system including private forestry provide community forestry the benefits of competition as suggested by Darwin in 18th century, one and half century back and to help alleviate poverty by channelizing benefits to household level.

Keywords: community forest, forest management, poverty, private forest, users’ group

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Authors: Francesca Croce

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Governmental development strategies aimed at entrepreneurship as a major resource for economic development and poverty reduction of indigenous people. As initiatives and programs are local based, there is a need to better understand the contextual factors of indigenous entrepreneurial models. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to analyze and integrated the indigenous entrepreneurship literature in order to identify the main models of indigenous entrepreneurship. To answer this need, a systematic literature review was conducted. Relevant articles were identified in selected electronic databases (ABI/Inform Global, Business Source Premier, Web of Science; International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Academic Search, Sociological Abstract, Entrepreneurial Studies Sources and Bibliography of Native North America) and in selected electronic review. Beginning to 1st January 1995 (first International Day of the World’s Indigenous People), 59 academic articles were selected from 1411. Through systematic analysis of the cultural, social and organizational variables, the paper highlights that a typology of indigenous entrepreneurial models is possible thought the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystem, which includes the geographical position and the environment of the indigenous communities. The results show three models of indigenous entrepreneurship: the urban indigenous entrepreneurship, the semi-urban indigenous entrepreneurship, and rural indigenous entrepreneurship. After the introduction, the paper is organized as follows. In the first part theoretical and practical needs of a systematic literature review on indigenous entrepreneurship are provided. In the second part, the methodology, the selection process and evaluation of the articles are explained. In the third part, findings are presented and each indigenous entrepreneurial model characteristics are discussed. The results of this study bring a new theorization about indigenous entrepreneurship and may be useful for scientists in the field in search of overcoming the cognitive border of Indigenous business models still too little known. Also, the study is addressed to policy makers in charge of indigenous entrepreneurial development strategies more focused on contextual factors studies.

Keywords: community development, entrepreneurial ecosystem, indigenous entrepreneurship model, indigenous people, systematic literature review

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Authors: Lauren B. Birney

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Summer STEM Institute for Middle and High School Students at Pace University The STEM Collaboratory NYC® Summer Fellows Institute takes place on Pace University’s New York City campus during July and provides the following key features for all participants: (i) individual meetings with Pace faculty to discuss and refine future educational goals; (ii) mentorship, guidance, and new friendships with program leaders; and (iii) guest lectures from professionals in STEM disciplines and businesses. The Summer STEM Institute allows middle school and high school students to work in teams to conceptualize, develop, and build native mobile applications that teach and reinforce skills in the sciences and mathematics. These workshops enhance students’STEM problem solving techniques and teach advanced methods of computer science and engineering. Topics include: big data and analytics at the Big Data lab at Seidenberg, Data Science focused on social and environmental advancement and betterment; Natural Disasters and their Societal Influences; Algal Blooms and Environmental Impacts; Green CitiesNYC; STEM jobs and growth opportunities for the future; renew able energy and sustainable infrastructure; and climate and the economy. In order to better align the existing Summer STEM, Institute with the CCERS model and expand the overall network, Pace is actively recruiting new content area specialists from STEM industries and private sector enterprises to participate in an enhanced summer institute in order to1) nurture student progress and connect summer learning to school year curriculum, 2) increase peer-to-peer collaboration amongst STEM professionals and private sector technologists, and 3) develop long term funding and sponsorship opportunities for corporate sector partners to support CCERS schools and programs directly.

Keywords: environmental restoration science, citizen science, data science, STEM

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Authors: Biniam Tedros Kahsay, Yohannes Yebabe Tesfay

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Eritrea is a country in the East of Africa. The country is a neighbor of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Sudan and is bordered by the Red Sea. The country declared its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Thus, Eritrea has a lot of commonalities with the Northern Part of Ethiopia's tradition, religion, and languages. Many economists suggested that Eritrea is in a very strategic position for world trade roots and has an impact on geopolitics. This study focused on identifying the most important factor in boosting the Eritrean Economy. The paper collected big secondary data from the World Bank, International Trade and Tariff Data (WTO), East African Community (EAC), Ethiopian Statistical Agency (ESA), and the National Statistics Office (Eritrea). Economists consider economic and population growth in determining trade belts in East Africa. One of the most important Trade Belt that will potentially boost the Eritrean economy is the root of Eritrea (Massawa)->Eritea, (Asmara)->Tigray, (Humora)->Tigray, (Dansha)-> Gondar-> Gojjam-> Benshangual Gumuz => {Oromia, South Sudan}->Uganda. The estimate showed that this is one of the biggest trade roots in East Africa and has a participation of more than 150 million people. We employed various econometric analyses to predict the GDP of Eritrea, considering the future trade belts in East Africa. The result showed that the economy of Eritrea from the Trade Belt will have an elasticity estimate of 65.87% of the GDP of Ethiopia, 3.32% of the GDP of South Sudan, and 0.09% of the GDP of Uganda. The result showed that the existence of war has an elasticity of -93% to the GDP of the country. Thus, if Eritrea wants to strengthen its economy from the East African Trade Belt, the country needs to permanently avoid war in the region. Essentially, the country needs to establish a collaborative platform with the Northern part of Ethiopia (Tigray). Thus, establishing a mutual relationship with Tigray will boost the Eritrean economy. In that regard, Eritrean scholars and policymakers need to work on establishing the East African Trade Belt to boost their economy.

Keywords: Eritrea, east Africa trade belt, GDP, cointegration analysis, critical path analysis

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Authors: Navven Desai, Veena Soraganvi

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Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury do not have biological significance hence they are known to be extremely toxic heavy metals. Water contains various heavy metals like Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni), Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), and Zinc (Zn) etc., when it gets polluted with industrial waste water. These heavy metals cause various health effects even at low concentration when consumed by humans. Most of the heavy metals are poisonous to living organisms. Heavy metals are non-degradable and are preserved in the environment through bioaccumulation. Therefore removal of heavy metals from water is necessary. In recent years, a great deal of attentions has been focused on to the application of nanosized metal oxides to treat heavy metals, especially titanium oxides, ferric oxides, manganese oxides, aluminium oxides and magnesium oxides as adsorbent and photocatalyst. TiO2 based photocatalysts have attracted continuously increasing attention because of the excellent properties such as high light -conversion efficiency, chemical stability, nontoxic nature, low cost. The catalyst displays high photocatalytic activity because of its large surface area. In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of Lead (Pb) from aqueous solution was investigated in natural sunlight by using TiO2 as Nanomaterial. This study was performed at laboratory scale. All the experiments were carried out in the batch process. The concentration of lead was constant (25mg/lit) in the experiment and effect of titanium dioxide dose and pH were varied to study the removal efficiency of the lead by adsorption. Further study was performed on the dependence of photocatalytic reaction on the reaction temperature. The aqueous solution was prepared by Lead metal powder. TiO2 photo catalyst nanopowder used was Sisco-74629 grade. The heavy metal is analyzed with VARIAN AA 240 atomic adsorption spectrophotometer. The study shows, with increasing TiO2 dose and pH the lead removal increases. According to study, it can be concluded that the utilization of titanium dioxide accounted for higher efficiency in the removal of lead from aqueous solution.

Keywords: adsorption, heavy metals, nanomaterial, photocatalysis

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Authors: Esra Zengin, Sinan Akkar

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Reliable and accurate prediction of nonlinear structural response requires specification of appropriate earthquake ground motions to be used in nonlinear time history analysis. The current research has mainly focused on selection and manipulation of real earthquake records that can be seen as the most critical step in the performance based seismic design and assessment of the structures. Utilizing amplitude scaled ground motions that matches with the target spectra is commonly used technique for the estimation of nonlinear structural response. Representative ground motion ensembles are selected to match target spectrum such as scenario-based spectrum derived from ground motion prediction equations, Uniform Hazard Spectrum (UHS), Conditional Mean Spectrum (CMS) or Conditional Spectrum (CS). Different sets of criteria exist among those developed methodologies to select and scale ground motions with the objective of obtaining robust estimation of the structural performance. This study presents ground motion selection and scaling procedure that considers the spectral variability at target demand with the level of ground motion dispersion. The proposed methodology provides a set of ground motions whose response spectra match target median and corresponding variance within a specified period interval. The efficient and simple algorithm is used to assemble the ground motion sets. The scaling stage is based on the minimization of the error between scaled median and the target spectra where the dispersion of the earthquake shaking is preserved along the period interval. The impact of the spectral variability on nonlinear response distribution is investigated at the level of inelastic single degree of freedom systems. In order to see the effect of different selection and scaling methodologies on fragility curve estimations, results are compared with those obtained by CMS-based scaling methodology. The variability in fragility curves due to the consideration of dispersion in ground motion selection process is also examined.

Keywords: ground motion selection, scaling, uncertainty, fragility curve

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Authors: Radu Soflau, Lia-Ecaterina Oltean

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Background: Increasing evidence supports the efficacy of psychological interventions for psychosis. However, it is unclear which one of these interventions is most likely to address negative psychotic symptoms and related outcomes. We aimed to determine the relative efficacy of psychological and psychosocial interventions for negative symptoms, overall psychotic symptoms, and related outcomes. Methods: To attain this goal, we conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis. We searched for potentially eligible trials in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases up until February 08, 2022. We included randomized controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of psychological for adults with psychosis. We excluded interventions for prodromal or “at risk” individuals, as well as patients with serious co-morbid medical or psychiatric conditions (others than depressive and/or anxiety disorders). Two researchers conducted study selection and performed data extraction independently. Analyses were run using STATA network and mvmeta packages, applying a random effect model under a frequentist framework in order to compute standardized mean differences or risk ratio. Findings: We identified 47844 records and screened 29466 records for eligibility. The majority of eligible interventions were delivered in addition to pharmacological treatment. Treatment as usual (TAU) was the most frequent common comparator. Theoretically driven psychological interventions generally outperformed TAU at post-test and follow-up, displaying small and small-to-medium effect sizes. A similar pattern of results emerged in sensitivity analyses focused on studies that employed an inclusion criterion for relevant negative symptom severity. Conclusion: While the efficacy of some psychological interventions is promising, there is a need for more high-quality studies, as well as more trials directly comparing psychological treatments for negative psychotic symptoms.

Keywords: psychosis, network meta-analysis, psychological interventions, efficacy, negative symptoms

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Authors: Sumohon Matilal, Neveen Abdelrehim

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The purpose of this study is to examine the way households manage the risks of civil war, using the calculative practices of accounting as a lens. As is the case with other social phenomena, accounting serves as a conduit for attributing values and rationales to crisis and in the process makes it visible and calculable. Our focus, in particular, is on the dialogue facilitated by the numerical logic of accounting between the householder and a crisis scenario, such as civil war. In other words, we seek to study how the risk of war is rationalized through household budgets, income and expenditure statements etc. and how such accounting constructs in turn shape attitudes toward earnings and spending in a wartime economy. The existing literature on war and accounting demonstrates how an accounting logic can have potentially destabilising consequences and how it is used to legitimise war. However, very few scholars have looked at the way accounting constructs are used to internalise the effects of war in an average household and the behavioural consequences that arise from such accounting. Relatedly, scholars studying household accounting have mostly focussed on the links between gender and hierarchy in relation to managing the financial affairs. Few have focused on the role of household accounts in a crisis scenario. This study intends to fill this gap. We draw upon Egypt, a country in the middle of civil war since 2011 for our purpose. We intend to carry out 15-20 semi-structured interviews with middle income households in Cairo that maintain some form of accounts to study the following issues: 1. How do people internalise the risks of civil war? What kind of accounting constructs do they use (this may take the form of simple budgets, income-expenditure notes/statements on a periodic basis, spreadsheets etc.) 2. How has civil war affected household expenditure? Are people spending more/less than before? 3. How has civil war affected household income? Are people finding it difficult/easy to survive on the pre-war income? 4. How is such accounting affecting household behaviour towards earnings and expenditure? Are families prioritising expenditure on necessities alone? Are they refraining from indulging in luxuries? Are family members doing two or three jobs to cope with difficult times? Are families increasingly turning toward borrowing? Is credit available? From whom?

Keywords: risk, accounting, war, crisis

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Authors: Shirin Zubair

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Keeping in view the segregation of space(s) experienced by young women and men at puberty in Pakistan and the socially constructed and performative aspect of gender identity by Western theorists of gender and self, this paper will explore Pakistani youth’s differential, gendered performances. Specifically focused on Pakistani youth’s perceptions and experiences of sexuality, extramarital and same-sex relationships in constructing and performing gendered identities as manifested through their talk, the research will also draw upon recent theories of space in cultural studies and postcolonial discourses. The data cited has been culled from two different studies conducted at universities in the city of Multan. Informal, unstructured group discussions of women and men aged between twenty and twenty nine years of age were recorded separately among groups of friends and cohorts studying at two different universities. The findings clearly show both young women and men doing the boundary work in identity construction in private and public spaces: talking of sexuality, sexual desire and sexual relationships, women tend to safely couch their articulations in euphemisms: distance themselves from the Western concepts of sexual liberation ; while young men’s exhibitionism in boasting of their sexual prowess and sexual encounters as well as the use of sexually explicit and tabooed words frequently in their intimate conversations shows a clear departure from and a contestation of the normative public discourses. Further the findings illustrate that young men conform to the patriarchal ideologies by constructing heterosexual identities whereas young women initiate discourse on same-sex relationships. The data also reveals that the private identities of these young Pakistanis are different from their public identities, as it is in their intimate conversations and private (or safe) spaces that they talk about their pre-marital sexual activities and love affairs. These intimate and safe spaces thus emerge as subversion and contestation of their public identity, as sex and sexuality are tabooed subjects in public discourses.

Keywords: sexuality, gender, identity, performance

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Authors: Abbas Ali Husseini, Ali Mohammad Yazdani, Fatemeh Ghadiri, Alper Şişman

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We developed a microchip device that uses surface acoustic waves for rapid lysis of low level of cell samples. The device incorporates sharp-edge glass microparticles for improved performance. We optimized the lysis conditions for high efficiency and evaluated the device's feasibility for point-of-care applications. The microchip contains a 13-finger pair interdigital transducer with a 30-degree focused angle. It generates high-intensity acoustic beams that converge 6 mm away. The microchip operates at a frequency of 16 MHz, exciting Rayleigh waves with a 250 µm wavelength on the LiNbO3 substrate. Cell lysis occurs when Candida albicans cells and glass particles are placed within the focal area. The high-intensity surface acoustic waves induce centrifugal forces on the cells and glass particles, resulting in cell lysis through lateral forces from the sharp-edge glass particles. We conducted 42 pilot cell lysis experiments to optimize the surface acoustic wave-induced streaming. We varied electrical power, droplet volume, glass particle size, concentration, and lysis time. A regression machine-learning model determined the impact of each parameter on lysis efficiency. Based on these findings, we predicted optimal conditions: electrical signal of 2.5 W, sample volume of 20 µl, glass particle size below 10 µm, concentration of 0.2 µg, and a 5-minute lysis period. Downstream analysis successfully amplified a DNA target fragment directly from the lysate. The study presents an efficient microchip-based cell lysis method employing acoustic streaming and microparticle collisions within microdroplets. Integration of a surface acoustic wave-based lysis chip with an isothermal amplification method enables swift point-of-care applications.

Keywords: cell lysis, surface acoustic wave, micro-glass particle, droplet

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Authors: Sofia Nilsson, Alicia Ohlsson, Linda-Marie Lundqvist, Aida Alvinius, Peder Hyllengren, Gerry Larsson

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In irregular warfare contexts, military personnel are often presented with morally ambiguous situations where they are aware of the morally correct choice but may feel prevented to follow through with it due to organizational demands. Moral stress and/or injury can be the outcome of the individual’s experienced dissonance. These types of challenges put a large demand on the individual to manage their own emotions and the emotions of others, particularly in the case of a leader. Both the ability and inability for emotional regulation can result in different combinations of short and long term reactions after morally stressful events, which can be either positive or negative. Our study analyzed the combination of these reactions based upon the types of morally challenging events that were described by the subjects. 1)What institutionalized norms concerning emotion regulation are favorable in short-and long-term perspectives after a morally stressful event? 2)What individual emotion-focused coping strategies are favorable in short-and long-perspectives after a morally stressful? To address these questions, we conducted a quantitative study in military contexts in Sweden and Norway on upcoming or current military officers (n=331). We tested a theoretical model built upon a recently developed qualitative study. The data was analyzed using factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and subgroup analyses. The results indicated that an individual’s restriction of emotion in order to achieve an organizational goal, which results in emotional dissonance, can be an effective short term strategy for both the individual and the organization; however, it appears to be unfavorable in a long-term perspective which can result in negative reactions. Our results are intriguing because they showed an increased percentage of reported negative long term reactions (13%), which indicated PTSD-related symptoms in comparison to previous Swedish studies which indicated lower PTSD symptomology.

Keywords: emotion culture, emotion coping, emotion management, military

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Authors: Nicholas Pearce, Eun-jin Kim

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Pathologies of the cardiovascular (CV) system remain a serious and deadly health problem for human society. Computational modelling provides a relatively accessible tool for diagnosis, treatment, and research into CV disorders. However, numerical models of the CV system have largely focused on the function of the ventricles, frequently overlooking the behaviour of the atria. Furthermore, in the study of the pressure-volume relationship of the heart, which is a key diagnosis of cardiac vascular pathologies, previous works often evoke popular yet questionable time-varying elastance (TVE) method that imposes the pressure-volume relationship instead of calculating it consistently. Despite the convenience of the TVE method, there have been various indications of its limitations and the need for checking its validity in different scenarios. A model of the combined left ventricle (LV) and left atrium (LA) is presented, which consistently considers various feedback mechanisms in the heart without having to use the TVE method. Specifically, a synergistic model of the left ventricle is extended and modified to include the function of the LA. The synergy of the original model is preserved by modelling the electro-mechanical and chemical functions of the micro-scale myofiber for the LA and integrating it with the microscale and macro-organ-scale heart dynamics of the left ventricle and CV circulation. The atrioventricular node function is included and forms the conduction pathway for electrical signals between the atria and ventricle. The model reproduces the essential features of LA behaviour, such as the two-phase pressure-volume relationship and the classic figure of eight pressure-volume loops. Using this model, disorders in the internal cardiac electrical signalling are investigated by recreating the mechano-electric feedback (MEF), which is impossible where the time-varying elastance method is used. The effects of AV node block and slow conduction are then investigated in the presence of an atrial arrhythmia. It is found that electrical disorders and arrhythmia in the LA degrade the CV system by reducing the cardiac output, power, and heart rate.

Keywords: cardiovascular system, left atrium, numerical model, MEF

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Authors: Endalew Jibat, Feyera Senbeta, Tesfaye Zeleke, Fitsum Hagos

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Water governance considers multi-sector participation beyond the state; and for sustainable use of water resources, appropriate laws, policies, regulations, and institutions needs to be developed and put in place. Water policy, a critical and integral instrument of water governance, guided water use schemes and ensures equitable water distribution among users. The Ethiopian Central Rift Valley (CRV) is wealthy of water resources, but these water resources are currently under severe strain owing to an imbalance in human-water interactions. The main aim of the study was to examine the state of water resources governance in the CRV of Ethiopia, and the impact of the Ethiopian Water Resources Management Policy on water governance. Key informant interviews (KII), focused group discussions, and document reviews were used to gather data for the study. The NVivo 11 program was used to organize, code, and analyze the data. The results revealed that water resources governance practices such as water allocation and apportionment, comprehensive and integrated water management plans, water resources protection, and conservation activities were rarely implemented. Water resources management policy mechanisms were not fully put in place. Lack of coherence in water policy implementation, absence of clear roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, absence of transparency and accountability in irrigation water service delivery, and lack of meaningful participation of key actors in water governance decision-making were the primary shortcomings observed. Factors such as over-abstraction, deterioration of buffer zone, and chemical erosion from surrounding farming have contributed to the reduction in water volume and quality in the CRV. These challenges have influenced aquatic ecosystem services and threaten the livelihoods of the surrounding communities. Hence, reforms relating to policy coherence and enforcement, stakeholder involvement, water distribution strategies, and the application of water governance principles must be given more emphasis.

Keywords: water resources, irrigation, governance, water allocation, governance principles, stakeholders engagement, central rift valley

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Authors: L. Kiefer, C. Richter, G. Reinhart

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The uprising complexity in production systems due to an increasing amount of variants up to customer innovated products leads to requirements that hierarchical control systems are not able to fulfil. Therefore, factory planners can install autonomous manufacturing systems. The fundamental requirement for an autonomous control is the identification of objects within production systems. In this approach an attribute-based identification is focused for avoiding dose-dependent identification costs. Instead of using an identification mark (ID) like a radio frequency identification (RFID)-Tag, an object type is directly identified by its attributes. To facilitate that it’s recommended to include the identification and the corresponding sensors within handling processes, which connect all manufacturing processes and therefore ensure a high identification rate and reduce blind spots. The presented methodology reduces the individual effort to integrate identification processes in handling systems. First, suitable object attributes and sensor systems for object identification in a production environment are defined. By categorising these sensor systems as well as handling systems, it is possible to match them universal within a compatibility matrix. Based on that compatibility further requirements like identification time are analysed, which decide whether the combination of handling and sensor system is well suited for parallel handling and identification within an autonomous control. By analysing a list of more than thousand possible attributes, first investigations have shown, that five main characteristics (weight, form, colour, amount, and position of subattributes as drillings) are sufficient for an integrable identification. This knowledge limits the variety of identification systems and leads to a manageable complexity within the selection process. Besides the procedure, several tools, as an example a sensor pool are presented. These tools include the generated specific expert knowledge and simplify the selection. The primary tool is a pool of preconfigured identification processes depending on the chosen combination of sensor and handling device. By following the defined procedure and using the created tools, even laypeople out of other scientific fields can choose an appropriate combination of handling devices and sensors which enable parallel handling and identification.

Keywords: agent systems, autonomous control, handling systems, identification

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Authors: Gusa Hall, Barrie Keeler, Achal Khanna

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Introduction: NICE guidelines have highlighted the consequences of IV fluid mismanagement. The main aim of this study was to audit fluid prescribing post laparotomies to identify if fluids were prescribed in accordance to NICE guidelines. Methodology: Retrospective database search of eight specific laparotomy procedures (colectomy right and left, Hartmann’s procedure, small bowel resection, perforated ulcer, abdominal perineal resection, anterior resection, pan proctocolectomy, subtotal colectomy) highlighted 29 laparotomies between April 2019 and May 2019. Two of 29 patients had secondary procedures during the same admission, n=27 (patients). Database case notes were reviewed for date of procedure, length of admission, fluid prescribed and amount, nasal gastric tube output, daily bloods results for electrolytes sodium and potassium and operational losses. Results: n=27 based on 27 identified patients between April 2019 – May 2019, 93% (25/27) received IV fluids, only 19% (5/27) received the correct IV fluids in accordance to NICE guidelines, 93% (25/27) who received IV fluids had the correct electrolytes levels (sodium & potassium), 100% (27/27) patients received blood tests (U&E’s) for correct electrolytes levels. 0% (0/27) no documentation on operational losses. IV fluids matched nasogastric tube output in 100% (3/3) of the number of patients that had a nasogastric tube in situ. Conclusion: A PubMed database literature review on barriers to safer IV prescribing highlighted educational interventions focused on prescriber knowledge rather than how to execute the prescribing task. This audit suggests IV fluids post laparotomies are not being prescribed consistently in accordance to NICE guidelines. Surgical management plans should be clearer on IV fluids and electrolytes requirements for the following 24 hours after the plan has been initiated. In addition, further teaching and training around IV prescribing is needed together with frequent surgical audits on IV fluid prescribing post-surgery to evaluate improvements.

Keywords: audit, IV Fluid prescribing, laparotomy, NICE guidelines

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Authors: Subas Chandra Biswas, Kazi Sameen Naser, Farzana Misha

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Little is known about the sexual behavior of male youth, particularly unmarried young men in Bangladesh as most of the sexual and reproductive health and rights-related research and intervention are mainly focused on females and married couples. To understand the unmarried youth’s sexual behavior, data from a nationwide survey conducted in all 64 districts of Bangladesh were analyzed. Using multistage systematic random sampling, a survey was conducted among 11,113 male youth aged 15-24 years from May-August, 2019. This article analyzed and presented findings of the sexual behavior of unmarried respondents based on the data collected from 10,026 unmarried male youth. Findings showed that 18% had ever experience of sexual relationship, and the reported mean age of first sexual intercourse was 16.5years. For unmarried male youth, those who had a sexual experience, their first sexual partners were female friends/classmate (57%), female neighbors (16%), and female sex workers (12%), relatives (6%) and girlfriends with whom they had love relationship (4%). However, about 36% reported that they had a love relationship with girlfriends, and among them, 23% reported that they had sexual intercourse with their girlfriend. Those who had sexual relations with their girlfriend, 47% reported that they did not use the condom in their last sex with their girlfriend. Furthermore, 29% reported that they had sexual relationships with others besides their girlfriends. Other reported partners were female sex workers (32%), neighbors (29%), female friends (19%), relatives (12%), and cousins (5%). Also, 46% reported that they did not even use the condom during sex with other partners. About 9% used some sort of sexual stimulant to increase their libido. Among the respondents, 376 reported that they bought sex in the last six months, and the mean expenditure of buying sex for the respondent was 1,140 Taka (13.46 US Dollar). Though premarital sexual relations are not socially accepted, findings showed a large portion of male youth are engaged in these relationships and risky sexual behavior. Lack of awareness of sexual and reproductive health, unprotected sexual intercourse, use of the drug during sexual intercourse also increase the threats to health. Thus these findings are important to understand the sexual behavior of male youth in policy and programmatic implications. Therefore, to ensure a healthy sexual life and wellbeing, an immediate and culturally sensitive sexual health promotion intervention is needed for male youth in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, male youth, sexual and reproductive health, sexual behavior

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Authors: Sita Lakshmi Thyagarajan

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Nanofibers will leave no field untouched by its scientific innovations; the medical field is no exception. Electrospinning has proven to be an excellent method for the synthesis of nanofibers which, have attracted the interest for many biomedical applications. The formation of biofilms in wounds often leads to chronic infections that are difficult to treat with antibiotics. In order to minimize the biofilms and enhance the wound healing, preparation of potential nanofibers was focused. In this study, siderophore incorporated nanofibers were electrospun using biocompatible polymers onto the collagen scaffold and were fabricated into a biomaterial suitable for the inhibition of biofilm formation. The purified microbial siderophore was blended with Poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and poly (ethylene oxide) PEO in a suitable solvent. Fabrication of siderophore blended nanofibers onto the collagen surface was done using standard protocols. The fabricated scaffold was subjected to physical-chemical characterization. The results indicated that the fabrication processing parameters of nanofiberous scaffold was found to possess the characteristics expected of the potential scaffold with nanoscale morphology and microscale arrangement. The influence of Poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and poly (ethylene oxide) PEO solution concentration, applied voltage, tip-to-collector distance, feeding rate, and collector speed were studied. The optimal parameters such as the ratio of Poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and poly (ethylene oxide) PEO concentration, applied voltage, tip-to-collector distance, feeding rate, collector speed were finalized based on the trial and error experiments. The fibers were found to have a uniform diameter with an aligned morphology. The overall study suggests that the prepared siderophore entrapped nanofibers could be used as a potent tool for wound dressing material for inhibition of biofilm formation.

Keywords: biofilms, electrospinning, nano-fibers, siderophore, tissue engineering scaffold

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Authors: Matej Patzelt, Jana Mrzilkova, Jan Dudak, Frantisek Krejci, Jan Zemlicka, Zdenek Wurst, Petr Zach, Vladimir Musil

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Introduction: Micro-CT is well used for examination of bone structures and teeth. On the other hand visualization of the soft tissues is still limited. The goal of our study was to elaborate methodology for soft tissue samples imaging in micro-CT. Methodology: We used organs of rats and mice. We either did a preparation of the organs and fixation in contrast solution or we did cannulation of blood vessels and their injection for imaging of the vascular system. First, we scanned native specimens, then we created corrosive specimens by resins. In the next step, we injected vascular system either by Aurovist contrast agent or by Exitron. In the next step, we focused on soft tissues contrast increase. We scanned samples fixated in Lugol solution, samples fixated in pure ethanol and in formaldehyde solution. All used methods were afterwards compared. Results: Native specimens did not provide sufficient contrast of the tissues in any of organs. Corrosive samples of the blood stream provided great contrast and details; on the other hand, it was necessary to destroy the organ. Further examined possibility was injection of the AuroVist contrast that leads to the great bloodstream contrast. Injection of Exitron contrast agent comparing to Aurovist did not provide such a great contrast. The soft tissues (kidney, heart, lungs, brain, and liver) were best visualized after fixation in ethanol. This type of fixation showed best results in all studied tissues. Lugol solution had great results in muscle tissue. Fixation by formaldehyde solution showed similar quality of contrast in the tissues like ethanol. Conclusion: Before imaging, we need to, first, determinate which structures of the soft tissues we want to visualize. In the case of the bloodstream, the best was AuroVist and corrosive specimens. Muscle tissue is best visualized by Lugol solution. In the case of the organs containing cavities, like kidneys or brain, the best way was ethanol fixation.

Keywords: experimental imaging, fixation, micro-CT, soft tissues

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Authors: M. F. Slim, A. Alhussein, F. Sanchette, M. François

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Thin films are widely used in various applications to enhance the surface properties and characteristics of materials. They are used in many domains such as: biomedical, automotive, aeronautics, military, electronics and energy. Depending on the elaboration technique, the elastic behavior of thin films may be different from this of bulk materials. This dependence on the elaboration techniques and their parameters makes the control of the elasticity constants of coated components necessary. Our work is focused on the characterization of the elasticity constants of isotropic thin films by means of Impulse Excitation Techniques. The tests rely on the measurement of the sample resonance frequency before and after deposition. In this work, a finite element model was performed with ABAQUS software. This model was then compared with the analytical approaches used to determine the Young’s and shear moduli. The best model to determine the film Young’s modulus was identified and a relation allowing the determination of the shear modulus of thin films of any thickness was developed. In order to confirm the model experimentally, Tungsten films were deposited on glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering of a 99.99% purity tungsten target. The choice of tungsten was done because it is well known that its elastic behavior at crystal scale is ideally isotropic. The macroscopic elasticity constants, Young’s and shear moduli and Poisson’s ratio of the deposited film were determined by means of Impulse Excitation Technique. The Young’s modulus obtained from IET was compared with measurements by the nano-indentation technique. We did not observe any significant difference and the value is in accordance with the one reported in the literature. This work presents a new methodology on the determination of the elasticity constants of thin films using Impulse Excitation Technique. A formulation allowing the determination of the shear modulus of a coating, whatever the thickness, was developed and used to determine the macroscopic elasticity constants of tungsten films. The developed model was validated numerically and experimentally.

Keywords: characterization, coating, dynamical resonant method, Poisson's ratio, PVD, shear modulus, Young's modulus

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Authors: Zarabizan Zakaria, Hayati Zainal

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The construction industry is one of the most important sectors that contribute to the nation’s economy and catalyze towards the growth of other industries. However, some construction projects have not been completed on its stipulated time and duration, scope and budget due to several factors. This problem arises due to the weaknesses of human factors, especially from ineffective leadership quality practiced by project managers and contractors in managing project teams. Therefore, a construction project should impose the element of Project Team. The project team is formed in the implementation of the project which includes the project brief, project scope, customer requirements and provided designs. Many organizations in the construction sector use teams to meet today's global competition and customer expectations, however, team effectiveness evaluation is required. In insuring the construction team is successful and effectiveness, the construction department must encourage, measure, set up, and evaluate or review the effectiveness of project team that was formed. In order to produce a better outcome for a high-end project, an effective and efficient project team is required which also help in increasing overall productivity. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of team effectiveness in the construction project team based on the overall construction project performance. It examines several different factors which related to team effectiveness. It also examines the relationship between team effectiveness factor and project performance aspect. Team Effect Review and Project Performance Review are developed to be used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using several statistical tests. Results obtained from data analysis are validated using semi-structured interviews. Besides that, a comprehensive survey were developed to assess the way construction project teams in order to maintain its effectiveness throughout the project phase. In order to determine a project successful it has been found that Project Team Leadership is the most important factor. In addition, the definition of team effectiveness in the construction project team is developed based on the perspective of project clients and project team members. The results of this study are expected to provide an idea on the factors that are needed to be focused on improving the team's effectiveness towards project performance aspects. At the same time, the definition of team effectiveness from team members and owner views has been developed in order to provide a better understanding of the word team's effectiveness in construction projects.

Keywords: project team, leadership, construction project, project successful

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Authors: Chinwe Susan Oguejiofor, Daniel Osamwonyi Iyioha

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Over the last two decades, Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge in graduate unemployment occasioned by the lack of industries and proliferation of tertiary institutions churning out thousands of graduates every year to compete for the few available job space. The astronomical rise in the unemployment rate amongst Nigerian graduates however, is principally assumed to be the defective curricula of the universities and other tertiary institutions whose focus is on training for white-collar jobs. Although graduate unemployment has become a global scourge, its adverse economic impact is believed to be more in developing economies like Nigeria with a huge young population within the working age who cannot seem to find gainful employment to make out a respectable livelihood. Thus, higher institutions especially Universities found itself under pressure and intense competition to produce graduates who can think outside the box and create jobs; hence there was the need to focus on instilling hands-on practical job skills into their students that will make them job creators rather than job seekers on graduation. In the same vein stakeholders in education have continued to lend their voices to the philosophy that the undergraduate curricula should be completely overhauled to accomodate the development of hand-on practical skills and innovative capacity relevant to creating solutions to societal problems. In a bid to correct this anomaly, the Federal Government of Nigeria in conjunction with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment inaugurated a programme tagged “University Entrepreneurship Development Programme” (UNEDEP) whose objective was basically to promote self-employment among the youth right from the institutions of higher learning. But the question is whether the objectives of the programme have actually been achieved. Despite the inclusion in Nigerian educational curriculum close to two decades now,, one wonder if the essence has been aborted. Thus, the paper focused on the concept of entrepreneurship education, objectives of entrepreneurship education, Graduates unemployment, rethinking entrepreneurship education programme in tertiary institution for employment generation , role of entrepreneurship in job creation, challenges of entrepreneurship education in tertiary institution in Nigeria, conclusion and recommendations were drawn accordingly.

Keywords: rethinking, entrepreneurship education, remedy, unemployment, job creation

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: S. K. Ghosh, C. Srivastava, P. K. Limaye, V. Kain

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Electroplated hard chromium is widely known in coatings and surface finishing, automobile and aerospace industries because of its excellent hardness, wear resistance and corrosion properties. However, its precursor, Cr+6 is highly carcinogenic in nature and a consensus has been adopted internationally to eradicate this coating technology with an alternative one. The search for alternate coatings to electroplated hard chrome is continuing worldwide. Various alloys and nanocomposites like Co-W alloys, Ni-Graphene, Ni-diamond nanocomposites etc. have already shown promising results in this regard. Basically, in this study, electroless Ni-P alloys with excellent corrosion resistance was taken as the base matrix and incorporation of tungsten as third alloying element was considered to improve the hardness and wear resistance of the resultant alloy coating. The present work is focused on the preparation of Ni–W–P coatings by electrodeposition with different content of phosphorous and its effect on the electrochemical, mechanical and tribological performances. The results were also compared with Ni-W alloys. Composition analysis by EDS showed deposition of Ni-32.85 wt% W-3.84 wt% P (designated as Ni-W-LP) and Ni-18.55 wt% W-8.73 wt% P (designated as Ni-W-HP) alloy coatings from electrolytes containing of 0.006 and 0.01M sodium hypophosphite respectively. Inhibition of tungsten deposition in the presence of phosphorous was noted. SEM investigation showed cauliflower like growth along with few microcracks. The as-deposited Ni-W-P alloy coating was amorphous in nature as confirmed by XRD investigation and step-wise crystallization was noticed upon annealing at higher temperatures. For all the coatings, the nanohardness was found to increase after heat-treatment and typical nanonahardness values obtained for 400°C annealed samples were 18.65±0.20 GPa, 20.03±0.25 GPa, and 19.17±0.25 for alloy coatings Ni-W, Ni-W-LP and Ni-W-HP respectively. Therefore, the nanohardness data show very promising results. Wear and coefficient of friction data were recorded by applying a different normal load in reciprocating motion using a ball on plate geometry. Post experiment, the wear mechanism was established by detail investigation of wear-scar morphology. Potentiodynamic measurements showed coating with a high content of phosphorous was most corrosion resistant in 3.5wt% NaCl solution.

Keywords: corrosion, electrodeposition, nanohardness, Ni-W-P alloy coating

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Authors: Vishal Raj, Noorhan Abbas

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Ambiguity in NLP (Natural language processing) refers to the ability of a word, phrase, sentence, or text to have multiple meanings. This results in various kinds of ambiguities such as lexical, syntactic, semantic, anaphoric and referential am-biguities. This study is focused mainly on solving the issue of Lexical ambiguity. Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) is an NLP technique that aims to resolve lexical ambiguity by determining the correct meaning of a word within a given context. Most WSD solutions rely on words for training and testing, but we have used lemma and Part of Speech (POS) tokens of words for training and testing. Lemma adds generality and POS adds properties of word into token. We have designed a novel method to create an affinity matrix to calculate the affinity be-tween any pair of lemma_POS (a token where lemma and POS of word are joined by underscore) of given training set. Additionally, we have devised an al-gorithm to create the sense clusters of tokens using affinity matrix under hierar-chy of POS of lemma. Furthermore, three different mechanisms to predict the sense of target word using the affinity/similarity value are devised. Each contex-tual token contributes to the sense of target word with some value and whichever sense gets higher value becomes the sense of target word. So, contextual tokens play a key role in creating sense clusters and predicting the sense of target word, hence, the model is named Contextual SenSe Model (CSM). CSM exhibits a noteworthy simplicity and explication lucidity in contrast to contemporary deep learning models characterized by intricacy, time-intensive processes, and chal-lenging explication. CSM is trained on SemCor training data and evaluated on SemEval test dataset. The results indicate that despite the naivety of the method, it achieves promising results when compared to the Most Frequent Sense (MFS) model.

Keywords: word sense disambiguation (wsd), contextual sense model (csm), most frequent sense (mfs), part of speech (pos), natural language processing (nlp), oov (out of vocabulary), lemma_pos (a token where lemma and pos of word are joined by underscore), information retrieval (ir), machine translation (mt)

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Shilpi Malik, Ramneek Kaur, Archita Gupta, Deepshikha Yadav, Ashwani Mathur, Manisha Singh

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Glucosamine (GS) is the most abundant naturally occurring amino monosaccharide and is normally produced in human body via cellular glucose metabolism. It is regarded as the building block of cartilage matrix and is also an essential component of cartilage matrix repair mechanism. Besides that, it can also be explored for its prebiotic potential as many bacterial species are known to utilize the amino sugar by acquiring them to form peptidoglycans and lipopolysaccharides in the bacterial cell wall. Glucosamine can therefore be considered for its fermentation by bacterial species present in the gut. Current study is focused on exploring the potential of glucosamine as prebiotic. The studies were done to optimize considerable concentration of GS to reach GI tract and being fermented by the complex gut microbiota and food grade GS was added to various Simulated Fluids of Gastro-Intestinal Tract (GIT) such as Simulated Saliva, Gastric Fluid (Fast and Fed State), Colonic fluid, etc. to detect its degradation. Since it was showing increase in microbial growth (CFU) with time, GS was Further, encapsulated to increase its residential time in the gut, which exhibited improved resistance to the simulated Gut conditions. Moreover, prepared microspehres were optimized and characterized for their encapsulation efficiency and toxicity. To further substantiate the prebiotic activity of Glucosamine, studies were also performed to determine the effect of Glucosamine on the known probiotic bacterial species, i.e. Lactobacillus delbrueckii (MTCC 911) and Bifidobacteriumbifidum (MTCC 5398). Culture conditions for glucosamine will be added in MRS media in anaerobic tube at 0.20%, 0.40%, 0.60%, 0.80%, and 1.0%, respectively. MRS media without GS was included in this experiment as the control. All samples were autoclaved at 118° C for 15 min. Active culture was added at 5% (v/v) to each anaerobic tube after cooling to room temperature and incubated at 37° C then determined biomass and pH and viable count at incubation 18h. The experiment was completed in triplicate and the results were presented as Mean ± SE (Standard error).The experimental results are conclusive and suggest Glucosamine to hold prebiotic properties.

Keywords: gastro intestinal tract, microspheres, peptidoglycans, simulated fluid

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Ncedo Cameron Xhala

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Several public sector institutions lack policy direction on how to successfully implement their large infrastructure investment projects. It is significant to improve strategic policy direction in public sector institutions in order to improve planning, management and implementation of large infrastructure investment projects. It is significant to improve an understanding of internal and external pressures that exerts pressure on large infrastructure projects. The significance is to fulfill the public sector’s mandate, align the sectors’ scarce resources, stakeholders and to improve project management processes. The study used a case study approach which was underpinned by a constructionist approach. The study used a theoretical sampling technique when selecting study participants, and was followed by a snowball sampling technique that was used to select an identified case study project purposefully. The study was qualitative in nature, collected and analyzed qualitative empirical data from the purposefully selected five subject matter experts and has analyzed the case study documents. The study used a semi-structured interview approach, analysed case study documents in a qualitative approach. The interviews were on a face-to-face basis and were guided by an interview guide with focused questions. The study used a three coding process step comprising of one to three steps when analysing the qualitative empirical data. Findings reveal that an improvement of strategic policy direction in public sector institutions improves the integration in planning, management and on implementation on large infrastructure investment projects. Findings show the importance of understanding the external and internal pressures when implementing public sector’s large infrastructure investment projects. The study concludes that strategic policy direction in public sector institutions results in improvement of planning, financing, delivery, monitoring and evaluation and successful implementation of the public sector’s large infrastructure investment projects.

Keywords: implementation, infrastructure, investment, management

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Misra Ayse Adsiz, Selim Selvi

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In today's world, technology is competing with time. In order to catch up with the world's companies and adapt quickly to the changes, it is necessary to speed up the processes and keep pace with the rate of change of the technology. The missile system design processes, which are handled with classical methods, keep behind in this race. Because customer requirements are not clear, and demands are changing again and again in the design process. Therefore, in the system design process, a methodology suitable for the missile system design dynamics has been investigated and the processes used for catching up the era are examined. When commonly used design processes are analyzed, it is seen that any one of them is dynamic enough for today’s conditions. So a hybrid design process is established. After a detailed review of the existing processes, it is decided to focus on the Scrum Framework and Agile Philosophy. Scrum is a process framework. It is focused on to develop software and handling change management with rapid methods. In addition, agile philosophy is intended to respond quickly to changes. In this study, it is aimed to integrate Scrum framework and agile philosophy, which are the most appropriate ways for rapid production and change adaptation, into the missile system design process. With this approach, it is aimed that the design team, involved in the system design processes, is in communication with the customer and provide an iterative approach in change management. These methods, which are currently being used in the software industry, have been integrated with the product design process. A team is created for system design process. The roles of Scrum Team are realized with including the customer. A scrum team consists of the product owner, development team and scrum master. Scrum events, which are short, purposeful and time-limited, are organized to serve for coordination rather than long meetings. Instead of the classic system design methods used in product development studies, a missile design is made with this blended method. With the help of this design approach, it is become easier to anticipate changing customer demands, produce quick solutions to demands and combat uncertainties in the product development process. With the feedback of the customer who included in the process, it is worked towards marketing optimization, design and financial optimization.

Keywords: agile, design, missile, scrum

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Xiao Yang, Ji Zhang, Yingli Song, Hui Huang, Jing Zhang, Yan Wang, Rongrong Han, Zhixuan Xiang, Lu Chen, Lingling Gao

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Aim and Objectives: To examine physical activity self-efficacy, identify its predictors, and further explore the mechanism of action among the predictors in mainland Chinese pregnant women with high risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Background: Physical activity could protect pregnant women from developing GDM. Physical activity self-efficacy was the key predictor of physical activity. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2021 to May 2022 in Zhengzhou, China. Methods: 252 eligible pregnant women completed the Pregnancy Physical Activity Self-efficacy Scale, the Social Support for Physical Activity Scale, the Knowledge on Physical Activity Questionnaire, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and a socio-demographic data sheet. Multiple linear regression was applied to explore the predictors of physical activity self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the mechanism of action among the predictors. Results: Chinese pregnant women with a high risk for GDM reported a moderate level of physical activity self-efficacy. The best-fit regression analysis revealed four variables explained 17.5% of the variance in physical activity self-efficacy. Social support for physical activity was the strongest predictor, followed by knowledge of the physical activity, intention to do physical activity, and anxiety symptoms. The model analysis indicated that knowledge of physical activity could release anxiety and depressive symptoms and then increase physical activity self-efficacy. Conclusion: The present study revealed a moderate level of physical activity self-efficacy. Interventions targeting pregnant women with high risk for GDM need to include the predictors of physical activity self-efficacy. Relevance to clinical practice: To facilitate pregnant women with high risk for GDM to engage in physical activity, healthcare professionals may find assess physical activity self-efficacy and intervene as soon as possible on their first antenatal visit. Physical activity intervention programs focused on self-efficacy may be conducted in further research.

Keywords: physical activity, gestational diabetes, self-efficacy, predictors

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Authors: Aasim Siddiqui

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In a country where 45.6 per cent of the total population lives below the poverty line, according to the Human Development Report 2014 by UNDP, an increasing number of private companies are now dedicating their resources to remedy this situation of chronic poverty. Most corporations in Pakistan now have a separate and dedicated department for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), albeit with varying goals and hence different strategies for achieving those goals. Similarly, Marine Group of Companies (MRGC) also has a robust CSR policy which the group implements through a Non-Government Organization (NGO) called Organization for Social Development Initiatives (OSDI). This organization, which operates under the ambit of MRGC’s CSR division, has a concentrated focus on helping the poorest communities in the rural areas of Pakistan to break out of intergenerational poverty. This paper maps the theoretical strategies as well as practical activities undertaken by OSDI for poverty alleviation via rural development in Pakistan. To obtain in-depth information of demographics, livelihood and socio-economic indicators in OSDI’s focused districts; a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies was used during the course of this research. The paper highlights and explains OSDI’s unique three-pronged approach which aims at reducing poverty through income generation via the livelihood assistance program and through the provision of access to the most basic services (including health and education) via the community development and food security programs. Modeled on the concept of capacity building, OSDI’s modus operandi is centered on disbursing timely microcredit facilities to farmers who can benefit from these funds by investing in productive assets to foster financial capability for the future. With a focus on increasing the income of poor farmers, OSDI’s approach is to integrate all the socio-economic facets: education, health and sanitation and food security, to induce a sustained positive impact on their living standards.

Keywords: CSR, poverty, rural, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Sachiko Hosoya

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Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social policy of preventive genetic medicine in Iran, by following the legalization process of abortion law and the factors affecting the process in wider Iranian contexts. In this paper, ethical discussions of prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion in Iran will be presented, by exploring Iranian social policy to control genetic diseases, especially a genetic hemoglobin disorder called Thalassemia. The ethical dilemmas in application of genetic medicine into social policy will be focused. Method: In order to examine the role of the policy for prevention of genetic diseases and selective abortion in Iran, various resources have been sutudied, not only academic articles, but also discussion in the Parliament and documents related to a court case, as well as ethnographic data on living situation of Thalassemia patients. Results: Firstly, the discussion on prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion is overviewed from the viewpoints of ethics, disability rights activists, and public policy for lower-resources countries. As a result, it should be noted that the point more important in the discussion on prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion in Iran is the allocation of medical resources. Secondly, the process of implementation of national thalassemia screening program and legalization of ‘Therapeutic Abortion Law’ is analyzed, through scrutinizing documents such as the Majlis record, government documents and related laws and regulations. Although some western academics accuse that Iranian policy of selective abortion seems to be akin to eugenic public policy, Iranian government carefully avoid to distortions of the policy as ‘eugenic’. Thirdly, as a comparative example, discussions on an Iranian court case of patient’s ‘right not to be born’ will be introduced. Along with that, restrictive living environments of people with Thalassemia patients and the carriers are depicted, to understand some disabling social factors for people with genetic diseases in the local contexts of Iran.

Keywords: abortion, Iran, prenatal diagnosis, public health ethics, Thalassemia prevention program

Procedia PDF Downloads 348