Search results for: self organization feature map

Authors: Ali Essam El Shazly

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The slum survey of 'Sequina' area in Alexandria details the building rooms of twenty-building samples according to the integral measure of space syntax. The essence of room organization sets the most integrative 'visitor' domain between the 'inhabitant' wings of less integrated 'parent' than the 'children' structure with visual ring of 'balcony' space. Despite the collective real relative asymmetry of 'pheno-type' aggregation, the relative asymmetry of individual layouts reveals 'geno-type' structure of spatial diversity. The multifunction of rooms optimizes the integral structure of graph and visibility merge, which contrasts with the deep tailing structure of distinctive social domains. The most integrative layout inverts the geno-type into freed rooms of shallow 'inhabitant' domain against the off-centered 'visitor' space, while the most segregated layout further restricts the pheno-type through isolated 'visitor' from 'inhabitant' domains across the 'staircase' public domain. The catalyst 'kitchen & living' spaces demonstrate multi-structural dimensions among the various social domains. The former ranges from most exposed central integrity to the most hidden 'motherhood' territories. The latter, however, mostly integrates at centrality or at the further ringy 'childern' domain. The study concludes social structure of spatial integrity for redevelopment, which is determined through the micro-level survey of rooms with integral dimensions.

Keywords: Alexandria, Sequina slum, spatial integration, space syntax

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Authors: Ramish, Farhan Khalique Awan

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Kinematic redundancy within the manipulators presents extended dexterity and manipulability to the manipulators. Redundant serial robotic manipulators are very popular in industries due to its competencies to keep away from singularities during normal operation and fault tolerance because of failure of one or more joints. Such fault tolerant manipulators are extraordinarily beneficial in applications where human interference for repair and overhaul is both impossible or tough; like in case of robotic arms for space programs, nuclear applications and so on. The design of this sort of fault tolerant serial 3 DoF manipulator is presented in this paper. This work was the extension of the author’s previous work of designing the simple 3R serial manipulator. This work is the realization of the previous design with optimizing the link lengths for incorporating the feature of fault tolerance. Various measures have been followed by the researchers to quantify the fault tolerance of such redundant manipulators. The fault tolerance in this work has been described in terms of the worst-case measure of relative manipulability that is, in fact, a local measure of optimization that works properly for certain configuration of the manipulators. An optimum fault tolerant Jacobian matrix has been determined first based on prescribed null space properties after which the link parameters have been described to meet the given Jacobian matrix. A solid model of the manipulator was then developed to realize the mathematically rigorous design. Further work was executed on determining the dynamic properties of the fault tolerant design and simulations of the movement for various trajectories have been carried out to evaluate the joint torques. The mathematical model of the system was derived via the Euler-Lagrange approach after which the same has been tested using the RoboAnalyzer© software. The results have been quite in agreement. From the CAD model and dynamic simulation data, the manipulator was fabricated in the workshop and Advanced Machining lab of NED University of Engineering and Technology.

Keywords: fault tolerant, Graham matrix, Jacobian, kinematics, Lagrange-Euler

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Authors: Kashif Habib, Zeeshan Ayyub

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ZnO voltage dependent resistor was widely used as components of the electrical system for over-voltage protection. It has a wide application prospect in superconducting energy-removal, generator de-excitation, overvoltage protection of electrical & electronics equipment. At present, the research for the application of ZnO voltage dependent resistor stop, it uses just in the field of its nonlinear voltage current characteristic and overvoltage protection areas. There is no further study over the over-voltage breakdown characteristics, such as the combustion phenomena and the measure of the voltage/current when it breakdown, and the affect to its surrounding equipment. It is also a blind spot in its application. So, when we do the feature test of ZnO voltage dependent resistor, we need to design a reasonable test power supply, making the terminal voltage keep for sine wave, simulating the real use of PF voltage in power supply conditions. We put forward the solutions of using inverter to generate a controllable power. The paper mainly focuses on the breakdown characteristic test power supply of nonlinear ZnO voltage dependent resistor. According to the current mature switching power supply technology, we proposed power control system using the inverter as the core. The power mainly realize the sin-voltage output on the condition of three-phase PF-AC input, and 3 control modes (RMS, Peak, Average) of the current output. We choose TMS320F2812M as the control part of the hardware platform. It is used to convert the power from three-phase to a controlled single-phase sin-voltage through a rectifier, filter, and inverter. Design controller produce SPWM, to get the controlled voltage source via appropriate multi-loop control strategy, while execute data acquisition and display, system protection, start logic control, etc. The TMS320F2812M is able to complete the multi-loop control quickly and can be a good completion of the inverter output control.

Keywords: ZnO, multi-loop control, SPWM, non-linear load

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Authors: G. Raviraja Shetty, K. G. Poojitha, Pranay Kumar

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Biodiversity refers to the numbers, variety and variability of living organisms and ecosystem. The climatic and altitudinal variations, coupled with varied ecological habitats of this country, have contributed to the development of immensely rich vegetation with a unique diversity in medicinal plants which provides an important source of medicinal raw materials for traditional medicine systems as well as for pharmaceutical industries in the country and abroad. World Health Organization has listed over 21000 plant species used around the world for medicinal purpose. In India, about 2500 plant species are being used in indigenous system of medicine. The red data book lists 427 Indian Medicinal plant entries on endangered species, of which 28 are considered extinct, 124 endangered, 81 rare, and 34 insufficiently known. It is abundantly clear from the experience of all govt agencies that on their own they cannot efficiently conserve the biodiversity. Participatory Approach with the involvement of local people in conservation is found to be more effective these days. Involvement of local people reduces the cost involved in conservation. Local communities have long tradition of resource use in particular area, hold in depth knowledge and experience of plant which can be invaluable for conservation efforts.Medicinal plants occupy a vital sector of health care system in India and represent a major national resource.There is an immense need for conservation of diversity of medicinal plant wealth for the present and fore coming generations, by adapting the suitable strategy with most appropriate method of conservation.

Keywords: conservation, biodiversity, participatory, medicinal plants

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Authors: A. Pietro Rimoldi, B. Anilkumar Gopinath, C. Minimol Korulla

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Coastal engineering structure is conventionally designed for a shorter planning horizon usually 20 years. These structures are subjected to different offshore climatic externalities like waves, tides, tsunamis etc. during the design life period. The probability of occurrence of these different offshore climatic externalities varies. The impact frequently caused by these externalities on the structures is of concern because it has a significant bearing on the capital /operating cost of the project. There can also be repeated short time occurrence of these externalities in the assumed planning horizon which can cause heavy damage to the conventional coastal structure which are mainly made of rock. A replacement of the damaged portion to prevent complete collapse is time consuming and expensive when dealing with hard rock structures. But if coastal structures are made of Geo-synthetic containment systems such replacement is quickly possible in the time period between two successive occurrences. In order to have a better knowledge and to enhance the predictive capacity of these occurrences, this study estimates risk of encounter within the design life period of various externalities based on the concept of exponential distribution. This gives an idea of the frequency of occurrences which in turn gives an indication of whether replacement is necessary and if so at what time interval such replacements have to be effected. To validate this theoretical finding, a pilot project has been taken up in the field so that the impact of the externalities can be studied both for a hard rock and a Geosynthetic tube structure. The paper brings out the salient feature of a case study which pertains to a project in which Geosynthetic tubes have been used for reformation of a seawall adjacent to a conventional rock structure in Alappuzha coast, Kerala, India. The effectiveness of the Geosystem in combatting the impact of the short-term externalities has been brought out.

Keywords: climatic externalities, exponential distribution, geosystems, planning horizon

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Authors: Simone Rondelli, Damiano Rondelli, Bishesh Poudyal, Juan Jose Cabrera-Lazarini

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One of the main obstacles for Social Entrepreneurship is to find a business model that is financially sustainable. In other words, the captured value generates enough cash flow to ensure business continuity and reinvestment for growth. Providing Health Services in poor countries for the uninsured population affected by a high-cost chronical disease is not the exception for this challenge. As a prime example, cancer has become a high impact on a global disease not only because of the high morbidity but also of the financial impact on both the patient family and health services in underdeveloped countries. Therefore, it is relevant to find a Social Entrepreneurship Model that provides affordable treatment for this disease while maintaining healthy finances not only for the patient but also for the organization providing the treatment. Using the methodology of Constructive Research, this paper applied a Positive Theory and four business models of Social Entrepreneurship to a case of a Private Foundation model whose mission is to address the challenge previously described. It was found that the Foundation analyzed, in this case, is organized as an Embedded Business Model and complies with the four propositions of the Positive Theory considered. It is recommended for this Private Foundation to explore implementing the Integrated Business Model to ensure more robust sustainability in the long term. It evolves as a scalable model that can attract investors interested in contributing to expanding this initiative globally.

Keywords: affordable treatment, global healthcare, social entrepreneurship theory, sustainable business model

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Authors: Fariba Ebrahimi, Mehdi Ghorbani

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Comprehensive water management considers economic, environmental, technical and social sustainability of water resources for future generations. Integrated water management implies cooperative approach and involves all stakeholders and also introduces issues to managers and decision makers. Solving these issues needs integrated and system approach according to the recognition of actors or key persons in necessary to apply cooperative management of water resources. Therefore, social network analysis can be used to demonstrate the most effective actors for environmental base decisions. The linkage of diverse sets of actors and knowledge systems across management levels and institutional boundaries often poses one of the greatest challenges in adaptive water management. Bridging stakeholder can facilitate interactions among actors in management settings by lowering the transaction costs of collaboration. This research examines how network connections between group members affect in co- management. Cohesive network structures allow groups to more effectively achieve their goals and objectives Strong; centralized leadership is a better predictor of working group success in achieving goals and objectives. Finally, geometric position of each actor was illustrated in the network. The results of the research based on between centrality index have a key and bridging actor in recognition of cooperative management of water resources in Darbandsar village and also will help managers and planners of water in the case of recognition to organization and implementation of sustainable management of water resources and water security.

Keywords: co-management, water management, social network, bridging stakeholder, darbandsar village

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Authors: Kin On Kwok, Vivian Wei, Benjamin Cowling, Steven Riley, Jonathan Read

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Background: The role of social contact behavior measured in different contact constructs in the transmission of respiratory pathogens with acute respiratory illness (ARI) remains unclear. We, therefore, aim to depict the individual pattern of ARI in the community and investigate the association between different contact dimensions and ARI in Hong Kong. Methods: Between June 2013 and September 2013, 620 subjects participated in the last two waves of recruitment of the population based longitudinal phone social contact survey. Some of the subjects in this study are from the same household. They are also provided with the symptom diaries to self-report any acute respiratory illness related symptoms between the two days of phone recruitment. Data from 491 individuals who were not infected on the day of phone recruitment and returned the symptom diaries after the last phone recruitment were used for analysis. Results: After adjusting different follow-up periods among individuals, the overall incidence rate of ARI was 1.77 per 100 person-weeks. Over 75% ARI episodes involve running nose, cough, sore throat, which are followed by headache (55%), malagia (35%) and fever (18%). Using a generalized estimating equation framework accounting for the cluster effect of subjects living in the same household, we showed that both daily number of locations visited with contacts and the number of contacts, explained the ARI incidence rate better than only one single contact construct. Conclusion: Our result suggests that it is the intertwining property of contact quantity (number of contacts) and contact intensity (ratio of subject-to-contact) that governs the infection risk by a collective set of respiratory pathogens. Our results provide empirical evidence that multiple contact constructs should be incorporated in the mathematical transmission models to feature a more realistic dynamics of respiratory disease.

Keywords: acute respiratory illness, longitudinal study, social contact, symptom diaries

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Authors: M. Mathuthu, N. N. Gaxela, R. Y. Olobatoke

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A study was carried out to assess the heavy metal and radionuclide concentrations of water from the waste water treatment plant in Mafikeng Local Municipality to evaluate treatment efficiency. Ten water samples were collected from various stages of water treatment which included sewage delivered to the plant, the two treatment stages and the effluent and also the community. The samples were analyzed for heavy metal content using Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer. Gross α/β activity concentration in water samples was evaluated by Liquid Scintillation Counting whereas the concentration of individual radionuclides was measured by gamma spectroscopy. The results showed marked reduction in the levels of heavy metal concentration from 3 µg/L (As)–670 µg/L (Na) in sewage into the plant to 2 µg/L (As)–170 µg/L (Fe) in the effluent. Beta activity was not detected in water samples except in the in-coming sewage, the concentration of which was within reference limits. However, the gross α activity in all the water samples (7.7-8.02 Bq/L) exceeded the 0.1 Bq/L limit set by World Health Organization (WHO). Gamma spectroscopy analysis revealed very high concentrations of 235U and 226Ra in water samples, with the lowest concentrations (9.35 and 5.44 Bq/L respectively) in the in-coming sewage and highest concentrations (73.8 and 47 Bq/L respectively) in the community water suggesting contamination along water processing line. All the values were considerably higher than the limits of South Africa Target Water Quality Range and WHO. However, the estimated total doses of the two radionuclides for the analyzed water samples (10.62 - 45.40 µSv yr-1) were all well below the reference level of the committed effective dose of 100 µSv yr-1 recommended by WHO.

Keywords: gross α/β activity, heavy metals, radionuclides, 235U, 226Ra, water sample

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Authors: Shreyas Jayasimha, Suneel Anand Sundharesan, Rohan Tigadi

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In the recent past, the United States of America and Russia were the only two dominant players in the field of space exploration and had a virtual monopoly in the field of space and technology. However, this has changed over the past few years. Many other nation states such as India, China, and the UK have made significant progress in this field. Amongst these nations, the growth and development of the Indian space program have been nothing short of a miracle. Starting recently, India has successfully launched a series of satellites including its much acclaimed Mangalyaan mission, which placed a satellite in Mars’ orbit. The fact that India was able to attain this feat in its attempt demonstrates the enormous growth potential and promise that the Indian space program holds for the coming years. However, unlike other space-faring nations, India does not have a comprehensive and consolidated space insurance policy. In this regard, it is pertinent to note that, the costs and risks involved in a administering a space program are enormous. Therefore, in the absence of a comprehensive space insurance policy, any losses from an unsuccessful will have to be borne by the state exchequer. Thus, in order to ensure that Indian space program continues on its upward trajectory, the Indian establishment should seriously consider formulating a comprehensive insurance policy. This paper intends to analyze the international best practices followed by other space-faring nations in relation to space insurance policy. Thereafter, the authors seek to examine the current regime in India relating to space insurance policy. Finally, the authors will conclude by providing a series of recommendations regarding the essential elements that should be part of any Indian space insurance policy regime.

Keywords: India, space insurance policy, space law, Indian space research organization

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Authors: Mauro Masili, Fernanda O. Duarte, Liliane Ventura

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Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is electromagnetic waves from 100 – 400 nm wavelength. The World Health Organization and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) recommend guidelines on the exposure of the eyes to UV radiation because it is correlated to ophthalmic diseases. Those exposure limits for an 8-h period are 1) UV radiant exposure should not exceed 30 J/m2 when irradiance is spectrally weighted using an actinic action spectrum; 2) unweighted radiant exposure in the UV-A spectral region 315 – 400 nm should not exceed 10 kJ/m2. Sunglasses play an important role in preventing eye injuries related to Sun exposure. We have calculated the direct and diffuse solar UV irradiance in a geometry that refers to an individual wearing a sunglass, in which the solar rays strike on a vertical surface. The diffuse rays are those scattered from the atmosphere and from the local environment. The calculations used the open-source SMARTS2 spectral model, in which we assumed a clear sky condition, aside from information about site location, date, time, ozone column, aerosols, and turbidity. In addition, we measured the spectral transmittance of a typical sunglasses lens and the global solar irradiance was weighted with the spectral transmittance profile of the lens. The radiant exposure incident on the eye’s surface was calculated in the UV and UV-A ranges following the ICNIRP’s recommendations for each day of the year. The tested lens failed the UV-A safe limit, while the UV limit failed to comply with this limit after the aging process. Hence, the ICNIRP safe limits should be considered in the standards to increase the protection against UV radiation on the eye.

Keywords: ICNIRP safe limits, ISO-12312-1, sunglasses, ultraviolet radiation

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Authors: Iddrisu Ibrahim, Joseph Atia Ayariga, Junhuan Xu, Daniel Abugri, Boakai Robertson, Olufemi S. Ajayi

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The emergence of multidrug resistance poses a huge risk to public health globally. Yet these recalcitrant pathogens continue to rise in incidence rate, with resistance rates significantly outpacing the speed of antibiotic development. This, therefore, presents an aura of related health issues such as untreatable nosocomial infections arising from organ transplants and surgeries, as well as community-acquired infections that are related to people with compromised immunity, e.g., diabetic and HIV patients, etc. There is a global effort to fight multidrug-resistant pathogens spearheaded by the World Health Organization, thus calling for research into novel antimicrobial agents to fight multiple drug resistance. Previously, our laboratory demonstrated that Cannabidiol (CBD) was an effective antimicrobial against Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium). However, we observed resistance development over time. To understand the mechanisms S. typhimurium uses to develop resistance to Cannabidiol (CBD), we studied the abundance of bacteria lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and membrane sterols of both susceptible and resistant S. typhimurium. Using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), we also analyzed the expression of selected genes known for aiding resistance development in S. typhimurium. We discovered that there was a significantly higher expression of blaTEM, fimA, fimZ, and integrons in the CBD-resistant bacteria, and these were also accompanied by a shift in abundance in cell surface molecules such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and sterols.

Keywords: antimicrobials, resistance, cannabidiol, gram-negative bacteria, integrons, blaTEM, Fim, LPS, ergosterols

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Authors: Rosmini Yanti, Safira Aviolita, Marsetio

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Indonesia has several straits that are very important as a shipping lane, including the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait, which are the part of the Indonesian Archipelagic Sea Lane (IASL). An increase in traffic on the Marine Archipelago makes the task of monitoring sea routes increasingly difficult. Indonesia has proposed the establishment of a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait and the country now has the right to be able to conceptualize the TSS as well as the obligation to regulate it. Indonesia has the right to maintain national safety and sovereignty. In setting the TSS, Indonesia needs to issue national regulations that are in accordance with international law and the general provisions of the IMO (International Maritime Organization) can then be used as guidelines for maritime safety and security in the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait. The research method used is a qualitative method with the concept of linguistic and visual data collection. The source of the data is the analysis of documents and regulations. The results show that the determination of TSS was justified by International Law, in accordance with article 22, article 41, and article 53 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. The determination of TSS by the Indonesian government would be in accordance with COLREG (International Convention on Preventing Collisions at Sea) 10, which has been designed to follow IASL. Thus, TSS can provide a function as a safety and monitoring medium to minimize ship accidents or collisions, including the warship and aircraft of other countries that cross the IASL.

Keywords: archipelago state, maritime law, maritime security, traffic separation scheme

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Authors: Yi-Fung Lin, Pei-Chen Tsai

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Background: The hospital healthcare team provides 24-hour patient care, and therefore shift-work is inevitable in the nursing field. There is an increased awareness that shift-work affecting circadian rhythms may cause various health problems, especially in poor sleep quality, which may harm the quality of life. Purposes: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of demographic characteristics on nurses’ sleep quality and quality of life and the relationship between these predictors of nurses’ quality of life. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study was conducted with purposive sampling of 520 female nurses in a medical center in north Taiwan from July to September 2014. Data were collected with structured questionnaires using Psychometric Evaluation of the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF). Outcomes: The main results include: 1) Irregular menstruation, non-regular exercisers, and more daily caffeine consumption have negative impacts on sleep quality. 2) Younger age, fewer children, low education level, low annual income, irregular menstruation, pain during menstrual cycles, non-regular exercisers, constipation, and poor sleep quality all contribute negative impacts on the quality of life. 3) The odds ratio of sleep disturbance between 12-hour shifts and 8-hour shifts was 2.26, but there was no significant difference regarding their quality of life scores. Conclusion: This study showed that there is a strong correlation between oncology nurses’ sleep quality and quality of life. Sleep quality is a significant predictor of quality of life in oncology nurses.

Keywords: oncology nurses, sleep quality, quality of life, shift-work

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Authors: Keyao Li, Sai On Cheung

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Incorporation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism has been the main feature of current trend of construction project dispute resolution (CPDR). ADR approaches have been identified as efficient mechanisms and are suitable alternatives to litigation and arbitration. Moreover, the use of ADR in this multi-tiered dispute resolution process often leads to repeated evaluations of a same dispute. Multi-tiered CPDR may become a breeding ground for cognitive biases. When completed knowledge is not available at the early tier of construction dispute resolution, disputing parties may form preconception of the dispute matter or the counterpart. This preconception would influence their information processing in the subsequent tier. Disputing parties tend to search and interpret further information in a self-defensive way to confirm their early positions. Their imbalanced information collection would boost their confidence in the held assessments. Their attitudes would be hardened and difficult to compromise. The occurrence of cognitive bias, therefore, impedes efficient dispute settlement. This study aims to explore ways to minimize bias in CPDR. Based on a comprehensive literature review, three types of bias minimizing approaches were collected: strategy-based, attitude-based and process-based. These approaches were further operationalized into bias minimizing measures. To verify the usefulness and practicability of these bias minimizing measures, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten CPDR third party neutral professionals. All of the interviewees have at least twenty years of experience in facilitating settlement of construction dispute. The usefulness, as well as the implications of the bias minimizing measures, were validated and suggested by these experts. There are few studies on cognitive bias in construction management in general and in CPDR in particular. This study would be the first of its type to enhance the efficiency of construction dispute resolution by highlighting strategies to minimize the biases therein.

Keywords: bias, construction project dispute resolution, minimization, multi-tiered, semi-structured interview

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Authors: Marvin Chibuzo Offiah, Susanne Rosenthal, Markus Borschbach

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Certain research projects in Computer Science often involve research on existing signal processing algorithms and developing improvements on them. Research budgets are usually limited, hence there is limited time for implementing the algorithms from scratch. It is therefore common practice, to use implementations provided by other researchers as a template. These are most commonly provided in a rapid development, i.e. 4th generation, programming language, usually Matlab. Rapid development is a common method in Computer Science research for quickly implementing and testing new developed algorithms, which is also a common task within agile project organization. The growing relevance of mobile devices in the computer market also gives rise to the need to demonstrate the successful executability and performance measurement of these algorithms on a mobile device operating system and processor, particularly on a smartphone. Open mobile systems such as Android, are most suitable for this task, which is to be performed most efficiently. Furthermore, efficiently implementing an interaction between the algorithm and a graphical user interface (GUI) that runs exclusively on the mobile device is necessary in cases where the project’s goal statement also includes such a task. This paper examines different proposed solutions for porting computer algorithms obtained through rapid development into a GUI-based smartphone Android app and evaluates their feasibilities. Accordingly, the feasible methods are tested and a short success report is given for each tested method.

Keywords: SMARTNAVI, Smartphone, App, Programming languages, Rapid Development, MATLAB, Octave, C/C++, Java, Android, NDK, SDK, Linux, Ubuntu, Emulation, GUI

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Authors: Barbara Erjauz, Juliane Eichhorn

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Background and Purpose: The world´s population is rapidly aging, wherefore the World Health Organization (WHO) is dealing with concepts of Age-Friendly-Communities and criteria to define them. Also in Germany, we can find an aging population and a large amount of seniors is living in rural areas. Those regions are defined by unique social and environmental characteristics, which can enhance or decrease age-friendliness. To identify and work with these characteristics, we are in need of appropriate assessment instruments. To the author’s best knowledge until now, no instrument could be identified as suitable and scientifically proven for the German speaking area. The aim of the study was to identify an assessment instrument to measure the age-friendliness of rural communities and its psychometric testing regarding the content validity. Methods: A literature search was carried out to identify instruments related to concepts of Age-Friendly-Communities. According to the German situation, an instrument was chosen and modified based on a Delphi-study. In this context, the content validity was investigated by calculating the Content Validity Index (CVI). Results: An instrument consisting of 86 items based on WHO indicators and the German situation in rural areas was created. 43 items (50%) had a Content Validity Index for Items (I-CVI) of 1,00, 37 items (43%) had an I-CVI of >0,78 and > 1.00, and 6 items had an I-CVI of >0,78. The value of the Content Validity Index for Scales, averaging calculation method (S-CVI/Ave) for the entire scale was 0,91. Conclusions: The results indicate a good content validity and it can be concluded that the created instrument represents the phenomenon of age-friendliness in rural areas. Nevertheless, further psychometric testing related to reliability, validity and responsiveness is recommended.

Keywords: assessment, age-friendly, rural, psychometric testing

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Authors: Antoine Vikkey Hinson, Menonli Adjobimey, Gemayel Ahmed Biokou, Rose Mikponhoue

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Introduction: Construction industry is a critical concern with regard to Health and Safety Service worldwide. World health Organization revealed that work-related disease and trauma were held responsible for the death of one million nine hundred thousand people in 2016. The aim of this study it was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the occurrence of work accidents in a construction industry in Benin. Method: It was a descriptive cross-sectional and analytical study. Data analysis was performed with R software 4.1.1. In multivariate analysis, we performed a binary logistic regression. OR adjusted (ORa) association measures and their 95% confidence interval [CI95%] were presented for the explanatory variables used in the final model. The significance threshold for all tests selected was 5% (p < 0.05) Result: In this study, 472 workers were included, and, of these, 452 (95.7%) were men corresponding to a sex ratio of 22.6. The average age of the workers was 33 years ± 8.8 years. Workers were mostly laborers (84.7%), and had declared having inadequate personal protective equipment (50.6%, n=239). The prevalence of work accidents is 50.8%. Collision with a rolling stock (25.8%), cut (16.2%), and stumbling (16.2%) were the main types of work accidents on the construction site. Four factors were associated with contributing to work accidents. Fatigue or exhaustion (ORa : 1.53[1.03 ; 2.28]); The use of dangerous tools (ORa : 1.81 [1.22 ; 2.71]); The various laborers’ jobs (ORa : 4.78 [2.62 ; 9.21]); and seniority in the company ≥ 4 years (ORa : 2.00 [1.35 ; 2.96]). Conclusion: This study allowed us to identify the associated factors. It is imperative to implement a rigorous policy of occupational health and security mostly the continuing training for workers safe, the supply of appropriate work tools and protective

Keywords: prevalence, work accident, associated factors, construction, benin

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Authors: Munir Ashraf, Shagufta Riaz

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Personal protective equipment (PPE) and bioactive textiles are highly important for the health care of front line hospital workers, patients, and the general population to be safe from highly infectious diseases. This was even more critical in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. Most of the medical textiles are inactive against various viruses and bacteria, hence there is a need to wash them frequently to avoid the spread of microorganisms. According to survey conducted by the world health organization, more than 500 million people get infected from hospitals, and more than 13 million died due to these hospitals’ acquired deadly diseases. The market available PPE are though effective against the penetration of pathogens and to kill bacteria but, they are not breathable and active against different viruses. Therefore, there was a great need to develop textiles that are not only effective against bacteria, fungi, and viruses but also are comfortable to the medical personnel and patients. In the present study, waterproof breathable, and biologically active textiles were developed using antiviral and antibacterial nanomaterials. These nanomaterials like TiO₂, ZnO, Cu, and Ag were immobilized at the surface of cotton fabric by using different silane coupling agents and electroless deposition that they retained their functionality even after 30 industrial laundering cycles. Afterwards, the treated fabrics were coated with a waterproof breathable film to prevent the permeation of liquid droplets, any particle or microorganisms greater than 80 nm. The developed cotton fabric was highly active against bacteria and viruses. The good durability of nanomaterials at the cotton surface after several industrial washing cycles makes this fabric an ideal candidate for bioactive textiles used in the medical field.

Keywords: antibacterial, antiviral, cotton, durable

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Authors: Hannan Al-Qanai, Haitham Mustafa, Rajeswaran Sivasankar

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Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC, Company), established in 2016 as a subsidiary to Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), is responsible for operating and managing the largest grassroots integrated complex for refining, petrochemicals manufacture businesses, and liquefied natural gas import facilities at Al-Zour, Kuwait. KIPIC and its Contractors/sub-contractors employ over 69,000 staff in its current projects at Al-Zour during peak construction activity. KIPIC holds a unique responsibility to the society, which includes all stakeholders, and demonstrates its social commitment in developing an integrated environment & social management system (ESMS) and ensuring sustainability. This paper mainly demonstrates the knowledge on corporate branding from a corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective and presents the achievements and best practices of KIPIC in the field of CSR and the challenges faced in handling social issues. Moreover, the study is based on qualitative data abstracted from KIPIC Health, Safety, Security & Environment Management System (HSSE MS) procedures, audit reports, the outcome of counseling sessions, national and international laws and regulations, and International Guidelines on Environment and Social Management System (ESMS). KIPIC has committed to caring for the environmental concerns and acting on social as they do on profits and economic growth. The main findings of this paper are that the successful implementation and operationalization of CSR within an organization depends on a simple but stringent process with both top-down and bottom-up commitment.

Keywords: welfare, corporate social responsibility, social management, sustainability

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Authors: Norshima Humaidi, Saif Hussein Abdallah Alghazo

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Cybersecurity threat have become a serious issue recently, and one of the cause is because human error, which is usually constituted by carelessness, ignorance, and failure to practice cybersecurity behaviour adequately. Using a data from a quantitative survey, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis was used to determine the factors that affect cybersecurity protective behaviour (CPB). This study adapts cybersecurity protective behaviour model by focusing on two constructs that can enhance CPB: manager’s information security competencies (MISI) and procedural information security countermeasure (PCM) awareness. Theory of leadership competencies were adapted to measure user’s perception towards competencies among security managers/leader in the organization. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) testing shows that all the measurement items of each constructs were adequate in their validity individually based on their factor loading value. Moreover, each constructs are valid based on their parameter estimates and statistical significance. The quantitative research findings show that PCM awareness strongly influences CPB compared to MISI. Meanwhile, MISI was significantlyPCM awarenss. This study believes that the research findings can contribute to human behaviour in IS studies and are particularly beneficial to policy makers in improving organizations’ strategic plans in information security, especially in this new era. Most organizations spend time and resources to provide and establish strategic plans of information security; however, if employees are not willing to comply and practice information security behaviour appropriately, then these efforts are in vain.

Keywords: cybersecurity, protection behaviour, information security, information security competencies, countermeasure awareness

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Authors: Matteo Rossini, Alberto Portioli Staudacher

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The market competition is moving from the single firm to the whole supply chain one because of increasing competition and growing need for operational efficiencies and customer orientation. Supply chain management allows companies to look beyond their organizational boundaries to develop and leverage resources and capabilities of their supply chain partners. This leads to create competitive advantages in the marketplace and because of this SCM has acquired strategic importance. Lean Approach is a management strategy that focuses on reducing every type of waste present in an organization. This approach is becoming more and more popular among supply chain managers. The supply chain application of lean approach is low diffused. It is not well studied which are the impacts of lean approach principles in a supply chain context. In literature there are only few studies simulating the lean approach performance in single products supply chain. This research work studies the impacts of lean principles implementation along a supply chain. To achieve this, a simulation model of a three-echelon multiproduct product supply chain has been built. Kanban system (and several priority policies) and setup time reduction degrees are implemented in the lean-configured supply chain to apply pull and lot-sizing decrease principles respectively. To evaluate the benefits of lean approach, lean supply chain is compared with an EOQ-configured supply chain. The simulation results show that Kanban system and setup-time reduction improve inventory stock level. They also show that logistics efforts are affected to lean implementation degree. The paper concludes describing performances of lean supply chain in different contexts.

Keywords: inventory policy, Kanban, lean supply chain, simulation study, supply chain management, planning

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Authors: Mukhtar Raban

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Nelson Mandela University subscribes to a humanizing pedagogy (HP), as housed under broader critical pedagogy, that underpins and informs learning and teaching activities at the institution. The investigation sought to explore the implications of humanizing and critical pedagogical considerations for a technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) environment in a university course. The paper inquires into the design of a learning resource in an online learning environment of an English communication module, that applied HP principles. With an objective of creating agentive spaces for foregrounding identity, student voice, critical self-reflection, and recognition of others’ humanity; a flexible and open 'My Presence' feature was added to the TELL environment that allowed students and lecturers to share elements of their backgrounds in a ‘mutually vulnerable’ manner as a way of establishing digital identity and a more ‘human’ presence in the online language learning encounter, serving as a catalyst for the recognition of the ‘other’. Following a qualitative research design, the study adopted an auto-ethnographic approach, complementing the critical inquiry nature embedded into the activity’s practices. The study’s findings provide critical reflections and deductions on the possibilities of leveraging digital human expression within a humanizing pedagogical framework to advance the realization of HP-adoption in language learning and teaching encounters. It was found that the consideration of humanizing pedagogical principles in the design of online learning was more effective when the critical outcomes were explicated to students and lecturers prior to the completion of the activities. The integration of humanizing pedagogy also led to a contextual advancement of ‘affective’ language learning. Upon critical reflection and analysis, student identity and agency can flourish in a technology-enhanced learning environment when humanizing, and critical pedagogy influences the learning design.

Keywords: critical reflection, humanizing pedagogy, student identity, technology-enhanced language learning

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Authors: Aminu Abdullahi Isyaku

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Semi-arid Bornu basin in northeast Nigeria is characterised with flat topography, thick cover sediments and lack of continuous bedrock outcrops discernible for field geology. This paper presents the methodology for the characterisation of neotectonic surface structures and surface lithology in the north-eastern Bornu basin in northeast Nigeria as an alternative approach to field geological mapping using free multispectral Landsat 7 ETM+, SRTM DEM and ASAR Earth Observation datasets. Spectral lithological mapping herein developed utilised spectral discrimination of the surface features identified on Landsat 7 ETM+ images to infer on the lithology using four steps including; computations of band combination images; band ratio images; supervised image classification and inferences of the lithological compositions. Two complementary approaches to lineament mapping are carried out in this study involving manual digitization and automatic lineament extraction to validate the structural lineaments extracted from the Landsat 7 ETM+ image mosaic covering the study. A comparison between the mapped surface lineaments and lineament zones show good geospatial correlation and identified the predominant NE-SW and NW-SE structural trends in the basin. Topographic profiles across different parts of the Bama Beach Ridge palaeoshorelines in the basin appear to show different elevations across the feature. It is determined that most of the drainage systems in the northeastern Bornu basin are structurally controlled with drainage lines terminating against the paleo-lake border and emptying into the Lake Chad mainly arising from the extensive topographic high-stand Bama Beach Ridge palaeoshoreline.

Keywords: Bornu Basin, lineaments, spectral lithology, tectonics

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Authors: Mahdi Farajzadeh Ajirlou

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The detailed serious adverse effects raised the stresses around the safety of individuals who have gotten COVID-19 vaccines. Numerous verification referrers that disease with COV-19 causes neurological dysfunction in a significant proportion of influenced patients, where these side effects show up seriously amid the disease, and still less is known approximately the potential long-term results for the brain, where the loss of olfaction could be a neurological sign and simple indications of COVID-19. Since publishing effective clinical trial results of mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and injecting it to the volunteers in 2020, numerous reports have emerged approximately about cardiovascular complications followed by the mRNA vaccination. Vaccination-associated adenopathy could be a constant imaging finding after the organization of COVID-19 antibodies that will lead to a symptomatic problem in patients with shown or suspected cancer, in whom it may be vague from dangerous nodal inclusion. In spite of all the benefits and viability of the coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) antibodies specified in later clinical trials, a few other post-vaccination side impacts, such as lymphadenopathy (LAP), were observed. Also, numerous variables, including financial conditions, have played a critical part in expanding the number of people with COVID-19 infection and also much more side effects in that country. Amid the Coronavirus widespread, Iran has been experiencing extreme sanctions, which has faced this nation with an extreme financial crisis. Additionally, with COVID-19 widespread, there was a developing concern around the abuse of imaging exams extraordinarily within the pediatric populace, which highlights the issues pointed out by this review.

Keywords: radiology, vaccines, COVID-19, side effect

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Authors: Muhammad Kamran Hanif Khan, Fahad Mushtaq

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Globally, the death rate from cardiovascular disease has risen over the past 20 years, but especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICS), reports the World Health Organization (WHO). Around 17.5 million deaths, or 31% of all deaths worldwide in 2012, were attributed to CVD, 80% of which occurred in low- and middle-income nations, and eighty five percent of all worldwide disability is attributable to cardiovascular disease. This study assessed the dietary habit and Cardiovascular Risk factors among the patients of coronary artery disease against matched controls. The research was a case-control study. Sample size for this case-control study was 410 CAD cases and 410 healthy controls. The case-control ratio was 1:1. Patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease were recruited from the outpatient departments and emergency rooms of four hospitals in Pakistan. The ages of people who were diagnosed with coronary artery disease were not significantly different from (mean 57.97 7.39 years) the healthy controls (mean 57.12 6.73 years). In order to determine the relationship between food consumption and the two binary outcomes, logistic regression analysis was carried out. Chicken (0.340 (0.245-0.47), p-value 0.0001), beef (0.38 (0.254-0.56), p-value 0.0001), eggs (0.297 (0.208-0.426), p-value 0.0001), and junk food (0.249 (0.167-0.372), p-value 0.0001)) were protective, while yogurt consumption more than twice weekly was risk. Conclusion: In conclusion, poor dietary habits are closely linked to the risk of CAD. Investigations based on dietary trends offer vital and practical knowledge about societal patterns.

Keywords: dietary habbits, cardiovasculardisease, CVD risk factors, hypercholesterolemia

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Authors: Sharifah I. N. A. Syed Azmi, Nazarina Mohd Nasir

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The Billing & Customer Relationship Management (BCRM) project is an important enabler towards realizing customer experience transformation. It involves technological shifts for future scalability, revision of multiple business processes and adoption of change by the users and impacted employees. This massive transition, if not managed properly, may result in the decline of business performance due to productivity drop. Organizational change management is an essential element in BCRM project implementation to ensure the system is well understood and embraced by all stakeholders. In order to move impacted employees from unaware state or denial mode to full-acceptance mindset and committing themselves in using the new system, their involvement in the whole change process starting from the initial stage is imperative. Through the BCRM Change Management Plan, a holistic approach was taken whereby the strategy and program for five key components namely executive sponsorship, continuous communication, process change readiness, organizational readiness and individual readiness were all carefully established. Roles of the project sponsor, change agents, change ambassadors and community of practice (CoP) were clearly defined in gaining high commitment and support across the entire organization. Continuous communication and engagement initiatives throughout project implementation have been carried out to reach all stakeholders. The business readiness was constantly monitored and assessed including effectiveness of end-user training, thorough review of process documentation and completion of roles realignment exercise.

Keywords: BCRM, change management, organizational change, transformation project

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Authors: P. Michael Preetam Raj, Souri Banerjee, Souvik Kundu

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Oxide based memristors were fabricated in order to establish its potential applications in analog/digital electronics. BaTiO₃-BiFeO₃ (BT-BFO) was employed as an active material, whereas platinum (Pt) and Nb-doped SrTiO₃ (Nb:STO) were served as a top and bottom electrodes, respectively. Piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) was utilized to present the ferroelectricity and repeatable polarization inversion in the BT-BFO, demonstrating its effectiveness for resistive switching. The fabricated memristors exhibited excellent electrical characteristics, such as hysteresis current-voltage (I-V), high on/off ratio, high retention time, cyclic endurance, and low operating voltages. The band-alignment between the active material BT-BFO and the substrate Nb:STO was experimentally investigated using X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and it attributed to staggered heterojunction alignment. An energy band diagram was proposed in order to understand the electrical transport in BT-BFO/Nb:STO heterojunction. It was identified that the I-V curves of these memristors have several discontinuities. Curve fitting technique was utilized to analyse the I-V characteristic, and the obtained I-V equations were found to be parabolic. Utilizing this analysis, a non-linear BT-BFO memristors equivalent circuit model was developed. Interestingly, the obtained equivalent circuit of the BT-BFO memristors mimics the identical electrical performance, those obtained in the fabricated devices. Based on the developed equivalent circuit, a finite state machine (FSM) design was proposed. Efforts were devoted to fabricate the same FSM, and the results were well matched with those in the simulated FSM devices. Its multilevel noise filtering and immunity to external noise characteristics were also studied. Further, the feature of variable negative resistance was established by controlling the current through the memristor.

Keywords: band alignment, finite state machine, polarization inversion, resistive switching

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Authors: Armaghan Eslami, Nasrin Arshadi

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Scarce resources are the inseparable part of organization life. This fact that only small number of the employees can have these resources such as promotion, raise, and recognition can cause competition among employees, which create competitive climate. As well as any other competition, small number wins the reward, and a great number loses, one of the possible emotional reactions to this loss is negative emotions like malicious envy. In this case, the envious person may try to harm the envied person by reducing the prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior is a behavior that aimed to benefit others. The main propose of this action is to maintain and increase well-being and well-fare of others. Therefore, one of the easiest ways for harming envied one is to suppress prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior has positive and important implication for organizational efficiency. Our results supported our model and suggested that competitive climate has a significant effect on increasing workplace envy and on the other hand envy has significant negative impact on prosocial behavior. Our result also indicated that envy is the mediator in the relation between competitive climate and prosocial behavior. Organizational competitive climate can cause employees respond envy with negative emotion and hostile and damaging behavior toward envied person. Competition can lead employees to look out for proof of their self-worthiness; and, furthermore, they measure their self-worth, value and respect by the superiority that they gain in competitions. As a result, loss in competitions can harm employee’s self-definition and they try to protect themselves by devaluating envied other and being ‘less friendly’ to them. Some employees may find it inappropriate to engage in the harming behavior, but they may believe there is nothing against withholding the prosocial behavior.

Keywords: competitive climate, mediator, prosocial behavior, workplace envy

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Authors: Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro, Alexeis Garcia-Perez, Denise Bedford

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This paper provides guidelines for what constitutes a knowledge worker. Many graduates from non-managerial domains adopt, at some point in their professional careers, management roles at different levels, ranging from team leaders through to executive leadership. This is particularly relevant for professionals from an engineering background. Moving from a technical to an executive-level requires an understanding of those behaviour management techniques that can motivate and support individuals and their performance. Further, the transition to management also demands a shift of contextual enablers from tangible to intangible resources, which allows individuals to create new capacities, competencies, and capabilities. In this dynamic process, the knowledge worker becomes that key individual who can help members of the management board to transform information into relevant knowledge. However, despite its relevance in shaping the future of the organization in its transition to the knowledge economy, the role of a knowledge worker has not yet been studied to an appropriate level in the current literature. In this study, the authors review both the contextual enablers and behaviour outputs related to the role of the knowledge worker and relate these to their ability to deal with everyday management issues such as knowledge heterogeneity, varying motivations, information overload, or outdated information. This study highlights that the aggregate of capacities, competences and capabilities (CCCs) can be defined as knowledge structures, the study proposes several contextual enablers and behaviour outputs that knowledge workers can use to work cooperatively, acquire, distribute and knowledge. Therefore, this study contributes to a better comprehension of how CCCs can be managed at different levels through their contextual enablers and behaviour outputs.

Keywords: knowledge workers, capabilities, capacities, competences, knowledge structures

Procedia PDF Downloads 149