Search results for: wound classification

Authors: Nwogiji Cletus Olando, Oselebe Happiness Ogba, Enoch Achigan-Dako

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Digitaria iburua, commonly known as black fonio, is a cereal crop native to Africa and extensively cultivated by smallholder farmers in Northern Benin, Togo, and Nigeria. This crop holds immense nutritional and socio-cultural value. Unfortunately, limited knowledge about its genetic diversity exists due to a lack of scientific attention. As a result, its potential for improvement in food and agriculture remains largely untapped. To address this gap, a study was conducted using 41 accessions of D. iburua stored in the genebank of the Laboratory of Genetics, Biotechnology, and Seed Science at Abomey-Calavi University, Benin. The study employed both morphological and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to evaluate the genetic variability of the accessions. Agro-morphological assessments were carried out during the 2020 cropping season, utilizing an alpha lattice design with three replications. The collected data encompassed qualitative and quantitative traits. Additionally, molecular variability was assessed using eleven SSR markers. The results revealed significant phenotypic variability among the evaluated accessions, leading to their classification into three main clusters. Furthermore, the eleven SSR markers identified a total of 50 alleles, averaging 4.55 alleles per locus. The primers exhibited an average polymorphic information content value of 0.43, with the DE-ARC019 primer displaying the highest value (0.59). These findings suggest a substantial degree of genetic heterogeneity within the evaluated accessions, and the SSR markers employed in the study proved highly effective in detecting and characterizing this genetic variability. In conclusion, this study highlights the presence of significant genetic diversity in black fonio and provides valuable insights for future efforts aimed at its genetic improvement and conservation.

Keywords: genetic diversity, digitaria iburua, genetic improvement, simple sequence repeat markers, Nigeria, conservation

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Authors: Nyamela M. ‘Masekhohola, Khanare P. Fumane

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The Lesotho downward trend in mathematics attainment at all levels is compounded by the absence of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in Early Childhood. However, studies have shown that play pedagogy can be used to mitigate the challenges of mathematics education. Despite the benefits of play pedagogy to rural learners, its full potential has not been realized in early childhood care and education classrooms to improve children’s performance in mathematics because the adoption of play pedagogy depends on a strength-based approach. The study explores the potential of play pedagogy to improve mathematics education in early childhood care and education in Lesotho. Strength-based approach is known for its advocacy of recognizing and utilizing children’s strengths, capacities and interests. However, this approach and its promisingattributes is not well-known in Lesotho. In particular, little is known about the attributes of play pedagogy that are essential to improve mathematic education in ECCE programs in Lesotho. To identify such attributes and strengthen mathematics education, this systematic review examines evidence published on the strengths of play pedagogy that supports the teaching and learning of mathematics education in ECCE. The purpose of this review is, therefore, to identify and define the strengths of play pedagogy that supports mathematics education. Moreover, the study intends to understand the rural teachers’ perceived intention of using play in ECCE math classrooms through a strength-based approach. Eight key strengths were found (cues for reflection, edutainment, mathematics language development, creativity and imagination, cognitive promotion, exploration, classification, and skills development). This study is the first to identify and define the strength-based attributes of play pedagogy to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in ECCE centers in Lesotho. The findings reveal which opportunities teachers find important for improving the teaching of mathematics as early as in ECCE programs. We conclude by discussing the implications of the literature for stimulating dialogues towards formulating strength-based approaches to teaching mathematics, as well as reflecting on the broader contributions of play pedagogy as an asset to improve mathematics in Lesotho and beyond.

Keywords: early childhood education, mathematics education, lesotho, play pedagogy, strength-based approach.

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Authors: Anargha A. Dhorde, Deshpande Gauri, Amit G. Dhorde

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Mula-Mutha basin is one of the speedily urbanizing watersheds, wherein two major urban centers, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, have developed at a shocking rate in the last two decades. Such changing land use/land cover (LULC) is prone to hydrological problems and flash floods are a frequent, eventuality in the lower reaches of the basin. The present research brings out the impact of varying LULC, impervious surfaces on urban surface hydrology and generates storm-runoff scenarios for the hydrological units. The two multi-temporal satellite images were processed and supervised classification is performed with > 75% accuracy. The built-up has increased from 14.4% to 34.37% in the 28 years span, which is concentrated in and around the Pune-PCMC region. Impervious surfaces that were obtained by population calibrated multiple regression models. Almost 50% area of the watershed is impervious, which attribute to increase surface runoff and flash floods. The SCS-CN method was employed to calculate surface runoff of the watershed. The comparison between calculated and measured values of runoff was performed in a statistically precise way which shows no significant difference. Increasing built-up areas, as well as impervious surface areas due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, may lead to generating high runoff volumes in the basin especially in the urbanized areas of the watershed and along the major transportation arteries. Simulations generated with 50 mm and 100 mm rainstorm depth conspicuously noted that most of the changes in terms of increased runoff are constricted to the highly urbanized areas. Considering whole watershed area, the runoff values 39 m³ generated with 1'' rainfall whereas only urbanized areas of the basin (Pune and Pimpari-Chinchwad) were generated 11154 m³ runoff. Such analysis is crucial in providing information regarding their intensity and location, which proves instrumental in their analysis in order to formulate proper mitigation measures and rehabilitation strategies.

Keywords: land use/land cover, LULC, impervious surfaces, surface hydrology, storm-runoff scenarios

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Authors: Dmitriy Syssoyev, Aslan Seitkamzin, Natalya Lim, Kamilla Mussina, Abduzhappar Gaipov, Dimitri Poddighe, Dinara Galiyeva

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Background: Data on the epidemiology of congenital heart defects (CHD) in Kazakhstan is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the incidence, prevalence and all-cause mortality of patients with CHD in Kazakhstan, using national large-scale registry data from the Unified National Electronic Healthcare System (UNEHS) for the period of 2014-2020. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the included data pertained to all patients diagnosed with CHD in Kazakhstan and registered in UNEHS between January 2014 and December 2020. CHD was defined based on International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes Q20-Q26. Incidence, prevalence, and all-cause mortality rates were calculated per 100,000 population. Survival analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards regression modeling and the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: In total, 66,512 patients were identified. Among them, 59,534 (89.5%) were diagnosed with a single CHD, while 6,978 (10.5%) had more than two CHDs. The median age at diagnosis was 0.08 years (interquartile range (IQR) 0.01 – 0.66) for people with multiple CHD types and 0.39 years (IQR 0.04 – 8.38) for those with a single CHD type. The most common CHD types were atrial septal defect (ASD) and ventricular septal defect (VSD), accounting for 25.8% and 21.2% of single CHD cases, respectively. The most common multiple types of CHD were ASD with VSD (23.4%), ASD with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) (19.5%), and VSD with PDA (17.7%). The incidence rate of CHD decreased from 64.6 to 47.1 cases per 100,000 population among men and from 68.7 to 42.4 among women. The prevalence rose from 66.1 to 334.1 cases per 100,000 population among men and from 70.8 to 328.7 among women. Mortality rates showed a slight increase from 3.5 to 4.7 deaths per 100,000 in men and from 2.9 to 3.7 in women. Median follow-up was 5.21 years (IQR 2.47 – 11.69). Male sex (HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.45 - 1.77), having multiple CHDs (HR 2.45, 95% CI 2.01 - 2.97), and living in a rural area (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.19 - 1.47) were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: The incidence of CHD in Kazakhstan has shown a moderate decrease between 2014 and 2020, while prevalence and mortality have increased. Male sex, multiple CHD types, and rural residence were significantly associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality.

Keywords: congenital heart defects (CHD), epidemiology, incidence, Kazakhstan, mortality, prevalence

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Authors: Amir Reza Asnafi, Masoumeh Kazemizadeh, Najmeh Salemi

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Due to the diversity of information resources in the web0.2 environment, which is increasing in number from time to time, the social tagging system should be used to discuss Internet resources. Studying the relevance of social tags to thematic headings can help enrich resources and make them more accessible to resources. The present research is of applied-theoretical type and research method of content analysis. In this study, using the listing method and content analysis, the level of accurate, approximate, relative, and non-conformity of social labels of books available in the field of information science and bibliography of Kitabrah website with Persian subject headings was determined. The exact matching of subject headings with social tags averaged 22 items, the approximate matching of subject headings with social tags averaged 36 items, the relative matching of thematic headings with social tags averaged 36 social items, and the average matching titles did not match the title. The average is 116. According to the findings, the exact matching of subject headings with social labels is the lowest and the most inconsistent. This study showed that the average non-compliance of subject headings with social labels is even higher than the sum of the three types of exact, relative, and approximate matching. As a result, the relevance of thematic titles to social labels is low. Due to the fact that the subject headings are in the form of static text and users are not allowed to interact and insert new selected words and topics, and on the other hand, in websites based on Web 2 and based on the social classification system, this possibility is available for users. An important point of the present study and the studies that have matched the syntactic and semantic matching of social labels with thematic headings is that the degree of conformity of thematic headings with social labels is low. Therefore, these two methods can complement each other and create a hybrid cataloging that includes subject headings and social tags. The low level of conformity of thematic headings with social tags confirms the results of backgrounds and writings that have compared the social tags of books with the thematic headings of the Library of Congress. It is not enough to match social labels with thematic headings. It can be said that these two methods can be complementary.

Keywords: Web 2/0, social tags, subject headings, hybrid cataloging

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Authors: Ming-Jyh Chen, Wen-Ming Huang, Yi-Chu Liu, Li-Hui Yang

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Introduction: Social responsibility is the key to sustainable organizational development. Under the ground Green Health Hospital Declaration signed by our superintendent, we have launched comprehensive energy conservation management in medical services, the community, and the staff’s life. To execute environment-friendly promotion with robust strategies, we build up a low-carbon medical system and community with smart green public construction promotion as well as intensifying energy conservation education and communication. Purpose/Methods: With the support of the board and the superintendent, we construct an energy management team, commencing with an environment-friendly system, management, education, and ISO 50001 energy management system; we have ameliorated energy performance and energy efficiency and continuing. Results: In the year 2021, we have achieved multiple goals. The energy management system efficiently controls diesel, natural gas, and electricity usage. About 5% of the consumption is saved when compared to the numbers from 2018 and 2021. Our company develops intelligent services and promotes various paperless electronic operations to provide people with a vibrant and environmentally friendly lifestyle. The goal is to save 68.6% on printing and photocopying by reducing 35.15 million sheets of paper yearly. We strengthen the concept of environmental protection classification among colleagues. In the past two years, the amount of resource recycling has reached more than 650 tons, and the resource recycling rate has reached 70%. The annual growth rate of waste recycling is about 28 metric tons. Conclusions: To build a green medical system with “high efficacy, high value, low carbon, low reliance,” energy stewardship, economic prosperity, and social responsibility are our principles when it comes to formulation of energy conservation management strategies, converting limited sources to efficient usage, developing clean energy, and continuing with sustainable energy.

Keywords: energy efficiency, environmental education, green hospital, sustainable development

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Authors: Tingting Huang, Sha Li, Geoffrey Griffiths, Martin Lukac, Jianning Zhu

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Territorial landscapes have experienced a gradual loss of their typical characteristics during long-term human activities. In order to protect the integrity of regional landscapes, it is necessary to characterize, evaluate and protect them in a graded manner. The study takes Fujian, China, as an example and classifies the landscape characters of the site at the regional scale, middle scale, and detailed scale. A multi-scale approach combining parametric and holistic approaches is used to classify and partition the landscape character types (LCTs) and landscape character areas (LCAs) at different scales, and a multi-element landscape assessment approach is adopted to explore the conservation strategies of the landscape character. Firstly, multiple fields and multiple elements of geography, nature and humanities were selected as the basis of assessment according to the scales. Secondly, the study takes a parametric approach to the classification and partitioning of landscape character, Principal Component Analysis, and two-stage cluster analysis (K-means and GMM) in MATLAB software to obtain LCTs, combines with Canny Operator Edge Detection Algorithm to obtain landscape character contours and corrects LCTs and LCAs by field survey and manual identification methods. Finally, the study adopts the Landscape Sensitivity Assessment method to perform landscape character conservation analysis and formulates five strategies for different LCAs: conservation, enhancement, restoration, creation, and combination. This multi-scale identification approach can efficiently integrate multiple types of landscape character elements, reduce the difficulty of broad-scale operations in the process of landscape character conservation, and provide a basis for landscape character conservation strategies. Based on the natural background and the restoration of regional characteristics, the results of landscape character assessment are scientific and objective and can provide a strong reference in regional and national scale territorial spatial planning.

Keywords: parameterization, multi-scale, landscape character identify, landscape character assessment

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Authors: Fausto Morais

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Artificial intelligence has been widely used in law. Programs are able to classify suits, to identify decision-making patterns, to predict outcomes, and to formalize legal arguments as well. In Brazil, the artificial intelligence victor has been classifying cases to supreme court’s standards. When those programs act doing those tasks, they simulate some kind of legal decision and legal arguments, raising doubts about how artificial intelligence can be integrated into legal reasoning. Taking this into account, the following three issues are identified; the problem of hypernormatization, the argument of legal anthropocentrism, and the artificial legal principles. Hypernormatization can be seen in the Brazilian legal context in the Supreme Court’s usage of the Victor program. This program generated efficiency and consistency. On the other hand, there is a feasible risk of over standardizing factual and normative legal features. Then legal clerks and programmers should work together to develop an adequate way to model legal language into computational code. If this is possible, intelligent programs may enact legal decisions in easy cases automatically cases, and, in this picture, the legal anthropocentrism argument takes place. Such an argument argues that just humans beings should enact legal decisions. This is so because human beings have a conscience, free will, and self unity. In spite of that, it is possible to argue against the anthropocentrism argument and to show how intelligent programs may work overcoming human beings' problems like misleading cognition, emotions, and lack of memory. In this way, intelligent machines could be able to pass legal decisions automatically by classification, as Victor in Brazil does, because they are binding by legal patterns and should not deviate from them. Notwithstanding, artificial intelligent programs can be helpful beyond easy cases. In hard cases, they are able to identify legal standards and legal arguments by using machine learning. For that, a dataset of legal decisions regarding a particular matter must be available, which is a reality in Brazilian Judiciary. Doing such procedure, artificial intelligent programs can support a human decision in hard cases, providing legal standards and arguments based on empirical evidence. Those legal features claim an argumentative weight in legal reasoning and should serve as references for judges when they must decide to maintain or overcome a legal standard.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, artificial legal principles, hypernormatization, legal anthropocentrism argument, legal reasoning

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a disease associated with obesity. It is a complicated clinical problem possibly affecting body composition as well as macrominerals. These parameters gain further attention, particularly in the pediatric population. The aim of this study is to investigate the amount of discrete body composition fractions in groups that differ in the severity of obesity. Also, the possible associations with calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg) will be examined. The study population was divided into four groups. Twenty-eight, 29, 34, and 34 children were involved in Group 1 (healthy), 2 (obese), 3 (morbid obese), and 4 (MetS), respectively. Institutional Ethical Committee approved the study protocol. Informed consent forms were obtained from the participants. The classification of obese groups was performed based upon the recommendations of the World Health Organization. Metabolic syndrome components were defined. Serum Ca, P, Mg concentrations were measured. Within the scope of body composition, fat mass, fat-free mass, protein mass, mineral mass were determined by a body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology. Weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, head circumference, and neck circumference values were recorded. Body mass index, diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index, fat mass index, and fat-free mass index values were calculated. Data were statistically evaluated and interpreted. There was no statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of Ca and P concentrations. Magnesium concentrations differed between Group 1 and Group 4. Strong negative correlations were detected between P as well as Mg and fat mass index as well as diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index in Group 4, the group, which comprised morbid obese children with MetS. This study emphasized unique associations of P and Mg minerals with diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index and fat mass index during the evaluation of morbid obese children with MetS. It was also concluded that diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index and fat mass index were more proper indices in comparison with body mass index and fat-free mass index for the purpose of defining body composition in children.

Keywords: children, fat mass, fat-free mass, macrominerals, obesity

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Authors: Umamaheswari Shanmugam, Silvia Ronchi

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Software, artificial intelligence, and machine learning can improve healthcare through innovative and advanced technologies that can use the large amount and variety of data generated during healthcare services every day; one of the significant advantages of these new technologies is the ability to get experience and knowledge from real-world use and to improve their performance continuously. Healthcare systems and institutions can significantly benefit because the use of advanced technologies improves the efficiency and efficacy of healthcare. Software-defined as a medical device, is stand-alone software that is intended to be used for patients for one or more of these specific medical intended uses: - diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, prediction, prognosis, treatment or alleviation of a disease, any other health conditions, replacing or modifying any part of a physiological or pathological process–manage the received information from in vitro specimens derived from the human samples (body) and without principal main action of its principal intended use by pharmacological, immunological or metabolic definition. Software qualified as medical devices must comply with the general safety and performance requirements applicable to medical devices. These requirements are necessary to ensure high performance and quality and protect patients' safety. The evolution and the continuous improvement of software used in healthcare must consider the increase in regulatory requirements, which are becoming more complex in each market. The gap between these advanced technologies and the new regulations is the biggest challenge for medical device manufacturers. Regulatory requirements can be considered a market barrier, as they can delay or obstacle the device's approval. Still, they are necessary to ensure performance, quality, and safety. At the same time, they can be a business opportunity if the manufacturer can define the appropriate regulatory strategy in advance. The abstract will provide an overview of the current regulatory framework, the evolution of the international requirements, and the standards applicable to medical device software in the potential market all over the world.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, SaMD, regulatory, clinical evaluation, classification, international requirements, MDR, 510k, PMA, IMDRF, cyber security, health care systems

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Authors: Zeinab Farhat, Nicolas Errien, Romuald Wernert, Véronique Verriele, Frédéric Amiard, Philippe Daniel

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Ovarian cancer, also known as the silent killer, is the fifth most common cancer among women worldwide, and its death rate is higher than that of other gynecological cancers. The low survival rate of women with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma highlights the critical need for the development of new methods for early detection and diagnosis of the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate if Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometric methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) could differentiate between cancerous and normal tissues from different types of samples, such as paraffin embedding, chemical deparaffinized, formalin-fixed and fresh samples of the same normal and malignant ovarian tissue. The method was applied specifically to two critical spectral regions: the signature region (860-1000 〖cm〗^(-1)) and the high-frequency region (2800-3100 〖cm〗^(-1) ). The mean spectra of paraffin-embedded in normal and malignant tissues showed almost similar intensity. On the other hand, the mean spectra of normal and cancer tissues from chemical deparaffinized, formalin-fixed, and fresh samples show significant intensity differences. These spectral differences reflect variations in the molecular composition of the tissues, particularly lipids and proteins. PCA, which was applied to distinguish between cancer and normal tissues, was performed on whole spectra and on selected regions—the PCA score plot of paraffin-embedded shows considerable overlap between the two groups. However, the PCA score of chemicals deparaffinized, formalin-fixed, and fresh samples showed a good discrimination of tissue types. Our findings were validated by analyses of a set of samples whose status (normal and cancerous) was not previously known. The results of this study suggest that Raman Spectroscopy associated with PCA methods has the capacity to provide clinically significant differentiation between normal and cancerous ovarian tissues.

Keywords: Raman spectroscopy, ovarian cancer, signal processing, Principal Component Analysis, classification

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Authors: Mustafa Gulsen, Mitat Koz

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The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of lumbar stabilisation and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) training on muscle strength and muscle endurance. The participants were 64 between the ages of 15-69 (53.04 ± 14.59), who were graded protrusion and bulging lumbar herniation according to 'Macnab Classification'. The participants were divided into four groups as each group had 16 participants: lumbar stabilitation training, PNF training, physical therapy and control groups. Sociodemographic features were recorded. Then their muscle strength tests (by isokinetic dynamometer (Cybex 770 Norm Lumex Inc, Ronkonkoma, NY, USA) were recorded. Before and after applications; visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability İndex were applied by a physical therapist. The participants in lumbar stabilisation group performed 45 minutes, 5 days in a week for 4 weeks strength training with a physical therapist observation. The participants in PNF group performed 5 days in a week for 4 weeks with pelvic patterns of PNF by a physiotherapist. The participants in physical therapy group underwent Hotpack, Tens and Ultrasound therapy 5 days in a week for 4 weeks. The participants in control group didn’t take any training programme. After 4 weeks, the evaluations were repeated. There were significant increases in muscle strength and muscle endurance in lumbar stabilization training group. Also in pain intensity at rest and during activity in this group and in Oswestry disability index of patients, there were significant improvements (p < 0.05). In PNF training group likewise, there were significant improvements in muscle strength, muscle endurance, pain intensity at rest and with activity and in Oswestry disability index (p < 0.05). But improvements in the Lumbar Stabilization group was better than PNF Group. We found significant differences only in pain intensity at rest and with activity and in Oswestry disability index (p < 0.05). in the patients in Physical Therapy group. We think that appropriate physiotherapy and rehabilitation program which will be prepared for patients, to protect the waist circumference of patients with low muscle strength and low muscle endurance will increase muscle strength and muscle endurance. And it is expected that will reduce pain and will provide advances toward correcting functional disability of the patients.

Keywords: disc herniation, endurance, lumbar stabilitation exercises, PNF, strength

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Authors: Ali Kharazi, Hassanali Aghajani, Hesami Azizi

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Tourism entrepreneurship is a growing field that has the potential to create new opportunities for sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to identify and classify the entrepreneurial opportunities in the blind tourism industry in Khuzestan Province of Iran that can be created through the operation of blinds’ tours. This study used a mixed methods approach. The qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 tourist guides and tourism activists, while the quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire survey of 40 blind people who had participated in blinds’ tours. The findings of this study suggest that there are a number of entrepreneurial opportunities in the blind tourism industry in Khuzestan Province, including (1) developing and providing accessible tourism services, such as tours, accommodations, restaurants, and transportation, (2) creating and marketing blind-friendly tourism products and experiences (3) training and educating tourism professionals on how to provide accessible and inclusive tourism services. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of tourism entrepreneurship by providing insights into the entrepreneurial opportunities in the blind tourism industry. The findings of this study can be used to develop policies and programs that support the development of the blind tourism industry. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. This study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities within the blind tourism industry in Khuzestan Province, Iran. In addition, Khuzestan province has made relatively good development in the field of blinds’ tourism. Blind tourists have become loyal customers of blinds’ tours, which has increased their self-confidence and social participation. Tourist guides and centers of tourism services are interested in participating in blinds’ tours more than before, and even other parts outside the tourism field have encouraged sponsorship. Education had a great impact on the quality of tourism services, especially for the blind. It has played a significant role in improving the quality of tourism services for the blind. However, the quality and quantity of infrastructure should be increased in different sectors of tourism services to foster future growth. These opportunities can be used to create new businesses and jobs and to promote sustainable development in the region.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, tourism, blind, sustainable development, Khuzestan

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Authors: René A. Sørensen, Søren Skovsen, Peter Christiansen, Henrik Karstoft

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Autonomous agricultural machines act in stochastic surroundings and therefore, must be able to perceive the surroundings in real time. This perception can be achieved using image sensors combined with advanced machine learning, in particular Deep Learning. Deep convolutional neural networks excel in labeling and perceiving color images and since the cost of high-quality RGB-cameras is low, the hardware cost of good perception depends heavily on memory and computation power. This paper investigates the possibility of designing lightweight convolutional neural networks for semantic segmentation (pixel wise classification) with reduced hardware requirements, to allow for embedded usage in autonomous agricultural machines. Using compression techniques, a lightweight convolutional neural network is designed to perform real-time semantic segmentation on an embedded platform. The network is trained on two large datasets, ImageNet and Pascal Context, to recognize up to 400 individual classes. The 400 classes are remapped into agricultural superclasses (e.g. human, animal, sky, road, field, shelterbelt and obstacle) and the ability to provide accurate real-time perception of agricultural surroundings is studied. The network is applied to the case of autonomous grass mowing using the NVIDIA Tegra X1 embedded platform. Feeding case-specific images to the network results in a fully segmented map of the superclasses in the image. As the network is still being designed and optimized, only a qualitative analysis of the method is complete at the abstract submission deadline. Proceeding this deadline, the finalized design is quantitatively evaluated on 20 annotated grass mowing images. Lightweight convolutional neural networks for semantic segmentation can be implemented on an embedded platform and show competitive performance with regards to accuracy and speed. It is feasible to provide cost-efficient perceptive capabilities related to semantic segmentation for autonomous agricultural machines.

Keywords: autonomous agricultural machines, deep learning, safety, visual perception

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Authors: Moshe Wasserblat, Jonathan Mamou, Oren Pereg

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Natural Language Processing (NLP) has made a major leap in the last few years, in practical integration into medical solutions; for example, extracting clinical concepts from medical texts such as medical condition, medication, treatment, and symptoms. However, training and deploying those models in real environments still demands a large amount of annotated data and NLP/Machine Learning (ML) expertise, which makes this process costly and time-consuming. We present a practical and efficient method for clinical concept extraction that does not require costly labeled data nor ML expertise. The method includes three steps: Step 1- the user injects a large in-domain text corpus (e.g., PubMed). Then, the system builds a contextual model containing vector representations of concepts in the corpus, in an unsupervised manner (e.g., Phrase2Vec). Step 2- the user provides a seed set of terms representing a specific medical concept (e.g., for the concept of the symptoms, the user may provide: ‘dry mouth,’ ‘itchy skin,’ and ‘blurred vision’). Then, the system matches the seed set against the contextual model and extracts the most semantically similar terms (e.g., additional symptoms). The result is a complete set of terms related to the medical concept. Step 3 –in production, there is a need to extract medical concepts from the unseen medical text. The system extracts key-phrases from the new text, then matches them against the complete set of terms from step 2, and the most semantically similar will be annotated with the same medical concept category. As an example, the seed symptom concepts would result in the following annotation: “The patient complaints on fatigue [symptom], dry skin [symptom], and Weight loss [symptom], which can be an early sign for Diabetes.” Our evaluations show promising results for extracting concepts from medical corpora. The method allows medical analysts to easily and efficiently build taxonomies (in step 2) representing their domain-specific concepts, and automatically annotate a large number of texts (in step 3) for classification/summarization of medical reports.

Keywords: clinical concepts, concept expansion, medical records annotation, medical records summarization

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Authors: Nazia Shehzad

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Language and art can supplement and correlate each other. Through the ages art has been a means of visual expression used to convey a wide series of incarnated ideas. Art can take the perceiver into different times and into different worlds. It can also be used to introduce different levels of vocabulary to the learners of a second language. Learning a second language for most students is a very difficult and strenuous experience. They are not only trying to accommodate to a new language but are also trying to adjust to themselves and a new environment. They are anxious about almost everything, but they are especially self-conscious about their performance in the classroom. By relocating the focus from the student to an object, everyone participates, thus waiving a certain degree of self-consciousness. The experience, a student has with art in the classroom has to be gratifying for both the student and the teacher. If the atmosphere in the classroom is too grave it will not serve any useful purpose. Art is an excellent way to teach English and encourage collaboration and interaction between students of all ages. As making art involves many different processes, it is wonderful for classification and following/giving instructions. It is also an effective way to achieve and implement language of characterization and comparison and vocabulary acquirement for the elements of design (shape, size, color, texture, tone etc.) is so much more entertaining if done in a practical and hands-on way. Expressing ideas and feelings through art is also of immeasurable value where students are at the beginning stages of English language acquisition and for many of my Saudi students it was a form of therapy. It is also a way to respect, search, examine and share the cultural traditions of different cultures, and of the students themselves. Art not only provides a field for ideas to keep aimless, meandering minds of students' busy but is also a productive tool to analyze English language in a new order. As an ESL teacher, using art is a highly compelling way to bridge the gap between student and teacher. It’s difficult to keep students concentrated, especially when they speak a different language. To get students to actually learn and explore something in your foreign language lesson, artwork is your best friend. Many teachers feel that through amalgamation of the arts into their academic lessons students are able to learn more profoundly because they use diverse ways of thinking and problem solving. Teachers observe that drawing often retains students who might otherwise be dispassionate and can help students move ahead simple recall when they are asked to make connections and come up with an exclusive interpretation through an artwork or drawing. Students use observation skills when they are drawing, and this can help to persuade students who might otherwise remain silent or need more time to process information.

Keywords: amalgamation of arts, expressing ideas and feelings through arts, effective way to achieve and implement language, language and art can supplement and correlate each other

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Authors: Zahid Khalil, Saad Ul Haque, Asif Khan

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Decision making about identifying suitable sites for any project by considering different parameters is difficult. Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) can make it easy for those projects. This technology has proved to be an efficient and adequate in acquiring the desired information. In this study, GIS and MCA were employed to identify the suitable sites for small dams in Dadu Tehsil, Sindh. The GIS software is used to create all the spatial parameters for the analysis. The parameters that derived are slope, drainage density, rainfall, land use / land cover, soil groups, Curve Number (CN) and runoff index with a spatial resolution of 30m. The data used for deriving above layers include 30-meter resolution SRTM DEM, Landsat 8 imagery, and rainfall from National Centre of Environment Prediction (NCEP) and soil data from World Harmonized Soil Data (WHSD). Land use/Land cover map is derived from Landsat 8 using supervised classification. Slope, drainage network and watershed are delineated by terrain processing of DEM. The Soil Conservation Services (SCS) method is implemented to estimate the surface runoff from the rainfall. Prior to this, SCS-CN grid is developed by integrating the soil and land use/land cover raster. These layers with some technical and ecological constraints are assigned weights on the basis of suitability criteria. The pairwise comparison method, also known as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is taken into account as MCA for assigning weights on each decision element. All the parameters and group of parameters are integrated using weighted overlay in GIS environment to produce suitable sites for the Dams. The resultant layer is then classified into four classes namely, best suitable, suitable, moderate and less suitable. This study reveals a contribution to decision-making about suitable sites analysis for small dams using geospatial data with minimal amount of ground data. This suitability maps can be helpful for water resource management organizations in determination of feasible rainwater harvesting structures (RWH).

Keywords: Remote sensing, GIS, AHP, RWH

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Esmaeil Abbaszadeh Molaei, Zongyan Zhou, Aibing Yu

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The applications of liquid fluidizations have been increased in many parts of industries such as particle classification, backwashing of granular filters, crystal growth, leaching and washing, and bioreactors due to high-efficient liquid–solid contact, favorable mass and heat transfer, high operation flexibilities, and reduced back mixing of phases. In most of these multiphase operations the particles properties, i.e. size, density, and shape, may change during the process because of attrition, coalescence or chemical reactions. Previous studies, either experimentally or numerically, mainly have focused on studies of liquid-solid fluidized beds containing spherical particles; however, the role of particle shape on the hydrodynamics of liquid fluidized beds is still not well-known. A three-dimensional Discrete Element Model (DEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are coupled to study the influence of particles shape on particles and liquid flow patterns in liquid-solid fluidized beds. In the simulations, ellipsoid particles are used to study the shape factor since they can represent a wide range of particles shape from oblate and sphere to prolate shape particles. Different particle shapes from oblate (disk shape) to elongated particles (rod shape) are selected to investigate the effect of aspect ratio on different flow characteristics such as general particles and liquid flow pattern, pressure drop, and particles orientation. First, the model is verified based on experimental observations, then further detail analyses are made. It was found that spherical particles showed a uniform particle distribution in the bed, which resulted in uniform pressure drop along the bed height. However for particles with aspect ratios less than one (disk-shape), some particles were carried into the freeboard region, and the interface between the bed and freeboard was not easy to be determined. A few particle also intended to leave the bed. On the other hand, prolate particles showed different behaviour in the bed. They caused unstable interface and some flow channeling was observed for low liquid velocities. Because of the non-uniform particles flow pattern for particles with aspect ratios lower (oblate) and more (prolate) than one, the pressure drop distribution in the bed was not observed as uniform as what was found for spherical particles.

Keywords: CFD, DEM, ellipsoid, fluidization, multiphase flow, non-spherical, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Anamika Sahu

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The Himalayas, like many mountainous regions, is susceptible to multiple hazards. In recent times, the frequency of such disasters is continuously increasing due to extreme weather phenomena. These natural hazards are responsible for irreparable human and economic loss. The Indian Himalayas has repeatedly been ruptured by great earthquakes in the past and has the potential for a future large seismic event as it falls under the seismic gap. Damages caused by earthquakes are different in different localities. It is well known that, during earthquakes, damage to the structure is associated with the subsurface conditions and the quality of construction materials. So, for sustainable mountain development, prior estimation of site characterization will be valuable for designing and constructing the space area and for efficient mitigation of the seismic risk. Both geotechnical and geophysical investigation of the subsurface is required to describe the subsurface complexity. In mountainous regions, geophysical methods are gaining popularity as areas can be studied without disturbing the ground surface, and also these methods are time and cost-effective. The MASW method is used to calculate the Vs30. Vs30 is the average shear wave velocity for the top 30m of soil. Shear wave velocity is considered the best stiffness indicator, and the average of shear wave velocity up to 30 m is used in National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) provisions (BSSC,1994) and Uniform Building Code (UBC), 1997 classification. Parameters obtained through geotechnical investigation have been integrated with findings obtained through the subsurface geophysical survey. Joint interpretation has been used to establish inter-relationships among mineral constituents, various textural parameters, and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) with shear wave velocity. It is found that results obtained through the MASW method fitted well with the laboratory test. In both conditions, mineral constituents and textural parameters (grain size, grain shape, grain orientation, and degree of interlocking) control the petrophysical and mechanical properties of rocks and the behavior of shear wave velocity.

Keywords: MASW, mechanical, petrophysical, site characterization

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Authors: Rahmi Kafadar, Levent Genc

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In present study, it was aimed to determine potential agricultural lands (PALs) in Gokceada (Imroz) Island of Canakkale province, Turkey. Seven-band Landsat 8 OLI images acquired on July 12 and August 13, 2013, and their 14-band combination image were used to identify current Land Use Land Cover (LULC) status. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to three Landsat datasets in order to reduce the correlation between the bands. A total of six Original and PCA images were classified using supervised classification method to obtain the LULC maps including 6 main classes (“Forest”, “Agriculture”, “Water Surface”, “Residential Area-Bare Soil”, “Reforestation” and “Other”). Accuracy assessment was performed by checking the accuracy of 120 randomized points for each LULC maps. The best overall accuracy and Kappa statistic values (90.83%, 0.8791% respectively) were found for PCA images which were generated from 14-bands combined images called 3-B/JA. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 15 m spatial resolution (ASTER) was used to consider topographical characteristics. Soil properties were obtained by digitizing 1:25000 scaled soil maps of rural services directorate general. Potential Agricultural Lands (PALs) were determined using Geographic information Systems (GIS). Procedure was applied considering that “Other” class of LULC map may be used for agricultural purposes in the future properties. Overlaying analysis was conducted using Slope (S), Land Use Capability Class (LUCC), Other Soil Properties (OSP) and Land Use Capability Sub-Class (SUBC) properties. A total of 901.62 ha areas within “Other” class (15798.2 ha) of LULC map were determined as PALs. These lands were ranked as “Very Suitable”, “Suitable”, “Moderate Suitable” and “Low Suitable”. It was determined that the 8.03 ha were classified as “Very Suitable” while 18.59 ha as suitable and 11.44 ha as “Moderate Suitable” for PALs. In addition, 756.56 ha were found to be “Low Suitable”. The results obtained from this preliminary study can serve as basis for further studies.

Keywords: digital elevation model (DEM), geographic information systems (GIS), gokceada (Imroz), lANDSAT 8 OLI-TIRS, land use land cover (LULC)

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Delgado-Meza M., Minor-Pérez H.

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Protease is the generic name of enzymes that hydrolyze proteins. These are classified in the subgroup EC3.4.11-99X of the classification enzymes. In food technology the proteolysis is used to modify functional and nutritional properties of food, and in some cases this proteolysis may cause food spoilage. In general, seafood and rainbow trout have accelerated decomposition process once it has done its capture, due to various factors such as the endogenous enzymatic activity that can result in loss of structure, shape and firmness, besides the release of amino acid precursors of biogenic amines. Some studies suggest the use of protease inhibitors from legume as biological regulators of proteolytic activity. The enzyme inhibitors are any substance that reduces the rate of a reaction catalyzed by an enzyme. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reduction of the proteolytic activity of enzymes in extracts of rainbow trout with protease inhibitors obtained from chickpea flour. Different proportions of rainbow trout enzyme extract (75%, 50% and 25%) and extract chickpea enzyme inhibitors were evaluated. Chickpea inhibitors were obtained by mixing 5 g of flour in 30 mL of pH 7.0 phosphate buffer. The sample was centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 10 min. The supernatant was stored at -15°C. Likewise, 20 g of rainbow trout were ground in 20 mL of phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.0 and the mixture was centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 20 min. The supernatant was used for the study. In each treatment was determined the specific enzymatic activity with the technique of Kunitz, using hemoglobin as substrate for the enzymes acid fraction and casein for basic enzymes. Also biuret protein was quantified for each treatment. The results showed for fraction of basic enzymes in the treatments evaluated, that were inhibition of endogenous enzymatic activity. Inhibition values compared to control were 51.05%, 56.59% and 59.29% when the proportions of endogenous enzymes extract rainbow trout were 75%, 50% and 25% and the remaining volume used was extract with inhibitors. Treatments with acid enzymes showed no reduction in enzyme activity. In conclusion chickpea flour reduced the endogenous enzymatic activity of rainbow trout, which may favor its application to increase the half-life of this food. The authors acknowledge the funding provided by the CONACYT for the project 131998.

Keywords: rainbouw trout, enzyme inhibitors, proteolysis, enzyme activity

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Authors: Hamdy Khamis Korayem, Manal Yehia Tayel, Abeer Shawky El Hadedy, Emmanuel Kamal Aziz Saba, Shimaa Badr Abdelnaby Badr

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The aim of the current study was to demonstrate whether serum Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is increased in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its correlation with disease activity, functional disability and quality of life in RA patients. The study included 30 RA patients and 20 healthy normal control subjects. The RA patients were diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA with the exclusion of those who had diabetes mellitus, endocrine disorders, associated rheumatologic diseases, viral hepatitis B or C and other diseases with increased serum IL-18 level. All patients were subjected to clinical evaluation of the musculoskeletal system. Disease activity was assessed by disease activity score 28 with 4 variables (DAS 28). Functional disability was assessed by health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI). The quality of life was assessed by Short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Radiological assessment of both hands and feet by Sharp/van der Heijde (SvH) scoring method. Laboratory parameters including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) were assessed in patients and serum level of IL-18 in both patients and control subjects. There was no statistically significant difference between patient and control group as regards age and sex. Among patients, 29 % were females and the age range was between 25 to 55 years. Extra-articular manifestations were presented in 56.7% of the patients. The mean of DAS 28 score was 5.73±1.46 and that of HAQ-DI was 1.22±0.72 while that of SF-36 was 40.03±13.96. The level of serum IL-18 was significantly higher in patients than in the control subjects (P= 0.030). Serum IL-18 was correlated with ACPA among the patient group. There were no statistically significant correlations between serum IL-18 and DAS28, HAQ-DI, SF-36, total SvH score and the other laboratory results. In conclusion, IL-18 is significantly higher in RA patient than in healthy control subjects and positively correlated with ACPA level. IL-18 is associated with extra-articular manifestations. However, it is not correlated with other laboratory parameters, disease activity, functional disability, quality of life nor radiological severity.

Keywords: disease activity score, Interleukin-18, quality of life assessment, rheumatoid arthritis

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Gopal Chandra Saha, Sumanta Daw

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Warm-up is an essential component for optimizing performance in various sports before a physical fitness training session. This study investigated the immediate comparative effect of Self-Myofascial Release through vibration rolling (VR), non-vibration rolling (NVR), and static stretching as a part of a warm-up treatment on the functional fitness of young adults. Functional fitness is a classification of training that prepares the body for real-life movements and activities. For the present study 20male physical education students were selected as subjects. The age of the subjects was ranged from 20-25 years. The functional fitness variables undertaken in the present study were flexibility, muscle strength, agility, static and dynamic balance of the lower extremity. Each of the three warm-up protocol was administered on consecutive days, i.e. 24 hr time gap and all tests were administered in the morning. The mean and SD were used as descriptive statistics. The significance of statistical differences among the groups was measured by applying ‘F’-test, and to find out the exact location of difference, Post Hoc Test (Least Significant Difference) was applied. It was found from the study that only flexibility showed significant difference among three types of warm-up exercise. The observed result depicted that VR has more impact on myofascial release in flexibility in comparison with NVR and stretching as a part of warm-up exercise as ‘p’ value was less than 0.05. In the present study, within the three means of warm-up exercises, vibration roller showed better mean difference in terms of NVR, and static stretching exercise on functional fitness of young physical education practitioners, although the results were found insignificant in case of muscle strength, agility, static and dynamic balance of the lower extremity. These findings suggest that sports professionals and coaches may take VR into account for designing more efficient and effective pre-performance routine for long term to improve exercise performances. VR has high potential to interpret into an on-field practical application means.

Keywords: self-myofascial release, functional fitness, foam roller, physical education

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Derradji A., Ben El Mamoun M., Zakaria E., Charadi I. Anrur

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The issue of dilapidated buildings represents a significant opportunity for constructive and beneficial interventions in Morocco. Faced with challenges associated with aging constructions and rapid urbanization, the country is committed to developing innovative strategies aimed at revitalizing urban areas and enhancing the sustainability of infrastructure, thereby ensuring citizens' safety. Through targeted investments in the renovation and modernization of existing buildings, Morocco aims to stimulate job creation, boost the local economy, and improve the quality of life for residents. Additionally, the integration of sustainable construction standards and the strengthening of regulations will promote resilient and environmentally friendly urban development. In this proactive perspective, LABOTEST has been commissioned by the National Agency for Urban Renewal (ANRUR) to conduct an in-depth study. This study focuses on the technical expertise of 1800 buildings identified as dilapidated in the prefectures of Rabat and Skhirat-Témara following an initial clearance operation. The primary objective of this initiative is to conduct a comprehensive diagnosis of these buildings and define the necessary interventions to eliminate potential risks while ensuring appropriate treatment. The article presents the adopted intervention methodology, taking into account the social dimensions involved, as well as the results of the technical expertise. These results include the classification of buildings according to their degree of urgency and recommendations for appropriate conservatory measures. Additionally, different pathologies are identified and accompanied by specific treatment proposals for each type of building. Since this study, the adopted approach has been generalized to the entire territory of Morocco. LABOTEST has been solicited by other cities such as Casablanca, Chefchaouen, Ouazzane, Azilal, Bejaad, and Demnate. This extension of the initiative demonstrates Morocco's commitment to addressing urban challenges in a proactive and inclusive manner. These efforts also illustrate the endeavors undertaken to transform urban challenges into opportunities for sustainable development and socio-economic progress for the entire population.

Keywords: building, dilapidated, rehabilitation, Morocco

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Tennah Safia, Azzag Naouelle, Derdour Salima, Hafsi Fella, Laouadi Mourad, Laamari Abdalouahab, Ghalmi Farida, Kafidi Nacerredine

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Currently, goat farming is widely practiced among the rural population of Algeria. Although milk yield of goats is low (110 liters per goat and per year on average), this milk partly ensures the feeding of small children and provides raw milk, curd, and fermented milk to the whole family. In addition, given its investment cost, which is ten times lower than that of a cow, this level of production is still of interest. This interest is reinforced by the qualities of goat's milk, highly sought after for its nutritional value superior to that of cow's milk. In the same way, its aptitude for the transformation, in particular in quality cheeses, is very sought after. The objective of this study is to give the situation of goat milk production in rural areas of Algeria and to establish a classification of goat breeds according to their production potential. For this, a survey was carried out with goat farmers in Algerian steppe. Three indigenous breeds were encountered in this study: the breed Arabia, Mozabite, and Mekatia; Arabia being the most dominant. The Mekatia breed and the Mozabite breed appear to have higher production and milking abilities than other local breeds. They are therefore indicated to play the role of local dairy breeds par excellence. The other breed that could be improved milk performance is the Arabia breed. There, however, the milk performance of this breed is low. However, in order to increase milk production, uncontrolled crosses with imported breeds (mainly Saanen and Alpine) were carried out. The third population that can be included in the category for dairy production is the dairy breed group of imported origin. There are farms in Algeria composed of Alpine and Saanen breeds born locally. Improved milk performance of local goats, Crusader population, and dairy breeds of imported origin could be done by selection. For this, it is necessary to set up a milk control to detect the best animals. This control could be carried out among interested farmers in each large goat breeding area. In conclusion, sustained efforts must be made to enable the sustainable development of the goat sector in Algeria. It will, therefore, be necessary to deepen the reflection on a national strategy to valorize goat's milk, taking into account the specificities of the environment, the genetic biodiversity, and the eating habits of the Algerian consumer.

Keywords: goat, milk, Algeria, biodiversity

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Himanshu Sharma, Karthik Kumar, Harish Kumar

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The major problem in crop cultivation is the occurrence of multiple crop diseases. During the growth stage, timely identification of crop diseases is paramount to ensure the high yield of crops, lower production costs, and minimize pesticide usage. In most cases, crop diseases produce observable characteristics and symptoms. The Surveyors usually diagnose crop diseases when they walk through the fields. However, surveyor inspections tend to be biased and error-prone due to the nature of the monotonous task and the subjectivity of individuals. In addition, visual inspection of each leaf or plant is costly, time-consuming, and labour-intensive. Furthermore, the plant pathologists and experts who can often identify the disease within the plant according to their symptoms in early stages are not readily available in remote regions. Therefore, this study specifically addressed early detection of leaf scald, red rot, and eyespot types of diseases within sugarcane plants. The study proposes a computer vision-based approach using a convolutional neural network (CNN) for automatic identification of crop diseases. To facilitate this, firstly, images of sugarcane diseases were taken from google without modifying the scene, background, or controlling the illumination to build the training dataset. Then, the testing dataset was developed based on the real-time collected images from the sugarcane field from India. Then, the image dataset is pre-processed for feature extraction and selection. Finally, the CNN-based Visual Geometry Group (VGG) model was deployed on the training and testing dataset to classify the images into diseased and healthy sugarcane plants and measure the model's performance using various parameters, i.e., accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score. The promising result of the proposed model lays the groundwork for the automatic early detection of sugarcane disease. The proposed research directly sustains an increase in crop yield.

Keywords: automatic classification, computer vision, convolutional neural network, image processing, sugarcane disease, visual geometry group

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

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Anthropometric obesity indices such as waist circumference (WC), indices derived from anthropometric measurements such as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and indices created from body fat mass composition such as trunk-to-leg fat ratio (TLFR) are commonly used for the evaluation of mild or severe forms of obesity. Their clinical utilities are being compared using body mass index (BMI) percentiles to classify obesity groups. The best of them is still being investigated to make a clear-cut discrimination between healthy normal individuals (N-BMI) and overweight or obese (OB) or morbid obese patients. The aim of this study is to derive a new index, which best suits the purpose for the discrimination of children with N-BMI from OB children. A total of eighty-three children participated in the study. Two groups were constituted. The first group comprised 42 children with N-BMI, and the second group was composed of 41 OB children, whose age- and sex- adjusted BMI percentile values vary between 95 and 99. The corresponding values for the first group were between 15 and 85. This classification was based upon the tables created by World Health Organization. The institutional ethics committee approved the study protocol. Informed consent forms were filled by the parents of the participants. Anthropometric measurements were taken and recorded following a detailed physical examination. Within this context, weight, height (Ht), WC, hip C (HC), neck C (NC) values were taken. Body mass index, WHR, (WC+HC)/2, WC/Ht, (WC/HC)/Ht, WC*NC were calculated. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was performed to obtain body’s fat compartments in terms of total fat, trunk fat, leg fat, arm fat masses. Trunk-to-leg fat ratio, trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAFR), (trunk fat+leg fat)/2 ((TF+LF)/2) were calculated. Fat mass index (FMI) and diagnostic obesity notation model assessment-II (D2I) index values were calculated. Statistical analysis of the data was performed. Significantly increased values of (WC+HC)/2, (TF+LF)/2, D2I, and FMI were observed in OB group in comparison with those of N-BMI group. Significant correlations were calculated between BMI and WC, (WC+HC)/2, (TF+LF)/2, TLFR, TAFR, D2I as well as FMI both in N-BMI and OB groups. The same correlations were obtained for WC. (WC+HC)/2 was correlated with TLFR, TAFR, (TF+LF)/2, D2I, and FMI in N-BMI group. In OB group, the correlations were the same except those with TLFR and TAFR. These correlations were not present with WHR. Correlations were observed between TLFR and BMI, WC, (WC+HC)/2, (TF+LF)/2, D2I as well as FMI in N-BMI group. Same correlations were observed also with TAFR. In OB group, correlations between TLFR or TAFR and BMI, WC as well as (WC+HC)/2 were missing. None was noted with WHR. From these findings, it was concluded that (WC+HC)/2, but not WHR, was much more suitable as an anthropometric obesity index. The only correlation valid in both groups was that exists between (WC+HC)/2 and (TF+LF)/2. This index was suggested as a link between anthropometric and fat-based indices.

Keywords: children, hip circumference, obesity, waist circumference

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Authors: Andrey Makarov

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This article will focus on the development of antitrust policy in transition economies in the context of preventing explicit and tacit collusion. Experience of BRICS, CIS (Ukraine, Kazakhstan) and CEE countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Estonia) in the creation of antitrust institutions was analyzed, including both legislation and enforcement practice. Most of these countries in the early 90th were forced to develop completely new legislation in the field of protection of competition and it is important to compare different ways of building antitrust institutions and policy results. The article proposes a special approach to evaluation of preventing collusion mechanisms. This approach takes into account such enforcement problems as: classification problems (tacit vs explicit collusion, vertical vs horizontal agreements), flexibility of prohibitions (the balance between “per se” vs “rule of reason” approaches de jure and in practice), design of sanctions, private enforcement challenge, leniency program mechanisms, the role of antitrust authorities etc. The analysis is conducted using both official data, published by competition authorities, and expert assessments. The paper will show how the integration process within the EU predetermined some aspects of the development of antitrust policy in CEE countries, including the trend of the use of "rule of reason" approach. Simultaneously was analyzed the experience of CEE countries in special mechanisms of government intervention. CIS countries in the development of antitrust policy followed more or less original ways, without such a great impact from the European Union, more attention will be given to Russian experience in this field, including the analysis of judicial decisions in antitrust cases. Main problems and challenges for transition economies in this field will be shown, including: Legal uncertainty problem; Problem of rigidity of prohibitions; Enforcement priorities of the regulator; Interaction of administrative and criminal law, limited effectiveness of criminal sanctions in the antitrust field; The effectiveness of leniency program design; Private enforcement challenge.

Keywords: collusion, antitrust policy, leniency program, transition economies, Russia, CEE

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Authors: Azariah Sosa, Carlos Renedo Sanchez

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The development of a new motorway north of Auckland (New Zealand) includes steep rock cuts, from 63 up to 85 degrees, in an interbedded sandstone and siltstone rock mass of the geological unit Waitemata Group (Pakiri Formation), which shows sub-horizontal bedding planes, various sub-vertical joint sets, and a diverse weathering profile. In this kind of rock mass -that can be classified as a weak rock- the definition of the stable maximum geometry is not only governed by discontinuities and defects evident in the rock but is important to also consider the global stability of the rock slope, including (in the analysis) the rock mass characterisation, influence of the groundwater, the geological evolution, and the weathering processes. Depending on the weakness of the rock and the processes suffered, the global stability could, in fact, be a more restricting element than the potential instability of individual blocks through discontinuities. This paper discusses those elements that govern the stability of the rock slopes constructed in a rock formation with favourable bedding and distribution of discontinuities (horizontal and vertical) but with a weak behaviour in terms of global rock mass characterisation. In this context, classifications as Q-Slope and slope stability assessment methodology (SSAM) have been demonstrated as important tools which complement the assessment of the global stability together with the analytical tools related to the wedge-type failures and limit equilibrium methods. The paper focuses on the applicability of these two new empirical classifications to evaluate the slope stability in 18 already excavated rock slopes in the Pakiri formation through comparison between the predicted and observed stability issues and by reviewing the outcome of analytical methods (Rocscience slope stability software suite) compared against the expected stability determined from these rock classifications. This exercise will help validate such findings and correlations arising from the two empirical methods in order to adjust the methods to the nature of this specific kind of rock mass and provide a better understanding of the long-term stability of the slopes studied.

Keywords: Pakiri formation, Q-slope, rock slope stability, SSAM, weak rock

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Authors: Igor Jerkovic

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Owing to the attractive sensory properties and low odour thresholds, norisoprenoids (degraded carotenoid-like structures with 3,5,5-trimethylcyclohex-2-enoic unit) have been identified as aroma contributors in a number of different matrices. C₁₃-Norisoprenoids have been found among volatile organic compounds of various honey types as well as C₉//C₁₀-norisoprenoids or C₁₄/C₁₅-norisoprenoids. Besides degradation of abscisic acid (which produces, e.g., dehydrovomifoliol, vomifoliol, others), the cleavage of the C(9)=C(10) bond of other carotenoid precursors directly generates nonspecific C₁₃-norisoprenoids such as trans-β-damascenone, 3-hydroxy-trans-β-damascone, 3-oxo-α-ionol, 3-oxo-α-ionone, β-ionone found in various honey types. β-Damascenone and β-ionone smelling like honey, exhibit the lowest odour threshold values of all C₁₃-norisoprenoids. The presentation is targeted on two uncommon C₁₃-norisoprenoids in the honey flavor that could be used as specific or nonspecific chemical markers of the botanical origin. Namely, after screening of different honey types, the focus was directed on Centaruea cyanus L. and Allium ursinum L. honey. The samples were extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and ultrasonic solvent extraction (USE) and the extracts were analysed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). SPME fiber with divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) coating was applied for the research of C. cyanus honey headspace and predominant identified compound was 3,4-dihydro-3-oxoedulan (2,5,5,8a-tetramethyl-2,3,5,6,8,8a-hexahydro-7H-chromen-7-one also known as 2,3,5,6,8,8a-hexahydro-2,5,5,8a-tetramethyl-7H-1-benzo-pyran-7-one). The oxoedulan structure contains epoxide and it is more volatile in comparison with its hydroxylated precursors. This compound has not been found in other honey types and can be considered specific for C. cyanus honey. The dichloromethane extract of A. ursinum honey contained abundant (E)-4-(r-1',t-2',c-4'-trihydroxy-3',6',6'-trimethylcyclohexyl)-but-3-en-2-one that was previously isolated as dominant substance from the ether extracts of New Zealand thyme honey. Although a wide variety of degraded carotenoid-like substances have been identified from different honey types, this appears to be rare situation where 3,4-dihydro-3-oxoedulan and (E)-4-(r-1',t-2',c-4'-trihydroxy-3',6',6'-trimethylcyclohexyl)-but-3-en-2-one have been found that is of great importance for chemical fingerprinting and identification of the chemical biomarkers that can complement the pollen analysis as the major method for the honey classification.

Keywords: 3, 4-dihydro-3-oxoedulan, (E)-4-(r-1', t-2', c-4'-trihydroxy-3', 6', 6'-trimethylcyclohexyl)-but-3-en-2-one, honey flavour, C₁₃-norisoprenoids

Procedia PDF Downloads 332