Search results for: health related quality of life

Authors: Ingy Ibrahim El-Darwish, Neveen Youssef Azmy

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The endowment of a healthy environment can be implemented by endorsing sustainable fundamentals. Design of sustainable buildings through recycling of waste, can reduce health problems, provide good environments and contribute to the aesthetically pleasing entourage. Such environments can help in providing energy-saving alternatives to consolidate the principles of sustainability. The poor community awareness and the absence of laws and legislation in Egypt for waste management specifically in residential areas have led to an inability to provide an integrated system for waste management in urban and rural areas. Many problems and environmental challenges face the Egyptian urban environments. From these problems, is the lack of a cohesive vision for waste collection and recycling for energy-saving. The second problem is the lack public awareness of the short term and long term vision of waste management. Bad practices have adversely affected the efficiency of environmental management systems due to lack of urban legislations that codify collection and recycling of residential communities in Egyptian urban environments. Hence, this research tries to address residents on waste management matters to facilitate legislative process on waste collection and classification within residential units and outside them in a preparation phase for recycling in the Egyptian urban environments. In order to achieve this goal, one of the Egyptian communities has been addressed, analyzed and studied. Waste collection, classification, separation and access to recycling places in the urban city are proposed in preparation for a legislation ruling and regulating the process. Hence, sustainable principles are to be achieved.

Keywords: recycling, residential buildings, sustainability, waste

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Authors: Maria de Fátima Lambert

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Following previous studies about Writing and Seeing, this paper focuses on the aesthetic assumptions within the concept of Winter Journey (Voyage d’Hiver/Winterreise) both in Georges Perec’s Saga and the Oulipo Group vis-à-vis with the creations by William Kentridge and Michael Borremans. The aesthetic and artistic connections are widespread. Nevertheless, we can identify common poetical principles shared by these different authors, not only according to the notion of ekphrasis, but also following the procedures of contemporary creation in literature and visual arts. The analysis of the ongoing process of the French writers as individuals and as group and the visual artists’ acting might contribute for another crossed definition of contemporary conception. The same title/theme was a challenge and a goal for them. Let’s wonder how deep the concept encouraged them and which symbolic upbringings were directing their poetical achievements. The idea of an inner journey became the main point, and got “over” and “across” a shared path worth to be followed. The authors were chosen due to the resilient contents of their visual and written images, and looking for the reasons that might had driven their conceptual basis to be. In Pérec’s “Winter Journey” as for the following fictions by Jacques Roubaud, Hervé le Tellier, Jacques Jouet and Hugo Vernier (that emerges from Perec’s fiction and becomes a real author) powerful aesthetic and enigmatic reflections grow connected with a poetic (and aesthetic) understanding of Walkscapes. They might be assumed as ironic fictions and poetical drifts. Outstanding from different logics, the overwhelming impact of Winterreise Lied by Schubert after Wilhelm Müller’s poems is a major reference in present authorship creations. Both Perec and Oulipo’s author’s texts are powerfully ekphrastic, although we should not forget they follow goals, frameworks and identities. When acting as a reader, they induce powerful imageries - cinematic or cinematographic - that flow in our minds. It was well-matched with William Kentridge animated video Winter Journey (2014) and the creations (sharing the same title) of Michael Borremans (2014) for the KlaraFestival, Bozar, Cité de la musique, in Belgium. Both were taken by the foremost Schubert’s Winterreise. Several metaphors fulfil new Winter Journeys (or Travels) that were achieved in contemporary art and literature, as it once succeeded in the 19^th century. Maybe the contemporary authors and artists were compelled by the consciousness of nothingness, although outstanding different aesthetics and ontological sources. The unbearable knowledge of the road’s end, and also the urge of fulfilling the void might be a common element to all of them. As Schopenhauer once wrote, after all, Art is the only human subjective power that we can call upon in life. These newer aesthetic meanings, released from these winter journeys are surely open to wider approaches that might happen in other poetic makings to be.

Keywords: Aesthetic, voyage D’Hiver, George Perec & Oulipo, William Kentridge & Michael Borreman, Schubert's Winterreise

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Authors: Simone Cinquemani, Lorenzo Mantovani, Aleksander Dabek

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New technologies in agriculture are opening new challenges and new opportunities. Among these, certainly, robotics, vision, and artificial intelligence are the ones that will make a significant leap, compared to traditional agricultural techniques, possible. In particular, the indoor farming sector will be the one that will benefit the most from these solutions. Vertical farming is a new field of research where mechanical engineering can bring knowledge and know-how to transform a highly labor-based business into a fully autonomous system. The aim of the research is to develop a multi-purpose, modular, and perfectly integrated platform for crop production in indoor vertical farming. Activities will be based both on hardware development such as automatic tools to perform different activities on soil and plants, as well as research to introduce an extensive use of monitoring techniques based on machine learning algorithms. This paper presents the preliminary results of a research project of a vertical farm living lab designed to (i) develop and test vertical farming cultivation practices, (ii) introduce a very high degree of mechanization and automation that makes all processes replicable, fully measurable, standardized and automated, (iii) develop a coordinated control and management environment for autonomous multiplatform or tele-operated robots in environments with the aim of carrying out complex tasks in the presence of environmental and cultivation constraints, (iv) integrate AI-based algorithms as decision support system to improve quality production. The coordinated management of multiplatform systems still presents innumerable challenges that require a strongly multidisciplinary approach right from the design, development, and implementation phases. The methodology is based on (i) the development of models capable of describing the dynamics of the various platforms and their interactions, (ii) the integrated design of mechatronic systems able to respond to the needs of the context and to exploit the strength characteristics highlighted by the models, (iii) implementation and experimental tests performed to test the real effectiveness of the systems created, evaluate any weaknesses so as to proceed with a targeted development. To these aims, a fully automated laboratory for growing plants in vertical farming has been developed and tested. The living lab makes extensive use of sensors to determine the overall state of the structure, crops, and systems used. The possibility of having specific measurements for each element involved in the cultivation process makes it possible to evaluate the effects of each variable of interest and allows for the creation of a robust model of the system as a whole. The automation of the laboratory is completed with the use of robots to carry out all the necessary operations, from sowing to handling to harvesting. These systems work synergistically thanks to the knowledge of detailed models developed based on the information collected, which allows for deepening the knowledge of these types of crops and guarantees the possibility of tracing every action performed on each single plant. To this end, artificial intelligence algorithms have been developed to allow synergistic operation of all systems.

Keywords: automation, vertical farming, robot, artificial intelligence, vision, control

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Authors: Idowu Kemi Ruth, Adeyemo Adedayo Akinade, Iyanda Adegboyega Ibukun, Idowu Olubukola Precious Akinade

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Liveability and mortality rate is a germane aspect of product performance that cannot be overlooked in poultry production, while the disease is a major threat in the poultry industry which can cause a major loss for the farmer and a reduction in the total income generated from the stock. Therefore, efforts must be made to enhance the health status of chickens to reduce mortality. The study was conducted to investigate the effect of different biotic additives (prebiotic, probiotic and synbiotic ) on the performance of Noiler females at the growing phase (forty-nine days) till the point of the first egg across the biotic additive. A total of one hundred and twenty-eight female Noiler were used for the experiment. Experimental treatment consisted of prebiotic, probiotic, synbiotic and control at the inclusion rate of a gram into a kilogram of feed. Parameters measured are Feed intake, feed conversion ratio, the weight of the first egg, age of the first egg and livability. Data collected were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance. The result obtained revealed a better growth performance across the treatments than the control group with the least final weight at nineteen weeks of point of lay. Prebiotic treatment had the best age at first lay on day one hundred and thirty seven followed by other treatments on day one hundred and fifty four. However, the size of the eggs was not significantly influenced by the biotic additive. Hence, the experiment can be concluded that the inclusion of different biotic additives influenced the growth performance; likewise, the Prebiotic had a significant effect on the age of first laying in Noiler chicken, and livability was a hundred percent throughout the duration of the experiment.

Keywords: prebiotic, probiotic, synbiotic, noiler

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Authors: Mohammad Maeiyat, Ali Maeiyat Ivatlou, Rasul Fani Khiavi, Abouzar Maeiyat Ivatlou, Parya Maeiyat

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Purpose: Considering the fact that visual impairment is still one of the countries health problem, this study was conducted to determine the causes of blindness and low vision in visually impaired membership of Ardabil Province welfare organization. Methods: The present study which was based on descriptive and national-census, that carried out in visually impaired population supported by welfare organization in all urban and rural areas of Ardabil Province in 2013 and Collection of samples lasted for 7 months. The subjects were inspected by optometrist to determine their visual status (blindness or low vision) and then referred to ophthalmologist in order to discover the main causes of visual impairment based on the international classification of diseases version 10. Statistical analysis of collected data was performed using SPSS software version 18. Results: Overall, 403 subjects with mean age of years participated in this study. 73.2% were blind, 26.8 % were low vision and according gender grouping 60.50 % of them were male, 39.50 % were female that divided into three groups with the age level of lower than 15 (11.2%) 15 to 49 (76.7%), and 50 and higher (12.1%). The age range was 1 to 78 years. The causes of blindness and low vision were in descending order: optic atrophy (18.4%), retinitis pigmentosa (16.8%), corneal diseases (12.4%), chorioretinal diseases (9.4%), cataract (8.9%), glaucoma (8.2%), phthisis bulbi (7.2%), degenerative myopia (6.9%), microphtalmos ( 4%), amblyopia (3.2%), albinism (2.5%) and nistagmus (2%). Conclusion: in this study the main causes of visual impairments were optic atrophy and retinitis pigmentosa, thus specific prevention plans can be effective in reducing the incidence of visual disabilities.

Keywords: blindness, low vision, welfare, ardabil

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Authors: Suraj Muke, Vikas Mankumare, Sadhana Sathaye

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Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease which affects an estimated 25 million people worldwide, leading to 1 million fractures, 40,000 annual deaths and health costs of billions of dollars. It is estimated that about 80% of total osteoporosis patients are women, amongst which majority are above the age of 45 years. Postmenopausal osteoporosis is associated with lack of intestinal calcium absorption, increasing pro-oxidant and inflammatory mediators. Lawsonia inermis is a biennial dicotyledonous herbaceous shrub is reported to possess a high flavonoid, high phenolic and Inhibitors of osteoclastogenesis like Daphneside and Daphnorin. The present study aimed to screen osteoprotective effect of methanolic extract of Lawsonia inermis (LIM) in rat model along with its antioxidant activity. LIM shows phenolic content 146.3Milligrams of Gallic acid equivalent present per gram of extract and 19.8 Milligrams of rutin per gram of extract of Total flavonoid content with IC50 value 42.99μg/ml. bilateral ovariectomized rat model in which Healthy female wistar rats were used for screening. Treatment with LIM was carried out using graded doses of 25mg/kg, 50mg/kg and 100mg/kg for period of 28 days. The negative control group comprised of ovariectomized rats along with saline treatment for four weeks whereas sham operated rats were used as positive control.LIM showed a decrease in bone turnover by preventing loss of urinary calcium and phosphorous moreover it decreased the alkaline phosphatase levels and loss of bone density is prevented by LIM suggesting decrease in osteoclast activity.

Keywords: antioxidant, osteoclast, osteoporosis, ovariectomized

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Authors: Piyanee Klainin-Yobas, Debbie Ramirez, Zenaida Fernandez, Jenneth Sarmiento, Wareerat Thanoi, Jeanette Ignacio, Ying Lau

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In many countries, university students experience various stressors that may negatively affect their psychological well-being (PWB). Hence, they are at risk for physical and mental problems. This research aimed to examine the predicting effects of mindfulness, self-efficacy, and social support on psychological well-being among undergraduate students. A non-experimental research was conducted at a university in the Philippines. All students enrolled in undergraduate programs were eligible for this study unless they had chronic medical or mental health problems. Power analysis was used to calculate an adequate sample size and a convenience sampling of 630 was recruited. Data were collected through online self-reported questionnaires from year 2013 to 2015. All self-reported scales used in this study had sound psychometric properties. Descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and structural equation modeling were performed to analyze the research data. Results showed that the participants were mostly Filipino, female, Christian, and in Schools of Nursing. Mindfulness, self-efficacy, support from family, support from friends, and support from significant others were significant predictors of psychological well-being. Mindfulness was the strongest predictor of positive psychological well-being whereas self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of negative psychological well-being. In conclusion, findings from this study add knowledge to the existing literature regarding the predictors of psychological well-being. Psychosocial interventions, with the focus on strengthening mindfulness and self-efficacy, could be delivered to undergraduate students to help them enhance psychological well-being. More studies can be undertaken to test the interventions and multi-centered research can be conducted to enhance generalizability of research findings.

Keywords: mindfulness, self-efficacy, social support, psychological wellbeing

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Authors: Aşina Gülerarslan, M. Faik Özdengül

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The new economic, social and political world order has led to the emergence of a wide range of persuasion strategies and practices based on an ever expanding marketing axis that involves organizations, ideas and persons as well as products and services. It is seen that since the 1990's, a wide variety of competitive marketing ideas have been offered systematically to target audiences in the field of politics as in other fields. When the components of marketing are taken into consideration, all kinds of communication efforts involving “political leaders”, who are conceptualized as products in terms of political marketing, serve a process of social persuasion, which cannot be restricted to election periods only, and a manageable “image”. In this context, image, which is concerned with how the political product is perceived, involves not only the political discourses shared with the public but also all kinds of biographical information about the leader, the leader’s specific way of living and routines and his/her attitudes and behaviors in their private lives, and all these are regarded as components of the “product image”. While on the one hand the leader’s verbal or supra-verbal references serve the way the “spirit of the product” is perceived –just as in brand positioning- they also show their self-esteem levels, in other words how they perceive themselves on the other hand. Indeed, their self-esteem levels are evaluated in three fundamental categories in the “Functional Analysis”, namely parent, child and adult, and it is revealed that the words, tone of voice and body language a person uses makes it easy to understand at what self-esteem level that person is. In this context, words, tone of voice and body language, which provide important clues as to the “self” of the person, are also an indication of how political leaders evaluate both “themselves” and “the mass/audience” in the communication they establish with their audiences. When the matter is taken from the perspective of Turkey, the levels of self-esteem in the relationships that the political leaders establish with the masses are also important in revealing how our society is seen from the perspective of a specific leader. Since the leader is a part of the marketing strategy of a political party as a product, this evaluation is significant in terms of the forms of relationships between political institutions in our country with the society. In this study, the self-esteem level in the documentary entitled “Master’s Story”, where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s life history is told, is analyzed in the context of words, tone of voice and body language. Within the scope of the study, at what level of self-esteem Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in the “Master’s Story”, a documentary broadcast on Beyaz TV, was investigated using the content analysis method. First, based on the Functional Analysis Literature, a transactional approach scale was created regarding parent, adult and child self-esteem levels. On the basis of this scale, the prime minister’s self-esteem level was determined in three basic groups, namely “tone of voice”, “the words he used” and “body language”. Descriptive analyses were made to the data within the framework of these criteria and at what self-esteem level the prime minister spoke throughout the documentary was revealed.

Keywords: political marketing, leader image, level of self-esteem, transactional approach

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Authors: Jessica To

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Feedback is one of the powerful levers for enhancing students’ performance. However, some students are under-engaged with feedback because they lack responsibility for feedback uptake. To resolve this conundrum, recent literature proposes feedback partnerships in which students and teachers share the power and responsibilities to co-construct feedback. During feedback co-construction, students express feedback needs to teachers, and teachers respond to individuals’ needs in return. Though this approach can increase students’ feedback ownership, its application is lagging as the field lacks conceptual clarity and implementation guide. This presentation aims to discuss the conceptual framework of feedback partnerships and feedback co-construction strategies. It identifies the components of feedback partnerships and strategies which could facilitate feedback co-construction. A systematic literature review was conducted to answer the questions. The literature search was performed using ERIC, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar with the keywords “assessment partnership”, “student as partner,” and “feedback engagement”. No time limit was set for the search. The inclusion criteria encompassed (i) student-teacher partnerships in feedback, (ii) feedback engagement in higher education, (iii) peer-reviewed publications, and (iv) English as the language of publication. Those without addressing conceptual understanding and implementation strategies were excluded. Finally, 65 publications were identified and analysed using thematic analysis. For the procedure, the texts relating to the questions were first extracted. Then, codes were assigned to summarise the ideas of the texts. Upon subsuming similar codes into themes, four themes emerged: students’ responsibilities, teachers’ responsibilities, conditions for partnerships development, and strategies. Their interrelationships were examined iteratively for framework development. Establishing feedback partnerships required different responsibilities of students and teachers during feedback co-construction. Students needed to self-evaluate performance against task criteria, identify inadequacies and communicate their needs to teachers. During feedback exchanges, they interpreted teachers’ comments, generated self-feedback through reflection, and co-developed improvement plans with teachers. Teachers had to increase students’ understanding of criteria and evaluation skills and create opportunities for students’ expression of feedback needs. In feedback dialogue, teachers responded to students’ needs and advised on the improvement plans. Feedback partnerships would be best grounded in an environment with trust and psychological safety. Four strategies could facilitate feedback co-construction. First, students’ understanding of task criteria could be increased by rubrics explanation and exemplar analysis. Second, students could sharpen evaluation skills if they participated in peer review and received teacher feedback on the quality of peer feedback. Third, provision of self-evaluation checklists and prompts and teacher modeling of self-assessment process could aid students in articulating feedback needs. Fourth, the trust could be fostered when teachers explained the benefits of feedback co-construction, showed empathy, and provided personalised comments in dialogue. Some strategies were applied in interactive cover sheets in which students performed self-evaluation and made feedback requests on a cover sheet during assignment submission, followed by teachers’ response to individuals’ requests. The significance of this presentation lies in unpacking the conceptual framework of feedback partnerships and outlining feedback co-construction strategies. With a solid foundation in theory and practice, researchers and teachers could better enhance students’ engagement with feedback.

Keywords: conceptual framework, feedback co-construction, feedback partnerships, implementation strategies

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Authors: Sonika Sharma, Mohan G. Vairale, Sibnarayan Datta, Soumya Chatterjee, Dharmendra Dubey, Rajesh Prasad, Raghvendra Budhauliya, Bidisha Das, Vijay Veer

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Bacteriophages are viruses that parasitize specific bacteria and multiply in metabolising host bacteria. Bacteriophages hunt for a single or a subset of bacterial species, making them potential antibacterial agents. Utilizing the ability of phages to control bacterial populations has several applications from medical to the fields of agriculture, aquaculture and the food industry. However, harnessing phage based techniques in wastewater treatments to improve quality of effluent and sludge release into the environment is a potential area for R&D application. Phage mediated bactericidal effect in any wastewater treatment process has many controlling factors that lead to treatment performance. In laboratory conditions, titer of bacteriophages (coliphages) isolated from effluent water of a specially designed anaerobic digester of human night soil (DRDO Biotoilet) was successfully increased with a modified protocol of the classical double layer agar technique. Enrichment of the same was carried out and efficacy of the phage enriched medium was evaluated at different conditions (specific media, temperature, storage conditions). Growth optimization study was carried out on different media like soybean casein digest medium (Tryptone soya medium), Luria-Bertani medium, phage deca broth medium and MNA medium (Modified nutrient medium). Further, temperature-phage yield relationship was also observed at three different temperatures 27˚C, 37˚C and 44˚C at laboratory condition. Results showed the higher activity of coliphage 27˚C and at 37˚C. Further, addition of divalent ions (10mM MgCl2, 5mM CaCl2) and 5% glycerol resulted in a significant increase in phage titer. Besides this, effect of antibiotics addition like ampicillin and kanamycin at different concentration on plaque formation was analysed and reported that ampicillin at a concentration of 1mg/ml ampicillin stimulates phage infection and results in more number of plaques. Experiments to test viability of phage showed that it can remain active for 6 months at 4˚C in fresh tryptone soya broth supplemented with fresh culture of coliforms (early log phase). The application of bacteriophages (especially coliphages) for treatment of effluent of human faecal matter contaminated effluent water is unique. This environment-friendly treatment system not only reduces the pathogenic coliforms, but also decreases the competition between nuisance bacteria and functionally important microbial populations. Therefore, the phage based cocktail to treat fecal pathogenic bacteria present in black water has many implication in wastewater treatment processes including ‘DRDO Biotoilet’, which is an ecofriendly appropriate and affordable human faecal matter treatment technology for different climates and situations.

Keywords: wastewater, microbes, virus, biotoilet, phage viability

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Authors: Kateryna Zhdanova, Evelyn Szeinbaum, Michelle Lo, Yeonjae Jo, Abel E. Navarro

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Alginate hydrogel beads (AB), spent peppermint leaf (PM), and a hybrid adsorbent of these two materials (ABPM) were studied as potential biosorbents of Cobalt (II) ions from aqueous solutions. Cobalt ion is a commonly underestimated pollutant that is responsible for several health problems. Discontinuous batch experiments were conducted at room temperature to evaluate the effect of solution acidity, mass of adsorbent on the adsorption of Co(II) ions. The interfering effect of salinity, the presence of surfactants, an organic dye, and Pb(II) ions were also studied to resemble the application of these adsorbents in real wastewater. Equilibrium results indicate that Co(II) uptake is maximized at pH values higher than 5, with adsorbent doses of 200 mg, 200 mg, and 120 mg for AB, PM, and ABPM, respectively. Co(II) adsorption followed the trend AB > ABPM > PM with Adsorption percentages of 77%, 71% and 64%, respectively. Salts had a strong negative effect on the adsorption due to the increase of the ionic strength and the competition for adsorption sites. The presence of Pb(II) ions, surfactant, and dye BY57 had a slightly negative effect on the adsorption, apparently due to their interaction with different adsorption sites that do not interfere with the removal of Co(II). A polar-electrostatic adsorption mechanism is proposed based on the experimental results. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that adsorbent has appropriate morphological and textural properties, and also that ABPM encapsulated most of the PM inside of the hydrogel beads. These experimental results revealed that AB, PM, and ABPM are promising adsorbents for the elimination of Co(II) ions from aqueous solutions under different experimental conditions. These biopolymers are proposed as eco-friendly alternatives for the removal of heavy metal ions at lower costs than the conventional techniques.

Keywords: adsorption, Co(II) ions, alginate hydrogel beads, spent peppermint leaf, pH

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Authors: Ghulam Mustafa Kamal, Xiaohua Wang, Bin Yuan, Abdullah Ijaz Hussain, Jie Wang, Shahzad Ali Shahid Chatha, Xu Zhang, Maili Liu

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Organic food products are becoming increasingly popular in recent years, as consumers have turned more health conscious and environmentally aware. A lot of consumers have understood that the organic foods are healthier than conventionally produced food stuffs. Price difference between conventional and organic foods is very high. So, it is very common to cheat the consumers by mislabeling and adulteration. Our study describes the 1H NMR based approach to characterize and differentiate soy sauce prepared from organically and conventionally grown raw materials (wheat and soybean). Commercial soy sauce samples fermented from organic and conventional raw materials were purchased from local markets. Principal component analysis showed clear separation among organic and conventional soy sauce samples. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis showed a significant (p < 0.01) separation among two types of soy sauce yielding leucine, isoleucine, ethanol, glutamate, lactate, acetate, β-glucose, sucrose, choline, valine, phenylalanine and tyrosine as important metabolites contributing towards this separation. Abundance ratio of 13C to 12C was also evaluated by 1H NMR spectroscopy which showed an increased ratio of 13C isotope in organic soy sauce samples indicating the organically grown wheat and soybean used for the preparation of organic soy sauce. Results of the study can be helpful to the end users to select the soy sauce of their choice. This information could also pave the way to further trace and authenticate the raw materials used in production of soy sauce.

Keywords: 1H NMR, multivariate analysis, organic, conventional, 13C isotopic ratio, soy sauce

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Authors: Chung Yan Natalia Yeung, Man Kit Indy Ho, Kin Yu Stan Chan, Ho Pui Kipper Lam, Man Wah Genie Tong, Tze Chung Jim Luk

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Excessive foot pronation is a well-known risk factor of knee and foot injuries such as patellofemoral pain, patellar and Achilles tendinopathy, and plantar fasciitis. Low-Dye taping (LDT) application is not uncommon for basketball players to control excessive foot pronation for pain control and injury prevention. The primary potential benefits of using LDT include providing additional supports to medial longitudinal arch and restricting the excessive midfoot and subtalar motion in weight-bearing activities such as running and landing. Meanwhile, restrictions provided by the rigid tape may also potentially limit functional joint movements and sports performance. Coaches and athletes need to weigh the potential benefits and harmful effects before making a decision if applying LDT technique is worthwhile or not. However, the influence of using LDT on basketball-related performance such as explosive and reactive strength is not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the change of drop jump (DJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance before and after LDT application for collegiate male basketball players. In this within-subject crossover study, 12 healthy male basketball players (age: 21.7 ± 2.5 years) with at least 3-year regular basketball training experience were recruited. Navicular drop (ND) test was adopted as the screening and only those with excessive pronation (ND ≥ 10mm) were included. Participants with recent lower limb injury history were excluded. Recruited subjects were required to perform both ND, DJ (on a platform of 40cm height) and CMJ (without arms swing) tests in series during taped and non-taped conditions in the counterbalanced order. Reactive strength index (RSI) was calculated by using the flight time divided by the ground contact time measured. For DJ and CMJ tests, the best of three trials was used for analysis. The difference between taped and non-taped conditions for each test was further calculated through standardized effect ± 90% confidence intervals (CI) with clinical magnitude-based inference (MBI). Paired samples T-test showed significant decrease in ND (-4.68 ± 1.44mm; 95% CI: -3.77, -5.60; p < 0.05) while MBI demonstrated most likely beneficial and large effect (standardize effect: -1.59 ± 0.27) in LDT condition. For DJ test, significant increase in both flight time (25.25 ± 29.96ms; 95% CI: 6.22, 44.28; p < 0.05) and RSI (0.22 ± 0.22; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.36; p < 0.05) were observed. In taped condition, MBI showed very likely beneficial and moderate effect (standardized effect: 0.77 ± 0.49) in flight time, possibly beneficial and small effect (standardized effect: -0.26 ± 0.29) in ground contact time and very likely beneficial and moderate effect (standardized effect: 0.77 ± 0.42) in RSI. No significant difference in CMJ was observed (95% CI: -2.73, 2.08; p > 0.05). For basketball players with pes planus, applying LDT could substantially support the foot by elevating the navicular height and potentially provide acute beneficial effects in reactive strength performance. Meanwhile, no significant harmful effect on CMJ was observed. Basketball players may consider applying LDT before the game or training to enhance the reactive strength performance. However since the observed effects in this study could not generalize to other players without excessive foot pronation, further studies on players with normal foot arch or navicular height are recommended.

Keywords: flight time, pes planus, pronated foot, reactive strength index

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Authors: Andrea Bertocchi, Alessio Barnaba Di Fonzo, Davide Talarico, Simone Rivaroli, Jeff Konin

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The patient is a 89 years old male (180cm/85kg) retired notary former golfer with no past medical history. He describes a progressive ideomotor slowdown for 14 months. The disorder is characterized by short-term memory deficits and, for some months, also by unstable walking with a broad base with skidding and risk of falling at directional changes and urinary urgency. There were also episodes of aggression towards his wife and staff. At the time, the patient takes no prescribed medications. He has difficulty eating, dressing, and some problems with personal hygiene. In the initial visit, the patient was alert, cooperating, and performed simple tasks; however, he has a hearing impairment, slowed spontaneous speech, and amnestic deficit to the short story. Ideomotor apraxia is not present. He scored 20 points in the MMSE. From a motor function, he has deficits using Medical Research Council (MRC) 3-/5 in bilateral lower limbs and requires maximum assistance from sit to stand with existing premature fatigue. He’s unable to walk for about 1 month. Tremors and hypertonia are absent. BERG was unable to be administered, and BARTHEL was obtained 45/100. An Amyloid Angiopathy is suspected and then confirmed at the neurological examination. Therehabilitation objectives were the recovery of mobility and reinforcement of the UE/LE, especially legs, for recovery of standing and walking. The cognitive aspect was also an essential factor for the patient's recovery. The literature doesn’t demonstrate any particular studies regarding motor and cognitive rehabilitation on this pathology. Failing to manage his attention on exercise and tending to be disinterested and falling asleep constantly, we used golf-specific gestures to stimulate his mind to work and get results because the patient has memory recall of golf related movement. We worked for 4 months with a frequency of 3 sessions per week. Every session lasted for 45 minutes. After 4 months of work, the patient walked independently with the use of a stick for about 120 meters without stopping. MRC 4/5 AI bilaterally andpostural steps performed independently with supervision. BERG 36/56. BARTHEL 65/100. 6 Minutes Walking Test (6MWT), at the beginning, it wasn’t measurable, now, he performs 151,5m with Numeric Rating Scale 4 at the beginning and 7 at the end. Cognitively, he no longer has episodes of aggression, although the short-term memory and concentration deficit remains. Amyloid Angiopathy is a mix of motor and cognitive disorder. It is worth the thought that cerebral amyloid angiopathy manifests with functional deficits due to strokes and bleedings and, as such, has an important rehabilitation indication, as classical stroke is not associated with amyloidosis. Exploring the motor patterns learned at a young age and remained in the implicit and explicit memory of the patient allowed us to set up effective work and to obtain significant results in the short-middle term. Surely many studies will still be done regarding this pathology and its rehabilitation, but the importance of the cognitive sphere applied to the motor sphere could represent an important starting point.

Keywords: amyloid angiopathy, cognitive rehabilitation, golf, motor disorder

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Authors: Mohammad Alipour, Ekin Esen, Riza Kizilel

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Lithium-ion batteries are a commonly used type of rechargeable batteries because of their high specific energy and specific power. With the growing popularity of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, increasing attentions have been paid to rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries. However, safety problems, high cost and poor performance in low ambient temperatures and high current rates, are big obstacles for commercial utilization of these batteries. By proper thermal management, most of the mentioned limitations could be eliminated. Temperature profile of the Li-ion cells has a significant role in the performance, safety, and cycle life of the battery. That is why little temperature gradient can lead to great loss in the performances of the battery packs. In recent years, numerous researchers are working on new techniques to imply a better thermal management on Li-ion batteries. Keeping the battery cells within an optimum range is the main objective of battery thermal management. Commercial Li-ion cells are composed of several electrochemical layers each consisting negative-current collector, negative electrode, separator, positive electrode, and positive current collector. However, many researchers have adopted a single-layer cell to save in computing time. Their hypothesis is that thermal conductivity of the layer elements is so high and heat transfer rate is so fast. Therefore, instead of several thin layers, they model the cell as one thick layer unit. In previous work, we showed that single-layer model is insufficient to simulate the thermal behavior and temperature nonuniformity of the high-capacity Li-ion cells. We also studied the effects of the number of layers on thermal behavior of the Li-ion batteries. In this work, first thermal and electrochemical behavior of the LiFePO₄ battery is modeled with 3D multilayer cell. The model is validated with the experimental measurements at different current rates and ambient temperatures. Real time heat generation rate is also studied at different discharge rates. Results showed non-uniform temperature distribution along the cell which requires thermal management system. Therefore, aluminum plates with mini-channel system were designed to control the temperature uniformity. Design parameters such as channel number and widths, inlet flow rate, and cooling fluids are optimized. As cooling fluids, water and air are compared. Pressure drop and velocity profiles inside the channels are illustrated. Both surface and internal temperature profiles of single cell and battery packs are investigated with and without cooling systems. Our results show that using optimized Mini-channel cooling plates effectively controls the temperature rise and uniformity of the single cells and battery packs. With increasing the inlet flow rate, cooling efficiency could be reached up to 60%.

Keywords: lithium ion battery, 3D multilayer model, mini-channel cooling plates, thermal management

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Authors: Nicholas Anarfi Bofah, James Damsere- Derry

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There is increasing interest among institutions, governments, and international organisations to combat congestion, reduce contribution to green gases and provide sustainable urban transportation. College campuses are a preeminent setting for promoting active commuting to ameliorate a community's healthy lifestyle. Cycling is an important physical activity and has a long-term effect on health, and it is considered one of the top five interventions to reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases. The main objectives of the research were: (i) to identify students’ attitudes and behavior toward cycling usage, (ii) to identify barriers and opportunities for cycling on a university campus, and (iii) to construct tangible policy recommendations for promoting cycling in the vicinity of the university. The data used in this study were obtained from a survey conducted among students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi between May 2022 and September 2022. A convenient sampling method was used to recruit and interview 398 participants. Two survey assistants who are former students of the university were engaged to administer the questionnaires randomly to students at the selected locations. Descriptive statistics were employed in the analysis of the data. Out of the 398 questionnaires, bicycle ridership and ownership among university students were 57% and 39%, respectively. Generally, the desire to use a bicycle as a mode of transport on campus was 36%. The desire to use a bicycle on campus was more prevalent among males 41% compared to females 30%. There is a high potential for increasing bicycle use among students. Recommendations include the provision of bicycle lanes, public education on the use of bicycles, and a campus bicycle-sharing program.

Keywords: sustainable development, cycling, university campus, bicycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Swati Vohra

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A genuine economic and social transformation requires equal contribution and participation from both men and women; however, achieving this gender parity is a global concern. In the patriarchal societies around the world, women have been silenced, oppressed, and subjugated. Girls and women comprise half of the world’s population. This, however, must not be the lone reason for recognizing and providing equal opportunities to them. Every individual has a right to develop through opportunities without the biases of gender, caste, race, or ethnicity. The world today is confronted by pressing issues of climate change, economic crisis, violence against women and children, escalating conflicts, to name a few. Achieving gender parity is thus an essential component in meeting this wide array of challenges in order to create just, robust and inclusive societies. In 2015, The United Nation enunciated achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, one of which is SGD#5- Gender Equality, that is not merely a stand-alone goal. It is central to the achievement of all 17 SDG’s. Without progress on gender equality, the global community will not only fail to achieve the SDG5, but it will also lose the impetus towards achieving the broad 2030 agenda. This research is based on a hypothesis that aims to connect the targets laid by the UN under SDG#5 - 5.4 (Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work) and 5.5 (Ensure women participation for leadership at all levels of decision-making). The study evaluates the impact of unpaid household responsibilities on women’s leadership in India. In Indian society, women have experienced a low social status for centuries, which is reflected throughout the Indian history with preference of a male child and common occurrences of female infanticides that are still prevalent in many parts of the country. Insistence on the traditional gender roles builds patriarchal inequalities into the structure of Indian society. It is argued that a burden of unpaid labor on women is placed, which narrows the opportunities and life chances women are given and the choices they are able to make, thereby shutting them from shared participation in public and economic leadership. The study investigates theoretical framework of social construction of gender, unpaid labor, challenges to women leaders and peace theorist perspective as the core components. The methodology used is qualitative research of comprehensive literature, accompanied by the data collected through interviews of representatives of women leaders from various fields within Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The women leaders interviewed had the privilege of receiving good education and a conducive family support; however, post marriage and children it was not the case and the social obligations weighed heavy on them. The research concludes by recommending the importance of gender-neutral parenting and education along with government ratified paternal leaves for at least six months and childcare facilities available for both the parents at workplace.

Keywords: gender equality, gender roles, peace studies, sustainable development goals, social construction, unpaid labor, women’s leadership

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Authors: Babak Forouraghi

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A genetic circuit is a collection of interacting genes and proteins that enable individual cells to implement and perform vital biological functions such as cell division, growth, death, and signaling. In cell engineering, synthetic gene circuits are engineered networks of genes specifically designed to implement functionalities that are not evolved by nature. These engineered networks enable scientists to tackle complex problems such as engineering cells to produce therapeutics within the patient's body, altering T cells to target cancer-related antigens for treatment, improving antibody production using engineered cells, tissue engineering, and production of genetically modified plants and livestock. Construction of computational models to realize genetic circuits is an especially challenging task since it requires the discovery of flow of genetic information in complex biological systems. Building synthetic biological models is also a time-consuming process with relatively low prediction accuracy for highly complex genetic circuits. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the utility of a pre-trained bidirectional encoder transformer that can accurately predict gene expressions in genetic circuit designs. The main reason behind using transformers is their innate ability (attention mechanism) to take account of the semantic context present in long DNA chains that are heavily dependent on spatial representation of their constituent genes. Previous approaches to gene circuit design, such as CNN and RNN architectures, are unable to capture semantic dependencies in long contexts as required in most real-world applications of synthetic biology. For instance, RNN models (LSTM, GRU), although able to learn long-term dependencies, greatly suffer from vanishing gradient and low-efficiency problem when they sequentially process past states and compresses contextual information into a bottleneck with long input sequences. In other words, these architectures are not equipped with the necessary attention mechanisms to follow a long chain of genes with thousands of tokens. To address the above-mentioned limitations of previous approaches, a transformer model was built in this work as a variation to the existing DNA Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (DNABERT) model. It is shown that the proposed transformer is capable of capturing contextual information from long input sequences with attention mechanism. In a previous work on genetic circuit design, the traditional approaches to classification and regression, such as Random Forrest, Support Vector Machine, and Artificial Neural Networks, were able to achieve reasonably high R2 accuracy levels of 0.95 to 0.97. However, the transformer model utilized in this work with its attention-based mechanism, was able to achieve a perfect accuracy level of 100%. Further, it is demonstrated that the efficiency of the transformer-based gene expression classifier is not dependent on presence of large amounts of training examples, which may be difficult to compile in many real-world gene circuit designs.

Keywords: transformers, generative ai, gene expression design, classification

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Authors: Cameron Jones

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Emissions, produced by landfill waste from demolished obsolete buildings, have a damaging effect on both the Earth’s climate and human health. The philosophical theory of material vitalism - the potential for materials to react and emit harmful pollutants - therefore defines this construction and demolition waste (CDW) as having vitality. The European Union’s ‘Circular Economic Action Plan’ (CEAP) aims to mitigate the effects of CDW by prioritising the circularity of building materials. This dissertation examines how the philosophical theory of material vitalism can make an environmentally responsible contribution to CDW policy. The CEAP and Silvertown Quays development are used as case studies for the application of vitalism to policy revision. The study concludes that vitalism has a positive role to play in informing CDW policy, although its contribution is stronger in some areas. This is established by first appraising the aspects that relate to the obsolescence of buildings outlined in the EU’s existing CDW policies. Next, these policy directives are compared with the CE principles employed in the Silvertown Quays development. Subsequently, a keyword analysis model is used to categorise the language used in the CEAP, demonstrating how socio-political approaches to the CE and strategies to address resource scarcity could be strengthened to represent the EU’s policy aspirations more effectively. Recommendations are then made on how material vitalism could be utilised to strengthen legislation, arguing that a notable contribution can be made in most policy areas. Finally, theoretical testing of the impact of these revisions to policy on the case study development identified some practicalities for consideration in improving waste management outcomes.

Keywords: vitalism, construction waste, obsolescence, political ecology, exceptionalism

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Authors: Rama Munajat

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Discourse information levels may be viewed from either a background-foreground distinction or a multi-level perspective, and cross-linguistic studies on this area suggest that each information level is marked by a specific linguistic device. In this sense, Sundanese, spoken in Indonesia’s West Javanese Province, further differentiates the background and foreground information into ordinary and significant types. This paper will report an ongoing shift from particle-to-active voice marking in the way Sundanese signals foregrounding events. The shift relates to decades of contact with Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesia’s official language) and linguistic compatibility between the two surface marking strategies. Representative data analyzed include three groups of short stories in both Sundanese and Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) published in three periods: before 1945, 1965-2006, and 2016-2019. In the first group of Sundanese data, forward-moving events dominantly appear in particle KA (Kecap Anteuran, word-accompanying) constructions, where the KA represents different particles that co-occur with a special group of verbs. The second group, however, shows that the foregrounded events are more frequently described in active-voice forms with a subject-predicate (SP) order. Subsequently, the third offers stronger evidence for the use of the SP structure. As for the Indonesian data, the foregrounding events in the first group occur in verb-initial and passive-voice constructions, while in the second and third, the events more frequently appear in active-voice structures (subject-predicate sequence). The marking shift above suggests a structural influence from Indonesian, stemmed from generational differences among authors of the Sundanese short stories, particularly related to their education and language backgrounds. The first group of short stories – published before 1945 or before Indonesia's independence from Dutch – were written by native speakers of Sundanese who spoke Indonesian as a foreign language and went through the Dutch education system. The second group of authors, on the other hand, represents a generation of Sundanese native speakers who spoke Indonesian as a second language. Finally, the third group consists of authors who are bilingual speakers of both Sundanese and Indonesian. The data suggest that the last two groups of authors completed the Indonesian education system. With these, the use of subject-predicate sequences to denote foregrounding events began to appear more frequently in the second group and then became more dominant in those of the third. The coded data also signify that cohesion, coherence, and pragmatic purposes in Particle KA constructions are intact in their respective active-voice structure counterparts. For instance, the foregrounding events in Particle KA constructions occur in Sentence-initial KA and Pre-verbal KA forms, whereas those in the active-voice are described in Subject-Predicate (SP) and Zero-Subject active-voice patterns. Cross-language data further demonstrate that the Sentence-initial KA and the SP active-voice structures each contain an overt noun phrase (NP) co-referential with one of the entities introduced in a preceding context. Similarly, the pre-verbal KA and Zero-Subject active-voice patterns have a deleted noun phrase unambiguously referable to the only one entity previously mentioned. The presence and absence of an NP inform a pragmatic strategy to place prominence on topic/given and comment/new information, respectively.

Keywords: discourse analysis, foregrounding marking, pragmatics, language contact

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Authors: Amit Kumar, Bhupendra Pratap Singh, Manoj Singh, Monika Punia, Krishan Kumar, V. K. Jain

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Ambient concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were investigated in order to find out temporal variations and their ozone forming potentials (OFP) at rural site in Delhi National Capital Region during summer 2013. Sampling was performed for continuous five days, to identify the differences in working days and weekend VOCs concentration levels. Sampling and analytical procedure for VOCs were done using National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) standard method. On each sampling day, VOCs samples were collected for 3-hours in the morning, afternoon and evening. There has been observed a noticeable contrast in the concentration of VOCs levels between working days and weekend. However, most of the VOCs showed diurnal fluctuations with higher concentrations in the morning and evening as compared to afternoon which might be due to change in meteorology. The results showed that mean toluene/benzene and m-/p-xylene/benzene ratios were higher in the afternoon while it was lower during morning and evening. The relative contribution of the VOCs to ozone formation, total propylene equivalent concentrations and OFP were calculated. Toluene was the most contributing organic contaminant to ozone formation as well as ambient VOCs concentrations. Results obtained in current study demonstrate that ozone formation at rural site in Delhi is probably limited by the emissions of VOCs.

Keywords: VOCs, rural, NIOSH, ozone forming potential, propylene equivalent concentration

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Authors: Shu-Jen Chen, Yi-Chien Wan, Ruey-Chi Wang

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Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, HAp) can be applied to the fabrication of bone replacement materials, the composite of dental filling, and the adsorption of biomolecules and dyes. The integration of HAp and magnetic materials would offer several advantages for bio-separation process because the magnetic adsorbents is capable of recovered by applied magnetic field. C-phycocyanin (C-PC) and Allophycocyanin (APC), isolated from Spirulina platensis, can be used in fluorescent labeling probes, health care foods and clinical diagnostic reagents. Although the purification of C-PC and APC are reported by HAp adsorption, the adsorption of C-PC and APC by magnetic HAp composites was not reported yet. Therefore, the fabrication of HAp with magnetic silica nanoparticles for proteins adsorption was investigated in this work. First, the magnetic silica particles were prepared by covering silica layer on Fe3O4 nanoparticles with a reverse micelle method. Then, the Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with calcium carbonate to obtain magnetic silica/calcium carbonate composites (Fe3O4@SiO2/CaCO3). The Fe3O4@SiO2/CaCO3 was further reacted with K2HPO4 for preparing the magnetic silica/hydroxyapatite composites (Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp). The adsorption experiments indicated that the adsorption capacity of Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp toward C-PC and APC were highest at pH 6. The adsorption of C-PC and APC by Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp could be correlated by the pseudo-second-order model, indicating chemical adsorption dominating the adsorption process. Furthermore, the adsorption data showed that the adsorption of Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp toward C-PC and APC followed the Langmuir isotherm. The isoelectric points of C-PC and APC were around 5.0. Additionally, the zeta potential data showed the Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp composite was negative charged at pH 6. Accordingly, the adsorption mechanism of Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp toward C-PC and APC should be governed by hydrogen bonding rather than electrostatic interaction. On the other hand, as compared to C-PC, the Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp shows higher adsorption affinity toward APC. Although the Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp cannot recover C-PC and APC from Spirulina platensis homogenate, the Fe3O4@SiO2/HAp can be applied to separate C-PC and APC.

Keywords: hydroxyapatite, magnetic, C-phycocyanin, allophycocyanin

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Authors: Bin Shi, Mouhab Meshreki, Grégoire Bazin, Helmi Attia

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Large monolithic components are widely used in the aerospace industry in order to reduce airplane weight. Milling is an important operation in manufacturing of the monolithic parts. More than 90% of the material could be removed in the milling operation to obtain the final shape. This results in low rigidity and post-machining distortion. The post-machining distortion is the deviation of the final shape from the original design after releasing the clamps. It is a major challenge in machining of the monolithic parts, which costs billions of economic losses every year. Three sources are directly related to the part distortion, including initial residual stresses (RS) generated from previous manufacturing processes, machining-induced RS and thermal load generated during machining. A finite element model was developed to simulate a milling process and predicate the post-machining distortion. In this study, a rolled-aluminum plate AA7175 with a thickness of 60 mm was used for the raw block. The initial residual stress distribution in the block was measured using a layer-removal method. A stress-mapping technique was developed to implement the initial stress distribution into the part. It is demonstrated that this technique significantly accelerates the simulation time. Machining-induced residual stresses on the machined surface were measured using MTS3000 hole-drilling strain-gauge system. The measured RS was applied on the machined surface of a plate to predict the distortion. The predicted distortion was compared with experimental results. It is found that the effect of the machining-induced residual stress on the distortion of a thick plate is very limited. The distortion can be ignored if the wall thickness is larger than a certain value. The RS generated from the thermal load during machining is another important factor causing part distortion. Very limited number of research on this topic was reported in literature. A coupled thermo-mechanical FE model was developed to evaluate the thermal effect on the plastic deformation of a plate. A moving heat source with a feed rate was used to simulate the dynamic cutting heat in a milling process. When the heat source passed the part surface, a small layer was removed to simulate the cutting operation. The results show that for different feed rates and plate thicknesses, the plastic deformation/distortion occurs only if the temperature exceeds a critical level. It was found that the initial residual stress has a major contribution to the part distortion. The machining-induced stress has limited influence on the distortion for thin-wall structure when the wall thickness is larger than a certain value. The thermal load can also generate part distortion when the cutting temperature is above a critical level. The developed numerical model was employed to predict the distortion of a frame part with complex structures. The predictions were compared with the experimental measurements, showing both are in good agreement. Through optimization of the position of the part inside the raw plate using the developed numerical models, the part distortion can be significantly reduced by 50%.

Keywords: modelling, monolithic parts, optimization, post-machining distortion, residual stresses

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Authors: Hamda M. Al-Ali

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The ultimate aim of space exploration has been centralized around the possibility of life on other planets in the solar system. This aim is driven by the detrimental effects that climate change could potentially have on human survival on Earth in the future. This drives humans to search for feasible solutions to increase environmental and economical sustainability on Earth and to evaluate and explore the ability of human survival on other planets such as Mars. To do that, frequent space missions are required to meet the ambitious human goals. This means that reliable and affordable access to space is required, which could be largely achieved through the use of reusable spacecrafts. Therefore, materials and resources must be used wisely to meet the increasing demand. Space missions are currently extremely expensive to operate. However, reusing materials hence spacecrafts, can potentially reduce overall mission costs as well as the negative impact on both space and Earth environments. This is because reusing materials leads to less waste generated per mission, and therefore fewer landfill sites are required. Reusing materials reduces resource consumption, material production, and the need for processing new and replacement spacecraft and launch vehicle parts. Consequently, this will ease and facilitate human access to outer space as it will reduce the demand for scarce resources, which will boost material efficiency in the space industry. Material efficiency expresses the extent to which resources are consumed in the production cycle and how the waste produced by the industrial process is minimized. The strategies proposed in this paper to boost material efficiency in the space sector are the introduction of key performance indicators that are able to measure material efficiency as well as the introduction of clearly defined policies and legislation that can be easily implemented within the general practices in the space industry. Another strategy to improve material efficiency is by amplifying energy and resource efficiency through reusing materials. The circularity of various spacecraft materials such as Kevlar, steel, and aluminum alloys could be maximized through reusing them directly or after galvanizing them with another layer of material to act as a protective coat. This research paper has an aim to investigate and discuss how to improve material efficiency in space missions considering circular economy concepts so that space and Earth become more economically and environmentally sustainable. The circular economy is a transition from a make-use-waste linear model to a closed-loop socio-economic model, which is regenerative and restorative in nature. The implementation of a circular economy will reduce waste and pollution through maximizing material efficiency, ensuring that businesses can thrive and sustain. Further research into the extent to which reusable launch vehicles reduce space mission costs have been discussed, along with the environmental and economic implications it could have on the space sector and the environment. This has been examined through research and in-depth literature review of published reports, books, scientific articles, and journals. Keywords such as material efficiency, circular economy, reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft materials were used to search for relevant literature.

Keywords: circular economy, key performance indicator, material efficiency, reusable launch vehicles, spacecraft materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Anudeep Appe, Bhanu Poluparthi, Lakshmi Kasivajjula, Udai Mv, Sobha Bagadi, Punya Modi, Aditya Singh, Hemanth Gunupudi, Spenser Troiano, Jeff Paul, Justin Stovall, Justin Yamamoto

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The necessity of data-driven decisions in healthcare strategy formulation is rapidly increasing. A reliable framework which helps identify factors impacting a healthcare provider facility or a hospital (from here on termed as facility) market share is of key importance. This pilot study aims at developing a data-driven machine learning-regression framework which aids strategists in formulating key decisions to improve the facility’s market share which in turn impacts in improving the quality of healthcare services. The US (United States) healthcare business is chosen for the study, and the data spanning 60 key facilities in Washington State and about 3 years of historical data is considered. In the current analysis, market share is termed as the ratio of the facility’s encounters to the total encounters among the group of potential competitor facilities. The current study proposes a two-pronged approach of competitor identification and regression approach to evaluate and predict market share, respectively. Leveraged model agnostic technique, SHAP, to quantify the relative importance of features impacting the market share. Typical techniques in literature to quantify the degree of competitiveness among facilities use an empirical method to calculate a competitive factor to interpret the severity of competition. The proposed method identifies a pool of competitors, develops Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) and feature level word vectors, and evaluates the key connected components at the facility level. This technique is robust since its data-driven, which minimizes the bias from empirical techniques. The DAGs factor in partial correlations at various segregations and key demographics of facilities along with a placeholder to factor in various business rules (for ex. quantifying the patient exchanges, provider references, and sister facilities). Identified are the multiple groups of competitors among facilities. Leveraging the competitors' identified developed and fine-tuned Random Forest Regression model to predict the market share. To identify key drivers of market share at an overall level, permutation feature importance of the attributes was calculated. For relative quantification of features at a facility level, incorporated SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), a model agnostic explainer. This helped to identify and rank the attributes at each facility which impacts the market share. This approach proposes an amalgamation of the two popular and efficient modeling practices, viz., machine learning with graphs and tree-based regression techniques to reduce the bias. With these, we helped to drive strategic business decisions.

Keywords: competition, DAGs, facility, healthcare, machine learning, market share, random forest, SHAP

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Authors: Ghimire K., Mehta R. S., Parajuli P., Chettri R.

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Background: Malnutrition is a common hallmark of Human Immuno Virus (HIV) disease. It plays a synergistic role in immunosuppression which is initiated by Human Immuno Virus itself, and malnutrition forms an independent risk factor for disease progression. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess the nutritional status of the people living with Human Immuno Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome attending the Anti-Retro viral Treatment Clinic and find the association of nutritional status with different socio-demographic variables. Methods: A total of 101 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) were selected by convenient sampling technique. The study was conducted at the ART clinic of BPKIHS. A subjective global assessment tool was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: The study demonstrated that the mean age of the respondents was 40.97+8.650 years. 65.3% were well-nourished, and 34.7% of the participants were mildly/moderately malnourished, whereas none of them were severely malnourished. BMI was statistically significant with education status, family income, and duration of illness of the participants, and nutritional status was statistically significant with gender, marital status, education status, and family history of HIV. Conclusion: On the basis of the result, it can be concluded that more than half of the respondents were well nourished. Gender, marital status, and education are associated with nutritional status.

Keywords: nutritional status, people living with HIV/AIDS, ART treatment, Nepal

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Authors: Madalena Corte-real, João Pedro Nunes, Bernardo Fernandes, Ana Jorge Correira

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This presentation looks, from a sociological perspective, at neighboring practices in the inner city of Lisbon. The capital of Portugal, with half a million inhabitants, inserted in a metropolitan area with almost 2,9 million people, has been in the international spotlight seen as an interesting city to live in and to invest in, especially in the real estate market. This promotion emerged in the context of the financial crisis, where local authorities aimed to make Lisbon a more competitive city, calling for visitors and financial and human capital. Especially in the last decade, Portugal’s capital has been experiencing a significant increase in terms of migration from creative and entrepreneurial exiles to economic and political expats. In this context, the territory under analysis, in particular, is a mixed-used area undergoing rapid transformations in recent years marked by the presence of newcomers and non-nationals as well as social and cultural heterogeneity. It is next to one of the main arteries, considered the most multicultural part of the city, and presented in the press as one of the coolest neighborhoods in Europe. In view of these aspects, this research aims to address key-topics in current urban research: anonymity often related to big cities, socio-spatial attachment to the neighborhood, and the effects of diversity in the everyday relations of residents and shopkeepers. This case-study intends to look at particularities in local regimes differently affected by growing mobility. Against a backdrop of unidimensional generalizations and a tendency to refer to central countries and global cities, it aims to discuss national and local specificities. In methodological terms, the project comprises essentially a qualitative approach that consists of direct observation techniques and ethnographic methods as well semi-structured interviews to residents and local stakeholders whose narratives are subject to content analysis. The paper starts with a characterization of the broader context of the city of Lisbon, followed by territorial specificities regarding socio-spatial development, namely the city’s and the inner-areas morphology as well as the population’s socioeconomic profile. Following the residents and stakeholders’ narratives and practices it will assess the perception and behaviors regarding the representation of the area, relationships and experiences, routines, and sociability. Results point to a significant presence of neighborhood relations and different forms of support, in particular, among the different groups – e.g., old long-time residents, middle-class families, global creative class, and communities of economic migrants. Fieldwork reveals low levels of place-attachment although some residents refer, presently, high levels of satisfaction. Engagement with living space, this case-study suggests, reveals the social construction and lived the experience of neighboring by different groups, but also the way different and contrasting visions and desires are articulated to the profound urban, cultural and political changes that permeate the area.

Keywords: diversity, lisbon, neighboring and neighborhood, place-attachment

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Authors: A. Shirazibeheshti, T. Radwan, A. Ettefaghian, G. Wilson, C. Luca, Farbod Khanizadeh

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Anticholinergic medication has been associated with events such as falls, delirium, and cognitive impairment in older patients. To further assess this, anticholinergic burden scores have been developed to quantify risk. A risk model based on clustering was deployed in a healthcare management system to cluster patients into multiple risk groups according to anticholinergic burden scores of multiple medicines prescribed to patients to facilitate clinical decision-making. To do so, anticholinergic burden scores of drugs were extracted from the literature, which categorizes the risk on a scale of 1 to 3. Given the patients’ prescription data on the healthcare database, a weighted anticholinergic risk score was derived per patient based on the prescription of multiple anticholinergic drugs. This study was conducted on over 300,000 records of patients currently registered with a major regional UK-based healthcare provider. The weighted risk scores were used as inputs to an unsupervised learning algorithm (mean-shift clustering) that groups patients into clusters that represent different levels of anticholinergic risk. To further evaluate the performance of the model, any association between the average risk score within each group and other factors such as socioeconomic status (i.e., Index of Multiple Deprivation) and an index of health and disability were investigated. The clustering identifies a group of 15 patients at the highest risk from multiple anticholinergic medication. Our findings also show that this group of patients is located within more deprived areas of London compared to the population of other risk groups. Furthermore, the prescription of anticholinergic medicines is more skewed to female than male patients, indicating that females are more at risk from this kind of multiple medications. The risk may be monitored and controlled in well artificial intelligence-equipped healthcare management systems.

Keywords: anticholinergic medicines, clustering, deprivation, socioeconomic status

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Authors: Adel M. Al-Shutairi, Ahmed H. Al-Zahrani

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Tea is a popular beverage drunk by millions of people throughout the globe. Tea has considerable health advantages, in-cluding antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, chemopreventive, and anticarcinogenic properties. As a result of environmental pollution (atmospheric deposition) and the production process, tealeaves may also include a variety of dangerous substances, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study, graphene oxide reinforced chitosan/poly-nitroaniline polymer was prepared to develop a sensitive and reliable solid phase extraction method (SPE) for extraction of PAH7 in tea samples, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography- fluorescence detection. The prepared adsorbent was validated in terms of linearity, the limit of detection, the limit of quantification, recovery (%), accuracy (%), and precision (%) for the determination of the PAH7 (benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene and Benzo[g,h,i]perylene) in tea samples. The concentration was determined in two types of tea commercially available in Saudi Arabia, including black tea and green tea. The maximum mean of Σ7PAHs in black tea samples was 68.23 ± 0.02 ug kg-1 and 26.68 ± 0.01 ug kg-1 in green tea samples. The minimum mean of Σ7PAHs in black tea samples was 37.93 ± 0.01 ug kg-1 and 15.26 ± 0.01 ug kg-1 in green tea samples. The mean value of benzo[a]pyrene in black tea samples ranged from 6.85 to 12.17 ug kg-1, where two samples exceeded the standard level (10 ug kg-1) established by the European Union (UE), while in green tea ranged from 1.78 to 2.81 ug kg-1. Low levels of Σ7PAHs in green tea samples were detected in comparison with black tea samples.

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, CS, PNA and GO, black/green tea, solid phase extraction, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Evans Oteng, Clement Yeboah, Alexander Otechere-Fianko

Abstract:

In today’s economy, despite achievements and advances in the banking and financial institutions, there are challenges that will require intensive attempts on the portion of the banks in Ghana. The perceived decline in profitability of banks seems to have emanated from ineffective branding. Hence, the purpose of this quantitative descriptive-correlational study was to examine the effects of branding on the profitability of banks in Ghana. The researchers purposively sampled some 116 banks in Ghana. Self-developed Likert scale questionnaires were administered to the finance officers of the financial institutions. The results were found to be statistically significant, F (1, 114) = 4. 50, p = .036. This indicates that those banks in Ghana with good branding practices have strong marketing tools to identify and sell their products and services and, as such, have a big market share. The correlation coefficients indicate that branding has a positive correlation with profitability and are statistically significant (r=.207, p<0.05), which signifies that as branding increases, the return on equity’s profitability indicator improves and vice versa. Future researchers can consider other factors beyond branding, such as online banking. The study has significant implications for the success and competitive advantage of those banks that effective branding allows them to differentiate themselves from their competitors. A strong and unique brand identity can help a bank stand out in a crowded market, attract customers, and build customer loyalty. This can lead to increased market share and profitability. Branding influences customer perception and trust. A well-established and reputable brand can create a positive image in the minds of customers, enhancing their confidence in the bank's products and services. This can result in increased customer acquisition, customer retention and a positive impact on profitability. Banks with strong brands can leverage their reputation and customer trust to cross-sell additional products and services. When customers have confidence in the brand, they are more likely to explore and purchase other offerings from the same institution. Cross-selling can boost revenue streams and profitability. Successful branding can open up opportunities for brand extensions and diversification into new products or markets. Banks can leverage their trusted brand to introduce new financial products or expand their presence into related areas, such as insurance or investment services. This can lead to additional revenue streams and improved profitability. This study can have implications for education. Thus, increased profitability of banks due to effective branding can result in higher financial resources available for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Banks may invest in educational initiatives, such as scholarships, grants, research projects, and sponsorships, to support the education sector in Ghana. Also, this study can have implications for logistics and supply chain management. Thus, strong branding can create trust and credibility among customers, leading to increased customer loyalty. This loyalty can positively impact the bank's relationships with its suppliers and logistics partners. It can result in better negotiation power, improved supplier relationships, and enhanced supply chain coordination, ultimately leading to more efficient and cost-effective logistics operations.

Keywords: branding, profitability, competitors, customer loyalty, customer retention, corporate social responsibility, cost-effective, logistics operations

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