Search results for: purpose of life

Authors: Abdullah N. Olimat, Ahmad S. Awad, Faisal M. AL-Ghathian

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Natural wood is used in many applications in Jordan such as furniture, partitions constructions, and cupboards. Experimental work for smoke produced by the combustion of certain wood samples was studied. Smoke generated from burning of natural wood, is considered as a major cause of death in furniture fires. The critical parameter for life safety in fires is the available time for escape, so the visual obscuration due to smoke release during fire is taken into consideration. The effect of smoke, produced by burning of wood, depends on the amount of smoke released in case of fire. The amount of smoke production, apparently, affects the time available for the occupants to escape. To achieve the protection of life of building occupants during fire growth, fire retardant painting products are tested. The tested samples of natural wood include Beech, Ash, Beech Pine, and white Beech Pine. A smoke density chamber manufactured by fire testing technology has been used to perform measurement of smoke properties. The procedure of test was carried out according to the ISO-5659. A nonflammable vertical radiant heat flux of 25 kW/m² is exposed to the wood samples in a horizontal orientation. The main objective of the current study is to carry out the experimental tests for samples of natural woods to evaluate the capability to escape in case of fire and the fire safety requirements. Specific optical density, transmittance, thermal conductivity, and mass loss are main measured parameters. Also, comparisons between samples with paint and with no paint are carried out between the selected samples of woods.

Keywords: extinction coefficient, optical density, transmittance, visibility

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Authors: Aparna Bandyopadhyay

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The proposed paper will examine how prostitution produced a vast corpus of literature in colonial Bengal. This corpus included autobiographical accounts by prostitutes themselves. While the authenticity of some of these has, at times, been doubted by contemporary observers, the sheer magnitude of such narrative prose demands critical attention. Many of these autobiographical narratives focused on the prostitute’s early life within respectable society and then proceeded to delineate the transgressions and the inescapable chain of circumstances that eventually rendered her a prostitute. Significantly, these serve to corroborate the findings of official investigations regarding the circumstances that led upper-caste Hindu women in Bengal to embrace prostitution in this period. The literary corpus that dwelt on prostitution also included a vast volume of fiction penned by celebrated writers. These foregrounded a prostitute as the central protagonist, telling the life-stories of prostitutes and the circumstances that made them what they were. Novels and short stories often represented the prostitute as an affective being – an individual capable of deep emotions despite her profession. She was seldom a person who had voluntarily embraced prostitution. She was always a figure of helplessness and suffering, a woman whose desire to love and be loved transcended the carnality of her livelihood. She was an outcast, but she experienced the entire repertoire of emotions experienced by her respectable counterparts. The proposed paper will examine the trends and characteristics of the available repertoire of prostitute-oriented literature in late colonial Bengal. It will begin by focusing on the existing perspectives on the origins of prostitution in late colonial Bengal. It will proceed to discuss the literary corpus supposedly penned by prostitutes themselves and then focus on the manner in which some of the stalwarts of high literature represented the prostitute in their literary creations.

Keywords: emotions, literature, prostitution, transgression

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Authors: Kuniko Muramoto, Tadashi Nakamura, Shiro Dan

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On March 11, 2011 the Great East Japan Disaster caused widespread damage. In the aftermath, we searched for ways to provide long-term support and enhanced resilience to affected areas, arriving at the Family Manga Exhibition: an art collection portraying family life. It became a tool for community outreach and intervention, and we implemented support programs by collaborating with local support agencies. This 10-year project has been touring through four prefectures in Tohoku since the disaster struck, bearing witness to the effects of disaster and recovery alike. At this five-year mark, we use a narrative perspective to present our findings and reflect on post-disaster community support. It is important to note that the exhibition’s art does not directly depict the disaster; it portrays stories of anonymous families instead. They stimulate viewers’ memories and remind them of their own family stories. We analyzed viewers' oral and written responses to the exhibition and discovered that family manga as an art form enhances the viewer’s sense of connection to people close to them. We also discovered that the viewers gained more universal perspective on their own situations by viewing the exhibition. Manga, we found, offered a certain safety by enabling the viewers to control how they would interact with the exhibition's content and themes. In addition, the purpose of the project was for us to become witnesses of the disaster and recovery. Supporters of the project became active listeners, functioning as interactive agents who helped forming stories. Voices of the story tellers and the listeners layered upon each other and, as a result, converged into brand new narratives. The essence of traumatic experience is ‘the sense of overwhelming powerlessness and isolation’. When we redefine trauma as ‘broken relationships’, we can say that ‘enhancing relationships’ and ‘weaving relationships’ are what strengthen our resilience. This project used narrative as a modality to fortify the resilience of people involved by enhancing the social capital of bonding, bridging, and linking. The manga exhibition functioned as a tool to achieve this end, suggesting that similar applications are possible. Programs we held in-between manga exhibitions also served to enhance narratives of resiliency in the regions. However, we will save that story for another time. We hope to continue collecting the precious and polyphonic voices of people to present as stories born out of the Great East Japan Disaster. This effort extends beyond the immediately affected area by helping us prepare our resilience for future disasters.

Keywords: community, manga, narrative, resilience

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Authors: Lie-Fen Lin, Tzu-Hsuan Lin, Ching-Heng Lin

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Hospice care for terminally ill patients provides not only a better quality of life but also cost-saving benefits. However, the utilization of home-based hospice care (HBH care) remains low even for countries covered by National Health Insurance (NHI) programs in Taiwan. In the current commercial insurance policy, only hospital-based hospice benefits were covered. It may have an influence on the insureds chosen to receive end-of-life care in a hospitalized manner. Thus, how to propose a feasible method to advocate HBH care utilization rate of public health policies is an important issue. A total of 130,219 cancer decedents in the year 2011-2013 from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan were included in this study. By adding a day volume pays benefits of HBH care as a commercial insurance rider, will provide alternative benefits for the insureds. A multiple-state Markov chain model was incorporated to estimate the transition intensities of patients in different states at the end of their lives (Non-hospice, HBH, hospital-based hospice), and the premiums were estimated. HBH care insurance benefits provide financial support and reduce the burden of care for patients. The rate-making of this product is very sensitive while the utilization rate is rising, especially for high ages. The proposed HBH care insurance is a feasible way to reduce the financial burden, enhance the care quality and family satisfaction of insureds. Meanwhile, insurance companies can participate in advocating a good medical policy to enhance the social image. In addition, the medical costs of NHI can reduce effectively.

Keywords: home-based hospice care, commercial insurance, Markov chain model, the day volume pays

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Authors: Pablo De Macedo Silveira Vallejos

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This article aims to observe autobiographical and visual narrative practices among users on Instagram. In this way, the work proposes to reflect on how image resources are used to develop edited representations of the self in that social network. The research aims to explore the uses of editing and the degrees of fictionalization present on Instagram.

Keywords: autobiography, visual narratives, representation, fiction, social media

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Authors: Yuri Boiko, Iluju Kiringa, Tet Yeap

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Current drainage attack suggested previously is further studied in regular settings of closed-loop controlled Brushless DC (BLDC) motor with Kalman filter in the feedback loop. Modeling and simulation experiments are conducted in a Matlab environment, implementing the closed-loop control model of BLDC motor operation in position sensorless mode under Kalman filter drive. The current increase in the motor windings is caused by the controller (p-controller in our case) affected by false data injection of substitution of the angular velocity estimates with distorted values. Operation of multiplication to distortion coefficient, values of which are taken from the distortion function synchronized in its periodicity with the rotor’s position change. A saw function with a triangular tooth shape is studied herewith for the purpose of carrying out the bias injection with current drainage consequences. The specific focus here is on how the asymmetry of the tooth in the saw function affects the flow of current drainage. The purpose is two-fold: (i) to produce and collect the signature of an asymmetric saw in the attack for further pattern recognition process, and (ii) to determine conditions of improving stealthiness of such attack via regulating asymmetry in saw function used. It is found that modification of the symmetry in the saw tooth affects the periodicity of current drainage modulation. Specifically, the modulation frequency of the drained current for a fully asymmetric tooth shape coincides with the saw function modulation frequency itself. Increasing the symmetry parameter for the triangle tooth shape leads to an increase in the modulation frequency for the drained current. Moreover, such frequency reaches the switching frequency of the motor windings for fully symmetric triangular shapes, thus becoming undetectable and improving the stealthiness of the attack. Therefore, the collected signatures of the attack can serve for attack parameter identification via the pattern recognition route.

Keywords: bias injection attack, Kalman filter, BLDC motor, control system, closed loop, P-controller, PID-controller, current drainage, saw-function, asymmetry

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Authors: Masimuddin Mohd Khaled

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From the past couple of years, focus has been done on the quality management theories and has been pertained to various firms. The core quality management theories are Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma where a number of documents have already been presented regarding these theories. The purpose of this paper is to study in detail about these theories and how the theories are applied in the aerospace industry. A methodical literature review, comparison of TQM and Six Sigma as well as a case study of each has been carried out in this paper thus providing a clear understanding of the theories.

Keywords: total quality management, six sigma, aerospace, research, innovation

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Authors: Ramzi Bekri Umer

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Aim: This study attempts to investigate the causes and difficulties with women’s incarceration as well as threat for their reintegration after release from prison with emphasis on the correctional facility of Haramaya city. Method and Methodology: Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed in this study; key informant interviews and participant observation were utilized to gather qualitative data, while crosssectional and descriptive research designs were used to gather quantitative data. Findings: This study shows that the women's incarceration was caused by their family histories, genderbased violence, illiteracy, and socioeconomic issues. The principal charges made against the female culprits were theft, vandalism, murder, and moral perversion. A poor quality of life in prison, concerns about family dissolution, emotional instability, financial difficulties, and a lack of spirituality were the main causes of unhappiness for the women behind bars, while social stigma, mistrust, and retaliation fears were the main obstacles to the women's ability to reintegrate into their families and communities. Theoretical Importance: This study involves incarcerated women at correctional center of Haramaya who committed various types of crimes. The local government sectors and non-governmental organization will gain from the study in order to create workable plans to reduce women's criminality and the growing number of female lawbreakers. Local communities and other governmental and nongovernmental partners will be able to support gender equality initiatives that seek to eradicate gender-based violence and discrimination, which worsen the criminality of women. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The quantitative and qualitative data were collected prospectively from a sample of 100 women prisoners. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas, thematic analysis, were used for qualitative data. Question Answered: 1. What are the main causes women’s imprisonment in Haramaya city correctional facility. 2. What are the main obstacles of the women's ability to reintegrate into their families and communities after released from incarceration. Conclusion: The study concludes that incarcerated women experience a tremendous impact on their daily life. It highlights the importance of addressing factors such as family backgrounds, gender-based violence, illiteracy and socio-economic problem to decrease the number of women imprisonment. Detention environment, fear for family breakup, financial hardship and deprivation of spiritual life are the major sources of distress among the incarcerated women.

Keywords: Ethiopia, women prisoner, incarceration, reintegration

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Authors: Khaled Alabduljabbar

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Background: Benign, isolated, recurrent sixth nerve palsy is very rare in children. Here we report a case of recurrent abducens nerve palsy with no obvious etiology. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. A recurrent benign form of 6th nerve palsy, a rarer still palsy, has been described in the literature, and it is of most likely secondary to inflammatory causes, e.g, following viral and bacterial infections. Purpose: To present a case of 14 months old girl with recurrent attacks of isolated left sixth cranial nerve palsy following upper respiratory tract infection. Observation: The patient presented to opthalmology clinic with sudden onset of inward deviation (esotropia) of the left eye with a compensatory left face turn one week following signs of upper respiratory tract infection. Ophthalmological examination revealed large angle esotropia of the left eye in primary position, with complete limitation of abduction of the left eye, no palpebral fissure changes, and abnormal position of the head (left face turn). Visual acuity was normal, and no significant refractive error on cycloplegic refraction for her age. Fundus examination was normal with no evidence of papilledema. There was no relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) and no anisocoria. Past medical history and family history were unremarkable, with no history of convulsion attacks or head trauma. Additional workout include CBC. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Urgent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and angiography of the brain were performed and demonstrated the absence of intracranial and orbital lesions. Referral to pediatric neurologist was also done and concluded no significant finding. The patient showed improvement of the left sixth cranial nerve palsy and left face turn over a period of two months. Seven months since the first attack, she experienced a recurrent attack of left eye esotropia with left face turn concurrent with URTI. The rest of eye examination was again unremarkable. CT scan and MRI scan of brain and orbit were performed and showed only signs of sinusitis with no intracranial pathology. The palsy resolved spontaneously within two months. A third episode of left 6th nerve palsy occurred 6 months later, whichrecovered over one month. Examination and neuroimagingwere unremarkable. A diagnosis of benign recurrent left 6th cranial nerve palsy was made. Conclusion: Benign sixth cranial nerve palsy is always a diagnosis of exclusion given the more serious and life-threatening alternative causes. It seems to have a good prognosis with only supportive measures. The likelihood of benign 6th cranial nerve palsy to resolve completely and spontaneously is high. Observation for at least 6 months without intervention is advisable.

Keywords: 6th nerve pasy, abducens nerve pasy, recurrent nerve palsy, cranial nerve palsy

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Authors: Massimiliano Nastri

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The study examines the façade systems according to the constitutive and typological characters, as well as the functional and applicative requirements such as the expressive, constructive, and interactive criteria towards the environmental, perceptive, and energy conditions. The envelope systems are understood as instruments of mediation, interchange, and dynamic interaction between environmental conditions. The façades are observed for the sustainable concept of eco-efficient envelopes, selective and multi-purpose filters, adaptable and adjustable according to the environmental performance.

Keywords: typologies of façades, environmental and energy sustainability, interaction and perceptive mediation, technical skins

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Authors: M. E. Razipoor, T. Masunaga, K. Sato, M. S. Saboory

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Estimation of soil erosion is economically and environmentally important in Herat, Afghanistan. Degradation of soil has negative impact (decreased soil fertility, destroyed soil structure, and consequently soil sealing and crusting) on life of Herat residents. Water and wind are the main erosive factors causing soil erosion in Herat. Furthermore, scarce vegetation cover, exacerbated by socioeconomic constraint, and steep slopes accelerate soil erosion. To sustain soil productivity and reduce soil erosion impact on human life, due to sustaining agricultural production and auditing the environment, it is needed to quantify the magnitude and extent of soil erosion in a spatial domain. Thus, this study aims to estimate soil loss potential and its spatial distribution in Herat, Afghanistan by applying RUSLE in GIS environment. The rainfall erosivity factor ranged between values of 125 and 612 (MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1). Soil erodibility factor varied from 0.036 to 0.073 (Mg h MJ-1 mm-1). Slope length and steepness factor (LS) values were between 0.03 and 31.4. The vegetation cover factor (C), derived from NDVI analysis of Landsat-8 OLI scenes, resulting in range of 0.03 to 1. Support practice factor (P) were assigned to a value of 1, since there is not significant mitigation practices in the study area. Soil erosion potential map was the product of these factors. Mean soil erosion rate of Herat Province was 29 Mg ha-1 year-1 that ranged from 0.024 Mg ha-1 year-1 in flat areas with dense vegetation cover to 778 Mg ha-1 year-1 in sharp slopes with high rainfall but least vegetation cover. Based on land cover map of Afghanistan, areas with soil loss rate higher than soil loss tolerance (8 Mg ha-1 year-1) occupies 98% of Forests, 81% rangelands, 64% barren lands, 60% rainfed lands, 28% urban area and 18% irrigated Lands.

Keywords: Afghanistan, erosion, GIS, Herat, RUSLE

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Authors: Kristina Zuzek, Xuan Xu, Awais Ikram, Richard Sheridan, Allan Walton, Saso Sturm

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Recycling of end-of-life REEs based Nd-Fe-B magnets is an important strategy for reducing the environmental dangers associated with rare-earth mining and overcoming the well-documented supply risks related to the REEs. However, challenges on their reprocessing still remain. We report on the possibility of direct electrochemical recycling and reprocessing of Nd-Fe(B)-based magnets. In this investigation, we were able first to electrochemically leach the end-of-life NdFeB magnet and to electrodeposit Nd–Fe using a 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium dicyanamide ([EMIM][DCA]) ionic liquid-based electrolyte. We observed that Nd(III) could not be reduced independently. However, it can be co-deposited on a substrate with the addition of Fe(II). Using advanced TEM techniques of electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) it was shown that Nd(III) is reduced to Nd(0) during the electrodeposition process. This gave a new insight into determining the Nd oxidation state, as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has certain limitations. This is because the binding energies of metallic Nd (Nd0) and neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) are very close, i. e., 980.5-981.5 eV and 981.7-982.3 eV, respectively, making it almost impossible to differentiate between the two states. These new insights into the electrodeposition process represent an important step closer to efficient recycling of rare piles of earth in metallic form at mild temperatures, thus providing an alternative to high-temperature molten-salt electrolysis and a step closer to deposit Nd-Fe-based magnetic materials. Further, we propose a new concept of recycling the sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets by direct recovering the 2:14:1 matrix phase. Via an electrochemical etching method, we are able to recover pure individual 2:14:1 grains that can be re-used for new types of magnet production. In the frame of physical reprocessing, we have successfully synthesized new magnets out of hydrogen (HDDR)-recycled stocks with a contemporary technique of pulsed electric current sintering (PECS). The optimal PECS conditions yielded fully dense Nd-Fe-B magnets with the coercivity Hc = 1060 kA/m, which was boosted to 1160 kA/m after the post-PECS thermal treatment. The Br and Hc were tackled further and increased applied pressures of 100 – 150 MPa resulted in Br = 1.01 T. We showed that with a fine tune of the PECS and post-annealing it is possible to revitalize the Nd-Fe-B end-of-life magnets. By applying advanced TEM, i.e. atomic-scale Z-contrast STEM combined with EDXS and EELS, the resulting magnetic properties were critically assessed against various types of structural and compositional discontinuities down to atomic-scale, which we believe control the microstructure evolution during the PECS processing route.

Keywords: electrochemistry, Nd-Fe-B, pulsed electric current sintering, recycling, reprocessing

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Authors: Marybec Griffin

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Purpose: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to get a better understanding of healthcare usage and satisfaction among young adult gay men (YAGM), including the facility used as the usual source of healthcare, preference for coordinated healthcare, and if their primary care provider (PCP) adequately addressed the health needs of gay men. Methods: Interviews were conducted among n=800 YAGM in New York City (NYC). Participants were surveyed about their sociodemographic characteristics and healthcare usage and satisfaction access using multivariable logistic regression models. The surveys were conducted between November 2015 and June 2016. Results: The mean age of the sample was 24.22 years old (SD=4.26). The racial and ethnic background of the participants is as follows: 35.8% (n=286) Black Non-Hispanic, 31.9% (n=225) Hispanic/Latino, 20.5% (n=164) White Non-Hispanic, 4.4% (n=35) Asian/Pacific Islander, and 6.9% (n=55) reporting some other racial or ethnic background. 31.1% (n=249) of the sample had an income below $14,999. 86.7% (n=694) report having either public or private health insurance. For usual source of healthcare, 44.6% (n=357) of the sample reported a private doctor’s office, 16.3% (n=130) reported a community health center, and 7.4% (n=59) reported an urgent care facility, and 7.6% (n=61) reported not having a usual source of healthcare. 56.4% (n=451) of the sample indicated a preference for coordinated healthcare. 54% (n=334) of the sample were very satisfied with their healthcare. Findings from multivariable logistical regression models indicate that participants with higher incomes (AOR=0.54, 95% CI 0.36-0.81, p < 0.01) and participants with a PCP (AOR=0.12, 95% CI 0.07-0.20, p < 0.001) were less likely to use a walk-in facility as their usual source of healthcare. Results from the second multivariable logistic regression model indicated that participants who experienced discrimination in a healthcare setting were less likely to prefer coordinated healthcare (AOR=0.63, 95% CI 0.42-0.96, p < 0.05). In the final multivariable logistic model, results indicated that participants who had disclosed their sexual orientation to their PCP (AOR=2.57, 95% CI 1.25-5.21, p < 0.01) and were comfortable discussing their sexual activity with their PCP (AOR=8.04, 95% CI 4.76-13.58, p < 0.001) were more likely to agree that their PCP adequately addressed the healthcare needs of gay men. Conclusion: Understanding healthcare usage and satisfaction among YAGM is necessary as the healthcare landscape changes, especially given the relatively recent addition of urgent care facilities. The type of healthcare facility used as a usual source of care influences the ability to seek comprehensive and coordinated healthcare services. While coordinated primary and sexual healthcare may be ideal, individual preference for this coordination among YAGM is desired but may be limited due to experiences of discrimination in primary care settings.

Keywords: healthcare policy, gay men, healthcare access, Affordable Care Act

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Authors: Ayesha Iftikhar, Faisal Hafeez, Muhammad Jawad Saleem, Afifa Naeem, Muhammad Sohaib

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To further develop integrated pest management (IPM) tactics against insect pests, demographic toxicology is considered important and efficient to evaluate the long-term effects of pesticides on biological control agents. In this study, lethal and sub-lethal effects of Pyriproxyfen (insect growth regulator) two concentrations of LC10 and LC30 were tested on second instar larvae of convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens (Goeze) in order to evaluate the effect of insecticide on demographic parameters of the predator under laboratory conditions. The life table parameters were analysed statistically by using age-stage, two sex life table procedure. The results of this study show that developmental time for immature was prolonged in treated population (LC30 and LC10) rather than in control. Similarly, male and female longevity was also longer in the control group as compared to the treated population. Adult pre-oviposition period and fecundity were also greater in control as compared to the treated population. In addition, population parameters such as net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (λ) were also greater in control group rather than treated population. However, mean generation time (T) was greater in the treated group. The results revealed that pyriproxyfen, even at low concentrations, has potential to greatly affect the population growth of predatory lady beetle, therefore care should be taken when insect growth regulators are used within an IPM framework.

Keywords: ladybird beetle, IGR, integrated pest management, population inhibition

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Authors: Shreya Borthakur, Adhar Sharma

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The North-east states of India are well known for their age-old practice of preparing alcoholic beer from rice and millet. They do so in a traditional way by sprinkling starter cake (inoculum) on cooked rice or millet after which the fermentation starts and eventually, forms the beer. This starter cake has a rich composition of different microbes and medicinal herbs along with the powdered rice dough or maize dough with rice bran. The starter cake microbial composition has an important role in determining the microbial succession and metabolic secretions as the fermentation proceeds from the early to its late stage, thus, giving the beer a unique aroma, taste, and other sensory properties of traditionally prepared beer. Here, We have worked on identifying and characterizing the microbial community in the starter cakes prepared by the Monpa and Galo tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 18 microbial strains have been isolated from the starter cake of Monpa tribe, while 10 microbial isolates in that of Galo tribe. A metagenomic approach was applied to enumerate the cultural and non-cultural microbes present in the starter cakes prepared by the Monpa and Galo tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. The findings of the mini-project lays foundation to understand the role of microbes present in the starter cake in the beer’s fermentation process and will aide in future research on re-formulating the starter cakes to prevent the early spoilage of the ready to consume beer as the traditional rice beer has a short shelf-life. The paper concludes with the way forward being controlled CRISPR-Cas9.

Keywords: fermentation, traditional beer, microbial succession, preservation, CRISPR-Cas, food microbiology

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Authors: Chan Hui-Ya, Ding Shin-Tan

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Background and Aim: The discharge planning is considered helpful to reduce the hospital length of stay and readmission rate, and then increased satisfaction with healthcare for patients and professionals. In order to decrease the waiting time of long-term care and boost the care quality of patients after discharge from the hospital, the Ministry of Health and Welfare department in Taiwan initiates a program “discharge planning connects with long-term care 2.0 services” in 2017. The purpose of this study is to investigate the outcome of the pilot of this program in a medical center. Methods: By purpose sampling, the study chose five wards in a medical center as pilot units. The researchers compared the beds of service, the numbers of cases which were transferred to the long-term care center and transferred rates per month between the pilot units and the other units, and analyze the basic data, the long-term care service needs and the approval service items of cases transfer to the long-term care center in pilot units. Results: From June to September 2017, a total of 92 referrals were made, and 51 patients were enrolled into the pilot program. There is a significant difference of transferring rate between the pilot units and the other units (χ = 702.6683, p < 0.001). Only 20 cases (39.2% success rate) were approved to accept the parts of service items of long-term care in the pilot units. The most approval item was respite care service (n = 13; 65%), while it was third at needs ranking of service lists during linking services process. Among the reasons of patients who cancelled the request, 38.71% reasons were related to the services which could not match the patients’ needs and expectation. Conclusion: The results indicate there is a requirement to modify the long-term care services to fit the needs of cases. The researchers suggest estimating the potential cases by screening data from hospital informatics systems and to hire more case manager according the service time of potential cases. Meanwhile, the strategies shortened the assessment scale and authorized hospital case managers to approve some items of long-term care should be considered.

Keywords: discharge planning, long-term care, case manager, patient care

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Authors: Paria Tajabor, Azin Azarbani

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The purpose of this research study is exploring two kind of semantic repositories with regards to various factors to find the best approaches that an artificial manager can use to produce ontology in a system based on their interaction, association and research. To this end, as the best way to evaluate each system and comparing with others is analysis, several benchmarking over these two repositories were examined. These two semantic repositories: OWLIM and AllegroGraph will be the main core of this study. The general objective of this study is to be able to create an efficient and cost-effective manner reports which is required to support decision making in any large enterprise.

Keywords: OWLIM, allegrograph, RDF, reasoning, semantic repository, semantic-web, SPARQL, ontology, query

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Authors: Madeline W. Miller

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The global textile industry produces pollutants in the form of liquid discharge, solid waste, and emissions into the natural environment. Textile waste resulting from garment production and other manufacturing processes makes a significant contribution to the amount of waste landfilled globally. While the majority of curbside and other convenient recycling methods cater to post-consumer paper and plastics, pre-consumer textile waste is often discarded with trash and is commonly classified as ‘other’ in municipal solid waste breakdowns. On a larger scale, many clothing manufacturers and other companies utilizing textiles have not yet identified or began using the most sustainable methods for discarding their post-industrial, pre-consumer waste. To lessen the amount of waste sent to landfills, there are post-industrial, pre-consumer textile waste recycling methods that can be used to give textiles a new life. This process requires that textile and garment manufacturers redirect their waste to companies that use industrial machinery to shred or fiberize these materials in preparation for their second life. The goal of this literature review is to identify the recycling and reuse challenges faced by producers within the clothing and textile industry that prevent these companies from utilizing the described recycling methods, causing them to opt for landfill. The literature analyzed in this review reflects manufacturer sentiments toward waste disposal and recycling. The results of this review indicate that the cost of logistics is the determining factor when it comes to companies recycling their pre-consumer textile waste and that the most applicable and successful textile waste recycling methods require a company separate from the manufacturer to account for waste production, provide receptacles for waste, arrange waste transport, and identify a secondary use for the material at a price-point below that of traditional waste disposal service.

Keywords: leadership demographics, post-industrial textile waste, pre-consumer textile waste, industrial shoddy

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Authors: Ademilade J. Aboginije, Clinton O. Aigbavboa

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South Africa is among the emerging economy, which has a policy and suitable environment that dynamically stimulates waste management practices of diverting waste away from landfill through prevention, reuse, recycling, and recovery known as the 4R-approaches. The focus of this paper is to investigate the existing structures and processes that are environmentally responsible, then determine the resource-efficiency of the waste management practices in the South Africa construction industry. This paper indicates the results of an investigation carried out by using a systematic review of several related literatures to assess the sustainability of waste management scenarios with secondary material recovery to pinpoint all influential criteria and consequently, highlights a step by step approach to adequately analyze the process by using the indicators that can clearly and fully value the waste management practices in South Africa. Furthermore, a life cycle Analytical tool is used to support the development of a framework which can be applied in measuring the sustainability of existing waste management practices in South Africa. Finding shows that sustainable C&D waste management practices stance a great prospect far more noticeable in terms of job creation and opportunities, saving cost and conserving natural resources when incorporated, especially in the process of recycling and reusing of C&D waste materials in several construction projects in South Africa. However, there are problems such as; inadequacy of waste to energy plants, low compliances to policies and sustainable principles, lack of enough technical capacities confronting the effectiveness of the current waste management practices. Thus, with the increase in the pursuit of sustainable development in most developing countries, this paper determines how sustainability can be measured and used in top-level decision-making policy within construction and demolition waste management for a sustainable built environment.

Keywords: construction industry, green-star rating, life-cycle analysis, sustainability, zero-waste hierarchy

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Authors: Tae Bo Jeon

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Korean air force is undertaking a big project to replace prevailing hundreds of old air fighters such as F-4, F-5, KF-16 etc. The task is to develop and produce domestic fighters equipped with 2 complete-type engines each. A large number of engines, however, will be purchased as products from a foreign engine maker. In addition to the fighters themselves, secure the proper number of spare engines serves a significant role in maintaining combat readiness and effectively managing the national defense budget due to high cost. In this paper, we presented a model dynamically updating spare engine requirements. Currently, the military administration purchases all the fighters, engines, and spare engines at acquisition stage and does not have additional procurement processes during the life cycle, 30-40 years. With the assumption that procurement procedure during the operational stage is established, our model starts from the initial estimate of spare engine requirements based on limited information. The model then performs military missions and repair/maintenance works when necessary. During operation, detailed field information - aircraft repair and test, engine repair, planned maintenance, administration time, transportation pipeline between base, field, and depot etc., - should be considered for actual engine requirements. At the end of each year, the performance measure is recorded and proceeds to next year when it shows higher the threshold set. Otherwise, additional engine(s) will be bought and added to the current system. We repeat the process for the life cycle period and compare the results. The proposed model is seen to generate far better results appropriately adding spare engines thus avoiding possible undesirable situations. Our model may well be applied to future air force military operations.

Keywords: DMSMS, operational availability, METRIC, PRS

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Authors: Sisaynew Tesfaw Admassu

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The strengthening of timber beams can be necessary for several reasons including the increase of live loads (possible in a historical building for a change of destination of use or upgrading to meet new requirements), the reduction of the resistant cross-sections following deterioration (attacks of biological agents such as fungi, and insects) or traumatic events (fires) and the excess of deflection in the members. The main purpose of strengthening an element is not merely to repair it, but also to prevent and minimize the appearance of future problems. This study did an experimental investigation on the behavior of reference and strengthened solid timber beams. The strengthening materials used in this study were CSM-450 glass fiber and steel materials for both flexural and shear strengthening techniques. Twenty-two solid timber beams of Juniperus procera (TID) species with the dimensions of 60 x 90 x 780 mm were used in the present study. The binding material to bond the strengthening materials with timber was general-purpose resin with Luperox® K10 MEKP catalyst. Three beams were used as control beams (unstrengthen beams) while the remaining nineteen beams were strengthened using the strengthening materials for flexure and shear. All the beams were tested for three points loading to failure by using a Universal Testing Machine, UTM-600kN machine. The experimental results showed that the strengthened beams performed better than the unstrengthen beams. The experimental result of flexural strengthened beams showed that the load-bearing capacity of strengthened beams increased between 16.34 – 42.55%. Four layers of Glass Fiber Reinforced polymer on the tension side of the beams was shown to be the most effective way to enhance load-bearing capacity. The strengthened beams also have an enhancement in their flexural stiffness. The stiffness of flexural strengthened beams was increased between 1.18 – 65.53% as compared to the control beams. The highest increment in stiffness has occurred on beams strengthened using 2x60 mm steel plates. The shear-strengthened beams showed a relatively small amount of performance as compared to flexural-strengthened beams; the reason is that the beams are sufficient for shear. The polyester resin used in the experimental work showed good performance in bonding agents between materials. The resin showed more effectiveness in GFRP materials than steel materials.

Keywords: heritage structures, strengthening, stiffness, adhesive, polyester resin, steel plates

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Authors: Chasity O'Connell

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The use of social media and networking sites play a significant role in the lives of adolescents and adults. While research supports that social support and connectedness in general is beneficial; the nature of communication and interaction through social media and its subsequent benefits and impacts could be arguably different. As such, this research aims to explore a specific facet of social media interaction called fear of missing out, or 'FOMO' and investigate its relationship within the context of life stressors, social media usage, anxiety and depressive-symptoms, mindfulness, and psychological well-being. FOMO is the 'uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you’re missing out—that your peers are doing, in the know about, or in possession of more or something better than you'. Research suggests that FOMO can influence an individual’s level of engagement with friends and social media consumption, drive decisions on participating in various online or offline activities, and ultimately impact mental health. This study hopes to explore the potentially mitigating influence of mindfulness and values-based interventions in reducing the discomfort and distress that can accompany FOMO and increase the sense of psychological well-being in allowing for a more thoughtful and deliberate engagement in life. This study will include an intervention component wherein participants (comprised of university students and adults in the community) will partake in a six-week, group-based intervention focusing on learning practical mindfulness skills and values-exploration exercises (along with a waitlist control group). In doing so, researchers hope to understand if interventions centered on increasing one’s awareness of the present moment and one’s internal values impact decision-making and well-being with regard to social interaction and relationships.

Keywords: FOMO, mindfulness, values, stress, psychological well-being, intervention, distress

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Maria Lucia G. Lourenco, Keylla H. N. P. Pereira, Vivane Y. Hibaru, Fabiana F. Souza, Joao C. P. Ferreira, Simone B. Chiacchio, Luiz H. A. Machado

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Neonatal sepsis is a systemic response to the acute generalized infection caused by one or more bacterial agents, representing the main infectious cause of neonatal mortality in dogs during the first three weeks of life. This study aims to describe the incidence of sepsis in neonate dogs, as well as the main clinical signs and mortality rates. The study included 735 neonates admitted to the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) Veterinary Hospital, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil, between January 2018 and November 2019. Seven hundred thirty-five neonates, 14% (98/703) presented neonatal sepsis. The main sources of infection for the neonates were intrauterine (72.5%, 71/98), lactogenic (13.2%, 13/98), umbilical (5.1%, 5/98) and unidentified sources (9.2%, 9/98). The main non-specific clinical signs observed in the newborns were weakness, depression, impaired or absent reflexes, hypothermia, hypoglycemia, dehydration, reduced muscle tonus and diarrhea. The newborns also manifested clinical signs of severe infection, such as hyperemia in the abdominal and anal regions, omphalitis, hematuria, abdomen and extremities with purplish-blue coloration necrosing injuries in the pads, bradycardia, dyspnea, epistaxis, hypotension and evolution to septic shock. Infections acquired during intrauterine life led to the onset of the clinical signs at the time of birth, with fast evolution during the first hours of life. On the other hand, infections acquired via milk or umbilical cord presented clinical signs later. The total mortality rate was 5.4% (38/703) and the mortality rate among the neonates with sepsis was 38.7% (38/98). The early mortality rate (0 to 2 days) accounted for 86.9% (33/38) and the late mortality rate (3 to 30 days) for 13.1% (5/38) of the deaths among the newborns with sepsis. The main bacterial agents observed were Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Proteus spp. Mannheimia spp. and Escherichia coli. Neonatal sepsis evolves quickly and may lead to high mortality in a litter. The prognosis is usually favorable if the diagnosis is reached early and the antibiotic therapy instituted as soon as possible, even before the results of blood cultures and antibiograms. The therapeutic recommendations should meet the special physiological conditions of a neonate in terms of metabolism and excretion of medication. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the veterinarian is knowledgeable regarding neonatology to provide effective intervention and improve the survival rates of these patients.

Keywords: Neonatal infection , bacteria, puppies, newborn

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Authors: Eve-Andree Laramee

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The aesthetics and ethics of the Nuclear Anthropocene are explored through artists responses to the impact of radioactive materials on ecological systems, global issues, energy policies and ourselves. This presentation tracks and reveals the invisible traces of the nuclear weapons complex and the nuclear energy industry, in relation to environmental justice. Radioactive pollution transgresses international borders, boundaries between land and water, contaminating ecological systems. Radioactive waste is never disposed of; it is dispositioned, placed out of sight and out of mind. These materials leave behind an invisible toxic legacy lasting millions of years. As we are learning post-Fukushima, when climate change occurs and vulnerability spectrums shift, nuclear sites and the life forms surrounding them are at increased risk. By visualizing this contamination through art installations, videos, and social-sculpture interventions, information is shared with the public, raising awareness, and activating community participation in remediation and nonproliferation efforts. The emerging Ecological Art genre proposes paradigms sustainable with the life forms and resources of our planet. It is comprised of artists, scientists, philosophers and activists devoted to these. EcoArt is distinguished by a focus on systems and interrelationships within our environment: the ecological, geographic, political, biological and cultural. This presentation will cover artworks addressing the recent Fukushima meltdowns, weapons proliferation, climate change, radioactive waste disposal and environmental justice. Possibilities for art-and-science collaborations will be discussed as projects that sharpen our ethics and politics in our behaviors and social interactions. The presentation will consist of a PowerPoint talk (paper presentation) accompanied by images and video clips.

Keywords: art, ecology, environment, anthropocene, nuclear

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Authors: Syed Romat Ali Shah, Bilal Shoaib, Saleem Akhtar, Munib Ahmad, Shahan Sadiqui

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Classification is a data mining technique, which is recognizedon Machine Learning (ML) algorithm. It is used to classifythe individual articlein a knownofinformation into a set of predefinemodules or group. Web mining is also a portion of that sympathetic of data mining methods. The main purpose of this paper to analysis and compare the performance of Naïve Bayse Algorithm, Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Artificial Neural Network (ANN)and Support Vector Machine (SVM). This paper consists of different ML algorithm and their advantages and disadvantages and also define research issues.

Keywords: Data Mining, Web Mining, classification, ML Algorithms

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Authors: Odeyemi Ifeoluwayemi, Maha Joushua, Fulani Omoyeni

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In the search for sustainability, over time, architectural approaches to design have moved from just nature inspired design to the study of nature’s principles to produce effective designs that solve the issue of sustainability. Nature has established materials, shapes and processes that are effective right from a minor scale to an enormous scale. A branch of human knowledge that studies nature is called biology. Biology helps us to grasp and understand nature. Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature, based not on what we can extract from the natural world but on what we can learn from it. Life has sustained on the earth for the last 3.85 billion years, and it is necessary for us to find out how life has been able to stay sustained for that long. The building must teach the society new ecological morals, thus, a better understanding of how nature works can usefully inspire architectural designs to resolve issues that have already been resolved by nature. This will not only help in creating a healthy environment but will also produce positive environmental impacts. Biomimetic Architecture connects and reproduces the ideologies found in nature in order to create built environment which benefit people and other living creatures as well as preserving it for the future. Understanding the bioprocess would lead to the establishment of ecological approaches that serve as a platform for creating a built environment that goes beyond sustaining current settings but also mimic nature’s regenerative ecosystem. This paper aims to explain these design methods under the name of biomimicry and biomimetic architecture by reviewing literature and research works done by examining these approaches classified as forms, processes and ecosystems. It is expected that this research will provide information that would, therefore, lead to the creation of buildings that are eco-friendly and provide greater comfort to the populaces.

Keywords: biomimetic architecture, biomimicry, ecological design, nature

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Authors: Melina Kopke, Jelle Van Dijk

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Persons with cognitive disabilities, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often dependent on some form of professional support. Recent transformations in Dutch healthcare have spurred institutions to apply new, empowering methods and tools to enable their clients to cope (more) independently in daily life. Assistive Technologies (ATs) seem promising as empowering tools. While ATs can, functionally speaking, help people to perform certain activities without human assistance, we hold that, from a design-theoretical perspective, such technologies often fail to empower in a deeper sense. Most technologies serve either to prescribe or to monitor users’ actions, which in some sense objectifies them, rather than strengthening their agency. This paper proposes that theories of embodied interaction could help formulating a design vision in which interactive assistive devices augment, rather than replace, human agency and thereby add to a persons’ empowerment in daily life settings. It aims to close the gap between empowerment theory and the opportunities provided by assistive technologies, by showing how embodiment and empowerment theory can be applied in practice in the design of new, interactive assistive devices. Taking a Research-through-Design approach, we conducted a case study of designing to support independently living people with ASD with structuring daily activities. In three iterations we interlaced design action, active involvement and prototype evaluations with future end-users and healthcare professionals, and theoretical reflection. Our co-design sessions revealed the issue of handling daily activities being multidimensional. Not having the ability to self-manage one’s daily life has immense consequences on one’s self-image, and also has major effects on the relationship with professional caregivers. Over the course of the project relevant theoretical principles of both embodiment and empowerment theory together with user-insights, informed our design decisions. This resulted in a system of wireless light units that users can program as a reminder for tasks, but also to record and reflect on their actions. The iterative process helped to gradually refine and reframe our growing understanding of what it concretely means for a technology to empower a person in daily life. Drawing on the case study insights we propose a set of concrete design principles that together form what we call the embodied empowerment design framework. The framework includes four main principles: Enabling ‘reflection-in-action’; making information ‘publicly available’ in order to enable co-reflection and social coupling; enabling the implementation of shared reflections into an ‘endurable-external feedback loop’ embedded in the persons familiar ’lifeworld’; and nudging situated actions with self-created action-affordances. In essence, the framework aims for the self-development of a suitable routine, or ‘situated practice’, by building on a growing shared insight of what works for the person. The framework, we propose, may serve as a starting point for AT designers to create truly empowering interactive products. In a set of follow-up projects involving the participation of persons with ASD, Intellectual Disabilities, Dementia and Acquired Brain Injury, the framework will be applied, evaluated and further refined.

Keywords: assistive technology, design, embodiment, empowerment

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Authors: Pradeep M. C. Chand

Abstract:

Virtual infrastructure initiatives often spring from data center server consolidation projects, which focus on reducing existing infrastructure “box count”, retiring older hardware or life-extending legacy applications. Server consolidation benefits result from a reduction in the overall number of systems and related recurring costs (power, cooling, rack space, etc.) and also helps in the reduction of heat to the environment.

Keywords: server virtualization, data center, consolidation, project

Procedia PDF Downloads 530

Authors: Abhijit Trailokya

Abstract:

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD’s) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. Many clinical trials have demonstrated that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering, reduces the incidence of coronary and cerebrovascular events across a broad spectrum of patients at risk. Guidelines for the management of patients at risk have been established in Europe and North America. The guidelines have advocated progressively lower LDL-C targets and more aggressive use of statin therapy. In Indian patients, comprehensive data on dyslipidemia management and its treatment outcomes are inadequate. There is lack of information on existing treatment patterns, the patient’s profile being treated, and factors that determine treatment success or failure in achieving desired goals. Purpose: The present study was planned to determine the lipid control status in high-risk dyslipidemic patients treated with lipid-lowering therapy in India. Methods: This cross-sectional, non-interventional, single visit program was conducted across 483 sites in India where male and female patients with high-risk dyslipidemia aged 18 to 65 years who had visited for a routine health check-up to their respective physician at hospital or a healthcare center. Percentage of high-risk dyslipidemic patients achieving adequate LDL-C level (< 70 mg/dL) on lipid-lowering therapy and the association of lipid parameters with patient characteristics, comorbid conditions, and lipid lowering drugs were analysed. Results: 3089 patients were enrolled in the study; of which 64% were males. LDL-C data was available for 95.2% of the patients; only 7.7% of these patients achieved LDL-C levels < 70 mg/dL on lipid-lowering therapy, which may be due to inability to follow therapeutic plans, poor compliance, or inadequate counselling by physician. The physician’s lack of awareness about recent treatment guidelines also might contribute to patients’ poor adherence, not explaining adequately the benefit and risks of a medication, not giving consideration to the patient’s life style and the cost of medication. Statin was the most commonly used anti-dyslipidemic drug across population. The higher proportion of patients had the comorbid condition of CVD and diabetes mellitus across all dyslipidemic patients. Conclusion: As per the European Society of Cardiology guidelines the ideal LDL-C levels in high risk dyslipidemic patients should be less than 70%. In the present study, 7.7% of the patients achieved LDL-C levels < 70 mg/dL on lipid lowering therapy which is very less. Most of high risk dyslipidemic patients in India are on suboptimal dosage of statin. So more aggressive and high dosage statin therapy may be required to achieve target LDLC levels in high risk Indian dyslipidemic patients.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, LDL-C, lipid lowering drug, statins

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Authors: Kiyohiro Yamazaki

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis explaining the mechanism in the case, where the product is deleted or reduced the fundamental function of the product through the product concept changes in the digital camera industry. This paper points out not owning the fundamental technology might cause the change of the product concept. Casio could create new competitive factor so that this paper discusses a possibility of the mechanism of changing the product concept.

Keywords: firm without fundamental technology, product development, product concept, digital camera industry, Casio

Procedia PDF Downloads 563