Search results for: traditional learning approach

Authors: Niharika Kaushal, Minni Singh

Abstract:

Citrus fruits fall into the category of those commercially grown fruits that constitute an excellent repository of phytochemicals with health-promoting properties. Fruits belonging to the citrus family, when processed by industries, produce tons of agriculture by-products in the form of peels, pulp, and seeds, which normally have no further usage and are commonly discarded. In spite of this, such residues are of paramount importance due to their richness in valuable compounds; therefore, agro-waste is considered a valuable bioresource for various purposes in the food sector. A range of biological properties, including anti-oxidative, anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergenicity, and anti-aging activity, have been reported for these bioactive compounds. Taking advantage of these inexpensive residual sources requires special attention to extract bioactive compounds. Mandarin (Citrus nobilis X Citrus deliciosa) is a potential source of bioflavonoids with antioxidant properties, and it is increasingly regarded as a functional food. Despite these benefits, flavonoids suffer from a barrier of pre-systemic metabolism in gastric fluid, which impedes their effectiveness. Therefore, colloidal delivery systems can completely overcome the barrier in question. This study involved the extraction and identification of key flavonoids from mandarin biomass. Using a green chemistry approach, supercritical fluid extraction at 330 bar, temperature 40C, and co-solvent 10% ethanol was employed for extraction, and the identification of flavonoids was made by mass spectrometry. As flavonoids are concerned with a limitation, the obtained extract was encapsulated in polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) matrix using a solvent evaporation method. Additionally, the antioxidant potential was evaluated by the 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. A release pattern of flavonoids was observed over time using simulated gastrointestinal fluids. From the results, it was observed that the total flavonoids extracted from the mandarin biomass were estimated to be 47.3 ±1.06 mg/ml rutin equivalents as total flavonoids. In the extract, significantly, polymethoxyflavones (PMFs), tangeretin and nobiletin were identified, followed by hesperetin and naringin. The designed flavonoid-PLGA nanoparticles exhibited a particle size between 200-250nm. In addition, the bioengineered nanoparticles had a high entrapment efficiency of nearly 80.0% and maintained stability for more than a year. Flavonoid nanoparticles showed excellent antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 0.55μg/ml. Morphological studies revealed the smooth and spherical shape of nanoparticles as visualized by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Simulated gastrointestinal studies of free extract and nanoencapsulation revealed the degradation of nearly half of the flavonoids under harsh acidic conditions in the case of free extract. After encapsulation, flavonoids exhibited sustained release properties, suggesting that polymeric encapsulates are efficient carriers of flavonoids. Thus, such technology-driven and biomass-derived products form the basis for their use in the development of functional foods with improved therapeutic potential and antioxidant properties. As a result, citrus processing waste can be considered a new resource that has high value and can be used for promoting its utilization.

Keywords: citrus, agrowaste, flavonoids, nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

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

Abstract:

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

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

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: R. Di Lorenzo, S. Laneri, A. Sacchi

Abstract:

Hair surface properties affect hair texture and shine, whereas the healthy state of the hair cortex sways hair ends. Even if cosmetic treatments are intrinsically safe, there is potentially damaging action on the hair fibers. Loss of luster, frizz, split ends, and other hair problems are particularly prevalent among people who repeatedly alter the natural style of their hair or among people with intrinsically weak hair. Technological and scientific innovations in hair care thus become invaluable allies to preserve their natural well-being and shine. The study evaluated restoring keratin-like ingredients that improve hair fibers' structural integrity, increase tensile strength, improve hair manageability and moisturizing. The hair shaft is composed of 65 - 95% of keratin. It gives the hair resistance, elasticity, and plastic properties and also contributes to their waterproofing. Providing exogenous keratin is, therefore, a practical approach to protect and nourish the hair. By analyzing the amino acid composition of keratin, we find a high frequency of hydrophobic amino acids. It confirms the critical role interactions, mainly hydrophobic, between cosmetic products and hair. The active ingredient analyzed comes from vegetable proteins through an enzymatic cut process that selected only oligo- and polypeptides (> 3500 KDa) rich in amino acids with hydrocarbon side chains apolar or sulfur. These chemical components are the most expressed amino acids at the level of the capillary keratin structure, and it determines the most significant possible compatibility with the target substrate. Given the biological variability of the sources, it isn't easy to define a constant and reproducible molecular formula of the product. Still, it consists of hydroxypropiltrimonium vegetable peptides with keratin-like performances. 20 natural hair tresses (30 cm in length and 0.50 g weight) were treated with the investigated products (5 % v/v aqueous solution) following a specific protocol and compared with non-treated (Control) and benchmark-keratin-treated strands (Benchmark). Their brightness, moisture content, cortical and surface integrity, and tensile strength were evaluated and statistically compared. Keratin-like treated hair tresses showed better results than the other two groups (Control and Benchmark). The product improves the surface with significant regularization of the cuticle closure, improves the cortex and the peri-medullar area filling, gives a highly organized and tidy structure, delivers a significant amount of sulfur on the hair, and is more efficient moisturization and imbibition power, increases hair brightness. The hydroxypropyltrimonium quaternized group added to the C-terminal end interacts with the negative charges that form on the hair after washing when disheveled and tangled. The interactions anchor the product to the hair surface, keeping the cuticles adhered to the shaft. The small size allows the peptides to penetrate and give body to the hair, together with a conditioning effect that gives an image of healthy hair. Results suggest that the product is a valid ally in numerous restructuring/conditioning, shaft protection, straightener/dryer-damage prevention hair care product.

Keywords: conditioning, hair damage, hair, keratin, polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Alexander A. Stakheev, Larisa V. Samokhvalova, Sergey K. Zavriev

Abstract:

Fusarium fungi are among the most devastating plant pathogens distributed all over the world. Significant reduction of grain yield and quality caused by Fusarium leads to multi-billion dollar annual losses to the world agricultural production. These organisms can also cause infections in immunocompromised persons and produce the wide range of mycotoxins, such as trichothecenes, fumonisins, and zearalenone, which are hazardous to human and animal health. Identification of Fusarium fungi based on the morphology of spores and spore-forming structures, colony color and appearance on specific culture media is often very complicated due to the high similarity of these features for closely related species. Modern Fusarium taxonomy increasingly uses data of crossing experiments (biological species concept) and genetic polymorphism analysis (phylogenetic species concept). A number of novel Fusarium sibling species has been established using DNA barcoding techniques. Species recognition is best made with the combined phylogeny of intron-rich protein coding genes and ribosomal DNA sequences. However, the internal transcribed spacer of (ITS), which is considered to be universal DNA barcode for Fungi, is not suitable for genus Fusarium, because of its insufficient variability between closely related species and the presence of non-orthologous copies in the genome. Nowadays, the translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1α) gene is the “gold standard” of Fusarium taxonomy, but the search for novel informative markers is still needed. In this study, we used two novel DNA markers, frataxin (FXN) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) to discover phylogenetic relationships between Fusarium species. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis based on partial sequences of TEF1α, FXN, HSP90, as well as intergenic spacer of ribosomal DNA (IGS), beta-tubulin (β-TUB) and phosphate permease (PHO) genes has been conducted for 120 isolates of 19 Fusarium species from different climatic zones of Russia and neighboring countries using maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP) algorithms. Our analyses revealed that FXN and HSP90 genes could be considered as informative phylogenetic markers, suitable for evolutionary and taxonomic studies of Fusarium genus. It has been shown that PHO gene possesses more variable (22 %) and parsimony informative (19 %) characters than other markers, including TEF1α (12 % and 9 %, correspondingly) when used for elucidating phylogenetic relationships between F. avenaceum and its closest relatives – F. tricinctum, F. acuminatum, F. torulosum. Application of novel DNA barcodes confirmed the fact that F. arthrosporioides do not represent a separate species but only a subspecies of F. avenaceum. Phylogeny based on partial PHO and FXN sequences revealed the presence of separate cluster of four F. avenaceum strains which were closer to F. torulosum than to major F. avenaceum clade. The strain F-846 from Moldova, morphologically identified as F. poae, formed a separate lineage in all the constructed dendrograms, and could potentially be considered as a separate species, but more information is needed to confirm this conclusion. Variable sites in PHO sequences were used for the first-time development of specific qPCR-based diagnostic assays for F. acuminatum and F. torulosum. This work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant № 15-29-02527).

Keywords: DNA barcode, fusarium, identification, phylogenetics, taxonomy

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: K. C. Tanuja, Mamatha P. Raj

Abstract:

"People have always lived on streets. They have been the places where children first learned about the world, where neighbours met, the social centres of towns and cities, the rallying points for revolts, the scenes of repression. The street has always been the scene of this conflict, between living and access, between resident and traveller, between street life and the threat of death.” Livable Streets by Donald Appleyard. Urbanisation is happening rapidly all over the world. As population increasing in the urban settlements, its required to provide quality of life to all the inhabitants who live in. Urban design is a place making strategic planning. Urban design principles promote visualising any place environmentally, socially and economically viable. Urban design strategies include building mass, transit development, economic viability and sustenance and social aspects. Cities are wonderful inventions of diversity- People, things, activities, ideas and ideologies. Cities should be smarter and adjustable to present technology and intelligent system. Streets represent the community in terms of social and physical aspects. Streets are an urban form that responds to many issues and are central to urban life. Streets are for livability, safety, mobility, place of interest, economic opportunity, balancing the ecology and for mass transit. Urban streets are places where people walk, shop, meet and engage in different types of social and recreational activities which make urban community enjoyable. Streets knit the urban fabric of activities. Urban streets become livable with the introduction of social network enhancing the pedestrian character by providing good design features which in turn should achieve the minimal impact of motor vehicle use on pedestrians. Livable streets are the spatial definition to the public right of way on urban streets. Streets in India have traditionally been the public spaces where social life happened or created from ages. Streets constitute the urban public realm where people congregate, celebrate and interact. Streets are public places that can promote social interaction, active living and community identity. Streets as potential contributors to a better living environment, knitting together the urban fabric of people and places that make up a community. Livable streets or complete streets are making our streets as social places, roadways and sidewalks accessible, safe, efficient and useable for all people. The purpose of this paper is to understand the concept of livable street and parameters of livability on urban streets. Streets to be designed as the pedestrians are the main users and create spaces and furniture for social interaction which serves for the needs of the people of all ages and abilities. The problems of streets like congestion due to width of the street, traffic movement and adjacent land use and type of movement need to be redesigned and improve conditions defining the clear movement path for vehicles and pedestrians. Well-designed spatial qualities of street enhances the street environment, livability and then achieves quality of life to the pedestrians. A methodology been derived to arrive at the typologies in street design after analysis of existing situation and comparing with livable standards. It was Donald Appleyard‟s Livable Streets laid out the social effects on streets creating the social network to achieve Livable Streets.

Keywords: livable streets, social interaction, pedestrian use, urban design

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Roshni Raha, Kavya P., Gayathri M.

Abstract:

India, with a humongous population, remains the world's poorest developing nation in terms of nutritional status, with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) affecting the population. Despite efforts over the past decades, India's anaemia prevalence has not been reduced. Researchers are interested in developing therapies that will minimize the typical side effects of oral iron and optimize iron salts-based treatment through delivery methods based on the physiology of hepcidin regulation. However, they need to come up with iron therapies that will prevent making the infection worse. This article explores using bio-nanotechnology as the alternative, promising substitution of providing iron supplements for the treatment of diarrhoea and gut inflammation in kids and pregnant women. This article is an exploratory study using a literature survey and secondary research from review papers. In the realm of biotechnology, nanoparticles have become extremely famous due to unexpected variations in surface characteristics caused by particle size. Particle size distribution and shape exhibit unusual, enhanced characteristics when reduced to nanoscale. The article attempts to develop a model for a nanotechnology based solution in iron fortification to combat the problems of diarrhoea and gut inflammation. Certain dimensions that have been considered in the model include the size, shape, source, and biosynthesis of the iron nanoparticles. Another area of investigation addressed in the article is the cost-effective biocompatible production of these iron nanoparticles. Studies have demonstrated that a substantial reduction of metal ions to form nanoparticles from the bulk metal occurs in plants because of the presence of a wide diversity of biomolecules. Using this concept, the paper investigates the effectiveness and impact of how similar sources can be used for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles. Results showed that iron particles, when prepared in nano-metre size, offer potential advantages. When the particle size of the iron compound decreases and attains nano configuration, its surface area increases, which further improves its solubility in the gastric acid, leading to higher absorption, higher bioavailability, and producing the least organoleptic changes in food. It has no negative effects and possesses a safe, effective profile to reduce IDA. Considering all the parameters, it has been concluded that iron particles in nano configuration serve as alternative iron supplements for the complete treatment of IDA. Nanoparticles of ferric phosphate, ferric pyrophosphate, and iron oxide are the choices of iron supplements. From a sourcing perspective, the paper concludes green sources are the primary sources for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles. It will also be a cost-effective strategy since our goal is to treat the target population in rural India. Bio-nanotechnology serves as an alternative and promising substitution for iron supplements due to its low cost, excellent bioavailability, and strong organoleptic properties. One area of future research can be to explore the type of size and shape of iron nanoparticles that would be suitable for the different age groups of pregnant women and children and whether it would be influenced based on the topography in certain areas.

Keywords: anemia, bio-nanotechnology, iron-fortification, nanoparticle

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Amarasinghe Shashikala, Pramudika Hansini, Fernando Tajan, Rathnayake Piyumi

Abstract:

This study investigates the prominence of the social entrepreneurship (SE) model over the sustainable entrepreneurship model among Sri Lankan exporters in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. The primary objective of this study is to explore how the unique socio-economic contextual nuances of the country influence this behavior. The study employs a multiple-case study approach, collecting data from thirteen SEs in the SME sector. The findings reveal a significant alignment between SE and the lifestyle of the people in Sri Lanka, attributed largely to its deep-rooted religious setting and cultural norms. A crucial factor driving the prominence of SE is the predominantly labor-intensive nature of production processes within the exporters of the SME sector. These processes inherently lend themselves to SE, providing employment opportunities and fostering community engagement. Further, SE initiatives substantially resonate with community-centric practices, making them more appealing and accessible to the local populace. In contrast, the findings highlight a dilemma between cost-effectiveness and sustainable entrepreneurship. Transitioning to sustainable export products and production processes is demanded by foreign buyers and acknowledged as essential for environmental stewardship, which often requires capital-intensive makeovers. This investment inevitably raises the overall cost of the export product, making it less competitive in the global market. Interestingly, the study notes a disparity between international demand for sustainable products and the willingness of buyers to pay a premium for them. Despite the growing global preference for eco-friendly options, the findings suggest that the additional costs associated with sustainable entrepreneurship are not adequately reflected in the purchasing behavior of international buyers. The abundance of natural resources coupled with a minimal occurrence of natural catastrophes renders exporters less environmentally sensitive. The absence of robust policy support for environmental preservation exacerbates this inclination. Consequently, exporters exhibit a diminished motivation to incorporate environmental sustainability into their business decisions. Instead, attention is redirected towards factors such as the local population's minimum standards of living, prevalent social issues, governmental corruption and inefficiency, and rural poverty. These elements impel exporters to prioritize social well-being when making business decisions. Notably, the emphasis on social impact, rather than environmental impact, appears to be a generational trend, perpetuating a focus on societal aspects in the realm of business. In conclusion, the manifestation of entrepreneurial behavior within developing nations is notably contingent upon contextual nuances. This investigation contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics shaping the prevalence of SE over sustainable entrepreneurship among Sri Lankan exporters in the SME sector. The insights generated have implications for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and academics seeking to navigate the delicate balance between socio-cultural values, economic feasibility, and environmental sustainability in the pursuit of responsible business practices within the export sector.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises, social entrepreneurship, Sri Lanka, sustainable entrepreneurship

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Wenyu Guo, Malachy O’Rourke, Mark Bowkett, Michael Gilchrist

Abstract:

Many devices for real-time monitoring of surface water have been developed in the past few years to provide early warning of pollutions and so to decrease the risk of environmental pollution efficiently. One of the most common methodologies used in the detection system is a colorimetric process, in which a container with fixed volume is filled with target ions and reagents to combine a colorimetric dye. The colorimetric ions can sensitively absorb a specific-wavelength radiation beam, and its absorbance rate is proportional to the concentration of the fully developed product, indicating the concentration of target nutrients in the pre-mixed water samples. In order to achieve precise and rapid detection effect, channels with dimensions in the order of micrometers, i.e., microfluidic systems have been developed and introduced into these diagnostics studies. Microfluidics technology largely reduces the surface to volume ratios and decrease the samples/reagents consumption significantly. However, species transport in such miniaturized channels is limited by the low Reynolds numbers in the regimes. Thus, the flow is extremely laminar state, and diffusion is the dominant mass transport process all over the regimes of the microfluidic channels. The objective of this present work has been to analyse the mixing effect and chemistry kinetics in a stop-flow microfluidic device measuring Nitride concentrations in fresh water samples. In order to improve the temporal resolution of the Nitride microfluidic sensor, we have used computational fluid dynamics to investigate the influence that the effectiveness of the mixing process between the sample and reagent within a microfluidic device exerts on the time to completion of the resulting chemical reaction. This computational approach has been complemented by physical experiments. The kinetics of the Griess reaction involving the conversion of sulphanilic acid to a diazonium salt by reaction with nitrite in acidic solution is set in the Laminar Finite-rate chemical reaction in the model. Initially, a methodology was developed to assess the degree of mixing of the sample and reagent within the device. This enabled different designs of the mixing channel to be compared, such as straight, square wave and serpentine geometries. Thereafter, the time to completion of the Griess reaction within a straight mixing channel device was modeled and the reaction time validated with experimental data. Further simulations have been done to compare the reaction time to effective mixing within straight, square wave and serpentine geometries. Results show that square wave channels can significantly improve the mixing effect and provides a low standard deviations of the concentrations of nitride and reagent, while for straight channel microfluidic patterns the corresponding values are 2-3 orders of magnitude greater, and consequently are less efficiently mixed. This has allowed us to design novel channel patterns of micro-mixers with more effective mixing that can be used to detect and monitor levels of nutrients present in water samples, in particular, Nitride. Future generations of water quality monitoring and diagnostic devices will easily exploit this technology.

Keywords: nitride detection, computational fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics, mixing effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: M. Hadjisoteriou, A. Kyriacou Petrou

Abstract:

This paper will discuss ideas of social sustainability in urban design and human behavior in multicultural contested sites. It will focus on the potential of the re-reading of the “site” through mapping that acts as a research methodology and will discuss the chosen site of Mouttalos, Cyprus as a place of multiple identities. Through a methodology of mapping using a bottom up approach, a process of disassembling derives that acts as a mechanism to re-examine space and place by searching for the invisible and the non-measurable, understanding the site through its detailed inhabitation patterns. The significance of this study lies in the use of mapping as an active form of thinking rather than a passive process of representation that allows for a new site to be discovered, giving multiple opportunities for adaptive urban strategies and socially engaged design approaches. We will discuss the above thematic based on the chosen contested site of Mouttalos, a small Turkish Cypriot neighbourhood, in the old centre of Paphos (Ktima), SW of Cyprus. During the political unrest, between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, in 1963, the area became an enclave to the Turkish Cypriots, excluding any contact with the rest of the area. Following the Turkish invasion of 1974, the residents left their homes, plots and workplaces, resettling in the North of Cyprus. Greek Cypriot refugees moved into the area. The presence of the Greek Cypriot refugees is still considered to be a temporary resettlement. The buildings and the residents themselves exist in a state of uncertainty. The site is documented through a series of parallel investigations into the physical conditions and history of the site. Research methodologies use the process of mapping to expose the complex and often invisible layers of information that coexist. By registering the site through the subjective experiences, and everyday stories of inhabitants, a series of cartographic recordings reveals the space between: happening and narrative and especially space between different cultures and religions. Research put specific emphasis on engaging the public, promoting social interaction, identifying spatial patterns of occupation by previous inhabitants through social media. Findings exposed three main areas of interest. Firstly we identified inter-dependent relationships between permanence and temporality, characterised by elements such us, signage through layers of time, past events and periodical street festivals, unfolding memory and belonging. Secondly issues of co-ownership and occupation, found through particular narratives of exchange between the two communities and through appropriation of space. Finally formal and informal inhabitation of space, revealed through the presence of informal shared back yards, alternative paths, porous street edges and formal and informal landmarks. The importance of the above findings, was achieving a shift of focus from the built infrastructure to the soft network of multiple and complex relations of dependence and autonomy. Proposed interventions for this contested site were informed and led by a new multicultural identity where invisible qualities were revealed though the process of mapping, taking on issues of layers of time, formal and informal inhabitation and the “permanence of the temporary”.

Keywords: contested sites, mapping, social sustainability, temporary urban strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 423

Authors: Mohammadjavad Sotoudeheian, Soroush Nematollahi

Abstract:

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic gastrointestinal segment inflammation encompassing immune dysregulation in a genetically susceptible individual in response to the environmental triggers and interaction between the microbiome and immune system. Uncontrolled inflammation leads to long-term complications, including fibrotic strictures and enteric fistulae. Increased production of Th1 and Th17-cell cytokines and defects in T-regulatory cells have been associated with CD. Th17-cells are essential for protection against extracellular pathogens, but their atypical activity can cause autoimmunity. Intrinsic defects in the control of programmed cell death in the mucosal T-cell compartment are strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of CD. The apoptosis defect in mucosal T-cells in CD has been endorsed as an imbalance of the Bcl-2 and the Bax. The immune system encounters foreign antigens through microbial colonization of mucosal surfaces or infections. In addition, FOSL downregulated IL-26 expression, a cytokine that marks inflammatory Th17-populations in patients suffering from CD. Furthermore, the expression of IL-23 is associated with the transcription factor primary leucine zipper transcription factor ATF-like (Batf). Batf-deficiency demonstrated the crucial role of Batf in colitis development. Batf and IL-23 mediate their effects by inducing IL-6 production. Strong association of IL-23R, Stat3, and Stat4 with IBD susceptibility point to a critical involvement of T-cells. IL-23R levels in transfer fistula were dependent on the AP-1 transcription factor JunB that additionally controlled levels of RORγt by facilitating DNA binding of Batf. T lymphocytes lacking JunB failed to induce IL-23- and Th17-mediated experimental colitis highlighting the relevance of JunB for the IL-23/ Th17 pathway. The absence of T-bet causes unrestrained Th17-cell differentiation. T-cells are central parts of immune-mediated colon fistula. Especially Th17-cells were highly prevalent in inflamed IBD tissues, as RORγt is effective in preventing colitis. Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) contain unique T-cell subsets, including cells expressing RORγt. Increased activated Th17 and decreased T-regulatory cells in inflamed intestinal tissues had been seen. T-cells differentiate in response to many cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-23, and TGF-β, into Th17-cells, a process which is critically dependent on the Batf. IL-23 promotes Th17-cell in the colon. Batf manages the generation of IL-23 induced IL-23R+ Th17-cells. Batf is necessary for TGF-β/IL-6-induced Th17-polarization. Batf-expressing T-cells are the core of T-cell-mediated colitis. The human-specific parts of three AP-1 transcription factors, FOSL1, FOSL2, and BATF, are essential during the early stages of Th17 differentiation. BATF supports the Th17 lineage. FOSL1, FOSL2, and BATF make possession of regulatory loci of genes in the Th17 lineage cascade. The AP1 transcription factor Batf is identified to control intestinal inflammation and seems to regulate pathways within lymphocytes, which could theoretically control the expression of several genes. It shows central regulatory properties over Th17-cell development and is intensely upregulated within IBD-affected tissues. Here, we demonstrated that targeting Batf in IBD appears as a therapeutic approach that reduces colitogenic T-cell activities during fistula formation while aiming to affect inflammation in the gut epithelial cells.

Keywords: immune system, Crohn’s Disease, BATF, T helper cells, Bcl, interleukin, FOSL

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Aussara Panya, Nunghathai Sawasdee, Mutita Junking, Chatchawan Srisawat, Kiattawee Choowongkomon, Pa-Thai Yenchitsomanus

Abstract:

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a global public health problem with approximately 100 million infected cases a year. Presently, there is no approved vaccine or effective drug available; therefore, the development of anti-DENV drug is urgently needed. The clinical reports revealing the positive association between the disease severity and viral titer has been reported previously suggesting that the anti-DENV drug therapy can possibly ameliorate the disease severity. Although several anti-DENV agents showed inhibitory activities against DENV infection, to date none of them accomplishes clinical use in the patients. The surface envelope (E) protein of DENV is critical for the viral entry step, which includes attachment and membrane fusion; thus, the blocking of envelope protein is an attractive strategy for anti-DENV drug development. To search the safe anti-DENV agent, this study aimed to search for novel peptide inhibitors to counter DENV infection through the targeting of E protein using a structure-based in silico design. Two selected strategies has been used including to identify the peptide inhibitor which interfere the membrane fusion process whereby the hydrophobic pocket on the E protein was the target, the destabilization of virion structure organization through the disruption of the interaction between the envelope and membrane proteins, respectively. The molecular docking technique has been used in the first strategy to search for the peptide inhibitors that specifically bind to the hydrophobic pocket. The second strategy, the peptide inhibitor has been designed to mimic the ectodomain portion of membrane protein to disrupt the protein-protein interaction. The designed peptides were tested for the effects on cell viability to measure the toxic to peptide to the cells and their inhibitory assay to inhibit the DENV infection in Vero cells. Furthermore, their antiviral effects on viral replication, intracellular protein level and viral production have been observed by using the qPCR, cell-based flavivirus immunodetection and immunofluorescence assay. None of tested peptides showed the significant effect on cell viability. The small peptide inhibitors achieved from molecular docking, Glu-Phe (EF), effectively inhibited DENV infection in cell culture system. Its most potential effect was observed for DENV2 with a half maximal inhibition concentration (IC50) of 96 μM, but it partially inhibited other serotypes. Treatment of EF at 200 µM on infected cells also significantly reduced the viral genome and protein to 83.47% and 84.15%, respectively, corresponding to the reduction of infected cell numbers. An additional approach was carried out by using peptide mimicking membrane (M) protein, namely MLH40. Treatment of MLH40 caused the reduction of foci formation in four individual DENV serotype (DENV1-4) with IC50 of 24-31 μM. Further characterization suggested that the MLH40 specifically blocked viral attachment to host membrane, and treatment with 100 μM could diminish 80% of viral attachment. In summary, targeting the hydrophobic pocket and M-binding site on the E protein by using the peptide inhibitors could inhibit DENV infection. The results provide proof of-concept for the development of antiviral therapeutic peptide inhibitors to counter DENV infection through the use of a structure-based design targeting conserved viral protein.

Keywords: dengue virus, dengue virus infection, drug design, peptide inhibitor

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Caroline Smith, Professor Debi Bhattacharya, Sion Scott

Abstract:

Introduction: Oropharyngeal Dysphagia (OD) effects around 15% of older people, however it is often unrecognised and under diagnosed until they are hospitalised. There is a need for primary care healthcare practitioners (HCPs) to assume a proactive role in identifying and managing OD to prevent adverse outcomes such as aspiration pneumonia. Understanding the determinants of primary care HCPs undertaking this new behaviour provides the intervention targets for addressing. This realist review, underpinned by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), aims to synthesise relevant literature and develop programme theories to understand what interventions work, how they work and under what circumstances to facilitate HCPs to prevent harm from OD. Combining realist methodology with behavioural science will permit conceptualisation of intervention components as theoretical behavioural constructs, thus informing the design of a future behaviour change intervention. Furthermore, through the TDF’s linkage to a taxonomy of behaviour change techniques, we will identify corresponding behaviour change techniques to include in this intervention. Methods & analysis: We are following the five steps for undertaking a realist review: 1) clarify the scope 2) Literature search 3) appraise and extract data 4) evidence synthesis 5) evaluation. We have searched Medline, Google scholar, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Scopus and PsycINFO databases. We are obtaining additional evidence through grey literature, snowball sampling, lateral searching and consulting the stakeholder group. Literature is being screened, evaluated and synthesised in Excel and Nvivo. We will appraise evidence in relation to its relevance and rigour. Data will be extracted and synthesised according to its relation to Initial programme theories (IPTs). IPTs were constructed after the preliminary literature search, informed by the TDF and with input from a stakeholder group of patient and public involvement advisors, general practitioners, speech and language therapists, geriatricians and pharmacists. We will follow the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards (RAMESES) quality and publication standards to report study results. Results: In this ongoing review our search has identified 1417 manuscripts with approximately 20% progressing to full text screening. We inductively generated 10 IPTs that hypothesise practitioners require: the knowledge to spot the signs and symptoms of OD; the skills to provide initial advice and support; and access to resources in their working environment to support them conducting these new behaviours. We mapped the 10 IPTs to 8 TDF domains and then generated a further 12 IPTs deductively using domain definitions to fulfil the remaining 6 TDF domains. Deductively generated IPTs broadened our thinking to consider domains such as ‘Emotion,’ ‘Optimism’ and ‘Social Influence’, e.g. If practitioners perceive that patients, carers and relatives expect initial advice and support, then they will be more likely to provide this, because they will feel obligated to do so. After prioritisation with stakeholders using a modified nominal group technique approach, a maximum of 10 IPTs will progress to test against the literature.

Keywords: behaviour change, deglutition disorders, primary healthcare, realist review

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Salvatore Luongo, Carlo Luongo

Abstract:

This paper discusses the implementation solutions to reduce the computational load for the Traffic Situational Awareness with Alerts (TSAA) application, based on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology. In 2008, there were 23 total mid-air collisions involving general aviation fixed-wing aircraft, 6 of which were fatal leading to 21 fatalities. These collisions occurred during visual meteorological conditions, indicating the limitations of the see-and-avoid concept for mid-air collision avoidance as defined in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA). The commercial aviation aircraft are already equipped with collision avoidance system called TCAS, which is based on classic transponder technology. This system dramatically reduced the number of mid-air collisions involving air transport aircraft. In general aviation, the same reduction in mid-air collisions has not occurred, so this reduction is the main objective of the TSAA application. The major difference between the original conflict detection application and the TSAA application is that the conflict detection is focused on preventing loss of separation in en-route environments. Instead TSAA is devoted to reducing the probability of mid-air collision in all phases of flight. The TSAA application increases the flight crew traffic situation awareness providing alerts of traffic that are detected in conflict with ownship in support of the see-and-avoid responsibility. The relevant effort has been spent in the design process and the code generation in order to maximize the efficiency and performances in terms of computational load and memory consumption reduction. The TSAA architecture is divided into two high-level systems: the “Threats database” and the “Conflict detector”. The first one receives the traffic data from ADS-B device and provides the memorization of the target’s data history. Conflict detector module estimates ownship and targets trajectories in order to perform the detection of possible future loss of separation between ownship and each target. Finally, the alerts are verified by additional conflict verification logic, in order to prevent possible undesirable behaviors of the alert flag. In order to reduce the computational load, a pre-check evaluation module is used. This pre-check is only a computational optimization, so the performances of the conflict detector system are not modified in terms of number of alerts detected. The pre-check module uses analytical trajectories propagation for both target and ownship. This allows major accuracy and avoids the step-by-step propagation, which requests major computational load. Furthermore, the pre-check permits to exclude the target that is certainly not a threat, using an analytical and efficient geometrical approach, in order to decrease the computational load for the following modules. This software improvement is not suggested by FAA documents, and so it is the main innovation of this work. The efficiency and efficacy of this enhancement are verified using fast-time and real-time simulations and by the execution on a real device in several FAA scenarios. The final implementation also permits the FAA software certification in compliance with DO-178B standard. The computational load reduction allows the installation of TSAA application also on devices with multiple applications and/or low capacity in terms of available memory and computational capabilities

Keywords: traffic situation awareness, general aviation, aircraft conflict detection, computational load reduction, implementation solutions, software certification

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: João Coutinho-Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa, Luís Alçada-Almeida

Abstract:

Transportation infrastructure systems are fundamental in modern society and economy. However, they need modernizing, maintaining, and reinforcing interventions which require large investments. In many countries, accumulated intervention delays arise from aging and intense use, being magnified by financial constraints of the past. The decision problem of managing the renewal of large backlogs is common to several types of important transportation infrastructures (e.g., railways, roads). This problem requires considering financial aspects as well as operational constraints under a multidimensional framework. The present research introduces a linear programming multiobjective model for managing railway infrastructure asset renewal. The model aims at minimizing three objectives: (i) yearly investment peak, by evenly spreading investment throughout multiple years; (ii) total cost, which includes extra maintenance costs incurred from renewal backlogs; (iii) priority delays related to work start postponements on the higher priority railway sections. Operational constraints ensure that passenger and freight services are not excessively delayed from having railway line sections under intervention. Achieving a balanced annual investment plan, without compromising the total financial effort or excessively postponing the execution of the priority works, was the motivation for pursuing the research which is now presented. The methodology, inspired by a real case study and tested with real data, reflects aspects of the practice of an infrastructure management company and is generalizable to different types of infrastructure (e.g., railways, highways). It was conceived for treating renewal interventions in infrastructure assets, which is a railway network may be rails, ballasts, sleepers, etc.; while a section is under intervention, trains must run at reduced speed, causing delays in services. The model cannot, therefore, allow for an accumulation of works on the same line, which may cause excessively large delays. Similarly, the lines do not all have the same socio-economic importance or service intensity, making it is necessary to prioritize the sections to be renewed. The model takes these issues into account, and its output is an optimized works schedule for the renewal project translatable in Gantt charts The infrastructure management company provided all the data for the first test case study and validated the parameterization. This case consists of several sections to be renewed, over 5 years and belonging to 17 lines. A large instance was also generated, reflecting a problem of a size similar to the USA railway network (considered the largest one in the world), so it is not expected that considerably larger problems appear in real life; an average of 25 years backlog and ten years of project horizon was considered. Despite the very large increase in the number of decision variables (200 times as large), the computational time cost did not increase very significantly. It is thus expectable that just about any real-life problem can be treated in a modern computer, regardless of size. The trade-off analysis shows that if the decision maker allows some increase in max yearly investment (i.e., degradation of objective ii), solutions improve considerably in the remaining two objectives.

Keywords: transport infrastructure, asset renewal, railway maintenance, multiobjective modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Sophia El Ouazzani, Amer M. Burhan, Mary Wickenden

Abstract:

Background: Despite improvements in recent years, the Moroccan mental healthcare system still face disparity between available resources and the current population’sneeds. The societal stigma, and limited economic, political, and human resources are all factors in shaping the psychiatric system, exacerbating the discontinuity of services for users after discharged from the hospital. As a result, limited opportunities for social inclusion and meaningful community engagement undermines human rights and recovery potential for people with mental health problems, especially those with psychiatric disabilities from serious mental illness (SMI). Recovery-oriented practice, such as mental health rehabilitation, addresses the complex needs of patients with SMI and support their community inclusion. The cultural acceptability of recovery-oriented practice is an important notion to consider for a successful implementation. Exploring the extent to which recovery-oriented practices are used in Morocco is a necessary first step to assess the cultural relevance of such a practice model. Aims: This study aims to explore understanding and knowledge, perception, and perspective about core concepts in mental health rehabilitation, including psychiatric disability, recovery, and engagement in meaningful occupations for people with SMI in Morocco. Methods: A pilot qualitative study was undertaken. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and focusgroup discussions with healthcare professional students. Questions were organised around the following themes: 1) students’ perceptions, understanding, and expectations around concepts such as SMI, mental health disability, and recovery, and 2) changes in their views and expectations after starting their professional training. Further analysis of students’ perspectives on the concept of ‘meaningful occupation’ and how is this viewed within the context of the research questions was done. The data was extracted using an inductive thematic analysis approach. This is a pilot stage of a doctoral project, further data will be collected and analysed until saturation is reached. Results: A total of eight students were included in this study which included occupational therapy and mental health nursing students receiving training in Morocco. The following themes emerged as influencing students’ perceptions and views around the main concepts: 1) Stigma and discrimination, 2) Fatalism and low expectations, 3) Gendered perceptions, 4) Religious causation, 5) Family involvement, 6) Professional background, 7) Inaccessibility of services and treatment. Discussion/Contribution: Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that students’ perceptions changed after gaining more clinical experiences and being exposed to people with psychiatric disabilities. Prior to their training, stigma shaped greatly how they viewed people with SMI. The fear, misunderstanding, and shame around SMI and their functional capacities may contribute to people with SMI being stigmatizedand marginalised from their family and their community. Religious causations associated to SMIsare understood as further deepening the social stigma around psychiatric disability. Perceptions are influenced by gender, with women being doubly discriminated against in relation to recovery opportunities. Therapeutic pessimism seems to persist amongst students and within the mental healthcare system in general and regarding the recovery potential and opportunities for people with SMI. The limited resources, fatalism, and stigma all contribute to the low expectations for recovery and community inclusion. Implications and future directions will be discussed.

Keywords: disability, mental health rehabilitation, recovery, serious mental illness, transcultural psychiatry

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Kavitha Madhu, Karthik K. Srinivasan, R. Sivanandan

Abstract:

Indian traffic can be considered as mixed and heterogeneous due to the presence of various types of vehicles that operate with weak lane discipline. Consequently, vehicles can position themselves anywhere in the traffic stream depending on availability of gaps. The choice of lateral positioning is an important component in representing and characterizing mixed traffic. The field data provides evidence that the trajectory of vehicles in Indian urban roads have significantly varying longitudinal and lateral components. Further, the notion of headway which is widely used for homogeneous traffic simulation is not well defined in conditions lacking lane discipline. From field data it is clear that following is not strict as in homogeneous and lane disciplined conditions and neighbouring vehicles ahead of a given vehicle and those adjacent to it could also influence the subject vehicles choice of position, speed and acceleration. Given these empirical features, the suitability of using headway distributions to characterize mixed traffic in Indian cities is questionable, and needs to be modified appropriately. To address these issues, this paper attempts to analyze the time gap distribution between consecutive vehicles (in a time-sense) crossing a section of roadway. More specifically, to characterize the complex interactions noted above, the influence of composition, manoeuvre types, and lateral placement characteristics on time gap distribution is quantified in this paper. The developed model is used for evaluating various performance measures such as link speed, midblock delay and intersection delay which further helps to characterise the vehicular fuel consumption and emission on urban roads of India. Identifying and analyzing exact interactions between various classes of vehicles in the traffic stream is essential for increasing the accuracy and realism of microscopic traffic flow modelling. In this regard, this study aims to develop and analyze time gap distribution models and quantify it by lead lag pair, manoeuvre type and lateral position characteristics in heterogeneous non-lane based traffic. Once the modelling scheme is developed, this can be used for estimating the vehicle kilometres travelled for the entire traffic system which helps to determine the vehicular fuel consumption and emission. The approach to this objective involves: data collection, statistical modelling and parameter estimation, simulation using calibrated time-gap distribution and its validation, empirical analysis of simulation result and associated traffic flow parameters, and application to analyze illustrative traffic policies. In particular, video graphic methods are used for data extraction from urban mid-block sections in Chennai, where the data comprises of vehicle type, vehicle position (both longitudinal and lateral), speed and time gap. Statistical tests are carried out to compare the simulated data with the actual data and the model performance is evaluated. The effect of integration of above mentioned factors in vehicle generation is studied by comparing the performance measures like density, speed, flow, capacity, area occupancy etc under various traffic conditions and policies. The implications of the quantified distributions and simulation model for estimating the PCU (Passenger Car Units), capacity and level of service of the system are also discussed.

Keywords: lateral movement, mixed traffic condition, simulation modeling, vehicle following models

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Soni T. L.

Abstract:

Sustainable environmental stress is a major concern which needs immediate attention. This paper is an attempt to present participatory action research for sustainable agriculture. Being first and best culture, agriculture protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of people, and safeguards the health and welfare of all groups. During course of time agriculture turned to agribusiness, then the values are not safeguarded. Moreover, in today’s busy life many are not taking efforts to take part in agriculture production. Then children are not getting the opportunity to understand agriculture and farming practices. So student initiatives are vital to make them aware. Here the programmes structured by the researcher come under the auspicious of National Service Scheme, a student-centered educational programme, organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. The twin objectives of the study are to examine the role of student initiatives for sustainable agriculture and the role of participatory action research in student initiatives. SWOT analysis is made to study strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The Methodology adopted is Participatory Action Research. The method is participatory in a sense there is collaboration through participation. The method is action, there is lab land experiences which is real. The method is research that there is documented lessons and creation of new knowledge. Plan of action cover measures adopted and strategies taken i.e., bhavana – kalpana – yojana – sadhana. Through the team effort, the team was successful in converting more than 10 hectares of barren land into cultivable land within and outside the campus. Team efforts of students saved a huge amount of labour cost and produced a huge quantity of organic output and the team was also successful in creating 1000 rain pits in the premises of College for rainwater harvesting. The findings include conveyance of the Message: Food Production is superior to Food donation. Moreover, the study fostered good work ethic and social responsibility among students. Students undertake innovative programmes underlying social and environmental issues and participants got increased opportunities to interact with local and less privileged and acquired increased awareness about real-life experiences which make them confident to interact with people and it resulted in the strengthening of social capital- cooperation, team spirit, social commitment among students. Participants promoted sustainable domestic efforts and ultimately environmental protection is ensured. Finally, there is recognition to the team, institution and the researcher at the university level, state level and at the national level. The learned lessons are, if the approach is good, the response is good and success generates success. Participatory action research is empowering experience for practitioners, focusing the combined time, energy and creativity of a committed group we should lead so many programmes which makes the institution centre of excellence. Authorities should take necessary steps for the Inclusion of community development activities in the curriculum. Action research is problem, client and action centered. So, we must adapt and adopt, coordinates and correlates measures which preserve and conserve the environment.

Keywords: participatory action research, student initiatives, sustainable development, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Bangun F., Crevits B., Bellet T., Banet A., Boy G. A., Katili I.

Abstract:

This paper seeks the incoherencies in cognitive process during an accident of Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) by understanding the factual sequences of events and causal relations for each case of accident. The principle of this approach is undertaking in-depth investigations on case per case of PTW accidents based on elaborate data acquisitions on accident sites that officially stamped in Police Crash Report (PCRs) 2012 of Medan with criteria, involved at least one PTW and resulted in serious injury and fatalities. The analysis takes into account four modules: accident chronologies, perpetrator, and victims, injury surveillance, vehicles and road infrastructures, comprising of traffic facilities, road geometry, road alignments and weather. The proposal for improvement could have provided a favorable influence on the chain of functional processes and events leading to collision. Decision Aiding Processes (DAP) assists in structuring different entities at different decisional levels, as each of these entities has its own objectives and constraints. The entities (A) are classified into 6 groups of accidents: solo PTW accidents; PTW vs. PTW; PTW vs. pedestrian; PTW vs. motor-trishaw; and PTW vs. other vehicles and consecutive crashes. The entities are also distinguished into 4 decisional levels: level of road users and street systems; operational level (crash-attended police officers or CAPO and road engineers), tactical level (Regional Traffic Police, Department of Transportation, and Department of Public Work), and strategic level (Traffic Police Headquarters (TCPHI)), parliament, Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Public Work). These classifications will lead to conceptualization of Problem Situations (P) and Problem Formulations (I) in DAP context. The DAP concerns the sequences process of the incidents until the time the accident occurs, which can be modelled in terms of five activities of procedural rationality: identification on initial human features (IHF), investigation on proponents attributes (PrAT), on Injury Surveillance (IS), on the interaction between IHF and PrAt and IS (intercorrelation), then unravel the sequences of incidents; filtering and disclosure, which include: what needs to activate, modify or change or remove, what is new and what is priority. These can relate to the activation or modification or new establishment of law. The PrAt encompasses the problems of environmental, road infrastructure, road and traffic facilities, and road geometry. The evaluation model (MP) is generated to bridge P and I since MP is produced by the intercorrelations among IHF, PrAT and IS extracted from the PCRs 2012 of Medan. There are 7 findings of incoherences: lack of knowledge and awareness on the traffic regulations and the risks of accidents, especially when riding between 0 < x < 10 km from house, riding between 22 p.m.–05.30 a.m.; lack of engagements on procurement of IHF Data by CAPO; lack of competency of CAPO on data procurement in accident-sites; no intercorrelation among IHF and PrAt and IS in the database systems of PCRs; lack of maintenance and supervision on the availabilities and the capacities of traffic facilities and road infrastructure; instrumental bias with wash-back impacts towards the TCPHI; technical robustness with wash-back impacts towards the CAPO and TCPHI.

Keywords: decision aiding processes, evaluation model, PTW accidents, police crash reports

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Narottam Puri, Gurvinder Kaur

Abstract:

Background: The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is India’s apex standard setting accrediting body in health care which evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations. NABH requires accredited organizations to become reaccredited every three years. It is often though that once the initial accreditation is complete, the foundation is set and reaccreditation is a much simpler process. Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, a part of the Fortis Healthcare group is a 262 bed, multi-specialty tertiary care hospital. The hospital was successfully accredited in the year 2012. On completion of its first cycle, the hospital underwent a reaccreditation assessment in the year 2015. This paper aims to gain a better understanding of the challenges that accredited hospitals face when preparing for a renewal of their accreditations. Methods: The study was conducted using a cross-sectional mixed methods approach; semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior leadership team and staff members including doctors and nurses. Documents collated by the QA team while preparing for the re-assessment like the data on quality indicators: the method of collection, analysis, trending, continual incremental improvements made over time, minutes of the meetings, amendments made to the existing policies and new policies drafted was reviewed to understand the challenges. Results: The senior leadership had a concern about the cost of accreditation and its impact on the quality of health care services considering the staff effort and time consumed it. The management was however in favor of continuing with the accreditation since it offered competitive advantage, strengthened community confidence besides better pay rates from the payors. The clinicians regarded it as an increased non-clinical workload. Doctors felt accountable within a professional framework, to themselves, the patient and family, their peers and to their profession; but not to accreditation bodies and raised concerns on how the quality indicators were measured. The departmental leaders had a positive perception of accreditation. They agreed that it ensured high standards of care and improved management of their functional areas. However, they were reluctant in sparing people for the QA activities due to staffing issues. With staff turnover, a lot of work was lost as sticky knowledge and had to be redone. Listing the continual quality improvement initiatives over the last 3 years was a challenge in itself. Conclusion: The success of any quality assurance reaccreditation program depends almost entirely on the commitment and interest of the administrators, nurses, paramedical staff, and clinicians. The leader of the Quality Movement is critical in propelling and building momentum. Leaders need to recognize skepticism and resistance and consider ways in which staff can become positively engaged. Involvement of all the functional owners is the start point towards building ownership and accountability for standards compliance. Creativity plays a very valuable role. Communication by Mail Series, WhatsApp groups, Quizzes, Events, and any and every form helps. Leaders must be able to generate interest and commitment without burdening clinical and administrative staff with an activity they neither understand nor believe in.

Keywords: NABH, reaccreditation, quality assurance, quality indicators

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Ririh Rahma Ratinghayu, Jayu Pramudya, Nur Aini Masruroh, Shi-Woei Lin

Abstract:

This research studies pricing strategy in cooperative setting of hotel duopoly selling perishable product under fixed capacity constraint by using the perspective of managers. In hotel revenue management, competitor’s average room rate and occupancy rate should be taken into manager’s consideration in determining pricing strategy to generate optimum revenue. This information is not provided by business intelligence or available in competitor’s website. Thus, Information Sharing (IS) among players might result in improved performance of pricing strategy. IS is widely adopted in the logistics industry, but IS within hospitality industry has not been well-studied. This research put IS as one of cooperative game schemes, besides Mutual Price Setting (MPS) scheme. In off-peak season, hotel manager arranges pricing strategy to offer promotion package and various kinds of discounts up to 60% of full-price to attract customers. Competitor selling homogenous product will react the same, then triggers a price war. Price war which generates lower revenue may be avoided by creating collaboration in pricing strategy to optimize payoff for both players. In MPS cooperative game, players collaborate to set a room rate applied for both players. Cooperative game may avoid unfavorable players’ payoff caused by price war. Researches on horizontal cooperative game in logistics show better performance and payoff for the players, however, horizontal cooperative game in hotel revenue management has not been demonstrated. This paper aims to develop hotel revenue management models under duopoly cooperative schemes (IS & MPS), which are compared to models under non-cooperative scheme too. Each scheme has five models, Capacity Allocation Model; Demand Model; Revenue Model; Optimal Price Model; and Equilibrium Price Model. Capacity Allocation Model and Demand Model employs self-hotel and competitor’s full and discount price as predictors under non-linear relation. Optimal price is obtained by assuming revenue maximization motive. Equilibrium price is observed by interacting self-hotel’s and competitor’s optimal price under reaction equation. Equilibrium is analyzed using game theory approach. The sequence applies for three schemes. MPS Scheme differently aims to optimize total players’ payoff. The case study in which theoretical models are applied observes two hotels offering homogenous product in Indonesia during a year. The Capacity Allocation, Demand, and Revenue Models are built using multiple regression and statistically tested for validation. Case study data confirms that price behaves within demand model in a non-linear manner. IS Models can represent the actual demand and revenue data better than Non-IS Models. Furthermore, IS enables hotels to earn significantly higher revenue. Thus, duopoly hotel players in general, might have reasonable incentives to share information horizontally. During off-peak season, MPS Models are able to predict the optimal equal price for both hotels. However, Nash equilibrium may not always exist depending on actual payoff of adhering or betraying mutual agreement. To optimize performance, horizontal cooperative game may be chosen over non-cooperative game. Mathematical models can be used to detect collusion among business players. Empirical testing can be used as policy input for market regulator in preventing unethical business practices potentially harming society welfare.

Keywords: horizontal cooperative game theory, hotel revenue management, information sharing, mutual price setting

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Ugo Galvanetto, Pirto G. Pavan, Mirco Zaccariotto

Abstract:

The discipline of Computer-integrated surgery (CIS) will provide equipment able to improve the efficiency of healthcare systems and, which is more important, clinical results. Surgeons and machines will cooperate in new ways that will extend surgeons’ ability to train, plan and carry out surgery. Patient specific CIS of the brain requires several steps: 1 - Fast generation of brain models. Based on image recognition of MR images and equipped with artificial intelligence, image recognition techniques should differentiate among all brain tissues and segment them. After that, automatic mesh generation should create the mathematical model of the brain in which the various tissues (white matter, grey matter, cerebrospinal fluid …) are clearly located in the correct positions. 2 – Reliable and fast simulation of the surgical process. Computational mechanics will be the crucial aspect of the entire procedure. New algorithms will be used to simulate the mechanical behaviour of cutting through cerebral tissues. 3 – Real time provision of visual and haptic feedback A sophisticated human-machine interface based on ergonomics and psychology will provide the feedback to the surgeon. The present work will address in particular point 2. Modelling the cutting of soft tissue in a structure as complex as the human brain is an extremely challenging problem in computational mechanics. The finite element method (FEM), that accurately represents complex geometries and accounts for material and geometrical nonlinearities, is the most used computational tool to simulate the mechanical response of soft tissues. However, the main drawback of FEM lies in the mechanics theory on which it is based, classical continuum Mechanics, which assumes matter is a continuum with no discontinuity. FEM must resort to complex tools such as pre-defined cohesive zones, external phase-field variables, and demanding remeshing techniques to include discontinuities. However, all approaches to equip FEM computational methods with the capability to describe material separation, such as interface elements with cohesive zone models, X-FEM, element erosion, phase-field, have some drawbacks that make them unsuitable for surgery simulation. Interface elements require a-priori knowledge of crack paths. The use of XFEM in 3D is cumbersome. Element erosion does not conserve mass. The Phase Field approach adopts a diffusive crack model instead of describing true tissue separation typical of surgical procedures. Modelling discontinuities, so difficult when using computational approaches based on classical continuum Mechanics, is instead easy for novel computational methods based on Peridynamics (PD). PD is a non-local theory of mechanics formulated with no use of spatial derivatives. Its governing equations are valid at points or surfaces of discontinuity, and it is, therefore especially suited to describe crack propagation and fragmentation problems. Moreover, PD does not require any criterium to decide the direction of crack propagation or the conditions for crack branching or coalescence; in the PD-based computational methods, cracks develop spontaneously in the way which is the most convenient from an energy point of view. Therefore, in PD computational methods, crack propagation in 3D is as easy as it is in 2D, with a remarkable advantage with respect to all other computational techniques.

Keywords: computational mechanics, peridynamics, finite element, biomechanics

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Sabina Żołędowska, Tadeusz Ossowski, Robert Bogdanowicz, Jacek Ryl, Paweł Rostkowski, Michał Kruczkowski, Michał Sobaszek, Zofia Cebula, Grzegorz Skowierzak, Paweł Jakóbczyk, Lilit Hovhannisyan, Paweł Ślepski, Iwona Kaczmarczyk, Mattia Pierpaoli, Bartłomiej Dec, Dawid Nidzworski

Abstract:

The circular economy of water presents a pressing environmental challenge in our society. Water contains various harmful substances, such as drugs, antibiotics, hormones, and dioxides, which can pose silent threats. Water pollution has severe consequences for aquatic ecosystems. It disrupts the balance of ecosystems by harming aquatic plants, animals, and microorganisms. Water pollution poses significant risks to human health. Exposure to toxic chemicals through contaminated water can have long-term health effects, such as cancer, developmental disorders, and hormonal imbalances. However, effective remediation systems can be implemented to remove these contaminants using electrocatalytic processes, which offer an environmentally friendly alternative to other treatment methods, and one of them is the innovative iCLARE system. The project's primary focus revolves around a few main topics: Reactor design and construction, selection of a specific type of reticulated vitreous carbon foams (RVC), analytical studies of harmful contaminants parameters and AI implementation. This high-performance electrochemical reactor will be build based on a novel type of electrode material. The proposed approach utilizes the application of reticulated vitreous carbon foams (RVC) with deposited modified metal oxides (MMO) and diamond thin films. The following setup is characterized by high surface area development and satisfactory mechanical and electrochemical properties, designed for high electrocatalytic process efficiency. The consortium validated electrode modification methods that are the base of the iCLARE product and established the procedures for the detection of chemicals detection: - deposition of metal oxides WO3 and V2O5-deposition of boron-doped diamond/nanowalls structures by CVD process. The chosen electrodes (porous Ferroterm electrodes) were stress tested for various parameters that might occur inside the iCLARE machine–corosis, the long-term structure of the electrode surface during electrochemical processes, and energetic efficacy using cyclic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (before and after electrolysis) and dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (DEIS). This tool allows real-time monitoring of the changes at the electrode/electrolyte interphase. On the other hand, the toxicity of iCLARE chemicals and products of electrolysis are evaluated before and after the treatment using MARA examination (IBMM) and HPLC-MS-MS (NILU), giving us information about the harmfulness of using electrode material and the efficiency of iClare system in the disposal of pollutants. Implementation of data into the system that uses artificial intelligence and the possibility of practical application is in progress (SensDx).

Keywords: waste water treatement, RVC, electrocatalysis, paracetamol

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Arifur Rahman, Ardeshir Amirkhani, Honghua Hu, Mark Molloy, Karen Vickery

Abstract:

Introduction and Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci comprises approximately 65% of infections associated with medical devices and are well known for their biofilm formatting ability. Biofilm-related infections are extremely difficult to eradicate owing to their high tolerance to antibiotics and host immune defences. Currently, there is no efficient method for early biofilm detection. A better understanding to enable detection of biofilm specific proteins in vitro and in vivo can be achieved by studying planktonic and different growth phases of biofilms using a proteome analysis approach. Our goal was to construct a reference map of planktonic and biofilm associated proteins of S. aureus. Methods: S. aureus reference strain (ATCC 25923) was used to grow 24 hours planktonic, 3-day wet biofilm (3DWB), and 12-day wet biofilm (12DWB). Bacteria were grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB) liquid medium. Planktonic growth was used late logarithmic bacteria, and the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) biofilm reactor was used to grow 3 days, and 12-day hydrated biofilms, respectively. Samples were subjected to reduction, alkylation and digestion steps prior to Multiplex labelling using Tandem Mass Tag (TMT) 10-plex reagent (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The labelled samples were pooled and fractionated by high pH RP-HPLC which followed by loading of the fractions on a nanoflow UPLC system (Eksigent UPLC system, AB SCIEX). Mass spectrometry (MS) data were collected on an Orbitrap Elite (Thermo Fisher Scientific) Mass Spectrometer. Protein identification and relative quantitation of protein levels were performed using Proteome Discoverer (version 1.3, Thermo Fisher Scientific). After the extraction of protein ratios with Proteome Discoverer, additional processing, and statistical analysis was done using the TMTPrePro R package. Results and Discussion: The present study showed that a considerable proteomic difference exists among planktonic and biofilms from S. aureus. We identified 1636 total extracellular secreted proteins, of which 350 and 137 proteins of 3DWB and 12DWB showed significant abundance variation from planktonic preparation, respectively. Of these, simultaneous up-regulation in between 3DWB and 12DWB proteins such as extracellular matrix-binding protein ebh, enolase, transketolase, triosephosphate isomerase, chaperonin, peptidase, pyruvate kinase, hydrolase, aminotransferase, ribosomal protein, acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase, DNA gyrase subunit A, glycine glycyltransferase and others we found in this biofilm producer. On the contrary, simultaneous down-regulation in between 3DWB and 12DWB proteins such as alpha and delta-hemolysin, lipoteichoic acid synthase, enterotoxin I, serine protease, lipase, clumping factor B, regulatory protein Spx, phosphoglucomutase, and others also we found in this biofilm producer. In addition, we also identified a big percentage of hypothetical proteins including unique proteins. Therefore, a comprehensive knowledge of planktonic and biofilm associated proteins identified by S. aureus will provide a basis for future studies on the development of vaccines and diagnostic biomarkers. Conclusions: In this study, we constructed an initial reference map of planktonic and various growth phase of biofilm associated proteins which might be helpful to diagnose biofilm associated infections.

Keywords: bacterial biofilms, CDC bioreactor, S. aureus, mass spectrometry, TMT

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Lamia Bouzgarrou, Irtyah Merchaoui, Amira Omrane, Salma Kammoun, Amine Daafa, Neila Chaari

Abstract:

Backgrounds: Currently, low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent public health problems, which caused severe morbidity among a large portion of the adult population. It is also associated with heavy direct and indirect costs, in particular, related to absenteeism and early retirement. Health care workers are one of most occupational groups concerned by LBP, especially because of biomechanical and psycho-organizational risk factors. Our current study aims to investigate risk factors associated with chronic low back pain among Tunisian caregivers in university-hospitals. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted over a period of 14 months, with a representative sample of caregivers, matched according to age, sex and work department, in two university-hospitals in Tunisia. Data collection included items related to socio-professional characteristics, the evaluation of the working capacity index (WAI), the occupational stress (Karazek job strain questionnaire); the quality of life (SF12), the musculoskeletal disorders Nordic questionnaire, and the examination of the spine flexibility (distance finger-ground, sit-stand maneuver and equilibrium test). Results: Totally, 293 caregivers were included with a mean age equal to 42.64 ± 11.65 years. A body mass index (BMI) exceeding 30, was noted in 20.82% of cases. Moreover, no regular physical activity was practiced in 51.9% of cases. In contrast, domestic activity equal or exceeding 20 hours per week, was reported by 38.22%. Job strain was noted in 19.79 % of cases and the work capacity was 'low' to 'average' among 27.64% of subjects. During the 12 months previous to the investigation, 65% of caregivers complained of LBP, with pain rated as 'severe' or 'extremely severe' in 54.4% of cases and with a frequency of discomfort exceeding one episode per week in 58.52% of cases. During physical examination, the mean distance finger-ground was 7.10 ± 7.5cm. Caregivers assigned to 'high workload' services had the highest prevalence of LBP (77.4%) compared to other categories of hospital services, with no statistically significant relationship (P = 0.125). LBP prevalence was statistically correlated with female gender (p = 0.01) and impaired work capacity (p < 10⁻³). Moreover, the increase of the distance finger-ground was statistically associated with LBP (p = 0.05), advanced age (p < 10⁻³), professional seniority (p < 10⁻³) and the BMI ≥ 25 (p = 0.001). Furthermore, others physical tests of spine flexibility were underperformed among LBP suffering workers with a statistically significant difference (sit-stand maneuver (p = 0.03); equilibrium test (p = 0.01)). According to the multivariate analysis, only the domestic activity exceeding 20H/week, the degraded quality of physical life, and the presence of neck pain were significantly corelated to LBP. The final model explains 36.7% of the variability of this complaint. Conclusion: Our results highlighted the elevate prevalence of LBP among caregivers in Tunisian public hospital and identified both professional and individual predisposing factors. The preliminary analysis supports the necessity of a multidimensional approach to prevent this critical occupational and public health problem. The preventive strategy should be based both on the improvement of working conditions, and also on lifestyle modifications, and reinforcement of healthy behaviors in these active populations.

Keywords: health care workers, low back pain, prevention, risk factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Victor Mantilla, Romeu Vicente, António Figueiredo, Victor Ferreira, Sandra Sorte

Abstract:

Integrating dynamic facades into contemporary building design is shaping a new era of energy efficiency and user comfort. These innovative facades, often constructed using lightweight construction systems and materials, offer an opportunity to have a responsive and adaptive nature to the dynamic behavior of the outdoor climate. Therefore, in regions characterized by high fluctuations in daily temperatures, the ability to adapt to environmental changes is of paramount importance and a challenge. This paper presents a thorough review of the state of the art on double-skin facades (DSF), focusing on lightweight solutions for the external envelope. Dynamic facades featuring elements like movable shading devices, phase change materials, and advanced control systems have revolutionized the built environment. They offer a promising path for reducing energy consumption while enhancing occupant well-being. Lightweight construction systems are increasingly becoming the choice for the constitution of these facade solutions, offering benefits such as reduced structural loads and reduced construction waste, improving overall sustainability. However, the performance of dynamic facades based on low thermal inertia solutions in climatic contexts with high thermal amplitude is still in need of research since their ability to adapt is traduced in variability/manipulation of the thermal transmittance coefficient (U-value). Emerging technologies can enable such a dynamic thermal behavior through innovative materials, changes in geometry and control to optimize the facade performance. These innovations will allow a facade system to respond to shifting outdoor temperature, relative humidity, wind, and solar radiation conditions, ensuring that energy efficiency and occupant comfort are both met/coupled. This review addresses the potential configuration of double-skin facades, particularly concerning their responsiveness to seasonal variations in temperature, with a specific focus on addressing the challenges posed by winter and summer conditions. Notably, the design of a dynamic facade is significantly shaped by several pivotal factors, including the choice of materials, geometric considerations, and the implementation of effective monitoring systems. Within the realm of double skin facades, various configurations are explored, encompassing exhaust air, supply air, and thermal buffering mechanisms. According to the review places a specific emphasis on the thermal dynamics at play, closely examining the impact of factors such as the color of the facade, the slat angle's dimensions, and the positioning and type of shading devices employed in these innovative architectural structures.This paper will synthesize the current research trends in this field, with the presentation of case studies and technological innovations with a comprehensive understanding of the cutting-edge solutions propelling the evolution of building envelopes in the face of climate change, namely focusing on double-skin lightweight solutions to create sustainable, adaptable, and responsive building envelopes. As indicated in the review, flexible and lightweight systems have broad applicability across all building sectors, and there is a growing recognition that retrofitting existing buildings may emerge as the predominant approach.

Keywords: adaptive, control systems, dynamic facades, energy efficiency, responsive, thermal comfort, thermal transmittance

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Fatemeh Rezaei

Abstract:

Introduction: Improving patient safety in health systems is one of the main priorities in healthcare systems, so clinical risk management in organizations has become increasingly significant. Although several tools have been developed for clinical risk management, each has its own limitations. Aims: This study aims to develop a comprehensive tool that can complete the limitations of each risk assessment and management tools with the advantage of other tools. Methods: Procedure was determined in two main stages included development of an initial model during meetings with the professors and literature review, then implementation and verification of final model. Subjects and Methods: This study is a quantitative − qualitative research. In terms of qualitative dimension, method of focus groups with inductive approach is used. To evaluate the results of the qualitative study, quantitative assessment of the two parts of the fourth phase and seven phases of the research was conducted. Purposive and stratification sampling of various responsible teams for the selected process was conducted in the operating room. Final model verified in eight phases through application of activity breakdown structure, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), healthcare risk priority number (RPN), root cause analysis (RCA), FT, and Eindhoven Classification model (ECM) tools. This model has been conducted typically on patients admitted in a day-clinic ward of a public hospital for surgery in October 2012 to June. Statistical Analysis Used: Qualitative data analysis was done through content analysis and quantitative analysis done through checklist and edited RPN tables. Results: After verification the final model in eight-step, patient's admission process for surgery was developed by focus discussion group (FDG) members in five main phases. Then with adopted methodology of FMEA, 85 failure modes along with its causes, effects, and preventive capabilities was set in the tables. Developed tables to calculate RPN index contain three criteria for severity, two criteria for probability, and two criteria for preventability. Tree failure modes were above determined significant risk limitation (RPN > 250). After a 3-month period, patient's misidentification incidents were the most frequent reported events. Each RPN criterion of misidentification events compared and found that various RPN number for tree misidentification reported events could be determine against predicted score in previous phase. Identified root causes through fault tree categorized with ECM. Wrong side surgery event was selected by focus discussion group to purpose improvement action. The most important causes were lack of planning for number and priority of surgical procedures. After prioritization of the suggested interventions, computerized registration system in health information system (HIS) was adopted to prepare the action plan in the final phase. Conclusion: Complexity of health care industry requires risk managers to have a multifaceted vision. Therefore, applying only one of retrospective or prospective tools for risk management does not work and each organization must provide conditions for potential application of these methods in its organization. The results of this study showed that the integrated clinical risk management model can be used in hospitals as an efficient tool in order to improve clinical governance.

Keywords: failure modes and effective analysis, risk management, root cause analysis, model

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: A. Peyvan, D. Li, J. Komperda, F. Mashayek

Abstract:

Turbulence can be observed in a variety fluid motions in nature and industrial applications. Recent investment in high-speed aircraft and propulsion systems has revitalized fundamental research on turbulent flows. In these systems, capturing chaotic fluid structures with different length and time scales is accomplished through the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) approach since it accurately simulates flows down to smallest dissipative scales, i.e., Kolmogorov’s scales. The discontinuous spectral element method (DSEM) is a high-order technique that uses spectral functions for approximating the solution. The DSEM code has been developed by our research group over the course of more than two decades. Recently, the code has been improved to run large cases in the order of billions of solution points. Running big simulations requires a considerable amount of RAM. Therefore, the DSEM code must be highly parallelized and able to start on multiple computational nodes on an HPC cluster with distributed memory. However, some pre-processing procedures, such as determining global element information, creating a global face list, and assigning global partitioning and element connection information of the domain for communication, must be done sequentially with a single processing core. A separate code has been written to perform the pre-processing procedures on a local machine. It stores the minimum amount of information that is required for the DSEM code to start in parallel, extracted from the mesh file, into text files (pre-files). It packs integer type information with a Stream Binary format in pre-files that are portable between machines. The files are generated to ensure fast read performance on different file-systems, such as Lustre and General Parallel File System (GPFS). A new subroutine has been added to the DSEM code to read the startup files using parallel MPI I/O, for Lustre, in a way that each MPI rank acquires its information from the file in parallel. In case of GPFS, in each computational node, a single MPI rank reads data from the file, which is specifically generated for the computational node, and send them to other ranks on the node using point to point non-blocking MPI communication. This way, communication takes place locally on each node and signals do not cross the switches of the cluster. The read subroutine has been tested on Argonne National Laboratory’s Mira (GPFS), National Center for Supercomputing Application’s Blue Waters (Lustre), San Diego Supercomputer Center’s Comet (Lustre), and UIC’s Extreme (Lustre). The tests showed that one file per node is suited for GPFS and parallel MPI I/O is the best choice for Lustre file system. The DSEM code relies on heavily optimized linear algebra operation such as matrix-matrix and matrix-vector products for calculation of the solution in every time-step. For this, the code can either make use of its matrix math library, BLAS, Intel MKL, or ATLAS. This fact and the discontinuous nature of the method makes the DSEM code run efficiently in parallel. The results of weak scaling tests performed on Blue Waters showed a scalable and efficient performance of the code in parallel computing.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, direct numerical simulation, spectral element, turbulent flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Mohd Zaimmudin Mohd Zain, Patsy Perry, Lee Quinn

Abstract:

This study explores how fashion consumers are influenced by fashion bloggers towards pre-purchase decision for online fashion products in a non-Western context. Malaysians rank among the world’s most avid online shoppers, with apparel the third most popular purchase category. However, extant research on fashion blogging focuses on the developed Western market context. Numerous international fashion retailers have entered the Malaysian market from luxury to fast fashion segments of the market; however Malaysian fashion consumers must balance religious and social norms for modesty with their dress style and adoption of fashion trends. Consumers increasingly mix and match Islamic and Western elements of dress to create new styles enabling them to follow Western fashion trends whilst paying respect to social and religious norms. Social media have revolutionised the way that consumers can search for and find information about fashion products. For online fashion brands with no physical presence, social media provide a means of discovery for consumers. By allowing the creation and exchange of user-generated content (UGC) online, they provide a public forum that gives individual consumers their own voices, as well as access to product information that facilitates their purchase decisions. Social media empower consumers and brands have important roles in facilitating conversations among consumers and themselves, to help consumers connect with them and one another. Fashion blogs have become an important fashion information sources. By sharing their personal style and inspiring their followers with what they wear on popular social media platforms such as Instagram, fashion bloggers have become fashion opinion leaders. By creating UGC to spread useful information to their followers, they influence the pre-purchase decision. Hence, successful Western fashion bloggers such as Chiara Ferragni may earn millions of US dollars every year, and some have created their own fashion ranges and beauty products, become judges in fashion reality shows, won awards, and collaborated with high street and luxury brands. As fashion blogging has become more established worldwide, increasing numbers of fashion bloggers have emerged from non-Western backgrounds to promote Islamic fashion styles, such as Hassanah El-Yacoubi and Dian Pelangi. This study adopts a qualitative approach using netnographic content analysis of consumer comments on two famous Malaysian fashion bloggers’ Instagram accounts during January-March 2016 and qualitative interviews with 16 Malaysian Generation Y fashion consumers during September-October 2016. Netnography adapts ethnographic techniques to the study of online communities or computer-mediated communications. Template analysis of the data involved coding comments according to the theoretical framework, which was developed from the literature review. Initial data analysis shows the strong influence of Malaysian fashion bloggers on their followers in terms of lifestyle and morals as well as fashion style. Followers were guided towards the mix and match trend of dress with Western and Islamic elements, for example, showing how vivid colours or accessories could be worked into an outfit whilst still respecting social and religious norms. The blogger’s Instagram account is a form of online community where followers can communicate and gain guidance and support from other followers, as well as from the blogger.

Keywords: fashion bloggers, Malaysia, qualitative, social media

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Bridget J. Kenny, Elizabeth Hoban, Jo Williams

Abstract:

Adolescent pregnancy presents a significant public health challenge for Cambodia. Despite declines in the overall fertility rate, the adolescent fertility rate is increasing. Adolescent pregnancy is particularly problematic in the Northeast provinces of Ratanak Kiri and Mondul Kiri where 34 percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 have begun childbearing; this is almost three times Cambodia’s national average of 12 percent. Language, cultural and geographic barriers have restricted qualitative exploration of the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges that face indigenous adolescents in Northeast Cambodia. The current study sought to address this gap by exploring the SRH practices of adolescent mothers from indigenous populations in Ratanak Kiri Province. Twenty-two adolescent mothers, aged between 15 and 19, were recruited from seven indigenous villages in Ratanak Kiri Province and asked to participate in a combined body mapping exercise and semi-structured interview. Participants were given a large piece of paper (59.4 x 84.1 cm) with the outline of a female body and asked to draw the female reproductive organs onto the ‘body map’. Participants were encouraged to explain what they had drawn with the purpose of evoking conversation about their reproductive bodies. Adolescent mothers were then invited to participate in a semi-structured interview to further expand on topics of SRH. The qualitative approach offered an excellent avenue to explore the unique SRH challenges that face indigenous adolescents in rural Cambodia. In particular, the use of visual data collection methods reduced the language and cultural barriers that have previously restricted or prevented qualitative exploration of this population group. Thematic analysis yielded six major themes: (1) understanding of the female reproductive body, (2) contraceptive knowledge, (3) contraceptive use, (4) barriers to contraceptive use, (5) sexual practices, (6) contact with healthcare facilities. Participants could name several modern contraceptive methods and knew where they could access family planning services. However, adolescent mothers explained that they gained this knowledge during antenatal care visits and consequently participants had limited SRH knowledge, including contraceptive awareness, at the time of sexual initiation. Fear of the perceived side effects of modern contraception, including infertility, provided an additional barrier to contraceptive use for indigenous adolescents. Participants did not cite cost or geographic isolation as barriers to accessing SRH services. Child marriage and early sexual initiation were also identified as important factors contributing to the high prevalence of adolescent pregnancy in this population group. The findings support the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports' (MoEYS) recent introduction of SRH education into the primary and secondary school curriculum but suggest indigenous girls in rural Cambodia require additional sources of SRH information. Results indicate adolescent girls’ first point of contact with healthcare facilities occurs after they become pregnant. Promotion of an effective continuum of care by increasing access to healthcare services during the pre-pregnancy period is suggested as a means of providing adolescents girls with an additional avenue to acquire SRH information.

Keywords: adolescent pregnancy, contraceptive use, family planning, sexual and reproductive health

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: John D. Sanderson

Abstract:

The popularity of American cinema worldwide has contributed to the development of sociolects related to specific film genres in other cultural contexts by means of screen translation, in many cases eluding norms of usage in the target language, a process whose result has come to be known as 'dubbese'. A consequence for the reception in countries where local audiovisual fiction consumption is far lower than American imported productions is that this linguistic construct is preferred, even though it differs from common everyday speech. The iconography of film genres such as science-fiction, western or sword-and-sandal films, for instance, generates linguistic expectations in international audiences who will accept more easily the sociolects assimilated by the continuous reception of American productions, even if the themes, locations, characters, etc., portrayed on screen may belong in origin to other cultures. And the non-normative language (e.g., calques, semantic loans) used in the preferred mode of linguistic transfer, whether it is translation for dubbing or subtitling, has diachronically evolved in many cases into a status of canonized sociolect, not only accepted but also required, by foreign audiences of American films. However, a remarkable step forward is taken when this typology of artificial linguistic constructs starts being used creatively by nationals of these target cultural contexts. In the case of Spain, the success of American sitcoms such as Friends in the 1990s led Spanish television scriptwriters to include in national productions lexical and syntactical indirect borrowings (Anglicisms not formally identifiable as such because they include elements from their own language) in order to target audiences of the former. However, this commercial strategy had already taken place decades earlier when Spain became a favored location for the shooting of foreign films in the early 1960s. The international popularity of the then newly developed sub-genre known as Spaghetti-Western encouraged Spanish investors to produce their own movies, and local scriptwriters made use of the dubbese developed nationally since the advent of sound in film instead of using normative language. As a result, direct Anglicisms, as well as lexical and syntactical borrowings made up the creative writing of these Spanish productions, which also became commercially successful. Interestingly enough, some of these films were even marketed in English-speaking countries as original westerns (some of the names of actors and directors were anglified to that purpose) dubbed into English. The analysis of these 'back translations' will also foreground some semantic distortions that arose in the process. In order to perform the research on these issues, a wide corpus of American films has been used, which chronologically range from Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939) to Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012), together with a shorter corpus of Spanish films produced during the golden age of Spaghetti Westerns, from una tumba para el sheriff (Mario Caiano; in English lone and angry man, William Hawkins) to tu fosa será la exacta, amigo (Juan Bosch, 1972; in English my horse, my gun, your widow, John Wood). The methodology of analysis and the conclusions reached could be applied to other genres and other cultural contexts.

Keywords: dubbing, film genre, screen translation, sociolect

Procedia PDF Downloads 173