Search results for: network Management system

Authors: Johnas Buhori, Meinrad Haule Lembuka

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Introduction: Social work expands its boundary to accommodate indigenous knowledge and practice for better competence and services. In Tanzania, Mama Mkubwa Mkubwa (MMM) (Mother’s elder sister) is an indigenous practice of alternative child care that represents other traditional practices across African societies known as Ubuntu practice. Ubuntu is African Humanism with values and approaches that are connected to the social work. MMM focuses on using the elder sister of a deceased mother or father, a trusted elder woman from the extended family or indigenous community to provide alternative care to an orphan or vulnerable child. In Ubuntu's perspective, it takes a whole village or community to raise a child, meaning that every person in the community is responsible for child care. Methodology: A desk review method guided by Ubuntu theory was applied to enrich the study. Findings: MMM resembles the Ubuntu ideal of traditional child protection of those in need as part of alternative child care throughout Tanzanian history. Social work practice, along with other formal alternative child care, was introduced in Tanzania during the colonial era in 1940s and socio-economic problems of 1980s affected the country’s formal social welfare system, and suddenly HIV/AIDS pandemic triggered the vulnerability of children and hampered the capacity of the formal sector to provide social welfare services, including alternative child care. For decades, AIDS has contributed to an influx of orphans and vulnerable children that facilitated the re-emerging of traditional alternative child care at the community level, including MMM. MMM strongly practiced in regions where the AIDS pandemic affected the community, like Njombe, Coastal region, Kagera, etc. Despite of existing challenges, MMM remained to be the remarkably alternative child care practiced in both rural and urban communities integrated with social welfare services. Tanzania envisions a traditional mechanism of family or community environment for alternative child care with the notion that sometimes institutionalization care fails to offer children all they need to become productive members of society, and later, it becomes difficult to reconnect in the society. Implications to Social Work: MMM is compatible with social work by using strengths perspectives; MMM reflects Ubuntu's perspective on the ground of humane social work, using humane methods to achieve human goals. MMM further demonstrates the connectedness of those who care and those cared for and the inextricable link between them as Ubuntu-inspired models of social work that view children from family, community, environmental, and spiritual perspectives. Conclusion: Social work and MMM are compatible at the micro and mezzo levels; thus, application of MMM can be applied in social work practice beyond Tanzania when properly designed and integrated into other systems. When MMM is applied in social work, alternative care has the potential to support not only children but also empower families and communities. Since MMM is a community-owned and voluntary base, it can relieve the government, social workers, and other formal sectors from the annual burden of cost in the provision of institutionalized alternative child care.

Keywords: ubuntu, indigenous social work, african social work, ubuntu social work, child protection, child alternative care

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Authors: Galatee Levadoux, Trevor Benson, Chris Worrall

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With the rise of public awareness on climate change comes an increasing demand for renewable sources of energy. As a result, the wind power sector is striving to manufacture longer, more efficient and reliable wind turbine blades. Currently, one of the leading causes of blade failure in service is improper cure of the resin during manufacture. The infusion process creating the main part of the composite blade structure remains a critical step that is yet to be monitored in real time. This stage consists of a viscous resin being drawn into a mould under vacuum, then undergoing a curing reaction until solidification. Successful infusion assumes the resin fills all the voids and cures completely. Given that the electrical properties of the resin change significantly during its solidification, both the filling of the mould and the curing reaction are susceptible to be followed using dieletrometry. However, industrially available dielectrics sensors are currently too small to monitor the entire surface of a wind turbine blade. The aim of the present research project is to scale up the dielectric sensor technology and develop a device able to monitor the manufacturing process of large composite structures, assessing the conformity of the blade before it even comes out of the mould. An array of flat copper wires acting as electrodes are embedded in a polymer matrix fixed in an infusion mould. A multi-frequency analysis from 1 Hz to 10 kHz is performed during the filling of the mould with an epoxy resin and the hardening of the said resin. By following the variations of the complex admittance Y*, the filling of the mould and curing process are monitored. Results are compared to numerical simulations of the sensor in order to validate a virtual cure-monitoring system. The results obtained by drawing glycerol on top of the copper sensor displayed a linear relation between the wetted length of the sensor and the complex admittance measured. Drawing epoxy resin on top of the sensor and letting it cure at room temperature for 24 hours has provided characteristic curves obtained when conventional interdigitated sensor are used to follow the same reaction. The response from the developed sensor has shown the different stages of the polymerization of the resin, validating the geometry of the prototype. The model created and analysed using COMSOL has shown that the dielectric cure process can be simulated, so long as a sufficient time and temperature dependent material properties can be determined. The model can be used to help design larger sensors suitable for use with full-sized blades. The preliminary results obtained with the sensor prototype indicate that the infusion and curing process of an epoxy resin can be followed with the chosen configuration on a scale of several decimeters. Further work is to be devoted to studying the influence of the sensor geometry and the infusion parameters on the results obtained. Ultimately, the aim is to develop a larger scale sensor able to monitor the flow and cure of large composite panels industrially.

Keywords: composite manufacture, dieletrometry, epoxy, resin infusion, wind turbine blades

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Authors: Caroline Atef Shoukry Tadros

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Massive Urbanization growth threatens the sustainability of cities and the quality of city life. This raised the need for an alternate model of sustainability, so we need to plan the future cities in a smarter way with smarter mobility. Smart Mobility planning applications are solutions that use digital technologies and infrastructure advances to improve the efficiency, sustainability, and inclusiveness of urban transportation systems. They can contribute to meeting the needs of Urbanization growth by addressing the challenges of traffic congestion, pollution, accessibility, and safety in cities. Some example of a Smart Mobility planning application are Mobility-as-a-service: This is a service that integrates different transport modes, such as public transport, shared mobility, and active mobility, into a single platform that allows users to plan, book, and pay for their trips. This can reduce the reliance on private cars, optimize the use of existing infrastructure, and provide more choices and convenience for travelers. MaaS Global is a company that offers mobility-as-a-service solutions in several cities around the world. Traffic flow optimization: This is a solution that uses data analytics, artificial intelligence, and sensors to monitor and manage traffic conditions in real-time. This can reduce congestion, emissions, and travel time, as well as improve road safety and user satisfaction. Waycare is a platform that leverages data from various sources, such as connected vehicles, mobile applications, and road cameras, to provide traffic management agencies with insights and recommendations to optimize traffic flow. Logistics optimization: This is a solution that uses smart algorithms, blockchain, and IoT to improve the efficiency and transparency of the delivery of goods and services in urban areas. This can reduce the costs, emissions, and delays associated with logistics, as well as enhance the customer experience and trust. ShipChain is a blockchain-based platform that connects shippers, carriers, and customers and provides end-to-end visibility and traceability of the shipments. Autonomous vehicles: This is a solution that uses advanced sensors, software, and communication systems to enable vehicles to operate without human intervention. This can improve the safety, accessibility, and productivity of transportation, as well as reduce the need for parking space and infrastructure maintenance. Waymo is a company that develops and operates autonomous vehicles for various purposes, such as ride-hailing, delivery, and trucking. These are some of the ways that Smart Mobility planning applications can contribute to meeting the needs of the Urbanization growth. However, there are also various opportunities and challenges related to the implementation and adoption of these solutions, such as the regulatory, ethical, social, and technical aspects. Therefore, it is important to consider the specific context and needs of each city and its stakeholders when designing and deploying Smart Mobility planning applications.

Keywords: smart mobility planning, smart mobility applications, smart mobility techniques, smart mobility tools, smart transportation, smart cities, urbanization growth, future smart cities, intelligent cities, ICT information and communications technologies, IoT internet of things, sensors, lidar, digital twin, ai artificial intelligence, AR augmented reality, VR virtual reality, robotics, cps cyber physical systems, citizens design science

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Authors: Leen Al Kassab, Sarah Johns, Helen Noble, Nawal Nour, Elizabeth Janiak, Sarrah Shahawy

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Introduction: Immigrant and refugee women experience disparities in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes, partially as a result of barriers to SRH literacy and to regular healthcare access and engagement. Despite the existing data highlighting growing needs for culturally relevant and structurally competent care, interventions are scarce and not well-documented. Methods: In this IRB-approved study, we used a community-based participatory research approach, with the assistance of a community advisory board, to conduct a qualitative needs assessment of SRH knowledge and service engagement with immigrant and refugee women from Africa or the Middle East and currently residing in Boston. We conducted a total of nine focus group discussions (FGDs) in partnership with medical, community, and religious centers, in six languages: Arabic, English, French, Somali, Pashtu, and Dari. A total of 44 individuals participated. We explored migrant and refugee women’s current and evolving SRH care needs and gaps, specifically related to the development of interventions and clinical best practices targeting SRH literacy, healthcare engagement, and informed decision-making. Recordings of the FGDs were transcribed verbatim and translated by interpreter services. We used open coding with multiple coders who resolved discrepancies through consensus and iteratively refined our codebook while coding data in batches using Dedoose software. Results: Participants reported immigrant adaptation experiences, discrimination, and feelings of trust, autonomy, privacy, and connectedness to family, community, and the healthcare system as factors surrounding SRH knowledge and needs. The context of previously learned SRH knowledge was commonly noted to be in schools, at menstruation, before marriage, from family members, partners, friends, and online search engines. Common themes included empowering strength drawn from religious and cultural communities, difficulties bridging educational gaps with their US- born daughters, and a desire for more SRH education from multiple sources, including family, health care providers, and religious experts & communities. Regarding further SRH education, participants’ preferences varied regarding ideal platform (virtual vs. in-person), location (in religious and community centers or not), smaller group sizes, and the involvement of men. Conclusions: Based on these results, empowering SRH initiatives should include both community and religious center-based, as well as clinic-based, interventions. Interventions should be composed of frequent educational workshops in small groups involving age-grouped women, daughters, and (sometimes) men, tailored SRH messaging, and the promotion of culturally, religiously, and linguistically competent care.

Keywords: community, immigrant, religion, sexual & reproductive health, women's health

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Authors: Iorwase Derek Kaka’an, Peter Smolianov, Steven Dion, Christopher Schoen, Jaclyn Norberg, Charles Gabriel Iortimah

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This study examines the current state of football in Nigeria to identify the country's practices, which could be useful internationally, and to determine areas for improvement. Over 200 sources of literature on sport delivery systems in successful sports nations were analyzed to construct a globally applicable model of elite football integrated with mass participation, comprising of the following three levels: macro (socio-economic, cultural, legislative, and organizational), meso (infrastructures, personnel, and services enabling sports programs) and micro level (operations, processes, and methodologies for the development of individual athletes). The model has received scholarly validation and has shown to be a framework for program analysis that is not culturally bound. It has recently been utilized for further understanding such sports systems as US rugby, tennis, soccer, swimming, and volleyball, as well as Dutch and Russian swimming. A questionnaire was developed using the above-mentioned model. Survey questions were validated by 12 experts including academicians, executives from sports governing bodies, football coaches, and administrators. To identify best practices and determine areas for improvement of football in Nigeria, 116 coaches completed the questionnaire. Useful exemplars and possible improvements were further identified through semi-structured discussions with 10 Nigerian football administrators and experts. Finally, a content analysis of the Nigeria Football Federation's website and organizational documentation was conducted. This paper focuses on the micro level of Nigerian football delivery, particularly talent search and development as well as advanced athlete preparation and support. Results suggested that Nigeria could share such progressive practices as the provision of football programs in all schools and full-time coaches paid by governments based on the level of coach education. Nigerian football administrators and coaches could provide better football services affordable for all, where success in mass and elite sports is guided by science focused on athletes' needs. Better implemented could be international best practices such as lifelong guidelines for health and excellence of everyone and integration of fitness tests into player development and ranking as done in best Dutch, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and other European clubs; integration of educational and competitive events for elite and developing athletes as well as fans as done at the 2018 World Cup Russia; and academies with multi-stage athlete nurturing as done by Ajax in Africa as well as Barcelona FC and other top clubs expanding across the world. The methodical integration of these practices into the balanced development of mass and elite football will help contribute to international sports success as well as national health, education, crime control, and social harmony in Nigeria.

Keywords: football, high performance, mass participation, Nigeria, sport development

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Authors: Eiji Nakamachi, Tsuyoshi Eguchi, Sayo Yamamoto, Yusuke Morita, H. Sakamoto

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In this study, we aim to reveal the relationship between the meniscal tearing and the articular cartilage injury of knee joint by using the dynamic explicit finite element (FE) method. Meniscal injuries reduce its functional ability and consequently increase the load on the articular cartilage of knee joint. In order to prevent the induction of osteoarthritis (OA) caused by meniscal injuries, many medical treatment techniques, such as artificial meniscus replacement and meniscal regeneration, have been developed. However, it is reported that these treatments are not the comprehensive methods. In order to reveal the fundamental mechanism of OA induction, the mechanical characterization of meniscus under the condition of normal and injured states is carried out by using FE analyses. At first, a FE model of the human knee joint in the case of normal state – ‘intact’ - was constructed by using the magnetron resonance (MR) tomography images and the image construction code, Materialize Mimics. Next, two types of meniscal injury models with the radial tears of medial and lateral menisci were constructed. In FE analyses, the linear elastic constitutive law was adopted for the femur and tibia bones, the visco-hyperelastic constitutive law for the articular cartilage, and the visco-anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive law for the meniscus, respectively. Material properties of articular cartilage and meniscus were identified using the stress-strain curves obtained by our compressive and the tensile tests. The numerical results under the normal walking condition revealed how and where the maximum compressive stress occurred on the articular cartilage. The maximum compressive stress and its occurrence point were varied in the intact and two meniscal tear models. These compressive stress values can be used to establish the threshold value to cause the pathological change for the diagnosis. In this study, FE analyses of knee joint were carried out to reveal the influence of meniscal injuries on the cartilage injury. The following conclusions are obtained. 1. 3D FE model, which consists femur, tibia, articular cartilage and meniscus was constructed based on MR images of human knee joint. The image processing code, Materialize Mimics was used by using the tetrahedral FE elements. 2. Visco-anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive equation was formulated by adopting the generalized Kelvin model. The material properties of meniscus and articular cartilage were determined by curve fitting with experimental results. 3. Stresses on the articular cartilage and menisci were obtained in cases of the intact and two radial tears of medial and lateral menisci. Through comparison with the case of intact knee joint, two tear models show almost same stress value and higher value than the intact one. It was shown that both meniscal tears induce the stress localization in both medial and lateral regions. It is confirmed that our newly developed FE analysis code has a potential to be a new diagnostic system to evaluate the meniscal damage on the articular cartilage through the mechanical functional assessment.

Keywords: finite element analysis, hyperelastic constitutive law, knee joint injury, meniscal tear, stress concentration

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Authors: Rajashekar Badam, Vedarajan Raman, Noriyoshi Matsumi

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Efficiency of energy converting and storage systems like fuel cells and Li-Air battery principally depended on oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) which occurs at cathode. As the kinetics of the ORR is very slow, it becomes the rate determining step. Exploring carbon substrates for enhancing the dispersion and activity of the metal catalyst and commercially viable simple preparation method is a very crucial area of research in the field of energy materials. Hence, many researchers made large number of carbon-based ORR materials today. But, there are hardly few studies on the effect of interaction between Pt-carbon and carbon-electrolyte on activity. In this work, we have prepared functionalized carbon-based Pt catalyst (Pt-FAB) with enhanced interfacial properties that lead to efficient ORR catalysis. The present work deals with a single-pot method to exfoliate and functionalized acetylene black with enhanced interaction with Pt as well as electrolyte. Acetylene black was functionalized and exfoliated using a facile single pot acid treatment method. The resulted FAB was further decorated with Pt-nano particles (Pt-np). The TEM images of Pt-FAB with uniformly decorated Pt-np of ~3 nm. Further, XPS studies of Pt 4f peak revealed that Pt0 peak was shifted by 0.4 eV in Pt-FAB compared to binding energy of typical Pt⁰ found in Pt/C. The shift can be ascribed to the modulation of electronic state and strong electronic interaction of Pt with carbon. Modulated electronic structure of Pt and strong electronic interaction of Pt with FAB enhances the catalytic activity and durability respectively. To understand the electrode electrolyte interface, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was carried out. These measurements revealed that the charge transfer resistance of electrode to electrolyte for Pt-FAB is 10 times smaller than that of conventional Pt/C. The interaction with electrolyte helps reduce the interface boundaries, which in turn affects the overall catalytic performance of the electrode. Cyclic voltammetric measurements in 0.1M HClO₄ aq. at a potential scan rate of 50 mVs-1 was employed to evaluate electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of Pt. ECSA of Pt-FAB was found to be as high as 67.2 m²g⁻¹. The three-electrode system showed very high ORR catalytic activity. Mass activity at 0.9 V vs. RHE showed 460 A/g which is much higher than the DOE target values for the year 2020. Further, it showed enhanced performance by showing 723 mW/cm² of highest power density and 1006 mA/cm² of current density at 0.6 V in fuel cell single cell type configuration and 1030 mAhg⁻¹ of rechargeable capacity in Li air battery application. The higher catalytic activity can be ascribed to the improved interaction of FAB with Pt and electrolyte. The aforementioned results evince that Pt-FAB will be a promising cathode material for efficient ORR with significant cyclability for its application in fuel cells and Li-Air batteries. In conclusion, a disordered material was prepared from AB and was systematically characterized. The extremely high ORR activity and ease of preparation make it competent for replacing commercially available ORR materials.

Keywords: functionalized acetylene black, oxygen reduction reaction, fuel cells, Functionalized battery

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Authors: Elizaveta S. Prokofyeva, Svetlana V. Maltseva, Roman D. Zaitsev

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Rapidly evolving modern data analysis technologies in healthcare play a large role in understanding the operation of the system and its characteristics. Nowadays, one of the key tasks in urban healthcare is to optimize the resource allocation. Thus, the application of data analysis in medical institutions to solve optimization problems determines the significance of this study. The purpose of this research was to establish the dependence between the indicators of the effectiveness of the medical institution and its resources. Hospital discharges by diagnosis; hospital days of in-patients and in-patient average length of stay were selected as the performance indicators and the demand of the medical facility. The hospital beds by type of care, medical technology (magnetic resonance tomography, gamma cameras, angiographic complexes and lithotripters) and physicians characterized the resource provision of medical institutions for the developed models. The data source for the research was an open database of the statistical service Eurostat. The choice of the source is due to the fact that the databases contain complete and open information necessary for research tasks in the field of public health. In addition, the statistical database has a user-friendly interface that allows you to quickly build analytical reports. The study provides information on 28 European for the period from 2007 to 2016. For all countries included in the study, with the most accurate and complete data for the period under review, predictive models were developed based on historical panel data. An attempt to improve the quality and the interpretation of the models was made by cluster analysis of the investigated set of countries. The main idea was to assess the similarity of the joint behavior of the variables throughout the time period under consideration to identify groups of similar countries and to construct the separate regression models for them. Therefore, the original time series were used as the objects of clustering. The hierarchical agglomerate algorithm k-medoids was used. The sampled objects were used as the centers of the clusters obtained, since determining the centroid when working with time series involves additional difficulties. The number of clusters used the silhouette coefficient. After the cluster analysis it was possible to significantly improve the predictive power of the models: for example, in the one of the clusters, MAPE error was only 0,82%, which makes it possible to conclude that this forecast is highly reliable in the short term. The obtained predicted values of the developed models have a relatively low level of error and can be used to make decisions on the resource provision of the hospital by medical personnel. The research displays the strong dependencies between the demand for the medical services and the modern medical equipment variable, which highlights the importance of the technological component for the successful development of the medical facility. Currently, data analysis has a huge potential, which allows to significantly improving health services. Medical institutions that are the first to introduce these technologies will certainly have a competitive advantage.

Keywords: data analysis, demand modeling, healthcare, medical facilities

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Authors: Nalika S. Rajapaksha, James Airton, Amina Aboobakar, Nick Chappell, Andy Dyer

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Nutrient pollution and their impact on water quality is a key concern in England. Many water quality issues originate from multiple sources of pollution spread across the catchment. The river water quality in England has improved since 1990s and wastewater effluent discharges into rivers now contain less phosphorus than in the past. However, excess phosphorus is still recognised as the prevailing issue for rivers failing Water Framework Directive (WFD) good ecological status. To achieve WFD Phosphorus objectives, Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) permit limits are becoming increasingly stringent. Nevertheless, in some rural catchments, the apportionment of Phosphorus pollution can be greater from agricultural runoff and other sources such as septic tanks. Therefore, the challenge of meeting the requirements of watercourses to deliver WFD objectives often goes beyond water company activities, providing significant opportunities to co-deliver activities in wider catchments to reduce nutrient load at source. The aim of this study was to apply the United Utilities' Catchment Systems Thinking (CaST) strategy and pilot an innovative permitting approach - Catchment Nutrient Balancing (CNB) in a rural catchment in Cumbria (the River Petteril) in collaboration with the regulator and others to achieve WFD objectives and multiple benefits. The study area is mainly agricultural land, predominantly livestock farms. The local ecology is impacted by significant nutrient inputs which require intervention to meet WFD obligations. There are a range of Phosphorus inputs into the river, including discharges from wastewater assets but also significantly from agricultural contributions. Solely focusing on the WwTW discharges would not have resolved the problem hence in order to address this issue effectively, a CNB trial was initiated at a small WwTW, targeting the removal of a total of 150kg of Phosphorus load, of which 13kg were to be reduced through the use of catchment interventions. Various catchment interventions were implemented across selected farms in the upstream of the catchment and also an innovative polonite reactive filter media was implemented at the WwTW as an alternative to traditional Phosphorus treatment methods. During the 3 years of this trial, the impact of the interventions in the catchment and the treatment works were monitored. In 2020 and 2022, it respectively achieved a 69% and 63% reduction in the phosphorus level in the catchment against the initial reduction target of 9%. Phosphorus treatment at the WwTW had a significant impact on overall load reduction. The wider catchment impact, however, was seven times greater than the initial target when wider catchment interventions were also established. While it is unlikely that all the Phosphorus load reduction was delivered exclusively from the interventions implemented though this project, this trial evidenced the enhanced benefits that can be achieved with an integrated approach, that engages all sources of pollution within the catchment - rather than focusing on a one-size-fits-all solution. Primarily, the CNB approach and the act of collaboratively engaging others, particularly the agriculture sector is likely to yield improved farm and land management performance and better compliance, which can lead to improved river quality as well as wider benefits.

Keywords: agriculture, catchment nutrient balancing, phosphorus pollution, water quality, wastewater

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Authors: Dana Zelicha

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A 6-week mindfulness programme was launched to improve the well being and performance of 20 managers (including the supervisor) of an international corporation in London. A unique assessment methodology was customised to the organisation’s needs, measuring four parameters: prioritising skills, listening skills, mindfulness levels and happiness levels. All parameters showed significant improvements (p < 0.01) post intervention, with a remarkable increase in listening skills and mindfulness levels. Although corporate mindfulness programmes have proven to be effective, the challenge remains the low engagement levels at home and the implementation of these tools beyond the scope of the intervention. This study has offered an innovative approach to enforce home engagement levels, which yielded promising results. The programme launched with a 2-day introduction intervention, which was followed by a 6-week training course (1 day a week; 2 hours each). Participants learned all basic principles of mindfulness such as mindfulness meditations, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) practices to incorporate into their professional and personal lives. The programme contained experiential mindfulness meditations and innovative mindfulness tools (OWBA-MT) created by OWBA - The Well Being Agency. Exercises included Mindful Meetings, Unitasking and Mindful Feedback. All sessions concluded with guided discussions and group reflections. One fundamental element of this programme was engagement level outside of the workshop. In the office, participants connected with a mindfulness buddy - a team member in the group with whom they could find support throughout the programme. At home, participants completed online daily mindfulness forms that varied according to weekly themes. These customised forms gave participants the opportunity to reflect on whether they made time for daily mindfulness practice, and to facilitate a sense of continuity and responsibility. At the end of the programme, the most engaged team member was crowned the ‘mindful maven’ and received a special gift. The four parameters were measured using online self-reported questionnaires, including the Listening Skills Inventory (LSI), Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Time Management Behaviour Scale (TMBS) and a modified version of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ). Pre-intervention questionnaires were collected at the start of the programme, and post-intervention data was collected 4-weeks following completion. Quantitative analysis using paired T-tests of means showed significant improvements, with a 23% increase in listening skills, a 22% improvement in mindfulness levels, a 12% increase in prioritising skills, and an 11% improvement in happiness levels. Participant testimonials exhibited high levels of satisfaction and the overall results indicate that the mindfulness programme substantially impacted the team. These results suggest that 6-week mindfulness programmes can improve employees’ capacities to listen and work well with others, to effectively manage time and to experience enhanced satisfaction both at work and in life. Limitations noteworthy to consider include the afterglow effect and lack of generalisability, as this study was conducted on a small and fairly homogenous sample.

Keywords: corporate mindfulness, listening skills, organisational well being, prioritising skills, mindful leadership

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Authors: Paola Clerici Maestosi

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Positive Energy District (PED) is a rather recent concept whose aim is to contribute to the main objectives of the Energy Union strategy. It is based on an integrated multi-sectoral approach in response to Europe's most complex challenges. PED integrates energy efficiency, renewable energy production, and energy flexibility in an integrated, multi-sectoral approach at the city level. The core idea behind Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is to establish an urban area that can generate more energy than it consumes. Additionally, it should be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the energy market. This is crucial because a PED's goal is not just to achieve an annual surplus of net energy but also to help reduce the impact on the interconnected centralized energy networks. It achieves this by providing options to increase on-site load matching and self-consumption, employing technologies for short- and long-term energy storage, and offering energy flexibility through smart control. Thus, it seems that PEDs can encompass all types of buildings in the city environment. Given this which is the added value of having green buildings being constitutive part of PEDS? The paper will present a systematic literature review identifying the role of green building in Positive Energy District to provide answer to following questions: (RQ1) the state of the art of PEDs implementation; (RQ2) penetration of green building in Positive Energy District selected case studies. Methodological approach is based on a broad holistic study of bibliographic sources according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) further data will be analysed, mapped and text mining through VOSviewer. Main contribution of research is a cognitive framework on Positive Energy District in Europe and a selection of case studies where green building supported the transition to PED. The inclusion of green buildings within Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) adds significant value for several reasons. Firstly, green buildings are designed and constructed with a focus on environmental sustainability, incorporating energy-efficient technologies, materials, and design principles. As integral components of PEDs, these structures contribute directly to the district's overall ability to generate more energy than it consumes. Secondly, green buildings typically incorporate renewable energy sources, such as solar panels or wind turbines, further boosting the district's capacity for energy generation. This aligns with the PED objective of achieving a surplus of net energy. Moreover, green buildings often feature advanced systems for on-site energy management, load-matching, and self-consumption. This enhances the PED's capability to respond to variations in the energy market, making the district more agile and flexible in optimizing energy use. Additionally, the environmental considerations embedded in green buildings align with the broader sustainability goals of PEDs. By reducing the ecological footprint of individual structures, PEDs with green buildings contribute to minimizing the overall impact on centralized energy networks and promote a more sustainable urban environment. In summary, the incorporation of green buildings within PEDs not only aligns with the district's energy objectives but also enhances environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and the overall resilience of the urban environment.

Keywords: positive energy district, renewables energy production, energy flexibility, energy efficiency

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Authors: Jorge Ferro-Diaz, Lazaro Marquez-Llauger, Jose Alberto Camejo-Lamas, Lazaro Marquez-Govea

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The invasion of Scaevola sericea Vahl (Goodeniaceae) in Cuba is a recent process, this exotic invasive species was reported for the first time, in the national territory, by 2008. S. sericea is native to the coasts around the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, common on sandy beaches; it has expanded rapidly around the planet by either natural or anthropic causes, mainly due to its use in hotel gardening. Cuba is highly vulnerable to the colonization of these species, mainly due to tropical hurricanes which have increased in the last decades; it also affects other native species such as Tournefortia gnaphalodes (L.) R. Br. (Boraginaceae) that show invasive manifestations because of the unbalanced state of demographic processes of littoral vegetation, which has been studied by authors during the last 10 years. The fast development of Cuban tourism has encouraged the use of exotic species in gardening that invade large sectors of sandy coasts. Taking into account the importance of assessing the impacts dimensions and adopting effective control measures, a monitoring program for the invasion of S. sericea in Cuba was undertaken. The program has been implemented since 2013 and the main objective was to identify invasive patterns and interactions with other native species of coastal vegetation. This experience also aimed to validate the design and propose a standardized monitoring protocol to be applied throughout the country. In the Cuban territory, 12 sites were chosen, where there were established 24 permanent plots of 100 m2; measurements were taken twice a year taking into consideration variables such as abundance, plant height, soil cover, flora and companion vegetation, density and frequency; other physical variables of the beaches were also measured. Similarly, for associated individuals of T. gnaphalodes, the same variables were measured. The results of these first four years allowed us to document patterns of S. sericea invasion, highlighting the use of adventitious roots to enhance their colonization, and to characterize demographic indicators, ecosystem affections, and interactions with native plants. A density-dependent relationship with T. gnaphalodes was documented, finding a controlling effect on S. sericea, so that a manipulation experiment was applied to evaluate possible management actions to be incorporated in the Plans of the protected areas involved. With these results, it was concluded, for the evaluated sites, that S. sericea has had an invasion dynamics ruled by effects of coastal dynamics, more intense in beaches with affectations to the native vegetation, and more controlled in beaches with more preserved vegetation. It was found that when S. sericea is established, the mechanism that most reinforces its invasion is the use of adventitious roots, used to expand the patches and colonize beach sectors. It was also found that when the density of T. gnaphalodes increases, it detains the expansion of S. sericea and reduces its colonization possibilities, behaving as a natural controller of its biological invasion. The results include a proposal of a new Monitoring Protocol for Scaevola sericea in Cuba, with the possibility of extending its implementation to other countries in the region.

Keywords: biological invasion, exotic invasive species, plant interactions, Scaevola sericea

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Authors: Bernice Jeanne Lottering, Yi-Wen Lin

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Introduction: Chronic pain has a definitive lack of objective parameters in the measurement and treatment efficacy of diseases such as Fibromyalgia (FM). Persistent widespread pain and generalized tenderness are the characteristic symptoms affecting a large majority of the global population, particularly females. This disease has indicated a refractory tendency to conventional treatment ventures, largely resultant from a lack of etiological and pathogenic understanding of the disease development. Emerging evidence indicates that the central nervous system (CNS) plays a critical role in the amplification of pain signals and the neurotransmitters associated therewith. Various stimuli have been found to activate the channels existent on nociceptor terminals, thereby actuating nociceptive impulses along the pain pathways. The transient receptor potential vanalloid 1 (TRPV1) channel functions as a molecular integrator for numerous sensory inputs, such as nociception, and was explored in the current study. Current intervention approaches face a multitude challenges, ranging from effective therapeutic interventions to the limitation of pathognomonic criteria resultant from incomplete understanding and partial evidence on the mechanisms of action of FM. It remains unclear whether electroacupuncture (EA) plays an integral role in the functioning of the TRPV1 pathway, and whether or not it can reduce the chronic pain induced by FM. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms underlying the activation and modulation of the TRPV1 channel pathway in a cold stress model of FM applied to a murine model. Furthermore, the effect of EA in the treatment of mechanical and thermal pain, as expressed in FM was also to be investigated. Methods: 18 C57BL/6 wild type and 6 TRPV1 knockout (KO) mice, aged 8-12 weeks, were exposed to an intermittent cold stress-induced fibromyalgia-like pain model, with or without EA treatment at ZusanLi ST36 (2Hz/20min) on day 3 to 5. Von Frey and Hargreaves behaviour tests were implemented in order to analyze the mechanical and thermal pain thresholds on day 0, 3 and 5 in control group (C), FM group (FM), FM mice with EA treated group (FM + EA) and FM in KO group. Results: An increase in mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia was observed in the FM, EA and KO groups when compared to the control group. This initial increase was reduced in the EA group, which directs focus at the treatment efficacy of EA in nociceptive sensitization, and the analgesic effect EA has attenuating FM associated pain. Discussion: An increase in the nociceptive sensitization was observed through higher withdrawal thresholds in the von Frey mechanical test and the Hargreaves thermal test. TRPV1 function in mice has been scientifically associated with these nociceptive conduits, and the increased behaviour test results suggest that TRPV1 upregulation is central to the FM induced hyperalgesia. This data was supported by the decrease in sensitivity observed in results of the TRPV1 KO group. Moreover, the treatment of EA showed a decrease in this FM induced nociceptive sensitization, suggesting TRPV1 upregulation and overexpression can be attenuated by EA at bilateral ST36. This evidence compellingly implies that the analgesic effect of EA is associated with TRPV1 downregulation.

Keywords: fibromyalgia, electroacupuncture, TRPV1, nociception

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Manish Saha, Manish Kumar Niranjan, Saket Asthana

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The K₀.₅Na₀.₅NbO₃ (KNN) system has emerged as one of the most promising lead-free piezoelectric over the years. In this work, we perform a comprehensive investigation of electronic structure, lattice dynamics and dielectric/ferroelectric properties of the room temperature phase of KNN by combining ab-initio DFT-based theoretical analysis and experimental characterization. We assign the symmetry labels to KNN vibrational modes and obtain ab-initio polarized Raman spectra, Infrared (IR) reflectivity, Born-effective charge tensors, oscillator strengths etc. The computed Raman spectrum is found to agree well with the experimental spectrum. In particular, the results suggest that the mode in the range ~840-870 cm-¹ reported in the experimental studies is longitudinal optical (LO) with A_1 symmetry. The Raman mode intensities are calculated for different light polarization set-ups, which suggests the observation of different symmetry modes in different polarization set-ups. The electronic structure of KNN is investigated, and an optical absorption spectrum is obtained. Further, the performances of DFT semi-local, metal-GGA and hybrid exchange-correlations (XC) functionals, in the estimation of KNN band gaps are investigated. The KNN bandgap computed using GGA-1/2 and HSE06 hybrid functional schemes are found to be in excellant agreement with the experimental value. The COHP, electron localization function and Bader charge analysis is also performed to deduce the nature of chemical bonding in the KNN. The solid-state reaction and hydrothermal methods are used to prepare the KNN ceramics, and the effects of grain size on the physical characteristics these ceramics are examined. A comprehensive study on the impact of different synthesis techniques on the structural, electrical, and photocatalytic properties of ferroelectric ceramics KNN. The KNN-S prepared by solid-state method have significantly larger grain size as compared to that for KNN-H prepared by hydrothermal method. Furthermore, the KNN-S is found to exhibit higher dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties as compared to KNN-H. On the other hand, the increased photocatalytic activity is observed in KNN-H as compared to KNN-S. As compared to the hydrothermal synthesis, the solid-state synthesis causes an increase in the relative dielectric permittivity (ε^') from 2394 to 3286, remnant polarization (P_r) from 15.38 to 20.41 μC/cm^², planer electromechanical coupling factor (k_p) from 0.19 to 0.28 and piezoelectric coefficient (d_33) from 88 to 125 pC/N. The KNN-S ceramics are also found to have a lower leakage current density, and higher grain resistance than KNN-H ceramic. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of KNN-H is attributed to relatively smaller particle sizes. The KNN-S and KNN-H samples are found to have degradation efficiencies of RhB solution of 20% and 65%, respectively. The experimental study highlights the importance of synthesis methods and how these can be exploited to tailor the dielectric, piezoelectric and photocatalytic properties of KNN. Overall, our study provides several bench-mark important results on KNN that have not been reported so far.

Keywords: lead-free piezoelectric, Raman intensity spectrum, electronic structure, first-principles calculations, solid state synthesis, photocatalysis, hydrothermal synthesis

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Authors: José Antonio Donaire Benito, Konstantina Zerva

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Historically, cities have been places where people from many nations and cultures have met and settled together, while population flows and density have had a significant impact on urban dynamics. Cities' high density of social, cultural, business offerings, everyday services, and other amenities not intended for tourists draw not only tourists but a wide range of city users as well. With the coordination of city rhythms and the porosity of the community, city users order and frame their urban experience. From one side, recent literature focuses on the shift in urban tourist experience from 'having' a holiday through 'doing' activities to 'becoming' a local by experiencing a part of daily life. On the other hand, there is a debate on the 'touristification of everyday life', where middle and upper class urban dwellers display attitudes and behaviors that are virtually undistinguishable from those of visitors. With the advent of globalization and technological advances, modern society has undergone a radical transformation that has altered mobility patterns within it, blurring the boundaries between tourism and everyday life, work and leisure, and "hosts" and "guests". Additionally, the presence of other 'temporary city' users, such as commuters, digital nomads, second home owners, and migrants, contributes to a more complex transformation of tourist cities. Moving away from this traditional clear distinction between 'hosts' and 'guests', which represents a more static view of tourism, and moving towards a more liquid narrative of mobility, academics on tourism development are embracing the New Mobilities Paradigm. The latter moves beyond the static structures of the modern world and focuses on the ways in which social entities are made up of people, machines, information, and images in a moving system. In light of this fluid interdependence between tourists and guests, a question arises as to whether overtourism, which is considered as the underlying cause of citizens' perception of a lower urban quality of life, is a fair representation of perceived mobility excessiveness, place consumption disruptiveness, and residents displacement. As a representative example of an overtourism narrative, Barcelona was chosen as a study area for this purpose, focusing on the incoming city users to reflect in depth the variety of people who contribute to mobility flows beyond those residents already have. Several statistical data have been analyzed to determine the number of national and international visitors to Barcelona at some point during the day in 2019. Specifically, tracking data gathered from mobile phone users within the city are combined with tourist surveys, urban mobility data, zenithal data capture, and information about the city's attractions. The paper shows that tourists are only a small part of the different incoming city users that daily enter Barcelona; excursionists, commuters, and metropolitans also contribute to a high mobility flow. Based on the diversity of incoming city users and their place consumption, it seems that the city's urban experience is more likely to be impacted by over-mobility tan over-tourism.

Keywords: city users, density, new mobilities paradigm, over-tourism.

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Ana L. M. Pavan, Guilherme Giacomini, Allan F. F. Alves, Marcela De Oliveira, Fernando A. B. Neto, Maria E. D. Rosa, Andre P. Trindade, Diana R. De Pina

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Mammography is a worldwide image modality used to diagnose breast cancer, even in asymptomatic women. Due to its large availability, mammograms can be used to measure breast density and to predict cancer development. Women with increased mammographic density have a four- to sixfold increase in their risk of developing breast cancer. Therefore, studies have been made to accurately quantify mammographic breast density. In clinical routine, radiologists perform image evaluations through BIRADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) assessment. However, this method has inter and intraindividual variability. An automatic objective method to measure breast density could relieve radiologist’s workload by providing a first aid opinion. However, pectoral muscle is a high density tissue, with similar characteristics of fibroglandular tissues. It is consequently hard to automatically quantify mammographic breast density. Therefore, a pre-processing is needed to segment the pectoral muscle which may erroneously be quantified as fibroglandular tissue. The aim of this work was to develop an automatic algorithm to segment and extract pectoral muscle in digital mammograms. The database consisted of thirty medio-lateral oblique incidence digital mammography from São Paulo Medical School. This study was developed with ethical approval from the authors’ institutions and national review panels under protocol number 3720-2010. An algorithm was developed, in Matlab® platform, for the pre-processing of images. The algorithm uses image processing tools to automatically segment and extract the pectoral muscle of mammograms. Firstly, it was applied thresholding technique to remove non-biological information from image. Then, the Hough transform is applied, to find the limit of the pectoral muscle, followed by active contour method. Seed of active contour is applied in the limit of pectoral muscle found by Hough transform. An experienced radiologist also manually performed the pectoral muscle segmentation. Both methods, manual and automatic, were compared using the Jaccard index and Bland-Altman statistics. The comparison between manual and the developed automatic method presented a Jaccard similarity coefficient greater than 90% for all analyzed images, showing the efficiency and accuracy of segmentation of the proposed method. The Bland-Altman statistics compared both methods in relation to area (mm²) of segmented pectoral muscle. The statistic showed data within the 95% confidence interval, enhancing the accuracy of segmentation compared to the manual method. Thus, the method proved to be accurate and robust, segmenting rapidly and freely from intra and inter-observer variability. It is concluded that the proposed method may be used reliably to segment pectoral muscle in digital mammography in clinical routine. The segmentation of the pectoral muscle is very important for further quantifications of fibroglandular tissue volume present in the breast.

Keywords: active contour, fibroglandular tissue, hough transform, pectoral muscle

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Giorgi Chichinadze, David Shengelia, Tamara Tsutsunava, Nikoloz Maisuradze, Giorgi Beridze

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The Jalovchat gabbro intrusive is exposed on the northern and southern slopes of Main Range zone of the Greater Caucasus, on an area about 25km2. It is intruded in Precambrian crystalline schists and amphibolites intensively metamorphose them along the contact zone. The intrusive is represented by hornblende-bearing gabbro, gabbro-norites and norites including thin vein bodies of gabbro-pegmatites, anorthosites and micro-gabbros. Especially should be noted the veins of gabbro-pegmatites with the gigantic (up to 0.5m) hornblende crystals. From this point of view, the Jalovchat gabbroid intrusive is particularly interesting and by its unusual composition has no analog in the Caucasus overall. The comprehensive petrologic and geochemical study of the intrusive was carried out by the authors. The results of investigations are following. Amphiboles correspond to magnesiohastingsite and magnesiohornblende. In hastingsite and hornblende as a result of isovalent isomorphism of Fe2+ by Mg, content of the latter has been increased. By AMF and Na20+K diagrams the intrusive rocks correspond to tholeiitic basalts or to basalts close to it by composition. According to ACM-AMF double diagram the samples distributed in the fields of MORB and alkali cumulates. In TiO2/FeO+Fe2O3, Zr/Y-Zr and Ti-Cr/Ni diagrams and Ti-Cr-Y triangular diagram samples are arranged in the fields of island-arc and mid-oceanic basalts or along the trends reflecting mid-oceanic ridges or island arcs. K2O/TiO2 diagram shows that these rocks belong to normal and enriched MORB type. According to Th/Nb/Y ratio, the Jalovchat intrusive composition corresponds to depleted mantle, but by Sm/Y-Ce/Sm - to the MORB area. Th/Y and Nb/Y ratios coincide with the MORB composition, Th/Yb-Ta/Yb and La/Nb-Ti ratios correspond to N MORB, and Rb/Y and N/Y - to the lower crust formations. Exceptional are Ce/Pb-Ce and Nb/Th-Nb diagrams, showing the area of primitive mantle. Spidergrams are characterized by almost horizontal trend, weakly expressed Eu minimums and by a slight depletion of light REE. Similar are characteristic of typical tholeiit basalts. In comparison to MORB spidergrams, they are characterized by depletion of light REE. Their correlation to the spidergrams of Jalovchat intrusive proves that they are more depleted. The above cited points to the gradual depletion of mantle with the light REE in geological time. The RE and REE diagrams reveal unexpected regularity. In particular, petro-geochemical characteristics of Jalovchat gabbroid intrusive predominantly correspond to MORB, that usually is an anomalous phenomenon, since in ‘ophiolitic’ section magmatic formations represented mainly by gigantic prismatic hornblende-bearing gabbro and gabbro-pegmatite are not indicated. On the basis of petro-mineralogical and petro-geochemical data analysis, the authors consider that the Jalovchat intrusive belongs to the subduction geodynamic type. In the depleted mantle rich in water the MORB rock system has subducted, where the favorable conditions for crystallization of hornblende and especially for its gigantic crystals occurred. It is considered that the Jalovchat intrusive was formed in deep horizons of the Earth’s crust as a result of crystallization of water-bearing Bajocian basalt magma.

Keywords: The Greater Caucasus, gabbro-pegmatite, hornblende-bearing gabbro, petrogenesis

Procedia PDF Downloads 428

Authors: Istvan Szilagyi, Marko Pavlovic, Paul Rouster

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Antioxidant enzymes are the most efficient defense systems against reactive oxygen species, which cause severe damage in living organisms and industrial products. However, their supplementation is problematic due to their high sensitivity to the environmental conditions. Immobilization on carrier nanoparticles is a promising research direction towards the improvement of their functional and colloidal stability. In that way, their applications in biomedical treatments and manufacturing processes in the food, textile and cosmetic industry can be extended. The main goal of the present research was to prepare and formulate antioxidant bionanocomposites composed of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme, anionic clay (layered double hydroxide, LDH) nanoparticle and heparin (HEP) polyelectrolyte. To characterize the structure and the colloidal stability of the obtained compounds in suspension and solid state, electrophoresis, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, spectrophotometry, thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy were used as experimental techniques. LDH-SOD composite was synthesized by enzyme immobilization on the clay particles via electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, which resulted in a strong adsorption of the SOD on the LDH surface, i.e., no enzyme leakage was observed once the material was suspended in aqueous solutions. However, the LDH-SOD showed only limited resistance against salt-induced aggregation and large irregularly shaped clusters formed during short term interval even at lower ionic strengths. Since sufficiently high colloidal stability is a key requirement in most of the applications mentioned above, the nanocomposite was coated with HEP polyelectrolyte to develop highly stable suspensions of primary LDH-SOD-HEP particles. HEP is a natural anticoagulant with one of the highest negative line charge density among the known macromolecules. The experimental results indicated that it strongly adsorbed on the oppositely charged LDH-SOD surface leading to charge inversion and to the formation of negatively charged LDH-SOD-HEP. The obtained hybrid materials formed stable suspension even under extreme conditions, where classical colloid chemistry theories predict rapid aggregation of the particles and unstable suspensions. Such a stabilization effect originated from electrostatic repulsion between the particles of the same sign of charge as well as from steric repulsion due to the osmotic pressure raised during the overlap of the polyelectrolyte chains adsorbed on the surface. In addition, the SOD enzyme kept its structural and functional integrity during the immobilization and coating processes and hence, the LDH-SOD-HEP bionanocomposite possessed excellent activity in decomposition of superoxide radical anions, as revealed in biochemical test reactions. In conclusion, due to the improved colloidal stability and the good efficiency in scavenging superoxide radical ions, the developed enzymatic system is a promising antioxidant candidate for biomedical or other manufacturing processes, wherever the aim is to decompose reactive oxygen species in suspensions.

Keywords: clay, enzyme, polyelectrolyte, formulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Morello Sara, Pederiva Sabina, Bianchi Manila, Martucci Francesca, Marchis Daniela, Decastelli Lucia

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Vegetables represent an integral part of a healthy diet due to their valuable nutritional properties and the growth in consumer demand in recent years is particularly remarkable for a diet rich in vitamins and micronutrients. However, plant-based products are involved in several food outbreaks connected to various sources of contamination and quite often, bacteria responsible for side effects showed high resistance to antibiotics. The abuse of antibiotics can be one of the main mechanisms responsible for increasing antibiotic resistance (AR). Plants grown for food use can be contaminated directly by spraying antibiotics on crops or indirectly by treatments with antibiotics due to the use of manure, which may contain both antibiotics and genes of antibiotic resistance (ARG). Antibiotic residues could represent a potential way of human health risk due to exposure through the consumption of plant-based foods. The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria might pose a particular risk to consumers. The present work aims to investigate through a multidisciplinary approach the occurrence of ARG by means of a biomolecular approach (PCR) and the prevalence of antibiotic residues using a multi residues LC-MS/MS method, both in different plant-based products. During the period from July 2020 to October 2021, a total of 74 plant samples (33 lettuces and 41 tomatoes) were collected from 57 farms located throughout the Piedmont area, and18 out of 74 samples (11 lettuces and 7 tomatoes) were selected to LC-MS/MS analyses. DNA extracted (ExtractME, Blirt, Poland) from plants used on crops and isolated bacteria were analyzed with 6 sets of end-point multiplex PCR (Qiagen, Germany) to detect the presence of resistance genes of the main antibiotic families, such as tet genes (tetracyclines), bla (β-lactams) and mcr (colistin). Simultaneous detection of 43 molecules of antibiotics belonging to 10 different classes (tetracyclines, sulphonamides, quinolones, penicillins, amphenicols, macrolides, pleuromotilines, lincosamides, diaminopyrimidines) was performed using Exion LC system AB SCIEX coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer QTRAP 5500 from AB SCIEX. The PCR assays showed the presence of ARG in 57% (n=42): tetB (4.8%; n=2), tetA (9.5%; n=4), tetE (2.4%; n=1), tetL (12%; n=5), tetM (26%; n=11), blaSHV (21.5%; n=9), blaTEM (4.8%; n =2) and blaCTX-M (19%; n=8). In none of the analyzed samples was the mcr gene responsible for colistin resistance detected. Results obtained from LC-MS/MS analyses showed that none of the tested antibiotics appear to exceed the LOQ (100 ppb). Data obtained confirmed the presence of bacterial populations containing antibiotic resistance determinants such as tet gene (tetracycline) and bla genes (beta-lactams), widely used in human medicine, which can join the food chain and represent a risk for consumers, especially with raw products. The presence of traces of antibiotic residues in vegetables, in concentration below the LOQ of the LC-MS/MS method applied, cannot be excluded. In conclusion, traces of antibiotic residues could be a health risk to the consumer due to potential involvement in the spread of AR. PCR represents a useful and effective approach to characterize and monitor AR carried by bacteria from the entire food chain.

Keywords: plant-based products, ARG, PCR, antibiotic residues

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: D. Ficai, A. Ficai, D. Gudovan, I. A. Gudovan, I. Ardelean, R. Trusca, E. Andronescu, V. Mitran, A. Cimpean

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In the last years, scientists struggled hardly to mimic bone structures to develop implants and biostructures which present higher biocompatibility and reduced rejection rate. One way to obtain this goal is to use similar materials as that of bone, namely collagen/hydroxyapatite composite materials. However, it is very important to tailor both compositions but also the microstructure of the bone that would ensure both the optimal osteointegartion and the mechanical properties required by the application. In this study, new collagen/hydroxyapatites composite materials doped with Cu, Li, Mn, Zn were successfully prepared. The synthesis method is described below: weight the Ca(OH)₂ mass, i.e., 7,3067g, and ZnCl₂ (0.134g), CuSO₄ (0.159g), LiCO₃ (0.133g), MnCl₂.4H₂O (0.1971g), and suspend in 100ml distilled water under magnetic stirring. The solution thus obtained is added a solution of NaH₂PO₄*H2O (8.247g dissolved in 50ml distilled water) under slow dropping of 1 ml/min followed by adjusting the pH to 9.5 with HCl and finally filter and wash until neutral pH. The as-obtained slurry was dried in the oven at 80°C and then calcined at 600°C in order to ensure a proper purification of the final product of organic phases, also inducing a proper sterilization of the mixture before insertion into the collagen matrix. The collagen/hydroxyapatite composite materials are tailored from morphological point of view to optimize their biocompatibility and bio-integration against mechanical properties whereas the addition of the dopants is aimed to improve the biological activity of the samples. The addition of transitional metals can improve the biocompatibility and especially the osteoblasts adhesion (Mn²⁺) or to induce slightly better osteoblast differentiation of the osteoblast, Zn²⁺ being a cofactor for many enzymes including those responsible for cell differentiation. If the amount is too high, the final material can become toxic and lose all of its biocompatibility. In order to achieve a good biocompatibility and not reach the cytotoxic effect, the amount of transitional metals added has to be maintained at low levels (0.5% molar). The amount of transitional metals entering into the elemental cell of HA will be verified using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometric system. This highly sensitive technique is necessary, because, at such low levels of transitional metals, the difference between biocompatible and cytotoxic is a very thin line, thus requiring proper and thorough investigation using a precise technique. In order to determine the structure and morphology of the obtained composite materials, IR spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS) were used. Acknowledgment: The present work was possible due to the EU-funding grant POSCCE-A2O2.2.1-2013-1, Project No. 638/12.03.2014, code SMIS-CSNR 48652. The financial contribution received from the national project “Biomimetic porous structures obtained by 3D printing developed for bone tissue engineering (BIOGRAFTPRINT), No. 127PED/2017 is also highly acknowledged.

Keywords: collagen, composite materials, hydroxyapatite, bone tissue engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Matej Komanec, Tomas Nemecek, Dmytro Suslov, Petr Chvojka, Stanislav Zvanovec

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Nonlinear phenomena in the near- and mid-infrared region are attracting scientific attention mainly due to the supercontinuum generation possibilities and subsequent utilizations for ultra-wideband applications like e.g. absorption spectroscopy or optical coherence tomography. Thulium-based fiber lasers provide access to high-power ultrashort pump pulses in the vicinity of 2000 nm, which can be easily exploited for various nonlinear applications. The paper presents a simulation and experimental study of a pulsed thulium laser based for near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) nonlinear applications in specialty optical fibers. In the first part of the paper the thulium laser is discussed. The thulium laser is based on a gain-switched seed-laser and a series of amplification stages for obtaining output peak powers in the order of kilowatts for pulses shorter than 200 ps in full-width at half-maximum. The pulsed thulium laser is first studied in a simulation software, focusing on seed-laser properties. Afterward, a pre-amplification thulium-based stage is discussed, with the focus of low-noise signal amplification, high signal gain and eliminating pulse distortions during pulse propagation in the gain medium. Following the pre-amplification stage a second gain stage is evaluated with incorporating a thulium-fiber of shorter length with increased rare-earth dopant ratio. Last a power-booster stage is analyzed, where the peak power of kilowatts should be achieved. Examples of analytical study are further validated by the experimental campaign. The simulation model is further corrected based on real components – parameters such as real insertion-losses, cross-talks, polarization dependencies, etc. are included. The second part of the paper evaluates the utilization of nonlinear phenomena, their specific features at the vicinity of 2000 nm, compared to e.g. 1550 nm, and presents supercontinuum modelling, based on the thulium laser pulsed output. Supercontinuum generation simulation is performed and provides reasonably accurate results, once fiber dispersion profile is precisely defined and fiber nonlinearity is known, furthermore input pulse shape and peak power must be known, which is assured thanks to the experimental measurement of the studied thulium pulsed laser. The supercontinuum simulation model is put in relation to designed and characterized specialty optical fibers, which are discussed in the third part of the paper. The focus is placed on silica and mainly on non-silica fibers (fluoride, chalcogenide, lead-silicate) in their conventional, microstructured or tapered variants. Parameters such as dispersion profile and nonlinearity of exploited fibers were characterized either with an accurate model, developed in COMSOL software or by direct experimental measurement to achieve even higher precision. The paper then combines all three studied topics and presents a possible application of such a thulium pulsed laser system working with specialty optical fibers.

Keywords: nonlinear phenomena, specialty optical fibers, supercontinuum generation, thulium laser

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Authors: Nadine Raidl, Benjamin Kaufmann, Michael Hofstätter, Peter Supancic

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If polycrystalline ZnO is properly doped and sintered under very specific conditions, it shows unique electrical properties, which are indispensable for today’s electronic industries, where it is used as the number one overvoltage protection material. Under a critical voltage, the polycrystalline bulk exhibits high electrical resistance but becomes suddenly up to twelve magnitudes more conductive if this voltage limit is exceeded (i.e., varistor effect). It is known that these peerless properties have their origin in the grain boundaries of the material. Electric charge is accumulated in the boundaries, causing a depletion layer in their vicinity and forming potential barriers (so-called Double Schottky Barriers, or DSB) which are responsible for the highly non-linear conductivity. Since ZnO is a piezoelectric material, mechanical stresses induce polarisation charges that modify the DSB heights and as a result the global electrical characteristics (i.e., piezotronic effect). In this work, a finite element method was used to simulate emerging stresses on individual grains in the bulk. Besides, experimental efforts were made to testify a coherent model that could explain this influence. Electron back scattering diffraction was used to identify grain orientations. With the help of wet chemical etching, grain polarization was determined. Micro lock-in infrared thermography (MLIRT) was applied to detect current paths through the material, and a micro 4-point probes method system (M4PPS) was employed to investigate current-voltage characteristics between single grains. Bulk samples were tested under uniaxial pressure. It was found that the conductivity can increase by up to three orders of magnitude with increasing stress. Through in-situ MLIRT, it could be shown that this effect is caused by the activation of additional current paths in the material. Further, compressive tests were performed on miniaturized samples with grain paths containing solely one or two grain boundaries. The tests evinced both an increase of the conductivity, as observed for the bulk, as well as a decreased conductivity. This phenomenon has been predicted theoretically and can be explained by piezotronically induced surface charges that have an impact on the DSB at the grain boundaries. Depending on grain orientation and stress direction, DSB can be raised or lowered. Also, the experiments revealed that the conductivity within one single specimen can increase and decrease, depending on the current direction. This novel finding indicates the existence of asymmetric Double Schottky Barriers, which was furthermore proved by complementary methods. MLIRT studies showed that the intensity of heat generation within individual current paths is dependent on the direction of the stimulating current. M4PPS was used to study the relationship between the I-V characteristics of single grain boundaries and grain orientation and revealed asymmetric behavior for very specific orientation configurations. A new model for the Double Schottky Barrier, taking into account the natural asymmetry and explaining the experimental results, will be given.

Keywords: Asymmetric Double Schottky Barrier, piezotronic, varistor, zinc oxide

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Muhammad Waqas Baqai, Noman Shahzad, Rehman Alvi

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Communication among health care givers is the essence of quality patient care and any compromise results in errors and inefficiency leading to cumbersome outcomes. The use of smartphone among health professionals has increased tremendously. Almost every health professional carries it and majority of them uses a third party communication software called whatsApp for work related communications. It gives instant access to the person responsible for any particular query and therefore helps in efficient and timely decision making. It is also an easy way of sharing medical documents, multimedia and provides platform for consensual decision making through group discussions. However clinical communication through whatsApp has some demerits too including reduction in verbal communication, worsening professional relations, unprofessional behavior, risk of confidentiality breach and threats from cyber-attacks. On the other hand the traditional pager device being used in many health care systems is a unidirectional communication that lacks the ability to convey any information other than the number to which the receiver has to respond. Our study focused on these two widely used modalities of communication among doctors of the largest tertiary care center of Pakistan i.e. The Aga Khan University Hospital. Our aim was to note which modality is considered better and has fewer threats to medical data. Approval from ethical review committee of the institute was taken prior to conduction of this study. We submitted an online survey form to all the interns and residents working at our institute and collected their response in a month’s time. 162 submissions were recorded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Only 20% of them were comfortable with using pagers exclusively, 52% with whatsApp and 28% with both. 65% think that whatsApp is time-saving and quicker than pager. 54% of them considered whatsApp to be causing nuisance from work related notifications in their off-work hours. 60% think that they are more likely to miss information through pager system because of the unidirectional nature. Almost all (96%) of residents and interns found whatsApp to be useful in terms of saving information for future reference. For urgent issues, majority (70%) preferred pager over whatsApp and also pager was considered more valid in terms of hospital policies and legal issues. Among major advantages of whatsApp as listed by them were; easy mass communication, sharing of clinical pictures, universal access and no need of carrying additional device. However the major drawback of using whatsApp for clinical communication that everyone shared was threat to patients’ confidentiality as clinicians usually share pictures of wounds, clinical documents etc. Lastly we asked them if they think there is a need of a separate application for instant communication dedicated to clinical communication only and 90% responded positively. Therefore, we concluded that both modalities have their merits and demerits but the greatest drawback with whatsApp is the risk of breach in patients’ confidentiality and off-work disturbance. Hence, we recommend a more secure, institute-run application for all intra hospital communications where they can share documents, pictures etc. easily under a controlled environment.

Keywords: WhatsApp, pager, clinical communication, confidentiality

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Aleksander Ejsmont, Aleksandra Galarda, Joanna Goscianska

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Smart porous carriers with defined structure and physicochemical properties are required for releasing the therapeutic drug with precise control of delivery time and location in the body. Due to their non-toxicity, ordered structure, chemical, and thermal stability, mesoporous carbons can be considered as modern carriers for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) whose effectiveness needs frequent dosing algorithms. Such an API-carrier system, if programmed precisely, may stabilize the pharmaceutical and increase its dissolution leading to enhanced bioavailability. The substance conjugated with the material, through its prior adsorption, can later be successfully applied internally to the organism, as well as externally if the API release is feasible under these conditions. In the present study, ordered mesoporous carbons of different morphologies and structures, prepared by hard template method, were applied as carriers in the adsorption and controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients. In the first stage, the carbon materials were synthesized and functionalized with carboxylic groups by chemical oxidation using ammonium persulfate solution and then with amine groups. Materials obtained were thoroughly characterized with respect to morphology (scanning electron microscopy), structure (X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy), characteristic functional groups (FT-IR spectroscopy), acid-base nature of surface groups (Boehm titration), parameters of the porous structure (low-temperature nitrogen adsorption) and thermal stability (TG analysis). This was followed by a series of tests of adsorption and release of paracetamol, benzocaine, and losartan potassium. Drug release experiments were performed in the simulated gastric fluid of pH 1.2 and phosphate buffer of pH 7.2 or 6.8 at 37.0 °C. The XRD patterns in the small-angle range and TEM images revealed that functionalization of mesoporous carbons with carboxylic or amine groups leads to the decreased ordering of their structure. Moreover, the modification caused a considerable reduction of the carbon-specific surface area and pore volume, but it simultaneously resulted in changing their acid-base properties. Mesoporous carbon materials exhibit different morphologies, which affect the host-guest interactions during the adsorption process of active pharmaceutical ingredients. All mesoporous carbons show high adsorption capacity towards drugs. The sorption capacity of materials is mainly affected by BET surface area and the structure/size matching between adsorbent and adsorbate. Selected APIs are linked to the surface of carbon materials mainly by hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces, and electrostatic interactions. The release behavior of API is highly dependent on the physicochemical properties of mesoporous carbons. The release rate of APIs could be regulated by the introduction of functional groups and by changing the pH of the receptor medium. Acknowledgments—This research was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (project SONATA-12 no: 2016/23/D/NZ7/01347).

Keywords: ordered mesoporous carbons, sorption capacity, drug delivery, carbon nanocarriers

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Authors: Zihan Geng, L. Quentin Dixon

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It has been proposed that early bilingual experience confers a number of advantages in the development of executive control mechanisms. Although the literature provides empirical evidence for bilingual benefits, some studies also reported null or mixed results. To make sense of these contradictory findings, the current review synthesize recent empirical studies investigating bilingual effects on children’s executive function and attention control. The publication time of the studies included in the review ranges from 2010 to 2017. The key searching terms are bilingual, bilingualism, children, executive control, executive function, and attention. The key terms were combined within each of the following databases: ERIC (EBSCO), Education Source, PsycINFO, and Social Science Citation Index. Studies involving both children and adults were also included but the analysis was based on the data generated only by the children group. The initial search yielded 137 distinct articles. Twenty-eight studies from 27 articles with a total of 3367 participants were finally included based on the selection criteria. The selective studies were then coded in terms of (a) the setting (i.e., the country where the data was collected), (b) the participants (i.e., age and languages), (c) sample size (i.e., the number of children in each group), (d) cognitive outcomes measured, (e) data collection instruments (i.e., cognitive tasks and tests), and (f) statistic analysis models (e.g., t-test, ANOVA). The results show that the majority of the studies were undertaken in western countries, mainly in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. A variety of languages such as Arabic, French, Dutch, Welsh, German, Spanish, Korean, and Cantonese were involved. In relation to cognitive outcomes, the studies examined children’s overall planning and problem-solving abilities, inhibition, cognitive complexity, working memory (WM), and sustained and selective attention. The results indicate that though bilingualism is associated with several cognitive benefits, the advantages seem to be weak, at least, for children. Additionally, the nature of the cognitive measures was found to greatly moderate the results. No significant differences are observed between bilinguals and monolinguals in overall planning and problem-solving ability, indicating that there is no bilingual benefit in the cooperation of executive function components at an early age. In terms of inhibition, the mixed results suggest that bilingual children, especially young children, may have better conceptual inhibition measured in conflict tasks, but not better response inhibition measured by delay tasks. Further, bilingual children showed better inhibitory control to bivalent displays, which resembles the process of maintaining two language systems. The null results were obtained for both cognitive complexity and WM, suggesting no bilingual advantage in these two cognitive components. Finally, findings on children’s attention system associate bilingualism with heightened attention control. Together, these findings support the hypothesis of cognitive benefits for bilingual children. Nevertheless, whether these advantages are observable appears to highly depend on the cognitive assessments. Therefore, future research should be more specific about the cognitive outcomes (e.g., the type of inhibition) and should report the validity of the cognitive measures consistently.

Keywords: attention, bilingual advantage, children, executive function

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Authors: Andreas Latz, Daniela Heinz, Fatima Hashemi, Melek Baygül

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Introduction: Feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and feline coronavirus (FCoV) are serious infectious diseases affecting cats worldwide. Transmission of these viruses occurs primarily through close contact with infected cats (via saliva, nasal secretions, faeces, etc.). FeLV, FIV, and FCoV infections can occur in combination and are expressed in similar clinical symptoms. Diagnosis can therefore be challenging: Symptoms are variable and often non-specific. Sick cats show very similar clinical symptoms: apathy, anorexia, fever, immunodeficiency syndrome, anemia, etc. Sample volume for small companion animals for diagnostic purposes can be challenging to collect. In addition, multiplex diagnosis of diseases can contribute to an easier, cheaper, and faster workflow in the lab as well as to the better differential diagnosis of diseases. For this reason, we wanted to develop a new diagnostic tool that utilizes less sample volume, reagents, and consumables than multiplesingleplex ELISA assays Methods: The Multiplier from Dynextechonogies (USA) has been used as platform to develop a Multiplex diagnostic tool for the detection of antibodies against FIV and FCoV/FIP and antigens for FeLV. Multiplex diagnostics. The Dynex®Multiplier®is a fully automated chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer that significantly simplifies laboratory workflow. The Multiplier®ease-of-use reduces pre-analytical steps by combining the power of efficiently multiplexing multiple assays with the simplicity of automated microplate processing. Plastic beads have been coated with antigens for FIV and FCoV/FIP, as well as antibodies for FeLV. Feline blood samples are incubated with the beads. Read out of results is performed via chemiluminescence Results: Bead coating was optimized for each individual antigen or capture antibody and then combined in the multiplex diagnostic tool. HRP: Antibody conjugates for FIV and FCoV antibodies, as well as detection antibodies for FeLV antigen, have been adjusted and mixed. 3 individual prototyple batches of the assay have been produced. We analyzed for each disease 50 well defined positive and negative samples. Results show an excellent diagnostic performance of the simultaneous detection of antibodies or antigens against these feline diseases in a fully automated system. A 100% concordance with singleplex methods like ELISA or IFA can be observed. Intra- and Inter-Assays showed a high precision of the test with CV values below 10% for each individual bead. Accelerated stability testing indicate a shelf life of at least 1 year. Conclusion: The new tool can be used for multiplex diagnostics of the most important feline infectious diseases. Only a very small sample volume is required. Fully automation results in a very convenient and fast method for diagnosing animal diseases.With its large specimen capacity to process over 576 samples per 8-hours shift and provide up to 3,456 results, very high laboratory productivity and reagent savings can be achieved.

Keywords: Multiplex, FIV, FeLV, FCoV, FIP

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Authors: Sini George

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Active learning pedagogies are valued for their success in increasing 21st-century learners’ engagement, developing transferable skills like critical thinking or quantitative reasoning, and creating deeper and more lasting educational gains. 'Blended learning' is an active learning pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter. This project aimed to develop a blended learning instructional approach to teaching concepts around pharmaceutical calculations to year 1 pharmacy students. The wrong dose, strength or frequency of a medication accounts for almost a third of medication errors in the NHS therefore, progression to year 2 requires a 70% pass in this calculation test, in addition to the standard progression requirements. Many students were struggling to achieve this requirement in the past. It was also challenging to teach these concepts to students of a large class (> 130) with mixed mathematical abilities, especially within a traditional didactic lecture format. Therefore, short screencasts with voice-over of the lecturer were provided in advance of a total of four teaching sessions (two hours/session), incorporating core content of each session and talking through how they approached the calculations to model metacognition. Links to the screencasts were posted on the learning management. Viewership counts were used to determine that the students were indeed accessing and watching the screencasts on schedule. In the classroom, students had to apply the knowledge learned beforehand to a series of increasingly difficult set of questions. Students were then asked to create a question in group settings (two students/group) and to discuss the questions created by their peers in their groups to promote deep conceptual learning. Students were also given time for question-and-answer period to seek clarifications on the concepts covered. Student response to this instructional approach and their test grades were collected. After collecting and organizing the data, statistical analysis was carried out to calculate binomial statistics for the two data sets: the test grade for students who received blended learning instruction and the test grades for students who received instruction in a standard lecture format in class, to compare the effectiveness of each type of instruction. Student response and their performance data on the assessment indicate that the learning of content in the blended learning instructional approach led to higher levels of student engagement, satisfaction, and more substantial learning gains. The blended learning approach enabled each student to learn how to do calculations at their own pace freeing class time for interactive application of this knowledge. Although time-consuming for an instructor to implement, the findings of this research demonstrate that the blended learning instructional approach improves student academic outcomes and represents a valuable method to incorporate active learning methodologies while still maintaining broad content coverage. Satisfaction with this approach was high, and we are currently developing more pharmacy content for delivery in this format.

Keywords: active learning, blended learning, deep conceptual learning, instructional approach, metacognition, pharmaceutical calculations

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Authors: Wanvipa Thongborisute, Punyaphat Sirithanabadeekul, Pichit Suvanprakorn, Anan Jiraviroon

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Background: Acne vulgaris is one of the most common dermatologic problems, and can have a significant psychological and physical effect on patients. Propionibacterium acnes' roles in acne vulgaris involve the activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) pathways. By activating these pathways, inflammatory events of acne lesions, comedogenesis and sebaceous lipogenesis can occur. Currently, there are several topical agents commonly use in treating acne vulgaris that are known to have an effect on TLRs, such as retinoic acid and adapalene, but these drugs still have some irritating effects. At present, there is an alarming increase in rate of bacterial resistance due to irrational used of antibiotics both orally and topically. For this reason, acne treatments should contain bioactive molecules targeting at the site of action for the most effective therapeutic effect with the least side effects. Sparganium stoloniferumis a Chinese aquatic herb containing a compound called Sparstolonin B (SsnB), which has been reported to selectively blocks Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated inflammatory signals. Therefore, this topical TLR2 and TLR4 antagonist, in a form of Sparganium stoloniferum-derived compound containing SsnB, should give a benefit in reducing inflammation of acne vulgaris lesions and providing an alternative treatments for patients with this condition. Materials and Methods: The objectives of this randomized double blinded split faced placebo controlled trial is to study the safety and efficacy of the Sparganium stoloniferum-derived compound. 32 volunteered patients with mild to moderate degree of acne vulgaris according to global acne grading system were included in the study. After being informed and consented the subjects were given 2 topical treatments for acne vulgaris, one being topical 2.40% Sparganium stoloniferum extraction (containing Sparstolonin B) and the other, placebo. The subjects were asked to apply each treatment to either half of the face daily morning and night by randomization for 8 weeks, and come in for a weekly follow up. For each visit, the patients went through a procedure of lesion counting, including comedones, papules, nodules, pustules, and cystic lesions. Results: During 8 weeks of experimentation, the result shows a reduction in total lesions number between the placebo and the treatment side show statistical significance starting at week 4, where the 95% confidence interval begin to no longer overlap, and shows a trend of continuing to be further apart. The decrease in the amount of total lesions between week 0 and week 8 of the placebo side shows no statistical significant at P value >0.05. While the decrease in the amount of total lesions of acne vulgaris of the treatment side comparing between week 0 and week 8 shows statistical significant at P value <0.001. Conclusion: The data demonstrates that 2.40% Sparganium stoloniferum extraction (containing Sparstolonin B) is more effective in treating acne vulgaris comparing to topical placebo in treating acne vulgaris, by showing significant reduction in the total numbers of acne lesions. Therefore, this topical Sparganium stoloniferum extraction could become a potential alternative treatment for acne vulgaris.

Keywords: acne vulgaris, sparganium stoloniferum, sparstolonin B, toll-like receptor 2, toll-like receptor 4

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

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

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

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Authors: V. Jayanthi

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Urbanization and pace of urbanization have increased tremendously in last few decades. More towns are now getting converted into cities. Urbanization trend is seen all over the world but is becoming most dominant in Asia. Today, the scale of urbanization in India is so huge that Indian cities are among the fastest-growing in the world, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai. Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. With reference to Chennai as a case study, which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring key factors aside urbanization that is responsible for the destruction of green spaces. The paper relied on a research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as interviews, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. It was observed that apart from urbanization, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, poor maintenance, enforcement of development controls, wastage of underpass spaces, and uncooperative attitudes of the general public, play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. Therefore the paper narrows down to a point, that for a city to have a proper sustainable urban green space, broader city development plans are essential. Though rapid urbanization is an indicator of positive development, it is also accompanied by a host of challenges. Chennai lost a lot of greenery, as the city urbanized rapidly that led to a steep fall in vegetation cover. Environmental deterioration will be the big price we pay if Chennai continues to grow at the expense of greenery. Soaring skyscrapers, multistoried complexes, gated communities, and villas, frame the iconic skyline of today’s Chennai city which reveals that we overlook the importance of our green cover, which is important to balance our urban and lung spaces. Chennai, with a clumped landscape at the center of the city, is predicted to convert 36% of its total area into urban areas by 2026. One major issue is that a city designed and planned in isolation creates underused spaces all around the cities which are of negligence. These urban voids are dead, underused, unused spaces in the cities that are formed due to inefficient decision making, poor land management, and poor coordination. Urban voids have huge potential of creating a stronger urban fabric, exploited as public gathering spaces, pocket parks or plazas or just enhance public realm, rather than dumping of debris and encroachments. Flyovers need to justify their existence themselves by being more than just traffic and transport solutions. The vast, unused space below the Kathipara flyover is a case in point. This flyover connects three major routes: Tambaram, Koyambedu, and Adyar. This research will focus on the concept of urban voids, how these voids under the flyovers, can be used for place making process, how this space beneath flyovers which are neglected, can be a part of the urban realm through urban design and landscaping.

Keywords: landscape design, flyovers, public spaces, reclaiming lost spaces, urban voids

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