Search results for: structural analysis

Authors: Mohamed Habireche, Nacer E. Bacha, Mohamed Djeghdjough

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In the brick industry, smooth double roll crusher is used for medium and fine crushing of soft to medium hard material. Due to opposite inward rotation of the rolls, the feed material is nipped between the rolls and crushed by compression. They are subject to intense wear, known as three-body abrasion, due to the action of abrasive products. The production downtime affecting productivity stems from two sources: the bi-monthly rectification of the roll crushers and their replacement when they are completely worn out. Choosing the right material for the roll crushers should result in longer machine cycles, and reduced repair and maintenance costs. All roll crushers are imported from outside Algeria. This results in sometimes very long delivery times which handicap the brickyards, in particular in respecting delivery times and honored the orders made by customers. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of alloying additions on microstructure and wear behavior of grey lamellar cast iron for smooth roll crushers in brick industry. The base gray iron was melted in an induction furnace with low frequency at a temperature of 1500 °C, in which return cast iron scrap, new cast iron ingot, and steel scrap were added to the melt to generate the desired composition. The chemical analysis of the bar samples was carried out using Emission Spectrometer Systems PV 8050 Series (Philips) except for the carbon, for which a carbon/sulphur analyser Elementrac CS-i was used. Unetched microstructure was used to evaluate the graphite flake morphology using the image comparison measurement method. At least five different fields were selected for quantitative estimation of phase constituents. The samples were observed under X100 magnification with a Zeiss Axiover T40 MAT optical microscope equipped with a digital camera. SEM microscope equipped with EDS was used to characterize the phases present in the microstructure. The hardness (750 kg load, 5mm diameter ball) was measured with a Brinell testing machine for both treated and as-solidified condition test pieces. The test bars were used for tensile strength and metallographic evaluations. Mechanical properties were evaluated using tensile specimens made as per ASTM E8 standards. Two specimens were tested for each alloy. From each rod, a test piece was made for the tensile test. The results showed that the quenched and tempered alloys had best wear resistance at 400 °C for alloyed grey cast iron (containing 0.62%Mn, 0.68%Cr, and 1.09% Cu) due to fine carbides in the tempered matrix. In quenched and tempered condition, increasing Cu content in cast irons improved its wear resistance moderately. Combined addition of Cu and Cr increases hardness and wear resistance for a quenched and tempered hypoeutectic grey cast iron.

Keywords: casting, cast iron, microstructure, heat treating

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Authors: Minjung Maing, Sibei Liu

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This research discusses the results of a study of window opening behavior of large housing developments in the high-density megacity of Hong Kong. The methods used for the study involved field observations using photo documentation of the four cardinal elevations (north, south-east, and west) of two large housing developments in a very dense urban area of approx. 46,000 persons per square meter within the city of Hong Kong. The targeted housing developments (A and B) are large public housing with a population of about 13,000 in each development of lower income. However, the mean income level in development A is about 40% higher than development B and home ownership is 60% in development A and 0% in development B. Mapping of the surrounding amenities and layout of the developments were also studied to understand the available activities to the residents. The photo documentation of the elevations was taken from November 2016 to February 2018 to gather a full spectrum of different seasons and both in the morning and afternoon (am/pm) times. From the photograph, the window opening behavior was measured by counting the amount of windows opened as a percentage of all the windows on that façade. For each date of survey data collected, weather data was recorded from weather stations located in the same region to collect temperature, humidity and wind speed. To further understand the behavior, simulation studies of microclimate conditions of the housing development was conducted using the software ENVI-met, a widely used simulation tool by researchers studying urban climate. Four major conclusions can be drawn from the data analysis and simulation results. Firstly, there is little change in the amount of window opening during the different seasons within a temperature range of 10 to 35 degrees Celsius. This means that people who tend to open their windows have consistent window opening behavior throughout the year and high tolerance of indoor thermal conditions. Secondly, for all four elevations the lower-income development B opened more windows (almost two times more units) than higher-income development A meaning window opening behavior had strong correlations with income level. Thirdly, there is a lack of correlation between outdoor horizontal wind speed and window opening behavior, as the changes of wind speed do not seem to affect the action of opening windows in most conditions. Similar to the low correlation between horizontal wind speed and window opening percentage, it is found that vertical wind speed also cannot explain the window opening behavior of occupants. Fourthly, there is a slightly higher average of window opening on the south elevation than the north elevation, which may be due to the south elevation being well shaded from high angle sun during the summer and allowing heat into units from lower angle sun during the winter season. These findings are important to providing insight into how to better design urban environments and indoor thermal environments for a liveable high density city.

Keywords: high-density housing, subtropical climate, urban behavior, window opening

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Authors: Santiagomani Alex Parimalam

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Lack of awareness on the consequences of open defecation and myths and misconceptions related to use of toilets have led to the continued practice of open defecation in India. Government of India initiated a multi-pronged intensive communication campaign against the practice of open defecation in the last few years. The primary vision of this communication campaign was to provide increased demand for toilets and to ensure that all have access to safe sanitation. The campaign strategy included the use of mass media, group and folk media, and interpersonal communication to expedite achieving its objectives. The campaign included the use of various media such as posters, wall writings, slides in cinema theatres, kiosks, pamphlets, newsletters, flip charts and folk media to bring behavioural changes in the communities. The author did a concurrent monitoring and process documentation of the campaigns initiated by the state of Tamilnandu, India between 2013 and 2016 commissioned by UNICEF India. The study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of the communication campaigns in combating the practice of open defecation and promote construction of toilets in the state of Tamilnadu, India. Initial findings revealed the gap in understanding the audience and the use of appropriate media. The first phase of the communication campaign by name as Chi Chi Chollapa (bringing shame concept) also revealed that use of interpersonal communication, group and community media were the most effective strategy in reaching the rural masses. The failure of various other media used especially the print media (poster, handbills, newsletter, kiosks) provides insights as to where the government needs to invest its resources in bringing health-seeking behaviour in the community. The findings shared with the government enabled to strengthen the campaign resulting in improved response. Taking cues from the study, the government understood the potency of the women, school children, youth and community leaders as the effective carriers of the message. The government narrowed down its focus and invested on the voluntary workers (village poverty reduction committee workers VPRCs) in the community. The effectiveness of interpersonal communication and peer education by the credible community worker threw light on the need for localising the content and communicator. From this study, we could derive that only community and group media are preferred by the people in the rural community. Children, youth, women, and credible local leaders are proved to be ambassadors in behaviour change communication. This study discloses the lacunae involved in the communication campaign and points out that the state should have carried out a proper communication need analysis and piloting. The study used a survey method with random sampling. The study used both quantitative and qualitative tools such as interview schedules, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions in rural areas of Tamilnadu in phases. The findings of the study would provide directions to future campaigns to any campaign concerning health and rural development.

Keywords: appropriate, communication, combating, open defecation

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Authors: Abdullah S. Alghamdi, Khaled Alghamdi, Richard O. Jenkins, Parvez I. Haris

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Background: Quantity and quality of sleep have been reported to be significant risk factors for obesity and development of metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The relationship between diabetes and sleep quantity was reported to be U-shaped, which means increased or decreased sleeping hours can increase the risk of diabetes. The plasma glucagon levels were found to continuously decrease during night-time sleep in healthy individuals, independently of blood glucose and insulin levels. The disturbance of the circadian rhythm is also important and has been linked with an increased the chance of diabetes incidence. There is a lack of research on sleep patterns on Saudis with T2DM and how this is affected by Ramadan fasting. Aim: To assess the sleeping patterns of Saudis with T2DM (before, during, and after Ramadan), using two different techniques and relate this to their HbA1c levels. Method: This study recruited 82 Saudi with T2DM, who chose to fast during Ramadan, from the Endocrine and Diabetic Centre of Al Iman General Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ethical approvals for the study were obtained from De Montfort University and Saudi Ministry of Health. Their sleeping patterns were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire (before, during, and after Ramadan). The assessment included the daily total sleeping hours (DTSH), and total night-time sleeping hours (TNTSH) of the participants. In addition, sleeping patterns of 36 patients, randomly selected from the 82 participants, were further tracked during and after Ramadan by using Fitbit Flex 2™ accelerometer. Blood samples were collected in each period for measuring HbA1c. Results: Questionnaire analysis revealed that the sleeping patterns significantly changed between the periods, with shorter hours during Ramadan (P < 0.001 for DTSH, and P < 0.001 for TNTSH). These findings were confirmed by the Fitbit data, which also indicated significant shorter sleeping hours for the DTSH, and the TNTSH during Ramadan (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). Although there were no significant correlations between the questionnaire and Fitbit data, the TNTSH were shorter among the participants in all periods by both techniques. The mean HbA1c significantly varied between periods, with lowest level during Ramadan. Although the statistical tests did not show significant variances in the mean HbA1c between the groups of participants regarding their hours of sleeping, the lowest mean HbA1c was observed in the group of participants who slept for 6-8 hours and had longer night-time sleeping hours. Conclusion: A short sleep duration, and absence of night-time sleep were significantly observed among the majority of the study population during Ramadan, which could suppress the full benefits of Ramadan fasting for diabetic patients. This study showed that there is a good agreement between the findings of the questionnaire and the Fitbit device for evaluating sleeping patterns in a Saudi population. A larger study is needed in the future to investigate the impact of Ramadan fasting on sleep quality and quantity and its relationship with health and disease.

Keywords: Diabetes, Fasting, Fitbit, HbA1c, IPAQ, Ramadan, Sleep

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Authors: Amunupura Kiriwandeiye Gedara, Asintha Saminda Gnanaratne

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The security forces can be described as a workforce that goes beyond the role of ensuring the national security and contributes to the development process of the country. Soldiers are following combatant training courses during their tenure, they are equipped with a variety of vocational training courses to satisfy the needs of the army, to equip them with vocational training capabilities to achieve the development and reconstruction goals of the country as well as for the betterment of society in the event of emergencies. But with retirement, their relationship with the military is severed, and they are responsible for the future of their lives. The main purpose of this study was to examine how such professional capabilities can contribute to the development of the country, the current socio-economic status of the retired soldiers, and the current application of the vocational training skills they have mastered in the army to develop and rebuild the country in an effective manner. After analyzing the available research literature related to this field, a conceptual framework was developed and according to qualitative research methodology, and data obtained from Case studies and interviews are analyzed by using thematic analysis. Factors influencing early retirement include a lack of understanding of benefits, delays in promotions, not being properly evaluated for work, getting married on hasty decisions, and not having enough time to spend on family and household chores. Most of the soldiers are not aware about various programs and benefits available to retirees. They do not have a satisfactory attitude towards the retirement guidance they receive from the army at the time of retirement. Also, due to the lack of understanding about how to use their vocational capabilities successfully pursue their retirement life, the majority of people are employed in temporary jobs, and some are successful in post-retirement life due to their successful use of training received. Some live on pensions without engaging in any income-generating activities, and those who retire after 12 years of service are facing severe economic hardships as they do not get pensions. Although they have received training in various fields, they do not use them for their benefit due to lack of proper guidance. Although the government implements programs, they are not clearly aware of them. Barriers to utilization of training include an absence of a system to identify the professional skills of retired soldiers, interest in civil society affairs, exploration of opportunities in the civil and private sectors, and politicization of services. If they are given the opportunity, they will be able to contribute to the development and reconstruction process. The findings of the study further show that it has many social, economic, political, and psychological benefits not only for individuals but also for a country. Entrepreneurship training for all retired soldiers, improving officers' understanding, streamlining existing mechanisms, creating new mechanisms, setting up a separate unit for retirees, and adapting them to civil society, private and non-governmental contributions, and training courses can be identified as potential means to improve the current situation.

Keywords: development, reconstruction, retired soldiers, vocational capabilities

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Authors: Flavia Oliveira de A. M. Cruz, Edison Tostes Faria, Paula Elaine D. Reis

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When the breast is submitted to radiation therapy (RT), the most common effects are pain, skin changes, mobility restrictions, local sensory alteration, and fatigue. These effects, if not managed properly, may reduce the quality of life of cancer patients and may lead to the treatment discontinuation. Therefore, promoting knowledge and guidelines for symptom management remain a high priority for patients and a challenge for health professionals, due to the need to handle side effects in a population with a life-threatening disease. Printed materials are important strategies for supporting educative activities since they help the individual to assimilate and understand the amount of information transmitted. Nurses' behavior can be systematized through the use of an educative manual, which may be effective in promoting information regarding the treatment, self-care and how to control the effects of RT at home. In view of the importance of guaranteeing the validity of the material before its use, the objective of this research was to validate the content and appearance of an educative manual for breast cancer patients undergoing RT. The Theory of Psychometrics was used for the validation process in this descriptive methodological research. A minimum agreement rate (AR) of 80% was considered to guarantee the validity of the material. The data were collected from October to December 2017, by means of two assessments tools, constructed in the form of a Likert scale, with five levels of understanding. These instruments addressed different aspects of the evaluation, in view of two different groups of participants; 17 experts in the theme area of the educative manual, and 12 women that received RT previously to treat breast cancer. The manual was titled 'Orientation Manual: radiation therapy in breast', and was focused on breast cancer patients attended at the Department of Oncology of the Brasília University Hospital (UNACON/HUB). The research project was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee at the School of Health Sciences of the University of Brasília (CAAE: 24592213.1.0000.0030). Only two items of the assessment tool for the experts, one related to the manual's ability to promote behavioral and attitude changes and the other related to the extent of its use for other health services, obtained AR < 80% and were reformulated based on the participants' suggestions and in the literature. All other items were considered appropriate and/or complete appropriate in the three blocks proposed for the experts: objectives - 89%, structure and form - 93%, and relevance - 93%; and good and/or very good in the five blocks of analysis proposed for patients: objectives - 100%, organization - 100%, writing style - 100%, appearance - 100%, and motivation. The appearance and content validation of the educative manual proposed were attended to. The educative manual was considered relevant and pertinent and may contribute to the understanding of the therapeutic process by breast cancer patients during RT, as well as support clinical practice through the nursing consultation.

Keywords: oncology nursing, nursing care, validation studies, educational technology

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Authors: Malek Mahmoudi, Jonas Keruckas, Dmytro Volyniuk, Jurate Simokaitiene, Juozas V. Grazulevicius

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Host materials have been discovered as one of the most appealing methods for harvesting triplet states in organic materials for application in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The ideal host-guest system for emission in thermally delayed fluorescence OLEDs with 20% guest concentration for efficient energy transfer has been demonstrated in the present investigation. In this work, 3,3'-bis[9-(4-fluorophenyl) carbazole] (bFPC) has been used as the host, which induces balanced charge carrier transport for high-efficiency OLEDs.For providing a complete characterization of the synthesized compound, photophysical, photoelectrical, charge-transporting, and electrochemical properties of the compound have been examined. Excited-state lifetimes and singlet-triplet energy gaps were measured for characterization of photophysical properties, while thermogravimetric analysis, as well as differential scanning calorimetry measurements, were performed for probing of electrochemical and thermal properties of the compound. The electrochemical properties of this compound were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) method, and ionization potential (IPCV) value of 5.68 eV was observed. UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescence spectrum of a solution of the compound in toluene (10-5 M) showed maxima at 302 and 405 nm, respectively. Photoelectron emission spectrometry was used for the characterization of charge-injection properties of the studied compound in solid. The ionization potential of this material was found to be 5.78 eV, and time-of-flight measurement was used for testing charge-transporting properties and hole mobility estimated using this technique in a vacuum-deposited layer reached 4×10-4 cm2 V-1s-1. Since the compound with high charge mobilities was tested as a host in an organic light-emitting diode. The device was fabricated by successive deposition onto a pre-cleaned indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate under a vacuum of 10-6 Torr and consisting of an indium-tin-oxide anode, hole injection and transporting layer(MoO3, NPB), emitting layer with bFPC as a host and 4CzIPN (2,4,5,6-tetra(9-carbazolyl)isophthalonitrile) which is a new highly efficient green thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) material as an emitter, an electron transporting layer(TPBi) and lithium fluoride layer topped with aluminum layer as a cathode exhibited the highest maximum current efficiency and power efficiency of 33.9 cd/A and 23.5 lm/W, respectively and the electroluminescence spectrum showed only a peak at 512nm. Furthermore, the new bicarbazole-based compound was tested as a host in thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes are reaching luminance of 25300 cd m-2 and external quantum efficiency of 10.1%. Interestingly, the turn-on voltage was low enough (3.8 V), and such a device can be used for highly efficient light sources.

Keywords: thermally-activated delayed fluorescence, host material, ionization energy, charge mobility, electroluminescence

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Authors: Mayoorika Shukla, Pramila Jakhar, Tejendra Dixit, I. A. Palani, Vipul Singh

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Biosensors are analytical devices with wide range of applications in biological, chemical, environmental and clinical analysis. It comprises of bio-recognition layer which has biomolecules (enzymes, antibodies, DNA, etc.) immobilized over it for detection of analyte and transducer which converts the biological signal into the electrical signal. The performance of biosensor primarily the depends on the bio-recognition layer and therefore it has to be chosen wisely. In this regard, nanostructures of metal oxides such as ZnO, SnO2, V2O5, and TiO2, etc. have been explored extensively as bio-recognition layer. Recently, ZnO has the attracted attention of researchers due to its unique properties like high iso-electric point, biocompatibility, stability, high electron mobility and high electron binding energy, etc. Although there have been many reports on usage of ZnO as bio-recognition layer but to the authors’ knowledge, none has ever observed correlation between optical properties like defect suppression and biosensing capability of the sensor. Here, ZnO nanorods (ZNR) have been synthesized by a low cost, simple and low-temperature hydrothermal growth process, over Platinum (Pt) coated glass substrate. The ZNR have been synthesized in two steps viz. initially a seed layer was coated over substrate (Pt coated glass) followed by immersion of it into nutrient solution of Zinc nitrate and Hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) with in situ addition of KMnO4. The addition of KMnO4 was observed to have a profound effect over the growth rate anisotropy of ZnO nanostructures. Clustered and powdery growth of ZnO was observed without addition of KMnO4, although by addition of it during the growth, uniform and crystalline ZNR were found to be grown over the substrate. Moreover, the same has resulted in suppression of defects as observed by Normalized Photoluminescence (PL) spectra since KMnO4 is a strong oxidizing agent which provides an oxygen rich growth environment. Further, to explore the correlation between defect suppression and biosensing capability of the ZNR Glucose oxidase (Gox) was immobilized over it, using physical adsorption technique followed by drop casting of nafion. Here the main objective of the work was to analyze effect of defect suppression over biosensing capability, and therefore Gox has been chosen as model enzyme, and electrochemical amperometric glucose detection was performed. The incorporation of KMnO4 during growth has resulted in variation of optical and charge transfer properties of ZNR which in turn were observed to have deep impact on biosensor figure of merits. The sensitivity of biosensor was found to increase by 12-18 times, due to variations introduced by addition of KMnO4 during growth. The amperometric detection of glucose in continuously stirred buffer solution was performed. Interestingly, defect suppression has been observed to contribute towards the improvement of biosensor performance. The detailed mechanism of growth of ZNR along with the overall influence of defect suppression on the sensing capabilities of the resulting enzymatic electrochemical biosensor and different figure of merits of the biosensor (Glass/Pt/ZNR/Gox/Nafion) will be discussed during the conference.

Keywords: biosensors, defects, KMnO4, ZnO nanorods

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Authors: Fatih Kılıç, Burak Birol, Necmettin Maraşlı

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The directional solidification process is generally used for homogeneous compound production, single crystal growth, and refining (zone refining), etc. processes. The most important two parameters that control eutectic structures are temperature gradient and grain growth rate which are called as solidification parameters The solidification behavior and microstructure characteristics is an interesting topic due to their effects on the properties and performance of the alloys containing eutectic compositions. The solidification behavior of multicomponent and multiphase systems is an important parameter for determining various properties of these materials. The researches have been conducted mostly on the solidification of pure materials or alloys containing two phases. However, there are very few studies on the literature about multiphase reactions and microstructure formation of multicomponent alloys during solidification. Because of this situation, it is important to study the microstructure formation and the thermodynamical, thermophysical and microstructural properties of these alloys. The production process is difficult due to easy oxidation of magnesium and therefore, there is not a comprehensive study concerning alloys containing high Mg (> 30 wt.% Mg). With the increasing amount of Mg inside Al alloys, the specific weight decreases, and the strength shows a slight increase, while due to formation of β-Al8Mg5 phase, ductility lowers. For this reason, production, examination and development of high Mg containing alloys will initiate the production of new advanced engineering materials. The original value of this research can be described as obtaining high Mg containing (> 30% Mg) Al based multicomponent alloys by melting under vacuum; controlled directional solidification with various growth rates at a constant temperature gradient; and establishing relationship between solidification rate and microstructural, mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Therefore, within the scope of this research, some > 30% Mg containing ternary or quaternary Al alloy compositions were determined, and it was planned to investigate the effects of directional solidification rate on the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of these alloys. Within the scope of the research, the influence of the growth rate on microstructure parameters, microhardness, tensile strength, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of directionally solidified high Mg containing Al-32,2Mg-0,37Si; Al-30Mg-12Zn; Al-32Mg-1,7Ni; Al-32,2Mg-0,37Fe; Al-32Mg-1,7Ni-0,4Si; Al-33,3Mg-0,35Si-0,11Fe (wt.%) alloys with wide range of growth rate (50-2500 µm/s) and fixed temperature gradient, will be investigated. The work can be planned as; (a) directional solidification of Al-Mg based Al-Mg-Si, Al-Mg-Zn, Al-Mg-Ni, Al-Mg-Fe, Al-Mg-Ni-Si, Al-Mg-Si-Fe within wide range of growth rates (50-2500 µm/s) at a constant temperature gradient by Bridgman type solidification system, (b) analysis of microstructure parameters of directionally solidified alloys by using an optical light microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), (c) measurement of microhardness and tensile strength of directionally solidified alloys, (d) measurement of electrical conductivity by four point probe technique at room temperature (e) measurement of thermal conductivity by linear heat flow method at room temperature.

Keywords: directional solidification, electrical conductivity, high Mg containing multicomponent Al alloys, microhardness, microstructure, tensile strength, thermal conductivity

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Authors: Jack L. Harris, Marya L. Doerfel, Hyunsook Youn, Minkyung Kim, Kautuki Sunil Jariwala

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Organizational resilience refers to the ability to sustain business or general work functioning despite wide-scale interruptions. We focus on organization and businesses as a pillar of their communities and how they attempt to sustain work when a natural disaster impacts their surrounding regions and economies. While it may be more common to think of resilience as a trait possessed by an organization, an emerging area of research recognizes that for organizations and businesses, resilience is a set of processes that are constituted through communication, social networks, and organizing. Indeed, five processes, robustness, rapidity, resourcefulness, redundancy, and external availability through social media have been identified as critical to organizational resilience. These organizing mechanisms involve multi-level coordination, where individuals intersect with groups, organizations, and communities. Because the nature of such interactions are often networks of people and organizations coordinating material resources, information, and support, they necessarily require some way to coordinate despite being displaced. Little is known, however, if physical and digital spaces can substitute one for the other. We thus are guided by the question, is digital space sufficient when disaster creates a scarcity of physical space? This study presents a cross-case comparison based on field research from four different regions of the United States that were impacted by Hurricanes Katrina (2005), Sandy (2012), Maria (2017), and Harvey (2017). These four cases are used to extend the science of resilience by examining multi-level processes enacted by individuals, communities, and organizations that together, contribute to the resilience of disaster-struck organizations, businesses, and their communities. Using field research about organizations and businesses impacted by the four hurricanes, we code data from interviews, participant observations, field notes, and document analysis drawn from New Orleans (post-Katrina), coastal New Jersey (post-Sandy), Houston Texas (post-Harvey), and the lower keys of Florida (post-Maria). This paper identifies an additional organizing mechanism, networked gathering spaces, where citizens and organizations, alike, coordinate and facilitate information sharing, material resource distribution, and social support. Findings show that digital space, alone, is not a sufficient substitute to effectively sustain organizational resilience during a disaster. Because the data are qualitative, we expand on this finding with specific ways in which organizations and the people who lead them worked around the problem of scarce space. We propose that gatherings after disaster are a sixth mechanism that contributes to organizational resilience.

Keywords: communication, coordination, disaster management, information and communication technologies, interorganizational relationships, resilience, work

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Authors: Heichia Wang, Yalan Chao

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Social inequality is a persistent problem. One of the ways to solve this problem is through education. At present, vulnerable groups are often less geographically accessible to educational resources. However, compared with educational resources, communication equipment is easier for vulnerable groups. Now that information and communication technology (ICT) has entered the field of education, today we can accept the convenience that ICT provides in education, and the mobility that it brings makes learning independent of time and place. With mobile learning, teachers and students can start discussions in an online chat room without the limitations of time or place. However, because liquidity learning is quite convenient, people tend to solve problems in short online texts with lack of detailed information in a lack of convenient online environment to express ideas. Therefore, the ICT education environment may cause misunderstanding between teachers and students. Therefore, in order to better understand each other's views between teachers and students, this study aims to clarify the essays of the analysts and classify the students into several types of learning questions to clarify the views of teachers and students. In addition, this study attempts to extend the description of possible omissions in short texts by using external resources prior to classification. In short, by applying a short text classification, this study can point out each student's learning problems and inform the instructor where the main focus of the future course is, thus improving the ICT education environment. In order to achieve the goals, this research uses convolutional neural network (CNN) method to analyze short discussion content between teachers and students in an ICT education environment. Divide students into several main types of learning problem groups to facilitate answering student problems. In addition, this study will further cluster sub-categories of each major learning type to indicate specific problems for each student. Unlike most neural network programs, this study attempts to extend short texts with external resources before classifying them to improve classification performance. In short, by applying the classification of short texts, we can point out the learning problems of each student and inform the instructors where the main focus of future courses will improve the ICT education environment. The data of the empirical process will be used to pre-process the chat records between teachers and students and the course materials. An action system will be set up to compare the most similar parts of the teaching material with each student's chat history to improve future classification performance. Later, the function of short text classification uses CNN to classify rich chat records into several major learning problems based on theory-driven titles. By applying these modules, this research hopes to clarify the main learning problems of students and inform teachers that they should focus on future teaching.

Keywords: ICT education improvement, social equality, short text analysis, convolutional neural network

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Authors: William Casto

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Studies that consider the actual impact of international law upon foreign affairs crises are flawed by an unrealistic model of decision making. The common, unexamined assumption is that a nation has a unitary executive or ruler who considers a wide variety of considerations, including international law, in attempting to resolve a crisis. To the extent that negotiation theory is considered, the focus is on negotiations between or among nations. The unsettling result is a shallow focus that concentrates on each country’s public posturing about international law. The country-to-country model ignores governments’ internal negotiations that lead to their formal position in a crisis. The model for foreign policy crises needs to be supplemented to include a model of internal negotiations. Important foreign policy decisions come from groups within a government committee, advisers, etc. Within these groups, participants may have differing agendas and resort to international law to bolster their positions. To understand the influence of international law in international crises, these internal negotiations must be considered. These negotiations are crucial to creating a foreign policy agenda or recommendations. External negotiations between the two nations are significant, but the internal negotiations provide a better understanding of the actual influence of international law upon international crises. Discovering the details of specific internal negotiations is quite difficult but not necessarily impossible. The present proposal will use a specific crisis to illustrate the role of international law. In 1861 during the American Civil War, a United States navy captain stopped a British mail ship and removed two ambassadors of the rebelling southern states. The result was what is commonly called the Trent Affair. In the wake of the captain’s unauthorized and rash action, Great Britain seriously considered going to war against the United States. A detailed analysis of the Trent Affair is possible using the available and extensive internal British correspondence and memoranda to reach an understanding of the effect of international law upon decision making. The extensive trove of internal British documents is particularly valuable because in 1861, the only effective means of communication was face-to-face or through letters. Telephones did not exist, and travel by horse and carriage was tedious. The British documents tell us how individual participants viewed the process. We can approach an accurate understanding of what actually happened as the British government strove to resolve the crisis. For example, British law officers initially concluded that the American captain’s rash act was permissible under international law. Later, the law officers revised their opinion. A model of internal negotiation is particularly valuable because it strips away nations’ public posturing about disputed international law principles. In internal decision making, there is room for meaningful debate over the relevant principles. This fluid debate tells how international law is used to develop a hard, public bargaining position. The Trent Affair indicates that international law had an actual influence upon the crisis and that law was not mere window dressing for the government’s public position.

Keywords: foreign affairs crises, negotiation, international law, Trent affair

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Authors: Rumbidzai Sipiwe Zimvumi

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The study aimed to identify the top management team attributes for ambidexterity in small and medium-sized enterprises by utilizing the upper echelons theory. The conventional opinion holds that an organization's ability to pursue both exploitative and explorative innovation methods at the same time is reflected in its ambidexterity. Top-level managers are critical to this matrix because they forecast and explain strategic choices that guarantee success by improving organizational performance. Since the focus of the study was on the unique characteristics of TMTs that can facilitate ambidexterity, the primary goal was to comprehend how TMTs in SMEs can better manage ambidexterity. The study used document analysis to collect information on ambidexterity and TMT traits. Finding, choosing, assessing, and synthesizing data from peer-reviewed publications allowed for the review and evaluation of papers. The fact that SMEs will perform better if they can achieve a balance between exploration and exploitation cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, exploitation is the main priority for most SMEs. The results showed that some of the noteworthy TMT traits that support ambidexterity in SMEs are age diversity, shared responsibility, leadership impact, psychological safety, and self-confidence. It has been shown that most SMEs confront significant obstacles in recruiting people, including formalizing their management and assembling executive teams with seniority. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often held by families or people who neglect to keep their personal lives apart from the firm, which eliminates the opportunity for management and staff to take the initiative. This helps to explain why exploitative strategies, which preserve present success, are used rather than explorative strategies, which open new economic opportunities and dimensions. It is evident that psychological safety deteriorates, and creativity is hindered in the process. The study makes the case that TMTs who are motivated to become ambidextrous can exist. According to the report, small- and medium-sized business owners should value the opinions of all parties involved and provide their managers and regular staff the freedom to think creatively and in a safe environment. TMTs who experience psychological safety are more likely to be inventive, creative, and productive. A team's collective perception that it is acceptable to take chances, voice opinions and concerns, ask questions, and own up to mistakes without fear of unfavorable outcomes is known as team psychological safety. Thus, traits like age diversity, leadership influence, learning agility, psychological safety, and self-assurance are critical to the success of SMEs. As a solution to ensuring ambidexterity is attained, the study suggests a clear separation of ownership and control, the adoption of technology to stimulate creativity, team spirit and excitement, shared accountability, and good management of diversity. Among the suggestions for the SME's success are resource allocation and important collaborations.

Keywords: navigating, ambidexterity, top management team, small and medium enterprises

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Authors: Sadia Munir, Diana White, Aya Albahri, Pratiwi Hastania, Eltahir Mohamed, Mahmood Khan, Fathima Mohamed, Ayat Kadhi, Haila Saleem

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Preeclampsia is a major complication of pregnancy. Prediction and management of preeclampsia is a challenge for obstetricians. To our knowledge, no major progress has been achieved in the prevention and early detection of preeclampsia. There is very little known about the clear treatment path of this disorder. Preeclampsia puts both mother and baby at risk of several short term- and long term-health problems later in life. There is huge health service cost burden in the health care system associated with preeclampsia and its complications. Preeclampsia is divided into two different types. Early onset preeclampsia develops before 34 weeks of gestation, and late onset develops at or after 34 weeks of gestation. Different genetic and environmental factors, prognosis, heritability, biochemical and clinical features are associated with early and late onset preeclampsia. Prevalence of preeclampsia greatly varies all over the world and is dependent on ethnicity of the population and geographic region. To authors best knowledge, no published data on preeclampsia exist in Qatar. In this study, we are reporting the incidence of preeclampsia in Qatar. The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence and risk factors of both early onset and late onset preeclampsia in Qatar. This retrospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted using data from the hospital record of Women’s Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), from May 2014-May 2016. Data collection tool, which was approved by HMC, was a researcher made extraction sheet that included information such as blood pressure during admission, socio demographic characteristics, delivery mode, and new born details. A total of 1929 patients’ files were identified by the hospital information management when they apply codes of preeclampsia. Out of 1929 files, 878 had significant gestational hypertension without proteinuria, 365 had preeclampsia, 364 had severe preeclampsia, and 188 had preexisting hypertension with superimposed proteinuria. In this study, 78% of the data was obtained by hospital electronic system (Cerner) and the remaining 22% was from patient’s paper records. We have gone through detail data extraction from 560 files. Initial data analysis has revealed that 15.02% of pregnancies were complicated with preeclampsia from May 2014-May 2016. We have analyzed difference in the two different disease entities in the ethnicity, maternal age, severity of hypertension, mode of delivery and infant birth weight. We have identified promising differences in the risk factors of early onset and late onset preeclampsia. The data from clinical findings of preeclampsia will contribute to increased knowledge about two different disease entities, their etiology, and similarities/differences. The findings of this study can also be used in predicting health challenges, improving health care system, setting up guidelines, and providing the best care for women suffering from preeclampsia.

Keywords: preeclampsia, incidence, risk factors, maternal

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Authors: Igor Povar, Catherine Goyet

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The seawater is subject to multiple external stressors (ES) including rising atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification, global warming, atmospheric deposition of pollutants and eutrophication, which deeply alter its chemistry, often on a global scale and, in some cases, at the degree significantly exceeding that in the historical and recent geological verification. In ocean systems the micro- and macronutrients, heavy metals, phosphor- and nitrogen-containing components exist in different forms depending on the concentrations of various other species, organic matter, the types of minerals, the pH etc. The major limitation to assessing more strictly the ES to oceans, such as pollutants (atmospheric greenhouse gas, heavy metals, nutrients as nitrates and phosphates) is the lack of theoretical approach which could predict the ocean resistance to multiple external stressors. In order to assess the abovementioned ES, the research has applied and developed the buffer theory approach and theoretical expressions of the formal chemical thermodynamics to ocean systems, as heterogeneous aqueous systems. The thermodynamic expressions of complex chemical equilibria, involving acid-base, complex formation and mineral ones have been deduced. This thermodynamic approach utilizes thermodynamic relationships coupled with original mass balance constraints, where the solid phases are explicitly expressed. The ocean sensitivity to different external stressors and changes in driving factors are considered in terms of derived buffering capacities or buffer factors for heterogeneous systems. Our investigations have proved that the heterogeneous aqueous systems, as ocean and seas are, manifest their buffer properties towards all their components, not only to pH, as it has been known so far, for example in respect to carbon dioxide, carbonates, phosphates, Ca2+, Mg2+, heavy metal ions etc. The derived expressions make possible to attribute changes in chemical ocean composition to different pollutants. These expressions are also useful for improving the current atmosphere-ocean-marine biogeochemistry models. The major research questions, to which the research responds, are: (i.) What kind of contamination is the most harmful for Future Ocean? (ii.) What are chemical heterogeneous processes of the heavy metal release from sediments and minerals and its impact to the ocean buffer action? (iii.) What will be the long-term response of the coastal ocean to the oceanic uptake of anthropogenic pollutants? (iv.) How will change the ocean resistance in terms of future chemical complex processes and buffer capacities and its response to external (anthropogenic) perturbations? The ocean buffer capacities towards its main components are recommended as parameters that should be included in determining the most important ocean factors which define the response of ocean environment at the technogenic loads increasing. The deduced thermodynamic expressions are valid for any combination of chemical composition, or any of the species contributing to the total concentration, as independent state variable.

Keywords: atmospheric greenhouse gas, chemical thermodynamics, external stressors, pollutants, seawater

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Authors: Britt Erni, Aldara Vazquez Fernandez, Roland Maurer

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Visuospatial perspective taking (VSPT) is a process that allows to integrate spatial information from different points of view, and to transform the mental images we have of the environment to properly orient our movements and anticipate the location of landmarks during navigation. VSPT is also related to egocentric perspective transformations (imagined rotations or translations of one's point of view) and to infer the visuospatial experiences of another person (e.g. if and how another person sees objects). This process is deeply related to a wide-ranging capacity called the theory of mind (ToM), an essential cognitive function that allows us to regulate our social behaviour by attributing mental representations to individuals in order to make behavioural predictions. VSPT is often considered in the literature as the starting point of the development of the theory of mind. VSPT and ToM include several levels of knowledge that have to be assessed by specific tasks. Unfortunately, the lack of tasks assessing these functions in clinical neuropsychology leads to underestimate, in brain-damaged patients, deficits of these functions which are essential, in everyday life, to regulate our social behaviour (ToM) and to navigate in known and unknown environments (VSPT). Therefore, this study aims to create and standardize a VSPT task in order to explore the cognitive requirements of VSPT and ToM, and to specify their relationship in healthy adults and thereafter in brain-damaged patients. Two versions of a computerized VSPT task were administered to healthy participants (M = 28.18, SD = 4.8 years). In both versions the environment was a 3D representation of 10 different geometric shapes placed on a circular base. Two sets of eight pictures were generated from this: of the environment with an avatar somewhere on its periphery (locations) and of what the avatar sees from that place (views). Two types of questions were asked: a) identify the location from the view, and b) identify the view from the location. Twenty participants completed version 1 of the task and 20 completed the second version, where the views were offset by ±15° (i.e., clockwise or counterclockwise) and participants were asked to choose the closest location or the closest view. The preliminary findings revealed that version 1 is significantly easier than version 2 for accuracy (with ceiling scores for version 1). In version 2, participants responded significantly slower when they had to infer the avatar's view from the latter's location, probably because they spent more time visually exploring the different views (responses). Furthermore, men significantly performed better than women in version 1 but not in version 2. Most importantly, a sensitive task (version 2) has been created for which the participants do not seem to easily and automatically compute what someone is looking at yet which does not involve more heavily other cognitive functions. This study is further completed by including analysis on non-clinical participants with low and high degrees of schizotypy, different socio-educational status, and with a range of older adults to examine age-related and other differences in VSPT processing.

Keywords: mental transformation, spatial cognition, theory of mind, visuospatial perspective taking

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Authors: Anita Bajpai, Sarah Duan, Ashlee Erskine, Shehzein Khan, Raymond Kramer

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Introduction: This research focuses on exploring the beneficial effects if any, of Vitamin-D in reducing the need for supplemental oxygen among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Two questions are investigated – Q1)Doeshaving a healthy level of baselineVitamin-D 25-OH (≥ 30ng/ml) help,andQ2) does administering Vitamin-D therapy after-the-factduring inpatient hospitalization help? Methods/Study Design: This is a comprehensive, retrospective, observational study of all inpatients at RUHS from March through December 2020 who tested positive for COVID-19 based on real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction assay of nasal and pharyngeal swabs and rapid assay antigen test. To address Q1, we looked atall N1=182 patients whose baseline plasma Vitamin-D 25-OH was known and who needed supplemental oxygen. Of this, a total of 121 patients had a healthy Vitamin-D level of ≥30 ng/mlwhile the remaining 61 patients had low or borderline (≤ 29.9ng/ml)level. Similarly, for Q2, we looked at a total of N2=893 patients who were given supplemental oxygen, of which713 were not given Vitamin-D and 180 were given Vitamin-D therapy. The numerical value of the maximum amount of oxygen flow rate(dependent variable) administered was recorded for each patient. The mean values and associated standard deviations for each group were calculated. Thesetwo sets of independent data served as the basis for independent, two-sample t-Test statistical analysis. To be accommodative of any reasonable benefitof Vitamin-D, ap-value of 0.10(α< 10%) was set as the cutoff point for statistical significance. Results: Given the large sample sizes, the calculated statistical power for both our studies exceeded the customary norm of 80% or better (β< 0.2). For Q1, the mean value for maximumoxygen flow rate for the group with healthybaseline level of Vitamin-D was 8.6 L/min vs.12.6L/min for those with low or borderline levels, yielding a p-value of 0.07 (p < 0.10) with the conclusion that those with a healthy level of baseline Vitamin-D needed statistically significant lower levels of supplemental oxygen. ForQ2, the mean value for a maximum oxygen flow rate for those not administered Vitamin-Dwas 12.5 L/min vs.12.8L/min for those given Vitamin-D, yielding a p-valueof 0.87 (p > 0.10). We thereforeconcludedthat there was no statistically significant difference in the use of oxygen therapy between those who were or were not administered Vitamin-D after-the-fact in the hospital. Discussion/Conclusion: We found that patients who had healthy levels of Vitamin-D at baseline needed statistically significant lower levels of supplemental oxygen. Vitamin-D is well documented, including in a recent article in the Lancet, for its anti-inflammatory role as an adjuvant in the regulation of cytokines and immune cells. Interestingly, we found no statistically significant advantage for giving Vitamin-D to hospitalized patients. It may be a case of “too little too late”. A randomized clinical trial reported in JAMA also did not find any reduction in hospital stay of patients given Vitamin-D. Such conclusions come with a caveat that any delayed marginal benefits may not have materialized promptly in the presence of a significant inflammatory condition. Since Vitamin-D is a low-cost, low-risk option, it may still be useful on an inpatient basis until more definitive findings are established.

Keywords: COVID-19, vitamin-D, supplemental oxygen, vitamin-D in primary care

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Authors: A. Arshad, M. Lehtonen. M. Humayun

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With the increasing Distributed Generation (DG) penetration, distribution systems are advancing towards the smart grid technology for least latency in tackling voltage control problem in a distributed manner. This paper proposes a Multi-agent based distributed voltage level control. In this method a flat architecture of agents is used and agents involved in the whole controlling procedure are On Load Tap Changer Agent (OLTCA), Static VAR Compensator Agent (SVCA), and the agents associated with DGs and loads at their locations. The objectives of the proposed voltage control model are to minimize network losses and DG curtailments while maintaining voltage value within statutory limits as close as possible to the nominal. The total loss cost is the sum of network losses cost, DG curtailment costs, and voltage damage cost (which is based on penalty function implementation). The total cost is iteratively calculated for various stricter limits by plotting voltage damage cost and losses cost against varying voltage limit band. The method provides the optimal limits closer to nominal value with minimum total loss cost. In order to achieve the objective of voltage control, the whole network is divided into multiple control regions; downstream from the controlling device. The OLTCA behaves as a supervisory agent and performs all the optimizations. At first, a token is generated by OLTCA on each time step and it transfers from node to node until the node with voltage violation is detected. Upon detection of such a node, the token grants permission to Load Agent (LA) for initiation of possible remedial actions. LA will contact the respective controlling devices dependent on the vicinity of the violated node. If the violated node does not lie in the vicinity of the controller or the controlling capabilities of all the downstream control devices are at their limits then OLTC is considered as a last resort. For a realistic study, simulations are performed for a typical Finnish residential medium-voltage distribution system using Matlab ®. These simulations are executed for two cases; simple Distributed Voltage Control (DVC) and DVC with optimized loss cost (DVC + Penalty Function). A sensitivity analysis is performed based on DG penetration. The results indicate that costs of losses and DG curtailments are directly proportional to the DG penetration, while in case 2 there is a significant reduction in total loss. For lower DG penetration, losses are reduced more or less 50%, while for higher DG penetration, loss reduction is not very significant. Another observation is that the newer stricter limits calculated by cost optimization moves towards the statutory limits of ±10% of the nominal with the increasing DG penetration as for 25, 45 and 65% limits calculated are ±5, ±6.25 and 8.75% respectively. Observed results conclude that the novel voltage control algorithm proposed in case 1 is able to deal with the voltage control problem instantly but with higher losses. In contrast, case 2 make sure to reduce the network losses through proposed iterative method of loss cost optimization by OLTCA, slowly with time.

Keywords: distributed voltage control, distribution system, multi-agent systems, smart grids

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Authors: Alexander Harrison Greer, Edward King, Elijah Lee, Safa Obuz, Ruhao Sun, Aditya Sardesai, Toby Ma, Daniel Chow, Bryce Broadus, Calvin Costner, Troy Barnes, Biagio DeSimone, Yeshwin Sankuratri, Yiheng Chen, Holly Golecki

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Although a relatively new field, soft robotics is experiencing a rise in applicability in the secondary school setting through The Soft Robotics Toolkit, shared fabrication resources and a design competition. Exposing students outside of university research groups to this rapidly growing field allows for development of the soft robotics industry in new and imaginative ways. Soft robotic actuators have remained difficult to implement in classrooms because of their relative cost or difficulty of fabrication. Traditionally, a two-part molding system is used; however, this configuration often results in delamination. In an effort to make soft robotics more accessible to young students, we aim to develop a simple, single-mold method of fabricating soft robotic actuators from common household materials. These actuators are made by embedding a soluble polymer insert into silicone. These inserts can be made from hand-cut polystyrene, 3D-printed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or molded sugar. The insert is then dissolved using an appropriate solvent such as water or acetone, leaving behind a negative form which can be pneumatically actuated. The resulting actuators are seamless, eliminating the instability of adhering multiple layers together. The benefit of this approach is twofold: it simplifies the process of creating a soft robotic actuator, and in turn, increases its effectiveness and durability. To quantify the increased durability of the single-mold actuator, it was tested against the traditional two-part mold. The single-mold actuator could withstand actuation at 20psi for 20 times the duration when compared to the traditional method. The ease of fabrication of these actuators makes them more accessible to hobbyists and students in classrooms. After developing these actuators, they were applied, in collaboration with a ceramics teacher at our school, to a glove used to transfer nuanced hand motions used to throw pottery from an expert artist to a novice. We quantified the improvement in the users’ pottery-making skill when wearing the glove using image analysis software. The seamless actuators proved to be robust in this dynamic environment. Seamless soft robotic actuators created by high school students show the applicability of the Soft Robotics Toolkit for secondary STEM education and outreach. Making students aware of what is possible through projects like this will inspire the next generation of innovators in materials science and robotics.

Keywords: pneumatic actuator fabrication, soft robotic glove, soluble polymers, STEM outreach

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Authors: Liam Fassam, Pouria Liravi, Jacquie Bridgman

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Introduction: The way we travel is rapidly changing, car ownership and use are declining among young people and those residents in urban areas. Also, the increasing role and popularity of sharing economy companies like Uber highlight a movement towards consuming transportation solutions as a service [Mobility of a Service]. This research looks to bridge the knowledge gap that exists between city mobility, smart cities, sharing economy and social entrepreneurship business models. Understanding of this subject is crucial for smart city design, as access to affordable transport has been identified as a contributing factor to social isolation leading to issues around health and wellbeing. Methodology: To explore the current fit vis-a-vis transportation business models and social impact this research undertook a comparative analysis between a systematic literature review and a Delphi study. The systematic literature review was undertaken to gain an appreciation of the current academic thinking on ‘social entrepreneurship and smart city mobility’. The second phase of the research initiated a Delphi study across a group of 22 participants to review future opinion on ‘how social entrepreneurship can assist city mobility sharing models?’. The Delphi delivered an initial 220 results, which once cross-checked for duplication resulted in 130. These 130 answers were sent back to participants to score importance against a 5-point LIKERT scale, enabling a top 10 listing of areas for shared user transports in society to be gleaned. One further round (4) identified no change in the coefficient of variant thus no further rounds were required. Findings: Initial results of the literature review returned 1,021 journals using the search criteria ‘social entrepreneurship and smart city mobility’. Filtering allied to ‘peer review’, ‘date’, ‘region’ and ‘Chartered associated of business school’ ranking proffered a resultant journal list of 75. Of these, 58 focused on smart city design, 9 on social enterprise in cityscapes, 6 relating to smart city network design and 3 on social impact, with no journals purporting the need for social entrepreneurship to be allied to city mobility. The future inclusion factors from the Delphi expert panel indicated that smart cities needed to include shared economy models in their strategies. Furthermore, social isolation born by costs of infrastructure needed addressing through holistic A-political social enterprise models, and a better understanding of social benefit measurement is needed. Conclusion: In investigating the collaboration between key public transportation stakeholders, a theoretical model of social enterprise transportation models that positively impact upon the smart city needs of reduced transport poverty and social isolation was formed. As such, the research has identified how a revised business model of Mobility of a Service allied to a social entrepreneurship can deliver impactful measured social benefits associated to smart city design existent research.

Keywords: social enterprise, collaborative transportation, new models of ownership, transport social impact

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Authors: Sadi Ali, Yaser Kishawi

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As part of Palestine, Gaza Strip (365 km2 and 1.8 million habitants) is considered a semi-arid zone relies solely on the Coastal Aquifer. The coastal aquifer is only source of water with only 5-10% suitable for human use. This barely cover the domestic and agricultural needs of Gaza Strip. Palestinian Water Authority Strategy is to find non-conventional water resource from treated wastewater to irrigate 1500 hectares and serves over 100,000 inhabitants. A new WWTP project is to replace the old-overloaded Biet Lahia WWTP. The project consists of three parts; phase A (pressure line & 9 infiltration basins - IBs), phase B (a new WWTP) and phase C (Recovery and Reuse Scheme – RRS – to capture the spreading plume). Currently, phase A is functioning since Apr 2009. Since Apr 2009, a monitoring plan is conducted to monitor the infiltration rate (I.R.) of the 9 basins. Nearly 23 million m3 of partially treated wastewater were infiltrated up to Jun 2014. It is important to maintain an acceptable rate to allow the basins to handle the coming quantities (currently 10,000 m3 are pumped an infiltrated daily). The methodology applied was to review and analysis the collected data including the I.R.s, the WW quality and the drying-wetting schedule of the basins. One of the main findings is the relation between the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) at BLWWTP and the I.R. at the basins. Since April 2009, the basins scored an average I.R. of about 2.5 m/day. Since then the records showed a decreasing pattern of the average rate until it reached the lower value of 0.42 m/day in Jun 2013. This was accompanied with an increase of TSS (mg/L) concentration at the source reaching above 200 mg/L. The reducing of TSS concentration directly improved the I.R. (by cleaning the WW source ponds at Biet Lahia WWTP site). This was reflected in an improvement in I.R. in last 6 months from 0.42 m/day to 0.66 m/day then to nearly 1.0 m/day as the average of the last 3 months of 2013. The wetting-drying scheme of the basins was observed (3 days wetting and 7 days drying) besides the rainfall rates. Despite the difficulty to apply this scheme accurately a control of flow to each basin was applied to improve the I.R. The drying-wetting system affected the I.R. of individual basins, thus affected the overall system rate which was recorded and assessed. Also the ploughing activities at the infiltration basins as well were recommended at certain times to retain a certain infiltration level. This breaks the confined clogging layer which prevents the infiltration. It is recommended to maintain proper quality of WW infiltrated to ensure an acceptable performance of IBs. The continual maintenance of settling ponds at BLWWTP, continual ploughing of basins and applying soil treatment techniques at the IBs will improve the I.R.s. When the new WWTP functions a high standard effluent quality (TSS 20mg, BOD 20 mg/l and TN 15 mg/l) will be infiltrated, thus will enhance I.R.s of IBs due to lower organic load.

Keywords: SAT, wastewater quality, soil remediation, North Gaza

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Authors: Ayesha Mushtaq

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Asthma is a pulmonary disease in which blockade of the airway takes place due to inflammation as a response to certain allergens. Breathing troubles, cough, and dyspnea are one of the few symptoms. Several studies have indicated a significant effect on asthma due to changes in dietary routines. Certain food items, such as oily foods and other materials, are known to cause an increase in the symptoms of asthma. Low dietary intake of fruits and vegetables may be important in relation to asthma prevalence. The objective of this study is to assess and compare the nutritional status of asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients. The significance of this study lies in the factor that it will help nutritionists to arrange a feasible dietary routine for asthmatic patients. This research was conducted at the Pulmonology Department of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science Islamabad. About thirty hundred thirty-four million people are affected by asthma worldwide. Pakistan is on the verge of being an uplifted urban population and asthma cases are increasingly high these days. Several studies suggest an increase in the Asthmatic patient population due to improper diet. This is a cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the nutritious standing of Asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients. This research took place at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, Pakistan. The research included asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients coming to the pulmonology department clinic at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). These patients were aged between 20-60 years. A questionnaire was developed for these patients to estimate their dietary plans in these patients. The methodology included four sections. The first section was the Socio-Demographic profile, which included age, gender, monthly income and occupation. The next section was anthropometric measurements which included the weight, height and body mass index (BMI) of an individual. The next section, section three, was about the biochemical attributes, such as for biochemical profiling, pulmonary function testing (PFT) was performed. In the next section, Dietary habits were assessed by a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) through food habits and consumption pattern was assessed. The next section life style data, in which the person's level of physical activity, sleep and smoking habits were assessed. The next section was statistical analysis. All the data obtained from the study were statistically analyzed and assessed. Most of the asthma Patients were females, with weight more than normal or even obese. Body Mass Index (BMI) was higher in asthma Patients than those in non-Asthmatic ones. When the nutritional Values were assessed, we came to know that these patients were low on certain nutrients and their diet included more junk and oily food than healthy vegetables and fruits. Beverages intake was also included in the same assessment. It is evident from this study that nutritional status has a contributory effect on asthma. So, patients on the verge of developing asthma or those who have developed asthma should focus on their diet, maintain good eating habits and take healthy diets, including fruits and vegetables rather than oily foods. Proper sleep may also contribute to the control of asthma.

Keywords: BMI, nutrition, PAL, diet

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Authors: Ana Nemsadze

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Contemporary era and society are called postindustrial era and postindustrial society and/or informational era and informational society. Today science intends to define concept of information and comprehend informations role and function in contemporary society. Organization of social environment and governance of public processes on the base of information and tools of communication are main characteristics of informational era. This was defined by technological changes which were accomplished in culture in the second half of twentieth century. Today Georgia as an independent state needs to create an informational discourse of the country and therefore it is very important to study political and social cases which accomplished in the country after collapse of the Soviet Union because they start to define the present and the future of the country. The purpose of this study is to analyze political cases of the latest history of Georgia in terms of culture and information, concretely to elucidate which political cases transformed social life of post Soviet Georgia most of all who accomplished these political cases which visual and verbal messages was each political case spread with. The research is conducted on the base of interview. Participants of the interview are people of various specializations. Their professional activity is related to reflections on culture and theme of visual communication. They are philosophers sociologists a journalist media researcher a politologist a painter. The participants of the interview enumerated political cases and characterized them separately. Every expert thinks that declaration of independence of Georgia is the most important fact among all facts which were implemented in Georgia after collapse of the Soviet Union. The research revealed important social and political cases. Most of the cases are related to independence and territorial integrity of the state. Presidents of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia Eduard Shevardnadze Mikheil Saakashvili Catholocos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta Tbilisi and Metropolitan bishop of Bichvinta and Tskhum Abkhazia Ilia II, businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili assumed dominating roles in cases. Verbal narrative of the cases accomplished during Zviad Gamsakhurdia presidential term expresses national freedom and visual part of cases of the same period expresses ruin of social-political structure. Verbal narrative of the cases accomplished during Eduard Sevardnadze presidential term expresses Free State and stability and reestablishment of Georgias political function in international relations and visual part of cases of the same period describes the most important moment of his presidential term and Eduard Shevardnadzes face appears too. Verbal narrative of the cases accomplished during Mikheil Saakashvilis presidential term expresses social renewal and visual part of cases of the same period describes August war and Mikheil Saakashvilis face appears too. The results of the study also reveal other details of visual verbal narrative of political and social cases of post Soviet Georgia. This gives a chance to start further reflection.

Keywords: culture, narrative, post soviet, visual communication

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Authors: L. Bidyalakshmi, R. Ananthan, T. Longvah

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Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or delay oxidative damage of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids by reactive oxygen species. These help in lowering incidence of degenerative diseases such as cancer, arthritis, atherosclerosis, heart disease, inflammation, brain dysfunction and acceleration of the ageing process. The north eastern part of India falls among the global hotspots of biodiversity. Over the years, the local communities in the region have developed ingenious uses of many wild plants within their environment as food sources. Many of these less familiar foods form an integral part of the diet of these communities, and some are traditionally valued for its therapeutic effects. So the study was carried to estimate the antioxidant activity of some of these indigenous foods. Twenty-eight indigenous plant foods were studied for their antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activities were determined by using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power) assay and SOSA (Super Oxide Scavenging Assay). Out of the twenty-eight plant foods, there were thirteen leafy vegetables, four fruits, five roots and tubers, four spices and two mushrooms. Water extract and methanol extract of the samples were used for the analysis. The leafy vegetable samples exhibited antioxidant capacity with IC50 ranging from 8-1414 mg/ml for lipid extract and 34-37878 mg/ml for aqueous extract in DPPH assay. Total FRAP value ranging from 58-1005 mmol FeSO4 Eq/100g of the sample, which is comparatively higher than the antioxidant capacity of some commonly consumed leafy vegetables. In SOSA, water extract of leafy vegetables show a range of 0.05-193.68 µmol ascorbic acid equivalent/g of the samples. While the methanol extract of the samples show 0.20-21.94 µmol Trolox equivalent/g of the samples. Polygonum barbatum, Wendlandia glabrata and Polygonum posumbu have higher antioxidant activity among the leafy vegetables analysed. Among the fruits, Rhus hookerii showed the highest antioxidant activities in both FRAP and SOSA methods while Spondias magnifera exhibited higher antioxidant activity in DPPH method. Alocasia cucullata exhibited higher antioxidant activity in DPPH and FRAP assays while Alpinia galanga showed higher antioxidant activity in SOSA assay when compared to the other samples of roots and tubers. Elsholtzia communis showed high antioxidant activity in all the three parameters among the spices. For the mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus exhibited higher antioxidant activity than Auricularia delicate in DPPH and SOSA. The samples analysed exhibited antioxidant activity at varying levels and some exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the commonly consumed foods. So consumption of these less familiar foods may play a role in preventing human disease in which free radicals are involved. Further studies on these food samples on phytonutrients and its contribution to the antioxidant activities are required.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, DPPH, FRAP, SOSA

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Authors: Koteswara Rao Pagolu, Raghava Rao Tamanam

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The present study was aimed to find out the prevalence of DD's in Visakhapatnam, one of the north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, India during a span of five years. A cross-sectional investigation was held at District early intervention center (DEIC), Visakhapatnam from 2016 to 2020. To identify the pattern and trend of different DD's including seasonal variations, a retrospective analysis of the health center's inpatient database for the past 5 years was done. Male and female children aged 2 months-18 years are included in the study with the prior permission of the concerned medical officer. The screening tool developed by the Ministry of health and family welfare, India, was used for the study. Among 26,423 cases, children with birth defects are 962, 2229 with deficiencies, 7516 with diseases, and 15716 with disabilities were admitted during the study period. From birth defects, congenital deafness occurred in large numbers with 22.66%, and neural tube defect observed in a small number of cases with 0.83% during the period. From the side of deficiencies, severe acute malnutrition has mostly occurred (66.80 %) and a small number of children were affected with goiter (1.70%). Among the diseases, dental carriers (67.97%) are mostly found and these cases were at peak during the years 2016 and 2019. From disabilities, children with vision impairment (20.55%) have mostly approached the center. Over the past 5 years, the admission rate of down's syndrome and congenital deafness cases showed a rising trend up to 2019 and then declined. Hearing impairment, motor delay, and learning disorder showed a steep rise and gradual decline trend, whereas severe anemia, vitamin-D deficiency, otitis media, reactive airway disease, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder showed a declining trend. However, congenital heart diseases, dental caries, and vision impairment admission rates showed a zigzag pattern over the past 5 years. This center had inadequate diagnostic facilities related to genetic disease management. For advanced confirmation, the cases are referred to a district government hospital or private diagnostic laboratories in the city for genetic tests. Information regarding the overall burden and pattern of admissions in the health center is obtained by the review of DEIC records. Through this study, it is observed that the incidence of birth defects, as well as genetic disease burden, is high in the Visakhapatnam district. Hence there is a need for strengthening of management services for these diseases in this region.

Keywords: child health screening, developmental delays, district early intervention center, genetic disease management, infrastructural facility, Visakhapatnam district

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Authors: Yadira Tejeda, Wynette Whitegoat, Dylan Jones, Brett Drake

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Background and Purpose: Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) families impacted by child protective services (CPS) continue to be a population in literature where little is known. There is less known about the fathers of these children and the safety or risk factors attributed to child maltreatment and case outcomes. However, it is known that involving fathers in children’s lives is needed for healthy development, academic achievement, and cognitive development. The few articles that have studied the impacts of engaging fathers in the CPS have found that children in general experience shorter times in foster care, are likely to reunify with their biological family, and overall have better case outcomes. The purpose of this study is to determine whether perpetrators identified as the mother, father, or both impact foster care placement in Hispanic and AI/AN families in CPS. Methods: Using NCANDS Child File data, the selected reports submitted in FY2017 with at least one substantiated allegation, i.e. those with perpetrator information. Reports were categorized into one of three categories: mom-perpetrator-only, father-perpetrator-only, and both. Reports that did not fall into any one of these three categorizations were omitted (<18%). Lastly, only reports where the mother and father self-identified as Hispanic or AI/AN were kept. Foster care placement was measured if any child in the report was placed within three months of the report date. Multilevel Logistic Regression models (random intercepts at the state and county) were used to model the relationship between report-parent type and foster care placement. Controls included Maltreatment types, number of children, any prior reports, and age of the youngest child. Results: For AI/AN reports, 64% were mom-perpetrator-only, 20% were father-perpetrator-only, and 16% both. Father-perpetrator-only reports had 60% lower odds of placement than mom-perpetrator-only, and both had 35% greater odds than mom-only. For Hispanics, 51% were mom-perpetrator-only, 30% father-perpetrator-only, and 19% both. Father-perpetrator-only reports had 74% lower odds than mom-perpetrator-only, and both had 55% greater odds than mom-perpetrator-only. Conclusion and Implications: Fatherhood research focused on prevention and intervention services should include Hispanic and AI/AN fathers to create culturally relevant and tailored services for both groups. By identifying differences in children’s CPS trajectories conditional on fathers’ involvement as a perpetrator, this analysis helps to inform where and how prevention efforts should be focused when considering variation in parental involvement for both populations. The findings indicate that the father’s involvement predicts substantial differences in the probability of future placement, with the direction depending on the mother’s joint involvement. Future research should investigate mediating pathways of these relationships while accounting for the unique experiences of AI/AN and Hispanic families. Each of these racial groups faces unique and differing challenges related to CPS, yet both groups have a shared understanding of the importance of fatherhood in the lives of children. Developing a better understanding of what is happening with Hispanic and AI/AN fathers as it relates to children's CPS experiences may result in new tools to reduce child maltreatment rates in these communities.

Keywords: child Abuse, child maltreatment, NDACAN, latino, native American

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Authors: Zeradam Yeshiwas, A. Krishnaia

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The aim of this study is to verify the resulting surface roughness of parts formed by the Single-Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) process for an ISO 3574 Drawing Quality Cold Rolled CR2 Steel. The chemical composition of drawing quality Cold Rolled CR2 steel is comprised of 0.12 percent of carbon, 0.5 percent of manganese, 0.035 percent of sulfur, 0.04 percent phosphorous, and the remaining percentage is iron with negligible impurities. The experiments were performed on a 3-axis vertical CNC milling machining center equipped with a tool setup comprising a fixture and forming tools specifically designed and fabricated for the process. The CNC milling machine was used to transfer the tool path code generated in Mastercam 2017 environment into three-dimensional motions by the linear incremental progress of the spindle. The blanks of Drawing Quality Cold Rolled CR2 steel sheets of 1 mm of thickness have been fixed along their periphery by a fixture and hardened high-speed steel (HSS) tools with a hemispherical tip of 8, 10 and 12mm of diameter were employed to fabricate sample parts. To investigate the surface roughness, hyperbolic-cone shape specimens were fabricated based on the chosen experimental design. The effect of process parameters on the surface roughness was studied using three important process parameters, i.e., tool diameter, feed rate, and step depth. In this study, the Taylor-Hobson Surtronic 3+ surface roughness tester profilometer was used to determine the surface roughness of the parts fabricated using the arithmetic mean deviation (Rₐ). In this instrument, a small tip is dragged across a surface while its deflection is recorded. Finally, the optimum process parameters and the main factor affecting surface roughness were found using the Taguchi design of the experiment and ANOVA. A Taguchi experiment design with three factors and three levels for each factor, the standard orthogonal array L9 (3³) was selected for the study using the array selection table. The lowest value of surface roughness is significant for surface roughness improvement. For this objective, the ‘‘smaller-the-better’’ equation was used for the calculation of the S/N ratio. The finishing roughness parameter Ra has been measured for the different process combinations. The arithmetic means deviation (Rₐ) was measured via the experimental design for each combination of the control factors by using Taguchi experimental design. Four roughness measurements were taken for a single component and the average roughness was taken to optimize the surface roughness. The lowest value of Rₐ is very important for surface roughness improvement. For this reason, the ‘‘smaller-the-better’’ Equation was used for the calculation of the S/N ratio. Analysis of the effect of each control factor on the surface roughness was performed with a ‘‘S/N response table’’. Optimum surface roughness was obtained at a feed rate of 1500 mm/min, with a tool radius of 12 mm, and with a step depth of 0.5 mm. The ANOVA result shows that step depth is an essential factor affecting surface roughness (91.1 %).

Keywords: incremental forming, SPIF, drawing quality steel, surface roughness, roughness behavior

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Authors: Gerhard Gritsch, Ana Skupch, Manfred Hartmann, Wolfgang Frühwirt, Hannes Perko, Dieter Grossegger, Tilmann Kluge

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Rehabilitation of stroke patients is dominated by classical physiotherapy. Nowadays, a field of research is the application of neurofeedback techniques in order to help stroke patients to get rid of their motor impairments. Especially, if a certain limb is completely paralyzed, neurofeedback is often the last option to cure the patient. Certain exercises, like the imagination of the impaired motor function, have to be performed to stimulate the neuroplasticity of the brain, such that in the neighboring parts of the injured cortex the corresponding activity takes place. During the exercises, it is very important to keep the motivation of the patient at a high level. For this reason, the missing natural feedback due to a movement of the effected limb may be replaced by a synthetic feedback based on the motor-related brain function. To generate such a synthetic feedback a system is needed which measures, detects, localizes and visualizes the motor related µ-rhythm. Fast therapeutic success can only be achieved if the feedback features high specificity, comes in real-time and without large delay. We describe such an approach that offers a 3D visualization of µ-rhythms in real time with a delay of 500ms. This is accomplished by combining smart EEG preprocessing in the frequency domain with source localization techniques. The algorithm first selects the EEG channel featuring the most prominent rhythm in the alpha frequency band from a so-called motor channel set (C4, CZ, C3; CP6, CP4, CP2, CP1, CP3, CP5). If the amplitude in the alpha frequency band of this certain electrode exceeds a threshold, a µ-rhythm is detected. To prevent detection of a mixture of posterior alpha activity and µ-activity, the amplitudes in the alpha band outside the motor channel set are not allowed to be in the same range as the main channel. The EEG signal of the main channel is used as template for calculating the spatial distribution of the µ - rhythm over all electrodes. This spatial distribution is the input for a inverse method which provides the 3D distribution of the µ - activity within the brain which is visualized in 3D as color coded activity map. This approach mitigates the influence of lid artifacts on the localization performance. The first results of several healthy subjects show that the system is capable of detecting and localizing the rarely appearing µ-rhythm. In most cases the results match with findings from visual EEG analysis. Frequent eye-lid artifacts have no influence on the system performance. Furthermore, the system will be able to run in real-time. Due to the design of the frequency transformation the processing delay is 500ms. First results are promising and we plan to extend the test data set to further evaluate the performance of the system. The relevance of the system with respect to the therapy of stroke patients has to be shown in studies with real patients after CE certification of the system. This work was performed within the project ‘LiveSolo’ funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) (project number: 853263).

Keywords: real-time EEG neuroimaging, neurofeedback, stroke, EEG–signal processing, rehabilitation

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Authors: Eric Pla Erra, Mariana Jimenez Martinez

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While aggregated loads at a community level tend to be easier to predict, individual household load forecasting present more challenges with higher volatility and uncertainty. Furthermore, the drastic changes that our behavior patterns have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic have modified our daily electrical consumption curves and, therefore, further complicated the forecasting methods used to predict short-term electric load. Load forecasting is vital for the smooth and optimized planning and operation of our electric grids, but it also plays a crucial role for individual domestic consumers that rely on a HEMS (Home Energy Management Systems) to optimize their energy usage through self-generation, storage, or smart appliances management. An accurate forecasting leads to higher energy savings and overall energy efficiency of the household when paired with a proper HEMS. In order to study how COVID-19 has affected the accuracy of forecasting methods, an evaluation of the performance of a state-of-the-art LGBM (Light Gradient Boosting Model) will be conducted during the transition between pre-pandemic and lockdowns periods, considering day-ahead electric load forecasting. LGBM improves the capabilities of standard Decision Tree models in both speed and reduction of memory consumption, but it still offers a high accuracy. Even though LGBM has complex non-linear modelling capabilities, it has proven to be a competitive method under challenging forecasting scenarios such as short series, heterogeneous series, or data patterns with minimal prior knowledge. An adaptation of the LGBM model – called “resilient LGBM” – will be also tested, incorporating a concept drift detection technique for time series analysis, with the purpose to evaluate its capabilities to improve the model’s accuracy during extreme events such as COVID-19 lockdowns. The results for the LGBM and resilient LGBM will be compared using standard RMSE (Root Mean Squared Error) as the main performance metric. The models’ performance will be evaluated over a set of real households’ hourly electricity consumption data measured before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. All households are located in the city of Barcelona, Spain, and present different consumption profiles. This study is carried out under the ComMit-20 project, financed by AGAUR (Agència de Gestiód’AjutsUniversitaris), which aims to determine the short and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on building energy consumption, incrementing the resilience of electrical systems through the use of tools such as HEMS and artificial intelligence.

Keywords: concept drift, forecasting, home energy management system (HEMS), light gradient boosting model (LGBM)

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Authors: M. Siedlikowski, F. Rauch, A. Tsimicalis

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Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disorder of childhood onset that causes frequent fractures after minimal physical stress. To date, OI research has focused on medically- and surgically-oriented outcomes with little attention on the perspective of the affected child. It is a challenge to elicit the child’s voice in health care, in other words, their own perspective on their symptoms, but software development offers a way forward. Sisom (Norwegian acronym derived from ‘Si det som det er’ meaning ‘Tell it as it is’) is an award-winning, rigorously tested, interactive, computerized tool that helps children with chronic illnesses express their symptoms to their clinicians. The successful Sisom software tool, that addresses the child directly, has not yet been adapted to attend to symptoms unique to children with OI. The purpose of this study was to develop a Sisom paper prototype for children with OI by seeking the perspectives of end users, particularly, children with OI and clinicians. Our descriptive qualitative study was conducted at Shriners Hospitals for Children® – Canada, which follows the largest cohort of children with OI in North America. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 12 children with OI over three cycles. Nine clinicians oversaw the development process, which involved determining the relevance of current Sisom symptoms, vignettes, and avatars, as well as generating new Sisom OI components. Data, including field notes, transcribed audio-recordings, and drawings, were deductively analyzed using content analysis techniques. Guided by the following framework, data pertaining to symptoms, vignettes, and avatars were coded into five categories: a) Relevant; b) Irrelevant; c) To modify; d) To add; e) Unsure. Overall, 70.8% of Sisom symptoms were deemed relevant for inclusion, with 49.4% directly incorporated, and 21.3% incorporated with changes to syntax, and/or vignette, and/or location. Three additions were made to the ‘Avatar’ island. This allowed children to celebrate their uniqueness: ‘Makes you feel like you’re not like everybody else.’ One new island, ‘About Me’, was added to capture children’s worldviews. One new sub-island, ‘Getting Around’, was added to reflect accessibility issues. These issues were related to the children’s independence, their social lives, as well as the perceptions of others. In being consulted as experts throughout the co-creation of the Sisom OI paper prototype, children coded the Sisom symptoms and provided sound rationales for their chosen codes. In rationalizing their codes, all children shared personal stories about themselves and their relationships, insights about their OI, and an understanding of the strengths and challenges they experience on a day-to-day basis. The child’s perspective on their health is a basic right, and allowing it to be heard is the next frontier in the care of children with genetic diseases. Sisom OI, a methodological breakthrough within OI research, will offer clinicians an innovative and child-centered approach to capture this neglected perspective. It will provide a tool for the delivery of health care in the center that established the worldwide standard of care for children with OI.

Keywords: child health, interactive computerized communication tool, participatory approach, symptom management

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