Search results for: Thomas Arthur Ward

Authors: Arun Kumar Singh, Rupesh M. Das, Shailendra Saini

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The present work is an attempt to evaluate the sub-auroral ionospheric behavior under changing space weather conditions especially during high solar activity year 2014. In view of this, the GPS TEC along with Ionosonde data over Indian permanent scientific base 'Maitri', Antarctica (70°46′00″ S, 11°43′56″ E) has been utilized. The results suggested that the nature of ionospheric responses to the geomagnetic disturbances mainly depended upon the status of high latitudinal electro-dynamic processes along with the season of occurrence. Fortunately, in this study, both negative and positive ionospheric impact to the geomagnetic disturbances has been observed in a single year but in different seasons. The study reveals that the combination of equator-ward plasma transportation along with ionospheric compositional changes causes a negative ionospheric impact during summer and equinox seasons. However, the combination of pole-ward contraction of the oval region along with particle precipitation may lead to exhibiting positive ionospheric response during the winter season. Other than this, some Ionosonde based new experimental evidence also provided clear evidence of particle precipitation deep up to the low altitudinal ionospheric heights, i.e., up to E-layer by the sudden and strong appearance of E-layer at 100 km altitudes. The sudden appearance of E-layer along with a decrease in F-layer electron density suggested the dominance of NO⁺ over O⁺ at a considered region under geomagnetic disturbed condition. The strengthening of E-layer is responsible for modification of auroral electrojet and field-aligned current system. The present study provided a good scientific insight on sub-auroral ionospheric to the changing space weather condition.

Keywords: high latitude ionosphere, space weather, geomagnetic storms, sub-storm

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Authors: Vanessa de Cillos Silva, Fabrício José Piacente, Sônia Maria De Stefano Piedade, Valter Arthur

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The increasing concern in relation to safety and hygiene of food consumption makes it so that food conservation is studied. Food radiation is a technique used for conservation, but many consumers associate this technique with dangers such as environmental contamination and development of diseases. This research had the objective of evaluating the acceptance of radiated products by the consumer market in the city of Piracicaba/SP-Brasil. The methodology adopted was the application of a questionnaire in the city’s supermarkets. After the application, the data was tabulated and analyzed. It was observed that the majority of interviewees would not eat irradiated food. The unfamiliarity and questions about the safety of irradiated food were the main causes of your rejection.

Keywords: irradiation, questionnaire, storage, market acceptance

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Authors: Anastasia P. Samaras, Allison Ward-Parsons, Beth Dalbec, Paula Cristina Azevedo, Anya Evmenova, Arvinder Johri, Lynne Scott Constantine, Lesley Smith

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Two cycles of qualitative data were collected. Cycle One sources included participant survey results, participant postings on Blackboard forums, facilitator memos, and meeting notes as well as reflections and notes from whole-group meetings.

Keywords: adjunct faculty, professional development, self-study methodology, teaching

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Authors: Thomas Smith

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Many hackers worldwide would agree that, had it not been for linear-time theory, the refinement of Byzantine fault tolerance might never have occurred. After years of significant research into extreme programming, we validate the refinement of simulated annealing. Maw, our new framework for unstable theory, is the solution to all of these issues.

Keywords: distributed, software engineering, DNS, DHCP

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Authors: Adilson C. Barros, Kayo Okazaki, Valter Arthur

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The radio-protective substances protect the organism from ionizing radiation when previously ingested. Synthetic radio-protectives produce unpleasant side effects and are expensive. This article reports the search for natural radio-protective agents in foods, whose occurrence is widespread, costs are lower and the side effects are non-existent. In this work, we studied the eggplant, a food widely used in Brazil, comparing the radiosensitivity of insects reared on diet eggplant and outside this diet. The eggplant causes change in LD50 parameter of insects population but the response curve needs to be better shaped to conclude something about radioprotection. What we can see is that it seems to contain some radiomodifier substance.

Keywords: radioprotector, radiobiology, Solanun melongena L., Lasioderma serricorne

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Authors: Natalia Espinosa, Arthur Amorim, Rudolf Huebner

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Epilepsy is a chronic neural disease and around 50 million people in the world suffer from this disease, however, in many cases, the individual acquires resistance to the medication, which is known as drug-resistant epilepsy, where a detection system is necessary. This paper showed the development of an automatic system for seizure detection based on artificial neural networks (ANN), which are common techniques of machine learning. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is used for decomposing electroencephalogram (EEG) signal into main brain waves, with these frequency bands is extracted features for training a feedforward neural network with backpropagation, finally made a pattern classification, seizure or non-seizure. Obtaining 95% accuracy in epileptic EEG and 100% in normal EEG.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Epilepsy Detection , Seizure.

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Authors: Yi Shan Cheng, Ya Hui Yeh, Hsiao Wen Hsu

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Delirium is an acute state of confusion, which is mainly the result of the interaction of many factors, including: age>65 years, comorbidity, cognitive function and visual/auditory impairment, dehydration, pain, sleep disorder, pipeline retention, general anesthesia and major surgery… etc. Researches show the prevalence of delirium in hospitalized elderly patients over 50%. If it doesn't improve in time, may cause cognitive decline or impairment, not only prolong the length of hospital stay but also increase mortality. Some studies have shown that multiple nonpharmacological interventions are the most effective and common strategies, which are reorientation, early mobility, promoting sleep and nutritional support (including water intake), could improve or prevent delirium in the hospitalized elderly. In Taiwan, only one research to compare the delirium incidence of the older patients who have received orthopedic surgery between multi-nonpharmacological interventions and general routine care. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address the prevention or improvement of delirium incidence density in medical hospitalized elderly, provide clinical nurses as a reference for clinical implementation, and develop follow-up related research. This study is a quasi-experimental design using purposive sampling. Samples are from two wards: the geriatric ward and the general medicine ward at a medical center in central Taiwan. The sample size estimated at least 100, and then the data will be collected through a self-administered structured questionnaire, including: demographic and professional evaluation items. Case recruiting from 5/13/2023. The research results will be analyzed by SPSS for Windows 22.0 software, including descriptive statistics and inferential statistics: logistic regression、Generalized Estimating Equation(GEE)、multivariate analysis of variance(MANOVA).

Keywords: multiple nonpharmacological interventions, hospitalized elderly, delirium incidence, delirium

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Authors: Najade Sheriff, Malaz Elsaddig, Kevin Jones

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Background: Death in the first month of life accounts for an increasing proportion of under-five mortality. Advancement to reduce this number is being made across the globe; however, progress is slowest in sub-Saharan Africa. Objectives: The study aims to identify differences between neonatal deaths of inpatient babies born in a hospital facility in rural Uganda to those of neonates admitted from the community and to explore whether they can be used to risk stratify neonatal admissions. Results: A retrospective chart review was conducted on records for neonates admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) Kitovu Hospital from 1st July 2016 to 21st July 2017. A total of 442 babies were admitted and the overall neonatal mortality was 24.8% (40% inpatient, 37% community, 23% hospital referrals). 40% of deaths occurred within 24 hours of admission and the majority were male (63%). 43% of babies were hypothermic upon admission, a significantly greater proportion of which were inpatient babies born in labour ward (P=0.0025). Intrapartum related death accounted for ½ of all inpatient babies whereas complications of prematurity were the predominant cause of death in the community group (37%). Severe infection does not seem like a significant factor of mortality for inpatients (2%) as it does for community admissions (29%). Furthermore, with 52.5% of community admissions weighing < 1500g, very low birth weight (VLBW) may be a significant risk factor for community neonatal death. Conclusion: The neonatal mortality rate in this study is high, and the leading causes of death are all largely preventable. A high rate of inpatient birth asphyxiation indicates the need for good quality facility-based perinatal care as well as a greater focus on the management of hypothermia, such as Kangaroo care. Moreover, a reduction in preterm deliveries is necessary to reduce associated comorbidities, and monitoring for signs of infection is especially important for community admissions.

Keywords: community, mortality, newborn, Uganda

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Authors: Arthur Thirion

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Auxetic geometries allow the generation of a negative Poisson ratio (NPR) in conventional materials. This behaviour allows materials to have certain improved mechanical properties, including impact resistance and altered synclastic behaviour. This means these structures have significant potential when it comes to applications as chronic wound dressings. To this end, 6 different "perforated sheet" structure types were 3D printed. These structures all had variations of key geometrical features included cell length and angle. These were tested in compression and tension to assess their Poisson ratio. Both a positive and negative Poisson ratio was generated by the structures depending on the loading. The a/b ratio followed by θ has been shown to impact the Poisson ratio significantly. There is still a significant discrepancy between modelled and observed behaviour.

Keywords: auxetic materials, 3D printing, negative Poisson's ratio, tunable Poisson's ratio

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Authors: Amy Hodges, Deanna Rasmussen, Sherry Ward

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This paper examines the use of ePortfolios in a two-course sequence for ESL (English as a Second Language) students at an international branch campus in Doha, Qatar. ePortfolios support the transfer of language learning, but few have examined the sustainability of that transfer across an ESL program. Drawing upon surveys and interviews with students, we analyze three case studies that complicate previous research on metacognition, language learning, and ePortfolios. Our findings have implications for those involved in ESL programs and assessment of student writing.

Keywords: TESOL, electronic portfolios, assessment, technology

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Authors: Masami Usui

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Kazuo Ishiguro’s challenging novel, The Buried Giant, embodies how contemporary writers and readers have to discover the voices buried in our history. By avoiding setting or connecting the modern and contemporary historical incidents such as World War II this time, Ishiguro ventures into retelling myth, transfiguring historical facts, and revealing what has been forgotten in a process of establishing history and creating mythology. As generally known, modernist writers in the twentieth century employed materials from authorized classical mythologies, especially Greek mythology. As an heir of this tradition, Ishiguro imposes his mission of criticizing the repeatedly occurring yet easily-forgotten history of dictatorship and a slaughter on mythology based on King Arthur and its related heroes and myths in Britain. On an open ground, Ishiguro can start his own mythical story and space.

Keywords: English literature, fantasy, globalism, history

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Authors: Jeounghee Kim

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Objective: To describe the incidence of complication, according to the stage of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (TSCI) which was treated at Asan Medical Center (AMC), Korea. Hereafter, it should be developed in nursing management protocol of traumatic SCI. Methods. Retrospectively reviewed hospital records about the patients who were admitted AMC Patients with traumatic spinal cord injury until January 2005 and December 2016 were analyzed (n=97). AMC is a single institution of 2,700 beds where patients with trauma and severe trauma can be treated. Patients who were admitted to the emergency room due to spinal cord injury and who underwent intensive care unit, general ward, and rehabilitation ward. To identify long-term complications, we excluded patients who were operated on to other hospitals after surgery. Complications such as respiratory(pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary embolism, and others), cardiovascular (hypotension), urinary (autonomic dysreflexia, urinary tract infection (UTI), neurogenic bladder, and others), and skin systems (pressure ulcers) from the time of admission were examined through medical records and images. Results: SCI was graded according to ASIA scale. The initial grade was checked at admission. (grade A 55(56.7%), grade B 14(14.4)%, grade C 11(11.3%), grade D 15(15.5%), and grade E 2(2.1%). The grade was rechecked when the patient was discharged after treatment. (grade A 43(44.3%), grade B 15(15.5%), grade C 12(12.4%), grade D 21(21.6%), and grade E 6(6.2%). The most common complication after SCI was UTI 24cases (mean 36.5day), sore 24cases (40.5day), and Pneumonia which was 23 cases after 10days averagely. The other complications after SCI were neuropathic pain 19 cases, surgical site infection 4 cases. 53.6% of patient who had SCI were educated about intermittent catheterization at discharge from hospital. The mean hospital stay of all SCI patients was 61days. Conclusion: The Complications after traumatic SCI were developed at various stages from acute phase to chronic phase. Nurses need to understand fully the time-course of complication in traumatic SCI to provide evidence-based practice.

Keywords: spinal cord injury, complication, nursing, rehabilitation

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Authors: Zehour Rahmani, Messouda Dekmouche, Mohamed Hadjadj, Mokhtar Saidi

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In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the study of disease – causing microorganisms became concentrated on bacteria and largely institutionalized. In earlier years, the scientists interested in bacteria had originally been chemists like Pasteur, physicists like Tyndall, or botanists like Cohn and ward. For this reason, the objective of this research was to evaluate the potential of some dithiolethiones on standard microorganism strains as well as multi-drug resistant bacteria, which were isolated from hospitals. Recent studies have demonstrated, that several dithiolethione compounds, particularly (3H-1,2-dithiole-3-thione), exhibit the biological activities against several bacteria.

Keywords: bacteria, dithiolethiones, microorganism, potential

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Authors: Nina Robson, Kenneth John Faller II, Vishalkumar Ahir, Arthur Ricardo Deps Miguel Ferreira, John Buchanan, Amarnath Banerjee

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This paper describes the development of a virtual-reality system ARWED, which will be used in physical rehabilitation of patients with reduced upper extremity mobility to increase limb Active Range of Motion (AROM). The ARWED system performs a symmetric reflection and real-time mapping of the patient’s healthy limb on to their most affected limb, tapping into the mirror neuron system and facilitating the initial learning phase. Using the ARWED, future experiments will test the extension of the action-observation priming effect linked to the mirror-neuron system on healthy subjects and then stroke patients.

Keywords: physical rehabilitation, mirror neuron, virtual reality, stroke therapy

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Authors: Roongtiwa Chobchuen, Angkana Srikhan, Pattra Wattanapan

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Background: Neurogenic bowel is common condition after spinal cord injury. Most of spinal cord injured patients have motor weakness, mobility impairment which leads to constipation. Moreover, the neural pathway involving bowel function is interrupted. Therefore, the bowel management program should be implemented in nursing care in the earliest time after the onset of the disease to prevent the morbidity and mortality. Objective: To study the outcome of bowel management program of the patients with spinal cord injury who admitted for rehabilitation program. Study design: Descriptive study. Setting: Rehabilitation ward in Srinagarind Hospital. Populations: patients with subacute to chronic spinal cord injury who admitted at rehabilitation ward, Srinagarind hospital, aged over 18 years old. Instrument: The neurogenic bowel dysfunction score (NBDS) was used to determine the severity of neurogenic bowel. Procedure and statistical analysis: All participants were asked to complete the demographic data; age gender, duration of disease, diagnosis. The individual bowel function was assessed using NBDS at admission. The patients and caregivers were trained by nurses about the bowel management program which consisted of diet modification, abdominal massage, digital stimulation, stool evacuation including medication and physical activity. The outcome of the bowel management program was assessed by NBDS at discharge. The chi-square test was used to detect the difference in severity of neurogenic bowel at admission and discharge. Results: Sixteen spinal cord injured patients were enrolled in the study (age 45 ± 17 years old, 69% were male). Most of them (50%) were tetraplegia. On the admission, 12.5%, 12.5%, 43.75% and 31.25% were categorized as very minor (NBDS 0-6), minor (NBDS 7-9), moderate (NBDS 10-13) and severe (NBDS 14+) respectively. The severity of neurogenic bowel was decreased significantly at discharge (56.25%, 18.755%, 18.75% and 6.25% for very minor, minor, moderate and severe group respectively; p < 0.001) compared with NBDS at admission. Conclusions: Implementation of the effective bowel program decrease the severity of the neurogenic bowel in patient with spinal cord injury.

Keywords: neurogenic bowel, NBDS, spinal cord injury, bowel program

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Authors: Ekpekpo Arthur

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Thin films can either be conductive or dielectric (non-conductive). It is formed through atom/molecules state or formed after decomposing the materials into atomic/molecular scale by physical or chemical processes. In this study, thin films of Lead Sulphide were deposited on glass substrate prepared from lead acetate and thiourea solution using chemical bath deposition (CBD). The glass slides were subjected to the pretreatment by soaking them in a solution of 50% sulphuric acid and 50% nitric acid. Lead sulphide was deposited at different parameters such as deposition time and temperature. The optical properties of the thin films were determined from spectroscopy measurements of absorbance and reflectance. Optical studies show that the band gap of lead sulphide ranges between 0.41 eV to 300K.

Keywords: lead sulphide, spectroscopy, absorbance, reflectance

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Authors: Bernhard Widhalm, Cornelia Rieder-Gradinger, Thomas Ters, Ewald Srebotnik, Thomas Kuncinger

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Terpenes are natural components in softwoods and rank among the most frequently emitted volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the wood-processing industry. In this study, the main focus was on α- and β-pinene as well as Δ3-carene, which are the major terpenes in softwoods. To lower the total emission level of wood composites, defined terpene degrading microorganisms were applied to basic raw materials (e.g. pine wood particles and strands) in an optimised and industry-compatible testing procedure. In preliminary laboratory tests, bacterial species suitable for the utilisation of α-pinene as single carbon source in liquid culture were selected and then subjected to wood material inoculation. The two species Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens were inoculated onto wood particles and strands and incubated at room temperature. Applying specific pre-cultivation and daily ventilation of the samples enabled a reduction of incubation time from six days to one day. SPME measurements and subsequent GC-MS analysis indicated a complete absence of α- and β-pinene emissions after 24 hours from pine wood particles. When using pine wood strands rather than particles, bacterial treatment resulted in a reduction of α- and β-pinene by 50%, while Δ3-carene emissions were reduced by 30% in comparison to untreated strands. Other terpenes were also reduced in the course of the microbial treatment. The method developed here appears to be feasible for industrial application. However, growth parameters such as time and temperature as well as the technical implementation of the inoculation step will have to be adapted for the production process.

Keywords: GC-MS, pseudomonas, SPME, terpenes

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Authors: Siobhan O’Shea, Sangeetha Vijaysri Nair, Hee Cheol Kim, Charles Thomas Nugent, Cheuk Yan William Tong, Sam Douthwaite, Andrew Worlock

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The Aptima® HIV-1 Quant Dx Assay is a fully automated assay on the Panther system. It is based on Transcription-Mediated Amplification and real time detection technologies. This assay is intended for monitoring HIV-1 viral load in plasma specimens and for the detection of HIV-1 in plasma and serum specimens. Nine-hundred and seventy nine specimens selected at random from routine testing at St Thomas’ Hospital, London were anonymised and used to compare the performance of the Aptima HIV-1 Quant Dx assay and Roche COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan® HIV-1 Test, v2.0. Two-hundred and thirty four specimens gave quantitative HIV-1 viral load results in both assays. The quantitative results reported by the Aptima Assay were comparable those reported by the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Test, v2.0 with a linear regression slope of 1.04 and an intercept on -0.097. The Aptima assay detected HIV-1 in more samples than the Roche assay. This was not due to lack of specificity of the Aptima assay because this assay gave 99.83% specificity on testing plasma specimens from 600 HIV-1 negative individuals. To understand the reason for this higher detection rate a side-by-side comparison of low level panels made from the HIV-1 3rd international standard (NIBSC10/152) and clinical samples of various subtypes were tested in both assays. The Aptima assay was more sensitive than the Roche assay. The good sensitivity, specificity and agreement with other commercial assays make the HIV-1 Quant Dx Assay appropriate for both viral load monitoring and detection of HIV-1 infections.

Keywords: HIV viral load, Aptima, Roche, Panther system

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Authors: Wenjie Wu, Peng Cheng, Zehua Zhang, Fei Luo, Feng Wu, Min Zhong, Jianzhong Xu

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Background: There has been limited research into the therapeutic efficacy of rapid diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis. We attempted to discover whether the utilization of a DNA microarray assay to detect multidrug-resistant spinal tuberculosis complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis can improve clinical outcomes. Methods: A prospective study was conducted from February 2006 to September 2015. One hundred and forty-three consecutive culture–confirmed, clinically and imaging diagnosed MDR-TB patients with spinal tuberculosis complicated by pulmonary tuberculosis were enrolled into the study. The initial time to treatment for MDR-TB, the method of infection control, radiological indicators of spinal tubercular infectious foci, culture conversion, and adverse drug reactions were compared with the standard culture methods. Results: Of the total of 143 MDR-TB patients, 68 (47.6%) were diagnosed by conventional culture methods and 75 (52.4%) following the implementation of detection using the DNA microarray. Patients in the microarray group began rational use of the second-line drugs schedule more speedily than sufferers in the culture group (17.3 vs. 74.1 days). Among patients were admitted to a general tuberculosis ward, those from the microarray group spent less time in the ward than those from the culture group (7.8 vs. 49.2 days). In those patients with six months follow-up (n=134), patients in the microarray group had a higher rate of sputum negativity conversion at six months (89% vs. 73%). In the microarray group, the rate of drug adverse reactions was significantly lower (22.2% vs. 67.7%). At the same time, they had a more obvious reduction of the area with spinal tuberculous lesions in radiological examinations (77% vs. 108%). Conclusions: The application of the CapitalBio™ DNA Microarray assay caused noteworthy clinical advances including an earlier time to begin MDR-TB treatment, increased sputum culture conversion, improved infection control measures and better radiographical results

Keywords: tuberculosis, multidrug-resistant, tuberculous spondylitis, DNA microarray, clinical outcomes

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Authors: Apollinaire Barme, Simon Tamayo, Arthur Gaudron

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This paper presents a statistical approach to identify explanatory variables linearly related to e-commerce sales. The proposed methodology allows specifying a regression model in order to quantify the relevance between openly available data (economic and demographic) and national e-commerce sales. The proposed methodology consists in collecting data, preselecting input variables, performing regressions for choosing variables and models, testing and validating. The usefulness of the proposed approach is twofold: on the one hand, it allows identifying the variables that influence e- commerce sales with an accessible approach. And on the other hand, it can be used to model future sales from the input variables. Results show that e-commerce is linearly dependent on 11 economic and demographic indicators.

Keywords: e-commerce, statistical modeling, regression, empirical research

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Authors: Asma AlAmri, Ahmed Hassab Errasoul

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Background & Objectives: Psychiatric disorders are common, affecting approximately one of five adults (17.6%) of the population. While most patients can be successfully treated as outpatients, admission to psychiatric wards is required during relapses or as part of crisis intervention. The first 72h of admission could be particularly critical due to increased risk of physical violence, non-medical discharge and absconding. Many patients requiring interventions such as seclusion, physical restrain, PRN psychotropic medications. This study aims to investigate the relationship between demographical, clinical and pharmacological factors in one hand and certain outcomes (physical aggression, use of PRN medications, need for seclusions and non-medical discharges) within the first 72hours of admission to acute psychiatric wards in KKUH/Riyadh Methods: All admissions to psychiatric wards over a 20 month period, between (May 2015- January 2017) were included. Data was collected on demographics, diagnosis, psychotropic medications prescription, documented physical aggression, and seclusion, self-discharge and absconding. Results: 134 males and 171 females were admitted over the study period. Mean age was 34.2 years (SD 11.96).48.9% (n=149) were single and most patients (n=198) were either unemployed or in educations. Bipolar disorder was the most frequent diagnosis recorded on admission (39.3%, n=120); followed by Schizophrenia and related disorders (34.8%; n=106). Most patients (77.4%, n= 236) received regular psychotropic medications on admission. Vis a vis, 223 patients (73%) received PRN medications. Nominal regression model revealed positive relationship between “no psychotropics prescribed on admission” and self-discharge in women but not in men. No statistically significant relationship was found between age, gender, admission diagnosis and use of regular psychotropic medications on admission and need for seclusion, time spent in seclusion, documented physical aggression and use of PRN medications. Conclusion: Contrary to what is expected, our study does not show association between gender, physical aggression and need for seclusion. This could be due to poor documentation practices by nursing staff in male ward comparing with those in the female ward. Use of PRN psychotropics in the first 72 hours of admission was quite high possibly leading to a “ceiling effect”. A limitation of this study is the retrospective data collection.

Keywords: discharge against medical advice, physical aggression, psychotropics, seclusion

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Authors: Jularat Chumnaul

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In forensic science, corpses from various homicides are different; there are both complete and incomplete, depending on causes of death or forms of homicide. For example, some corpses are cut into pieces, some are camouflaged by dumping into the river, some are buried, some are burned to destroy the evidence, and others. If the corpses are incomplete, it can lead to the difficulty of personally identifying because some tissues and bones are destroyed. To specify gender of the corpses from skeletal remains, the most precise method is DNA identification. However, this method is costly and takes longer so that other identification techniques are used instead. The first technique that is widely used is considering the features of bones. In general, an evidence from the corpses such as some pieces of bones, especially the skull and pelvis can be used to identify their gender. To use this technique, forensic scientists are required observation skills in order to classify the difference between male and female bones. Although this technique is uncomplicated, saving time and cost, and the forensic scientists can fairly accurately determine gender by using this technique (apparently an accuracy rate of 90% or more), the crucial disadvantage is there are only some positions of skeleton that can be used to specify gender such as supraorbital ridge, nuchal crest, temporal lobe, mandible, and chin. Therefore, the skeletal remains that will be used have to be complete. The other technique that is widely used for gender specifying in forensic science and archeology is skeletal measurements. The advantage of this method is it can be used in several positions in one piece of bones, and it can be used even if the bones are not complete. In this study, the classification and cluster analysis are applied to this technique, including the Kth Nearest Neighbor Classification, Classification Tree, Ward Linkage Cluster, K-mean Cluster, and Two Step Cluster. The data contains 507 particular individuals and 9 skeletal measurements (diameter measurements), and the performance of five methods are investigated by considering the apparent error rate (APER). The results from this study indicate that the Two Step Cluster and Kth Nearest Neighbor method seem to be suitable to specify gender from human skeletal remains because both yield small apparent error rate of 0.20% and 4.14%, respectively. On the other hand, the Classification Tree, Ward Linkage Cluster, and K-mean Cluster method are not appropriate since they yield large apparent error rate of 10.65%, 10.65%, and 16.37%, respectively. However, there are other ways to evaluate the performance of classification such as an estimate of the error rate using the holdout procedure or misclassification costs, and the difference methods can make the different conclusions.

Keywords: skeletal measurements, classification, cluster, apparent error rate

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Authors: F. Al-Sheikh, C. Moralejo, M. Pritzker, W. A. Anderson, A. Elkamel

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Ammonia in mining wastewater is a significant problem, and treatment can be especially difficult in cold climates where biological treatment is not feasible. An adsorption process is one of the alternative processes that can be used to reduce ammonia concentrations to acceptable limits, and therefore a LEWATIT resin strongly acidic H+ form ion exchange resin and a Bowie Chabazite Na form AZLB-Na zeolite were tested to assess their effectiveness. For these adsorption tests, two packed bed columns (a mini-column constructed from a 32-cm long x 1-cm diameter piece of glass tubing, and a 60-cm long x 2.5-cm diameter Ace Glass chromatography column) were used containing varying quantities of the adsorbents. A mining wastewater with ammonia concentrations of 22.7 mg/L was fed through the columns at controlled flowrates. In the experimental work, maximum capacities of the LEWATIT ion exchange resin were 0.438, 0.448, and 1.472 mg/g for 3, 6, and 9 g respectively in a mini column and 1.739 mg/g for 141.5 g in a larger Ace column while the capacities for the AZLB-Na zeolite were 0.424, and 0.784 mg/g for 3, and 6 g respectively in the mini column and 1.1636 mg/g for 38.5 g in the Ace column. In the theoretical work, Thomas, Adams-Bohart, and Yoon-Nelson models were constructed to describe a breakthrough curve of the adsorption process and find the constants of the above-mentioned models. In the regeneration tests, 5% hydrochloric acid, HCl (v/v) and 10% sodium hydroxide, NaOH (w/v) were used to regenerate the LEWATIT resin and AZLB-Na zeolite with 44 and 63.8% recovery, respectively. In conclusion, continuous flow adsorption using a LEWATIT ion exchange resin and an AZLB-Na zeolite is efficient when using a co-flow technique for removal of the ammonia from wastewater. Thomas, Adams-Bohart, and Yoon-Nelson models satisfactorily fit the data with R² closer to 1 in all cases.

Keywords: AZLB-Na zeolite, continuous adsorption, Lewatit resin, models, regeneration

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Authors: Przemyslaw Nogly, Tobias Weinert, Daniel James, Sergio Carbajo, Dmitry Ozerov, Antonia Furrer, Dardan Gashi, Veniamin Borin, Petr Skopintsev, Kathrin Jaeger, Karol Nass, Petra Bath, Robert Bosman, Jason Koglin, Matthew Seaberg, Thomas Lane, Demet Kekilli, Steffen Brünle, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Wenting Wu, Christopher Milne, Thomas A. White, Anton Barty, Uwe Weierstall, Valerie Panneels, Eriko Nango, So Iwata, Mark Hunter, Igor Schapiro, Gebhard Schertler, Richard Neutze, Jörg Standfuss

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Ultrafast isomerization of retinal is the primary step in a range of photoresponsive biological functions including vision in humans and ion-transport across bacterial membranes. We studied the sub-picosecond structural dynamics of retinal isomerization in the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin using an X-ray laser. Twenty snapshots with near-atomic spatial and temporal resolution in the femtosecond regime show how the excited all-trans retinal samples conformational states within the protein binding pocket prior to passing through a highly-twisted geometry and emerging in the 13-cis conformation. The aspartic acid residues and functional water molecules in proximity of the retinal Schiff base respond collectively to formation and decay of the initial excited state and retinal isomerization. These observations reveal how the protein scaffold guides this remarkably efficient photochemical reaction.

Keywords: bacteriorhodopsin, free-electron laser, retinal isomerization mechanism, time-resolved crystallography

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Authors: Zineb Abidi, Marc-Arthur Diaye

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There exists a large empirical literature concerning the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance. This literature, however, applies mainly to large corporations and/or listed firms. To the best of our knowledge, the question of whether meeting CSR requirements impacts the financial performance of small and medium-sized unlisted SMEs has not so far been analyzed. This paper aims to analyze, for the first time, the effect of CSR on the financial performance of SMEs. Using an original database including 5,257 French SMEs, we show that adopting CSR practices has a positive but weak effect on a firm’s financial performance. To develop this further, we analyzed CSR practices interactions assessing the best combination of CSR components that positively influence SME financial performance. Our results show that French SMEs benefit more from their pro-social behavior when they choose a combination of CSR components best adapted to their individual characteristics.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, financial performance, unlisted firms, SMEs

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Authors: Yu-Shi Ye, Jia-Min Wu, Jhih-Ci Li

Abstract:

Background: Most orthopedic inpatients and primary caregivers are elderly, and patients are at high risk of falls. We set up a quality control team to analyze the root cause and found the following issues: 1. The nursing staff did not conduct cognitive assessments of patients and their primary caregivers to ensure that health education content was understood. 2. Nurses prefer to use spoken language in health education but lack the skills to use diverse teaching materials. 3. Newly recruited nurses have insufficient awareness of fall prevention. Methods: The study subjects were 16 nurses in the orthopedic ward of a teaching hospital in central Taiwan. We implemented the following strategies: 1. Developed a fall simulation teaching plan and conducted teaching courses and assessments in the morning meeting; 2. Designed and used a "fall prevention awareness card" to improve the prevention awareness of elderly patients; 3. All staff (including new staff) received experiential education training. Results: In 2021, 40% of patients in the orthopedic wards were aged 60-79 years (792/1979) with a high risk of falls. According to data collection, the incidence of falls in hospitalized patients was 0.04% (5/12651), which exceeded the threshold of 0.02% in our ward. After completing the on-the-job education training in October, the nursing staff expressed that they were more aware of the special situation of fall prevention. Through practical sharing and drills, combined with experiential teaching strategies, nurses can reconstruct the safety awareness of fall prevention and deepen their cognitive memory. Participants scored between 30 and 80 on the pretest (16 students, mean: 72.6) and between 90 and 100 on the post-test (16 students, mean: 92.6), resulting in a 73.8% improvement in overall scores. We have a total of 4 new employees who have all completed the first 3 months of compulsory PGY courses. From January to April 2022, the incidence of falls in hospitalized patients was 0.025% (1/3969). We have made good improvements and will continue to track the outcome. Discussion: In addition to enhancing the awareness of falls among nursing staff, how-to guide patients and primary caregivers to prevent falls is also the focus of improvement. The proper way of health education can be better understood through practical exercises and case sharing.

Keywords: experiential teaching strategies, fall prevention, cognitive card, elderly patients, orthopedic wards

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Authors: Arthur Baraov

Abstract:

Nearly all rocket and spacecraft propulsion concepts in existence today can be linked one way or the other to one of the two ancient warfare devices: the gun and the sling. Chemical, thermoelectric, ion, nuclear thermal and electromagnetic rocket engines – all fall into the first group which, for obvious reasons, can be categorized as “hot” space propulsion concepts. Space elevator, orbital tower, rolling satellite, orbital skyhook, tether propulsion and gravitational assist – are examples of the second category which lends itself for the title “cold” space propulsion concepts. The “hot” space propulsion concepts skyrocketed – literally and figuratively – from the naïve ideas of Jules Verne to the manned missions to the Moon. On the other hand, with the notable exception of gravitational assist, hardly any of the “cold” space propulsion concepts made any progress in terms of practical application. Why is that? This article aims to show that the right answer to this question has the potential comparable by its implications and practical consequences to that of transition from Jules Verne’s stillborn and impractical conceptions of space flight to cogent and highly fertile ideas of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Yuri Kondratyuk.

Keywords: propulsion, rocket, rollet, spacecraft

Procedia PDF Downloads 511

Authors: Ashraf M. Ward, Ruban S. Yu

Abstract:

Data consisting of 2757 records from tow Holstein herds made between 2000 and 2010 were used to examine environmental factors affecting age at first calving (AFC) and calving intervals (CI) and consequently estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters and trends. The overall means and standard errors for AFC and CI were 39.4 ± 7.2 months and 487.5 ± 151.6 days respectively. The respective heritability estimates were 0.091 ± 0.05 and 0.044 ± 0.032, while the repeatability estimate for CI was 0.096 ± 0.001. The genetic trends for CI and AFC were -0.6 d/yr and -0.01 mo/yr respectively and were both significant (P < 0.001), indicating a decrease in mean breeding value over the study period. Phenotypic trends were -0.31 mo/yr and -0.35 d/yr for AFC and CI respectively though non-significant (P > 0.05). The low heritability for CI and AFC indicated that temporary environmental influences were much greater than genetic influences or permanent environmental influences on these traits.

Keywords: Holstein, reproductive, genetic parameters, heritability

Procedia PDF Downloads 695

Authors: Thomas Jin-Chee Liu

Abstract:

In this paper, the thermo-electro-structural coupled-field in a cracked metal plate is studied using the finite element analysis. From the computational results, the compressive stresses reveal near the crack tip. This conclusion agrees with the past reference. Furthermore, the compressive condition can retard and stop the crack growth during the Joule heating process.

Keywords: compressive stress, crack tip, Joule heating, finite element

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Helio Arthur Reis Irigaray, Fabricio Stocker

Abstract:

This study aims to discover the extent to which affinity groups effectively act to combat inequalities, promote diversity, and contribute to the inclusion of non-hegemonic groups in the work environment. To this end, we have built empirical research, in which we interviewed 36 leaders and members of the collectives of non-hegemonic groups, namely women, blacks, and LGBTQ. With the proper authorization of the participants, their interviews were transcribed and submitted for critical analysis of the discourse. The field revealed that collectives are the result of the articulation of non-hegemonic groups, which create and participate in legitimate and institutional spaces to promote diversity. We also identified that diversity actions have happened as a market trend and reproduced mimetically. As the largest companies implement these actions, they become benchmarking and thus create a flow that is reproduced by other companies. However, there is no effective change in the structures that could promote inclusion and belonging. We state that a diverse group of employees are not enough to claim that the organization is diverse and inclusive. There remains much more to discuss and delve into deeply, including gender, diversity, and intersectionality.

Keywords: diversity, inclusion, collectives, affinity groups, employee resource groups

Procedia PDF Downloads 63