Search results for: information system success

Authors: Arinze Ezieke, Antonio Serrano, William Clarke, Denys Villa-Gomez

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Berry cultivation results in discharge of high organic strength putrescible solid waste which potentially contributes to environmental degradation, making it imperative to assess options for its complete management. Anaerobic digestion (AD) could be an ideal option when the target is energy generation; however, due to berry fruit characteristics high carbohydrate composition, the technology could be limited by its high alkalinity requirement which suggests dosing of additives such as buffers and trace elements supplement. Overcoming this limitation in an economically viable way could entail replacement of synthetic additives with recycled by-product waste. Consequently, ash from co-smouldering of high COD characteristic AD digestate and coco-coir could be a promising material to be used to enhance the AD of berry fruit waste, given its characteristic high pH, alkalinity and metal concentrations which is typical of synthetic additives. Therefore, the aim of the research was to evaluate the stability and process performance from the AD of BFW when ash from co-smoldered digestate and coir are supplemented as alkalinity and trace elements (TEs) source. Series of batch experiments were performed to ascertain the necessity for alkalinity addition and to see whether the alkalinity and metals in the co-smouldered digestate ash can provide the necessary buffer and TEs for AD of berry fruit waste. Triplicate assays were performed in batch systems following I/S of 2 (in VS), using serum bottles (160 mL) sealed and placed in a heated room (35±0.5 °C), after creating anaerobic conditions. Control experiment contained inoculum and substrates only, and inoculum, substrate and NaHCO3 for optimal total alkalinity concentration and TEs assays, respectively. Total alkalinity concentration refers to alkalinity of inoculum and the additives. The alkalinity and TE potential of the ash were evaluated by supplementing ash (22.574 g/kg) of equivalent total alkalinity concentration to that of the pre-determined optimal from NaHCO3, and by dosing ash (0.012 – 7.574 g/kg) of varying concentrations of specific essential TEs (Co, Fe, Ni, Se), respectively. The result showed a stable process at all examined conditions. Supplementation of 745 mg/L CaCO3 NaHCO3 resulted to an optimum TAC of 2000 mg/L CaCO3. Equivalent ash supplementation of 22.574 g/kg allowed the achievement of this pre-determined optimum total alkalinity concentration, resulting to a stable process with a 92% increase in the methane production rate (323 versus 168 mL CH4/ (gVS.d)), but a 36% reduction in the cumulative methane production (103 versus 161 mL CH4/gVS). Addition of ashes at incremental dosage as TEs source resulted to a reduction in the Cumulative methane production, with the highest dosage of 7.574 g/kg having the highest effect of -23.5%; however, the seemingly immediate bioavailability of TE at this high dosage allowed for a +15% increase in the methane production rate. With an increased methane production rate, the results demonstrated that the ash at high dosages could be an effective supplementary material for either a buffered or none buffered berry fruit waste AD system.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, alkalinity, co-smoldered digestate ash, trace elements

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: M. Sirhan, S. Bekhor, A. Sidess

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In-service pavements deteriorate with time due to traffic wheel loads, environment, and climate conditions. Pavement deterioration leads to a reduction in their serviceability and structural behavior. Consequently, proper maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) are necessary actions to keep the in-service pavement network at the desired level of serviceability. Due to resource and financial constraints, the pavement management system (PMS) prioritizes roads most in need of maintenance and rehabilitation action. It recommends a suitable action for each pavement based on the performance and surface condition of each road in the network. The pavement performance and condition are usually quantified and evaluated by different types of roughness-based and stress-based indices. Examples of such indices are Pavement Serviceability Index (PSI), Pavement Serviceability Ratio (PSR), Mean Panel Rating (MPR), Pavement Condition Rating (PCR), Ride Number (RN), Profile Index (PI), International Roughness Index (IRI), and Pavement Condition Index (PCI). PCI is commonly used in PMS as an indicator of the extent of the distresses on the pavement surface. PCI values range between 0 and 100; where 0 and 100 represent a highly deteriorated pavement and a newly constructed pavement, respectively. The PCI value is a function of distress type, severity, and density (measured as a percentage of the total pavement area). PCI is usually calculated iteratively using the 'Paver' program developed by the US Army Corps. The use of soft computing techniques, especially Artificial Neural Network (ANN), has become increasingly popular in the modeling of engineering problems. ANN techniques have successfully modeled the performance of the in-service pavements, due to its efficiency in predicting and solving non-linear relationships and dealing with an uncertain large amount of data. Typical regression models, which require a pre-defined relationship, can be replaced by ANN, which was found to be an appropriate tool for predicting the different pavement performance indices versus different factors as well. Subsequently, the objective of the presented study is to develop and train an ANN model that predicts the PCI values. The model’s input consists of percentage areas of 11 different damage types; alligator cracking, swelling, rutting, block cracking, longitudinal/transverse cracking, edge cracking, shoving, raveling, potholes, patching, and lane drop off, at three severity levels (low, medium, high) for each. The developed model was trained using 536,000 samples and tested on 134,000 samples. The samples were collected and prepared by The National Transport Infrastructure Company. The predicted results yielded satisfactory compliance with field measurements. The proposed model predicted PCI values with relatively low standard deviations, suggesting that it could be incorporated into the PMS for PCI determination. It is worth mentioning that the most influencing variables for PCI prediction are damages related to alligator cracking, swelling, rutting, and potholes.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, computer programming, pavement condition index, pavement management, performance prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Maia Kharadze, Indira Djaparidze, Maia Vanidze, Aleko Kalandia

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Modern scientific world studies chemical components and antioxidant activity of different kinds of vines according to their breed purity and location. To our knowledge, this kind of research has not been conducted in Georgia yet. The object of our research was to study Chkhaveri vine, which is included in the oldest varieties of the Black Sea basin vine. We have studied different-altitude Chkaveri grapes, juice, and wine (half dry rose-colored produced with European technologies) and their technical markers, qualitative and quantitive composition of their biologically active compounds and their antioxidant activity. We were determining the amount of phenols using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, Flavonoids, Catechins and Anthocyanins using Spectral method and antioxidant activity using DPPH method. Several compounds were identified using –HPLC-UV-Vis, UPLC-MS methods. Six samples of Chkhaveri species– 5, 300, 360, 380, 400, 780 meter altitudes were taken and analyzed. The sample taken from 360 m altitude is distinguished by its cluster mass (383.6 grams) and high amount of sugar (20.1%). The sample taken from the five-meter altitude is distinguished by having high acidity (0.95%). Unlike other grapes varieties, such concentration of sugar and relatively low levels of citric acid ultimately leads to Chkhaveri wine individuality. Biologically active compounds of Chkhaveri were researched in 2014, 2015, 2016. The amount of total phenols in samples of 2016 fruit varies from 976.7 to 1767.0 mg/kg. Amount of Anthocians is 721.2-1630.2 mg/kg, and the amount of Flavanoids varies from 300.6 to 825.5 mg/kg. Relatively high amount of anthocyanins was found in the Chkhaveri at 780-meter altitude - 1630.2 mg/kg. Accordingly, the amount of Phenols and Flavanoids is high- 1767.9 mg/kg and 825.5 mg/kg. These characteristics are low in samples gathered from 5 meters above sea level, Anthocyanins-721.2 mg/ kg, total Phenols-976.7 mg/ kg, and Flavanoids-300.6 mg/kg. The highest amount of bioactive compounds can be found in the Chkhaveri samples of high altitudes because with rising height environment becomes harsh, the plant has to develop a better immune system using Phenolic compounds. The technology that is used for the production of wine also plays a huge role in the composition of the final product. Optimal techniques of maceration and ageing were worked out. While squeezing Chkhaveri, there are no anthocyanins in the juice. However, the amount of Anthocyanins rises during maceration. After the fermentation of dregs, the amount of anthocyanins is 55%, 521.3 gm/l, total Phenols 80% 1057.7 mg/l and Flavanoids 23.5 mg/l. Antioxidant activity of samples was also determined using the effect of 50% inhibition of the samples. All samples have high antioxidant activity. For instance, in samples at 780 meters above the sea-level antioxidant activity was 53.5%. It is relatively high compared to the sample at 5 m above sea-level with the antioxidant activity of 30.5%. Thus, there is a correlation between the amount Anthocyanins and antioxidant activity. The designated project has been fulfilled by financial support of the Georgia National Science Foundation (Grant AP/96/13, Grant 216816), Any idea in this publication is possessed by the author and may not represent the opinion of the Georgia National Science Foundation.

Keywords: antioxidants, bioactive content, wine, chkhaveri

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Alexander Huang

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Online learning sessions have become an indispensable complement to in-classroom-learning sessions in the past two years due to the emergence of Covid-19. Due to social distance requirements, many courses and interaction-intensive sessions, ranging from music classes to debate camps, are online. However, online learning imposes a significant challenge for engaging students effectively during the learning sessions. To resolve this problem, Project PWR, a non-profit organization formed by high school students, developed an online kid-teach-kid learning environment to boost students' learning interests and further improve students’ engagement during online learning. Fundamentally, the kid-teach-kid learning model creates an affinity space to form learning groups, where like-minded peers can learn and teach their interests. The role of the teacher can also help a kid identify the instructional task and set the rules and procedures for the activities. The approach also structures initial discussions to reveal a range of ideas, similar experiences, thinking processes, language use, and lower student-to-teacher ratio, which become enriched online learning experiences for upcoming lessons. In such a manner, a kid can practice both the teacher role and the student role to accumulate experiences on how to convey ideas and questions over the online session more efficiently and effectively. In this research work, we conducted two case studies involving a 3D-Design course and a Speech and Debate course taught by high-school kids. Through Project PWR, a kid first needs to design the course syllabus based on a provided template to become a student-teacher. Then, the Project PWR academic committee evaluates the syllabus and offers comments and suggestions for changes. Upon the approval of a syllabus, an experienced and voluntarily adult mentor is assigned to interview the student-teacher and monitor the lectures' progress. Student-teachers construct a comprehensive final evaluation for their students, which they grade at the end of the course. Moreover, each course requires conducting midterm and final evaluations through a set of surveyed replies provided by students to assess the student-teacher’s performance. The uniqueness of Project PWR lies in its established kid-teach-kids affinity space. Our research results showed that Project PWR could create a closed-loop system where a student can help a teacher improve and vice versa, thus improving the overall students’ engagement. As a result, Project PWR’s approach can train teachers and students to become better online learners and give them a solid understanding of what to prepare for and what to expect from future online classes. The kid-teach-kid learning model can significantly improve students' engagement in the online courses through the Project PWR to effectively supplement the traditional teacher-centric model that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted substantially. Project PWR enables kids to share their interests and bond with one another, making the online learning environment effective and promoting positive and effective personal online one-on-one interactions.

Keywords: kid-teach-kid, affinity space, online learning, engagement, student-teacher

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Nirmani Wijenayake, Louise Lutze-Mann, Lucy Jo, John Wilson, Vivian Yeung, Dean Lovett, Kim Snepvangers

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Sessional academic staff at universities have the most influence and impact on student learning, engagement, and experience as they have the most direct contact with undergraduate students. A blended technology-enhanced program was created for the development and support of sessional staff to ensure adequate training is provided to deliver quality educational outcomes for the students. This program combines innovative mixed media educational modules, a peer-driven support forum, and face-to-face workshops to provide a comprehensive training and support package for staff. Additionally, the program encourages the development of learning communities and peer mentoring among the sessional staff to enhance their support system. In 2018, the program was piloted on 100 sessional staff in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences to evaluate the effectiveness of this model. As part of the program, rotoscope animations were developed to showcase ‘typical’ interactions between staff and students. These were designed around communication, confidence building, consistency in grading, feedback, diversity awareness, and mental health and wellbeing. When surveyed, 86% of sessional staff found these animations to be helpful in their teaching. An online platform (Moodle) was set up to disseminate educational resources and teaching tips, to host a discussion forum for peer-to-peer communication and to increase critical thinking and problem-solving skills through scenario-based lessons. The learning analytics from these lessons were essential in identifying difficulties faced by sessional staff to further develop supporting workshops to improve outcomes related to teaching. The face-to-face professional development workshops were run by expert guest speakers on topics such as cultural diversity, stress and anxiety, LGBTIQ and student engagement. All the attendees of the workshops found them to be useful and 88% said they felt these workshops increase interaction with their peers and built a sense of community. The final component of the program was to use an adaptive e-learning platform to gather feedback from the students on sessional staff teaching twice during the semester. The initial feedback provides sessional staff with enough time to reflect on their teaching and adjust their performance if necessary, to improve the student experience. The feedback from students and the sessional staff on this model has been extremely positive. The training equips the sessional staff with knowledge and insights which can provide students with an exceptional learning environment. This program is designed in a flexible and scalable manner so that other faculties or institutions could adapt components for their own training. It is anticipated that the training and support would help to build the next generation of educators who will directly impact the educational experience of students.

Keywords: designing effective instruction, enhancing student learning, implementing effective strategies, professional development

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Andrea Pietrelli, Vincenzo Ferrara, Bruno Allard, Francois Buret, Irene Bavasso, Nicola Lovecchio, Francesca Costantini, Firas Khaled

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This paper aims to show some applications of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), an energy harvesting technique, as clean power source to supply low power device for application like wireless sensor network (WSN) for environmental monitoring. Furthermore, MFC can be used directly as biosensor to analyse parameters like pH and temperature or arranged in form of cluster devices in order to use as small power plant. An MFC is a bioreactor that converts energy stored in chemical bonds of organic matter into electrical energy, through a series of reactions catalysed by microorganisms. We have developed a lab-scale terrestrial microbial fuel cell (TMFC), based on soil that acts as source of bacteria and flow of nutrient and a lab-scale waste water microbial fuel cell (WWMFC), where waste water acts as flow of nutrient and bacteria. We performed large series of tests to exploit the capability as biosensor. The pH value has strong influence on the open circuit voltage (OCV) delivered from TMFCs. We analyzed three condition: test A and B were filled with same soil but changing pH from 6 to 6.63, test C was prepared using a different soil with a pH value of 6.3. Experimental results clearly show how with higher pH value a higher OCV was produced; indeed reactors are influenced by different values of pH which increases the voltage in case of a higher pH value until the best pH value of 7 is achieved. The influence of pH on OCV of lab-scales WWMFC was analyzed at pH value of 6.5, 7, 7.2, 7.5 and 8. WWMFCs are influenced from temperature more than TMFCs. We tested the power performance of WWMFCs considering four imposed values of ambient temperature. Results show how power performance increase proportionally with higher temperature values, doubling the output power from 20° to 40°. The best value of power produced from our lab-scale TMFC was equal to 310 μW using peaty soil, at 1KΩ, corresponding to a current of 0.5 mA. A TMFC can supply proper energy to low power devices of a WSN by means of the design of three stages scheme of an energy management system, which adapts voltage level of TMFC to those required by a WSN node, as 3.3V. Using a commercial DC/DC boost converter, that needs an input voltage of 700 mV, the current source of 0.5 mA, charges a capacitor of 6.8 mF until it will have accumulated an amount of charge equal to 700 mV in a time of 10 s. The output stage includes an output switch that close the circuit after a time of 10s + 1.5ms because the converter can boost the voltage from 0.7V to 3.3V in 1.5 ms. Furthermore, we tested in form of clusters connected in series up to 20 WWMFCs, we have obtained a high voltage value as output, around 10V, but low current value. MFC can be considered a suitable clean energy source to be used to supply low power devices as a WSN node or to be used directly as biosensor.

Keywords: energy harvesting, low power electronics, microbial fuel cell, terrestrial microbial fuel cell, waste-water microbial fuel cell, wireless sensor network

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Authors: Ines Raies, Eric Kohler, Marc Fleury, Béatrice Ledésert

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In this work, the impact of clay minerals on the formation damage of sandstone reservoirs is studied to provide a better understanding of the problem of deep geothermal reservoir permeability reduction due to fine particle dispersion and migration. In some situations, despite the presence of filters in the geothermal loop at the surface, particles smaller than the filter size (<1 µm) may surprisingly generate significant permeability reduction affecting in the long term the overall performance of the geothermal system. Our study is carried out on cores from a Triassic reservoir in the Paris Basin (Feigneux, 60 km Northeast of Paris). Our goal is to first identify the clays responsible for clogging, a mineralogical characterization of these natural samples was carried out by coupling X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that the studied stratigraphic interval contains mostly illite and chlorite particles. Moreover, the spatial arrangement of the clays in the rocks as well as the morphology and size of the particles, suggest that illite is more easily mobilized than chlorite by the flow in the pore network. Thus, based on these results, illite particles were prepared and used in core flooding in order to better understand the factors leading to the aggregation and deposition of this type of clay particles in geothermal reservoirs under various physicochemical and hydrodynamic conditions. First, the stability of illite suspensions under geothermal conditions has been investigated using different characterization techniques, including Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). Various parameters such as the hydrodynamic radius (around 100 nm), the morphology and surface area of aggregates were measured. Then, core-flooding experiments were carried out using sand columns to mimic the permeability decline due to the injection of illite-containing fluids in sandstone reservoirs. In particular, the effects of ionic strength, temperature, particle concentration and flow rate of the injected fluid were investigated. When the ionic strength increases, a permeability decline of more than a factor of 2 could be observed for pore velocities representative of in-situ conditions. Further details of the retention of particles in the columns were obtained from Magnetic Resonance Imaging and X-ray Tomography techniques, showing that the particle deposition is nonuniform along the column. It is clearly shown that very fine particles as small as 100 nm can generate significant permeability reduction under specific conditions in high permeability porous media representative of the Triassic reservoirs of the Paris basin. These retention mechanisms are explained in the general framework of the DLVO theory

Keywords: geothermal energy, reinjection, clays, colloids, retention, porosity, permeability decline, clogging, characterization, XRD, SEM-EDS, STEM, DLS, NMR, core flooding experiments

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: M. Hosseini, N. Ghorbani Amirabad, M. Zhian

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Seismic design codes accept structural and nonstructural damages after the sever earthquakes (provided that the building is prevented from collapse), so that in many cases demolishing and reconstruction of the building is inevitable, and this is usually very difficult, costly and time consuming. Therefore, designing and constructing of buildings in such a way that they can be easily repaired after earthquakes, even major ones, is quite desired. For this purpose giving the possibility of rocking or see-saw motion to the building structure, partially or as a whole, has been used by some researchers in recent decade .the central support which has a main role in creating the possibility of see-saw motion in the building’s structural system. In this paper, paying more attention to the key role of the central fuse and support, an innovative energy dissipater which can act as the central fuse and support of the building with seesaw motion is introduced, and the process of reaching an optimal geometry for that by using finite element analysis is presented. Several geometric shapes were considered for the proposed central fuse and support. In each case the hysteresis moment rotation behavior of the considered fuse were obtained under simultaneous effect of vertical and horizontal loads, by nonlinear finite element analyses. To find the optimal geometric shape, the maximum plastic strain value in the fuse body was considered as the main parameter. The rotational stiffness of the fuse under the effect of acting moments is another important parameter for finding the optimum shape. The proposed fuse and support can be called Yielding Curved Bars and Clipped Hemisphere Core (YCB&CHC or more briefly YCB) energy dissipater. Based on extensive nonlinear finite element analyses it was found out the using rectangular section for the curved bars gives more reliable results. Then, the YCB energy dissipater with the optimal shape was used in a structural model of a 12 story regular building as its central fuse and support to give it the possibility of seesaw motion, and its seismic responses were compared to those of a the building in the fixed based conditions, subjected to three-components acceleration of several selected earthquakes including Loma Prieta, Northridge, and Park Field. In building with see-saw motion some simple yielding-plate energy dissipaters were also used under circumferential columns.The results indicated that equipping the buildings with central and circumferential fuses result in remarkable reduction of seismic responses of the building, including the base shear, inter story drift, and roof acceleration. In fact by using the proposed technique the plastic deformations are concentrated in the fuses in the lowest story of the building, so that the main body of the building structure remains basically elastic, and therefore, the building can be easily repaired after earthquake.

Keywords: rocking mechanism, see-saw motion, finite element analysis, hysteretic behavior

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Authors: Vaiddehi Bansal, Ridhi Sahai, Kareem Kysia

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Overseas labor migration is currently one of the most important contributors to the economy of Bangladesh and is a highly profitable form of labor for Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries. In 2019, 700,159 migrant workers from Bangladeshtraveled abroad for employment. GCC countries are a major destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers, with Saudi Arabia being the most common destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers since 2016. Despite the high rate of migration between these countries every year, the OLR industry remains complex and often leaves migrants susceptible to human trafficking, forced labor, and modern slavery. While the prevalence of forced labor among Bangladeshi migrants in GCC countries is still unknown, the IOM estimates international migrant workers comprise one fourth of the victims of forced labor. Moreover, the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic has exposed migrant workers to additional adverse situations, making them even more vulnerable to forced labor and health risks. This paper presents findings from a rapid assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on OLR in Bangladesh, with an emphasis on the increased risk of forced labor among vulnerable migrant worker populations, particularly women.Rapid reviews are a useful approach to swiftly provide actionable evidence for informed decision-making during emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team conducted semi-structured key information interviews (KIIs) with a range of stakeholders, including government officials, local NGOs, international organizations, migration researchers, and formal and informal recruiting agencies, to obtain insights on the multi-facted impacts of COVID-19 on the OLR sector. The research team also conducted a comprehensive review of available resources, including media articles, blogs, policy briefs, reports, white papers, and other online content, to triangulate findings from the KIIs. After screening for inclusion criteria, a total of 110 grey literature documents were included in the review. A total of 31 KIIs were conducted, data from which was transcribed and translated from Bangla to English, andanalyzed using a detailed codebook. Findings indicate that there was limited reintegration support for returnee migrants. Facing increasing amounts of debt, financial insecurity, and social discrimination, returnee migrants, were extremely vulnerable to forced labor and exploitation. Growing financial debt and limited job opportunities in their home country will likely push migrants to resort to unsafe migration channels. Evidence suggests that women, who are primarily domestic works in GCC countries, were exposed to increased risk of forced labor and workplace violence. Due to stay-at-home measures, women migrant workers were tasked with additional housekeeping working and subjected to longer work hours, wage withholding, and physical abuse. In Bangladesh, returnee women migrant workers also faced an increased risk of domestic violence.

Keywords: forced labor, migration, gender, human trafficking

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Raptis Sotirios

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Health and social care (HSc) services planning and scheduling are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic pressure and also suffer from unplanned spending that is negatively impacted by the global financial crisis. Data-driven can help to improve policies, plan and design services provision schedules using algorithms assist healthcare managers’ to face unexpected demands using fewer resources. The paper discusses services packing using statistical significance tests and machine learning (ML) to evaluate demands similarity and coupling. This is achieved by predicting the range of the demand (class) using ML methods such as CART, random forests (RF), and logistic regression (LGR). The significance tests Chi-Squared test and Student test are used on data over a 39 years span for which HSc services data exist for services delivered in Scotland. The demands are probabilistically associated through statistical hypotheses that assume that the target service’s demands are statistically dependent on other demands as a NULL hypothesis. This linkage can be confirmed or not by the data. Complementarily, ML methods are used to linearly predict the above target demands from the statistically found associations and extend the linear dependence of the target’s demand to independent demands forming, thus groups of services. Statistical tests confirm ML couplings making the prediction also statistically meaningful and prove that a target service can be matched reliably to other services, and ML shows these indicated relationships can also be linear ones. Zero paddings were used for missing years records and illustrated better such relationships both for limited years and in the entire span offering long term data visualizations while limited years groups explained how well patients numbers can be related in short periods or can change over time as opposed to behaviors across more years. The prediction performance of the associations is measured using Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) AUC and ACC metrics as well as the statistical tests, Chi-Squared and Student. Co-plots and comparison tables for RF, CART, and LGR as well as p-values and Information Exchange(IE), are provided showing the specific behavior of the ML and of the statistical tests and the behavior using different learning ratios. The impact of k-NN and cross-correlation and C-Means first groupings is also studied over limited years and the entire span. It was found that CART was generally behind RF and LGR, but in some interesting cases, LGR reached an AUC=0 falling below CART, while the ACC was as high as 0.912, showing that ML methods can be confused padding or by data irregularities or outliers. On average, 3 linear predictors were sufficient, LGR was found competing RF well, and CART followed with the same performance at higher learning ratios. Services were packed only if when significance level(p-value) of their association coefficient was more than 0.05. Social factors relationships were observed between home care services and treatment of old people, birth weights, alcoholism, drug abuse, and emergency admissions. The work found that different HSc services can be well packed as plans of limited years, across various services sectors, learning configurations, as confirmed using statistical hypotheses.

Keywords: class, cohorts, data frames, grouping, prediction, prob-ability, services

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Authors: Yu-Mei Hsueh, Wei-Jen Chen, Yung-Kai Huang, Cheng-Shiuan Tsai, Kuo-Cheng Yeh

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Prostate cancer occurs in men over the age of 50, and rank sixth of the top ten cancers in Taiwan, and the incidence increased gradually over the past decade in Taiwan. Arsenic is confirmed as a carcinogen by International Agency for Research on (IARC). Arsenic induces oxidative stress may be a risk factor for prostate cancer, but the mechanism is not clear. Selenium is an important antioxidant element. Whether the association between plasma selenium levels and risk of prostate cancer are modified by different genotype of selenoprotein is still unknown. Glutathione peroxidase, selenoprotein P (SEPP1) and 15 kDa selenoprotein (SEP 15) are selenoprotein and regulates selenium transport and the oxidation and reduction reaction. However, the association between gene polymorphisms of selenoprotein and prostate cancer is not yet clear. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between plasma selenium, polymorphism of selenoprotein, urinary total arsenic concentration and prostate cancer. This study is a hospital-based case-control study. Three hundred twenty-two cases of prostate cancer and age (±5 years) 1:1 matched 322 control group were recruited from National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei Medical University Hospital, and Wan Fang Hospital. Well-trained personnel carried out standardized personal interviews based on a structured questionnaire. Information collected included demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle and disease history. Blood and urine samples were also collected at the same time. The Research Ethics Committee of National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, approved the study. All patients provided informed consent forms before sample and data collection. Buffy coat was to extract DNA, and the polymerase chain reaction - restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to measure the genotypes of SEPP1 rs3797310, SEP15 rs5859, GPX1 rs1050450, GPX2 rs4902346, GPX3 rs4958872, and GPX4 rs2075710. Plasma concentrations of selenium were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Urinary arsenic species concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography links hydride generator and atomic absorption spectrometer (HPLC-HG-AAS). Subject with high education level compared to those with low educational level had a lower prostate cancer odds ratio (OR) Mainland Chinese and aboriginal people had a lower OR of prostate cancer compared to Fukien Taiwanese. After adjustment for age, educational level, subjects with GPX1 rs1050450 CT and TT genotype compared to the CC genotype have lower, OR of prostate cancer, the OR and 95% confidence interval (Cl) was 0.53 (0.31-0.90). SEPP1 rs3797310 CT+TT genotype compared to those with CC genotype had a marginally significantly lower OR of PC. The low levels of plasma selenium and the high urinary total arsenic concentrations had the high OR of prostate cancer in a significant dose-response manner, and SEPP1 rs3797310 genotype modified this joint association.

Keywords: prostate cancer, plasma selenium concentration, urinary total arsenic concentrations, glutathione peroxidase, selenoprotein P, selenoprotein 15, gene polymorphism

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Authors: Khin Thi Htun, James Jain, Tim Andrews

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This study examines the under-researched phenomenon of crowdfunding use and effectiveness in developing non-western markets. More precisely, using an institutional theoretical lens, the research explores the attitudes, motivations, and practice surrounding the initiation, development, and receipt of crowdfunding campaignsin a business context symptomatic of widely dissimilar regulatory, normative cognitive institutional ‘pillars’ to those studied – and utilized in practice - to date. As, in essence, a form of alternative finance, crowdfunding is used primarily to fund a wide range of projects through the securement of small amounts of money from a large pool of investors/participants. Being tied almost inextricably to e-commerce channels, the practice of crowdfunding typically sources its means and communicates the purpose of each venture mainly, though not exclusively, online. The wide range of projects supported to date span social entrepreneurship, community benefits initiatives, creative and artistic endeavors, assistance to disadvantaged social cohorts, and small business start-ups. Adopting a longitudinal, comparative approach, the study reported here embodies an investigation centered on six case start-up campaigns within the Thai societal context, covering a range of fundings calls and cause choices. Data was sourced from a variety of respondents using semi-structured interviews, observation (direct and participant), and company information. Results suggest that the motives and effectiveness of crowdfunding campaigns differ significantly in non-western consumer contexts from the norms that have evolved to date in mature Western contexts(particularly the US and UK). Specifically, whereas data on the different regulatory pressures showed relatively insignificant variation, the results regarding cognitive and, especially, normative dissimilarities between the Thai and US/UK institutional profiles surfaced potentially important differences with far-reaching implications. Particular issuesto emerge from our data concerned consumer motivation in terms of support and engagement with different types of campaigns. This was found to stem from social norms symptomatic of ‘collectivist’ and ‘relations based/particularist’ cultural assistance behavior, in turn, linked to deeply-held societal values regarding interpersonal network (‘in group’) reciprocity. This research serves to refine and extend the limited body of knowledge to date on crowdfunding by exploring the phenomenon in a non-western, non-developed country contextswhere social norms and values differ. This was achieved through uncovering and explicating the effects of cultural dissimilarity on motivation, decision-making, construed ethics, and general engagement with crowdfunding ideas. Implications for theory into e-marketing and cross-cultural marketing, as well as for practitioners seeking to develop effective crowdfunding campaigns in a Southeast Asian cultural environment, are discussed to conclude the paper.

Keywords: crowdfunding, national culture, e-marketing, cross-cultural business

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Authors: Tatiana N. Astakhova, Alexander E. Saprygin, Tatyana A. Golovko, Alexander N. Savostyanov, Mikhail S. Vlasov, Natalia V. Borisova, Alexandera G. Karpova, Urana N. Kavai-ool, Elena D. Mokur-ool, Nikolay A. Kolchanov, Lubomir I. Aftanas

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The study is dedicated to the research of brain activity in bilingual inhabitants of Siberia. We compared behavioral reactions and event-related potentials in Turkic-speaking inhabitants of Siberia (Tuvinians and Yakuts) and Russians. 63 healthy aboriginals of the Tyva Republic, 29 inhabitants of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and 55 Russians from Novosibirsk participated in the study. All the healthy and right-handed participants, matched on age and sex, were students of different universities. EEG’s were recorded during the solving of linguistic tasks. In these tasks, participants had to find a syntax error in the written sentences. There were four groups of sentences: Russian, English, Tuvinian, and Yakut. All participants completed the tasks in Russian and English. Additionally, Tuvinians and Yakuts completed the tasks in Tuvinian or Yakut respectively. For Russians, EEG's were recorded using 128-channels according to the extended International 10-10 system, and the signals were amplified using “Neuroscan (USA)” amplifiers. For Tuvinians and Yakuts, EEG's were recorded using 64-channels and amplifiers Brain Products, Germany. In all groups, 0.3-100 Hz analog filtering and sampling rate 1000 Hz were used. As parameters of behavioral reactions, response speed and the accuracy of recognition were used. Event-related potentials (ERP) responses P300 and P600 were used as indicators of brain activity. The behavioral reactions showed that in Russians, the response speed for Russian was faster than for English. Also, the accuracy of solving tasks was higher for Russian than for English. The peak P300 in Russians were higher for English, the peak P600 in the left temporal cortex were higher for the Russian language. Both Tuvinians and Yakuts have no difference in accuracy of solving tasks in Russian and in their respective national languages. However, the response speed was faster for tasks in Russian than for tasks in their national language. Tuvinians and Yakuts showed bad accuracy in English, but the response speed was higher for English than for Russian and the national languages. This can be explained by the fact that they did not think carefully and gave a random answer for English. In Tuvinians, The P300 and P600 amplitudes and cortical topology were the same for Russian and Tuvinian and different for English. In Yakuts, the P300 and P600 amplitudes and topology of ERP for Russian were the same as what Russians had for Russian. In Yakuts, brain reactions during Yakut and English comprehension had no difference, and were reflected to foreign language comprehension - while the Russian language comprehension was reflected to native language comprehension. We found out that the Tuvinians recognized both Russian and Tuvinian as native languages, and English as a foreign language. The Yakuts recognized both English and Yakut as a foreign language, and only Russian as a native language. According to the inquirer, both Tuvinians and Yakuts use the national language as a spoken language, whereas they don’t use it for writing. It can well be a reason that Yakuts perceive the Yakut writing language as a foreign language while writing Russian as their native.

Keywords: EEG, ERP, native and foreign languages comprehension, Siberian inhabitants

Procedia PDF Downloads 558

Authors: Daniela Velichová

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Plenty of ideas on how to adopt active learning methods in education are available nowadays. Mathematics is a subject where the active involvement of students is required in particular in order to achieve desirable results regarding sustainable knowledge and deep understanding. The present article is based on the outcomes of an Erasmus+ project DrIVE-MATH, that was aimed at developing a novel and integrated framework to teach maths classes in engineering courses at the university level. It is fundamental for students from the early years of their academic life to have agile minds. They must be prepared to adapt to their future working environments, where enterprises’ views are always evolving, where all collaborate in teams, and relations between peers are thought for the well-being of the whole - workers and company profit. This reality imposes new requirements on higher education in terms of adaptation of different pedagogical methods, such as project-based and active-learning methods used within the course curricula. Active learning methodologies are regarded as an effective way to prepare students to meet the challenges posed by enterprises and to help them in building critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and insight to the solved complex problems from different perspectives. Fostering learning-by-doing activities in the pedagogical process can help students to achieve learning independence, as they could acquire deeper conceptual understanding by experimenting with the abstract concept in a more interesting, useful, and meaningful way. Clear information about learning outcomes and goals might help students to take more responsibility for their learning results. Active learning methods implemented by the project team members in their teaching practice, eduScrum and Jigsaw in particular, proved to provide better scientific and soft skills support to students than classical teaching methods. EduScrum method enables teachers to generate a working environment that stimulates students' working habits and self-initiative as they become aware of their responsibilities within the team, their own acquired knowledge, and their abilities to solve problems independently, though in collaboration with other team members. This method enhances collaborative learning, as students are working in teams towards a common goal - knowledge acquisition, while they are interacting with each other and evaluated individually. Teams consisting of 4-5 students work together on a list of problems - sprint; each member is responsible for solving one of them, while the group leader – a master, is responsible for the whole team. A similar principle is behind the Jigsaw technique, where the classroom activity makes students dependent on each other to succeed. Students are divided into groups, and assignments are split into pieces, which need to be assembled by the whole group to complete the (Jigsaw) puzzle. In this paper, analysis of students’ perceptions concerning the achievement of deeper conceptual understanding in mathematics and the development of soft skills, such as self-motivation, critical thinking, flexibility, leadership, responsibility, teamwork, negotiation, and conflict management, is presented. Some new challenges are discussed as brought by introducing active learning methods in the basic mathematics courses. A few examples of sprints developed and used in teaching basic maths courses at technical universities are presented in addition.

Keywords: active learning methods, collaborative learning, conceptual understanding, eduScrum, Jigsaw, soft skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: S. N. C. M. Dias, Niels Schuetze, Franz Lennartz

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The current focus in irrigated agriculture will move from maximizing crop production per unit area towards maximizing the crop production per unit amount of water (water productivity) used. At the same time, inadequate water supply or deficit irrigation will be the only solution to cope with water scarcity in the near future. Soil matric potential based irrigation plays an important role in such deficit irrigated agriculture to grow any crop including rice. Rice as the staple food for more than half of the world population, grows mainly under flooded conditions. It requires more water compared to other upland cereals. A major amount of this water is used in the land preparation and is lost at field level due to evaporation, deep percolation, and seepage. A field experimental study was conducted in the experimental premises of rice research and development institute of Sri Lanka in Kurunegala district to estimate the water productivity of rice under deficit irrigation. This paper presents the feasibility of improving current irrigation management in rice cultivation under water scarce conditions. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four different irrigation treatments with three replicates. Irrigation treatments were based on soil matric potential threshold values. Treatment W0 was maintained between 60-80mbars. W1 was maintained between 80-100mbars. Other two dry treatments W2 and W3 were maintained at 100-120 mbar and 120 -140 mbar respectively. The sprinkler system was used to irrigate each plot individually upon reaching the maximum threshold value in respective treatment. Treatments were imposed two weeks after seed establishment and continued until two weeks before physiological maturity. Fertilizer applications, weed management, and other management practices were carried out per the local recommendations. Weekly plant growth measurements, daily climate parameters, soil parameters, soil tension values, and water content were measured throughout the growing period. Highest plant growth and grain yield (5.61t/ha) were observed in treatment W2 followed by W0, W1, and W3 in comparison to the reference yield (5.23t/ha) of flooded rice grown in the study area. Water productivity was highest in W3. Concerning the irrigation water savings, grain yield, and water productivity together, W2 showed the better performance. Rice grown under unsaturated conditions (W2) shows better performance compared to the continuously saturated conditions(W0). In conclusion, soil matric potential based irrigation is a promising practice in irrigation management in rice. Higher irrigation water savings can be achieved in this method. This strategy can be applied to a wide range of locations under different climates and soils. In future studies, higher soil matric potential values can be applied to evaluate the maximum possible values for rice to get higher water savings at minimum yield losses.

Keywords: irrigation, matric potential, rice, water scarcity

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Kari Björn

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Introduction of games has expanded the application area of computer-aided learning tools to wide variety of age groups of learners. Serious games engage the learners into a real-world -type of simulation and potentially enrich the learning experience. Institutional background of a Bachelor’s level engineering program in Information and Communication Technology is introduced, with detailed focus on one of its majors, Health Technology. As part of a Customer Oriented Software Application thematic semester, one particular course of “eHealth Business and Solutions” is described and reflected in a gamified framework. Learning a consistent view into vast literature of business management, strategies, marketing and finance in a very limited time enforces selection of topics relevant to the industry. Health Technology is a novel and growing industry with a growing sector in consumer wearable devices and homecare applications. The business sector is attracting new entrepreneurs and impatient investor funds. From engineering education point of view the sector is driven by miniaturizing electronics, sensors and wireless applications. However, the market is highly consumer-driven and usability, safety and data integrity requirements are extremely high. When the same technology is used in analysis or treatment of patients, very strict regulatory measures are enforced. The paper introduces a course structure using gamification as a tool to learn the most essential in a new market: customer value proposition design, followed by a market entry game. Students analyze the existing market size and pricing structure of eHealth web-service market and enter the market as a steering group of their company, competing against the legacy players and with each other. The market is growing but has its rules of demand and supply balance. New products can be developed with an R&D-investment, and targeted to market with unique quality- and price-combinations. Product cost structure can be improved by investing to enhanced production capacity. Investments can be funded optionally by foreign capital. Students make management decisions and face the dynamics of the market competition in form of income statement and balance sheet after each decision cycle. The focus of the learning outcome is to understand customer value creation to be the source of cash flow. The benefit of gamification is to enrich the learning experience on structure and meaning of financial statements. The paper describes the gamification approach and discusses outcomes after two course implementations. Along the case description of learning challenges, some unexpected misconceptions are noted. Improvements of the game or the semi-gamified teaching pedagogy are discussed. The case description serves as an additional support to new game coordinator, as well as helps to improve the method. Overall, the gamified approach has helped to engage engineering student to business studies in an energizing way.

Keywords: engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning experience, learning outcomes

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Jeffrey A. Humenik

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Environmental, Limited Liability Corporation (EMR) provided civil construction services to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, for the placement of a protective riprap blanket on the west bank of the Smoky Hill River, construction of 2 shore abutments and the construction of a 140 foot long sill wall spanning the Smoky Hill River in Salina, Kansas. The purpose of the project was to protect the riverbank from erosion and hold back water to a specified elevation, creating a pool to ensure adequate water intake for the municipal water supply. Geotextile matting and riprap were installed for streambank erosion protection. An inflatable bladder (AquaDam®) was designed to the specific river dimension and installed to divert the river and allow for dewatering during the construction of the sill walls and cofferdam. AquaDam® consists of water filled polyethylene tubes to create aqua barriers and divert water flow or prevent flooding. A challenge of the project was the fact that 100% of the sill wall was constructed within an active river channel. The threat of flooding of the work area, damage to the aqua dam by debris, and potential difficulty of water removal presented a unique set of challenges to the construction team. Upon completion of the West Sill Wall, floating debris punctured the AquaDam®. The manufacturing and delivery of a new AquaDam® would delay project completion by at least 6 weeks. To keep the project ahead of schedule, the decision was made to construct an earthen cofferdam reinforced with rip rap for the construction of the East Abutment and East Sill Wall section. During construction of the west sill wall section, a deep scour hole was encountered in the wall alignment that prevented EMR from using the natural rock formation as a concrete form for the lower section of the sill wall. A formwork system was constructed, that allowed the west sill wall section to be placed in two horizontal lifts of concrete poured on separate occasions. The first sectional lift was poured to fill in the scour hole and act as a footing for the second sectional lift. Concrete wall forms were set on the first lift and anchored to the surrounding riverbed in a manner that the second lift was poured in a similar fashion as a basement wall. EMR’s timely decision to keep the project moving toward completion in the face of changing conditions enabled project completion two (2) months ahead of schedule. The use of inflatable bladders is an effective and cost-efficient technology to divert river flow during construction. However, a secondary plan should be part of project design in the event debris transported by river punctures or damages the bladders.

Keywords: abutment, AquaDam®, riverbed, scour

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Leonid Zhukov, Dmytro Petrenko

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Optical thermometry has no alternative in many cases of industrial most effective continuous temperature control. Classical optical thermometry technologies can be used on available for pyrometers controlled objects with stable radiation characteristics and transmissivity of the intermediate medium. Without using temperature corrections, it is possible in the case of a “black” body for energy pyrometry and the cases of “black” and “grey” bodies for spectral ratio pyrometry or with using corrections – for any colored bodies. Consequently, with increasing the number of operating waves, optical thermometry possibilities to reduce methodical errors significantly expand. That is why, in recent 25-30 years, research works have been reoriented on more perfect spectral (multicolor) thermometry technologies. There are two physical material substances, i.e., substance (controlled object) and electromagnetic field (thermal radiation), to be operated in optical thermometry. Heat is transferred by radiation; therefore, radiation has the energy, entropy, and temperature. Optical thermometry was originating simultaneously with the developing of thermal radiation theory when the concept and the term "radiation temperature" was not used, and therefore concepts and terms "conditional temperatures" or "pseudo temperature" of controlled objects were introduced. They do not correspond to the physical sense and definitions of temperature in thermodynamics, molecular-kinetic theory, and statistical physics. Launched by the scientific thermometric society, discussion about the possibilities of temperature measurements of objects, including colored bodies, using the temperatures of their radiation is not finished. Are the information about controlled objects transferred by their radiation enough for temperature measurements? The positive and negative answers on this fundamental question divided experts into two opposite camps. Recent achievements of spectral thermometry develop events in her favour and don’t leave any hope for skeptics. This article presents the results of investigations and developments in the field of spectral thermometry carried out by the authors in the Department of Thermometry and Physics-Chemical Investigations. The authors have many-year’s of experience in the field of modern optical thermometry technologies. Innovative technologies of optical continuous temperature control have been developed: symmetric-wave, two-color compensative, and based on obtained nonlinearity equation of spectral emissivity distribution linear, two-range, and parabolic. Тhe technologies are based on direct measurements of physically substantiated and proposed by Prof. L. Zhukov, radiation temperatures with the next calculation of the controlled object temperature using this radiation temperatures and corresponding mathematical models. Тhe technologies significantly increase metrological characteristics of continuous contactless and light-guide temperature control in energy, metallurgical, ceramic, glassy, and other productions. For example, under the same conditions, the methodical errors of proposed technologies are less than the errors of known spectral and classical technologies in 2 and 3-13 times, respectively. Innovative technologies provide quality products obtaining at the lowest possible resource-including energy costs. More than 600 publications have been published on the completed developments, including more than 100 domestic patents, as well as 34 patents in Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Canada, the USA, Sweden, and Japan. The developments have been implemented in the enterprises of USA, as well as Western Europe and Asia, including Germany and Japan.

Keywords: emissivity, radiation temperature, object temperature, spectral thermometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Sumita Srivastava

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Despite several measures taken by the Government of India, entrepreneurship is still not perceived as a viable career option by the young generation. Although the rate of startups has improved a little after the penetration of e portals as business platforms, still the numbers are not very significant. It is also important to note that entrepreneurial initiatives are mostly taken up by graduates of premier institutions of India like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs). The scenario is not very satisfactory amongst the masses graduating from mainstream universities of the country. Indian youth at large are not attracted towards entrepreneurship as a career choice. The reason probably lies in the social fabric of the country and inappropriate education system which does not support the entrepreneurship at large amongst youth in the country. Education is critical to the development of an economy from the poverty level to the level of self-sustenance and development. The current curriculum in the majority of business schools in India prepares the average graduate to become employed by the available firms or business owners in society. For graduates in other streams, employment opportunities are very limited. The aim of this study was to identify and design entrepreneurship education contents to encourage undergraduates to pursue entrepreneurship as a career choice. This comprehensive study was conducted in multiple stages. Extensive research was conducted at each stage with an appropriate methodology. These stages of the project study were interconnected with each other, and each preceding stage provided inputs for the following stage of the study. In the first stage of the study, an empirical analysis was conducted to understand the current state of entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduates of Agra city. Various stakeholders were contacted at the stage, including students (n = 500), entrepreneurs (n = 20) and academicians and field experts (n = 10). At the second stage of the project study, a systems science technique, Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used to identify the critical elements of entrepreneurship education in India based upon the findings of stage 1. The application of the Nominal Group Technique involved a workshop format; 15 domain experts participated in the workshop. Throughout the process, a democratic process was followed to avoid individual dominance and premature focusing on a single idea. The study obtained 63 responses from experts for effective entrepreneurship education in India. The responses were reduced to seven elements after a few thematic iterations. These elements were then segregated into content (knowledge, skills and attitude) and learning interaction on the basis of experts’ responses. After identifying critical elements of entrepreneurship education in the previous stage, the course was designed and validated at stage 3 of the project. Scientific methods were used at this stage to validate the curriculum contents and training interventions experimentally. The educational and training interventions designed through this study would not only help in developing entrepreneurial intentions but also creating skills relevant to the local entrepreneurial opportunities in the vicinity.

Keywords: curriculum design, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneuship education, nominal group technique

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Abiodun Amusan, Olugbenga Akinola, Kazeem Akano, María Hernández-Castañeda, Jenna Dick, Akintunde Sowunmi, Geoffrey Hart, Grace Gbotosho

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Introduction: Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACTs) is the cornerstone malaria treatment option in most malaria-endemic countries. Unfortunately, the malaria control effort is constantly being threatened by resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to ACTs. The recent evidence of artemisinin resistance in East Africa and its possibility of spreading to other African regions portends an imminent health catastrophe. This study aimed at evaluating the occurrence, prevalence, and influence of artemisinin-resistance markers on treatment outcomes in Ibadan before and after post-adoption of artemisinin combination therapy (ACTs) in Nigeria in 2005. Method: The study involved day zero dry blood spot (DBS) obtained from malaria patients during retrospective (2000-2005) and prospective (2021) studies. A cohort in the prospective study received oral dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and underwent a 42-day follow-up to observe treatment outcomes. Genomic DNA was extracted from the DBS samples using a QIAamp blood extraction kit. Fragments of P. falciparum kelch13 (Pfkelch13), P. falciparum coronin (Pfcoronin), P. falciparum multidrug resistance 2 (PfMDR2), and P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) genes were amplified and sequenced on a sanger sequencing platform to identify artemisinin resistance-associated mutations. Mutations were identified by aligning sequenced data with reference sequences obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and student t-tests. Results: Mean parasite clearance time (PCT) and fever clearance time (FCT) were 2.1 ± 0.6 days (95% CI: 1.97-2.24) and 1.3 ± 0.7 days (95% CI: 1.1-1.6) respectively. Four mutations, K189T [34/53(64.2%)], R255K [2/53(3.8%)], K189N [1/53(1.9%)] and N217H [1/53(1.9%)] were identified within the N-terminal (Coiled-coil containing) domain of Pfkelch13. No artemisinin resistance-associated mutation usually found within the β-propeller domain of the Pfkelch13 gene was found in these analyzed samples. However, K189T and R255K mutations showed a significant correlation with longer parasite clearance time in the patients (P<0.002). The observed Pfkelch13 gene changes did not influence the baseline mean parasitemia (P = 0.44). P76S [17/100 (17%)] and V62M [1/100 (1%)] changes were identified in the Pfcoronin gene fragment without any influence on the parasitological parameters. No change was observed in the PfMDR2 gene, while no artemisinin resistance-associated mutation was found in the PfCRT gene. Furthermore, a sample each in the retrospective study contained the Pfkelch13 K189T and Pfcoronin P76S mutations. Conclusion: The study revealed absence of genetic-based evidence of artemisinin resistance in the study population at the time of study. The high frequency of K189T Pfkelch13 mutation and its correlation with increased parasite clearance time in this study may depict geographical variation of resistance mediators and imminent artemisinin resistance, respectively. The study also revealed an inherent potential of parasites to harbour drug-resistant genotypes before the introduction of ACTs in Nigeria.

Keywords: artemisinin resistance, plasmodium falciparum, Pfkelch13 mutations, Pfcoronin

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Stamatia Nasiakou, Dimitrios Chouvardas, Michael Vrahnakis, Vassiliki Kleftoyanni

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Recent research in the mountainous and semi-mountainous rural landscapes of Greece shows that they have been significantly changed over the last 80 years. These changes have the form of structural modification of land cover/use patterns, with the main characteristic being the extensive expansion of dense forests and shrubs at the expense of grasslands and extensive agricultural areas. The aim of this research was to study the 60-year changes (1960-2019) of land cover/ use units in the rural landscape of Mouzaki (Karditsa Prefecture, central Greece). Relevant cartographic material such as forest land use maps, digital maps (Corine Land Cover -2018), 1960 aerial photos from Hellenic Military Geographical Service, and satellite imagery (Google Earth Pro 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019) was collected and processed in order to study landscape evolution. ArcGIS v 10.2.2 software was used to process the cartographic material and to produce several sets of data. Main product of the analysis was a digitized photo-mosaic of the 1960 aerial photographs, a digitized photo-mosaic of recent satellite images (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019), and diagrams and maps of temporal transformation of the rural landscape (1960 – 2019). Maps and diagrams were produced by applying photointerpretation techniques and a suitable land cover/ use classification system on the two photo-mosaics. Demographic and socioeconomic inventory data was also collected mainly from diachronic census reports of the Hellenic Statistical Authority and local sources. Data analysis of the temporal transformation of land cover/ use units showed that they are mainly located in the central and south-eastern part of the study area, which mainly includes the mountainous part of the landscape. The most significant change is the expansion of the dense forests that currently dominate the southern and eastern part of the landscape. In conclusion, the produced diagrams and maps of the land cover/ use evolution suggest that woody vegetation in the rural landscape of Mouzaki has significantly increased over the past 60 years at the expense of the open areas, especially grasslands and agricultural areas. Demographic changes, land abandonment and the transformation of traditional farming practices (e.g. agroforestry) were recognized as the main cause of the landscape change. This study is part of a broader research project entitled “Perspective of Agroforestry in Thessaly region: A research on social, environmental and economic aspects to enhance farmer participation”. The project is funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI).

Keywords: Agroforestry, Forest expansion, Land cover/ use changes, Mountainous and semi-mountainous areas

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Tran Tran

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Mental health issues are prevalent among Vietnamese undergraduate students, and they are greatly exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic for this population. While there is empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness and efficiency of therapy on mental health issues among college students, the rates of Vietnamese college students seeking professional mental health services were alarmingly low. Multiple factors can prevent those in need from finding support. The Internalized Stigma Model posits that public stigma directly affects intentions to seek psychological help via self-stigma and attitudes toward seeking help. However, little research has focused on what factors can predict public stigma toward seeking professional psychological support, especially among this population. A potential predictor is academic majors since academic majors can influence undergraduate students' perceptions, attitudes, and intentions. A study suggested that students who have completed two or more psychology courses have a more positive attitude toward seeking care for mental health issues and reduced stigma, which might be attributed to increased mental health literacy. In addition, research has shown that women are more likely to utilize mental health services and have lower stigma than men. Finally, studies have also suggested that experience of mental health services can increase endorsement of perceived need and lower stigma. Thus, it is expected that perceived helpfulness from past service uses can reduce stigma. This study aims to address this gap in the literature and investigate which factors can predict public stigma, specifically academic major, gender, and perceived helpfulness, potentially suggesting an avenue of prevention and ultimately improving the well-being of Vietnamese college students. The sample includes 408 undergraduate students (Mage = 20.44; 80.88% female) Hanoi city, Vietnam. Participants completed a pen-and-paper questionnaire. Students completed the Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help, which yielded a mean public stigma score. Participants also completed a measurement assessing their perceived helpfulness of their university’s counseling center, which included eight subscales: future self-development, learning issues, career counseling, medical and health issues, mental health issues, conflicts between teachers and students, conflicts between parents and students, and interpersonal relationships. Items were summed to create a composite perceived helpfulness score. Finally, participants provided demographic information. This included gender, which was dichotomized between female and other. Additionally, it included academic major, which was also similarly dichotomized between psychology and other (e.g., natural science, social science, and pedagogy & social work). Linear relationships between public stigma and gender, academic major, and perceived helpfulness were analyzed individually with a regression model. Findings suggested that academic major, gender, and perceived counseling center's helpfulness predicted stigma against seeking professional psychological help. Specifically, being a psychology major predicted lower levels of public stigma (β = -.25, p < .001). Additionally, gender female predicted lower levels of public stigma (β = -.11, p < .05). Lastly, higher levels of perceived helpfulness of the counseling center also predicted lower levels of public stigma (β = -.16, p < .01). The study’s results offer potential intervention avenues to help reduce stigma and increase well-being for Vietnamese college students.

Keywords: stigma, vietnamese college students, counseling services, help-seeking

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Raha Bahreini

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This paper discusses the roll-back of women’s sexual and reproductive rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has come in the wake of a striking shift in the country’s official population policies. Since the late 1980s, Iran has won worldwide praise for its sexual and reproductive health and services, which have contributed to a steady decline in the country’s fertility rate–from 7.0 births per women in 1980 to 5.5 in 1988, 2.8 in 1996 and 1.85 in 2014. This is owed to a significant increase in the voluntary use of modern contraception in both rural and urban areas. In 1976, only 37 per cent of women were using at least one method of contraception; by 2014 this figure had reportedly risen to a high of nearly 79 per cent for married girls and women living in urban areas and 73.78 per cent for those living in rural areas. Such progress may soon be halted. In July 2012, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei denounced Iran’s family planning policies as an imitation of Western lifestyle. He exhorted the authorities to increase Iran’s population to 150 to 200 million (from around 78.5 million), including by cutting subsidies for contraceptive methods and dismantling the state’s Family and Population Planning Programme. Shortly thereafter, Iran’s Minister of Health and Medical Education announced the scrapping of the budget for the state-funded Family and Population Planning Programme. Iran’s Parliament subsequently introduced two bills; the Comprehensive Population and Exaltation of Family Bill (Bill 315), and the Bill to Increase Fertility Rates and Prevent Population Decline (Bill 446). Bill 446 outlaws voluntary tubectomies, which are believed to be the second most common method of modern contraception in Iran, and blocks access to information about contraception, denying women the opportunity to make informed decisions about the number and spacing of their children. Coupled with the elimination of state funding for Iran’s Family and Population Programme, the move would undoubtedly result in greater numbers of unwanted pregnancies, forcing more women to seek illegal and unsafe abortions. Bill 315 proposes various discriminatory measures in the areas of employment, divorce, and protection from domestic violence in order to promote a culture wherein wifedom and child-bearing is seen as women’s primary duty. The Bill, for example, instructs private and public entities to prioritize, in sequence, men with children, married men without children and married women with children when hiring for certain jobs. It also bans the recruitment of single individuals as family law lawyers, public and private school teachers and members of the academic boards of universities and higher education institutes. The paper discusses the consequences of these initiatives which would, if continued, set the human rights of women and girls in Iran back by decades, leaving them with a future shaped by increased inequality, discrimination, poor health, limited choices and restricted freedoms, in breach of Iran’s international human rights obligations.

Keywords: family planning and reproductive health, gender equality and empowerment of women, human rights, population growth

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Getaneh Berie Tarekegn, Li-Chia Tai

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With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, low-power built-in sensors on Internet of Things devices, and communication technologies, location-aware services have become increasingly popular and have permeated every aspect of people’s lives. Global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) are the default method of providing continuous positioning services for ground and aerial vehicles, as well as consumer devices (smartphones, watches, notepads, etc.). However, the environment affects satellite positioning systems, particularly indoors, in dense urban and suburban cities enclosed by skyscrapers, or when deep shadows obscure satellite signals. This is because (1) indoor environments are more complicated due to the presence of many objects surrounding them; (2) reflection within the building is highly dependent on the surrounding environment, including the positions of objects and human activity; and (3) satellite signals cannot be reached in an indoor environment, and GNSS doesn't have enough power to penetrate building walls. GPS is also highly power-hungry, which poses a severe challenge for battery-powered IoT devices. Due to these challenges, IoT applications are limited. Consequently, precise, seamless, and ubiquitous Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems are crucial for many artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AI-IoT) applications in the era of smart cities. Their applications include traffic monitoring, emergency alarming, environmental monitoring, location-based advertising, intelligent transportation, and smart health care. This paper proposes a generative AI-based positioning scheme for large-scale wireless settings using fingerprinting techniques. In this article, we presented a novel semi-supervised deep convolutional generative adversarial network (S-DCGAN)-based radio map construction method for real-time device localization. We also employed a reliable signal fingerprint feature extraction method with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), which extracts dominant features while eliminating noise from hybrid WLAN and long-term evolution (LTE) fingerprints. The proposed scheme reduced the workload of site surveying required to build the fingerprint database by up to 78.5% and significantly improved positioning accuracy. The results show that the average positioning error of GAILoc is less than 0.39 m, and more than 90% of the errors are less than 0.82 m. According to numerical results, SRCLoc improves positioning performance and reduces radio map construction costs significantly compared to traditional methods.

Keywords: location-aware services, feature extraction technique, generative adversarial network, long short-term memory, support vector machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Sarah Hazelwood, Janice Hay

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Methoxyflurane is an inhaled analgesic administered via a disposable inhaler, which has been used in Australia for 40 years for the management of pain in children & adults. However, there is a lack of data for methoxyflurane as a frontline analgesic medication within the emergency department (ED). This study will investigate the usefulness of methoxyflurane in a private inner-city ED. The study concluded that the inclusion of all key stakeholders in the prescribing, administering & use of this new process led to comprehensive uptake & vastly positive outcomes for consumer & health professionals. Method: A 12-week prospective pilot study was completed utilizing patients presenting to the ED in pain (numeric pain rating score > 4) that fit the requirement of methoxyflurane use (as outlined in the Australian Prescriber information package). Nurses completed a formatted spreadsheet for each interaction where methoxyflurane was used. Patient demographics, day, time, initial numeric pain score, analgesic response time, the reason for use, staff concern (free text), & patient feedback (free text), & discharge time was documented. When clinical concern was raised, the researcher retrieved & reviewed patient notes. Results: 140 methoxyflurane inhalers were used. 60% of patients were 31 years of age & over (n=82) with 16% aged 70+. The gender split; 51% male: 49% female. Trauma-related pain (57%) saw the highest use of administration, with the evening hours (1500-2259) seeing the greatest numbers used (39%). Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday shared the highest daily use throughout the study. A minimum numerical pain score of 4/10 (n=13, 9%), with the ranges of 5 - 7/10 (moderate pain) being given by almost 50% of patients. Only 3 instances of pain scores increased post use of methoxyflurane (all other entries showed pain score < initial rating). Patients & staff noted obvious analgesic response within 3 minutes (n= 96, 81%, of administration). Nurses documented a change in patient vital signs for 4 of the 15 patient-related concerns; the remaining concerns were due to “gagging” on the taste, or “having a coughing episode”; one patient tried to leave the department before the procedure was attended (very euphoric state). Upon review of the staff concerns – no adverse events occurred & return to therapeutic vitals occurred within 10 minutes. Length of stay for patients was compared with similar presentations (such as dislocated shoulder or ankle fracture) & saw an average 40-minute decrease in time to discharge. Methoxyflurane treatment was rated “positively” by > 80% of patients – with remaining feedback related to mild & transient concerns. Staff similarly noted a positive response to methoxyflurane as an analgesic & as an added tool for frontline analgesic purposes. Conclusion: Methoxyflurane should be used on suitable patient presentations requiring immediate, short term pain relief. As a highly portable, non-narcotic avenue to treat pain this study showed obvious therapeutic benefit, positive feedback, & a shorter length of stay in the ED. By partnering with key stake holders, this study determined methoxyflurane use decreased work load, decreased wait time to analgesia, and increased patient satisfaction.

Keywords: analgesia, benefits, emergency, methoxyflurane

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Authors: Richard Renou, Laurent Soulard

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Lasers are widely used in glass material processing, from waveguide fabrication to channel drilling. The gradual damage of glass optics under UV lasers is also an important issue to be addressed. Glass materials (including metallic glasses) can undergo a permanent densification under laser-induced shock loading. Despite increased interest on interactions between laser and glass materials, little is known about the structural mechanisms involved under shock loading. For example, the densification process in silica glasses occurs between 8 GPa and 30 GPa. Above 30 GPa, the glass material returns to the original density after relaxation. Investigating these unusual mechanisms in silica glass will provide an overall better understanding in glass behaviour. Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics simulations (NEMD) were carried out in order to gain insight on the silica glass microscopic structure under shock loading. The shock was generated by the use of a piston impacting the glass material at high velocity (from 100m/s up to 2km/s). Periodic boundary conditions were used in the directions perpendicular to the shock propagation to model an infinite system. One-dimensional shock propagations were therefore studied. Simulations were performed with the STAMP code developed by the CEA. A very specific structure is observed in a silica glass. Oxygen atoms around Silicon atoms are organized in tetrahedrons. Those tetrahedrons are linked and tend to form rings inside the structure. A significant amount of empty cavities is also observed in glass materials. In order to understand how a shock loading is impacting the overall structure, the tetrahedrons, the rings and the cavities were thoroughly analysed. An elastic behaviour was observed when the shock pressure is below 8 GPa. This is consistent with the Hugoniot Elastic Limit (HEL) of 8.8 GPa estimated experimentally for silica glasses. Behind the shock front, the ring structure and the cavity distribution are impacted. The ring volume is smaller, and most cavities disappear with increasing shock pressure. However, the tetrahedral structure is not affected. The elasticity of the glass structure is therefore related to a ring shrinking and a cavity closing. Above the HEL, the shock pressure is high enough to impact the tetrahedral structure. An increasing number of hexahedrons and octahedrons are formed with the pressure. The large rings break to form smaller ones. The cavities are however not impacted as most cavities are already closed under an elastic shock. After the material relaxation, a significant amount of hexahedrons and octahedrons is still observed, and most of the cavities remain closed. The overall ring distribution after relaxation is similar to the equilibrium distribution. The densification process is therefore related to two structural mechanisms: a change in the coordination of silicon atoms and a cavity closing. To sum up, non-equilibrium molecular dynamics were carried out to investigate silica behaviour under shock loading. Analysing the structure lead to interesting conclusions upon the elastic and the densification mechanisms in glass materials. This work will be completed with a detailed study of the mechanism occurring above 30 GPa, where no sign of densification is observed after the material relaxation.

Keywords: densification, molecular dynamics simulations, shock loading, silica glass

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Authors: Isobel M. Thompson, Dorian Audot, Dominic Hudson, Martin Warner, Joseph Banks

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Underwater fly kick is an essential skill in swimming, which can have a considerable impact upon overall race performance in competition, especially in sprint events. Reduced wave drags acting upon the body under the surface means that the underwater fly kick will potentially be the fastest the swimmer is travelling throughout the race. It is therefore critical to understand fly kicking techniques and determining biomechanical factors involved in the performance. Most previous studies assessing fly kick kinematics have focused on two-dimensional analysis; therefore, the three-dimensional elements of the underwater fly kick techniques are not well understood. Those studies that have investigated fly kicking techniques using three-dimensional methodologies have not reported full three-dimensional kinematics for the techniques observed, choosing to focus on one or two joints. There has not been a direct comparison completed on the results obtained using two-dimensional and three-dimensional analysis, and how these different approaches might affect the interpretation of subsequent results. The aim of this research is to quantify the differences in kinematics observed in underwater fly kicks obtained from both two and three-dimensional analyses of the same test conditions. In order to achieve this, a six-camera underwater Qualisys system was used to develop an experimental methodology suitable for assessing the kinematics of swimmer’s starts and turns. The cameras, capturing at a frequency of 100Hz, were arranged along the side of the pool spaced equally up to 20m creating a capture volume of 7m x 2m x 1.5m. Within the measurement volume, error levels were estimated at 0.8%. Prior to pool trials, participants completed a landside calibration in order to define joint center locations, as certain markers became occluded once the swimmer assumed the underwater fly kick position in the pool. Thirty-four reflective markers were placed on key anatomical landmarks, 9 of which were then removed for the pool-based trials. The fly-kick swimming conditions included in the analysis are as follows: maximum effort prone, 100m pace prone, 200m pace prone, 400m pace prone, and maximum pace supine. All trials were completed from a push start to 15m to ensure consistent kick cycles were captured. Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional kinematics are calculated from joint locations, and the results are compared. Key variables reported include kick frequency and kick amplitude, as well as full angular kinematics of the lower body. Key differences in these variables obtained from two-dimensional and three-dimensional analysis are identified. Internal rotation (up to 15º) and external rotation (up to -28º) were observed using three-dimensional methods. Abduction (5º) and adduction (15º) were also reported. These motions are not observed in the two-dimensional analysis. Results also give an indication of different techniques adopted by swimmers at various paces and orientations. The results of this research provide evidence of the strengths of both two dimensional and three dimensional motion capture methods in underwater fly kick, highlighting limitations which could affect the interpretation of results from both methods.

Keywords: swimming, underwater fly kick, performance, motion capture

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Authors: Elisa Boatti, Ulisse Stefanelli, Alessandro Reali, Ferdinando Auricchio

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Thanks to their unusual properties, shape memory alloys (SMAs) are good candidates for advanced applications in a wide range of engineering fields, such as automotive, robotics, civil, biomedical, aerospace. In the last decades, the ever-growing interest for such materials has boosted several research studies aimed at modeling their complex nonlinear behavior in an effective and robust way. Since the constitutive response of SMAs is strongly thermomechanically coupled, the investigation of the non-isothermal evolution of the material must be taken into consideration. The present study considers an existing three-dimensional phenomenological model for SMAs, able to reproduce the main SMA properties while maintaining a simple user-friendly structure, and proposes a variational reformulation of the full non-isothermal version of the model. While the considered model has been thoroughly assessed in an isothermal setting, the proposed formulation allows to take into account the full nonisothermal problem. In particular, the reformulation is inspired to the GENERIC (General Equations for Non-Equilibrium Reversible-Irreversible Coupling) formalism, and is based on a generalized gradient flow of the total entropy, related to thermal and mechanical variables. Such phrasing of the model is new and allows for a discussion of the model from both a theoretical and a numerical point of view. Moreover, it directly implies the dissipativity of the flow. A semi-implicit time-discrete scheme is also presented for the fully coupled thermomechanical system, and is proven unconditionally stable and convergent. The correspondent algorithm is then implemented, under a space-homogeneous temperature field assumption, and tested under different conditions. The core of the algorithm is composed of a mechanical subproblem and a thermal subproblem. The iterative scheme is solved by a generalized Newton method. Numerous uniaxial and biaxial tests are reported to assess the performance of the model and algorithm, including variable imposed strain, strain rate, heat exchange properties, and external temperature. In particular, the heat exchange with the environment is the only source of rate-dependency in the model. The reported curves clearly display the interdependence between phase transformation strain and material temperature. The full thermomechanical coupling allows to reproduce the exothermic and endothermic effects during respectively forward and backward phase transformation. The numerical tests have thus demonstrated that the model can appropriately reproduce the coupled SMA behavior in different loading conditions and rates. Moreover, the algorithm has proved effective and robust. Further developments are being considered, such as the extension of the formulation to the finite-strain setting and the study of the boundary value problem.

Keywords: generalized gradient flow, GENERIC formalism, shape memory alloys, thermomechanical coupling

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Authors: B. S. Premalatha, Kausalya Sahani

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Background: Glomus jugulare tumors arise within the jugular foramen and are commonly seen in females particularly on the left side. Surgical excision of the tumor may cause lower cranial nerve deficits. Cranial nerve involvement produces hoarseness of voice, slurred speech, and dysphagia along with other physical symptoms, thereby affecting the quality of life of individuals. Though oncological clearance is mainly emphasized on while treating these individuals, little importance is given to their communication, voice and swallowing problems, which play a crucial part in daily functioning. Objective: To examine the functions of voice, speech and swallowing outcomes of the subjects, following excision of glomus jugulare tumor. Methods: Two female subjects aged 56 and 62 years had come with a complaint of change in voice, inability to swallow and reduced clarity of speech following surgery for left glomus jugulare tumor were participants of the study. Their surgical information revealed multiple cranial nerve palsies involving the left facial, left superior and recurrent branches of the vagus nerve, left pharyngeal, left soft palate, left hypoglossal and vestibular nerves. Functional outcomes of voice, speech and swallowing were evaluated by perceptual and objective assessment procedures. Assessment included the examination of oral structures and functions, dysarthria by Frenchey dysarthria assessment, cranial nerve functions and swallowing functions. MDVP and Dr. Speech software were used to evaluate acoustic parameters of voice and quality of voice respectively. Results: The study revealed that both the subjects, subsequent to excision of glomus jugulare tumor, showed a varied picture of affected oral structure and functions, articulation, voice and swallowing functions. The cranial nerve assessment showed impairment of the vagus, hypoglossal, facial and glossopharyngeal nerves. Voice examination indicated vocal cord paralysis associated with breathy quality of voice, weak voluntary cough, reduced pitch and loudness range, and poor respiratory support. Perturbation parameters as jitter, shimmer were affected along with s/z ratio indicative of voice fold pathology. Reduced MPD(Maximum Phonation Duration) of vowels indicated that disturbed coordination between respiratory and laryngeal systems. Hypernasality was found to be a prominent feature which reduced speech intelligibility. Imprecise articulation was seen in both the subjects as the hypoglossal nerve was affected following surgery. Injury to vagus, hypoglossal, gloss pharyngeal and facial nerves disturbed the function of swallowing. All the phases of swallow were affected. Aspiration was observed before and during the swallow, confirming the oropharyngeal dysphagia. All the subsystems were affected as per Frenchey Dysarthria Assessment signifying the diagnosis of flaccid dysarthria. Conclusion: There is an observable communication and swallowing difficulty seen following excision of glomus jugulare tumor. Even with complete resection, extensive rehabilitation may be necessary due to significant lower cranial nerve dysfunction. The finding of the present study stresses the need for involvement of as speech and swallowing therapist for pre-operative counseling and assessment of functional outcomes.

Keywords: functional outcome, glomus jugulare tumor excision, multiple cranial nerve impairment, speech and swallowing

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Authors: Alexis D'Agostino, Amanda Pomeroy

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Background: Resource availability is essential to effective implementation of national nutrition policies. To this end, the SPRING Project has collected and analyzed budget data from government ministries in Uganda, international donors, and other nutrition implementers to provide data for the first time on what funding is actually allocated to implement nutrition activities named in the national nutrition plan. Methodology: USAID’s SPRING Project used the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP) as the starting point for budget analysis. Thorough desk reviews of public budgets from government, donors, and NGOs were mapped to activities named in the UNAP and validated by key informants (KIs) across the stakeholder groups. By relying on nationally-recognized and locally-created documents, SPRING provided a familiar basis for discussions to increase credibility and local ownership of findings. Among other things, the KIs validated the amount, source, and type (specific or sensitive) of funding. When only high-level budget data were available, KIs provided rough estimates of the percentage of allocations that were actually nutrition-relevant, allowing creation of confidence intervals around some funding estimates. Results: After validating data and narrowing in on estimates of funding to nutrition-relevant programming, researchers applied a formula to estimate overall nutrition allocations. In line with guidance by the SUN Movement and its three-step process, nutrition-specific funding was counted at 100% of its allocation amount, while nutrition sensitive funding was counted at 25%. The vast majority of nutrition funding in Uganda is off-budget, with over 90 percent of all nutrition funding is provided outside of the government system. Overall allocations are split nearly evenly between nutrition-specific and –sensitive activities. In FY 2013/14, the two-year study’s baseline year, on- and off-budget funding for nutrition was estimated to be around 60 million USD. While the 60 million USD allocations compare favorably to the 66 million USD estimate of the cost of the UNAP, not all activities are sufficiently funded. Those activities with a focus on behavior change were the most underfunded. In addition, accompanying qualitative research suggested that donor funding for nutrition activities may shift government funding into other areas of work, making it difficult to estimate the sustainability of current nutrition investments.Conclusions: Beyond providing figures, these estimates can be used together with the qualitative results of the study to explain how and why these amounts were allocated for particular activities and not others, examine the negotiation process that occurred, and suggest options for improving the flow of finances to UNAP activities for the remainder of the policy tenure. By the end of the PBN study, several years of nutrition budget estimates will be available to compare changes in funding over time. Halfway through SPRING’s work, there is evidence that country stakeholders have begun to feel ownership over the ultimate findings and some ministries are requesting increased technical assistance in nutrition budgeting. Ultimately, these data can be used within organization to advocate for more and improved nutrition funding and to improve targeting of nutrition allocations.

Keywords: budget, nutrition, financing, scale-up

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