Search results for: profitability measures

Authors: Benjamin Ankomah-Asare, Richard Adade

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Sea level rise (SLR) poses a significant threat to coastal communities globally. Ghana has over the years implemented protective measures such as the construction of groynes and revetment to serve as barriers to sea waves in major cities and towns to prevent sea erosion and flooding. For vulnerable rural coastal communities, the planned retreat is often proposed; however, relocation costs are often underestimated as losses of future social and cultural value are not always adequately taken into account. Through a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative interviews, surveys, and spatial analysis, the study examined the experiences of coastal rural communities in Ghana and assess the effectiveness of relocation strategies in addressing the socio-economic and environmental challenges posed by sea level rise. The study revealed the devastating consequences of sea level rise on these communities, including increased flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion into freshwater sources. Moreover, it highlights the adaptive capacities within these communities and how factors such as infrastructure, economic activities, cultural heritage, and governance structures shape their resilience in the face of environmental change. While relocation can be an effective strategy in reducing the risks associated with sea level rise, the study recommends that proper implementation of this adaptation strategy can be achieved when coupled with community-led planning, participatory decision-making, and targeted support for vulnerable groups.

Keywords: sea level rise, relocation, socio-ecological impacts, rural communities

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Authors: Mokoena Oratilwe Penwell, Seeletse Solly Matshonisa

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The demand for quality products is a vital factor determining the success of a producing company, and the reality of this demand influences customer satisfaction. In Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU), concerns over the quality of food being sold have been raised by mostly students and staff who are primary consumers of food being sold by the cafeteria. Suspicions of food poisoning and the occurrence of diarrhea-related to food from the cafeteria, amongst others, have been raised. However, minimal measures have been taken to resolve the issue of food quality. New service providers have been appointed, and still, the same trends are being observed, the quality of food seems to depreciate continuously. This paper uses multi-attribute failure mode analysis (MAFMA) for failure detection and minimization on the machines used for food production by SMU catering company before being sold to both staff, and students so as to improve production plant reliability, and performance. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) will be used for the severity ranking of the weight criterions and development of the hierarchical structure for the cafeteria company. Amongst other potential issues detected, maintenance of the machines and equipment used for food preparations was of concern. Also, the staff lacked sufficient hospitality skills, supervision, and management in the cafeteria needed greater attention to mitigate some of the failures occurring in the food production plant.

Keywords: MAFMA, food quality, maintenance, supervision

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Authors: Chidozie Celestine Uzoigwe, Thabelo Ramantswana

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Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to review the current state of knowledge in Sustainable Management (SM) practices in Facilities Management (FM) for housing estates with a view to identifying gaps and drawbacks in the existing body of knowledge. Integrating SM practices in housing estates is understood and applied in some developed countries, but little is known about the concept by practitioners in developing nations like South Africa. Indeed, South African housing studies and policy documents emphasize the significance of sustainability practices in housing estates, but regrettably, it still remains in unsustainable housing for decades. Method: This is done through a comprehensive literature review in combination with the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) guidelines and the Recursive Content Abstraction (RCA) analytical approach. Finding: Findings revealed there are significant challenges to the integration of SM practices in FM for housing estates in South Africa, such as lack of understanding and expertise by practitioners, absence of support from top-level management, lack of appropriate sustainability management framework as well as people management. The review further suggests the need for an enabler to guide practitioners in integrating the SM concept in housing estates. Originality: Integrating SM principles in facilities management for housing estates are required to eliminate the detrimental impact the built environment exerts on the well-being of individuals and organizations. Thus, the study underlines the need for an enabler that will facilitate practitioners embedding sustainable management measures in the management of housing estates in South Africa.

Keywords: facilities management, housing estates, sustainable facilities management, sustainable management, south africa

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Authors: Chhavi Rana, Sanjay K Jain

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All sides of every education debate agree that quality learning happens when knowledgeable, caring teachers use sound pedagogy. Many deliberations of pedagogy make the fault of considering it as principally being about teaching. There has been lot of research about how to build a positive climate for learning, improve student curiosity, and enhance classroom association. However, these things can only be facilitated when teachers are equipped with better teaching techniques that use sound and accurate pedagogy. Pedagogy is the science and art of education. Its aims range from the full development of the human being to skills acquisition. In India, a project named Mission 10 x has been started by an esteemed IT Corporation Wipro as a faculty development programme (FDP) that particularly focus on elements that facilitated teachers in developing curriculum and new pedagogies that can lead to improvement in student engagement. This paper presents a study of these FDPs and examines (1) the parameters that help teachers in building new pedagogies (2) the extent to which appropriate usage of pedagogy is improved after the conduct of Mission 10 x FDPs, and (3) whether institutions differ in terms of their ability to convert usage of improved pedagogy into academic performance via these FDPs. The sample consisted of 2,236 students at 6 four-year engineering colleges and universities that completed several FDPs during 2012-2014. Many measures of usage of better pedagogy were linked positively with such FDPs, although some of the relationships were weak in strength. The results suggest that the usage of pedagogy were more benefited after conducting these FDPs and application of novel approaches in conducting classes.

Keywords: student engagement, critical thinking; achievement, student learning, pedagogy

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Authors: Abdurahman Anwar Shfa

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A Road sidewalk provides benefits, including safety, mobility, and healthier communities by facilitating the movement of goods and people. It enables increased access to daily living and programs in the country. But, these increases in access may be affected by many factors that pose a great challenge in the individuals’ daily activity, ranging from minor injury to death. Those problems are construction roads without sidewalks, using sidewalks for selling purposes, potholes, and west and trees on sidewalks. In this case, our objective is to identify problems related to sidewalks, assess the accessibility of sidewalks to all users, including pedestrians with disabilities, propose appropriate countermeasures for these problems, and prepare the indicator map. This study was undertaken to investigate the performance problems associated with sidewalk, particularly focusing on specified areas of Dire Dawa city kebele 02, to show the main problems and suggest that important consideration should be given to road sidewalk. To meet the objective of research, it is believed to collect data, review sidewalk construction practices and performance problems reported from ERA manual, and carry out a field reconnaissance. This research encompassed a variety of activities regarding sidewalk, including problems and accidents that occurred due to this problem. The purpose of this research is to identify the type of risk to pedestrians who are walking along a roadway and the reasons for those risks. So, based on our study, the sidewalk of Dire Dawa City kebele 02 is not enough. Those sidewalks are not accessible for all pedestrians, including disability.

Keywords: GIS, ERA, GPS, sidewalks way, asphalt road

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Authors: Kavitha A.S., L.Govindaraju

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Reinforced earth walls offer excellent solution to many problems associated with earth retaining structures especially under seismic conditions. Use of cohesive soils as backfill material reduces the cost of reinforced soil walls if proper drainage measures are taken. This paper presents a numerical study on the application of a new technique called sandwich technique in reinforced earth walls. In this technique, a thin layer of granular soil is placed above and below the reinforcement layer to initiate interface friction and the remaining portion of the backfill is filled up using the existing insitu cohesive soil. A 6 m high reinforced earth wall has been analysed as a two-dimensional plane strain finite element model. Three types of reinforcing elements such as geotextile, geogrid and metallic strips were used. The horizontal wall displacements and the tensile loads in the reinforcement were used as the criteria to evaluate the results at the end of construction and dynamic excitation phases. Also to verify the effectiveness of sandwich layer on the performance of the wall, the thickness of sand fill surrounding the reinforcement was varied. At the end of construction stage it is found that the wall with sandwich type backfill yielded lower displacements when compared to the wall with cohesive soil as backfill. Also with sandwich backfill, the reinforcement loads reduced substantially when compared to the wall with cohesive soil as backfill. Further, it is found that sandwich technique as backfill and geogrid as reinforcement is a good combination to reduce the deformations of geosynthetic reinforced walls during seismic loading.

Keywords: geogrid, geotextile, reinforced earth, sandwich technique

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Authors: Dimitris Kokkinos, Panagiotis Prinos

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In the last three decades, climate change has been studied extensively from scientific community, and its consequences are more than clear all around the world. Most countries have carried out a great effort to reduce global warming rates with the ratification and implementation of several international treaties. Moreover, many of them have already adopted national plans in order to adapt to climate change effects and mitigate human and economic losses. Coastal environments, with their inherent physical sensitivity, will face important challenges as a result of projected changes in climate conditions and hundreds of millions of people will be affected. Coastal zones are of high social and economic value and this research focuses on the Mediterranean basin, which is a densely populated and highly urbanized area. With 40% of its land used for human activity and the inevitability of the impacts of the climate change, it is obvious that some form of adaptation measures will be necessary. In this regard, the EU tools, policies and legislation concerning adaptation to climate change are presented. Additionally, the National Adaptation Strategies of State members of the Mediterranean basin are compared and analyzed concerning the coastal areas, along with an overview of projects and programs results focused on coastal issues at different spatial scales. The purpose of this research is to stress the differences between Mediterranean State members at methodologies implemented, to highlight the possible gaps in co-ordination and to emphasize on research initiatives that EU can build upon moving towards an integrated adaptation planning on a region-wide basis.

Keywords: coastal adaptation, Mediterranean Basin, climate change, coastal environments

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Authors: James Jr. Mashiyane, Risuna Nkolele, Stephanie J. Müller, Gciniwe S. Dlamini, Rebone L. Meraba, Darlington S. Mapiye

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When performing language tasks in natural language processing (NLP), the dimensionality of word embeddings is chosen either ad-hoc or is calculated by optimizing the Pairwise Inner Product (PIP) loss. The PIP loss is a metric that measures the dissimilarity between word embeddings, and it is obtained through matrix perturbation theory by utilizing the unitary invariance of word embeddings. Unlike in natural language, in genomics, especially in genome sequence processing, unlike in natural language processing, there is no notion of a “word,” but rather, there are sequence substrings of length k called k-mers. K-mers sizes matter, and they vary depending on the goal of the task at hand. The dimensionality of word embeddings in NLP has been studied using the matrix perturbation theory and the PIP loss. In this paper, the sufficiency and reliability of applying word-embedding algorithms to various genomic sequence datasets are investigated to understand the relationship between the k-mer size and their embedding dimension. This is completed by studying the scaling capability of three embedding algorithms, namely Latent Semantic analysis (LSA), Word2Vec, and Global Vectors (GloVe), with respect to the k-mer size. Utilising the PIP loss as a metric to train embeddings on different datasets, we also show that Word2Vec outperforms LSA and GloVe in accurate computing embeddings as both the k-mer size and vocabulary increase. Finally, the shortcomings of natural language processing embedding algorithms in performing genomic tasks are discussed.

Keywords: word embeddings, k-mer embedding, dimensionality reduction

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Authors: Saidu I. R., Shittu S. S.

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As the trend of personal devices accessing corporate data continues to rise through Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices, organizations recognize the potential cost reduction and productivity gains. However, the associated security risks pose a significant threat to these benefits. Often, organizations adopt BYOD environments without fully considering the vulnerabilities introduced by human factors in this context. This study presents an enhanced assessment model that evaluates the security posture of employees in BYOD environments using cyber hygiene principles. The framework assesses users' adherence to best practices and guidelines for maintaining a secure computing environment, employing scales and the Euclidean distance formula. By utilizing this algorithm, the study measures the distance between users' security practices and the organization's optimal security policies. To facilitate user evaluation, a simple and intuitive interface for automated assessment is developed. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, design science research methods are employed, and empirical assessments are conducted using five artifacts to analyze user suitability in BYOD environments. By addressing the human factor vulnerabilities through the assessment of cyber hygiene practices, this study aims to enhance the overall security of BYOD environments and enable organizations to leverage the advantages of this evolving trend while mitigating potential risks.

Keywords: security, BYOD, vulnerability, risk, cyber hygiene

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Authors: Emmanuel Ukpe, S. M. F. D. Syed Mustapha

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Trust in an organization has been perceived as one of the key factors behind knowledge sharing, mainly in an unstructured work environment. In an informal working environment, to instill trust among individuals is a challenge and even more in the virtual environment. The study has contributed in developing the framework for building trust in an unstructured organization in performing knowledge sharing in a virtual environment. The artifact called KAPE (Knowledge Acquisition, Processing, and Exchange) was developed for knowledge sharing for the informal organization where the framework was incorporated. It applies to Cassava farmers to facilitate knowledge sharing using web-based platform. A survey was conducted; data were collected from 382 farmers from 21 farm communities. Multiple regression technique, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test; Tukey’s Honestly significant difference (HSD) analysis; one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and all trust acceptable measures (TAM) were used to test the hypothesis and to determine noteworthy relationships. The results show a significant difference when there is a trust in knowledge sharing between farmers, the ones who have high in trust acceptable factors found in the model (M = 3.66 SD = .93) and the ones who have low on trust acceptable factors (M = 2.08 SD = .28), (t (48) = 5.69, p = .00). Furthermore, when applying Cognitive Expectancy Theory, the farmers with cognitive-consonance show higher level of trust and satisfaction with knowledge and information from KAPE, as compared with a low level of cognitive-dissonance. These results imply that the adopted trust model KAPE positively improved knowledge sharing activities in an informal environment amongst rural farmers.

Keywords: trust, knowledge, sharing, knowledge acquisition, processing and exchange, KAPE

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Authors: Roel Guinto Jr, John Peter Dacanay, Edison Ramos

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The Philippines now has the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the entire Asia-Pacific region. According to the January 2023 HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines of the Department of Health (DOH), there were 86 newly reported HIV cases involving 19 years old and below. A cure for HIV is not yet readily available but effective preventive measures to prevent its transmission. Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis is a biomedical intervention for HIV infection in the form of a pill. Students play a significant role in identifying solutions to preventing the transmission of HIV Infection, making it critical to assess their Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis on HIV Infection. A study was conducted among 390 regular students from different college departments at National University – Manila. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data and other statistical tools were used to analyze data. The findings reveal that most students had no knowledge or idea about PreExposure Prophylaxis before being interviewed. It also shows that students have a positive attitude toward the practice of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. The study revealed that there is also a significant relationship between the Knowledge and the Socio-demographic profile of the respondents. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices on PrEP of students were overall identified, and areas of improvement were also recognized. Sex Education and Sexual Health Awareness should be implemented to enhance students’ knowledge of practicing safe sex to help prevent HIV Transmission.

Keywords: HIV, cure, biomedical intervention, pre-exposure prophylaxis, pill, knowledge, attitude, practice, sex education, sexual health awareness

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Authors: Ayoub Moufid, Najib Bennis, Soumia El Hani

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The objective of greenhouse climate control is to improve the culture development and to minimize the production costs. A greenhouse is an open system to external environment and the challenge is to regulate the internal climate despite the strong meteorological disturbances. The internal state of greenhouse considered in this work is defined by too relevant and coupled variables, namely inside temperature and hygrometry. These two variables are chosen to describe the internal state of greenhouses due to their importance in the development of plants and their sensitivity to external climatic conditions, sources of weather disturbances. A multivariable model is proposed and validated by considering a greenhouse as black-box system and the least square method is applied to parameters identification basing on collected experimental measures. To regulate the internal climate, we propose a Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme. This one considers the measured meteorological disturbances and the physical and operational constraints on the control and state variables. A successful feasibility study of the proposed controller is presented, and simulation results show good performances despite the high interaction between internal and external variables and the strong external meteorological disturbances. The inside temperature and hygrometry are tracking nearly the desired trajectories. A comparison study with an On/Off control applied to the same greenhouse confirms the efficiency of the MPC approach to inside climate control.

Keywords: climate control, constraints, identification, greenhouse, model predictive control, optimization

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Authors: Castells Pau, Poetsch Christophe

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The effect of gust and turbulence encounters on aircraft is a wide field of study which allows different approaches, from high-fidelity multidisciplinary simulations to more simplified models adapted to industrial applications. The typical main goal is to predict the gust loads on the aircraft in order to ensure a safe design and achieve certification. Another topic widely studied is the gust loads reduction through an active control law. The impact of gusts on aircraft handling qualities is of interest as well in the analysis of in-service events so as to evaluate the aircraft response and the performance of the flight control laws. Traditionally, gust loads and handling qualities are addressed separately with different models adapted to the specific needs of each discipline. In this paper, an assessment of the differences between both models is presented and a strategy to better account for the physics of gust encounters in a typical flight dynamics model is proposed based on the model used for gust loads analysis. The applied corrections aim to capture the gust unsteady aerodynamics and propagation as well as the effect of dynamic flexibility at low frequencies. Results from the gust loads model at different flight conditions and measures from real events are used for validation. An assessment of a possible extension of steady aerodynamic nonlinearities to low frequency range is also addressed. The proposed corrections provide meaningful means to evaluate the performance and possible adjustments of the flight control laws.

Keywords: flight dynamics, gust loads, handling qualities, unsteady aerodynamics

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Authors: Annette Joseph

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Background: The construction industry is dynamic in nature owing to the increasing uncertainties in technology, budgets, and development processes making projects more complex. Thus, predicting project performance and chances of its likely success has become difficult. The goal of all parties involved in construction projects is to successfully complete it on schedule, within planned budget and with the highest quality and in the safest manner. However, the concept of project success has remained ambiguously defined in the mind of the construction professionals. Purpose: This paper aims to study the analysis of a project in terms of its performance and measure the success. Methodology: The parameters for evaluating project success and the indices to measure success/performance of a project are identified through literature study. Through questionnaire surveys aimed at the stakeholders in the projects, data is collected from two live case studies (an ongoing and completed project) on the overall performance in terms of its success/failure. Finally, with the help of SPSS tool, the data collected from the surveys are analyzed and applied on the selected performance indices. Findings: The score calculated by using the indices and models helps in assessing the overall performance of the project and interpreting it to find out whether the project will be a success or failure. This study acts as a reference for firms to carry out performance evaluation and success measurement on a regular basis helping projects to identify the areas which are performing well and those that require improvement. Originality & Value: The study signifies that by measuring project performance; a project’s deviation towards success/failure can be assessed thus helping in suggesting early remedial measures to bring it on track ensuring that a project will be completed successfully.

Keywords: project, performance, indices, success

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Authors: B. W. Kenny, D.Mansour, K. G. Mansour, J. Attia, B. Meads

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There is currently insufficient evidence to make a conclusive statement about safety while immobilized in a short arm cast. There is a paucity of published literature on this topic. The purpose of this study is to specifically evaluate short arm casts and their effect on driving abilities, particularly steering and avoidance of obstacles. The ability to drive safely is extrapolated from this data. In this study, a randomised, controlled, crossover design was used to assess 30 subjects randomised into 2 groups. A Logitech force feedback steering column and simulated driving program with a standardised road course was used. Objective outcome measures were the number of times subjects drove off the track, the number of crashes, time to lap completion and subjective assessment on whether wearing a short arm plaster cast impeded their steering. Recruited subjects had no upper limb pathology. The side of the applied plaster cast was randomised. The mean lap completion time reduced with repetition, the difference being statistically significant. There was no significant difference in mean number of times subjects in casts drove off the track (3 with vs. 3.07 without casts), average number of crashes (1.27 vs 0.97). Steering ability was not reduced whilst a subject was immobilised in a short arm Plaster of Paris cast, despite subject’s own impressions that their steering was impeded. This may help guide doctors in their advice to patients regarding driving in these casts.

Keywords: upper limb, arm injury, plaster cast, splint, driving, automobile, bone fracture

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Authors: Stephen Osei Akyiaw, Divine Kwabena Atta Kyere-Owusu

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Malaria has been a worldwide menace of a health condition to human beings for several decades with majority of people on the African continent with most causalities where Ghana is no exception. Therefore, this study employed the use of animation to enhance awareness creation on the spread and prevention of Malaria in Effutu Communities in the Central Region of Ghana. Working with the interpretivist paradigm, this study adopted Art-Based Research, where the AIDA Model and Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) served as the theories underpinning the study. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were employed in selecting sample for the study. The data collection instruments included document review and interviews. Besides, the study developed an animation using the local language of the people as the voice over to foster proper understanding by the rural community folks. Also, indigenous characters were used for the animation for the purpose of familiarization with the local folks. The animation was publicized at Health Town Halls within the communities. The outcomes of the study demonstrated that the use of animation was effective in enhancing the awareness creation for preventing and controlling malaria disease in rural communities in Effutu Communities in the Central Region of Ghana. Health officers and community folks expressed interest and desire to practice the preventive measures outlined in the animation to help reduce the spread of Malaria in their communities. The study, therefore, recommended that animation could be used to curtail the spread and enhanced the prevention of Malaria.

Keywords: malaria, animation, prevention, communities

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Authors: Safwat Mohamed, Rasha Metawi, Hadeel Khalil, Hussein Kamal

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This paper discusses and reveals the manufacturing techniques of the leather scale armour of Tutankhamun. This armour was in critical condition and went under many conservation procedures as it suffered from some serious deterioration aspects including fragmentation. In addition, its original shape was lost, the leather scales were found scattered in the box and separated from the linen basis, and hence its outlines were blurred and incomprehensible. In view of this, the leather scale armour of Tutankhamun was desperate for urgent conservation and reconstruction interventions. Documentation measures were done before conservation. Several re-treatable conservation procedures were applied seeking for stabilizing the armour and reaching sustainable condition. The conservation treatments included many investigations and analyses that helped in revealing materials and techniques of making the armour. The leather scale armour of Tutankhamun consisted of leather scales attached to a linen support. This linen support consisted of several layers. Howard Carter assumed that the linen support consisted of 6 layers. The undertaken conservation treatments helped in revealing the actual number of layers of the linen support as well as in reaching the most sustainable condition. This paper views the importance of the conservation procedures, which were recently carried out on Tutankhamun’s leather scale armour, in identifying and revealing all materials and techniques used in its manufacturing. The collected data about manufacturing techniques were used in making a replica of the leather scale armour with the same methods and materials.

Keywords: leather scales armours, conservation, manufacturing techniques, Tutankhamun, producing a replica

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Authors: Anett Nagy, Anna Maria Beke, Rozsa Graf, Magda Kalmar

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Premature birth involves developmental risks – the earlier the baby is born and the lower its birth weight, the higher the risks. The developmental outcomes for immature, low birth weight infants are hard to predict. Our aim is to identify the factors influencing infant and preschool-age development in very low birth weight (VLBW) and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) preterms. Sixty-one subjects participated in our longitudinal study, which consisted of thirty VLBW and thirty-one ELBW children. The psychomotor development of the infants was assessed using the Brunet-Lezine Developmental Scale at the corrected ages of one and two years; then at three years of age, they were tested with the WPPSI-IV IQ test. Birth weight, gestational age, perinatal complications, gender, and maternal education, were added to the data analysis as independent variables. According to our assessments, our subjects as a group scored in the average range in each subscale of the Brunet-Lezine Developmental Scale. The scores were the lowest in language at both measurement points. The children’s performances improved between one and two years of age, particularly in the domain of coordination. At three years of age the mean IQ test results, although still in the average range, were near the low end of it in each index. The ELBW preterms performed significantly poorer in Perceptual Reasoning Index. The developmental level at two years better predicted the IQ than that at one year. None of the measures distinguished the genders.

Keywords: preterm, extremely low birth-weight, perinatal complication, psychomotor development, intelligence, follow-up

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Authors: Radwa El Shorbagy, Alaa El Din Balbaa, Khaled Ayad, Waleed Reda

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Ankle sprain is a common lower limb injury that is complicated by high recurrence rate. The cause of recurrence is not clear; however, changes in motor control have been postulated.Objective: to determine the contribution of proximal hip strategy to dynamic posture control in patients with recurrent ankle sprain. Methods:Fifteen subjects with recurrent ankle sprain (Group A) and fifteen healthy control subjects (Group B) participated in this study. Abductor-adductor as well as flexor-extensor hip musculature control was abolished by fatigue using the Biodex Isokinatic System. Dynamic posture control was measured before and after fatigue by the Biodex Balance System. Results: Repeated measures MANOVA was used to compare within group differences. In group A fatiguing of hip muscles (flexors-extensors and abductors-adductors) lowered overall stability index (OASI), anteroposterior stability index (APSI) and mediolateral stability index (MLSI) significantly (p=0.00) whereas; in group B fatiguing of hip flexors-extensors lowered significantly OASI and APSI only (p= 0.017, 0.010; respectively) while fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors has no significant effect on these variables. Conclusion: fatiguing of hip muscles has a significant deleterious effect on dynamic posture control in patient with recurrent ankle sprain indicating their increased dependence on hip strategy.

Keywords: ankle sprain, fatigue hip muscles, dynamic balance, ankle sprain

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Authors: Kahlil Fredrick Cui, Marissa Pastor

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Earthquakes are complex phenomena, exhibiting complex correlations in space, time, and magnitude. Recently, the concept of complex networks has been used to shed light on the statistical and dynamical characteristics of regional seismicity. In this work, we study the relationships and interactions of seismic regions in Chile, Japan, and the Philippines through weighted and directed complex network analysis. Geographical areas are digitized into cells of fixed dimensions which in turn become the nodes of the network when an earthquake has occurred therein. Nodes are linked if a correlation exists between them as determined and measured by a correlation metric. The networks are found to be scale-free, exhibiting power-law behavior in the distributions of their different centrality measures: the in- and out-degree and the in- and out-strength. The evidence is also found of preferential interaction between seismically active regions through their degree-degree correlations suggesting that seismicity is dictated by the activity of a few active regions. The importance of a seismic region to the overall seismicity is measured using a generalized centrality metric taken to be an indicator of its activity or passivity. The spatial distribution of earthquake activity indicates the areas where strong earthquakes have occurred in the past while the passivity distribution points toward the likely locations an earthquake would occur whenever another one happens elsewhere. Finally, we propose a method that would project the location of the next possible earthquake using the generalized centralities coupled with correlations calculated between the latest earthquakes and a geographical point in the future.

Keywords: complex networks, correlations, earthquake, hazard assessment

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Authors: Freddy Houndekindo

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A study was carried out to evaluate the flood risk in the district of Malanville located along the Niger River. The knowledge produce by this study is useful in the implementation of adaptation and/or mitigation measures to alleviate the impact of the flooding on the populations, the economy and the environment. Over the course of the study, the lack of data in the area of interest has been one of the main challenges encountered. Therefore, in the analysis of the flood hazard different sources of remotely sensed data were used. Moreover, the flood hazard was analysed by applying a 1D hydraulic model: HEC-RAS. After setting up the model for the study area, the different flood scenarios considered were simulated and mapped using ArcGIS and the HEC-GEORAS extension. The result of the simulation gave information about the inundated areas and the water depths at each location. From the analysis of the flood hazard, it was found that between 47% and 50% of the total area of the district of Malanville would be flooded in the different flood scenarios considered, and the water depth varies between 1 and 7 m. The townships of Malanville most at risk of flooding are Momkassa and Galiel, located in a high-risk and very high-risk zone, respectively. Furthermore, the assessment of the flood risk showed that the most vulnerable sector to the inundations is the agricultural sector. Indeed, the cultivated floodplains were the most affected areas by the floodwater in every flood scenarios. Knowing that a high proportion of the population of the district relies on their farmlands in these floodplains for their livelihood, the floods pose a challenge not only to the food security in the area but also to its development.

Keywords: flood risk management, Niger, remote sensing, vulnerability

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Authors: Susan K. Steele-Moses, Aimee Badeaux

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Background Literature: Nurse anesthesia education placed high demands on students both personally and professionally. High levels of anxiety affect student’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being, which impacts their student success. Whereas more research has focused on the health and well-being of graduate students, far less has focused specifically on nurse anesthesia students (SNRAs), who may experience higher levels of anxiety due to the rigor of their academic program. Current literature describes stressors experienced by SRNAs that cause anxiety and affect their performance, including personal, academic, clinical, interpersonal, emotional, and financial. Sample: DNP-NA 2025 and DNP-NA 2024 cohorts (N = 36). Eighteen (66.7%) students participated in the study. Instrumentation: The DASS-21 was used to measure stress (7 items; α = .87) and anxiety (7 items; α = .74) from the participants. Intervention: The mind-shift meditation app, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, is being used daily before clinical and exams to decrease nurse anesthesia students’ stress and anxiety over time. Results: At baseline, the students exhibited a moderate level of stress, but their anxiety levels were low. The range of scores was 4-21 (out of 28) for stress (M = 12.88; SD = 5.40) and 0-16 (out of 28) for anxiety (M = 6.81; SD = 5.04). Both stress and anxiety were normally distributed [SW = .242 (stress); SW = .210 (anxiety)] without any outliers. There was a significant difference between their stress and anxiety levels (t = 5.55; p < .001) at baseline. Stress and anxiety will be measured over time, with the change analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Implications for Practice: The use of purposeful mindfulness meditation has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety in nursing students.

Keywords: mindfulness, meditation, graduate nursing education, nursing education

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Authors: Osagbai Joshua Eriki, Ngozi Agunwamba, Alice Hill, Lorna Almond, Maniya Duffy, Devashini Naidoo, David Ho, Raman Deo

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Aims: To evaluate the baseline eating pattern in a psychiatric hospital through quantifying purchases of food and drink items at the hospital shop and to implement a traffic light healthy eating labeling system. Method: A electronic till with reporting capabilities was purchased. A two-week period of baseline data collection was conducted. Thereafter, a system for labeling items based on the nutritional value of the food items at the hospital shop was implemented. Green labeling represented the items with the lowest calories and red the most. Further data was collated on the number and types of items purchased by patients according to the category, and the initial effectiveness of the system was evaluated. Result: Despite the implementation of the traffic light system, the red category had the highest number of items purchased by patients, highlighting the importance of promoting healthy eating choices. However, the study also showed that the system was effective in promoting healthy options, as the number of items purchased from the green category increased during the study period. Conclusion: The implementation of a traffic light labeling system for items sold at the hospital shop offers a promising approach to promoting healthy eating habits and choices. This is likely to contribute to a toolkit of measures when considering the multifactorial challenges that obesity and weight issues pose for long-stay psychiatric inpatients

Keywords: mental health, nutrition, food, healthy

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Authors: Konesh Navsaria, Itumeleng Ramodumo

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The study explored university students’ perceptions of cannabis use on academic life at a higher education institution (HEI) in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. Cannabis is described as the most commonly-used drug by youth, especially those who are in tertiary institutions. The use of cannabis has both negative and positive effects; this is evident in different areas of human functioning. Cannabis usage has been debated upon in courts regarding its legalization and decriminalization, and on the 18th of September 2018, the South African High Court decriminalized cannabis for personal use. Cannabis use has increased in academic settings, and this has raised concerns about how it affects the mental health of students. A qualitative approach was used for the study with an explorative, descriptive design. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 participants for the study. Data were collected using focused-group interviews, following ethical clearance from the HEI. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted using thematic analysis, and cognitive behavioural theory was used as the theoretical framework. The research findings indicated both positive and negative influences of cannabis use on mental health. Most participants who expressed positive effects have used cannabis before, whereas most participants with negative perspectives of cannabis use on mental health are non-cannabis users. The findings revealed that participants perceived that the quantity of cannabis smoked determined whether there was a positive or negative effect on mental health; that is, large doses of cannabis were perceived as having negative effects. The research findings also revealed that the legalization of cannabis is very likely to increase its use and also highlighted precautionary measures users take to avoid the substance’s negative effects on mental health.

Keywords: cannabis use, mental health, university students, legalization

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Authors: Geetika Barman, B. S. Daya Sagar

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In this article, we proposed a pixel-wise classification of hyperspectral images using a mathematical morphology operator-based distance metric called “dilation distance” and “erosion distance”. This method involves measuring the spatial distance between the spectral features of a hyperspectral image across the bands. The key concept of the proposed approach is that the “dilation distance” is the maximum distance a pixel can be moved without changing its classification, whereas the “erosion distance” is the maximum distance that a pixel can be moved before changing its classification. The spectral signature of the hyperspectral image carries unique class information and shape for each class. This article demonstrates how easily the dilation and erosion distance can measure spatial distance compared to other approaches. This property is used to calculate the spatial distance between hyperspectral image feature vectors across the bands. The dissimilarity matrix is then constructed using both measures extracted from the feature spaces. The measured distance metric is used to distinguish between the spectral features of various classes and precisely distinguish between each class. This is illustrated using both toy data and real datasets. Furthermore, we investigated the role of flat vs. non-flat structuring elements in capturing the spatial features of each class in the hyperspectral image. In order to validate, we compared the proposed approach to other existing methods and demonstrated empirically that mathematical operator-based distance metric classification provided competitive results and outperformed some of them.

Keywords: dilation distance, erosion distance, hyperspectral image classification, mathematical morphology

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Authors: Minakshi Jain, Sachin Yadav

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Gram Panchayat is the smallest unit of Democracy in India. Grassroots Democracy has been further strengthened by implementation of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment act (CAA) in 1992. To analyse the impact of grassroots democracy the three villages are selected, which have the representation of each section of the society. The selected villages belongs to the same block and district of Haryana state. Villages are selected to access the marginalized group such as women and other backward class. These groups are isolated and do not participate in the grassroots level development process. The caste continue to be a relevant factor in determining the rural leadership. The earlier models of Panchayati Raj failed to benefit the marginalized groups of the society. The 73rd CAA, advocates a uniform three tier system of Panchayat at District level (Zilla Panchayat), Taluka/Block level (Block Panchayat), and village level (Gram Panchayat). The socio-economic profile of representatives in each village is important factor in rural development. The study will highlight the socio-economic profile of elected members at gram Panchayat level, Block Level and District level. The analysis reveals that there is a need to educate and develop the capacity and capability of the elected representative. Training must be imparted to all of them to enable them to function as per provision in the act. The paper will analyse the impact of act on rural development than propose some measures to further strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI’s) at grassroots level.

Keywords: democracy, rural development, marginalized people, function

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Authors: Kholood Baron

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Radiologic interventional studies use fluoroscopy imaging guidance to perform both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. These could result in high radiation doses being delivered to the patients and also to the radiology team. This is due to the prolonged fluoroscopy time and the large number of images taken, even when dose-minimizing techniques and modern fluoroscopic tools are applied. Hence, these procedures are part of the everyday routine of interventional radiology doctors, assistant nurses, and radiographers. Thus, it is important to estimate the radiation exposure dose they received in order to give objective advice and reduce both patient and radiology team radiation exposure dose. The aim of this study was to find out the total radiation dose reaching the radiologist and the patient during an interventional procedure and to determine the impact of certain parameters on the patient dose. Method: The radiation dose was measured by TLD devices (thermoluminescent dosimeter; radiation dosimeter device). Physicians, patients, nurses, and radiographers wore TLDs during 12 interventional radiology procedures performed in two hospitals, Mubarak and Chest Hospital. This study highlights the need for interventional radiologists to be mindful of the radiation doses received by both patients and medical staff during interventional radiology procedures. The findings emphasize the impact of factors such as fluoroscopy duration and the number of images taken on the patient dose. By raising awareness and providing insights into optimizing techniques and protective measures, this research contributes to the overall goal of reducing radiation doses and ensuring the safety of patients and medical staff.

Keywords: dosimetry, radiation dose, interventional radiology procedures, patient radiation dose

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Authors: Claudineia Brazil, Elison Eduardo Bierhals, Francisco Pereira, José Leandro Néris, Matheus Rippel, Luciane Salvi

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The global concern about climate change has been increasing, since the emission of gases from human activities contributes to the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere, indicating significant impacts to the planet in the coming years. The study of precipitation regime is fundamental for the development of research in several areas. Among them are hydrology, agriculture, and electric sector. Using the climatic projections of the models belonging to the CMIP5, the main objective of the paper was to present an analysis of the impacts of climate change without rainfall in the Uruguay River basin. After an analysis of the results, it can be observed that for the future climate, there is a tendency, in relation to the present climate, for larger numbers of dry events, mainly in the winter months, changing the pluviometric regime for wet summers and drier winters. Given this projected framework, it is important to note the importance of adequate management of the existing water sources in the river basin, since the value of rainfall is reduced for the next years, it may compromise the dynamics of the ecosystems in the region. Facing climate change is fundamental issue for regions and cities all around the world. Society must improve its resilience to phenomenon impacts, and spreading the knowledge among decision makers and citizens is also essential. So, these research results can be subsidies for the decision-making in planning and management of mitigation measures and/or adaptation in south Brazil.

Keywords: climate change, hydrological potential, precipitation, mitigation

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Authors: Arth J. Shah, Madhu R. Kamble

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Voice biometric liveness detection is customized to certify an authentication process of the voice data presented is genuine and not a recording or synthetic voice. With the rise of deepfakes and other equivalently sophisticated spoofing generation techniques, it’s becoming challenging to ensure that the person on the other end is a live speaker or not. Voice Liveness Detection (VLD) system is a group of security measures which detect and prevent voice spoofing attacks. Motivated by the recent development of the Kolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN) based on the Kolmogorov-Arnold theorem, we proposed KAN for the VLD task. To date, multilayer perceptron (MLP) based classifiers have been used for the classification tasks. We aim to capture not only the compositional structure of the model but also to optimize the values of univariate functions. This study explains the mathematical as well as experimental analysis of KAN for VLD tasks, thereby opening a new perspective for scientists to work on speech and signal processing-based tasks. This study emerges as a combination of traditional signal processing tasks and new deep learning models, which further proved to be a better combination for VLD tasks. The experiments are performed on the POCO and ASVSpoof 2017 V2 database. We used Constant Q-transform, Mel, and short-time Fourier transform (STFT) based front-end features and used CNN, BiLSTM, and KAN as back-end classifiers. The best accuracy is 91.26 % on the POCO database using STFT features with the KAN classifier. In the ASVSpoof 2017 V2 database, the lowest EER we obtained was 26.42 %, using CQT features and KAN as a classifier.

Keywords: Kolmogorov Arnold networks, multilayer perceptron, pop noise, voice liveness detection

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Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Magda M. Madbouly, Murad B. Khorsheed

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Sign Languages (SL) are the most accomplished forms of gestural communication. Therefore, their automatic analysis is a real challenge, which is interestingly implied to their lexical and syntactic organization levels. Hidden Markov models (HMM’s) have been used prominently and successfully in speech recognition and, more recently, in handwriting recognition. Consequently, they seem ideal for visual recognition of complex, structured hand gestures such as are found in sign language. In this paper, several results concerning static hand gesture recognition using an algorithm based on Type-2 Fuzzy HMM (T2FHMM) are presented. The features used as observables in the training as well as in the recognition phases are based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). SVD is an extension of Eigen decomposition to suit non-square matrices to reduce multi attribute hand gesture data to feature vectors. SVD optimally exposes the geometric structure of a matrix. In our approach, we replace the basic HMM arithmetic operators by some adequate Type-2 fuzzy operators that permits us to relax the additive constraint of probability measures. Therefore, T2FHMMs are able to handle both random and fuzzy uncertainties existing universally in the sequential data. Experimental results show that T2FHMMs can effectively handle noise and dialect uncertainties in hand signals besides a better classification performance than the classical HMMs. The recognition rate of the proposed system is 100% for uniform hand images and 86.21% for cluttered hand images.

Keywords: hand gesture recognition, hand detection, type-2 fuzzy logic, hidden Markov Model

Procedia PDF Downloads 462