Search results for: unknown input observer

Authors: Niina Meriläinen

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Digital platforms are arenas for dialogue, various kinds of political debates, information and news gathering, policymaking, and social change processes. Human rights serve as examples of social and political issues that are universally noted as principles and yet often violated on digital platforms as well as in the analog world. Digital platforms in this study are different Internet sites, blogs, discussion platforms, social media apps, and gaming. Various actors, from human rights activists and non-governmental organizations to individual people, governments, and corporations, use digital platforms along with analog arenas to discuss and defend human rights, while violators can find new victims and continue violating rights on the same platforms. Digital platforms create opportunities for various women and minorities to empower themselves and others and to be active in various arenas of society and policymaking. At the same time, digital platforms pose threats to human rights globally, especially to women, girls, and minorities. The results of this meta-study of n=120 academic case studies indicate that more research is needed to determine the framework of human rights and human rights on digital platforms. A broad discussion must be had on what human rights require in the digital realm and how ICTs may enhance or threaten our ability to respect, protect, and fulfill a wide variety of human rights while various digital platforms pose multiple threats to human rights. This relates to the willingness of political decision-makers to act upon various crimes committed on and with online platforms. More research is needed to determine the framework of digital human rights and human rights on digital platforms in relation to political communication and decision-making. It is important to develop a framework in which these are defined. It must be discussed who participates in this process: those whose rights are violated, companies that profit by selling our personal data, activists, governments, and some unknown actors. In the end, the question comes back to who has the power to define what we talk about, when, and where. This use of power plays a big role. Digital platforms illustrate the darker side of technological progress, which, on the one hand, has given various people the possibility to engage in society, empower themselves, and take ownership of their rights globally. At the same time, the platforms enable others to use the same platforms to find victims, abuse them, and exploit them. Bullying, harassment, and violence are rampant on various digital platforms, where minorities and people with limited support are victims. There is indeed a need for a discussion of normative values in the era of fake news, the power of influencers, Trumpism, and institutionalized disregard for human rights, gender equality, and the elimination of gender-based violence online. Attention and obligations must be placed on politicians and internet architecture, such as corporations, and their roles in human rights and their violations online.

Keywords: human rights, digital platforms, violations, internet, social media

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Authors: Ayodeji Sowale, Athanasios Kolios, Beatriz Fidalgo, Tosin Somorin, Aikaterini Anastasopoulou, Alison Parker, Leon Williams, Ewan McAdam, Sean Tyrrel

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Recently, energy recovery systems are thriving and raising attention in the power generation sector, due to the request for cleaner forms of energy that are friendly and safe for the environment. This has created an avenue for cogeneration, where Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technologies have been recognised for their feasibility, and use in homes and small-scale businesses. The efficiency of combustors and the advantages of the free piston Stirling engines over other conventional engines in terms of output power and efficiency, have been observed and considered. This study presents the numerical analysis of a micro-combustor with a free piston Stirling engine in an integrated model of a Nano Membrane Toilet (NMT) unit. The NMT unit will use the micro-combustor to produce waste heat of high energy content from the combustion of human waste and the heat generated will power the free piston Stirling engine which will be connected to a linear alternator for electricity production. The thermodynamic influence of the combustor on the free piston Stirling engine was observed, based on the heat transfer from the flue gas to working gas of the free piston Stirling engine. The results showed that with an input of 25 MJ/kg of faecal matter, and flue gas temperature of 773 K from the micro-combustor, the free piston Stirling engine generates a daily output power of 428 W, at thermal efficiency of 10.7% with engine speed of 1800 rpm. An experimental investigation into the integration of the micro-combustor and free piston Stirling engine with the NMT unit is currently underway.

Keywords: free piston stirling engine, micro-combustor, nano membrane toilet, thermodynamics

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Authors: I. Nyoman Mahayasa Adiputra

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Data in the field of health can be useful for the purposes of data analysis, one example of health data is disease data. Disease data is usually in a geographical plot in accordance with the area. Where the data was collected, in the city of Denpasar, Bali. Disease data report is still published in tabular form, disease information has not been mapped in GIS form. In this research, disease information in Denpasar city will be digitized in the form of a geographic information system with the smallest administrative area in the form of district. Denpasar City consists of 4 districts of North Denpasar, East Denpasar, West Denpasar and South Denpasar. In this research, we use Google fusion table technology for map digitization process, where this technology can facilitate from the administrator and from the recipient information. From the administrator side of the input disease, data can be done easily and quickly. From the receiving end of the information, the resulting GIS application can be published in a website-based application so that it can be accessed anywhere and anytime. In general, the results obtained in this study, divided into two, namely: (1) Geolocation of Denpasar and all of Denpasar districts, the process of digitizing the map of Denpasar city produces a polygon geolocation of each - district of Denpasar city. These results can be utilized in subsequent GIS studies if you want to use the same administrative area. (2) Dengue fever mapping in 2014 and 2015. Disease data used in this study is dengue fever case data taken in 2014 and 2015. Data taken from the profile report Denpasar Health Department 2015 and 2016. This mapping can be useful for the analysis of the spread of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the city of Denpasar.

Keywords: geographic information system, Google fusion table technology, delivery of disease data information, Denpasar city

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Authors: Eid Alotaibi

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of tourists’ culture on perception and evaluation of hotel service experience and behavioral intentions. Drawing on Hofested’s cultural dimensions, this study seeks to further contribute towards understanding the effect of culture on perception and evaluation of hotels’ services, and whether there are differences between Saudi and European tourists’ perceptions of hotel services evaluation. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in this study. Data were collected from tourists staying in five-star hotels in Saudi Arabia using the self-completion technique. The findings show that evaluations of hotel services differ from one culture to another. T-test results reveal that Saudis were more tolerant and reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction, were more likely to return and recommend the hotel, and perceived the price for the hotel stay as being good value for money as compared to their European counterparts. The sample was relatively small and specific to only five-star hotel evaluations. As a result, findings cannot be generalized to the wider tourist population. The results of this research have important implications for management within the Saudi hospitality industry. The study contributes to the tourist cultural theory by emphasizing the relative importance of cultural dimensions in-service evaluation. The author argues that no studies could be identified that compare Saudis and Europeans in their evaluations of their experiences staying at hotels. Therefore, the current study would enhance understanding of the effects of cultural factors on service evaluations and provide valuable input for international market segmentation and resource allocation in the Saudi hotel industry.

Keywords: culture, tourist, service experience, hotel industry, Hofested’s cultural dimensions

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Authors: Saska Alexandria Hayes

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Multiple Convention Refugees in New Zealand are stuck in a state of immigration limbo due to a lack of defined immigration policies. The Refugee Convention of 1951 does not give the right to be issued a permanent right to live and work in the country of asylum. A gap in New Zealand's immigration law and policy has left Convention Refugees without the right to obtain a resident or temporary entry visa. The significant lack of literature on this topic suggests that the lack of visa options for Convention Refugees in New Zealand is a widely unknown or unacknowledged issue. Refugees in New Zealand enjoy the right of non-refoulement contained in Article 33 of the Refugee Convention 1951, whether lawful or unlawful. However, a number of rights contained in the Refugee Convention 1951, such as the right to gainful employment and social security, are limited to refugees who maintain lawful immigration status. If a Convention Refugee is denied a resident visa, the only temporary entry visa a Convention Refugee can apply for in New Zealand is discretionary. The appeal cases heard at the Immigration Protection Tribunal establish that Immigration New Zealand has declined resident and discretionary temporary entry visa applications by Convention Refugees for failing to meet the health or character immigration instructions. The inability of a Convention Refugee to gain residency in New Zealand creates a dependence on the issue of discretionary temporary entry visas to maintain lawful status. The appeal cases record that this reliance has led to Convention Refugees' lawful immigration status being in question, temporarily depriving them of the rights contained in the Refugee Convention 1951 of lawful refugees. In one case, the process of applying for a discretionary temporary entry visa led to a lawful Convention Refugee being temporarily deprived of the right to social security, breaching Article 24 of the Refugee Convention 1951. The judiciary has stated a constant reliance on the issue of discretionary temporary entry visas for Convention Refugees can lead to a breach of New Zealand's international obligations under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The appeal cases suggest that, despite successful judicial proceedings, at least three persons have been made to rely on the issue of discretionary temporary entry visas potentially indefinitely. The appeal cases establish that a Convention Refugee can be denied a discretionary temporary entry visa and become unlawful. Unlawful status could ultimately breach New Zealand's obligations under Article 33 of the Refugee Convention 1951 as it would procedurally deny Convention Refugees asylum. It would force them to choose between the right of non-refoulement or leaving New Zealand to seek the ability to access all the human rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights elsewhere. This paper discusses how the current system has given rise to these breaches and emphasizes a need to create a designated temporary entry visa category for Convention Refugees.

Keywords: domestic policy, immigration, migration, New Zealand

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Authors: Jayeon Kim, Eunjung Yu, Taeki Yoon

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Most spontaneous miscarriage is believed to be a consequence of embryo aneuploidies. Transferring eukaryotic embryos selected by PGS is expected to decrease the miscarriage rate. Current PGS indications include advanced maternal age, recurrent pregnancy loss, repeated implantation failure. Recently, use of PGS for healthy women without above indications for the purpose of improving in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes is on the rise. However, it is still controversy about the beneficial effect of PGS in this population, especially, in women with a history of no more than 2 miscarriages or miscarriage of eukaryotic abortus. This study aimed to investigate if karyotyping result of abortus is a good indicator of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in subsequent IVF cycle in women with a history of spontaneous abortion. A single-center retrospective cohort study was performed. Women who had spontaneous abortion(s) (less than 3) and dilatation and evacuation, and subsequent IVF from January 2016 to November 2016 were included. Their medical information was extracted from the charts. Clinical pregnancy was defined as presence of a gestational sac with fetal heart beat detected on ultrasound in week 7. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Total 234 women were included. 121 out of 234 (51.7%) underwent karyotyping of the abortus, and 113 did not have the abortus karyotyped. Embryo biopsy was performed on 3 or 5 days after oocyte retrieval, followed by embryo transfer (ET) on a fresh or frozen cycle. The biopsied materials were subjected to microarray comparative genomic hybridization. Clinical pregnancy rate per ET was compared between PGS and non-PGS group in each study group. Patients were grouped by two criteria: karyotype of the abortus from previous miscarriage (unknown fetal karyotype (n=89, Group 1), eukaryotic abortus (n=36, Group 2) or aneuploidy abortus (n=67, Group 3)), and pursuing PGS in subsequent IVF cycle (pursuing PGS (PGS group, n=105) or not pursuing PGS (non-PGS group, n=87)). The PGS group was significantly older and had higher number of retrieved oocytes and prior miscarriages compared to non-PGS group. There were no differences in BMI and AMH level between those two groups. In PGS group, the mean number of transferable embryos (eukaryotic embryo) was 1.3 ± 0.7, 1.5 ± 0.5 and 1.4 ± 0.5, respectively (p = 0.049). In 42 cases, ET was cancelled because all embryos biopsied turned out to be abnormal. In all three groups (group 1, 2, and 3), clinical pregnancy rates were not statistically different between PGS and non-PGS group (Group 1: 48.8% vs. 52.2% (p=0.858), Group 2: 70% vs. 73.1% (p=0.730), Group 3: 42.3% vs. 46.7% (p=0.640), in PGS and non-PGS group, respectively). In both groups who had miscarriage with eukaryotic and aneuploidy abortus, the clinical pregnancy rate between IVF cycles with and without PGS was not different. When we compare miscarriage and ongoing pregnancy rate, there were no significant differences between PGS and non-PGS group in all three groups. Our results show that the routine application of PGS in women who had less than 3 miscarriages would not be beneficial, even in cases that previous miscarriage had been caused by fetal aneuploidy.

Keywords: preimplantation genetic diagnosis, miscarriage, kpryotyping, in vitro fertilization

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Authors: Inmaculada Yuste Martinez

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Since July 5, 2014, Abubaker al Bagdadi, leader of the Islamic State since 2010 climbed the pulpit of the Great Mosque of Al Nuri of Mosul and proclaimed the Caliphate, the number of fighters who have travelled to Syria to join the Caliphate has increased as never before. Although it is true that the phenomenon of foreign fighters is not a new phenomenon, as it occurred after the Spanish Civil War, Republicans from Ireland and the conflict of the Balkans among others, it is highly relevant the fact that in this case, it has reached figures unknown in Europe until now. The approval of the resolution 2178 (2014) of the Security Council, foreign terrorist fighters placed the subject a priority position on the International agenda. The available data allow us to affirm that women have increasingly assumed operative functions in jihadist terrorism and in the activities linked to it in the development of attacks in the European Union, including minors and young adults. In the case of Spain, one in four of the detainees in 2016 were women, a significant increase compared to 2015. This contrasts with the fact that until 2014 no woman had been prosecuted in Spain for terrorist activities of a jihadist nature. It is fundamental when we talk about the prevention of radicalization and counterterrorism that we do not underestimate the potential threat to the security of countries like Spain that women from the West can assume to the global jihadist movement. This work aims to deepen the radicalization processes of these women and their profiles influencing the female inmate population. It also wants to focus on the importance of creating de-radicalization programs for these inmates since women are a crucial element in radicalization processes. A special focus it is made on young radicalized female inmate population as this target group is the most recoverable and on which it would result more fruitful to intervene. De-radicalization programs must also be designed to fit their profiles and circumstances; a sensitive environment will be prisons and juvenile centers, areas that until now had been unrelated to this problem and which are already hosting the first convicted in judicial offices in Spanish territory. A qualitative research and an empirical and analytical method has been implemented in this work, focused on the cases that took place in Spain of young women and the imaginary that the Islamic State uses for the processes of radicalization for this target group and how it does not fit with their real role in the Jihad, as opposed to other movements in which women do have a real and active role in the armed conflict as YPJ do it as a part of the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party of Syria.

Keywords: caliphate, de-radicalization, foreign fighter, gender perspective, ISIS, jihadism, recruitment

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Authors: Aisha F. Bushager

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Today we are more exposed than ever to cyber threats and attacks at personal, community, organizational, national, and international levels. More aspects of our lives are operating on computer networks simply because we are living in the fifth domain, which is called the Cyberspace. One of the most sensitive areas that are vulnerable to cyber threats and attacks is the Electronic Banking (e-Banking) area, where the banking sector is providing online banking services to its clients. To be able to obtain the clients trust and encourage them to practice e-Banking, also, to maintain the services provided by the banks and ensure safety, cyber security and risks control should be given a high priority in the e-banking area. The aim of the study is to carry out risk assessment on the e-banking services and determine the cyber threats, cyber attacks, and vulnerabilities that are facing the e-banking area specifically in the Kingdom of Bahrain. To collect relevant data, structured interviews were taken place with e-banking experts in different banks. Then, collected data where used as in input to the risk management framework provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which was the model used in the study to assess the risks associated with e-banking services. The findings of the study showed that the cyber threats are commonly human errors, technical software or hardware failure, and hackers, on the other hand, the most common attacks facing the e-banking sector were phishing, malware attacks, and denial-of-service. The risks associated with the e-banking services were around the moderate level, however, more controls and countermeasures must be applied to maintain the moderate level of risks. The results of the study will help banks discover their vulnerabilities and maintain their online services, in addition, it will enhance the cyber security and contribute to the management and control of risks that are facing the e-banking sector.

Keywords: cyber security, e-banking, risk assessment, threats identification

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Authors: Amirul Adlan, Robert A McCulloch, Neil Jenkins, MIchael Parry, Jonathan Stevenson, Lee Jeys

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Background and Objectives: The current antibiotic prophylaxis for oncological patients is based upon evidence from primary arthroplasty despite significant differences in both patient group and procedure. The aim of this study was to compare the microbiology organisms responsible for PJI in patients who underwent two-stage revision for infected primary knee replacement with those of infected oncological endoprostheses of the lower limb in a single institution. This will subsequently guide decision making regarding antibiotic prophylaxis at primary implantation for oncological procedures and empirical antibiotics for infected revision procedures (where the infecting organism(s) are unknown). Patient and Methods: 118 patients were treated with two-stage revision surgery for infected knee arthroplasty and lower limb endoprostheses between 1999 and 2019. 74 patients had two-stage revision for PJI of knee arthroplasty, and 44 had two-stage revision of lower limb endoprostheses. There were 68 males and 50 females. The mean age for the knee arthroplasty cohort and lower limb endoprostheses cohort were 70.2 years (50-89) and 36.1 years (12-78), respectively (p<0.01). Patient host and extremity criteria were categorised according to the MSIS Host and Extremity Staging System. Patient microbiological culture, the incidence of polymicrobial infection and multi-drug resistance (MDR) were analysed and recorded. Results: Polymicrobial infection was reported in 16% (12 patients) from knee arthroplasty PJI and 14.5% (8 patients) in endoprostheses PJI (p=0.783). There was a significantly higher incidence of MDR in endoprostheses PJI, isolated in 36.4% of cultures, compared to knee arthroplasty PJI (17.2%) (p=0.01). Gram-positive organisms were isolated in more than 80% of cultures from both cohorts. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) was the commonest gram-positive organism, and Escherichia coli was the commonest Gram-negative organism in both groups. According to the MSIS staging system, the host and extremity grade of knee arthroplasty PJI cohort were significantly better than endoprostheses PJI(p<0.05). Conclusion: Empirical antibiotic management of PJI in orthopaedic oncology is based upon PJI in arthroplasty despite differences in both host and microbiology. Our results show a significant increase in MDR pathogens within the oncological group despite CoNS being the most common infective organism in both groups. Endoprosthetic patients presented with poorer host and extremity criteria. These factors should be considered when managing this complex patient group, emphasising the importance of broad-spectrum antibiotic prophylaxis and preoperative sampling to ensure appropriate perioperative antibiotic cover.

Keywords: microbiology, periprosthetic Joint infection, knee arthroplasty, endoprostheses

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Authors: Arif Sikander, Imran Saeed

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The behavioral pattern and performance of airline pilots are influenced by the level of stress, their ethical decision-making ability and above all their leadership style as part of the Crew Management process. Cultural differences of pilots, especially while working in ex-country airlines, could influence the stress perception. Culture also influences ethical decision making. Leadership style is also a variable dimension, and pilots need to adapt to the cultural settings while flying with the local pilots as part of their team. Studies have found that age, education, gender, and management experience are statistically significant factors in ethical maturity. However, in the decades to come, more studies are required to validate the results over and over again; thereby, providing support for the validity of the Moral Development Theory. Leadership style plays a vital role in ethical decision making. This study is grounded in the Moral Development theory and seeks to analyze the styles of leadership of airline pilots related to ethical decision making and also the influence of the culture on their stress perception. The sample for the study included commercial pilots from a National Airline. It is expected that these results should provide useful input to the literature in the context of developing appropriate Talent Management strategies. The authors intend to extend this study (carried out in one country) to major national carriers (many countries) to be able to develop a ultimate framework on Talent Management which should serve as a benchmark for any international airline as most of them (e.g., Emirates, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, China Southern, etc.) are dependent on the supply of this scarce resource from outside countries.

Keywords: ethics, leadership, pilot, stress

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Authors: Loris Franchi, Daniele Calvi, Sabrina Corpino

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This paper presents a design methodology in which stakeholders are assisted with the exploration of a so-called negotiation space, aiming to the maximization of both group social welfare and single stakeholder’s perceived utility. The outcome results in less design iterations needed for design convergence while obtaining a higher solution effectiveness. During the early stage of a space project, not only the knowledge about the system but also the decision outcomes often are unknown. The scenario is exacerbated by the fact that decisions taken in this stage imply delayed costs associated with them. Hence, it is necessary to have a clear definition of the problem under analysis, especially in the initial definition. This can be obtained thanks to a robust generation and exploration of design alternatives. This process must consider that design usually involves various individuals, who take decisions affecting one another. An effective coordination among these decision-makers is critical. Finding mutual agreement solution will reduce the iterations involved in the design process. To handle this scenario, the paper proposes a design methodology which, aims to speed-up the process of pushing the mission’s concept maturity level. This push up is obtained thanks to a guided negotiation space exploration, which involves autonomously exploration and optimization of trade opportunities among stakeholders via Artificial Intelligence algorithms. The negotiation space is generated via a multidisciplinary collaborative optimization method, infused by game theory and multi-attribute utility theory. In particular, game theory is able to model the negotiation process to reach the equilibria among stakeholder needs. Because of the huge dimension of the negotiation space, a collaborative optimization framework with evolutionary algorithm has been integrated in order to guide the game process to efficiently and rapidly searching for the Pareto equilibria among stakeholders. At last, the concept of utility constituted the mechanism to bridge the language barrier between experts of different backgrounds and differing needs, using the elicited and modeled needs to evaluate a multitude of alternatives. To highlight the benefits of the proposed methodology, the paper presents the design of a CubeSat mission for the observation of lunar radiation environment. The derived solution results able to balance all stakeholders needs and guaranteeing the effectiveness of the selection mission concept thanks to its robustness in valuable changeability. The benefits provided by the proposed design methodology are highlighted, and further development proposed.

Keywords: concurrent engineering, artificial intelligence, negotiation in engineering design, multidisciplinary optimization

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Authors: L. Freeborn

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This paper discusses the application of complex dynamic system theory (DST) to the study of individual differences in second language development. This transdisciplinary framework allows researchers to view the trajectory of language development as a dynamic, non-linear process. A DST approach views language as multi-componential, consisting of multiple complex systems and nested layers. These multiple components and systems continuously interact and influence each other at both the macro- and micro-level. Dynamic systems theory aims to explain and describe the development of the language system, rather than make predictions about its trajectory. Such a holistic and ecological approach to second language development allows researchers to include various research methods from neurological, cognitive, and social perspectives. A DST perspective would involve in-depth analyses as well as mixed methods research. To illustrate, a neurobiological approach to second language development could include non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate areas of brain activation during language-related tasks. A cognitive framework would further include behavioural research methods to assess the influence of intelligence and personality traits, as well as individual differences in foreign language aptitude, such as phonetic coding ability and working memory capacity. Exploring second language development from a DST approach would also benefit from including perspectives from the field of applied linguistics, regarding the teaching context, second language input, and the role of affective factors such as motivation. In this way, applying mixed research methods from neurobiological, cognitive, and social approaches would enable researchers to have a more holistic view of the dynamic and complex processes of second language development.

Keywords: dynamic systems theory, mixed methods, research design, second language development

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Authors: Patrick Strefford, Michael Davies, Masahiko Iguchi

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Sustainable tourism is firmly positioned in these Goals, since tourism has significant potential to contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic growth, as well as to promote sustainable use of natural capital. Recognizing this, the new quasi-democratic government of Myanmar has embraced Sustainable Tourism as a core component of its economic reforms and opening up of the country. However, it is also highly likely that the Democrats within the government also support Sustainable Tourism as a potential contributor to the democratization of the country. This paper outlines how the government of Myanmar has understood the concept of Sustainable Tourism, and how it intends to implement and facilitate Sustainable Tourism. This paper, therefore, focuses primarily on the institutional frameworks that have been put in place, a specific one being the Inlay Lake Destination Management Plan, which is one of the four priority destinations identified by the government. The plan aims to improve local infrastructure, manage the local environment and develop local human resources. Importantly, the Plan also includes the establishment of a Destination Management Organization (DMO) to implement and manage Inlay Lake as a Sustainable Tourism destination. This research aims to investigate, for example, the equality in both input to the DMO and benefits accrued to the various stakeholders. How such equality can be ensured and how this can be reliably quantified will be crucial to ultimately evaluating the success of any such plans to implement Sustainable Tourism in Myanmar in the coming years. However, this research paper concludes that while the establishment of the DMO is a positive development, there are considerable institutional, economic and cultural factors that severely limit the ability of the DMO to function as an agent of sustainable tourism implementation.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, myanmar, country in transition, destination management organizations

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Authors: Raymond Awinbilla

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The call for tree planting has long been set in motion by the government of Ghana. The Forestry Commission encourages plantation development through numerous interventions including formulating policies and enacting legislations. However, forest policies have failed and that has generated a major concern over the vast gap between the intentions of national policies and the realities established. This study addresses three objectives;1) Assessing the farmers' response and contribution to the tree planting initiative, 2) Identifying socio-economic factors hindering the development of smallholder plantations as a livelihood strategy, and 3) Determining the level of support available for smallholder tree growers and the factors influencing it. The field work was done in 12 farming communities in Ghana. The article illuminates that farmers have responded to the call for tree planting and have planted both exotic and indigenous tree species. Farmers have converted 17.2% (369.48ha) of their total land size into plantations and have no problem with land tenure. Operations and marketing constraints include lack of funds for operations, delay in payment, low price of wood, manipulation of price by buyers, documentation by buyers, and no ready market for harvesting wood products. Environmental institutions encourage tree planting; the only exception is with the Lands Commission. Support availed to farmers includes capacity building in silvicultural practices, organisation of farmers, linkage to markets and finance. Efforts by the Government of Ghana to enhance forest resources in the country could rely on the input of local populations.

Keywords: livelihood strategy, marketing constraints, environmental institutions, silvicultural practices

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Authors: Chi-Ching Lee, Po-Jung Huang, Kuo-Yang Huang, Petrus Tang

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Background: Recent advances in high-throughput research technologies such as new-generation sequencing and multi-dimensional liquid chromatography makes it possible to dissect the complete transcriptome and proteome in a single run for the first time. However, it is almost impossible for many laboratories to handle and analysis these “BIG” data without the support from a bioinformatics team. We aimed to provide a web-based analysis platform for users with only limited knowledge on bio-computing to study the functional genomics and proteomics. Method: We use NCI-60 as an example dataset to demonstrate the power of the web-based analysis platform and data delivering system: C-eXpress takes a simple text file that contain the standard NCBI gene or protein ID and expression levels (rpkm or fold) as input file to generate a distribution map of gene/protein expression levels in a heatmap diagram organized by color gradients. The diagram is hyper-linked to a dynamic html table that allows the users to filter the datasets based on various gene features. A dynamic summary chart is generated automatically after each filtering process. Results: We implemented an integrated database that contain pre-defined annotations such as gene/protein properties (ID, name, length, MW, pI); pathways based on KEGG and GO biological process; subcellular localization based on GO cellular component; functional classification based on GO molecular function, kinase, peptidase and transporter. Multiple ways of sorting of column and rows is also provided for comparative analysis and visualization of multiple samples.

Keywords: cancer, visualization, database, functional annotation

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Authors: Taher M. Abou-deif, Esmail M. El-Bialy, Essam E. Khalil

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The paper is devoted to numerically investigating the influence of the air supply outlets geometry on human comfort inside living looms. A computational fluid dynamics model is developed to examine the air flow characteristics of a room with different supply air diffusers. The work focuses on air flow patterns, thermal behavior in the room with few number of occupants. As an input to the full-scale 3-D room model, a 2-D air supply diffuser model that supplies direction and magnitude of air flow into the room is developed. Air distribution effect on thermal comfort parameters was investigated depending on changing the air supply diffusers type, angles and velocity. Air supply diffusers locations and numbers were also investigated. The pre-processor Gambit is used to create the geometric model with parametric features. Commercially available simulation software “Fluent 6.3” is incorporated to solve the differential equations governing the conservation of mass, three momentum and energy in the processing of air flow distribution. Turbulence effects of the flow are represented by the well-developed two equation turbulence model. In this work, the so-called standard k-ε turbulence model, one of the most widespread turbulence models for industrial applications, was utilized. Basic parameters included in this work are air dry bulb temperature, air velocity, relative humidity and turbulence parameters are used for numerical predictions of indoor air distribution and thermal comfort. The thermal comfort predictions through this work were based on ADPI (Air Diffusion Performance Index),the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) model and the PPD (Percentage People Dissatisfied) model, the PMV and PPD were estimated using Fanger’s model.

Keywords: thermal comfort, Fanger's model, ADPI, energy effeciency

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Authors: Nadjet Mekaouche, Hanane Zitouni, Fatma Boudia, Habiba Fetati, A. Saleh, A. Lardjam, H. Geniaux, A. Coubret, H. Toumi

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Medicines have undeniably played a major role in prolonging shelf life and improving quality. The absolute efficacy of the drug remains a lever for innovation, its benefit/risk balance is not always assured and it does not always have the expected effects. Prior to marketing, knowledge about adverse drug reactions is incomplete. Once on the market, phase IV drug studies begin. For years, the drug was prescribed with less care to a large number of very heterogeneous patients and often in combination with other drugs. It is at this point that previously unknown adverse effects may appear, hence the need for the implementation of a pharmacovigilance system. Pharmacovigilance represents all methods for detecting, evaluating, informing and preventing the risks of adverse drug reactions. The most severe adverse events occur frequently in hospital and that a significant proportion of adverse events result in hospitalizations. In addition, the consequences of hospital adverse events in terms of length of stay, mortality and costs are considerable. It, therefore, appears necessary to develop ‘hospital pharmacovigilance’ aimed at reducing the incidence of adverse reactions in hospitals. The most widely used monitoring method in pharmacovigilance is spontaneous notification. However, underreporting of adverse drug reactions is common in many countries and is a major obstacle to pharmacovigilance assessment. It is in this context that this study aims to describe the experience of the pharmacovigilance service at the University Hospital of Oran (EHUO). This is a retrospective study extending from 2011 to 2017, carried out on archived records of declarations collected at the level of the EHUO Pharmacovigilance Department. Reporting was collected by two methods: ‘spontaneous notification’ and ‘active pharmacovigilance’ targeting certain clinical services. We counted 217 statements. It involved 56% female patients and 46% male patients. Age ranged from 5 to 78 years with an average of 46 years. The most common adverse reaction was drug toxidermy. For the drugs in question, they were essentially according to the ATC classification of anti-infectives followed by anticancer drugs. As regards the evolution of declarations by year, a low rate of notification was noted in 2011. That is why we decided to set up an active approach at the level of some services where a resident of reference attended the staffs every week. This has resulted in an increase in the number of reports. The declarations came essentially from the services where the active approach was installed. This highlights the need for ongoing communication between all relevant health actors to stimulate reporting and secure drug treatments.

Keywords: adverse drug reactions, hospital, pharmacovigilance, spontaneous notification

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Authors: Alessandro Preziosi, Antonio Prioletti, Luca Castangia

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Deformable part models achieve high precision in pedestrian recognition, but all publicly available implementations are too slow for real-time applications. We implemented a deformable part model algorithm fast enough for real-time use by exploiting information about the camera position and orientation. This implementation is both faster and more precise than alternative DPM implementations. These results are obtained by computing convolutions in the frequency domain and using lookup tables to speed up feature computation. This approach is almost an order of magnitude faster than the reference DPM implementation, with no loss in precision. Knowing the position of the camera with respect to horizon it is also possible prune many hypotheses based on their size and location. The range of acceptable sizes and positions is set by looking at the statistical distribution of bounding boxes in labelled images. With this approach it is not needed to compute the entire feature pyramid: for example higher resolution features are only needed near the horizon. This results in an increase in mean average precision of 5% and an increase in speed by a factor of two. Furthermore, to reduce misdetections involving small pedestrians near the horizon, input images are supersampled near the horizon. Supersampling the image at 1.5 times the original scale, results in an increase in precision of about 4%. The implementation was tested against the public KITTI dataset, obtaining an 8% improvement in mean average precision over the best performing DPM-based method. By allowing for a small loss in precision computational time can be easily brought down to our target of 100ms per image, reaching a solution that is faster and still more precise than all publicly available DPM implementations.

Keywords: autonomous vehicles, deformable part model, dpm, pedestrian detection, real time

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Authors: Marcelo T. Okano, Oduvaldo Vendrametto, Osmildo S. Santos, Marcelo E. Fernandes, Heide Landi

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Teaching of entrepreneurship and innovation in Brazilian universities has increased in recent years due to several factors such as the emergence of disciplines like biotechnology increased globalization reduced basic funding and new perspectives on the role of the university in the system of knowledge production Innovation is increasingly seen as an evolutionary process that involves different institutional spheres or sectors in society Entrepreneurship is a milestone on the road towards economic progress, and makes a huge contribution towards the quality and future hopes of a sector, economy or even a country. Entrepreneurship is as important in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local markets as in large companies, and national and international markets, and is just as key a consideration for public companies as or private organizations. Entrepreneurship helps to encourage the competition in the current environment that leads to the effects of globalization. There is an increasing tendency for government policy to promote entrepreneurship for its apparent economic benefit. Accordingly, governments seek to employ entrepreneurship education as a means to stimulate increased levels of economic activity. Entrepreneurship education and training (EET) is growing rapidly in universities and colleges throughout the world, and governments are supporting it both directly and through funding major investments in advice-provision to would-be entrepreneurs and existing small businesses. The Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts. Communications and negotiations between institutional partners generate an overlay that increasingly reorganizes the underlying arrangements. To achieve the objective of this research was a survey of the literature on the entrepreneurship and innovation and then a field research with 100 students of Fatec. To collect the data needed for analysis, we used the exploratory research of a qualitative nature. We asked to respondents what degree of knowledge over ten related to entrepreneurship and innovation topics, responses were answered in a Likert scale with 4 levels, none, small, medium and large. We can conclude that the terms such as entrepreneurship and innovation are known by most students because the university propagates them across disciplines, lectures, and institutes innovation. The more specific items such as canvas and Design thinking model are unknown by most respondents. The importance of the University in teaching innovation and entrepreneurship in the transmission of this knowledge to the students in order to equalize the knowledge. As a future project, these items will be re-evaluated to create indicators for measuring the knowledge level.

Keywords: Brazilian universities, entrepreneurship, innovation, entrepreneurship, globalization

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Authors: F. Clara Fang, Hernan Castaneda

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The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) has constructed four roundabouts in the State of Connecticut within the past ten years. VISSIM traffic simulation software was utilized to analyze these roundabouts during their design phase. The queue length and level of service observed in the field appear to be better than predicted by the VISSIM model. The objectives of this project are to: identify VISSIM input variables most critical to accurate modeling; recommend VISSIM calibration factors; and, provide other recommendations for roundabout traffic operations modeling. Traffic data were collected at these roundabouts using Miovision Technologies. Cameras were set up to capture vehicle circulating activity and entry behavior for two weekdays. A large sample size of filed data was analyzed to achieve accurate and statistically significant results. The data extracted from the videos include: vehicle circulating speed; critical gap estimated by Maximum Likelihood Method; peak hour volume; follow-up headway; travel time; and, vehicle queue length. A VISSIM simulation of existing roundabouts was built to compare both queue length and travel time predicted from simulation with measured in the field. The research investigated a variety of simulation parameters as calibration factors for describing driver behaviors at roundabouts. Among them, critical gap is the most effective calibration variable in roundabout simulation. It has a significant impact to queue length, particularly when the volume is higher. The results will improve the design of future roundabouts in Connecticut and provide decision makers with insights on the relationship between various choices and future performance.

Keywords: driver critical gap, roundabout analysis, simulation, VISSIM modeling

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Authors: Jacob Lewis Watts, Adam F. A. Pellegrini

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Prairies, grasslands, and forests cover an expansive portion of the world’s surface and contribute significantly to Earth’s carbon cycle. The largest driver of carbon dynamics in some of these ecosystems is fire. As the global climate changes, most fire-dominated ecosystems will experience increased fire frequency and intensity, leading to increased carbon flux into the atmosphere and soil nutrient depletion. The plant communities associated with different fire regimes are important for reassimilation of carbon lost during fire and soil recovery. More frequent fires promote conservative plant functional traits aboveground; however, belowground fine root traits are poorly explored and arguably more important drivers of ecosystem function as the primary interface between the soil and plant. The root economic spectrum (RES) hypothesis describes single-dimensional covariation between important fine-root traits along a range of plant strategies from acquisitive to conservative – parallel to the well-established leaf economic spectrum (LES). However, because of the paucity of root trait data, the complex nature of the rhizosphere, and the phylogenetic conservatism of root traits, it is unknown whether the RES hypothesis accurately describes plant nutrient and water acquisition strategies. This project utilizesplants grown in common garden conditions in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden and a meta-analysis of long-term fire manipulation experiments to examine the belowground physiological traits of fire-adapted and non-fire-adapted herbaceous species to 1) test the RES hypothesis and 2) describe the effect of fire regimes on fine root functional traits – which in turn affect carbon and nutrient cycling. A suite of morphological, chemical, and biological root traits (e.g. root diameter, specific root length, percent N, percent mycorrhizal colonization, etc.) of 50 herbaceous species were measuredand tested for phylogenetic conservatism and RES dimensionality. Fire-adapted and non-fire-adapted plants traits were compared using phylogenetic PCA techniques. Preliminary evidence suggests that phylogenetic conservatism may weaken the single-dimensionality of the RES, suggesting that there may not be a single way that plants optimize nutrient and water acquisition and storage in the complex rhizosphere; additionally, fire-adapted species are expected to be more conservative than non-fire-adapted species, which may be indicative of slower carbon cycling with increasing fire frequency and intensity.

Keywords: climate change, fire regimes, root economic spectrum, fine roots

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Authors: Priyanka Bhowmik, Subrata Majumdar, Debprasad Chattopadhyay

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Background: Cervical cancer is the third major cause of cancer in women and the second most frequent cause of cancer related deaths causing 300,000 deaths annually worldwide. Evasion of immune response by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), the key contributing factor behind cancer and pre-cancerous lesions of the uterine cervix, makes immunotherapy a necessity to treat this disease. Objective: A Heat killed fraction of Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP), a non-pathogenic Mycobacterium has been shown to exhibit cytotoxic effects on different cancer cells, including human cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of this study is to decipher the mechanism of MIP induced HeLa cell death. Methods: The cytotoxicity of Mycobacterium indicus pranii against HeLa cells was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Apoptosis was detected by annexin V and Propidium iodide (PI) staining. The assessment of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cell cycle analysis were measured by flow cytometry. The expression of apoptosis associated genes was analyzed by real time PCR. Result: MIP could inhibit the proliferation of HeLa cell in a time and dose dependent manner but caused minor damage to normal cells. The induction of apoptosis was confirmed by the cell surface presentation of phosphatidyl serine, DNA fragmentation, and mitochondrial damage. MIP caused very early (as early as 30 minutes) transcriptional activation of p53, followed by a higher activation (32 fold) at 24 hours suggesting prime importance of p53 in MIP-induced apoptosis in HeLa cell. The up regulation of p53 dependent pro-apoptotic genes Bax, Bak, PUMA, and Noxa followed a lag phase that was required for the transcriptional p53 program. MIP also caused the transcriptional up regulation of Toll like receptor 2 and 4 after 30 minutes of MIP treatment suggesting recognition of MIP by toll like receptors. Moreover, MIP caused the inhibition of expression of HPV anti apoptotic gene E6, which is known to interfere with p53/PUMA/Bax apoptotic cascade. This inhibition might have played a role in transcriptional up regulation of PUMA and subsequently apoptosis. ROS was generated transiently which was concomitant with the highest transcription activation of p53 suggesting a plausible feedback loop network of p53 and ROS in the apoptosis of HeLa cells. Scavenger of ROS, such as N-acetyl-L-cysteine, decreased apoptosis suggesting ROS is an important effector of MIP induced apoptosis. Conclusion: Taken together, MIP possesses full potential to be a novel therapeutic agent in the clinical treatment of cervical cancer.

Keywords: cancer, mycobacterium, immunity, immunotherapy.

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Authors: Takuro Kida, Yuichi Kida

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In this paper, it is shown a base of the new trend of algorithm mathematically that treats a historical reason of continuous discrimination in the world as well as its solution by introducing new concepts of parallel world that includes an invisible set of errors as its companion. With respect to a matrix operator-filter bank that the matrix operator-analysis-filter bank H and the matrix operator-sampling-filter bank S are given, firstly, we introduce the detail algorithm to derive the optimum matrix operator-synthesis-filter bank Z that minimizes all the worst-case measures of the matrix operator-error-signals E(ω) = F(ω) − Y(ω) between the matrix operator-input-signals F(ω) and the matrix operator-output-signals Y(ω) of the matrix operator-filter bank at the same time. Further, feedback is introduced to the above approximation theory, and it is indicated that introducing conversations with feedback do not superior automatically to the accumulation of existing knowledge of signal prediction. Secondly, the concept of category in the field of mathematics is applied to the above optimum signal approximation and is indicated that the category-based approximation theory is applied to the set-theoretic consideration of the recognition of humans. Based on this discussion, it is shown naturally why the narrow perception that tends to create isolation shows an apparent advantage in the short term and, often, why such narrow thinking becomes intimate with discriminatory action in a human group. Throughout these considerations, it is presented that, in order to abolish easy and intimate discriminatory behavior, it is important to create a parallel world of conception where we share the set of invisible error signals, including the words and the consciousness of both worlds.

Keywords: matrix filterbank, optimum signal approximation, category theory, simultaneous minimization

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Authors: Mihai-Ionut Firescu, Mark A. P. Carson

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We present a case of inferior vena cava agenesis (IVCA) associated with bilateral deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in a patient with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS). In adult patients with BWS presenting with bilateral lower limb oedema, specific aetiological factors should be considered. These include cardiomyopathy and intraabdominal tumours. Congenital malformations of the IVC, through causing relative venous stasis, can lead to lower limb oedema either directly or indirectly by favouring lower limb venous thromboembolism; however, they are yet to be reported as an associated feature of BWS. Given its life-threatening potential, the prompt initiation of treatment for bilateral DVT is paramount. In BWS patients, however, this can prove more complicated. Due to overgrowth, the above-average birth weight can continue throughout childhood. In this case, the patient’s weight reached 170 kg, impacting on anticoagulation choice, as direct oral anticoagulants have a limited evidence base in patients with a body mass above 120 kg. Furthermore, the presence of IVCA leads to a long-term increased venous thrombosis risk. Therefore, patients with IVCA and bilateral DVT warrant specialist consideration and may benefit from multidisciplinary team management, with hematology and vascular surgery input. Conclusion: Here, we showcased a rare cause for bilateral lower limb oedema, respectively bilateral deep venous thrombosis complicating IVCA in a patient with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. The importance of this case lies in its novelty, as the association between IVC agenesis and BWS has not yet been described. Furthermore, the treatment of DVT in such situations requires special consideration, taking into account the patient’s weight and the presence of a significant, predisposing vascular abnormality.

Keywords: Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, bilateral deep venous thrombosis, inferior vena cava agenesis, venous thromboembolism

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Authors: E. Zafeiraki, P. Nisianakis, K. Machera

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Cannabis plant contains 113 cannabinoids and it is commonly known for its psychoactive substance tetrahydrocannabinol or as a source of narcotic substances. The recent years’ cannabis cultivation also increases due to its wide use both for medical and industrial purposes as well as for uses as para-pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food commodities. Depending on the final product, different parts of the plant are utilized, with the leaves and bud (seeds) being the most frequently used. Cannabis can accumulate various contaminants, including heavy metals, both from the soil and the water in which the plant grows. More specifically, metals may occur naturally in the soil and water, or they can enter into the environment through fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides that are commonly applied to crops. The high probability of metals accumulation in cannabis, combined with the latter growing use, raise concerns about the potential health effects in humans and consequently lead to the need for the implementation of safety measures for cannabis products, such as guidelines for regulating contaminants, including metals, and especially the ones characterized by high toxicity in cannabis. Acknowledging the above, the aim of the current study was first to investigate metals contamination in cannabis samples collected from Greece, and secondly to examine potential differences in metals accumulation among the different parts of the plant. To our best knowledge, this is the first study presenting information on elements in cannabis cultivated in Greece, and also on the distribution pattern of the former in the plant body. To this end, the leaves and the seeds of all the samples were initially separated and dried and then digested with Nitric acid (HNO₃) and Hydrochloric acid (HCl). For the analysis of these samples, an Inductive Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) method was developed, able to quantify 28 elements. Internal standards were added at a constant rate and concentration to all calibration standards and unknown samples, while two certified reference materials were analyzed in every batch to ensure the accuracy of the measurements. The repeatability of the method and the background contamination were controlled by the analysis of quality control (QC) standards and blank samples in every sequence, respectively. According to the results, essential metals, such as Ca, Zn and Mg, were detected at high levels. On the contrary, the concentration of high toxicity metals, like As (average: 0.10ppm), Pb (average: 0.36ppm), Cd (average: 0.04ppm), and Hg (average: 0.012ppm) were very low in all the samples, indicating that no harmful effects on human health can be caused by the analyzed samples. Moreover, it appears that the pattern of contamination of metals is very similar in all the analyzed samples, which could be attributed to the same origin of the analyzed cannabis, i.e., the common soil composition, use of fertilizers, pesticides, etc. Finally, as far as the distribution pattern between the different parts of the plant is concerned, it was revealed that leaves present a higher concentration in comparison to seeds for all metals examined.

Keywords: cannabis, heavy metals, ICP-MS, leaves and seeds, elements

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Authors: Yufeng Li, Yinan Ma, Jing Wu, Chengnian Long

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Infrared object detection aims at separating small and dim target from clutter background and its capabilities extend beyond the limits of visible light, making it invaluable in a wide range of applications such as improving safety, security, efficiency, and functionality. However, existing methods are usually sensitive to the noise of the input infrared image, leading to a decrease in target detection accuracy and an increase in the false alarm rate in high-noise environments. To address this issue, an infrared small target detection algorithm called YOLO-IR is proposed in this paper to improve the robustness to high infrared noise. To address the problem that high noise significantly reduces the clarity and reliability of target features in infrared images, we design a soft-threshold coordinate attention mechanism to improve the model’s ability to extract target features and its robustness to noise. Since the noise may overwhelm the local details of the target, resulting in the loss of small target features during depth down-sampling, we propose a deep and shallow feature fusion neck to improve the detection accuracy. In addition, because the generalized Intersection over Union (IoU)-based loss functions may be sensitive to noise and lead to unstable training in high-noise environments, we introduce a Wasserstein-distance based loss function to improve the training of the model. The experimental results show that YOLO-IR achieves a 5.0% improvement in recall and a 6.6% improvement in F1-score over existing state-of-art model.

Keywords: infrared small target detection, high noise, robustness, soft-threshold coordinate attention, feature fusion

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Authors: John E. Muñoz, Jose F. Lopez, David S. Lopez

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that affects 1 out of 5 Colombian children, converting into a real public health problem in the country. Conventional treatments such as medication and neuropsychological therapy have been proved to be insufficient in order to decrease high incidence levels of ADHD in the principal Colombian cities. This work demonstrates a design and development of a videogame that uses a brain computer interface not only to serve as an input device but also as a tool to monitor neurophysiologic signal. The video game named “The Harvest Challenge” puts a cultural scene of a Colombian coffee grower in its context, where a player can use his/her avatar in three mini games created in order to reinforce four fundamental aspects: i) waiting ability, ii) planning ability, iii) ability to follow instructions and iv) ability to achieve objectives. The details of this collaborative designing process of the multimedia tool according to the exact clinic necessities and the description of interaction proposals are presented through the mental stages of attention and relaxation. The final videogame is presented as a tool for sustained attention training in children with ADHD using as an action mechanism the neuromodulation of Beta and Theta waves through an electrode located in the central part of the front lobe of the brain. The processing of an electroencephalographic signal is produced automatically inside the videogame allowing to generate a report of the theta/beta ratio evolution - a biological marker, which has been demonstrated to be a sufficient measure to discriminate of children with deficit and without.

Keywords: BCI, neuromodulation, ADHD, videogame, neurofeedback, theta/beta ratio

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Authors: Budhvin T. Withana, Sulochana Rupasinghe

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The educational system faces a significant concern with regards to Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, which are learning disabilities impacting reading and writing abilities. This is particularly challenging for children who speak the Sinhala language due to its complexity and uniqueness. Commonly used methods to detect the risk of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia rely on subjective assessments, leading to limited coverage and time-consuming processes. Consequently, delays in diagnoses and missed opportunities for early intervention can occur. To address this issue, the project developed a hybrid model that incorporates various deep learning techniques to detect the risk of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. Specifically, Resnet50, VGG16, and YOLOv8 models were integrated to identify handwriting issues. The outputs of these models were then combined with other input data and fed into an MLP model. Hyperparameters of the MLP model were fine-tuned using Grid Search CV, enabling the identification of optimal values for the model. This approach proved to be highly effective in accurately predicting the risk of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, providing a valuable tool for early detection and intervention. The Resnet50 model exhibited a training accuracy of 0.9804 and a validation accuracy of 0.9653. The VGG16 model achieved a training accuracy of 0.9991 and a validation accuracy of 0.9891. The MLP model demonstrated impressive results with a training accuracy of 0.99918, a testing accuracy of 0.99223, and a loss of 0.01371. These outcomes showcase the high accuracy achieved by the proposed hybrid model in predicting the risk of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia.

Keywords: neural networks, risk detection system, dyslexia, dysgraphia, deep learning, learning disabilities, data science

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Authors: Fergus Wade, Jasmine Makker, Matthew Jankinson, Aminah Qamar, Gemma Morrelli, Shayan Shah

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Background: Ambulance offload delays (AODs) affect patient outcomes. At baseline, the average AOD at Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) was 41 minutes, in breach of the 15-minute target. Aims: By February 2023, we aimed to reduce: the average AOD to 30 minutes percentage of AOD >30 minutes (PA30) to 25% and >60 minutes (PA60) to 10% Methods: Following a root-cause analysis, we implemented 2 Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles. PDSA-1 ‘Drop-and-run’: ambulances waiting >15 minutes for a handover left the patients in the Emergency Department (ED) and returned to the community. PDSA-2: Booking in the patients before the handover, allowing direct updates to online records, eliminating the need for handwritten notes. Outcome measures: AOD, PA30, and PA60, and process measures: total ambulances and patients in the ED were recorded for 16 weeks. Results: In PDSA-1, all parameters increased slightly despite unvarying ED crowding. In PDSA-2, two shifts in data were seen: initially, a sharp increase in the outcome measures consistent with increased ED crowding, followed by a downward shift when crowding returned to baseline (p<0.01). Within this interval, the AOD reduced to 29.9 minutes, and PA30 and PA60 were 31.2% and 9.2% respectively. Discussion/conclusion: PDSA-1 didn’t result in any significant changes; lack of compliance was a key cause. The initial upward shift in PDSA-2 is likely associated with NHS staff strikes. However, during the second interval, the AOD and the PA60 met our targets of 30 minutes and 10%, respectively, improving patient flow in the ED. This was sustained without further input and if maintained, saves 2 paramedic shifts every 3 days.

Keywords: ambulance offload, district general hospital, handover, quality improvement

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Authors: J. Szolomicki, H. Golasz-Szolomicka

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The architectural and structural analysis of selected high-rise buildings in Tokyo is presented in this paper. The capital of Japan is the most densely populated city in the world and moreover is located in one of the most active seismic zones. The combination of these factors has resulted in the creation of sophisticated designs and innovative engineering solutions, especially in the field of design and construction of high-rise buildings. The foreign architectural studios (as, for Jean Nouvel, Kohn Pedesen Associates, Skidmore, Owings & Merill) which specialize in the designing of skyscrapers, played a major role in the development of technological ideas and architectural forms for such extraordinary engineering structures. Among the projects completed by them, there are examples of high-rise buildings that set precedents for future development. An essential aspect which influences the design of high-rise buildings is the necessity to take into consideration their dynamic reaction to earthquakes and counteracting wind vortices. The need to control motions of these buildings, induced by the force coming from earthquakes and wind, led to the development of various methods and devices for dissipating energy which occur during such phenomena. Currently, Japan is a global leader in seismic technologies which safeguard seismic influence on high-rise structures. Due to these achievements the most modern skyscrapers in Tokyo are able to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of over seven degrees at the Richter scale. Damping devices applied are of a passive, which do not require additional power supply or active one which suppresses the reaction with the input of extra energy. In recent years also hybrid dampers were used, with an additional active element to improve the efficiency of passive damping.

Keywords: core structures, damping system, high-rise building, seismic zone

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