Search results for: auditing information system

Authors: Ju Peng Poh, Jun Yu Charles Lee, Jonathan Chew Hoe Khoo

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The emergence of digital twin technology, a digital replica of physical world, has improved the real-time access to data from sensors about the performance of buildings. This digital transformation has opened up many opportunities to improve the management of the building by using the data collected to help monitor consumption patterns and energy leakages. One example is the integration of predictive models for anomaly detection. In this paper, we use the GAM (Generalised Additive Model) for the anomaly detection of Air Handling Units (AHU) power consumption pattern. There is ample research work on the use of GAM for the prediction of power consumption at the office building and nation-wide level. However, there is limited illustration of its anomaly detection capabilities, prescriptive analytics case study, and its integration with the latest development of digital twin technology. In this paper, we applied the general GAM modelling framework on the historical data of the AHU power consumption and cooling load of the building between Jan 2018 to Aug 2019 from an education campus in Singapore to train prediction models that, in turn, yield predicted values and ranges. The historical data are seamlessly extracted from the digital twin for modelling purposes. We enhanced the utility of the GAM model by using it to power a real-time anomaly detection system based on the forward predicted ranges. The magnitude of deviation from the upper and lower bounds of the uncertainty intervals is used to inform and identify anomalous data points, all based on historical data, without explicit intervention from domain experts. Notwithstanding, the domain expert fits in through an optional feedback loop through which iterative data cleansing is performed. After an anomalously high or low level of power consumption detected, a set of rule-based conditions are evaluated in real-time to help determine the next course of action for the facilities manager. The performance of GAM is then compared with other approaches to evaluate its effectiveness. Lastly, we discuss the successfully deployment of this approach for the detection of anomalous power consumption pattern and illustrated with real-world use cases.

Keywords: anomaly detection, digital twin, generalised additive model, GAM, power consumption, supervised learning

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Authors: Jaroslav Kraus

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Spatial information about demographic processes are a standard part of outputs in the Czech Republic. That was also the case of Population and Housing Census which was held on 2011. This is a starting point for a follow up study devoted to two basic types of households: single person households and households of one completed family. Single person households and one family households create more than 80 percent of all households, but the share and spatial structure is in long-term changing. The increase of single households is results of long-term fertility decrease and divorce increase, but also possibility of separate living. There are regions in the Czech Republic with traditional demographic behavior, and regions like capital Prague and some others with changing pattern. Population census is based - according to international standards - on the concept of currently living population. Three types of geospatial approaches will be used for analysis: (i) firstly measures of geographic distribution, (ii) secondly mapping clusters to identify the locations of statistically significant hot spots, cold spots, spatial outliers, and similar features and (iii) finally analyzing pattern approach as a starting point for more in-depth analyses (geospatial regression) in the future will be also applied. For analysis of this type of data, number of households by types should be distinct objects. All events in a meaningful delimited study region (e.g. municipalities) will be included in an analysis. Commonly produced measures of central tendency and spread will include: identification of the location of the center of the point set (by NUTS3 level); identification of the median center and standard distance, weighted standard distance and standard deviational ellipses will be also used. Identifying that clustering exists in census households datasets does not provide a detailed picture of the nature and pattern of clustering but will be helpful to apply simple hot-spot (and cold spot) identification techniques to such datasets. Once the spatial structure of households will be determined, any particular measure of autocorrelation can be constructed by defining a way of measuring the difference between location attribute values. The most widely used measure is Moran’s I that will be applied to municipal units where numerical ratio is calculated. Local statistics arise naturally out of any of the methods for measuring spatial autocorrelation and will be applied to development of localized variants of almost any standard summary statistic. Local Moran’s I will give an indication of household data homogeneity and diversity on a municipal level.

Keywords: census, geo-demography, households, the Czech Republic

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Authors: Tiago Sigal Linhares, Ana Amélia Nascimento da Silva Bones, Juliana Miola, McArthur Alexander Barrow, Airton Tetelbom Stein

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Introduction: As a result of increased globalization and changing migration trends, it is expected that a significant portion of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will change their place of residence over time. In order to provide better health care, monitor the HIV epidemic and plan urban public health care and policies, there is a growing need to formulate a strategy for monitoring PLWHA care, location and migration patterns. The Porto Alegre District is characterized by a high prevalence of PLWHA and is considered one of the epicenters of HIV epidemic in Latin America. Objectives: The aim of this study is to create a digital and easily editable map in order to create a visual representation of the location of PLWHA and to monitor their migration within the city and the country in an effort to promote longitudinal care. Methods: This Experience Report used Google Maps Map Creator to generate an active digital map showing the location and changes in residence of 165 PLWHA who received care at two Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics, which attended an estimated population of five thousand patients, in downtown Porto Alegre over the last four years. Their current addresses were discovered in the unified Brazilian health care system digital records (e-SUS) and updated on the map. Results: A digital map with PLWHA current residence location was created. It was possible to demonstrate visually areas with a large concentration of PLWHA and the migration of the population within the city as wells as other cities, regions and states. Conclusions: An easily reproducible and free map could aid in PLWHA monitoring, urban public health planning, target interventions and situational diagnosis. Moreover, a visual representation of PLWHA location and migration could help bring more attention and investments to areas with geographic inequities or higher prevalence of PLWHA. It also enables notification of local PHC units of monitored patients inside their area, which are in clinical risk or with treatment abandonment through active case findings, improving the care of PLWHA.

Keywords: health care, medical public health, theoretical and conceptual innovations, urban public health

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Authors: Zdzisław Kobos, Robert Jędrys, Zbigniew Wochyński

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Motor activity and good health are sine qua non determinants of a proper practice of the profession, especially aviation. Therefore, candidates to the aviation are selected according their psychomotor ability by both specialist medical commissions. Moreover, they must past an examination of the physical fitness. During the studies in the air force academy, eye-hand coordination is formed in two stages. The future aircraft pilots besides all-purpose physical education must practice specialist training on SAGI. Training includes: looping, aerowheel, and gyroscope. Aim of the training on the above listed apparatuses is to form eye-hand coordination during the tasks in the air. Such coordination is necessary to perform various figures in the real flight. Therefore, during the education of the future pilots, determinants of the effective ways of this important parameter of the human body functioning are sought for. Several studies of the sport psychology indicate an important role of the temperament as a factor determining human behavior during the task performance and acquiring operating skills> Polish psychologist Jan Strelau refers to the basic, relatively constant personality features which manifest themselves in the formal characteristics of the human behavior. Temperament, being initially determined by the inborn physiological mechanisms, changes in the course of maturation and some environmental factors and concentrates on the energetic level and reaction characteristics in time. Objectives. This study aimed at seeking a relationship between temperamental features and eye-hand coordination formation during training on SAGI. Material and Methods: Group of 30 students of pilotage was examined in two situations. The first assessment of the eye-hand coordination level was carried out before the beginning of a 30-hour training on SAGI. The second assessment was carried out after training completion. Training lasted for 2 hours once a week. Temperament was evaluated with The Formal Characteristics of Behavior − Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI) developed by Bogdan Zawadzki and Jan Strelau. Eye-hand coordination was assessed with a computer version of the Warsaw System of Psychological Tests. Results: It was found that the training on SAGI increased the level of eye-hand coordination in the examined students. Conclusions: Higher level of the eye-hand coordination was obtained after completion of the training. Moreover, a relationship between eye-hand coordination level and selected temperamental features was statistically significant.

Keywords: temperament, eye-hand coordination, pilot, SAGI

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Authors: Maja Martinovic, Valentina Zarkovic, Hrvoje Maljak

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Europe is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, in which tourism occupies a significant place among the most relevant economic activities, and this applies to the Republic of Croatia as well. Based on this study, the authors intended to encourage and support the creation of an effective tourism policy in Croatia that would be based on the profiling of certain target groups. Another objective was to compare the results obtained from the customer analysis with the market analysis of the tourism industry in Croatia. The objective is to adapt the current tourist offer according to the identified needs and expectations of a particular tourist group in order to increase the attractiveness of Croatia as a tourist destination and motivate greater attendance of the targeted tourist groups. The current research was oriented towards the Russian market as the target group. Therefore, the authors wanted to encourage a discussion on how to attract more Russian guests. Consequently, the intention of the research was a detailed analysis of Russian tourists, in order to gain a better understanding of their travelling motives and tendencies. Furthermore, attention was paid to the expectations of Russian customers and to compare them with the Croatian tourist offer, and to determine whether there is a possibility for an overlap. The method used to obtain the information required was a survey conducted among Russian citizens about their travelling habits. The research was carried out on the basis of 166 participants of different age, gender, profession and income group. The sampling and distribution of the survey took place between May and July 2016. The results provided from the research indicate that Croatian tourism has certain unrealized potential considering the popularization of Croatia as a tourist destination, and there is a capacity for increasing the revenues within the group of Russian tourists. Such a conclusion is based on the fact that the Croatian tourist offer and the preferences of the Russian guests are compatible, i.e. they overlap in many aspects. The results demonstrate that beautiful nature, cultural and historical heritage as well as the sun and sea, play a leading role in attracting more Russian tourists. It is precisely these elements that form the three pillars of the Croatian tourist offer. On the other hand, the profiling revealed that the most desirable destinations for the Russian guests are Italy and Spain, both of which provide the same main tourist attractions as Croatia. Therefore, the focus of the strategic ideas given in the paper shifted to other tourism segments, such as type of accommodation, sales channels, travel motives, additional offer and seasonality etc., in order to gain advantage in the Russian market, the Mediterranean region and tourism in general. The purpose of the research is to serve as a foundation for analysing the attractiveness of the other tourist destinations in the Russian market, as well as to be a general basis for a more detailed profiling of the various specific target groups of the Russian and other tourist groups.

Keywords: Croatia, Russian market, target groups, tourism, tourist destination

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Authors: Boce Zhang

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Strategic innovation of nanotechnology to promote food safety has drawn tremendous attentions among research groups, which includes the need for research support during the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the United States. There are urgent demands and knowledge gaps to the understanding of a) food-water-bacteria interface as for how pathogens persist and transmit during food processing and storage; b) minimum processing requirement needed to prevent pathogen cross-contamination in the food system. These knowledge gaps are of critical importance to the food industry. However, the lack of knowledge is largely hindered by the limitations of research tools. Our groups recently endeavored two novel engineering systems with biomimetics and microfluidics as a holistic approach to hazard analysis and risk mitigation, which provided unprecedented research opportunities to study pathogen behavior, in particular, contamination, and cross-contamination, at the critical food-water-pathogen interface. First, biomimetically-patterned surfaces (BPS) were developed to replicate the identical surface topography and chemistry of a natural food surface. We demonstrated that BPS is a superior research tool that empowers the study of a) how pathogens persist through sanitizer treatment, b) how to apply fluidic shear-force and surface tension to increase the vulnerability of the bacterial cells, by detaching them from a protected area, etc. Secondly, microfluidic devices were designed and fabricated to study the bactericidal kinetics in the sub-second time frame (0.1~1 second). The sub-second kinetics is critical because the cross-contamination process, which includes detachment, migration, and reattachment, can occur in a very short timeframe. With this microfluidic device, we were able to simulate and study these sub-second cross-contamination scenarios, and to further investigate the minimum sanitizer concentration needed to sufficiently prevent pathogen cross-contamination during the food processing. We anticipate that the findings from these studies will provide critical insight on bacterial behavior at the food-water-cell interface, and the kinetics of bacterial inactivation from a broad range of sanitizers and processing conditions, thus facilitating the development and implementation of science-based food safety regulations and practices to mitigate the food safety risks.

Keywords: biomimetic materials, microbial food safety, microfluidic device, nanotechnology

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Authors: Alexis Naranjo

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In the current global stage, a new sense and mix feelings against the globalization has started to take shape thanks to events such as Brexit and the 2016 US election. The perceptions towards the globalization have started to focus in a resistance movement called the 'anti-globalization movement'. This paper examines the current global stage vs. leadership decisions in a time when market integrations are not longer seeing as an opportunity for an economic growth buster. The biggest economy in the world the United States of America has started to face a new beginning of something called 'anti-globalization', in the current global stage starting with the United Kingdom to the United States a new strategy to help local economies has started to emerge. A new nationalist movement has started to focus on their local economies which now represents a direct threat to the globalization, trade agreements, wages and free markets. Business leaders of multinationals now in our days face a new dilemma, how to address the feeling that globalization and outsourcing destroy and take away jobs from local economies. The initial perception of the literature and data rebels that companies in Western countries like the US sees many risks associate with outsourcing, however, saving cost associated with outsourcing is greater than the firm’s local reputation. Starting with India as a good example of a supplier of IT developers, analysts and call centers we can start saying that India is an industrialized nation which has not yet secured its spot and title. India has emerged as a powerhouse in the outsource industry, which makes India hold the number one spot in the world to outsource IT services. Thanks to the globalization of economies and markets around the globe that new ideas to increase productivity at a lower cost has been existing for years and has started to offer new ideas and options to businesses in different industries. The economic growth of the information technology (IT) industry in India is an example of the power of the globalization which in the case of India has been tremendous and significant especially in the economic arena. This research paper concentrates in understand the behavior of business leaders: First, how multinational’s leaders will face the new challenges and what actions help them to lead in turbulent times. Second, if outsourcing or withdraw from a market is an option what are the consequences and how you communicate and negotiate from the business leader perspective. Finally, is the perception of leaders focusing on financial results or they have a different goal? To answer these questions, this study focuses on the most recent data available to outline and present the findings of the reason why outsourcing is and option and second, how and why those decisions are made. This research also explores the perception of the phenomenon of outsourcing in many ways and explores how the globalization has contributed to its own questioning.

Keywords: anti-globalization, globalization, leadership, outsourcing

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Authors: Jim Weese

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The Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Science environment remain excellent venues for leadership research. Prescribed leadership (coaching), emergent leadership (players and organizations), and executive leadership are all popular themes in the research literature. Leadership remains a popular area of inquiry in the sport management domain as well as an interesting area for practitioners who wish to heighten their leadership practices and effectiveness. The need for effective leadership in these areas given competing demands for attention and resources may be at an all-time high. The presenter has extensive research and practical experience in the area and has developed his concept based on the latest leadership literature. He refers to this as the Five ’C’s of Leadership. These components, noted below, have been empirically validated and have served as the foundation for extensive consulting with academic, sport, and business leaders. Credibility (C1) is considered the foundation of leadership. There are two components to this area, namely: (a) leaders being respected for having the relevant knowledge, insights, and experience to be seen as credible sources of information, and (b) followers perceiving the leader as being a person of character, someone who is honest, reliable, consistent, and trustworthy. Compelling Vision (C2) refers to the leader’s ability to focus the attention of followers on a desired end goal. Effective leaders understand trends and developments in their industry. They also listen attentively to the needs and desires of their stakeholders and use their own instincts and experience to shape these ideas into an inspiring vision that is effectively and continuously communicated. Charismatic Communicator (C3) refers to the leader’s ability to formally and informally communicate with members. Leaders must deploy mechanisms and communication techniques to keep their members informed and engaged. Effective leaders sprinkle in ‘proof points’ that reinforce the vision’s relevance and/or the unit’s progress towards its attainment. Contagious Enthusiasm (C4) draws on the emotional intelligence literature as it relates to exciting and inspiring followers. Effective leaders demonstrate a level of care, commitment, and passion for their people and feelings of engagement permeate the group. These leaders genuinely care about the task at hand, and for the people working to make it a reality. Culture Builder (C5) is the capstone component of the model and is critical to long-term success and survival. Organizational culture refers to the dominant beliefs, values and attitudes of members of a group or organization. Some have suggested that developing and/or imbedding a desired culture for an organization is the most important responsibility for a leader. The author outlines his Five ‘C’s’ of Leadership concept and provide direct application to executive leadership in Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Science.

Keywords: effectiveness, leadership, management, sport

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Authors: Kanchan Negi

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Background: Modern and urban occupational culture have driven demands for people to work long hours and weekends and take work to home at times. Research on the health effects of these exhaustive temporal work patterns is scant or contradictory. This study examines the relationship between work patterns and wellbeing in a sample of women living in the metropolitan hub of Delhi. Method: This study is based on the data collected from 360 currently married women between age 29 and 49 years, working in the urban capital hub of India, i.e., Delhi. The women interviewed were professionals from the education, health, banking and information and technology (IT) sector. Bivariate analysis was done to study the characteristics of the sample. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the physical and psychological wellbeing across occupational characteristics. Results: Most of the working women were below age 35 years; around 30% of women worked in the education sector, 23% in health, 21% in banking and 26% in the IT sector. Over 55% of women were employed in the private sector and only 36% were permanent employees. Nearly 30% of women worked for more than the standard 8 hours a day. The findings from logistic regression showed that compared to women working in the education sector, those who worked in the banking and IT sector more likely to have physical and psychological health issues (OR 2.07-4.37, CI 1.17-4.37); women who bear dual burden of responsibilities had higher odds of physical and psychological health issues than women who did not (OR 1.19-1.85 CI 0.96-2.92). Women who worked for more than 8 hours a day (OR 1.15, CI 1.01-1.30) and those who worked for more than five days a week (OR 1.25, CI 1.05-1.35) were more likely to have physical health issues than women who worked for 6-8 hours a day and five days e week, respectively. Also, not having flexible work timings and compensatory holidays increased the odds of having physical and psychological health issues among working women (OR 1.17-1.29, CI 1.01-1.47). Women who worked in the private sector, those employed temporarily and who worked in the non-conducive environments were more likely to have psychological health issues as compared to women in the public sector, permanent employees and those who worked in a conducive environment, respectively (OR 1.33-1.67, CI 1.09-2.91). Women who did not have poor work-life balance had reduced the odds of psychological health issues than women with poor work-life balance (OR 0.46, CI 0.25-0.84). Conclusion: Poor wellbeing significantly linked to strenuous and rigid work patterns, suggesting that modern and urban work culture may contribute to the poor wellbeing of working women. Noticing the recent decline in female workforce participation in Delhi, schemes like Flexi-timings, compensatory holidays, work-from-home and daycare facilities for young ones must be welcomed; these policies already exist in some private sector firms, and the public sectors companies should also adopt such changes to ease the dual burden as homemaker and career maker. This could encourage women in the urban areas to readily take up the jobs with less juggle to manage home and work.

Keywords: occupational characteristics, urban India, well-being, working women

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Authors: Samuele Abagnato, Lucia Rigamonti

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Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) is an effective tool to quantify the environmental impacts of reuse models and recycling technologies for textiles. In this work, publications in the last ten years about LCA on textile waste are classified according to location, goal and scope, functional unit, waste composition, impact assessment method, impact categories, and sensitivity analysis. Twenty papers have been selected: 50% are focused only on recycling, 30% only on reuse, the 15% on both, while only one paper considers only the final disposal of the waste. It is found that reuse is generally the best way to decrease the environmental impacts of textiles waste management because of the avoided impacts of manufacturing a new item. In the comparison between a product made with recycled yarns and a product from virgin materials, in general, the first option is less impact, especially for the categories of climate change, water depletion, and land occupation, while for other categories, such as eutrophication or ecotoxicity, under certain conditions the impacts of the recycled fibres can be higher. Cultivation seems to have quite high impacts when natural fibres are involved, especially in the land use and water depletion categories, while manufacturing requires a remarkable amount of electricity, with its associated impact on climate change. In the analysis of the reuse processes, relevant importance is covered by the laundry phase, with water consumption and impacts related to the use of detergents. About the sensitivity analysis, it can be stated that one of the main variables that influence the LCA results and that needs to be further investigated in the modeling of the LCA system about this topic is the substitution rate between recycled and virgin fibres, that is the amount of recycled material that can be used in place of virgin one. Related to this, also the yield of the recycling processes has a strong influence on the results of the impact. The substitution rate is also important in the modeling of the reuse processes because it represents the number of avoided new items bought in place of the reused ones. Another aspect that appears to have a large influence on the impacts is consumer behaviour during the use phase (for example, the number of uses between two laundry cycles). In conclusion, to have a deeper knowledge of the impacts of a life-cycle approach of textile waste, further data and research are needed in the modeling of the substitution rate and of the use phase habits of the consumers.

Keywords: environmental impacts, life-cycle-assessment, textiles recycling, textiles reuse, textiles waste management

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Authors: Getachew Weldemichael, Sentayehu Alamerew, Leta Tulu, Gezahegn Berecha

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Coffee quality improvement program is becoming the focus of coffee research, as the world coffee consumption pattern shifted to high-quality coffee. However, there is limited information on the genetic variation of C. Arabica for quality improvement in potential specialty coffee growing areas of Ethiopia. Therefore, this experiment was conducted with the objectives of determining the magnitude of variation among 105 coffee accessions collected from east Wollega coffee growing areas and assessing correlations between the different coffee qualities attributes. It was conducted in RCRD with three replications. Data on green bean physical characters (shape and make, bean color and odor) and organoleptic cup quality traits (aromatic intensity, aromatic quality, acidity, astringency, bitterness, body, flavor, and overall standard of the liquor) were recorded. Analysis of variance, clustering, genetic divergence, principal component and correlation analysis was performed using SAS software. The result revealed that there were highly significant differences (P<0.01) among the accessions for all quality attributes except for odor and bitterness. Among the tested accessions, EW104 /09, EW101 /09, EW58/09, EW77/09, EW35/09, EW71/09, EW68/09, EW96 /09, EW83/09 and EW72/09 had the highest total coffee quality values (the sum of bean physical and cup quality attributes). These genotypes could serve as a source of genes for green bean physical characters and cup quality improvement in Arabica coffee. Furthermore, cluster analysis grouped the coffee accessions into five clusters with significant inter-cluster distances implying that there is moderate diversity among the accessions and crossing accessions from these divergent inter-clusters would result in hetrosis and recombinants in segregating generations. The principal component analysis revealed that the first three principal components with eigenvalues greater than unity accounted for 83.1% of the total variability due to the variation of nine quality attributes considered for PC analysis, indicating that all quality attributes equally contribute to a grouping of the accessions in different clusters. Organoleptic cup quality attributes showed positive and significant correlations both at the genotypic and phenotypic levels, demonstrating the possibility of simultaneous improvement of the traits. Path coefficient analysis revealed that acidity, flavor, and body had a high positive direct effect on overall cup quality, implying that these traits can be used as indirect criteria to improve overall coffee quality. Therefore, it was concluded that there is considerable variation among the accessions, which need to be properly conserved for future improvement of the coffee quality. However, the variability observed for quality attributes must be further verified using biochemical and molecular analysis.

Keywords: accessions, Coffea arabica, cluster analysis, correlation, principal component

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Authors: Subham Ghosh, Arnab Nandi

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Background: The proliferation of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications demonstrates the potential for continuous monitoring of physical changes in the body. These technologies are vital for health monitoring tasks, such as identifying coughing and breathing activities, which are necessary for disease diagnosis and management. Monitoring activities such as coughing and deep breathing can provide valuable insights into a variety of medical issues. Wearable radio-based antenna sensors, which are lightweight and easy to incorporate into clothing or portable goods, provide continuous monitoring. This mobility gives it a substantial advantage over stationary environmental sensors like as cameras and radar, which are constrained to certain places. Furthermore, using compressive techniques provides benefits such as reduced data transmission speeds and memory needs. These wearable sensors offer more advanced and diverse health monitoring capabilities. Methodology: This study analyzes the feasibility of using a semi-flexible antenna operating at 2.4 GHz (ISM band) and positioned around the neck and near the mouth to identify three activities: coughing, deep breathing, and idleness. Vector network analyzer (VNA) is used to collect time-varying complex reflection coefficient data from perturbed antenna nearfield. The reflection coefficient (S11) conveys nuanced information caused by simultaneous variations in the nearfield radiation of three activities across time. The signatures are sparsely represented with gaussian windowed Gabor spectrograms. The Gabor spectrogram is used as a sparse representation approach, which reassigns the ridges of the spectrogram images to improve their resolution and focus on essential components. The antenna is biocompatible in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR). The sparsely represented Gabor spectrogram pictures are fed into a lightweight deep learning (DL) model for feature extraction and classification. Two antenna locations are investigated in order to determine the most effective localization for three different activities. Findings: Cross-validation techniques were used on data from both locations. Due to the complex form of the recorded S11, separate analyzes and assessments were performed on the magnitude, phase, and their combination. The combination of magnitude and phase fared better than the separate analyses. Various sliding window sizes, ranging from 1 to 5 seconds, were tested to find the best window for activity classification. It was discovered that a neck-mounted design was effective at detecting the three unique behaviors.

Keywords: activity recognition, antenna, deep-learning, time-frequency

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Authors: Kever Gomes, Rosana Martins

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The use of environmental indicators is today an important strategy for analyzing the sustainability of agricultural systems. Despite of the considerable importance of family agriculture for Brazilian economy, sustainable agricultural practices are still weakly known, and the known ones, underused. Currently, economic aspects of the relationship between man and nature lead to the destruction of natural ecosystems, which justifies the urgent need for dissemination and usage of new sustainable production techniques. The study shows the agro-social and social-cultural trajectory of the farmers and hypothesis are advanced on what would imply the adoption of agroforestry systems in family agriculture. This study aimed to investigate aspects related to the perception of sustainable agriculture, especially on agroforestry systems in farms of farmers from Distrito Federal-Brazil. Agro-social characteristics of farmers were systematized considering their perceptions about agroforestry systems for the preparation of proposal for a program of Environmental Services Payment, intended for families who are involved in the various activities of home gardens. This study used qualitative methodological approaches of quantitative research, using descriptive exploratory research. To get the necessary elements for the intended analysis, interviews were conducted at 40 heads of households of which 15 were men and 25 women. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, having been considered in the analysis the frequency, consistency, coherence and originality of responses. It was found that the lack of financial resources and lack of technical assistance are limiting factors for the dissemination and use of sustainable agricultural practices. Considering the great number of species found for the main categories of use, it can be inferred that the home gardens play important functions for the interviewed families, contributing for the food and medicine production destined for the consumption by the families themselves, and also playing an important esthetic function thanks to the variety of their ornamental plants. The wealth of these home gardens may be related to the rural origin and to the culture of the owners, who still keep a cultivation tradition. It was found that the products obtained from the home gardens contributed for the diet’s variety of the informants, representing a promising potential for the improvement of the population alimentation. The study reached the conclusion over the need to motivate the interest of these farmers to seek information and resources to enable the implementation of Agroforestry projects, including the recovery of areas in their properties, even those distinct from their backyards. The study shows the agro-social and social-cultural trajectory of the farmers and hypothesis are advanced on what would imply the adoption of agroforestry systems in family agriculture.

Keywords: agro-biodiversity, natural conservation, silviculture, urban agriculture

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Authors: Auteleyeva Laura, Maikanov Balgabai, Smagulova Ayana

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In order to find and select detoxification methods, patent and information research was conducted, as a result of which 68 patents for inventions were found, among them from the near abroad - 14 (Russia), from far abroad: China – 27, USA - 6, South Korea–1, Germany - 2, Mexico – 4, Yugoslavia – 7, Austria, Taiwan, Belarus, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Canada for 1 security document. Aflatoxin B₁ in various nuts was determined by two methods: enzyme immunoassay "RIDASCREEN ® FAST Aflatoxin" with determination of optical density on a microplate spectrophotometer RIDA®ABSORPTION 96 with RIDASOFT® software Win.NET (Germany) and the method of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC Corporation Water, USA) according to GOST 307112001. For experimental contamination of nuts, the cultivation of strain A was carried out. flavus KWIK-STIK on the medium of Chapek (France) with subsequent infection of various nuts (peanuts, peanuts with shells, badam, walnuts with and without shells, pistachios).Based on our research, we have selected 2 detoxification methods: method 1 – combined (5% citric acid solution + microwave for 640 W for 3 min + UV for 20 min) and a chemical method with various leaves of plants: Artemisia terra-albae, Thymus vulgaris, Callogonum affilium, collected in the territory of Akmola region (Artemisia terra-albae, Thymus vulgaris) and Western Kazakhstan (Callogonum affilium). The first stage was the production of ethanol extracts of Artemisia terraea-albae, Thymus vulgaris, Callogonum affilium. To obtain them, 100 g of vegetable raw materials were taken, which was dissolved in 70% ethyl alcohol. Extraction was carried out for 2 hours at the boiling point of the solvent with a reverse refrigerator using an ultrasonic bath "Sapphire". The obtained extracts were evaporated on a rotary evaporator IKA RV 10. At the second stage, the three samples obtained were tested for antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Extracts of Thymus vulgaris and Callogonum affilium showed high antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Artemisia terraea-albae extract showed high antimicrobial activity and low antifungal activity. When testing method 1, it was found that in the first and third experimental groups there was a decrease in the concentration of aflatoxin B1 in walnut samples by 63 and 65%, respectively, but these values also exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations, while the nuts in the second and third experimental groups had a tart lemon flavor; When testing method 2, a decrease in the concentration of aflatoxin B1 to a safe level was observed by 91% (0.0038 mg/kg) in nuts of the 1st and 2nd experimental groups (Artemisia terra-albae, Thymus vulgaris), while in samples of the 2nd and 3rd experimental groups, a decrease in the amount of aflatoxin in 1 to a safe level was observed.

Keywords: nuts, aflatoxin B1, my, mycotoxins

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Authors: Margarita S. Tikhonova, Alireza Baniasad, Anton G. Kalmykov, Georgy A. Kalmykov, Ralf Littke

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There is a high complexity in the pore structure of organic-rich rocks caused by the combination of inter-particle porosity from inorganic mineral matter and ultrafine intra-particle porosity from both organic matter and clay minerals. Fluids are retained in that pore space, but there are major uncertainties in how and where the fluids are stored and to what extent they are accessible or trapped in 'closed' pores. A large degree of tortuosity may lead to fractionation of organic matter so that the lighter and flexible compounds would diffuse to the reservoir whereas more complicated compounds may be locked in place. Additionally, parts of hydrocarbons could be bound to solid organic matter –kerogen– and mineral matrix during expulsion and migration. Larger compounds can occupy thin channels so that clogging or oil and gas entrapment will occur. Sequential extraction of applying different solvents is a powerful tool to provide more information about the characteristics of trapped organic matter distribution. The Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Bazhenov shale is one of the most petroliferous source rock extended in West Siberia, Russia. Concerning the variable mineral composition, pore space distribution and thermal maturation, there are high uncertainties in distribution and composition of organic matter in this formation. In order to address this issue geological and geochemical properties of 30 samples including mineral composition (XRD and XRF), structure and texture (thin-section microscopy), organic matter contents, type and thermal maturity (Rock-Eval) as well as molecular composition (GC-FID and GC-MS) of different extracted materials during sequential extraction were considered. Sequential extraction was performed by a Soxhlet apparatus using different solvents, i.e., n-hexane, chloroform and ethanol-benzene (1:1 v:v) first on core plugs and later on pulverized materials. The results indicate that the studied samples are mainly composed of type II kerogen with TOC contents varied from 5 to 25%. The thermal maturity ranged from immature to late oil window. Whereas clay contents decreased with increasing maturity, the amount of silica increased in the studied samples. According to molecular geochemistry, stored hydrocarbons in open and closed pore space reveal different geochemical fingerprints. The results improve our understanding of hydrocarbon expulsion and migration in the organic-rich Bazhenov shale and therefore better estimation of hydrocarbon potential for this formation.

Keywords: Bazhenov formation, bitumen, molecular geochemistry, sequential extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Bruce Hunter

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Background: The transition for student veterans from military service to higher education can be a challenging endeavor, especially for those pursuing an education in nursing. While the experiences and perspectives of each student veteran is unique, their successful integration into an academic environment can be influenced by a complex array of barriers and facilitators. This mixed-methods study aims to explore the themes and concepts that can be found in the transition experiences of student veterans in nursing education, with a focus on identifying the barriers they face and the facilitators that support their success. Methods: This study utilizes an explanatory mixed-methods approach. The research participants include student veterans enrolled in nursing programs across three academic institutions in the Southeastern United States. Quantitative Phase: A Likert scale instrument is distributed to a sample of student veterans in nursing programs. The survey assesses demographic information, academic experiences, social experiences, and perceptions of institutional support. Quantitative data is analyzed using descriptive statistics to assess demographics and to identify barriers and facilitators to the transition. Qualitative Phase: Two open-ended questions were posed to student veterans to explore their lived experiences, barriers, and facilitators during the transition to nursing education and to further explain the quantitative findings. Thematic analysis with line-by-line coding is employed to identify recurring themes and narratives that may shed light on the barriers and facilitators encountered. Results: This study found that the successful academic integration of student veterans lies in recognizing the diversity of values and attitudes among student veterans, understanding the potential challenges they face, and engaging in initiative-taking steps to create an inclusive and supportive academic environment that accommodates the unique experiences of this demographic. Addressing these academic and social integration concerns can contribute to a more understanding environment for student veterans in the BSN program. Conclusion: Providing support during this transitional period is crucial not only for retaining veterans, but also for bolstering their success in achieving the status of registered nurses. Acquiring an understanding of military culture emerges as an essential initial step for nursing faculty in student veteran retention and for successful completion of their programs. Participants found that their transition experience lacked meaningful social interactions, which could foster a positive learning environment, enhance their emotional well-being, and could contribute significantly to their overall success and satisfaction in their nursing education journey. Recognizing and promoting academic and social integration is important in helping veterans experience a smooth transition into and through the unfamiliar academic environment of nursing education.

Keywords: nursing, education, student veterans, barriers, facilitators

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: Şeyda Kaya

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The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility perception and organizational commitment among Turkish cabin crew. At the same time, the social responsibility perception and organizational commitment scores of the participants were compared according to their gender, age, education level, title, and work experience. In the globalizing world, businesses have developed some innovative marketing methods in order to survive and strengthen their place in the market. Nowadays, consumers who are connected to the brand with an emotional bond rather than being just consumers. Corporate Social Responsibility Projects, on the one hand, provide social benefit, on the other hand, increase the brand awareness of businesses by providing credibility in the eyes of consumers. The rapid increase of competition, requires businesses to use their human resources, which is the most important resource to sustain their existence, in the most effective and efficient way. For this reason, the concept of ‘Organizational Commitment’ has become an important research topic for business and academics. Although there are studies in the literature to determine the effect of the perception of corporate social Responsibility on Organizational Commitment in Banking and Finance and Tourism sectors, there are no studies conducted specifically for the Turkish aviation sector to our best knowledge. Personal information form, CSR scale, Importance of CSR scale, Organizational commitment scale were used as data collection tools in the research. CSR Scale created by Türker (2006). was used to find out how employees felt about CSR. Importance of CSR Scale through a subscale of the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility (PRESOR) that Etheredge (1999) converted into a two-factor framework, the significance of social responsibility for employees was assessed. Organizational Commitment Scale, Mowday, Steers, and Porter (1979) created the OCQ, which uses 15 measures to evaluate global commitment to the organization. As a result of the study, there is a significant positive relationship between the participants' CSR scale sub-dimensions, CSR to Employees, CSR to Customers, CSR to Society, CSR to Government, CSR to Natural Environment, CSR to Next Generation, CSR to Governmental Organizations, Importance of CSR, and Organizational Commitment scores. As a result; as the participants' Corporate Social Responsibility scores increase, their organizational commitment increases. To summarize the findings of our study, the scores obtained from the CSR scale and the scores obtained from the Organizational Commitment scale were found to have a positive and significant relationship. In other words, if the participants value the corporate social responsibility projects of the institution they work for and think that they spare time and effort, the importance they attach to the corporate social responsibility projects and their organizational commitment to the institution they work for, increase. Similarly, the scores obtained from the Importance of CSR and the scores obtained from the Organizational Commitment scale also have a positive and significant relationship. As the importance given to corporate social responsibility projects by the participants increases, their organizational commitment to the institution they work for also increases.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, organizational commitment, Turkish cabin crew, aviation

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Suehyun Cho, Darrell Harrington, Florent Cros, Olin Palmer, John Caputo, Michael Kardosh, Eran Oren, William Loudon, Alex Kiselyov, Michael Shpigelmacher

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The Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM) represents a clinical syndrome manifesting as a combination of posterior fossa cyst, hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis, and obstructive hydrocephalus. Anatomic hallmarks include hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis, enlargement of the posterior fossa, and cystic dilatation of the fourth ventricle. Current treatments of DWM, including shunting of the cerebral spinal fluid ventricular system and endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), are frequently clinically insufficient, require additional surgical interventions, and carry risks of infections and neurological deficits. Bionaut Labs develops an alternative way to treat Dandy-Walker Malformation (DWM) associated with non-communicating hydrocephalus. We utilize our discreet microsurgical Bionaut™ particles that are controlled externally and remotely to perform safe, accurate, effective fenestration of the Dandy-Walker cyst, specifically in the posterior fossa of the brain, to directly normalize intracranial pressure. Bionaut™ allows for complex non-linear trajectories not feasible by any conventional surgical techniques. The microsurgical particle safely reaches targets in the lower occipital section of the brain. Bionaut™ offers a minimally invasive surgical alternative to highly involved posterior craniotomy or shunts via direct fenestration of the fourth ventricular cyst at the locus defined by the individual anatomy. Our approach offers significant advantages over the current standards of care in patients exhibiting anatomical challenge(s) as a manifestation of DWM, and therefore, is intended to replace conventional therapeutic strategies. Current progress, including platform optimization, Bionaut™ control, and real-time imaging and in vivo safety studies of the Bionauts™ in large animals, specifically the spine and the brain of ovine models, will be discussed.

Keywords: Bionaut™, cerebral spinal fluid, CSF, cyst, Dandy-Walker, fenestration, hydrocephalus, micro-robot

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: P. Tardi, B. Szilagyi, A. Makai, P. Acs, M. Hock, M. Jaromi

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Osteoporosis is becoming a major public health problem, particularly in postmenopausal women, as the incidence of this disease is getting higher. Nowadays, one of the most common chronic musculoskeletal diseases is osteoporosis. Osteoporosis-related knowledge is an important contributor to prevent or to treat osteoporosis. The most important strategies to prevent or treat the disease are increasing the level of physical activity at all ages, cessation of smoking, reduction of alcohol consumption, adequate dietary calcium, and vitamin D intake. The aim of the study was to measure the osteoporosis-related knowledge and physical activity among women age over 50 years. For the measurements, we used the osteoporosis questionnaire (OPQ) to examine the disease-specific knowledge and the global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) to measure the quantity and quality of the physical activity. The OPQ is a self-administered 20-item questionnaire with five categories: general information, risk factors, investigations, consequences, and treatment. There are four choices per question (one of them is the 'I do not know'). The filler gets +1 for a good answer, -1 point for a bad answer, and 0 for 'I do not know' answer. We contacted with 326 women (63.08 ± 9.36 year) to fill out the questionnaires. Descriptive analysis was carried out, and we calculated Spearman's correlation coefficient to examine the relationship between the variables. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel, and all statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (Version 24). The participants of the study (n=326) reached 8.76 ± 6.94 points on OPQ. Significant (p < 0.001) differences were found in the results of OPQ according to the highest level of education. It was observed that the score of the participants with osteoporosis (10.07 ± 6.82 points) was significantly (p=0.003) higher than participants without osteoporosis (9.38 ± 6.66 points) and the score of those women (6.49 ± 6.97 points) who did not know that osteoporosis exists in their case. The GPAQ results showed the sample physical activity in the dimensions of vigorous work (479.86 ± 684.02 min/week); moderate work (678.16 ± 804.5 min/week); travel (262.83 ± 380.27 min/week); vigorous recreation (77.71 ± 123.46 min/week); moderate recreation (115.15 ± 154.82 min/week) and total weekly physical activity (1645.99 ± 1432.88 min/week). Significant correlations were found between the osteoporosis-related knowledge and the physical activity in travel (R=0.21; p < 0.001), vigorous recreation (R=0.35; p < 0.001), moderate recreation (R=0.35; p < 0.001), total vigorous minutes/week (R=0.15; p=0.001) and total moderate minutes/week (R=0.13; p=0.04) dimensions. According to the results that were achieved, the highest level of education significantly determines osteoporosis-related knowledge. Physical activity is an important contributor to prevent or to treat osteoporosis, and it showed a significant correlation with osteoporosis-related knowledge. Based on the results, the development of osteoporosis-related knowledge may help to improve the level of physical activity, especially recreation. Acknowledgment: Supported by the ÚNKP-20-1 New National Excellence Program of The Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the Source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

Keywords: osteoporosis, osteoporosis-related knowledge, physical activity, prevention

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Stefano Iannello, Massimiliano Materazzi

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Fluidized bed reactor technologies are one of the most valuable pathways for thermochemical conversions of biogenic fuels due to their good operating flexibility. Nevertheless, there are still issues related to the mixing and separation of heterogeneous phases during operation with highly volatile feedstocks, including biomass and waste. At high temperatures, the volatile content of the feedstock is released in the form of the so-called endogenous bubbles, which generally exert a “lift” effect on the particle itself by dragging it up to the bed surface. Such phenomenon leads to high release of volatile matter into the freeboard and limited mass and heat transfer with particles of the bed inventory. The aim of this work is to get a better understanding of the behaviour of a single reacting particle in a hot fluidized bed reactor during the devolatilization stage. The analysis has been undertaken at different fluidization regimes and temperatures to closely mirror the operating conditions of waste-to-energy processes. Beechwood and polypropylene particles were used to resemble the biomass and plastic fractions present in waste materials, respectively. The non-invasive X-ray technique was coupled to particle tracking algorithms to characterize the motion of a single feedstock particle during the devolatilization with high resolution. A high-energy X-ray beam passes through the vessel where absorption occurs, depending on the distribution and amount of solids and fluids along the beam path. A high-speed video camera is synchronised to the beam and provides frame-by-frame imaging of the flow patterns of fluids and solids within the fluidized bed up to 72 fps (frames per second). A comprehensive mathematical model has been developed in order to validate the experimental results. Beech wood and polypropylene particles have shown a very different dynamic behaviour during the pyrolysis stage. When the feedstock is fed from the bottom, the plastic material tends to spend more time within the bed than the biomass. This behaviour can be attributed to the presence of the endogenous bubbles, which drag effect is more pronounced during the devolatilization of biomass, resulting in a lower residence time of the particle within the bed. At the typical operating temperatures of thermochemical conversions, the synthetic polymer softens and melts, and the bed particles attach on its outer surface, generating a wet plastic-sand agglomerate. Consequently, this additional layer of sand may hinder the rapid evolution of volatiles in the form of endogenous bubbles, and therefore the establishment of a poor drag effect acting on the feedstock itself. Information about the mixing and segregation of solid feedstock is of prime importance for the design and development of more efficient industrial-scale operations.

Keywords: fluidized bed, pyrolysis, waste feedstock, X-ray

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Kim Katherine Castillo, Nelson John Datubatang, Terrence Phillip Dy, Norelie Hampac, Reichen Crismark Martinez, Nina Faith Pantinople, Jose Dante Santos II, Marchel Ann Santos, Sophia Abigail Santiago, Zyrill Xsar San Juan, Aira Mae Tagao, Crystal Kylla Viagedor

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The Work Immersion Program was implemented to help students gain abundant work-related experiences while on-site; additionally, the program aims to help students improve their competencies and interpersonal skills as they are given the option to join the workforce if they ever choose to do so after senior high school. The work immersion experience posed diverse challenges for students, spanning personal, financial, engagement, environmental, and equipment-related domains. These included the need for assistance in time management, transportation expenses, and procurement of materials. Furthermore, students faced difficulties in independent task completion and encountered suboptimal work environments. Addressing these multifaceted obstacles is crucial to optimize the educational outcomes of work immersion programs. In addition to the challenges, several other issues have been identified, including the absence of standardized work immersion programs across schools and industries, the challenges in securing appropriate work immersion placements, the necessity for enhanced monitoring and evaluation of program effectiveness, and the limited availability of field programs aligned with students' chosen courses. Furthermore, there is a lack of comprehensive information regarding the attitudes of Senior High School students toward work immersion programs within their respective schools. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of senior high school students at Nazareth School of National University towards work immersion programs, with a focus on identifying factors that influence their perception and participation, including collegiality and expectations. By exploring the students' attitudes, the research endeavors to enhance the school's work immersion programs and contribute to the overall educational experience of the students. This study addresses challenges related to work immersion programs, focusing on six subtopics: Work Immersion, Work Immersion in the Philippines, Students' Attitudes, Factors Affecting Students' Attitudes, Effectiveness of Work Immersion for Senior High School Students, and Students' Perception and Willingness to Participate. Using a descriptive research design, the study examines the attitudes of senior high school students at Nazareth School of National University in Manila. Data was collected from 100 students, representing different academic strands, through a 35-item researcher-made survey. Descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and variability, will be used to analyze the data using JASP, providing valuable insights into the students' attitudes toward work immersion.

Keywords: attitudes, challenges, educational outcomes, work immersion programs

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Otuwose E. Agyeno, Adeniyi A. Jayeola, Bashir A. Ajala

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P. esculentus is indigenous to Nigeria yet no wild relation has been encountered or reported. This has made it difficult to establish proper lineages between the varieties and landraces under cultivation. The present work is the first to determine the apormophy of 135 morphoanatomical characters in organs of 46 accessions drawn from 23 populations of this species based on dicta. The character states were coded in accession x character-state matrices and only 83 were informative and utilised for neighbour joining clustering based on euclidean values, and heuristic search in parsimony analysis using PAST ver. 3.15 software. Compatibility and evolutionary trends between accessions were then explored from values and diagrams produced. The low consistency indices (CI) recorded support monophyly and low homoplasy in this taxon. Agglomerative schedules based on character type and source data sets divided the accessions into mainly 3 clades, each of complexes of accessions. Solenostemon rotundifolius (Poir) J.K Morton was the outgroup (OG) used, and it occurred within the largest clades except when the characters were combined in a data set. The OG showed better compatibility with accessions of populations of landrace Isci, and varieties Riyum and Long’at. Otherwise, its aerial parts are more consistent with those of accessions of variety Bebot. The highly polytomous clades produced due to anatomical data set may be an indication of how stable such characters are in this species. Strict consensus trees with more than 60 nodes outputted showed that the basal nodes were strongly supported by 3 to 17 characters across the data sets, suggesting that populations of this species are more alike. The OG was clearly the first diverging lineage and closely related to accessions of landrace Gwe and variety Bebot morphologically, but different from them anatomically. It was also distantly related to landrace Fina and variety Long’at in terms of root, stem and leaf structural attributes. There were at least 5 other clades with each comprising of complexes of accessions from different localities and terrains within the study area. Spherical stem in cross section, size of vascular bundles at the stem corners as well as the alternate and whorl phyllotaxy are attributes which may have facilitated each other’s evolution in all accessions of the landrace Gwe, and they may be innovative since such states are not characteristic of the larger Lamiaceae, and Plectranthus L’Her in particular. In conclusion, this study has provided valuable information about infraspecific diversity in this taxon. It supports recognition of the varietal statuses accorded to populations of P. esculentus, as well as the hypothesis that the wild gene might have been distributed on the Jos Plateau. However, molecular characterisation of accessions of populations of this species would resolve this problem better.

Keywords: clustering, lineage, morphoanatomical characters, Nigeria, phylogenetics, Plectranthus esculentus, population

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Danilo A. F. Fontes, Magaly A. M.Lyra, Maria L. C. Moura, Leslie R. M. Ferraz, Salvana P. M. Costa, Amanda C. Q. M. Vieira, Larissa A. Rolim, Giovanna C. R. M. Schver, Ping I. Lee, Severino Alves-Júnior, José L. Soares-Sobrinho, Pedro J. Rolim-Neto

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Efavirenz (EFV) is a first-choice drug in antiretroviral therapy with high efficacy in the treatment of infection by Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). EFV has low solubility in water resulting in a decrease in the dissolution rate and, consequently, in its bioavailability. Among the technological alternatives to increase solubility, the Lamellar Double Hydroxides (LDH) have been applied in the development of systems with poorly water-soluble drugs. The use of analytical techniques such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) allowed the elucidation of drug interaction with the lamellar compounds. The objective of this work was to characterize and develop the binary systems with EFV and LDH in order to increase the solubility of the drug. The LDH-CaAl was synthesized by the method of co-precipitation from salt solutions of calcium nitrate and aluminum nitrate in basic medium. The systems EFV-LDH and their physical mixtures (PM) were obtained at different concentrations (5-60% of EFV) using the solvent technique described by Takahashi & Yamaguchi (1991). The characterization of the systems and the PM’s was performed by XRD techniques, IR, DSC and dissolution test under non-sink conditions. The results showed improvements in the solubility of EFV when associated with LDH, due to a possible change in its crystal structure and formation of an amorphous material. From the DSC results, one could see that the endothermic peak at 173°C, temperature that correspond to the melting process of EFZ in the crystal form, was present in the PM results. For the EFZ-LDH systems (with 5, 10 and 30% of drug loading), this peak was not observed. XRD profiles of the PM showed well-defined peaks for EFV. Analyzing the XRD patterns of the systems, it was found that the XRD profiles of all the systems showed complete attenuation of the characteristic peaks of the crystalline form of EFZ. The IR technique showed that, in the results of the PM, there was the appearance of one band and overlap of other bands, while the IR results of the systems with 5, 10 and 30% drug loading showed the disappearance of bands and a few others with reduced intensity. The dissolution test under non-sink conditions showed that systems with 5, 10 and 30% drug loading promoted a great increase in the solubility of EFV, but the system with 10% of drug loading was the only one that could keep substantial amount of drug in solution at different pHs.

Keywords: Efavirenz, Lamellar Double Hydroxides, Pharmaceutical Techonology, Solubility

Procedia PDF Downloads 581

Authors: Mariana Fernandes

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Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC) has adopted a policy of inclusion and equity and the promotion of health and academic well-being, reinforcing measures already implemented in previous years, but also with the inclusion of new inclusion and equity policies that allow access, throughout all students, to Higher Education (ES). The Inclusive School project, the Plan for Equality, the IPVC's own Regulations for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and the support guaranteed by the Health and Wellbeing Office, Academic Services, and teaching staff are some of the examples of the varied strategies that IPVC undertakes to guarantee effective conditions so that students with disabilities can enter ES and experience a positive academic experience. This study's main objective is to reflect and disseminate the inclusion practices that IPVC practices with regard to Students with SEN. To this, a consultation and documentary analysis of internal documentation was carried out, consultation of the IPVC Quality Management System (QMS) process and, also, using the report referring to the ENEE questionnaire implemented in the year 2023, this report which presents the opinion of IPVC students with SEN, whether with support throughout the ENEE application submission process, with response deadlines, with the Individual Support Plan, as well as with physical and technological accessibility and communication. The results obtained show IPVC's effective commitment to this topic, in addition to the entire circuit created to guarantee equitable access for these students from the moment they join IPVC, a circuit that involves various human resources and( s) its sensitivity to this topic, it also promoted, through the Health and Wellbeing Office, the restructuring of the IPVC ENEE Regulation itself based on the needs and challenges felt in monitoring these students, the innovation of the services themselves of health and consequent awareness of all surrounding resources and services (from the Management, to the teaching staff and academic services). Currently, there is already an Individual Pedagogical Support Plan (PIAP), frequent meetings with the Reception Group, Psychology consultations – both clinically and educationally – and a growing concern in listening to the student community to improve the process. Based on these results, it is concluded that IPVC is an institution sensitive to promoting a positive, equitable, and, above all, inclusive higher education path.

Keywords: special educational needs, inclusion, equity, equality

Procedia PDF Downloads 37

Authors: Matias Hargreaves, Martin Del Valle, Diego Rodriguez, Riveros Jose Luis

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Trough years, all kind of social development projects have tried to solve social problems such as hunger, poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity, among others, with poor success. Both private and state initiatives have invested resources in several countries and communities. Nevertheless, most of these initiatives are scientific or external developers-centered, with a lack of local participation. This compromises the sustainability of any intervention and also leads to a poor empowerment of local community. The participatory approach aims to rescue and enhance the local knowledge since it recognizes that this kind of problems are better known by native actors. The objective of the study was to describe the role played by the community empowerment on food security improvement in the NGO “O Viveiro” (15°43'37.77"S; 32°46'27.53"E) and Barrio Broma village (15°43'58.78"S; 32°46'7.27"E) in Chitima, Mozambique. A center for training in goat livestock and orchard was build. A community orchard was co-constructed between foreign technicians and local actors. The prototype was installed in February, 2016 by the technician team and local community with 16 m2 as a nursery garden. Two orchard workshops were conducted in order to design a sustainable productive model which mixes both local and technological approaches. Two goat meat workshops were conducted in order to describe local methods and train the community to conduce their own techniques with high sanitary and productive standards. Technician team stayed in Mozambique until May, 2016. The quorum for the orchard workshops was 20 and 14 persons respectively, which represents 100% and 70%of the total requested quorum (20). For the goat meat workshops were 4 and 5 persons, which representa80% and 100% of the total requested quorum (5). Until August, 2016, the orchard is 3.219 m2 and it grows several vegetables as beans, chili pepper, garlic, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet potato, yuca potato, cabbage, eggplant, papaya trees, mango, and cassava. The process of increasing in size and diversification of vegetables grown was led entirely by the local community. In connection with this, the local community started to harvest and began to sell the vegetable products at the local market. At the meat goat workshops, local participants rescued a local knowledge by describing and practicing a traditional way to process goat meat by drying it outdoors and then doing a smoked treatment. This information might contribute to describe the level of empowerment of this community, and thus give evidence of acceptance of foreign intervention for improving their own proceedings and traditions.

Keywords: children malnutrition, food security, Local community, participatory approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Eleanor Nel

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Research output is an indicator of institutional performance (and quality), resulting in increased pressure on academic institutions to perform in the research arena. Research output is further utilised to obtain research funding. Resultantly, academic institutions face significant pressure from governing bodies to provide evidence on the return for research investments. Research output has thus become a substantial discourse within institutions, mainly due to the processes linked to evaluating research output and the associated allocation of research funding. This focus on research outputs often surpasses the development of robust, widely accepted tools to additionally measure research impact at institutions. A publication writing programme, for enhancing research output, was launched at a South African university in 2011. Significant amounts of time, money, and energy have since been invested in the programme. Although participants provided feedback after each session, no formal review was conducted to evaluate the research output directly associated with the programme. Concerns in higher education about training costs, learning results, and the effect on society have increased the focus on value for money and the need to improve training, research performance, and productivity. Furthermore, universities rely on efficient and reliable monitoring and evaluation systems, in addition to the need to demonstrate accountability. While publishing does not occur immediately, achieving a return on investment from the intervention is critical. A multi-method study, guided by the New World Kirkpatrick Model (NWKM), was conducted to determine the impact of the publication writing programme for the period of 2011 to 2018. Quantitative results indicated a total of 314 academics participating in 72 workshops over the study period. To better understand the quantitative results, an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants from a particular faculty as a convenience sample. The purpose of the research was to collect information to develop a comprehensive framework for impact evaluation that could be used to enhance the current design and delivery of the programme. The qualitative findings highlighted the critical role of a multi-stakeholder strategy in strengthening support before, during, and after a publication writing programme to improve the impact and research outputs. Furthermore, monitoring on-the-job learning is critical to ingrain the new skills academics have learned during the writing workshops and to encourage them to be accountable and empowered. The NWKM additionally provided essential pointers on how to link the results more effectively from publication writing programmes to institutional strategic objectives to improve research performance and quality, as well as what should be included in a comprehensive evaluation framework.

Keywords: evaluation, framework, impact, research output

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Klazina T. Havinga, Hilde R. H. de Geus

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Introduction: Pre-operative coagulation management of Apixaban prescribed patients, a new oral anticoagulant (a factor Xa inhibitor), is difficult, especially when chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes drug overdose. Apixaban is not dialyzable due to its high level of protein binding. An antidote, Andexanet α, is available but expensive and has an unfavorable short half-life. We report the successful extracorporeal removal of Apixaban prior to emergency surgery with the CytoSorb® Hemoadsorption device. Methods: A 89-year-old woman with CKD, with an Apixaban prescription for atrial fibrillation, was presented at the ER with traumatic rib fractures, a flail chest, and an unstable spinal fracture (T12) for which emergency surgery was indicated. However, due to very high Apixaban levels, this surgery had to be postponed. Based on the Apixaban-specific anti-factor Xa activity (AFXaA) measurements at admission and 10 hours later, complete clearance was expected after 48 hours. In order to enhance the Apixaban removal and reduce the time to operation, and therefore reduce pulmonary complications, CRRT with CytoSorb® cartridge was initiated. Apixaban-specific anti-factor Xa activity (AFXaA) was measured frequently as a substitute for Apixaban drug concentrations, pre- and post adsorber, in order to calculate the adsorber-related clearance. Results: The admission AFXaA concentration, as a substitute for Apixaban drug levels, was 218 ng/ml, which decreased to 157 ng/ml after ten hours. Due to sustained anticoagulation effects, surgery was again postponed. However, the AFXaA levels decreased quickly to sub-therapeutic levels after CRRT (Multifiltrate Pro, Fresenius Medical Care, Blood flow 200 ml/min, Dialysate Flow 4000 ml/h, Prescribed renal dose 51 ml-kg-h) with Cytosorb® connected in series into the circuit was initiated (within 5 hours). The adsorber-related (indirect) Apixaban clearance was calculated every half hour (Cl=Qe * (AFXaA pre- AFXaA post/ AFXaA pre) with Qe=plasma flow rate calculated with Ht=0.38 and system blood flow rate 200 ml-min): 100 ml/min, 72 ml/min and 57 ml/min. Although, as expected, the adsorber-related clearance decreased quickly due to saturation of the beads, still the reduction rate achieved resulted in a very rapid decrease in AFXaA levels. Surgery was ordered and possible within 5 hours after Cytosorb initiation. Conclusion: The CytoSorb® Hemoadsorption device enabled rapid correction of Apixaban associated anticoagulation.

Keywords: Apixaban, CytoSorb, emergency surgery, Hemoadsorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Viviane A. O. Silva, Angela M. Costa, Glaucia N. M. Hajj, Ana Preto, Aline Tansini, Martin Roffé, Peter Jordan, Rui M. Reis

Abstract:

Autophagy is a recycling and degradative system suggested to be a major cell death pathway in cancer cells. Autophagy pathway is interconnected with the endocytosis pathways sharing the same ultimate lysosomal destination. Lysosomes are crucial regulators of cell homeostasis, responsible to downregulate receptor signalling and turnover. It seems highly likely that derailed endocytosis can make major contributions to several hallmarks of cancer. WNK2, a member of the WNK (with-no-lysine [K]) subfamily of protein kinases, had been found downregulated by its promoter hypermethylation, and has been proposed to act as a specific tumour-suppressor gene in brain tumors. Although some contradictory studies indicated WNK2 as an autophagy modulator, its role in cancer cell death is largely unknown. There is also growing evidence for additional roles of WNK kinases in vesicular traffic. Aim: To evaluate the role of WNK2 in autophagy and endocytosis on glioma context. Methods: Wild-type (wt) A172 cells (WNK2 promoter-methylated), and A172 transfected either with an empty vector (Ev) or with a WNK2 expression vector, were used to assess the cellular basal capacities to promote autophagy, through western blot and flow-cytometry analysis. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of WNK2 on general endocytosis trafficking routes by immunofluorescence. Results: The re-expression of ectopic WNK2 did not interfere with autophagy-related protein light chain 3 (LC3-II) expression levels as well as did not promote mTOR signaling pathway alteration when compared with Ev or wt A172 cells. However, the restoration of WNK2 resulted in a marked increase (8 to 92,4%) of Acidic Vesicular Organelles formation (AVOs). Moreover, our results also suggest that WNK2 cells promotes delay in uptake and internalization rate of cholera toxin B and transferrin ligands. Conclusions: The restoration of WNK2 interferes in vesicular traffic during endocytosis pathway and increase AVOs formation. This results also suggest the role of WNK2 in growth factor receptor turnover related to cell growth and homeostasis and associates one more time, WNK2 silencing contribution in genesis of gliomas.

Keywords: autophagy, endocytosis, glioma, WNK2

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Authors: Ella Tyuryumina, Alexey Neznanov

Abstract:

Finding algorithms to predict the growth of tumors has piqued the interest of researchers ever since the early days of cancer research. A number of studies were carried out as an attempt to obtain reliable data on the natural history of breast cancer growth. Mathematical modeling can play a very important role in the prognosis of tumor process of breast cancer. However, mathematical models describe primary tumor growth and metastases growth separately. Consequently, we propose a mathematical growth model for primary tumor and primary metastases which may help to improve predicting accuracy of breast cancer progression using an original mathematical model referred to CoM-IV and corresponding software. We are interested in: 1) modelling the whole natural history of primary tumor and primary metastases; 2) developing adequate and precise CoM-IV which reflects relations between PT and MTS; 3) analyzing the CoM-IV scope of application; 4) implementing the model as a software tool. The CoM-IV is based on exponential tumor growth model and consists of a system of determinate nonlinear and linear equations; corresponds to TNM classification. It allows to calculate different growth periods of primary tumor and primary metastases: 1) ‘non-visible period’ for primary tumor; 2) ‘non-visible period’ for primary metastases; 3) ‘visible period’ for primary metastases. The new predictive tool: 1) is a solid foundation to develop future studies of breast cancer models; 2) does not require any expensive diagnostic tests; 3) is the first predictor which makes forecast using only current patient data, the others are based on the additional statistical data. Thus, the CoM-IV model and predictive software: a) detect different growth periods of primary tumor and primary metastases; b) make forecast of the period of primary metastases appearance; c) have higher average prediction accuracy than the other tools; d) can improve forecasts on survival of BC and facilitate optimization of diagnostic tests. The following are calculated by CoM-IV: the number of doublings for ‘nonvisible’ and ‘visible’ growth period of primary metastases; tumor volume doubling time (days) for ‘nonvisible’ and ‘visible’ growth period of primary metastases. The CoM-IV enables, for the first time, to predict the whole natural history of primary tumor and primary metastases growth on each stage (pT1, pT2, pT3, pT4) relying only on primary tumor sizes. Summarizing: a) CoM-IV describes correctly primary tumor and primary distant metastases growth of IV (T1-4N0-3M1) stage with (N1-3) or without regional metastases in lymph nodes (N0); b) facilitates the understanding of the appearance period and manifestation of primary metastases.

Keywords: breast cancer, exponential growth model, mathematical modelling, primary metastases, primary tumor, survival

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Authors: Tatsuhiko Aizawa, Yohei Suzuki, Tomomi Shiratori

Abstract:

The austenitic stainless steel type AISI316 has been widely utilized as structural members and mold die substrates. The low temperature plasma nitriding has been utilized to harden these AISI316 members, parts, and dies without loss of intrinsic corrosion resistance to AISI316 stainless steels. Formation of CrN precipitates by normal plasma nitriding processes resulted in severe deterioration of corrosion toughness. Most previous studies on this low temperature nitriding of AISI316 only described the lattice expansion of original AISI316 lattices by the occupation of nitrogen interstitial solutes into octahedral vacancy sites, the significant hardening by nitrogen solid solution, and the enhancement of corrosion toughness. In addition to those engineering items, this low temperature nitriding process was characterized by the nitrogen supersaturation and nitrogen diffusion processes. The nitrogen supersaturated zones expanded by the nitrogen solute occupation to octahedral vacancy sites, and the un-nitrided surroundings to these zones were plastically strained to compensate for the mismatch strains across these nitrided and nitrided zones. The microstructure of nitrided AISI316 was refined by this plastic straining. The nitrogen diffusion process was enhanced to transport nitrogen solute atoms through the refined zone boundaries. This synergetic collaboration among the nitrogen supersaturation, the lattice expansion, the plastic straining, and the grain refinement yielded a thick nitrogen supersaturated layer. This synergetic relation was also characterized by the multilevel two-phase structuring. In XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) analysis, the nitrided AISI316 layer had - and -phases with the peak shifts from original lattices. After EBSD (Electron Back Scattering Diffraction) analysis, -grains and -grains homogeneously distributed in the nitrided layer. The scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) revealed that g-phase zone is N-poor cluster and a-phase zone is N-rich cluster. This proves that nitrogen supersaturated AISI316 stainless steels have multi-level two-phase structure in a very fine granular system.

Keywords: AISI316 stainless steels, chemical affinity to nitrogen solutes, multi-level two-phase structuring, nitrogen supersaturation

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