Search results for: information system transformation

Authors: Jessica Gu, Yu Chen

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Knowledge Management (KM) is undoubtable crucial to organizational value creation, learning, and adaptation. Although the rapidly growing KM domain has been fueled with full-fledged methodologies and technologies, studies on KM evolution that bridge the organizational performance and adaptation to the organizational environment are still rarely attempted. In particular, creation (or generation) and diffusion (or share/exchange) of knowledge are of the organizational primary concerns on the problem-solving perspective, however, the optimized distribution of knowledge creation and diffusion endeavors are still unknown to knowledge workers. This research proposed an agent-based model of knowledge creation and diffusion in an organization, aiming at elucidating how the intertwining knowledge flows at microscopic level lead to optimized organizational performance at macroscopic level through evolution, and exploring what exogenous interventions by the policy maker and endogenous adjustments of the knowledge workers can better cope with different environmental conditions. With the developed model, a series of simulation experiments are conducted. Both long-term steady-state and time-dependent developmental results on organizational performance, network and structure, social interaction and learning among individuals, knowledge audit and stocktaking, and the likelihood of choosing knowledge creation and diffusion by the knowledge workers are obtained. One of the interesting findings reveals a non-monotonic phenomenon on organizational performance under turbulent environment while a monotonic phenomenon on organizational performance under a stable environment. Hence, whether the environmental condition is turbulence or stable, the most suitable exogenous KM policy and endogenous knowledge creation and diffusion choice adjustments can be identified for achieving the optimized organizational performance. Additional influential variables are further discussed and future work directions are finally elaborated. The proposed agent-based model generates evidence on how knowledge worker strategically allocates efforts on knowledge creation and diffusion, how the bottom-up interactions among individuals lead to emerged structure and optimized performance, and how environmental conditions bring in challenges to the organization system. Meanwhile, it serves as a roadmap and offers great macro and long-term insights to policy makers without interrupting the real organizational operation, sacrificing huge overhead cost, or introducing undesired panic to employees.

Keywords: knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion, agent-based modeling, organizational performance, decision making evolution

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Authors: Waad Al Saleemi, Badriya Al Adawi, Zaaima Al Jabri, Sahim Al Ghafri, Jalila Al Hadhramia

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Objectives: Using standard lab methods, a positive blood culture requires a minimum of two days (two occasions of overnight incubation) to obtain a final identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility results (AST) report. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the accuracy and precision of identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of an alternative method (direct method) that will reduce the turnaround time by 24 hours. This method involves the direct inoculation of positive blood culture broths into the Phoenix system using serum separation tubes (SST). Method: This prospective study included monomicrobial-positive blood cultures obtained from January 2022 to May 2023 in SQUH. Blood cultures containing a mixture of organisms, fungi, or anaerobic organisms were excluded from this study. The result of the new “direct method” under study was compared with the current “standard method” used in the lab. The accuracy and precision were evaluated for the ID and AST using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations. The categorical agreement, essential agreement, and the rates of very major errors (VME), major errors (ME), and minor errors (MIE) for both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria were calculated. Passing criteria were set according to CLSI. Result: The results of ID and AST were available for a total of 158 isolates. Of 77 isolates of gram-negative bacteria, 71 (92%) were correctly identified at the species level. Of 70 isolates of gram-positive bacteria, 47(67%) isolates were correctly identified. For gram-negative bacteria, the essential agreement of the direct method was ≥92% when compared to the standard method, while the categorical agreement was ≥91% for all tested antibiotics. The precision of ID and AST were noted to be 100% for all tested isolates. For gram-positive bacteria, the essential agreement was >93%, while the categorical agreement was >92% for all tested antibiotics except moxifloxacin. Many antibiotics were noted to have an unacceptable higher rate of very major errors including penicillin, cotrimoxazole, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, and moxifloxacin. However, no error was observed in the results of vancomycin, linezolid, and daptomycin. Conclusion: The direct method of ID and AST for positive blood cultures using SST is reliable for gram negative bacteria. It will significantly decrease the turnaround time and will facilitate antimicrobial stewardship.

Keywords: bloodstream infection, oman, direct ast, blood culture, rapid identification, antimicrobial susceptibility, phoenix, direct inoculation

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Authors: A. Kourou, A. Ioakeimidou, A. Gakou

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Greece due to its location in the Eastern Mediterranean region is characterized by a high degree of seismicity and occurrence of severe earthquakes. It is generally accepted that preventive planning is vital in mitigating impacts, protecting those who are the most vulnerable namely children and increasing the degree of resilience of local communities. Worldwide, States have highlighted the need to ensure the safety of early childhood environments in case of disaster. A great number of children are enrolled in daycare facilities, so building and improving the preparedness of pre-primary schools to prevent injuries and fatalities in case of an earthquake becomes an important policy issue. It is more than evident that preparedness in early preschool level will be increased through awareness and education of the people who work to pre-primary classes and provide early childhood care. The aim of the present study is to assess the level of awareness and preparedness of the Greek pre-primary schools staff concerning earthquake protection issues, as well as their risk mitigation behaviors and earthquake management in case of a strong event. In this framework, specific questionnaire was developed and filled by the abovementioned target group at 30 different municipalities of Greece (2014-2016). Also in the framework of this study it is presented the Pre-Primary Schools’ Earthquake Safety Initiative that has been undertaken by Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization (EPPO) the last years. This initiative aims to develop disaster-resilient day care centers through awareness, self-help, cooperation and education. Recognizing the necessity of integration of the disaster safety concept at pre-primary environments, EPPO published practical guidelines that focused on earthquake planning of these workspaces. Furthermore, dozens of seminars are implemented in municipality or prefecture-level every year by EPPO, in order the early childhood schools’ staff to be appropriately educated and adequately trained to face the earthquake risk. Great progress has been made towards building awareness and increasing preschool preparedness in Greece but significant gaps still remain. Anyway, it is extremely important that the implementation of effective programs and practices and the broad collaboration of all involved parties have been recognized as essential in order to develop a comprehensive disaster management system at preschool environment.

Keywords: awareness, earthquake, education, emergency plans, preparedness, pre-primary schools

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Authors: Marwa Djebbi, Hakim Gabtni

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Gravity is a continuously advancing method that has become a mature technology for geological studies. Increasingly, it has been used to complement and constrain traditional seismic data and even used as the only tool to get information of the sub-surface. In fact, in some regions the seismic data, if available, are of poor quality and hard to be interpreted. Such is the case for the current study area. The Nefza zone is part of the Tellian fold and thrust belt domain in the north west of Tunisia. It is essentially made of a pile of allochthonous units resulting from a major Neogene tectonic event. Its tectonic and stratigraphic developments have always been subject of controversies. Considering the geological and hydrogeological importance of this area, a detailed interdisciplinary study has been conducted integrating geology, seismic and gravity techniques. The interpretation of Gravity data allowed the delimitation of the dune reservoir and the identification of the regional lineaments contouring the area. It revealed the presence of three gravity lows that correspond to the dune of Zouara and Ouchtata separated along with a positive gravity axis espousing the Ain Allega_Aroub Er Roumane axe. The Bouguer gravity map illustrated the compartmentalization of the Zouara dune into two depressions separated by a NW-SE anomaly trend. This constitution was confirmed by the vertical derivative map which showed the individualization of two depressions with slightly different anomaly values. The horizontal gravity gradient magnitude was performed in order to determine the different geological features present in the studied area. The latest indicated the presence of NE-SW parallel folds according to the major Atlasic direction. Also, NW-SE and EW trends were identified. The maxima tracing confirmed this direction by the presence of NE-SW faults, mainly the Ghardimaou_Cap Serrat accident. The quality of the available seismic sections and the absence of borehole data in the region, except few hydraulic wells that been drilled and showing the heterogeneity of the substratum of the dune, required the process of gravity modeling of this challenging area that necessitates to be modeled for the geometrical characterization of the dune reservoir and determine the different stratigraphic series underneath these deposits. For more detailed and accurate results, the scale of study will be reduced in coming research. A more concise method will be elaborated; the 4D microgravity survey. This approach is considered as an expansion of gravity method and its fourth dimension is time. It will allow a continuous and repeated monitoring of fluid movement in the subsurface according to the micro gal (μgall) scale. The gravity effect is a result of a monthly variation of the dynamic groundwater level which correlates with rainfall during different periods.

Keywords: 3D gravity modeling, dune reservoir, heterogeneous substratum, seismic interpretation

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Authors: Choupani Andisheh, Temucin Elif Sevval, Bediz Bekir

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Due to their various advantages compared to many other drug delivery systems such as hypodermic injections and oral medications, microneedle arrays (MNAs) are a promising drug delivery system. To achieve enhanced performance of the MN, it is crucial to develop numerical models, optimization methods, and simulations. Accordingly, in this work, the optimized design of dissolvable MNAs, as well as their manufacturing, is investigated. For this purpose, a mechanical model of a single MN, having the geometry of an obelisk, is developed using commercial finite element software. The model considers the condition in which the MN is under pressure at the tip caused by the reaction force when penetrating the skin. Then, a multi-objective optimization based on non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is performed to obtain geometrical properties such as needle width, tip (apex) angle, and base fillet radius. The objective of the optimization study is to reach a painless and effortless penetration into the skin along with minimizing its mechanical failures caused by the maximum stress occurring throughout the structure. Based on the obtained optimal design parameters, master (male) molds are then fabricated from PMMA using a mechanical micromachining process. This fabrication method is selected mainly due to the geometry capability, production speed, production cost, and the variety of materials that can be used. Then to remove any chip residues, the master molds are cleaned using ultrasonic cleaning. These fabricated master molds can then be used repeatedly to fabricate Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) production (female) molds through a micro-molding approach. Finally, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a dissolvable polymer is cast into the production molds under vacuum to produce the dissolvable MNAs. This fabrication methodology can also be used to fabricate MNAs that include bioactive cargo. To characterize and demonstrate the performance of the fabricated needles, (i) scanning electron microscope images are taken to show the accuracy of the fabricated geometries, and (ii) in-vitro piercing tests are performed on artificial skin. It is shown that optimized MN geometries can be precisely fabricated using the presented fabrication methodology and the fabricated MNAs effectively pierce the skin without failure.

Keywords: microneedle, microneedle array fabrication, micro-manufacturing structural optimization, finite element analysis

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Authors: Gerald Steyn

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Despite the huge number of identical, tiny, boxy, freestanding houses built by the South African government after the advent of democracy in 1994, squatter camps continue to mushroom, and there is no evidence that the backlog is being reduced. Not only is the wasteful low-density detached-unit approach of the past being perpetuated, but the social, spatial, and economic marginalization is worse than before 1994. The situation is precarious since squatters are vulnerable to fires and flooding. At the same time, the occupants of the housing schemes are trapped far from employment opportunities or any public amenities. Despite these insecurities, the architectural, urban design, and city planning professions are puzzlingly quiet. Design projects address these issues only at the universities, albeit inevitably with somewhat Utopian notions. Geoffrey Payne, the renowned urban housing and urban development consultant and researcher focusing on issues in the Global South, once proclaimed that “we do not have a housing problem – we have a settlement problem.” This dictum was used as the guiding philosophy to conceptualize urban design and architectural principles that foreground the needs of low-income households and allow them to be fully integrated into the larger conurbation. Information was derived from intensive research over two decades, involving frequent visits to informal settlements, historic Black townships, and rural villages. Observations, measured site surveys, and interviews resulted in several scholarly articles from which a set of desirable urban and architectural criteria could be extracted. To formulate culturally appropriate design principles, existing vernacular and informal patterns were analyzed, reconciled with contemporary designs that align with the requirements for the envisaged settlement attributes, and reimagined as residential design principles. Five interrelated design principles are proposed, ranging in scale from (1) Integrating informal settlements into the city, (2) linear neighborhoods, (3) market streets as wards, (4) linear neighborhoods, and (5) typologies and densities for clustered and aggregated patios and courtyards. Each design principle is described, first in terms of its context and associated issues of concern, followed by a discussion of the patterns available to inform a possible solution, and finally, an explanation and graphic illustration of the proposed design. The approach is predominantly bottom-up since each of the five principles is unfolded from existing informal and vernacular practices studied in situ. They are, however, articulated and represented in terms of contemporary design language. Contrary to an idealized vision of housing for South Africa’s low-income urban households, this study proposes actual principles for critical assessment by peers in the tradition of architectural research in design.

Keywords: culturally appropriate design principles, informal settlements, South Africa’s housing backlog, squatter camps

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Authors: J. Iwaro, A. Mwasha, K. Ramsubhag

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Global warming has become a threat of our time. It poses challenges to the existence of beings on earth, the built environment, natural environment and has made a clear impact on the level of energy and water consumption. As such, increase in the ambient temperature increases indoor and outdoor temperature level of the buildings which brings about the use of more energy and mechanical air conditioning systems. In addition, in view of the increased modernization and economic growth in the developing countries, a significant amount of energy is being used, especially those with hot climatic conditions. Since modernization in developing countries is rising rapidly, more pressure is being placed on the buildings and energy resources to satisfy the indoor comfort requirements. This paper presents a sustainable passive roof solution as a means of reducing energy cooling loads for satisfying human comfort requirements in a hot climate. As such, the study based on the field study data discusses indoor thermal roof design strategies for a hot climate by investigating the impacts of roof thermal performance on indoor thermal comfort in naturally ventilated building envelope small scaled structures. In this respect, the traditional concrete flat roof, corrugated galvanised iron roof and pre-painted standing seam roof were used. The experiment made used of three identical small scale physical models constructed and sited on the roof of a building at the University of the West Indies. The results show that the utilization of insulation in traditional roofing systems will significantly reduce heat transfer between the internal and ambient environment, thus reducing the energy demand of the structure and the relative carbon footprint of a structure per unit area over its lifetime. Also, the application of flat slab concrete roofing system showed the best performance as opposed to the metal roof sheeting alternative systems. In addition, it has been shown experimentally through this study that a sustainable passive roof solution such as insulated flat concrete roof in hot dry climate has a better cooling strength that can provide building occupant with a better thermal comfort, conducive indoor conditions and energy efficiency.

Keywords: building envelope, roof, energy consumption, thermal comfort

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Authors: Nawaf Al Khashram, Graham Arnold, Weijie Wang

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Background—Gait classifying allows clinicians to differentiate gait patterns into clinically important categories that help in clinical decision making. Reliable comparison of gait data between normal and patients requires knowledge of the gait parameters of normal children's specific age group. However, there is still a lack of the gait database for normal children of different ages. Objectives—The aim of this study is to investigate the kinematics of the lower limb joints during gait for normal children in different age groups. Methods—Fifty-three normal children (34 boys, 19 girls) were recruited in this study. All the children were aged between 5 to 16 years old. Age groups were defined as three types: young child aged (5-7), child (8-11), and adolescent (12-16). When a participant agreed to take part in the project, their parents signed a consent form. Vicon® motion capture system was used to collect gait data. Participants were asked to walk at their comfortable speed along a 10-meter walkway. Each participant walked up to 20 trials. Three good trials were analyzed using the Vicon Plug-in-Gait model to obtain parameters of the gait, e.g., walking speed, cadence, stride length, and joint parameters, e.g. joint angle, force, moments, etc. Moreover, each gait cycle was divided into 8 phases. The range of motion (ROM) angle of pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle joints in three planes of both limbs were calculated using an in-house program. Results—The temporal-spatial variables of three age groups of normal children were compared between each other; it was found that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the groups. The step length and walking speed were gradually increasing from young child to adolescent, while cadence was gradually decreasing from young child to adolescent group. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the step length of young child, child and adolescent groups were 0.502 ± 0.067 m, 0.566 ± 0.061 m and 0.672 ± 0.053 m, respectively. The mean and SD of the cadence of the young child, child and adolescent groups were 140.11±15.79 step/min, 129±11.84 step/min, and a 115.96±6.47 step/min, respectively. Moreover, it was observed that there were significant differences in kinematic parameters, either whole gait cycle or each phase. For example, RoM of knee angle in the sagittal plane in whole cycle of young child group is (65.03±0.52 deg) larger than child group (63.47±0.47 deg). Conclusion—Our result showed that there are significant differences between each age group in the gait phases and thus children walking performance changes with ages. Therefore, it is important for the clinician to consider age group when analyzing the patients with lower limb disorders before any clinical treatment.

Keywords: age group, gait analysis, kinematics, normal children

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Authors: Younis Elhaddad, Alfonso Ortega

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Oil production by means of gas lift is a standard technique in oil production industry. To optimize the total amount of oil production in terms of the amount of gas injected is a key question in this domain. Different methods have been tested to propose a general methodology. Many of them apply well-known numerical methods. Some of them have taken into account the power of evolutionary approaches. Our goal is to provide the experts of the domain with a powerful automatic searching engine into which they can introduce their knowledge in a format close to the one used in their domain, and get solutions comprehensible in the same terms, as well. These proposals introduced in the genetic engine the most expressive formal models to represent the solutions to the problem. These algorithms have proven to be as effective as other genetic systems but more flexible and comfortable for the researcher although they usually require huge search spaces to justify their use due to the computational resources involved in the formal models. The first step to evaluate the viability of applying our approaches to this realm is to fully understand the domain and to select an instance of the problem (gas lift optimization) in which applying genetic approaches could seem promising. After analyzing the state of the art of this topic, we have decided to choose a previous work from the literature that faces the problem by means of numerical methods. This contribution includes details enough to be reproduced and complete data to be carefully analyzed. We have designed a classical, simple genetic algorithm just to try to get the same results and to understand the problem in depth. We could easily incorporate the well mathematical model, and the well data used by the authors and easily translate their mathematical model, to be numerically optimized, into a proper fitness function. We have analyzed the 100 curves they use in their experiment, similar results were observed, in addition, our system has automatically inferred an optimum total amount of injected gas for the field compatible with the addition of the optimum gas injected in each well by them. We have identified several constraints that could be interesting to incorporate to the optimization process but that could be difficult to numerically express. It could be interesting to automatically propose other mathematical models to fit both, individual well curves and also the behaviour of the complete field. All these facts and conclusions justify continuing exploring the viability of applying the approaches more sophisticated previously proposed by our research group.

Keywords: evolutionary automatic programming, gas lift, genetic algorithms, oil production

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Authors: C. Fornacelli, P. Colomban, E. Mugnaioli, I. Memmi Turbanti

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When semiconductor particles are reduced in scale to nanometer dimension, their optical and electro-optical properties strongly differ from those of bulk crystals of the same composition. Since sampling is often not allowed concerning cultural heritage artefacts, the potentialities of two non-invasive techniques, such as Raman and Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), have been investigated and the results of the analysis on some original glasses of different colours (from yellow to orange and deep red) and periods (from the second decade of the 20th century to present days) are reported in the present study. In order to evaluate the potentialities of the application of non-invasive techniques to the investigation of the structure and distribution of nanoparticles dispersed in a glass matrix, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and energy-disperse spectroscopy (EDS) mapping, together with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Electron Diffraction Tomography (EDT) have also been used. Raman spectroscopy allows a fast and non-destructive measure of the quantum dots composition and size, thanks to the evaluation of the frequencies and the broadening/asymmetry of the LO phonons bands, respectively, though the important role of the compressive strain arising from the glass matrix and the possible diffusion of zinc from the matrix to the nanocrystals should be taken into account when considering the optical-phonons frequency values. The incorporation of Zn has been assumed by an upward shifting of the LO band related to the most abundant anion (S or Se), while the role of the surface phonons as well as the confinement-induced scattering by phonons with a non-zero wavevectors on the Raman peaks broadening has been verified. The optical band gap varies from 2.42 eV (pure CdS) to 1.70 eV (CdSe). For the compositional range between 0.5≤x≤0.2, the presence of two absorption edges has been related to the contribution of both pure CdS and the CdSxSe1-x solid solution; this particular feature is probably due to the presence of unaltered cubic zinc blende structures of CdS that is not taking part to the formation of the solid solution occurring only between hexagonal CdS and CdSe. Moreover, the band edge tailing originating from the disorder due to the formation of weak bonds and characterized by the Urbach edge energy has been studied and, together with the FWHM of the Raman signal, has been assumed as a good parameter to evaluate the degree of topological disorder. SEM-EDS mapping showed a peculiar distribution of the major constituents of the glass matrix (fluxes and stabilizers), especially concerning those samples where a layered structure has been assumed thanks to the spectroscopic study. Finally, TEM-EDS and EDT were used to get high-resolution information about nanocrystals (NCs) and heterogeneous glass layers. The presence of ZnO NCs (< 4 nm) dispersed in the matrix has been verified for most of the samples, while, for those samples where a disorder due to a more complex distribution of the size and/or composition of the NCs has been assumed, the TEM clearly verified most of the assumption made by the spectroscopic techniques.

Keywords: CdSxSe1-x, EDT, glass, spectroscopy, TEM-EDS

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Authors: Y. Landkocz, P. Gosset, A. Héliot, C. Corbière, C. Vendeville, V. Keravec, S. Billet, A. Verdin, C. Monteil, D. Préterre, J-P. Morin, F. Sichel, T. Douki, P. J. Martin

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Air Pollution produced by automobile traffic is one of the main sources of pollutants in urban atmosphere and is largely due to exhausts of the diesel engine powered vehicles. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, classified in 2012 diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer. Amongst the strategies aimed at limiting exhausts in order to take into consideration the health impact of automobile pollution, filtration of the emissions and use of biofuels are developed, but their toxicological impact is largely unknown. Diesel exhausts are indeed complex mixtures of toxic substances difficult to study from a toxicological point of view, due to both the necessary characterization of the pollutants, sampling difficulties, potential synergy between the compounds and the wide variety of biological effects. Here, we studied the potential indirect genotoxicity of emission of Diesel engines through on-line exposure of rats in inhalation chambers to a subchronic high but realistic dose. Following exposure to standard gasoil +/- rapeseed methyl ester either upstream or downstream of a particle filter or control treatment, rats have been sacrificed and their lungs collected. The following indirect genotoxic parameters have been measured: (i) telomerase activity and telomeres length associated with rTERT and rTERC gene expression by RT-qPCR on frozen lungs, (ii) γH2AX quantification, representing double-strand DNA breaks, by immunohistochemistry on formalin fixed-paraffin embedded (FFPE) lung samples. These preliminary results will be then associated with global cellular response analyzed by pan-genomic microarrays, monitoring of oxidative stress and the quantification of primary DNA lesions in order to identify biological markers associated with a potential pro-carcinogenic response of diesel or biodiesel, with or without filters, in a relevant system of in vivo exposition.

Keywords: diesel exhaust exposed rats, γH2AX, indirect genotoxicity, lung carcinogenicity, telomerase activity, telomeres length

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Authors: Lo Kai Chung

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Fathers in the family of disabled children play a crucial role in fostering child development. Previous studies addressing emotions of father involvement in rearing children with special needs have been rare. With reference to the cultural orientation and masculine idea of Chinese fathers, shame and guilt are probable causal emotions that affect fathers’ psycho-behavioral reactions and, thus, father involvement. Based on the findings of our earlier qualitative studies, the current study aims to develop and validate a multi-item scale of guilt or shame and explore their relations with and fatherhood in families with children with special needs. A model is proposed to understand the roles that shame and guilt play in affecting fathers’ involvement in their family system. The severity and type of the child’s special needs are regarded as independent variables affecting the father’s emotional responses – shame and guilt. It is hypothesized that shame and guilt, under the influence of masculinity, lead to avoidance and compensation, respectively, which subsequently decrease and increase father involvement with children with special needs. A cross-sectional online questionnaire survey of fathers with children with special needs recruited by convenience sampling was conducted. Potential participants were reached by bulk emails, related groups on the Internet and education/social services providers. Totally 537 valid sets of online questionnaires were collected from fathers of children with special needs. EFA on the items pool of shame and guilt was performed, resulting in an x-item single-factor solution and y-item single-factor solution, respectively. Further path model analysis revealed that shame and guilt, under the influence of masculinity, showed differential avoidance and compensation responses and resulted in a decrease and increase in father involvement with special needs children. Demographic and key confounding variables were controlled in the analysis. The shame and guilt scales developed show good psychometric properties. Furthermore, they showed significant differential impacts, under the influence of masculinity, on avoidance and compensation behaviours, consequently resulting in a decrease/increase in father involvement in the expected directions. The findings have important theoretical and practical implications. At the community and policy level, the findings inform the design of strategies for strengthening the role of men in families with special needs children.

Keywords: emotions, father involvement, guilt, shame, special needs

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Authors: Luzie Krings, Sven Liebehentze, Maximilian Gehring, Uwe Rüppel

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The integration of renewable energy into the energy grid is essential for decarbonization, and leveraging electrified vehicles (EVs) as mobile storage units offers a pathway to address grid challenges. The decentralized nature of EVs and the intermittency of renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic (PV) and wind power, complicate grid stability. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology presents a promising solution, enabling EVs to support grid stability through services like redispatch, congestion mitigation, and enhanced renewable energy utilization. Freight transport, contributing 38% of transport emissions, holds significant potential as its aggregated energy storage capacity can stabilize the grid and optimize renewable energy integration. This study introduces a risk-averse optimization model for marketing EV flexibilities in Germany’s energy markets, with a strong focus on improving grid stability and maximizing renewable energy potential. Using a linear optimization framework, the model incorporates technical, regulatory, and operational constraints to simulate EV fleets as scalable energy storage solutions. The integration of proprietary PV and wind energy systems is also modeled to evaluate benefits. Benchmarks compare bidirectional charging with unidirectional charging under dynamic tariffs. The methodology employs the Python-based energypilot tool to optimize participation in Day-Ahead, Intraday, and Redispatch markets, accounting for trading conditions and temporal offsets. Results demonstrate that redispatch utilization substantially supports grid stability, while bidirectional charging increased renewable energy integration by 15% and economic benefits by 20%. Longer charging cycles offered greater financial returns compared to fragmented cycles, emphasizing the potential of fleets with extended idle periods for storing renewable energy. This research highlights the critical role of EVs in stabilizing the grid and utilizing renewable energy effectively by expanding storage capacity. The optimization framework addresses key challenges in energy trading, offering a transferable methodology for broader energy storage applications. This supports the transition to a sustainable energy system by improving environmental outcomes and economic incentives.

Keywords: Electric Vehicles, Energy Grid, Energy Storages, Redispatch

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Authors: Kenneth Okelo, Esther Waithaka, Maureen Mweru

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Development of oral language skills is a precursor to writing and reading acquisition. Oral skill is a means of communication through which people express their desires, ideas, excitements, amusements, disappointments and exchange information. In addition, oral skills have been found to be an important tool for thinking and concept development in children. Research carried out in industrialised countries have identified some appropriate teaching strategies used to enhance acquisition of oral language skills such as repetition, substitution, explanation, contrast, exemplification and code-switching. However, these studies’ geographical locations do not reflect the diversity of the Kenyan society. In addition, studies conducted in Kenya in the past have not established why pre-primary school teachers are not using appropriate teaching strategies. The purpose of this study was to find out whether teachers’ experience, academic qualification and type of training influences their choice of teaching strategies in the development of oral language skills inside and out of the classroom in selected preschools in Kibra Sub-County, Nairobi County. In addition, this study aimed at finding out the strategies used by teachers in Kibra Sub-County to promote oral skills development among pre-primary school children. The study was guided by Holdaway’s theory of language acquisition. Descriptive survey design was employed during this study. Questionnaires and observation schedules were used to collect data. Eighty-three (83) preschool teachers were sampled using multistage sampling methods for observation. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20. The researcher carried out content analysis on the qualitative data. The main descriptive methods used were tabulation of frequencies and percentages. Chi squire test was the inferential statistic used to test the relationship between variables. The main findings of the study indicate that teaching strategies that were mostly used by pre-primary school teachers were code-switching, examples, repetition, substitution and explanation. While questions, direction, expansion of children words and contrast were the least used teaching strategies when teaching oral language skills. The study revealed that the there is a slight correlation between the type of training of teachers and the teaching strategies as most of DICECE trained teachers used more teaching strategies when teaching oral skills compared to other teachers. The findings also revealed that there was a partial significant correlation between teacher’s academic qualifications and a few teaching strategies. A similar correlation was also observed between teaching experience and a few teaching strategies. Since the strategies used by pre-primary school teachers under the study were less than half of the recommended teaching strategies to promote oral skills, the study recommends that teachers should be encouraged to use more in structural strategies to improve children’s oral language skills.

Keywords: Kenya early childhood education, Kenya education, oral language skills acquisition, teaching methods

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Authors: M. F. Perez, Ysmael Verde, B. Escobar, R. Barbosa, J. C. Cruz

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Reinforced concrete is one of the most important materials in the construction industry. However, in recent years the durability of concrete structures has been a worrying problem, mainly due to corrosion of reinforcing steel; the consequences of corrosion in all cases lead to shortening of the life of the structure and decrease in quality of service. Since the emergence of this problem, they have implemented different methods or techniques to reduce damage by corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete structures; as the use of polymeric materials as coatings for the steel rod, spiked inhibitors of concrete during mixing, among others, presenting different limitations in the application of these methods. Because of this, it has been used a method that has proved effective, cathodic protection. That is why due to the properties attributed to carbon nanotubes (CNT), these could act as cathodic corrosion protection. Mounting a three-electrode electrochemical cell, carbon steel as working electrode, saturated calomel electrode (SCE) as the reference electrode, and a graphite rod as a counter electrode to close the system is performed. Samples made were subjected to a cycling process in order to compare the results in the corrosion performance of a coating composed of CNT and the others based on an anticorrosive commercial painting. The samples were tested at room temperature using an electrolyte consisting NaCl and NaOH simulating the typical pH of concrete, ranging from 12.6 to 13.9. Three test samples were made of steel rod, white, with commercial anticorrosive paint and CNT based coating; delimiting the work area to a section of 0.71 cm2. Tests cyclic voltammetry and linear voltammetry electrochemical spectroscopy each impedance of the three samples were made with a window of potential vs SCE 0.7 -1.7 a scan rate of 50 mV / s and 100 mV / s. The impedance values were obtained by applying a sine wave of amplitude 50 mV in a frequency range of 100 kHz to 100 MHz. The results obtained in this study show that the CNT based coating applied to the steel rod considerably decreased the corrosion rate compared to the commercial coating of anticorrosive paint, because the Ecorr was passed increase as the cycling process. The samples tested in all three cases were observed by light microscopy throughout the cycling process and micrographic analysis was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results from electrochemical measurements show that the application of the coating containing carbon nanotubes on the surface of the steel rod greatly increases the corrosion resistance, compared to commercial anticorrosive coating.

Keywords: anticorrosive, carbon nanotubes, corrosion, steel

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Authors: Stefania Fortino, Petr Hradil, Timo Avikainen

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Timber bridges have an excellent environmental performance, are economical, relatively easy to build and can have a long service life. However, the durability of these bridges is the main problem because of their exposure to outdoor climate conditions. The moisture content accumulated in wood for long periods, in combination with certain temperatures, may cause conditions suitable for timber decay. In addition, moisture content variations affect the structural integrity, serviceability and loading capacity of timber bridges. Therefore, the monitoring of the moisture content in wood is important for the durability of the material but also for the whole superstructure. The measurements obtained by the usual sensor-based techniques provide hygro-thermal data only in specific locations of the wood components. In this context, the monitoring can be assisted by numerical modelling to get more information on the hygro-thermal response of the bridges. This work presents a hygro-thermal model based on a multi-phase moisture transport theory to predict the distribution of moisture content, relative humidity and temperature in wood. Below the fibre saturation point, the multi-phase theory simulates three phenomena in cellular wood during moisture transfer, i.e., the diffusion of water vapour in the pores, the sorption of bound water and the diffusion of bound water in the cell walls. In the multi-phase model, the two water phases are separated, and the coupling between them is defined through a sorption rate. Furthermore, an average between the temperature-dependent adsorption and desorption isotherms is used. In previous works by some of the authors, this approach was found very suitable to study the moisture transport in uncoated and coated stress-laminated timber decks. Compared to previous works, the hygro-thermal fluxes on the external surfaces include the influence of the absorbed solar radiation during the time and consequently, the temperatures on the surfaces exposed to the sun are higher. This affects the whole hygro-thermal response of the timber component. The multi-phase model, implemented in a user subroutine of Abaqus FEM code, provides the distribution of the moisture content, the temperature and the relative humidity in a volume of the timber deck. As a case study, the hygro-thermal data in wood are collected from the ongoing monitoring of the stress-laminated timber deck of Tapiola Bridge in Finland, based on integrated humidity-temperature sensors and the numerical results are found in good agreement with the measurements. The proposed model, used to assist the monitoring, can contribute to reducing the maintenance costs of bridges, as well as the cost of instrumentation, and increase safety.

Keywords: moisture content, multi-phase models, solar radiation, timber decks, FEM

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Authors: Mark Opmeer

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The fruitful relationship between cultural heritage and digital technology is evident. Due to the development of user-friendly software, an increasing amount of heritage scholars use ict for their research activities. As a result, the implementation of information technology for heritage planning has become a research objective in itself. During the last decades, we have witnessed a growing debate and literature about the importance of computer technologies for the field of cultural heritage and ecotourism. Indeed, implementing digital technology in support of these domains can be very fruitful for one’s research practice. However, due to the rapid development of new software scholars may find it challenging to use these innovations in an appropriate way. As such, this contribution seeks to explore the interplay between geospatial technologies (geo-ict), civic engagement and cultural heritage and tourism. In this article, we discuss our findings on the use of geo-ict in support of civic participation, cultural heritage and sustainable tourism development in the southern Italian district of Brindisi. In the city of Latiano, three workshops were organized that involved local members of the community to distinguish and discuss interesting points of interests (POI’s) which represent the cultural significance and identity of the area. During the first workshop, a so called mappa della comunità was created on a touch table with collaborative mapping software, that allowed the participators to highlight potential destinations for tourist purposes. Furthermore, two heritage-based itineraries along a selection of identified POI’s was created to make the region attractive for recreants and tourists. These heritage-based itineraries reflect the communities’ ideas about the cultural identity of the region. Both trails were subsequently implemented in a dedicated mobile application (app) and was evaluated using a mixed-method approach with the members of the community during the second workshop. In the final workshop, the findings of the collaboration, the heritage trails and the app was evaluated with all participants. Based on our conclusions, we argue that geospatial technologies have a significant potential for involving local communities in heritage planning and tourism development. The participants of the workshops found it increasingly engaging to share their ideas and knowledge using the digital map of the touch table. Secondly, the use of a mobile application as instrument to test the heritage-based itineraries in the field was broadly considered as fun and beneficial for enhancing community awareness and participation in local heritage. The app furthermore stimulated the communities’ awareness of the added value of geospatial technologies for sustainable tourism development in the area. We conclude this article with a number of recommendations in order to provide a best practice for organizing heritage workshops with similar objectives.

Keywords: civic engagement, geospatial technologies, tourism development, cultural heritage

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Authors: Vidar Hepsø

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The energy and oil companies on the Norwegian Continental shelf come from a situation where each asset control and manage their energy supply (island mode) and move towards a situation where the assets need to collaborate and coordinate energy use with others due to increased cost and scarcity of electric energy sharing the energy that is provided. Currently, several areas are electrified either with an onshore grid cable or are receiving intermittent energy from offshore wind-parks. While the onshore grid in Norway is well regulated, the offshore grid is still in the making, with several oil and gas electrification projects and offshore wind development just started. The paper will describe the shift in the mindset that comes with operating this new offshore grid. This transition process heralds an increase in collaboration across boundaries and integration of energy management across companies, businesses, technical disciplines, and engagement with stakeholders in the larger society. This transition will be described as a function of the new challenges with increased complexity of the energy mix (wind, oil/gas, hydrogen and others) coupled with increased technical and organization complexity in energy management. Organizational complexity denotes an increasing integration across boundaries, whether these boundaries are company, vendors, professional disciplines, regulatory regimes/bodies, businesses, and across numerous societal stakeholders. New practices must be developed, made legitimate and institutionalized across these boundaries. Only parts of this complexity can be mitigated technically, e.g.: by use of batteries, mixing energy systems and simulation/ forecasting tools. Many challenges must be mitigated with legitimated societal and institutionalized governance practices on many levels. Offshore electrification supports Norway’s 2030 climate targets but is also controversial since it is exploiting the larger society’s energy resources. This means that new systems and practices must also be transparent, not only for the industry and the authorities, but must also be acceptable and just for the larger society. The paper report from ongoing work in Norway, participant observation and interviews in projects and people working with offshore grid development in Norway. One case presented is the development of an offshore floating windfarm connected to two offshore installations and the second case is an offshore grid development initiative providing six installations electric energy via an onshore cable. The development of the offshore grid is analyzed using a capability platform framework, that describes the technical, competence, work process and governance capabilities that are under development in Norway. A capability platform is a ‘stack’ with the following layers: intelligent infrastructure, information and collaboration, knowledge sharing & analytics and finally business operations. The need for better collaboration and energy forecasting tools/capabilities in this stack will be given a special attention in the two use cases that are presented.

Keywords: capability platform, electrification, carbon footprint, control rooms, energy forecsting, operational model

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Authors: Arlan S. Freitas, Leila M. Carvalho, Adriana L. Soares, Arnoud Neto, Marta S. Madruga, Elza I. Ida, Massami Shimokomaki

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The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of microclimatic profile of broiler transport trucks under commercial conditions over the breast meat quality and DOA (Death On Arrival) in a tropical Brazilian regions as the North East where routinely the season is divided into dry and wet seasons. The temperature remains fairly constant and obviously the relative humidity changes accordingly. Three loads of 4,100 forty seven days old broiler were monitored from farm to slaughterhouse in a distance of 4.3 km, morning period of October 2015 rainy days. The profile of the environmental variables inside the container truck throughout the journey was obtained by the installation of thermo anemometers in 6 different locations by monitoring the heat index (HI), air velocity (AV), temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH). Meat qualities were evaluated by determining the occurrence of PSE (pale, soft, exudative) meat and DFD (dark, firm dry) meat. The percentage of birds DOA per loaded truck was determined by counting the dead broiler during the hanging step at the slaughtering plant. The analysis of variance was performed using statistical software (Statistica 8 for windows, Statsoft 2007, Tulsa, OK, USA). The Tukey significance test (P<0.05) was applied to compare means from microenvironmental data, PSE, DFD and DOA. Fillet samples were collected at 24h post mortem for pH e color (L*, a* e b*) determination through the CIELAB system. Results showed the occurrence of 2.98% of PSE and 0.66% de DFD and only 0.016% of DOA and overall the most uncomfortable container location was at the truck frontal inferior presenting 6.25% of PSE. DFD of 2.0% were obtained from birds located at central and inferior rear locations. These values were unexpected in comparison to other results obtained in our laboratories in previous experiments carried out within the country south state. The results reported herein were lower in every aspect. Reasonable explanation would be the shorter distance, wet conditions throughout around 15-20 min journeys and lower T and RH values as observed in samples taken from the rear location as higher DFD values were obtained. These facts mean the animals were not under heat stressful condition but in fact under cold stress conditions as the result of DFD suggested in association to the lower number of DOA.

Keywords: cold stress, DFD, microclimatic profile, PSE

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Authors: Jessica Ding

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The field of global health is currently advocating for a resurgence in the use of traditional medicines to improve people-centered care. Healthcare policies are rapidly changing in response; in China, the increasing presence of TCM in the same spaces as biomedicine has led to a new term: integrative medicine. However, the existence of TCM as a part of integrative medicine creates a pressing paradoxical tension where TCM is both seen as a marginalized system within ‘modern’ hospitals and as a modality worth integrating. Additionally, the impact of such shifts has not been fully explored: the World Health Organization for one focuses only on three angles —practices, products, and practitioners— with regards to traditional medicines. Through ten weeks of fieldwork conducted at an urban hospital in Shanghai, China, this research expands the perspective of existing strategies by looking at integrative care through a fourth lens: patients and families. The understanding of self-care, health-seeking behavior, and non-professional caregiving structures are critical to grasping the significance of traditional medicine for people-centered care. Indeed, those individual and informal health care expectations align with the very spaces and needs that traditional medicine has filled before such ideas of integration. It specifically looks at this issue via three processes that operationalize experiences of care: (1) how aspects of TCM are valued within integrative medicine, (2) how negotiations of care occur between patients and doctors, and (3) how 'good quality' caregiving presents in integrative clinical spaces. This research hopes to lend insight into how culturally embedded traditions, bureaucratic and institutional rationalities, and social patterns of health-seeking behavior influence care to shape illness experiences at the intersection of two medical modalities. This analysis of patients’ clinical and illness experiences serves to enrich the narratives of integrative medical care’s ability to provide patient-centered care to determine how international policies are realized at the individual level. This anthropological study of the integration of Traditional Chinese medicine in local contexts can reveal the extent to which global strategies, as promoted by the WHO and the Chinese government actually align with the expectations and perspectives of patients receiving care. Ultimately, this ethnographic analysis of a local Chinese context hopes to inform global policies regarding the future use and integration of traditional medicines.

Keywords: emergent systems, global health, integrative medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, TCM

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: David Martinez-Pernia, Alvaro Rivera-Rei, Alejandro Troncoso, Gonzalo Forno, Andrea Slachevsky, David Huepe, Victoria Silva-Mack, Jorge Calderon, Mayte Vergara, Valentina Carrera

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Background: Recent theories in the field of emotions have taken the relevance of motor control beyond a system related to personal autonomy (walking, running, grooming), and integrate it into the emotional dimension. However, to our best knowledge, there are no studies that specifically investigate how emotional stimuli related to motor control modify emotional states in terms of postural control and phenomenological experience. Objective: The main aim of this work is to investigate the emotions produced by stimuli of bodily imbalance (neutral, pleasant and unpleasant) in the postural control and the phenomenological experience of young, healthy adults. Methodology: 46 healthy young people are shown emotional videos (neutral, pleasant, motor unpleasant, and non-motor unpleasant) related to the body imbalance. During the period of stimulation of each of the videos (60 seconds) the participant is standing on a force platform to collect temporal and spatial data of postural control. In addition, the electrophysiological activity of the heart and electrodermal activity is recorded. In relation to the two unpleasant conditions (motor versus non-motor), a phenomenological interview is carried out to collect the subjective experience of emotion and body perception. Results: Pleasant and unpleasant emotional videos have significant changes with respect to the neutral condition in terms of greater area, higher mean velocity, and greater mean frequency power on the anterior-posterior axis. The results obtained with respect to the electrodermal response was that the pleasurable and unpleasant conditions produced a significant increase in the phasic component with respect to the neutral condition. Regarding the electrophysiology of the heart, no significant change was found in any condition. Phenomenological experiences in the two unpleasant conditions differ in body perception and the emotional meaning of the experience. Conclusion: Emotional stimuli related to bodily imbalance produce changes in postural control, electrodermal activity, and phenomenological experience. This experimental setting could be relevant to be implemented in people with motor disorders (Parkinson, Stroke, TBI) to know how emotions affect motor control.

Keywords: body imbalance stimuli, emotion, phenomenological experience, postural control

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Authors: Juan Sanmartín Bastida

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When a country experiences a period of transition from authoritarianism to democracy, involving an earlier process of political liberalization and a later process of democratization, a cycle of protest usually outbreaks, as there is a reciprocal influence between that kind of political change and the frequency and scale of social protest events. That is what happened in Spain during the first years of its transition to democracy from the Francoist authoritarian regime, roughly between November 1975 and December 1978. Thus, the object of this study is to show and explain how that cycle of protest started, developed, and finished in relation to such a political change, and offer specific information about the main features of all protest cycles: the social movements that arose during that period, the number of protest events by month, the forms of collective action that were utilized, the groups of challengers that engaged in contentious politics, the reaction of the authorities to the action and claims of those groups, etc. The study of this cycle of protest, using the primary sources and analytical tools that characterize the model of research of protest cycles, will make a contribution to the field of contentious politics and its phenomenon of cycles of contention, and more broadly to the political and social history of contemporary Spain. The cycle of protest and the process of political liberalization of the authoritarian regime began around the same time, but the first concluded long before the process of democratization was completed in 1982. The ascending phase of the cycle and therefore the process of liberalization started with the death of Francisco Franco and the proclamation of Juan Carlos I as King of Spain in November 1975; the peak of the cycle was around the first months of 1977; the descending phase started after the first general election of June 1977; and the level of protest stabilized in the last months of 1978, a year that finished with a referendum in which the Spanish people approved the current democratic constitution. It was then when we can consider that the cycle of protest came to an end. The primary sources are the news of protest events and social movements in the three main Spanish newspapers at the time, other written or audiovisual documents, and in-depth interviews; and the analytical tools are the political opportunities that encourage social protest, the available repertoire of contention, the organizations and networks that brought together people with the same claims and allowed them to engage in contentious politics, and the interpretative frames that justify, dignify and motivates their collective action. These are the main four factors that explain the beginning, development and ending of the cycle of protest, and therefore the accompanying social movements and events of collective action. Among those four factors, the political opportunities -their opening, exploitation, and closure-proved to be most decisive.

Keywords: contentious politics, cycles of protest, political opportunities, social movements, Spanish transition to democracy

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Shau-Ping Shiu, Shu-Ling Lin

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Pregnancy lead a process of changing in the endocrine system. Either pregnancy itself or the surrounding affect such as the attitude of family to the pregnant lady can bring lots of stress. Sever stress may lead pregnant women display serious mental problem such as mood swings, impulsivity, and abnormal behavior. A method of self management of stress(SMS) has been proved that help patient of cancer in release their stress. This study were going to use SMS to help pregnant women. Methods: In this study, 42 ladies in the first to third months of pregnancy process applied to join SMS of program have divided into 21 participants in both control and experimental group by draw. 24 sessions of Yoga program were conducted once a week for 6 months for experimental group. Verbatim used to gather more feedbacks from the interview followed by each Yoga sessions. Brief symptom Rating scale also conducted pre and post experiment for 42 participations. Results: Overall score of Brief Symptom Rating Scale reduced 17.82 points and suicide drop 9 points in experimental group, compared to the control group increasing 10.24 point of overall score and suicide add 7 points. Feedback from interviews showed participations improved in emotion, physical health and stress management. They indicated having more positive emotion daily, having better gastrointestinal peristalsis movement, releasing back tention, well weight control, reducing stress and changing the quality of interpersonal relationships. Conclusion: SMS of Yoga program in this study included four key training directions which were stimulation, relaxation, awareness and pranayama lead a great improvment of stress management for pregnant lady. Throughout this Yoga program, women learned to ignite eustress, remove distress, create calmness and breath slows down. As the result, Yoga program has helped women in experiment group lower their tension, and bring the extra benifits in emotion and relationships. It support women to overcome their pregnancy. Suggestion: An unexpected result of this study showed all participants had no morning sickness since they engaged in SMS program, and no one absent from course due to the benefits of it. We strongly suggest that SMS of Yoga program can be a add of medication for women in pregnancy, however, the position of Forward in the SMS sequence has been point out pressing participant’s stomach, which can be replace to Bridge position to comfort participants.

Keywords: self-management of stress(SMS), yoga program, pregnant women, early pregnancy

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Authors: Florian Kiebert, Hagen Schmidt

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Standing surface acoustic waves (sSAWs) have already been used to manipulate particles in a microfluidic channel made of polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS). Usually two identical facing interdigital transducers (IDTs) are exploited to form an sSAW. Further, it has been reported that an sSAW can be generated by a single IDT using a superstrate resonating cavity or a PDMS post. Nevertheless, both setups utilising a traveling surface acoustic wave (tSAW) to create an sSAW for particle manipulation are costly. We present a simplified setup with a tSAW and a PDMS channel to form an sSAW. The incident tSAW is reflected at the rear PDMS channel wall and superimposed with the reflected tSAW. This superpositioned waves generates an sSAW but only at regions where the distance to the rear channel wall is smaller as the attenuation length of the tSAW minus the channel width. Therefore in a channel of 500µm width a tSAW with a wavelength λ = 120 µm causes a sSAW over the whole channel, whereas a tSAW with λ = 60 µm only forms an sSAW next to the rear wall of the channel, taken into account the attenuation length of a tSAW in water. Hence, it is possible to concentrate and trap particles in a defined region of the channel by adjusting the relation between the channel width and tSAW wavelength. Moreover, it is possible to generate a particle gradient over the channel width by picking the right ratio between channel wall and wavelength. The particles are moved towards the rear wall by the acoustic streaming force (ASF) and the acoustic radiation force (ARF) caused by the tSAW generated bulk acoustic wave (BAW). At regions in the channel were the sSAW is dominating the ARF focuses the particles in the pressure nodes formed by the sSAW caused BAW. On the one side the ARF generated by the sSAW traps the particle at the center of the tSAW beam, i. e. of the IDT aperture. On the other side, the ASF leads to two vortices, one on the left and on the right side of the focus region, deflecting the particles out of it. Through variation of the applied power it is possible to vary the number of particles trapped in the focus points, because near to the rear wall the amplitude of the reflected tSAW is higher and, therefore, the ARF of the sSAW is stronger. So in the vicinity of the rear wall the concentration of particles is higher but decreases with increasing distance to the wall, forming a gradient of particles. The particle gradient depends on the applied power as well as on the flow rate. Thus by variation of these two parameters it is possible to change the particle gradient. Furthermore, we show that the particle gradient can be modified by changing the relation between the channel width and tSAW wavelength. Concluding a single IDT generates an sSAW in a PDMS microchannel enables particle gradient generation in a well-defined microfluidic flow system utilising the ARF and ASF of a tSAW and an sSAW.

Keywords: ARF, ASF, particle manipulation, sSAW, tSAW

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Authors: Mariam Mtunguja, Henry Laswai, Yasinta Muzanilla, Joseph Ndunguru

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Starchy tuberous roots of cassava provide food for people but also find application in various industries. Recently there has been the focus of concentrated research efforts to fully exploit its potential as a sustainable multipurpose crop. High starch yield is the important trait for commercial cassava production for the starch industries. Furthermore, cyanide present in cassava root poses a health challenge in the use of cassava for food. Farming communities where cassava is a staple food, prefer bitter (high cyanogenic) varieties as protection from predators and thieves. As a result, food insecure farmers prefer growing bitter cassava. This has led to cyanide intoxication to this farming communities. Cassava farmers can benefit from marketing cassava to starch producers thereby improving their income and food security. This will decrease dependency on cassava as staple food as a result of increased income and be able to afford other food sources. To achieve this, adequate information is required on the right cassava cultivars and appropriate harvesting period so as to maximize cassava production and profitability. This study aimed at identifying suitable cassava cultivars and optimum time of harvest to maximize starch production. Six commonly grown cultivars were identified and planted in a complete random block design and further analysis was done to assess variation in physicochemical characteristics, starch yield and cyanogenic potentials across three environments. The analysis showed that there is a difference in physicochemical characteristics between landraces (p ≤ 0.05), and can be targeted to different industrial applications. Among landraces, dry matter (30-39%), amylose (11-19%), starch (74-80%) and reducing sugars content (1-3%) varied when expressed on a dry weight basis (p ≤ 0.05); however, only one of the six genotypes differed in crystallinity and mean starch granule particle size, while glucan chain distribution and granule morphology were the same. In contrast, the starch functionality features measured: swelling power, solubility, syneresis, and digestibility differed (p ≤ 0.05). This was supported by Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), which highlighted the divergence among the cassavas based on starch functionality, permitting suggestions for the targeted uses of these starches in diverse industries. The study also illustrated genotypic difference in starch yield and cyanogenic potential. Among landraces, Kiroba showed potential for maximum starch yield (12.8 t ha-1) followed by Msenene (12.3 t ha-1) and third was Kilusungu (10.2 t ha-1). The cyanide content of cassava landraces was between 15 and 800 ppm across all trial sites. GGE biplot analysis further confirmed that Kiroba was a superior cultivar in terms of starch yield. Kilusungu had the highest cyanide content and average starch yield, therefore it can also be suitable for use in starch production.

Keywords: cyanogen, cassava starch, food security, starch yield

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Authors: Farahnaz Sadat Golestan Hashemi, Mohd Razi Ismail, Mohd Y. Rafii

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Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) system can facilitate targeted genome editing in organisms. Dual or single guide RNA (gRNA) can program the Cas9 nuclease to cut target DNA in particular areas; thus, introducing concise mutations either via error-prone non-homologous end-joining repairing or via incorporating foreign DNAs by homologous recombination between donor DNA and target area. In spite of high demand of such promising technology, developing a well-organized procedure in order for reliable mining of potential target sites for gRNAs in large genomic data is still challenging. Hence, we aimed to perform high-throughput detection of target sites by specific PAMs for not only common Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) but also for Neisseria meningitides (NmCas9) CRISPR-Cas systems. Previous research confirmed the successful application of such RNA-guided Cas9 orthologs for effective gene targeting and subsequently genome manipulation. However, Cas9 orthologs need their particular PAM sequence for DNA cleavage activity. Activity levels are based on the sequence of the protospacer and specific combinations of favorable PAM bases. Therefore, based on the specific length and sequence of PAM followed by a constant length of the target site for the two orthogonals of Cas9 protein, we created a reliable procedure to explore possible gRNA sequences. To mine CRISPR target sites, four different searching modes of sgRNA binding to target DNA strand were applied. These searching modes are as follows i) coding strand searching, ii) anti-coding strand searching, iii) both strand searching, and iv) paired-gRNA searching. Finally, a complete list of all potential gRNAs along with their locations, strands, and PAMs sequence orientation can be provided for both SpCas9 as well as another potential Cas9 ortholog (NmCas9). The artificial design of potential gRNAs in a genome of interest can accelerate functional genomic studies. Consequently, the application of such novel genome editing tool (CRISPR/Cas technology) will enhance by presenting increased versatility and efficiency.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, gRNA mining, SpCas9, NmCas9

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Authors: Sophie-Bo Heinkel, Andrea Rechenburg, Thomas Kistemann

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The current status of wellbeing and life satisfaction of subsistence farmers in a wetland in Uganda and the contributing role of place attachment has been assessed. The aim of this study is to shed light on environmental factors supporting wellbeing in a wetland setting. Furthermore, it has been assessed, how the emotional bonding to the wetland as ‘place’ influences the peoples’ wellbeing and life satisfaction. The results shed light on the human-environment-relationship. A survey was carried out in three communities in urban and rural areas in a wetland basin in Uganda. A sample (n=235) provided information about the attachment to the wetland, the participants’ relation to the place of their residence and their emotional wellbeing. The Wellbeing Index (WHO-5) was assessed as well as the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem scale (RSE). Furthermore, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was applied as well as the Place Attachment Inventory (PAI), which consists of the two intertwined dimensions of place identity and place dependence. Beside this, binary indicators as ‘feeling save’ and ‘feeling comfortable’ and ‘enjoying to live at the place of residence’ have been assessed. A bivariate correlation analysis revealed a high interconnectivity between all metric scales. Especially, the subscale ‘place identity’ showed significances with all other scales. A cluster analysis revealed three groups, which differed in the perception of place-related indicators and their attachment to the wetland as well as the status of wellbeing. First, a cluster whose majority is dissatisfied with their lives, but mainly had a good status of emotional well-being. This group does not feel attached to the wetland and lives in a town. Comparably less persons of this group feel safe and comfortable at their place of residence. In the second cluster, persons feel highly attached to the wetland and identify with it. This group was characterized by the high number of persons preferring their current place of residence and do not consider moving. All persons feel well and satisfied with their lives. The third group of persons is mainly living in rural areas and feels highly attached to the wetland. They are satisfied with their lives, but only a small minority is in a good emotional state of wellbeing. The emotional attachment to a place influences life satisfaction and, indirectly, the emotional wellbeing. In the present study it could be shown that subsistence farmers are attached to the wetland, as it is the source of their livelihood. While those living in areas with a good infrastructure are less dependent on the wetland and, therefore, less attached to. This feeling also was mirrored in the perception of a place as being safe and comfortable. The identification with a place is crucial for the feeling of being at “home”. Subsistence farmers feel attached to the ecosystem, but they also might be exposed to environmental and social stressors influencing their short-term emotional wellbeing. The provision of place identity is an ecosystem service provided by wetlands, which supports the status of wellbeing in human beings.

Keywords: mental health, positive environments, quality of life, wellbeing

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Authors: M. Verde, G. Falzarano

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The paper examines the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR), capability approach and poverty reduction; in particular, the local employment development (LED) by way of CSR initiatives. The joint action of LED/CSR results in a win-win situation, not only for the enterprises but also for all the stakeholders involved; in this regard, subsidiarity and coordination between national and regional/local authorities are central to a socially-oriented market economy. In the first section, the CSR is analysed on the basis of its social function in the fight against poverty, as a 'capabilities deprivation'. In the central part, the attention is focused on the relationship between CSR and LED; ergo, on the role of the enterprises in fostering capabilities development (the employment). Besides, all the potential solutions are presented, stressing the possible combinations, in the last part. The benchmark is the enterprise as an economic and a social institution: the business should not be combined with profit merely, paying more attention to its sustainable impact and social contribution. In which way could it be possible? The answer is the CSR. The impact of CSR on poverty reduction is still little explored. The companies help to reduce poverty through economic contribution, human rights and social inclusion; hence, the business becomes an 'agent of development' in order to fight against 'inequality'. The starting point is the pyramid of social responsibility, where ethic and philanthropic responsibilities involve programmes and actions aimed at personal development of the individuals, improving human standard of living in all forms, including poverty, when people do not have a choice between different 'life options', ranging from level of education to employment. At this point, CSR comes into play and works on two dimensions: poverty reduction and poverty prevention, by means of a series of initiatives: first of all, job creation and precarious work reduction. Empowerment of the local actors, financial support and combination of top down and bottom up initiatives are some of CSR areas of activity. Several positive effects occur on individual levels of educations, access to capital, individual health status, empowerment of youth and woman, access to social networks and it was observed that these effects depend on the type of CSR strategy. Indeed, CSR programmes should take into account fundamental criteria, such as the transparency, the information about benefits, a coordination unit among institutions and more clear guidelines. In this way, the advantages to the corporate reputation and to the community translate into a better job matching on the labour market, inter alia. It is important to underline that the success depends on the specific measures of the areas in question, by adapting them to the local needs, in light of general principles and index; therefore, the concrete commitment of the all stakeholders involved is decisive in order to achieve the goals. The enterprise would represent a concrete contribution for the pursuit of sustainable development and for the dissemination of a social and well being awareness.

Keywords: capability approach, local employment development, poverty, social inclusion

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Authors: Sukran Karatas

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Authentic energy network interrelations between the Creator and the creations as well as from creations to creations are the most important points for the worlds of physics and metaphysic to unite together and work in harmony, both within human beings, on the other hand, have the ability to choose their own life style voluntarily. However, it includes the automated involuntary spirit, soul and body working systems together with the voluntary actions, which involve personal, cultural and universal, rational or irrational variable values. Therefore, it is necessary for human beings to know the methods of existing authentic energy network connections to be able to communicate correlate and accommodate the physical and metaphysical entities as a proper functioning unity; this is essential for complete human psychological, biological and social well-being. Authentic knowledge is necessary for human beings to verify the position of self within self and with others to regulate conscious and voluntary actions accordingly in order to prevent oppressions and frictions within self and between self and others. Unfortunately, the absence of genuine individual and universal basic knowledge about how to establish an authentic energy network connection within self, with the deity and the environment is the most problematic issue even in the twenty-first century. The second most problematic issue is how to maintain freedom, equality and justice among human beings during these strictly interwoven network connections, which naturally involve physical, metaphysical and behavioral actions of the self and the others. The third and probably the most complicated problem is the scientific identification and the authentication of the deity. This not only provides the whole power and control over the choosers to set their life orders but also to establish perfect physical and metaphysical links as fully coordinated functional energy network. This thus indicates that choosing an authentic deity is the key-point that influences automated, emotional, and behavioral actions altogether, which shapes human perception, personal actions, and life orders. Therefore, we will be considering the existing ‘four types of energy wave end boundary behaviors’, comprising, free end, fixed end boundary behaviors, as well as boundary behaviors from denser medium to less dense medium and from less dense medium to denser medium. Consequently, this article aims to demonstrate that the authentication and the choice of deity has an important effect on individual psychological, biological and social health. It is hoped that it will encourage new researches in the field of authentic energy network connections to establish the best position and the most correct interrelation connections with self and others without violating the authorized orders and the borders of one another to live happier and healthier lives together. In addition, the book ‘Deity and Freedom, Equality, Justice in History, Philosophy, Science’ has more detailed information for those interested in this subject.

Keywords: deity, energy network, power, freedom, equality, justice, happiness, sadness, hope, fear, psychology, biology, sociology

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Authors: Irina P. Starodubtseva, Aleksandr N. Pavlenko

Abstract:

Quenching is a term generally accepted for the process of rapid cooling of a solid that is overheated above the thermodynamic limit of the liquid superheat. The main objective of many previous studies on quenching is to find a way to reduce the total time of the transient process. Computational experiments were performed to simulate quenching by a falling liquid nitrogen film of an extremely overheated vertical copper plate with a structured capillary-porous coating. The coating was produced by directed plasma spraying. Due to the complexities in physical pattern of quenching from chaotic processes to phase transition, the mechanism of heat transfer during quenching is still not sufficiently understood. To our best knowledge, no information exists on when and how the first stable liquid-solid contact occurs and how the local contact area begins to expand. Here we have more models and hypotheses than authentically established facts. The peculiarities of the quench front dynamics and heat transfer in the transient process are studied. The created numerical model determines the quench front velocity and the temperature fields in the heater, varying in space and time. The dynamic pattern of the running quench front obtained numerically satisfactorily correlates with the pattern observed in experiments. Capillary-porous coatings with straight and reverse orientation of crests are investigated. The results show that the cooling rate is influenced by thermal properties of the coating as well as the structure and geometry of the protrusions. The presence of capillary-porous coating significantly affects the dynamics of quenching and reduces the total quenching time more than threefold. This effect is due to the fact that the initialization of a quench front on a plate with a capillary-porous coating occurs at a temperature significantly higher than the thermodynamic limit of the liquid superheat, when a stable solid-liquid contact is thermodynamically impossible. Waves present on the liquid-vapor interface and protrusions on the complex micro-structured surface cause destabilization of the vapor film and the appearance of local liquid-solid micro-contacts even though the average integral surface temperature is much higher than the liquid superheat limit. The reliability of the results is confirmed by direct comparison with experimental data on the quench front velocity, the quench front geometry, and the surface temperature change over time. Knowledge of the quench front velocity and total time of transition process is required for solving practically important problems of nuclear reactors safety.

Keywords: capillary-porous coating, heat transfer, Leidenfrost phenomenon, numerical simulation, quenching

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