Search results for: Life Cycle Assessment

Authors: Ahmadur Rahman, Showkat Ahmad Lone, Ariful Islam

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In this article, we have estimated the parameters for the failure times of units based on the sampling technique adaptive type-I progressive hybrid censoring under the step-stress partially accelerated life tests for competing risk. The failure times of the units are assumed to follow an exponential distribution. Maximum likelihood estimation technique is used to estimate the unknown parameters of the distribution and tampered coefficient. Confidence interval also obtained for the parameters. A simulation study is performed by using Monte Carlo Simulation method to check the authenticity of the model and its assumptions.

Keywords: adaptive type-I hybrid progressive censoring, competing risks, exponential distribution, simulation, step-stress partially accelerated life tests

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Authors: Anisur Rahman, Sabyasachi Behera, Pawan Pathak, Benazir Patil, Rajesh Khanna

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Background: Nearly half of India’s population is expected to reside in urban areas by 2030. The extent to which India's health system can provide for this large and growing city-based population will determine the country's success in achieving universal health coverage and improved national health indices. National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) strive for improving access to primary health care in urban areas. Implementation of NUHM solicits sensitive, effective and sustainable strategies to strengthen the service delivery mechanisms. The Challenge Initiative for Healthy Cities (TCIHC) is working with the Government of India and three provincial states to develop effective service delivery mechanisms for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) through a health systems approach for the urban poor. Method: A rapid assessment study was conceptualized and executed to generate evidence in order to address the challenges impeding in functioning of urban health facilities to deliver effective, efficient and equitable health care services in 7 cities spread across two project States viz. Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Results: The findings of the assessment reflect: 1. The overall ecosystem pertaining to planning and management of public health interventions is not conducive. 2. The challenges regarding population dynamics like migration keeps on influencing the demand-supply-enabling environment triangle for both public and private service providers. 3. Lack of norms for planning and benchmark for service delivery further impedes urban health system as a whole. 4. Operationalization of primary level services have enough potential to meet the demand of slum dwellers at large. 5. Lack of policy driven strategies on how to integrate the NUHM with other thematic areas of Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (MNCH) and Family Planning (FP). 5. The inappropriate capacity building and acute shortage of Human Resources has huge implication on service provisioning and adherence to the service delivery protocols. Conclusion: The findings from rapid assessment are aimed to inform pertinent stakeholders to develop a multiyear city health action plan to strengthen the health systems in order to improve the efficacy of service delivery mechanism in urban settings.

Keywords: city health plan, health system, rapid assessment, urban mission

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Authors: Zdravko Trivic, John Chye Fung, Ruzica Bozovic-Stamenovic

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Within the context of rapidly ageing population in Singapore and the pressing demands on both caregivers and care providers, an integrated approach to ageing-friendly and ability-sensitive enabling environment becomes an imperative. This particularly applies to nursing home environments and their immediate surroundings, as they are becoming one of the main available options of long-term care for many senior adults who are unable to age at home. Yet, despite the considerable efforts to break the still predominant clinical approach to eldercare and to introduce more home-like design and person-centric care model, nursing homes keep being stigmatised and perceived as not so desirable environments to grow old in. The challenges are further emphasised by the associated physical, sensorial, psychological and cognitive declines that are the common consequences of ageing. Such declines have an immense impact on almost all aspects of older adults’ daily functioning, including problems with mobility and spatial orientation, difficulties in communication, withdrawal from social interaction, higher level of depression and decreased sense of independence and autonomy. However, typical nursing home designs tend to neglect the full capacities of balanced and carefully integrated multisensory stimuli as active component of care and ability building. This paper outlines part of a larger multi-disciplinary study of six nursing homes in Singapore, with overarching objectives to create new models of supportive nursing home environments that go beyond the clinical care model and encourage community integration with the nursing home settings. The paper focuses on the largely neglected aspects of sensorial comfort and multi-sensorial properties of nursing homes, including both indoor and immediate outdoor spaces (boundaries). The objective was to investigate the sensory rhythms and explore their role in nursing home users’ daily routine and therapeutic capacities. Socio-sensory rhythms were captured and analysed through a combination of on-site sensory recordings of “objective” quantitative sensory data (air temperature and humidity, sound level and luminance) using multi-function environment meter, perceived experienced data, spatial mapping, first-person observations of nursing home users’ activity patterns, and interviews. This was done in addition to employment of available assessment tools, such as Wisconsin Person Directed Care assessment tool, Dementia Quality of Life [DQoL] instrument, and Resident Environment Impact Scale [REIS], as these tools address the issues of sensorial experience insufficiently and selectively. Key findings indicate varied levels of sensory comfort, as well as diversity, intensity, and customisation of multi-sensory conditions within different nursing home spaces. Sensory stimulation is typically concentrated in communal living areas of the nursing homes or in the areas that often provide controlled or limited access, including specifically designed sensory rooms and outdoor green spaces (gardens and terraces). Opportunities for sensory stimulation are particularly limited for bed-bound senior residents and within more functional areas, such as corridors. This suggests that the capacities of nursing home designs to provide more diverse and better integrated pleasant sensory conditions as integrated “therapeutic devices” to build nursing home residents’ physical and mental abilities, encourage activity and improve wellbeing are far from exhausted.

Keywords: ageing-supportive environment, enabling design, multi-sensory assessment, nursing home environment

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Authors: Seigo Matsuno, Yasuo Uchida, Shozo Tokinaga

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This paper proposes and empirically tests a model of the relationships between green supply chain management (GSCM) activities and corporate performance. From the literature review, we identified five constructs, namely, environmental commitment, supplier collaboration, supplier assessment, information sharing among suppliers, and business process improvement. These explanatory variables are used to form a structural model explaining the environmental and economic performance. The model was analyzed using the data from a survey of a sample of manufacturing firms in Japan. The results suggest that the degree of supplier collaboration has an influence on the environmental performance directly. While, the impact of supplier assessment on the environmental performance is mediated by the information sharing and/or business process improvement. And the environmental performance has a positive relationship on the economic performance. Academic and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.

Keywords: corporate performance, empirical study, green supply chain management, path modeling

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Authors: Alyaa Farouk AbdelFattah Ibrahim, Agnes Monica, Dolores I. Cabansag

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The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is reaching epidemic proportions in many parts of the world causing an increasing public health concern. Cases of Type 2 diabetes are rapidly increasing in the Middle East region. Deprived of lifestyle deviations, a section of the Middle East’s inhabitants will be pretentious by 2035. As all sociocultural factors have created unhealthy lifestyles, which have become part of the social norms within Saudi society, thereby increased the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and obesity in women living in Saudi Arabia. So, this study aimed to assess the impact of diabetes mellitus on quality of life of female nursing students in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh. In a crossectional study design, 151 nursing students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for health sciences in Riyadh were included in the study. Biosociodemographic questionnaire and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) Health Related Quality of life Survey Arabic version were used for data collection, and all included students were screened for random blood glucose level. Results depicted that among 151 subjects included in the study 17 (11.3%) had diagnosed medical problems, and 29.4% of those participants with medical problems were diabetics. Univariate regression model for the relation between diabetes mellitus and overall percent score of SF-36 health survey domains showed no statistically significant difference between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects 0.990(0.931-1.053). In conclusion, although the diabetes prevalence was high among the study subjects it did not affect their quality of life may be due to age of the study population.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, diabetes prevalence, quality of life, university students' health

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Authors: Sahar Maleki, Reza Shahbazi, Nayere Sadat Bayat Ghiasi

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Applied geomorphological maps are crucial tools in engineering, particularly for the placement of structures. These maps provide precise information about the terrain, including landforms, soil types, and geological features, which are essential for making informed decisions about construction sites. The importance of these maps is evident in risk assessment, as they help identify potential hazards such as landslides, erosion, and flooding, enabling better risk management. Additionally, these maps assist in selecting the most suitable locations for engineering projects. Cost efficiency is another significant benefit, as proper site selection and risk assessment can lead to substantial cost savings by avoiding unsuitable areas and minimizing the need for extensive ground modifications. Ensuring the maps are accurate and up-to-date is crucial for reliable decision-making. Detailed information about various geomorphological features is necessary to provide a comprehensive overview. Integrating geomorphological data with other environmental and engineering data to create a holistic view of the site is one of the most fundamental steps in engineering. In summary, the preparation of applied geomorphological maps is a vital step in the planning and execution of engineering projects, ensuring safety, efficiency, and sustainability. In the Geological Survey of Iran, the preparation of these applied maps has enabled the identification and recognition of areas prone to geological hazards such as landslides, subsidence, earthquakes, and more. Additionally, areas with problematic soils, potential groundwater zones, and safe construction sites are identified and made available to the public.

Keywords: geomorphological maps, geohazards, risk assessment, decision-making

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Authors: Carlos A. C. G. Neto, Natan C. G. Silva, Thais O. Costa, Luciana R. B. Goncalves, Maria v. P. Rocha

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Galactosidases are enzymes responsible for catalyzing lactose hydrolysis reactions and also favoring transgalactosylation reactions for the production of prebiotics, among which lactulose stands out. These enzymes, when immobilized, can have some enzymatic characteristics substantially improved, and the coating of supports with multifunctional polymers in immobilization processes is a promising alternative in order to extend the useful life of the biocatalysts, for example, the coating with polyethyleneimine (PEI). PEI is a flexible polymer that suits the structure of the enzyme, giving greater stability, especially for multimeric enzymes such as β-galactosidases and also protects it from environmental variations, for example, pH and temperature. In addition, it can substantially improve the immobilization parameters and also the efficiency of enzymatic reactions. In this context, the aim of the present work was first to develop biocatalysts of β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis immobilized on PEI coated agarose, determining the immobilization parameters, its operational and thermal stability, and then to apply it in the hydrolysis of lactose and synthesis of lactulose, using whey as a substrate. This immobilization strategy was chosen in order to improve the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme in the transgalactosylation reaction for the production of prebiotics, and there are few studies with β-galactosidase from this strain. The immobilization of β-galactosidase in agarose previously functionalized with 48% (w/v) glycidol and then coated with 10% (w/v) PEI solution was evaluated using an enzymatic load of 10 mg/g of protein. Subsequently, the hydrolysis and transgalactosylation reactions were conducted at 50 °C, 120 RPM for 20 minutes, using whey (66.7 g/L of lactose) supplemented with 133.3 g/L fructose at a ratio of 1:2 (lactose/fructose). Operational stability studies were performed in the same conditions for 10 cycles. Thermal stabilities of biocatalysts were conducted at 50 ºC in 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 6.6, with 0.1 mM MnCl2. The biocatalysts whose supports were coated were named AGA_GLY_PEI_GAL, and those that were not coated were named AGA_GLY_GAL. The coating of the support with PEI considerably improved immobilization yield (2.6-fold), the biocatalyst activity (1.4-fold), and efficiency (2.2-fold). The biocatalyst AGA_GLY_PEI_GAL was better than AGA_GLY_GAL in hydrolysis and transgalactosylation reactions, converting 88.92% of lactose at 5 min of reaction and obtaining a residual concentration of 5.24 g/L. Besides that, it was produced 13.90 g/L lactulose in the same time interval. AGA_GLY_PEI_GAL biocatalyst was stable during the 10 cycles evaluated, converting approximately 80% of lactose and producing 10.95 g/L of lactulose even after the tenth cycle. However, the thermal stability of AGA_GLY_GAL biocatalyst was superior, with a half-life time 5 times higher, probably because the enzyme was immobilized by covalent bonding, which is stronger than adsorption (AGA_GLY_PEI_GAL). Therefore, the strategy of coating the supports with PEI has proven to be effective for the immobilization of β-galactosidase from K. lactis, considerably improving the immobilization parameters, as well as the enzyme, catalyzed reactions. In addition, the use of whey as a raw material for lactulose production has proved to be an industrially advantageous alternative.

Keywords: β-galactosidase, immobilization, lactulose, polyethylenimine, whey

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Authors: Benmansour Nassima, Benmansour Souheyla

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The appropriate integration of reward processing and decision making provided by the environment is vital for behavioural success and individuals’ well being in everyday life. Functional neurological investigation has already provided an inclusive image on affective and emotional (motivational) processing in the healthy human brain and has recently focused its interest also on the assessment of brain function in anxious and depressed individuals. This article offers an overview on the theoretical approaches that relate emotion and decision-making, and spotlights investigation with anxious or depressed individuals to reveal how emotions can interfere with decision-making. This research aims at incorporating the emotional structure based on response and stimulation with a Bayesian approach to decision-making in terms of probability and value processing. It seeks to show how studies of individuals with emotional dysfunctions bear out that alterations of decision-making can be considered in terms of altered probability and value subtraction. The utmost objective is to critically determine if the probabilistic representation of belief affords could be a critical approach to scrutinize alterations in probability and value representation in subjective with anxiety and depression, and draw round the general implications of this approach.

Keywords: decision-making, motivation, alteration, reward processing, response selection

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Authors: C. E. Sutton, A. Varvani-Farahani

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Fatigue damage and life prediction of particle metal matrix composites (PMMCs) under uniaxial and multiaxial loading conditions were investigated. Three PMM composite materials of Al6061/Al2O3/20p-T6, Al6061/Al2O3/22p-T6 and Al6061/SiC/17w-T6 tested under tensile, torsion, and combined tension-torsion fatigue cycling were evaluated with various fatigue damage models. The fatigue damage models of Smith-Watson-Topper (S. W. T.), Ellyin, Brown-Miller, Fatemi-Socie, and Varvani were compared for their capability to assess the fatigue damage of materials undergoing various loading conditions. Fatigue life predication results were then evaluated by implementing material-dependent coefficients that factored in the effects of the particle reinforcement in the earlier developed Varvani model. The critical plane-energy approach incorporated the critical plane as the plane of crack initiation and early stage of crack growth. The strain energy density was calculated on the critical plane incorporating stress and strain components acting on the plane. This approach successfully evaluated fatigue damage values versus fatigue lives within a narrower band for both uniaxial and multiaxial loading conditions as compared with other damage approaches studied in this paper.

Keywords: fatigue damage, life prediction, critical plane approach, energy approach, PMM composites

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Authors: Javkhlan Nyamjav, Simona Fischer, Lauren Garner, Veronica McCracken

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Current whole building life cycle assessments (LCA) primarily focus on structural and major architectural elements to measure building embodied carbon. Most of the interior finishes and fixtures are available on digital tools (such as Tally); however, furniture is still left unaccounted for. Due to its repeated refreshments and its complexity, furniture embodied carbon can accumulate over time, becoming comparable to structure and envelope numbers. This paper presents a method to calculate the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of furniture elements in commercial buildings. The calculator uses the quantity takeoff method with GWP averages gathered from environmental product declarations (EPD). The data was collected from EPD databases and furniture manufacturers from North America to Europe. A total of 48 GWP numbers were collected, with 16 GWP coming from alternative EPD. The finalized calculator shows the average GWP of typical commercial furniture and helps the decision-making process to reduce embodied carbon. The calculator was tested on MSR Design projects and showed furniture can account for more than half of the interior embodied carbon. The calculator highlights the importance of adding furniture to the overall conversation. However, the data collection process showed a) acquiring furniture EPD is not straightforward as other building materials; b) there are very limited furniture EPD, which can be explained from many perspectives, including the EPD price; c) the EPD themselves vary in terms of units, LCA scopes, and timeframes, which makes it hard to compare the products. Even though there are current limitations, the emerging focus on interior embodied carbon will create more demand for furniture EPD. It will allow manufacturers to represent all their efforts on reducing embodied carbon. In addition, the study concludes with recommendations on how designers can reduce furniture-embodied carbon through reuse and closed-loop systems.

Keywords: furniture, embodied carbon, calculator, tenant improvement, interior design

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Authors: Bulus Kpame, Mukhtar Mohammed Alhaji, Garba Jibril

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In any team sport, the most important variables that should be used to measure performance are physical condition, and technical and tactical performance. In a complex game like football, it is extremely difficult to measure the relative importance of each of these variables. However, physical fitness itself has been shown to consist of several components, like endurance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination and speed. Each of these components has been shown to consist of several subcomponents. This paper attempts to describe a test battery to assess and evaluate physical performance in football players. This battery comprises a functional, structured training session of about 2.5hrs. it consists of quality rating of the warm-up procedure, tests of flexibility, football skills, power, speed, and endurance. Acceptable values for performance in each of the tests are also presented under each test. It is hoped that this battery of tests will be helpful to the coach in determining the effect of a specific training program. It would also be helpful to train physician and trainer, to monitor progress during rehabilitation after sustaining any injury.

Keywords: assessment, evaluation, performance, programs

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Authors: Rob Leslie, Taher Karimian

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The blockage of cross drainage structures is a risk that needs to be understood and managed or lessened through the design. A blockage is a random event, influenced by site-specific factors, which needs to be quantified for design. Under and overestimation of blockage can have major impacts on flood risk and cost associated with drainage structures. The importance of this matter is heightened for those projects located within sensitive lands. It is a particularly complex problem for large linear infrastructure projects (e.g., rail corridors) located within floodplains where blockage factors can influence flooding upstream and downstream of the infrastructure. The selection of the appropriate blockage factors for hydraulic modeling has been subject to extensive research by hydraulic engineers. This paper has been prepared to review the current Australian Rainfall and Runoff 2019 (ARR 2019) methodology for blockage assessment by applying this method to a transport corridor brownfield upgrade case study in New South Wales. The results of applying the method are also validated against asset data and maintenance records. ARR 2019 – Book 6, Chapter 6 includes advice and an approach for estimating the blockage of bridges and culverts. This paper concentrates specifically on the blockage of cross drainage structures. The method has been developed to estimate the blockage level for culverts affected by sediment or debris due to flooding. The objective of the approach is to evaluate a numerical blockage factor that can be utilized in a hydraulic assessment of cross drainage structures. The project included an assessment of over 200 cross drainage structures. In order to estimate a blockage factor for use in the hydraulic model, a process has been advanced that considers the qualitative factors (e.g., Debris type, debris availability) and site-specific hydraulic factors that influence blockage. A site rating associated with the debris potential (i.e., availability, transportability, mobility) at each crossing was completed using the method outlined in ARR 2019 guidelines. The hydraulic results inputs (i.e., flow velocity, flow depth) and qualitative factors at each crossing were developed into an advanced spreadsheet where the design blockage level for cross drainage structures were determined based on the condition relating Inlet Clear Width and L10 (average length of the longest 10% of the debris reaching the site) and the Adjusted Debris Potential. Asset data, including site photos and maintenance records, were then reviewed and compared with the blockage assessment to check the validity of the results. The results of this assessment demonstrate that the estimated blockage factors at each crossing location using ARR 2019 guidelines are well-validated with the asset data. The primary finding of the study is that the ARR 2019 methodology is a suitable approach for culvert blockage assessment that has been validated against a case study spanning a large geographical area and multiple sub-catchments. The study also found that the methodology can be effectively coded within a spreadsheet or similar analytical tool to automate its application.

Keywords: ARR 2019, blockage, culverts, methodology

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Authors: Srinivasan Chandrasekaran, Manda Hari Venkata Ramachandra Rao

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Increase in the oil and gas exploration in ultra deep-water demands an adaptive structural form of the platform. Triceratops has superior motion characteristics compared to that of the Tension Leg Platform and Single Point Anchor Reservoir platforms, which is well established in the literature. Buoyant legs that support the deck are position-restrained to the sea bed using tethers with high axial pretension. Environmental forces that act on the platform induce dynamic tension variations in the tethers, causing the failure of tethers. The present study investigates the dynamic response behavior of the restraining system of the platform under the failure of a single tether of each buoyant leg in high sea states. Using the rain-flow counting algorithm and the Goodman diagram, fatigue damage caused to the tethers is estimated, and the fatigue life is predicted. Results shows that under failure conditions, the fatigue life of the remaining tethers is quite alarmingly low.

Keywords: fatigue life, pm spectrum, rain flow counting, triceratops, failure analysis

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Authors: M. Dakshayini, P. Jayarekha

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In traditional output-based education system, class room lecture and laboratory are the traditional delivery methods used during the course. Written examination and lab examination have been used as a conventional tool for evaluating student’s performance. Hence, there are certain apprehensions that the traditional education system may not efficiently prepare the students for competent professional life. This has led for the change from Traditional output-based education to Outcome-Based Education (OBE). OBE first sets the ideal programme learning outcome consecutively on increasing degree of complexity that students are expected to master. The core curriculum, teaching methodologies and assessment tools are then designed to achieve the proposed outcomes mainly focusing on what students can actually attain after they are taught. In this paper, we discuss a promising applications based learning and evaluation component involving industry collaboration to improve the quality of teaching and student learning process. Incorporation of this component definitely improves the quality of student learning in engineering education and helps the student to attain the competency as per the graduate attributes. This may also reduce the Industry-academia gap.

Keywords: outcome-based education, programme learning outcome, teaching-learning process, evaluation, industry collaboration

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Authors: Zhidong Zhang

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This study established a mixed method model in assessing statistics learning with Bayesian network models. There are three variants in exploratory sequential designs. There are three linked steps in one of the designs: qualitative data collection and analysis, quantitative measure, instrument, intervention, and quantitative data collection analysis. The study used a scoring model of analysis of variance (ANOVA) as a content domain. The research study is to examine students’ learning in both semantic and performance aspects at fine grain level. The ANOVA score model, y = α+ βx1 + γx1+ ε, as a cognitive task to collect data during the student learning process. When the learning processes were decomposed into multiple steps in both semantic and performance aspects, a hierarchical Bayesian network was established. This is a theory-driven process. The hierarchical structure was gained based on qualitative cognitive analysis. The data from students’ ANOVA score model learning was used to give evidence to the hierarchical Bayesian network model from the evidential variables. Finally, the assessment results of students’ ANOVA score model learning were reported. Briefly, this was a mixed method research design applied to statistics learning assessment. The mixed methods designs expanded more possibilities for researchers to establish advanced quantitative models initially with a theory-driven qualitative mode.

Keywords: exploratory sequential design, ANOVA score model, Bayesian network model, mixed methods research design, cognitive analysis

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Authors: Tolga Barisik, Ali Fuat Guneri, K. Dastan

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Major industrial facilities have a high potential for fire risk. In particular, the indices used for the detection of hidden fire are used very effectively in order to prevent the fire from becoming dangerous in the initial stage. These indices provide the opportunity to prevent or intervene early by determining the stage of the fire, the potential for hazard, and the type of the combustion agent with the percentage values of the ambient air components. In this system, artificial neural network will be modeled with the input data determined using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, which is a multi-layer sensor (CAA) (teacher-learning) type, before modeling the modeling methods in the literature. The actual values produced by the indices will be compared with the outputs produced by the network. Using the neural network and the curves to be created from the resulting values, the feasibility of performance determination will be investigated.

Keywords: artifical neural networks, fire, Graham Index, levenberg-marquardt algoritm, oxygen decrease percentage index, risk assessment, Trickett Index

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Authors: Owamah Hilary, O. C. Izinyon

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Many existing biogas kinetic models are difficult to apply to substrates they were not developed for, as they are substrate specific. Biodegradability kinetic (BIK) model and maximum biogas production potential and stability assessment (MBPPSA) model were therefore developed in this study for the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and maize husk. Biodegradability constant (k) was estimated as 0.11d-1 using the BIK model. The results of maximum biogas production potential (A) obtained using the MBPPSA model corresponded well with the results obtained using the popular but complex modified Gompertz model for digesters B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, and B-5. The (If) value of MBPPSA model also showed that digesters B-3, B-4, and B-5 were stable, while B-1 and B-2 were unstable. Similar stability observation was also obtained using the modified Gompertz model. The MBPPSA model can therefore be used as alternative model for anaerobic digestion feasibility studies and plant design.

Keywords: biogas, inoculum, model development, stability assessment

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Authors: Ritwik Saha, Anindita Chaudhuri

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The psychological dimension of work-based mobility of the contemporary time in the context of the ever-changing socio-economic process mounting the interest to address the consequential issues of quality of life and well-being of the migrant section of society. The negotiation with the fluidity of the job market and the changing psychosocial dimensions within and between psychosocial relations may disentangle the resilience as well as the mechanism of diligence toward migrant (marginal) life. The work-based mobility and its associated phenomena have highly impacted the migrant’s quality of life especially the marginalized (socioeconomically weak) ones along with their family members staying away from them. The subjective experiences of the journey of their migrant life and reconstruction of the psychosocial being in terms of existence and well-being at the host place are the minimal addressed issues in migrant literature. Hence this gap instigates to bring forth the issue with the present study exploring the phenomenal aspects of lived experiences, resilience, and sense-making of the well-being of migrant living by the marginalized migrant people engaging in unorganized space. In doing so qualitative research method was followed, and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection from the four selected migrant groups (Fuchkawala, Bhunjawala, Bhari - drinking water supplier, Construction worker) as they migrated to Kolkata and its metropolis area from different states of India, Five participants from each group (20 participants in total) age range between 20 to 45 were interviewed physically and participants’ observatory notes were taken to capture their lived experiences, audio recordings were transcribed and analyzed systematically following Charmaz’s three-layer coding of grounded theory. Being truthful to daily industry, the strong desire to build children’s future, the mastering mechanism to dual existence, use of traditional social network these four themes emerges after analysis of the data. However, incorporating fate as their usual way of life and making sense of well-being through their assertion is another evolving aspect of migrant life.

Keywords: lived experiences, marginal living, resilience, sense-making process, well-being

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Authors: Murtuza Ali Lakhani, Michelle Marquard

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Given the paradoxical nature of innovation, we propose that leaders of innovation-centered organizations need certain specific qualities focused on developing higher-order structures, fostering self-organization, and nurturing constructive dissonance and conciliation. Keeping in view the prolific literature on leadership and innovation, we carry out a quantitative study with data collected over a five-year period involving 31 leaders and 209 observers (direct reports, peers, and managers) from across five companies based in the United States. Rather than accepting, as some scholars and practitioners do, that leadership is all-encompassing, we argue that it is specific to a given context, e.g., innovation. We find that leadership is the locus of innovation and that leaders able to effectively lead the innovation agenda demonstrate five specific behaviors and characteristics, namely stewardship, communication, empowerment, creativity, and vision. We demonstrate that the alignment (or misalignment) between a leader’s “self view” and “other view” is a tell-tale sign of whether (or not) the leader’s organization will succeed at innovation. We propose a scale, iLeadership, and test it psychometrically for assessment of leaders and organizational units charged with innovation.

Keywords: leadership, innovation, knowledge creating organizations, leadership behavior, leadership assessment

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Authors: Shoaib Rasool

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Migration trends in rural areas of Gujrat are increasing day by day among illiterate people as they consider it as a source of attraction and charm of destination. It affects the life standard both positive and negative way to their families left behind in the context of poverty, socio-economic status and life standards. It also promotes material items and as well as social indicators of living, housing conditions, schooling of their children’s, health seeking behavior and to some extent their family environment. The nature of the present study is to analyze socio-economic conditions regarding life standard of emigrant families left behind in rural areas of Gujrat district, Pakistan. A survey design was used on 150 families selected from rural areas of Gujrat districts through purposive sampling technique. A well-structured questionnaire was administered by the researcher to explore the nature of the study and for further data collection process. The measurement tool was pretested on 20 families to check the workability and reliability before the actual data collection. Statistical tests were applied to draw results and conclusion. The preliminary findings of the study show that emigration has left deep social-economic impacts on life standards of rural families left behind in Gujrat. They improved their life status and living standard through remittances. Emigration is one of the major sources of development of economy of household and it also alleviate poverty at house household level as well as community and country level. The rationale behind migration varies individually and geographically. There are popular considered attractions in Pakistan includes securing high status, improvement in health condition, coping other, getting married then to acquire nationality, using the unfair means, opting educational visas etc. Emigrants are not only sending remittances but also returning with newly acquired skills and valuable knowledge to their country of origin because emigrants learn new methods of living and working. There are also women migrants who experience social downward mobility by engaging in jobs that are beneath their educational qualifications.

Keywords: emigration, life standard, families, left behind, rural area, Gujrat

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Authors: Debarati Bhaumik, Diptish Dey

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Multilevel models, increasingly deployed in industries such as insurance, food production, and entertainment within functions such as marketing and supply chain management, need to be transparent and ethical. Applications usually result in binary classification within groups or hierarchies based on a set of input features. Using open-source datasets, we demonstrate that popular explainability methods, such as SHAP and LIME, consistently underperform inaccuracy when interpreting these models. They fail to predict the order of feature importance, the magnitudes, and occasionally even the nature of the feature contribution (negative versus positive contribution to the outcome). Besides accuracy, the computational intractability of SHAP for binomial classification is a cause of concern. For transparent and ethical applications of these hierarchical statistical models, sound audit frameworks need to be developed. In this paper, we propose an audit framework for technical assessment of multilevel regression models focusing on three aspects: (i) model assumptions & statistical properties, (ii) model transparency using different explainability methods, and (iii) discrimination assessment. To this end, we undertake a quantitative approach and compare intrinsic model methods with SHAP and LIME. The framework comprises a shortlist of KPIs, such as PoCE (Percentage of Correct Explanations) and MDG (Mean Discriminatory Gap) per feature, for each of these three aspects. A traffic light risk assessment method is furthermore coupled to these KPIs. The audit framework will assist regulatory bodies in performing conformity assessments of AI systems using multilevel binomial classification models at businesses. It will also benefit businesses deploying multilevel models to be future-proof and aligned with the European Commission’s proposed Regulation on Artificial Intelligence.

Keywords: audit, multilevel model, model transparency, model explainability, discrimination, ethics

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Authors: Jana Djounova

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The World Health Organization proposes an average annual reference level of 100 Bq/m³ to minimize health risks due to radon exposure in buildings. However, if this cannot be achieved under the country's specific conditions, the chosen reference level should not exceed 300 Bq/m³. The World Health Organization recognized the relationship between indoor radon exposure and lung cancer, even at low doses. Radon in buildings is one of the most important indoor air pollutants, with harmful effects on the health of the population and especially children. This study presents the assessment of indoor radon concentration as air pollution and analyzes the exposure to radon of children and workers. Assessment of air pollution and exposure to indoor radon concentrations under the National Science Fund of Bulgaria, in the framework of grant No КП-06-Н23/1/07.12.2018 in kindergartens in two districts of Bulgaria (Razgrad and Silistra). Kindergartens were considered for the following reasons: 1these buildings are generally at the ground and/or the first floor, where radon concentration is generally higher than at upper floors; 2these buildings are attended by children, a population generally considered more sensitive to ionizing radiation, although little data is available for radon exposure. The measurements of indoor radon concentrations were performed with passive methods (CR-39 track detectors) for the period from February to May 2015. One hundred fifty-six state kindergartens on the territories of two districts in Bulgaria have been studied. The variations of radon in the children's premises vary from 9 to 1087 Bq/m³. The established arithmetic mean value of radon levels in the kindergartens in Silistra is 139 Bq/m³ and in Razgrad 152 Bq/m³, respectively. The percentage of kindergarteners, where the radon in premises exceeds the Bulgarian reference level of 300 Bq/m³, was 19%. The exposure of children and workers in those kindergartens is high, so remediation measures of air pollution had been recommended. The difference in radon concentration in kindergartens in two districts was statistically analyzed to assess the influence of geography and geology and the difference

Keywords: air pollution, radon, kindergartens, detectors

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Authors: Rima Younis

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Agro-ecology is considered one of the agricultural approaches that is spreading across the world due to the practical solutions it provides that are in harmony with nature. These solutions target many agricultural problems, food production issues, and climate change. Agriculture and fertile soil in particular, play a vital role when it comes to food security and climate change. The organic substances, which mainly consist of carbon, in the soil contribute to the ecological system through 4 elements: Resistance to soil erosion, conserving water in soil, increasing soil fertility, and improving the biodiversity in it. Any small changes to the carbon storage in soil have a tremendous impact on both agricultural productivity and the greenhouse gas cycle, which is what agro-ecology aims to achieve. The importance of agro-ecology lies here, as it helps increase organic matter/carbon in the soil, on an ongoing basis, 15-20 times higher than nature’s rate in producing organic matter. Agro-ecology is set to increase the production of crops free of chemicals, develop organic matter, and establish carbon in soil, thus being a factor in limiting climate change, not just mitigating or adapting. Under the events of the rapid increase in population and the need to feed humans, agro-ecology stands in the first place as it surpasses the productivity of chemical agriculture per unit area, according to international and local experience. The introduction of agro-ecology to Palestine started 15 years ago, with modest beginnings faced with a lot of criticism and opposition, but is currently experiencing rapid growth among farmers and is becoming accepted among specialists. Even though the number of agro-ecologist farmers is still small, it reflects a state of turnover into a more sustainable, less polluting agriculture that works on renewing life and the elements of nature.

Keywords: toward to solidarity economy, food sovereignty, the introduction of agro-ecology to Palestine, the importance of agro-ecology

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Authors: Antonia Stergiou

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Background: Due to the developmental trajectory of executive function in preschool age, the majority of existing studies investigating the association between acute physical activity and cognitive control have focused on adolescents and adult population. Aim- The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of physical activity on the inhibitory control of pre-school children. Methods: This is a prospectively designed study that was conducted in a primary school in Bristol in June 2015. The total number of subjects was n=61 and 20 trials of a modified Eriksen Flanker Task were completed before and after a 30-minutes session of moderate exercise (including both 5 minutes of warm up and cool down). For each test a pre- and post-test assessment took place that included both congruent and incongruent trials. The congruent trials were considered as the control condition and the incongruent trials as those that measure inhibitory control (experimental condition). At the end of the assessment, the participants were instructed to choose the face that described their current feelings between three options (happy, neutral, sad). Results: There was a trend for increased accuracy following moderate exercise, but there was statistical significance (p > .05). However, there was statistically significant improvement in the reaction time following the same type of exercise (p = .005). Face board assessment revealed positive emotions after 30 minutes of moderate exercise. Conclusions: The current study supports findings from previous studies related to the benefits of physical activity on the children’s inhibitory control and provides evidence of those benefits in even younger ages. Further research should take place considering each child individually. Implementation of those findings could result in an improved curriculum in schools with additional time spent on physical education courses.

Keywords: cognitive control, inhibition, physical activity, pre-school children

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Authors: Nourhane Mohamed El Haridi, Mostafa El Arabi, Zeyad El Sayad

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Biomimicry is defined, by Benyus the natural sciences writer, as imitating or taking inspiration from nature’s forms and processes to solve human problems. Biomimicry is the conscious emulation of life’s genius. As the design community realizes the tremendous impact human constructions have on the world, environmental designers look to new approaches like biomimicry to advance sustainable design. Building leading the declaration made by biomimicry scientists that a full imitation of nature engages form, ecosystem, and process; this paper uses a logic approach to interpret human and environmental wholeness. Designers would benefit from both integrating social theory with environmental thinking and from combining their substantive skills with techniques for getting sustainable biomimic urban design. Integrating biomimicryʹs “Life’s Principles” into a built environment process model will make biomimicry more accessible and thus more widely accepted throughout the industry, and the sustainability of all species will benefit. The Biomimicry Guild hypothesizes the incorporation of these principles, called Lifeʹs Principles, increase the likelihood of sustainability for a respective design, and make it more likely that the design will have a greater impact on sustainability for future generations of all species as mentioned by Benyus in her book. This thesis utilizes Life’s Principles as a foundation for a design process model intended for application on built environment projects at various scales. This paper takes a look at the importance of the integration of biomimicry in urban design to get more sustainable cities and better life, by analyzing the principles of both sustainability and biomimicry, and applying these ideas on futuristic or existing cities to make a biomimic sustainable city more healthier and more conductive to life, and get a better biomimic urban design. A group of experts, architects, biologists, scientists, economists and ecologists should work together to face all the financial and designing difficulties, to have better solutions and good innovative ideas for biomimic sustainable urban design, it is not the only solution, but it is one of the best studies for a better future.

Keywords: biomimicry, built environment, sustainability, urban design

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Authors: Ebuwa Osagie, Vasilije Manovic

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Exergy analysis provides the identification of the location, sources of thermodynamic inefficiencies, and magnitude in a thermal system. Thus, both the qualitative and quantitative assessment can be evaluated with exergy, unlike energy which is based on quantitative assessment only. The main purpose of exergy analysis is to identify where exergy is destroyed. Thus, reduction of the exergy destruction and losses associated with the capture plant systems can improve work potential. Furthermore, thermodynamic analysis of different configurations of the process helps to identify opportunities for reducing the steam requirements for each of the configurations. This paper presents steady-state simulation and exergy analysis of the 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP)-based post-combustion capture (PCC) plant. Exergy analysis performed for the AMP-based plant and the different configurations revealed that the rich split with intercooling configuration gave the highest exergy efficiency of 73.6%, while that of the intercooling and the reference AMP-based plant were 57.3% and 55.8% respectively.

Keywords: 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol, modelling, and simulation, post-combustion capture plant, exergy analysis, flowsheeting configurations

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Authors: Susanna Asatryan

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The author will introduce a single module related to English teaching methodology for master course students getting specialization “A Foreign Language Teacher of High Schools And Professional Educational Institutions” of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences. The overall aim of the presentation is to introduce learning and teaching strategies within EXE Computer program for Mastery student-teachers of the University. The author will display the advantages of the use of this program. The learners interact with the teacher in the classroom as well as they are provided an opportunity for virtual domain to carry out their learning procedures in association with assessment and self-assessment. So they get integrated into blended learning. As this strategy is in its piloting stage, the author has elaborated a single module, embracing 3 main sections: -Teaching English vocabulary at high school, -Teaching English grammar at high school, and -Teaching English pronunciation at high school. The author will present the above mentioned topics with corresponding sections and subsections. The strong point is that preparing this module we have planned to display it on the blended learning landscape. So for this account working with EXE program is highly effective. As it allows the users to operate several tools for self-learning and self-testing/assessment. The author elaborated 3 single EXE files for each topic. Each file starts with the section’s subject-specific description: - Objectives and Pre-knowledge, followed by the theoretical part. The author associated and flavored her observations with appropriate samples of charts, drawings, diagrams, recordings, video-clips, photos, pictures, etc. to make learning process more effective and enjoyable. Before or after the article the author has downloaded a video clip, related to the current topic. EXE offers a wide range of tools to work out or prepare different activities and exercises for the learners: 'Interactive/non-interactive' and 'Textual/non-textual'. So with the use of these tools Multi-Select, Multi-Choice, Cloze, Drop-Down, Case Study, Gap-Filling, Matching and different other types of activities have been elaborated and submitted to the appropriate sections. The learners task is to prepare themselves for the coming module or seminar, related to teaching methodology of English vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. The point is that the teacher has an opportunity for face to face communication, as well as to connect with the learners through the Moodle, or as a single EXE file offer it to the learners for their self-study and self-assessment. As for the students’ feedback –EXE environment also makes it available.

Keywords: blended learning, EXE program, learning/teaching strategies, self-study/assessment, virtual domain,

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Authors: Nevila Bardhi, Joanna Magda, Kolapo Alex-Oni, Slavenka Sedlar, Paromita Hore

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The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) receives blood lead test results for NYC residents and conducts lead poisoning case investigations for individuals with elevated blood lead levels exposed to lead occupationally and non-occupationally. To (1) improve participant engagement, (2) aid the identification of potential lead sources, and (3) better tailor recommendations to reduce lead exposure, Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques were incorporated during risk assessment interviews of non-pregnant adults by DOHMH’s Adult Lead Poisoning Prevention (ALP) Program. MI is an evidence-based counselling method used in clinical settings that have been effective in promoting behavior change by resolving ambivalence and enhancing motivation in treating both physiological and psychological health conditions. The incorporation of MI techniques in the ALP risk assessment interview was effective in improving the identification of lead sources for non-pregnant adult cases, thus, allowing for the opportunity to better tailor lead poisoning prevention recommendations. The embedding of MI cues in the ALP risk assessment interview also significantly increased engagement in the interview process, resulting in approximately 50 more interviews conducted per year and a decrease in interview refusals during case investigations. Additionally, the pre-MI interview completion rate was 57%, while the post-MI Interview completion rate was 68%. We recommend MI techniques to be used by other lead poisoning prevention programs during lead poisoning investigations in similar diverse populations.

Keywords: lead poisoning prevention, motivational interviewing, behavior change, lead poisoning risk factors, self-efficacy

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Authors: Noof Eid Al Shammari

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Background: Living with haemodialysis (HD) can impose several physical and social restrictions on the lives of individuals. Usually, the patient has three dialysis sessions per week that each run for three to four hours. This limits the social life of patients and causes a lower quality of life, in conjunction with the fact that people with chronic kidney disease must follow strict fluid and food regimens and use multiple medications. Given these factors, patients undergoing HD generally need psychological support. Objective: This scoping review study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of physical and breathing exercises on quality of life (QOL) and psychophysical status in patients undergoing HD. Methodology: Searches for relevant studies were performed in four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and PubMed) for articles published between 2011 and 2021. Out of all the searched literature, ten studies met the inclusion criteria (8 randomised controlled trials, one quasi-experimental study, and one pilot study), with a total of 588 patients. Different types of physical and breathing exercises were used (breathing, cardiopulmonary, and physical exercises). Results: All included studies in this scoping review revealed that most of the aerobic or anaerobic exercises, as well as breathing exercises, had a positive effect and significantly improved patients’ QOL, physical functioning, and psychological status. Conclusions: In this review, most of the articles demonstrated a positive effect of physical and breathing exercises on the QOL and psychophysical status of HD patients. Based on the findings of these studies, physical and breathing exercises were shown to improve muscle strength and other health-related aspects of QOL, including sexual, social, cognitive, and physical functions. However, more studies will need to be conducted with a larger sample to determine the best intervention that could be implemented and standardised in nursing care for patients undergoing HD.

Keywords: physical exercise, breathing exercises, quality of life, depression, hemodialysis

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Authors: Yusarina Mat-Isa, Zuraidah Mohd-Sanusi, Mohd-Nizal Haniff, Paul A. Barnes

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In view that money laundering has become eminent for banking institutions, it is an obligation for the banking institutions to adopt a risk-based approach as the integral component of the accepted policies on anti-money laundering. In doing so, those involved with the banking operations are the most critical group of personnel as these are the people who deal with the day-to-day operations of the banking institutions and are obligated to form a judgement on the level of impending risk. This requirement is extended to all relevant banking institutions staff, such as tellers and customer account representatives for them to identify suspicious customers and escalate it to the relevant authorities. Banking institutions staffs, however, face enormous challenges in identifying and distinguishing money launderers from other legitimate customers seeking genuine banking transactions. Banking institutions staffs are mostly educated and trained with the business objective in mind to serve the customers and are not trained to be “detectives with a detective’s power of observation”. Despite increasing awareness as well as trainings conducted for the banking institutions staff, their competency in assessing money laundering risk is still insufficient. Several gaps have prompted this study including the lack of behavioural perspectives in the assessment of money laundering risk in the banking institutions. Utilizing experimental approach, respondents are randomly assigned within a controlled setting with manipulated situations upon which judgement of the respondents is solicited based on various observations related to the situations. The study suggests that it is imperative that informed judgement is exercised in arriving at the decision to proceed with the banking services required by the customers. Judgement forms a basis of opinion for the banking institution staff to decide if the customers posed money laundering risk. Failure to exercise good judgement could results in losses and absorption of unnecessary risk into the banking institutions. Although the banking institutions are exposed with choices of automated solutions in assessing money laundering risk, the human factor in assessing the risk is indispensable. Individual staff in the banking institutions is the first line of defence who are responsible for screening the impending risk of any customer soliciting for banking services. At the end of the spectrum, the individual role involvement on the subject of money laundering risk assessment is not a substitute for automated solutions as human judgement is inimitable.

Keywords: banking institutions, experimental approach, money laundering, risk assessment

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