Search results for: Eric Jacob Bacon

Authors: Innocent Pangapanga-Phiri, Eric Dada Mungatana

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This study estimates the effect of climate-induced rural-urban migrants (RUM) on maize productivity. It uses panel data gathered by the National Statistics Office and the World Bank to understand the effect of RUM on the technical efficiency of maize production in rural Malawi. The study runs the two-stage Tobit regression to isolate the real effect of rural-urban migration on the technical efficiency of maize production. The results show that RUM significantly reduces the technical efficiency of maize production. However, the interaction of RUM and climate-smart agriculture has a positive and significant influence on the technical efficiency of maize production, suggesting the need for re-investing migrants’ remittances in agricultural activities.

Keywords: climate-smart agriculture, farm productivity, rural-urban migration, panel stochastic frontier models, two-stage Tobit regression

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Authors: Bindya Jacob

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The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of catchup growth induced by Oral Nutrition Supplement (ONS), in animal model of growth restriction due to under nutrition. Quality of catch-up growth was assessed by proportion of lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM). Young SD rats were food restricted at 70% of normal caloric intake for 4 weeks; and re-fed at 120% of normal caloric intake for 4 weeks. Refeeding diet had 50% calories from animal diet and 50% from ONS formulated for optimal growth. After refeeding, the quantity and quality of catch-up growth were measured including weight, length, LBM and FM. During nutrient restriction, body weight and length of animals was reduced compared to healthy controls. Both LBM and FM were significantly lower than healthy controls (p < 0.001). Refeeding with ONS resulted in increase of weight and length, with significant catch-up growth compared to baseline (p < 0.001). Detailed examination of body composition showed that the catch-up in body weight was due to proportionate increase of LBM and FM, resulting in a final body composition similar to healthy controls. This data supports the use of well-designed ONS for recovery from growth restriction due to under nutrition, and return to normal growth trajectory characterized by normal ratio of lean and fat mass.

Keywords: catch up growth, body composition, nutrient restriction, healthy growth

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Authors: Eric Huang, Coleman DeLude, Justin Romberg, Saibal Mukhopadhyay, Madhavan Swaminathan

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High performance computing (HPC) based emulators can be used to model the scattering from multiple stationary and moving targets for RADAR applications. These emulators rely on the RADAR Cross Section (RCS) of the targets being available in complex scenarios. Representing the RCS using tables generated from electromagnetic (EM) simulations is often times cumbersome leading to large storage requirement. This paper proposed a spherical harmonic based anisotropic scatterer model to represent the RCS of complex targets. The problem of finding the locations and reflection profiles of all scatterers can be formulated as a linear least square problem with a special sparsity constraint. This paper solves this problem using a modified Orthogonal Matching Pursuit algorithm. The results show that the spherical harmonic based scatterer model can effectively represent the RCS data of complex targets.

Keywords: RADAR, RCS, high performance computing, point scatterer model

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Authors: Mansouri Nabila, Ben Jemaa Yousra, Motamed Cina, Watelain Eric

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Research and development efforts in intelligent Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) seek to save lives and reduce the number of on-road fatalities. For traffic and emergency monitoring, the essential but challenging task is vehicle detection and tracking in reasonably short time. This purpose needs first of all a powerful dynamic car detector model. In fact, this paper presents an optimized HOG process based on shape and motion parameters fusion. Our proposed approach mains to compute HOG by bloc feature from foreground blobs using configurable research window and pathway in order to overcome the shortcoming in term of computing time of HOG descriptor and improve their dynamic application performance. Indeed we prove in this paper that HOG by bloc descriptor combined with motion parameters is a very suitable car detector which reaches in record time a satisfactory recognition rate in dynamic outside area and bypasses several popular works without using sophisticated and expensive architectures such as GPU and FPGA.

Keywords: car-detector, HOG, motion, computing time

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Authors: Niti Kammuang-lue, Kritsada On-ai, Phrut Sakulchangsatjatai, Pradit Terdtoon

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The objectives of this paper are to investigate effects of dimensionless numbers on thermal performance of the vertical closed-loop pulsating heat pipe (VCLPHP) and to establish a correlation to predict the thermal performance of the VCLPHP. The CLPHPs were made of long copper capillary tubes with inner diameters of 1.50, 1.78, and 2.16mm and bent into 26 turns. Then, both ends were connected together to form a loop. The evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections length were equal to 50 and 150 mm. R123, R141b, acetone, ethanol, and water were chosen as variable working fluids with constant filling ratio of 50% by total volume. Inlet temperature of heating medium and adiabatic section temperature was constantly controlled at 80 and 50oC, respectively. Thermal performance was represented in a term of Kutateladze number (Ku). It can be concluded that when Prandtl number of liquid working fluid (Prl), and Karman number (Ka) increases, thermal performance increases. On contrary, when Bond number (Bo), Jacob number (Ja), and Aspect ratio (Le/Di) increases, thermal performance decreases. Moreover, the correlation to predict more precise thermal performance has been successfully established by analyzing on all dimensionless numbers that have effect on the thermal performance of the VCLPHP.

Keywords: vertical closed-loop pulsating heat pipe, working fluid, thermal performance, dimensionless parameter

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Authors: Jacob Wahl, Jane Zhang

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This paper describes the development and characterization of a prototype IoT network for use with agricultural imaging and monitoring applications. The sensor and gateway nodes are designed using the ESP32 SoC with integrated Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 and Wi-Fi. A development board, the Arducam IoTai ESP32, is used for prototyping, testing, and power measurements. Google’s Firebase is used as the cloud storage site for image data collected by the sensor. The sensor node captures images using the OV2640 2MP camera module and transmits the image data to the gateway via Bluetooth Low Energy. The gateway then uploads the collected images to Firebase via a known nearby Wi-Fi network connection. This image data can then be processed and analyzed by computer vision and machine learning pipelines to assess crop growth or other needs. The sensor node achieves a wireless transmission data throughput of 220kbps while consuming 150mA of current; the sensor sleeps at 162µA. The sensor node device lifetime is estimated to be 682 days on a 6600mAh LiPo battery while acquiring five images per day based on the development board power measurements. This network can be utilized by any application that requires high data rates, low power consumption, short-range communication, and large amounts of data to be transmitted at low-frequency intervals.

Keywords: Bluetooth low energy, ESP32, firebase cloud, IoT, smart farming

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Authors: Divine Agozie, Muesser Nat, Eric Afful-Dadzie

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This examination attempts an analysis of the effect of business intelligence and analytics (BI&A) capabilities on organizational role stressors and the implications of such an effect on performance. Two hundred twenty-eight responses gathered from seventy-six firms across Ghana were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach to validate the hypothesized relationships identified in the research model. Findings suggest both endogenous and exogenous dependencies of the sensing capability on the multiple role requirements of personnel. Further, transforming capability increases role conflict, whereas driving capability of BI&A systems impacts role conflict and role ambiguity. This study poses many practical insights to firms seeking to acquire analytics capabilities to drive performance and data-driven decision-making. It is important for firms to consider balancing role changes and task requirements before implementing and post-implementation stages of BI&A innovations.

Keywords: business intelligence and analytics, dynamic capabilities view, organizational stressors, structural equation modelling

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Authors: Abdessalam Hijab, Hafida Boulekbache, Eric Henry

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The objective of this article is to explain the use of geographic information system (GIS) and information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the real-time processing and analysis of data on the status of an urban sanitation network by integrating professional actors in sanitation for sustainable management in urban areas. Indeed, it is a smart geo-collaboration based on the complementarity of ICTs and GIS. This multi-actor reflection was built with the objective of contributing to the development of complementary solutions to the existing technologies to better protect the urban environment, with the help of a checklist with the spatial reference "E-Géo-LD" dedicated to the "professional/professional" actors in sanitation, for intelligent monitoring of liquid sanitation networks in urban areas. In addition, this research provides a good understanding and assimilation of liquid sanitation schemes in the "Lamkansa" sampling area of the city of Casablanca, and spatially evaluates these schemes. Downstream, it represents a guide to assess the environmental impacts of the liquid sanitation scheme.

Keywords: ICT, GIS, spatial checklist, liquid sanitation, environment

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Authors: Eric Asare, Jamie Evans, Mark Newton, Emiliano Bilotti

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High-density polyethylene (HDPE) filled with silver coated glass flakes (5µm) was investigated and the effect on PTC by addition of a second filler (100µm silver coated glass flake) or matrix (polypropylene elastomer) to the composite were examined. The addition of the secondary filler promoted the electrical properties of the composite. The bigger flakes acted like a bridge between the small flakes and this helped to enhance the electrical properties. The PTC behaviour of the composite was also improved by the addition of the bigger flakes due to the increase in separation distance between particles caused by the bigger flakes. Addition of small amount of polypropylene elastomer enhanced not only PTC effect but also improved substantially the flexibility of the composite as well as reduces the overall filler content. SEM images showed that the fillers were dispersed in the HDPE phase.

Keywords: positive temperature coefficient, conductive polymer composite, electrical conductivity, high density polyethylene

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Authors: Rajat Mittal, Jung Hee Seo, Jacob Turner, Harshal Raut

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The perpetual advancement in computational capabilities, coupled with the continuous evolution of software tools and numerical algorithms, is creating novel avenues for research, exploration, and application at the nexus of computational fluid and structural mechanics. Fish leverage their remarkably flexible bodies and fins to harness energy from vortices, propelling themselves with an elegance and efficiency that captivates engineers. Bats fly with unparalleled agility and speed by using their flexible membrane wings. Wave-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems, utilizing elastically mounted hydrofoils, convert wave energy into thrust. Each of these problems involves a complex and elegant interplay between fluid dynamics and structural mechanics. Historically, investigations into such phenomena were constrained by available tools, but modern computational advancements now facilitate exploration of these multi-physics challenges with an unprecedented level of fidelity, precision, and realism. In this work, the author will discuss projects that harness the capabilities of high-fidelity sharp-interface immersed boundary methods to address a spectrum of engineering and biological challenges involving fluid-structure interaction.

Keywords: immersed boundary methods, CFD, bioflight, fluid structure interaction

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Authors: Samuel Alaba Akinwotu

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Effectiveness in communication requires the deployment of pragmatic and rhetorical strategies in religious sermons. In spite of high volume of works in religious discourse, scholars have not adequately accounted for the persuasive and argumentation strategies employed in Christian religious Pentecostal sermons. This study examines communicative intentions and the pragma-rhetorical strategies deployed to maintain balance and effectiveness in selected sermons of Pastor E. A. Adeboye, Bishop D. Oyedepo and Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. Fifteen sermons, delivered orally and transcribed into the written mode, were selected and analysed using Jacob Mey’s theory of pragmeme, Aristotle’s rhetoric and the theory of argumentation by van Eemeren and Grootendorst. Speakers pract stating, encouraging, assuring, warning, condemning, directing, praising, thanking, etc. through rhetorical question, repetition, direct address, direct command and structural parallelism. They assume divine role by speaking authoritatively and they tactically and logically select words to legitimise their ideology. They also categorise and portray individuals and/or issues either as good or bad, sinner/sin or righteous/righteousness, etc. The study provides clearer insight into the pragmatic import and the communicative effectiveness of Christian Pentecostal sermons. Further research can juxtapose the pragma-rhetorical and argumentation strategies of preachers of two clearly differentiated movements within the Christian religion.

Keywords: argumentation, communicative intentions, pentecostal sermons, pragmeme, rhetoric

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Authors: Eric K. W. Aikins

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Traditionally, Ghana is a marine fishing country. The fishing industry dominated by artisanal marine fishing helps Ghana to meet its fish and protein requirements. Also, it provides employment for most coastal dwellers that depend on fishing as their main economic enterprise. Nonetheless, the marine fishing industry is confronted with challenges that have contributed to a declining fish production in recent past decade. Bad fishing practices and the general limited knowledge on sustainable management of fisheries resources are the limiting factors that affect sustainable fish production and sustainable marine biodiversity management in Ghana. This paper discusses the challenges and strategies for attaining and maintaining sustainable marine fishing in Ghana as well as the state of marine fishing in Ghana. It concludes that an increase in the level of involvement of local fishers in the management of fisheries resources of the country could help local fishers to employ sustainable fisheries resources exploitation methods that could result in an improvement in the spatio-economic development and wellbeing of affected fishing communities in particular and Ghana in general.

Keywords: pair trawling, sargassum, spatio-economic development, sustainable marine fishing

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Authors: Segun Jacob Ogunkunle

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The study examined the moderating effects of future career interest in science and gender on achievement in basic science of students taught in a simulated laboratory and enriched laboratory guide material environments. It adopted the pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design with a 3x2x2 factorial matrix. A total of 277 (130 males, 147 females; ± 17 years) junior secondary three students randomly selected from six purposively selected secondary schools based on availability of functional computer and physics laboratories participated in the study. Data were collected using achievement test in basic science (r=0.87) and future career interest in science (r=0.99) while analysis of covariance and estimated marginal means were used to test three hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study show that future career interest in science had significant effect on students’ achievement in basic science whereas gender did not. The interaction effect of future career interest in science and gender on students’ achievement in basic science was not significant. It is therefore recommended that prior knowledge of students’ future career interest in science could be used to improve participation in basic science practical in order to enhance achievement in biology, chemistry, and physics at the post-basic education level in Nigeria.

Keywords: future career interest in science, basic science, simulated laboratory, enriched laboratory guide materials, achievement in science

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Authors: Ayodele James Akinola

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This study examines how social and linguistic variables influenced communication between neurologists and patients in selected university teaching hospitals (UTHs) in southwestern Nigeria. Jacob Mey’s Pragmatic Acts, complemented by Emanuel and Emanuel’s model of doctor-patient relationship, served as the theoretical framework. Data comprising 22 audio-recorded neurologist-patient interactions were collected from two UTHs in the southwestern region of Nigeria. Data revealed that educational attainment of patients has insignificant influence on the interaction where the linguistic prowess of the patient has been impaired for consultative communication. However, the status influenced the degree of attention paid to patients by neurologists and determines the amount of time 'trying to help patients to communicate'. Patients with lower educational status and who could not communicate in English spent more time narrating their ailment to neurologists. Patients with higher educational status and could communicate in English saves consultation time as they express themselves briefly unlike those who were of little or no education in the clinics. Through this, diagnoses and therapeutic processes took eight to 12 minutes. 20 minutes was the longest duration recorded. Neurologist-patient interaction in the observed hospitals is shaped by neurologists’ experience, patients’ social variables and language.

Keywords: medical pragmatics, neurologist-patient interaction, nigeria, socio-linguistic influence

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Authors: Theresa Bacon-Baguley, Martina Reinhold

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Introduction: Evaluation and analysis are the cornerstones of any successful program in higher education. When developing a program at a distant campus, it is essential that the process of evaluation and analysis be orchestrated in a timely manner with tools that can identify both the positive and negative components of distant education. We describe the utilization of a newly developed tool used to evaluate and analyze the successful expansion to a distant campus using Telepresence Technology. Like interactive television, Telepresence allows live interactive delivery but utilizes broadband cable. The tool developed is adaptable to any distant campus as the framework for the tool was derived from a systematic review of the literature. Methodology: Because Telepresence is a relatively new delivery system, the evaluation tool was developed based on a systematic review of literature in the area of distant education and ITV. The literature review identified four potential areas of concern: 1) technology, 2) confidence in the system, 3) faculty delivery of the content and, 4) resources at each site. Each of the four areas included multiple sub-components. Benchmark values were determined to be 80% or greater positive responses to each of the four areas and the individual sub-components. The tool was administered each semester during the didactic phase of the curriculum. Results: Data obtained identified site-specific issues (i.e., technology access, student engagement, laboratory access, and resources), as well as issues common at both sites (i.e., projection screen size). More specifically, students at the parent location did not have adequate access to printers or laboratory space, and students at the distant campus did not have adequate access to library resources. The evaluation tool identified that both sites requested larger screens for visualization of the faculty. The deficiencies were addressed by replacing printers, including additional orientation for students on library resources and increasing the screen size of the Telepresence system. When analyzed over time, the issues identified in the tool as deficiencies were resolved. Conclusions: Utilizing the tool allowed adjustments of the Telepresence delivery system in a timely manner resulting in successful implementation of an entire curriculum at a distant campus.

Keywords: physician assistant, telepresence technology, distant education, assessment

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Authors: Marina Sartor Hoffer

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The multicultural composition of today's societies poses new challenges to educational contexts. Schools are therefore called first to develop dialogic aptitudes and communicative skills adapted to the complex reality of post-modern societies. It is indispensable for educators and for young people to learn theoretical and practical tools during their scholastic path, in order to allow the knowledge of themselves and of the others with the aim of recognizing the value of the others regardless of their culture. Dialogic Skills help to understand and manage individual differences by allowing the solution of problems and preventing conflicts. The Educational Sector of Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis offers a range of methods and techniques for this purpose. Educational Transactional Analysis is firmly anchored in the Personalist Philosophy and deserves to be promoted as a theoretical frame suitable to face the challenges of contemporary education. The goal of this paper is therefore to outline some conceptual and methodological signposts for the education to dialogue by drawing concepts and methodologies from educational transactional analysis.

Keywords: dialogic process, education to dialogue, educational transactional analysis, personalism, the good of the relationship

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Authors: Mbadiwe S. Benyeogor, Oladayo O. Olakanmi, Kosisochukwu P. Nnoli, Olusegun I. Lawal, Eric JJ. Gratton

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For a robot or any vehicular system to navigate in off-road terrain, its driving mechanisms and the electro-software system must be capable of generating, controlling, and moderating sufficient mechanical power with precision. This paper proposes an autonomous robot with a gyro-stabilized active suspension system in form of a hybrid quadrupedal wheel drive mechanism. This system is to serve as a miniature model for demonstrating how off-road vehicles can be robotized into efficient terramechanical mobile platforms that are capable of self-balanced autonomous navigation and maneuvering on rough and uneven topographies. Results from tests and analysis show that the developed system performs as expected. Therefore, our model and control devices can be adapted to computerizing, automating, and upgrading the operation of unmanned ground vehicles for off-road navigation.

Keywords: active suspension, autonomous robots, edge computing, navigational sensors, terramechanics

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Authors: Aniket Kumar, Jacob Peedicayil

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and important psychiatric disorder. Several clinical features of MDD suggest an epigenetic basis for its pathogenesis. Since epigenetics (heritable changes in gene expression not involving changes in DNA sequence) may underlie the pathogenesis of MDD, epigenetic drugs such as DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) and histone deactylase inhibitors (HDACi) may be useful for treating MDD. The available literature indexed in Pubmed on preclinical drug trials of epigenetic drugs for the treatment of MDD was investigated. The search terms we used were ‘depression’ or ‘depressive’ and ‘HDACi’ or ‘DNMTi’. Among epigenetic drugs, it was found that there were 3 preclinical trials using HDACi and 3 using DNMTi for the treatment of MDD. All the trials were conducted on rodents (mice or rats). The animal models of depression that were used were: learned helplessness-induced animal model, forced swim test, open field test, and the tail suspension test. One study used a genetic rat model of depression (the Flinders Sensitive Line). The HDACi that were tested were: sodium butyrate, compound 60 (Cpd-60), and valproic acid. The DNMTi that were tested were: 5-azacytidine and decitabine. Among the three preclinical trials using HDACi, all showed an antidepressant effect in animal models of depression. Among the 3 preclinical trials using DNMTi also, all showed an antidepressant effect in animal models of depression. Thus, epigenetic drugs, namely, HDACi and DNMTi, may prove to be useful in the treatment of MDD and merit further investigation for the treatment of this disorder.

Keywords: DNA methylation, drug discovery, epigenetics, major depressive disorder

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Authors: Isaac Kwaku Adu, Jacob Doku Tetteh, John Joseph Puthenkalam, Kwabena Effah Antwi

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The continuous increase in population implies increase in food demand. There is, therefore, the need to increase agricultural production and other forest products to ensure food security and economic development. This paper employs the three-level intensity analysis to assess the total change of land-use in two-time intervals (1986-2002 and 2002-2017), the net change and swap as well as gross gains and losses in the two intervals. The results revealed that the overall change in the 31-year period was greater in the second period (2002-2017). Agriculture and forest categories lost in the first period while the other land class gained. However, in the second period agriculture and built-up increased greatly while forest, water bodies and thick bushes/shrubland experienced loss. An assessment revealed a reduction of forest in both periods but was greater in the second period and expansion of agricultural land was recorded as population increases. The pixels gaining built-up targeted agricultural land in both intervals, it also targeted thick bushes/shrubland and waterbody in the second period only. Built-up avoided forest in both intervals as well as waterbody and thick bushes/shrubland. To help in developing the best land-use strategies/policies, a further validation of the social factors is necessary.

Keywords: agricultural land, forest, Ghana, land-use, intensity analysis, remote sensing

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Authors: Jelka Pleadin, Nina Kudumija, Ana Vulic, Manuela Zadravec, Tina Lesic, Mario Skrivanko, Irena Perkovic, Nada Vahcic

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Products of animal origin, such as meat and meat products, can contribute to human mycotoxins’ intake coming as a result of either indirect transfer from farm animals exposed to naturally contaminated grains and feed (carry-over effects) or direct contamination with moulds or naturally contaminated spice mixtures used in meat production. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is mycotoxin considered to be of the outermost importance from the public health standpoint in connection with meat products. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of OTA in different traditional meat products circulating on Croatian markets during 2018, produced by a large number of households situated in eastern and north Croatian regions using a variety of technologies. Concentrations of OTA were determined in traditional meat products (n = 70), including dry fermented sausages (Slavonian kulen, Slavonian sausage, Istrian sausage and domestic sausage; n = 28), dry-cured meat products (pancetta, pork rack and ham; n = 22) and cooked sausages (liver sausages, black pudding sausages and pate; n = 20). OTA was analyzed by use of quantitative screening immunoassay method (ELISA) and confirmed for positive samples (higher than the limit of detection) by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. Whereas the bacon samples contaminated with OTA were not found, its level in dry fermented sausages ranged from 0.22 to 2.17 µg/kg and in dry-cured meat products from 0.47 to 5.35 µg/kg, with in total 9% of positive samples. Besides possible primary contamination of these products arising due to improper manufacturing or/and storage conditions, observed OTA contamination could also be the consequence of secondary contamination that comes as a result of contaminated feed the animals were fed on. OTA levels obtained in cooked sausages ranged from 0.32 to 4.12 µg/kg (5% of positives) and could probably be linked to the contaminated raw materials (liver, kidney and spices) used in the sausages production. The results showed an occasional OTA contamination of traditional meat products, pointing that to avoid such contamination on households these products should be produced and processed under standardized and well-controlled conditions. Further investigations should be performed in order to identify mycotoxin-producing moulds on the surface of the products and to define preventative measures that can reduce the contamination of traditional meat products during their production on households and period of storage.

Keywords: Croatian households, ochratoxin-A, traditional cooked sausages, traditional dry-cured meat products

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Authors: Sofia F. Franco, Jacob Macdonald

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This paper estimates the value of urban public street trees and their complementary and substitution value with other broader urban amenities and dis-amenities via the residential housing market. We estimate a lower bound value on a city’s tree amenities under instrumental variable and geographic regression discontinuity approaches with an application to Lisbon, Portugal. For completeness, we also explore how urban trees and in particular public street trees impact house prices across the city. Finally, we jointly analyze the planting and maintenance costs and benefits of urban street trees. The estimated value of all public trees in Lisbon is €8.84M. When considering specifically trees planted alongside roads and in public squares, the value is €6.06M or €126.64 per tree. This value is conditional on the distribution of trees in terms of their broader density, with higher effects coming from the overall greening of larger areas of the city compared to the greening of the direct neighborhood. Detrimental impacts are found when the number of trees is higher near street canyons, where they may exacerbate the stagnation of air pollution from traffic. Urban street trees also have important spillover benefits due to pollution mitigation around €6.21 million, or an additional €129.93 per tree. There are added benefits of €26.32 and €28.58 per tree in terms of flooding and heat mitigation, respectively. With significant resources and policies aimed at urban greening, the value obtained is shown to be important for discussions on the benefits of urban trees as compared to mitigation and abatement costs undertaken by a municipality.

Keywords: urban public goods, urban street trees, spatial boundary discontinuities, geospatial and remote sensing methods

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Authors: Felipe Magalhaes Lemos

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Functional behavior analysis is a procedure that has been studied for several decades by behavior analysts. In Brazil, we still have few studies in the area, so it was decided to carry out a systematic review of the articles published in the area by Brazilians. A search was done on the following scientific article registration sites: PsycINFO, ERIC, ISI Web of Science, Virtual Health Library. The research includes (a) peer-reviewed studies that (b) have been carried out in Brazil containing (c) functional assessment as a pre-treatment through (d) experimental procedures, direct or indirect observation and measurement of behavior problems (e) demonstrating a relationship between environmental events and behavior. During the review, 234 papers were found; however, only 9 were included in the final analysis. Of the 9 articles extracted, only 2 presented functional analysis procedures with manipulation of environmental variables, while the other 7 presented different procedures for a descriptive behavior assessment. Only the two studies using "functional analysis" used graphs to demonstrate the prevalent function of the behavior. Other studies described procedures and did not make clear the causal relationship between environment and behavior. There is still confusion in Brazil regarding the terms "functional analysis", "descriptive assessment" and "contingency analysis," which are generally treated in the same way. This study shows that few articles are published with a focus on functional analysis in Brazil.

Keywords: behavior, contingency, descriptive assessment, functional analysis

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Authors: Eric Chappel, Dimitry Dumont-Fillon, Hugo Musard, Harald van Lintel

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A microfluidic radial diffuser typically comprises a hole in a membrane, a small gap and pillar centred with the hole. The fluid is forced to flow radially in this gap between the membrane and the pillar. Such diffusers are notably used to form flow control valves, wherein several holes are machined into a flexible membrane progressively deflecting against pillars as the pressure increases. The fluidic modelling of such diffuser is made difficult by the presence of a transition region between the hole and the diffuser itself. An experimental investigation has been conducted using SOI wafers to form membranes with only one centred hole and Pyrex wafers for the substrate and pillars, both wafers being anodically bonded after alignment. A simple fluidic model accounting for the specific geometry of the diffuser is proposed and compared to experimental results. A good match is obtained, for Reynolds number in the range 0.5 to 35 using the analytical formula of a radial diffuser in the laminar regime with an effective inner radius that is 40% smaller than the real radius, in order to simulate correctly the flow constriction at the entrance of the diffuser.

Keywords: radial diffuser, flow control valve, numerical modelling, drug delivery

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Authors: Eric Sanchis

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Although there does not exist a definitive consensus on a precise definition of a complex system, it is generally considered that a system is complex by nature. The presented work illustrates a different point of view: a system becomes complex only with regard to the question posed to it, i.e., with regard to the problem which has to be solved. A complex system is a couple (question, object). Because the number of questions posed to a given object can be potentially substantial, complexity does not present a uniform face. Two types of complex systems are clearly identified: first-order complex systems and second-order complex systems. First-order complex systems physically exist. They are well-known because they have been studied by the scientific community for a long time. In second-order complex systems, complexity results from the system composition and its articulation that are partially unknown. For some of these systems, there is no evidence of their existence. Vagueness is the keyword characterizing this kind of systems. Autonomy and free will, two mental productions of the human cognitive system, can be identified as second-order complex systems. A classification based on the properties structure makes it possible to discriminate complex properties from the others and to model this kind of second order complex systems. The final outcome is an implementable synthetic property that distinguishes the solid aspects of the actual property from those that are uncertain.

Keywords: autonomy, free will, synthetic property, vaporous complex systems

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Authors: Leema Jacob

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The concept of psychological well-being is complex and has familiar use not only in psychology but also in the area of lifespan development. Eudaimonic well-being is finding a purpose and meaning in life, and this depends on both the individual and society, especially during adolescence; the social-cognitive environment can be decisive. The social environment of adolescents, including family, school, and friends, is recognized as an essential context for successful human life. The development of mature social relationships is also undoubtedly important. Theory of Mind is an emerging domain in cognitive neuroscience that involves the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others. ToM skills training constitutes a new aspect of the adolescent’s social development, including four domains: cognitive ToM, affective ToM, and an inter-intra-personal understanding of social norms. Still, little effort has been made to promote this training as a modality to foster their psychological well-being. This study aims to use the eudaimonic approach to evaluate psychological well-being with a quasi-experimental research design (pre-post-test). The major objective of the study was to identify the effect of ToM skills training on the eudaimonic well-being of adolescents with low social cognition. The data was analyzed to find their effect size from a sample of 74 adolescents from India between 17 and 19 years old. The result revealed that ToM skills training has a positive outcome on the well-being of adolescents post-training. The results are discussed based on the effect of ToM skills training on psychological well-being during adolescence, as well as on the importance of focusing on mental health as a developmental asset that can potentially influence mental well-being in the future.

Keywords: ToM training, adolescents, eudaimonic well-being, social cognition

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Authors: Maruf Yinka Kolawole, Jacob Olayiwola Aweda, Farasat Iqbal, Asif Ali, Sulaiman Abdulkareem

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Zinc is a non-ferrous metal with potential application in orthopaedic implant materials. However, its poor mechanical properties were major challenge to its application. Therefore, this paper studies the mechanical properties of biodegradable Zn-based alloy for biomedical application. Pure zinc powder with varying (0, 1, 2, 3 & 6) wt% of magnesium powders were ball milled using ball-to-powder ratio (B:P) of 10:1 at 350 rpm for 4 hours. The resulting milled powders were compacted and sintered at 300 MPa and 350 °C respectively. Microstructural, phase and mechanical properties analyses were performed following American standard of testing and measurement. The results show that magnesium has influence on the mechanical properties of zinc. The compressive strength, hardness and elastic modulus of 210 ± 8.878 MPa, 76 ± 5.707 HV and 45 ± 11.616 GPa respectively as obtained in Zn-2Mg alloy were optimum and meet the minimum requirement of biodegradable metal for orthopaedics application. These results indicate an increase of 111, 93 and 93% in compressive strength, hardness and elastic modulus respectively as compared to pure zinc. The increase in mechanical properties was adduced to effectiveness of compaction pressure and intermetallic phase formation within the matrix resulting in high dislocation density for improving strength. The study concluded that, Zn-2Mg alloy with optimum mechanical properties can therefore be considered a potential candidate for orthopaedic application.

Keywords: Biodegradable metal, Biomedical application, Mechanical properties, Powder Metallurgy, Zinc

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Authors: Nicolas Meylan, Eric Tardif

Abstract:

Many studies have highlighted the links between substance use and school difficulties. However, most of these studies address only the consumption in terms of frequency without considering the different types of behavior (use, abuse, dependence). Moreover, little is known about the associations between substance use and variables such as school engagement and school burnout recently described as a positive state of mind and an exhaustion syndrome related to school, respectively. Through this study, we wish to describe and compare school-related variables in adolescents with different type of substance use. Our study focuses on 402 Swiss adolescents, aged between 14 and 19 years old. They responded collectively and anonymously to a set of scales assessing substance use and several school variables (social support, stress, burnout, engagement and school climate). First, results on frequency and severity of substance use are relatively close to those observed in other studies. Second, it also appears that certain dimensions of stress, burnout, engagement and school climate are associated with the frequency of alcohol and cannabis consumption. Finally, adolescents’ substance abusers show particularly high scores of burnout, cynicism and stress related to workload, which can be understand as self-medication behavior. Additional analyzes are underway to clarify these associations. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research and clinical practice in academic burnout.

Keywords: school burnout, school engagement, adolescence, substance use, self-medication

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Authors: Eric Kumar, Erica Cochran, Zhiang Zhang, Wei Liang, Ronak Mody

Abstract:

The objective of this article was to create a modelling framework that exposes the marginal costs of shifting workloads across geographically distributed data-centers. Geographical distribution of internet services helps to optimize their performance for localized end users with lowered communications times and increased availability. However, due to the geographical and temporal effects, the physical embodiments of a service's data center infrastructure can vary greatly. In this work, we first identify that the sources of variances in the physical infrastructure primarily stem from local weather conditions, specific user traffic profiles, energy sources, and the types of IT hardware available at the time of deployment. Second, we create a traffic simulator that indicates the IT load at each data-center in the set as an approximator for user traffic profiles. Third, we implement a framework that quantifies the global level energy demands using building energy models and the traffic profiles. The results of the model provide a time series of energy demands that can be used for further life cycle analysis of internet services.

Keywords: data-centers, energy, life cycle, network simulation

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Authors: Justin-Herve Noubissi, Jean Claude Kamgang, Eric Ramat, Januarius Asongu, Christophe Cambier

Abstract:

The goal of our study is to analyse the impact of climatic factors in malaria transmission taking into account migration between Douala and Yaoundé, two cities of Cameroon country. We show how variations of climatic factors such as temperature and relative humidity affect the malaria spread. We propose a meta-population model of the dynamic transmission of malaria that evolves in space and time and that takes into account temperature and relative humidity and the migration between Douala and Yaoundé. We also integrate the variation of environmental factors as events also called mathematical impulsion that can disrupt the model evolution at any time. Our modelling has been done using the Discrete EVents System Specification (DEVS) formalism. Our implementation has been done on Virtual Laboratory Environment (VLE) that uses DEVS formalism and abstract simulators for coupling models by integrating the concept of DEVS.

Keywords: compartmental models, DEVS, discrete events, meta-population model, VLE

Procedia PDF Downloads 532

Authors: Eric Mensah, Carlos Mensah

Abstract:

The road maintenance backlogs created as a result of deferred maintenance especially in developing countries has caused considerable deterioration of many road assets. This is usually due to difficulties encountered in selecting and prioritising maintainable roads based on objective criteria rather than some political or other less important criteria. In order to ensure judicious use of limited resources for road maintenance, five factors were identified as the most important criteria for road management within the study area. This was based on the judgements of 40 experts. The results were further used to develop weightings using the Multi-Criteria Decision Process (MCDP) to analyse and select road alternatives according to maintenance goal. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), maintainable roads were grouped using the Jenk’s natural breaks to allow for further prioritised in order of importance for display on a dashboard of maps, charts, and tables. This reduces the problems of subjective maintenance and road selections, thereby reducing wastage of resources and easing the maintenance process through an object organised spatial decision support system.

Keywords: decision support, geographical information systems, multi-criteria decision process, weighted sum

Procedia PDF Downloads 343