Search results for: applied linguistics

Authors: Hasna Elalaoui Elabdallaoui, Abdelaziz Elfazziki, Mohamed Sadgal

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Outlines: The social economy is a moral approach to solidarity applied to the projects’ development. To reconcile economic activity and social equity, crowdfunding is as an alternative means of financing social projects. Several collaborative blockchain platforms exist. It eliminates the need for a central authority or an inconsiderate middleman. Also, the costs for a successful crowdfunding campaign are reduced, since there is no commission to be paid to the intermediary. It improves the transparency of record keeping and delegates authority to authorities who may be prone to corruption. Objectives: The objectives are: to define a software infrastructure for projects’ participatory financing within a social and solidarity economy, allowing transparent, secure, and fair management and to have a financial mechanism that improves financial inclusion. Methodology: The proposed methodology is: crowdfunding platforms literature review, financing mechanisms literature review, requirements analysis and project definition, a business plan, Platform development process and implementation technology, and testing an MVP. Contributions: The solution consists of proposing a new approach to crowdfunding based on Islamic financing, which is the principle of Mousharaka inspired by Islamic financing, which presents a financial innovation that integrates ethics and the social dimension into contemporary banking practices. Conclusion: Crowdfunding platforms need to secure projects and allow only quality projects but also offer a wide range of options to funders. Thus, a framework based on blockchain technology and Islamic financing is proposed to manage this arbitration between quality and quantity of options. The proposed financing system, "Musharaka", is a mode of financing that prohibits interests and uncertainties. The implementation is offered on the secure Ethereum platform as investors sign and initiate transactions for contributions using their digital signature wallet managed by a cryptography algorithm and smart contracts. Our proposal is illustrated by a crop irrigation project in the Marrakech region.

Keywords: social economy, Musharaka, blockchain, smart contract, crowdfunding

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Authors: Barbara Covarrubias Venegas, Sabine Groblschegg, Bernhard Klaus, Julia Domnanovich

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Research Objectives: The roles and activities of human resource management (HRM) have changed a lot in the past years. Driven by a changing environment and therefore, new business requirements, the scope of human resource (HR) activities has widened. The extent to which these activities should focus on strategic issues to support the long-term success of a company has been discussed in science for many years. As many economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) experienced a phase of transition after the socialist era and are now recovering from the 2008 global crisis it is needed to examine the current state of HR positioning. Furthermore, a trend in HR work developing from rather administrative units to being strategic partners of management can be noticed. This leads to the question of better understanding the underlying competencies which are necessary to support organisations. This topic was addressed by the international study “HR Competencies in international comparison”. The quantitative survey was conducted by the Institute for Human Resources & Organisation of FHWien University of Applied Science of WKW (A) in cooperation with partner universities in the countries Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Methodology: Using the questionnaire developed by Dave Ulrich we tested whether the HR Competency model can be used for Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. After performing confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis for the whole data set containing all five countries we could clearly distinguish between four competencies. In a further step, our analysis focused on median and average comparisons between the HR competency dimensions. Conclusion: Our literature review, in alignment with other studies, shows a relatively rapid pace of development of HR Roles and HR Competencies in BCSS in the past decades. Comparing data from BCSS and Austria we still can notice that regards strategic orientation there is a lack in BCSS countries, thus competencies are not as developed as in Austria. This leads us to the tentative conclusion that HR has undergone a rapid change but is still in a State of Transition from being a rather administrative unit to performing the role of a strategic partner.

Keywords: comparative study, HR competencies, HRM, HR roles

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Authors: E. Gouya Bozorg

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The issue of ranking of sports teams, in particular soccer teams is of primary importance in the professional sports. However, it is still based on classical statistics and models outside of area of mathematics. Rigorous mathematics and then statistics despite the expectation held of them have not been able to effectively engage in the issue of ranking. It is something that requires serious pathology. The purpose of this study is to change the approach to get closer to mathematics proper for using in the ranking. We recommend using theoretical mathematics as a good option because it can hermeneutically obtain the theoretical concepts and criteria needful for the ranking from everyday language of a League. We have proposed a framework that puts the issue of ranking into a new space that we have applied in soccer as a case study. This is an experimental and theoretical study on the issue of ranking in a professional soccer league based on theoretical mathematics, followed by theoretical statistics. First, we showed the theoretical definition of constant number Є = 1.33 or ‘golden number’ of a soccer league. Then, we have defined the ‘efficiency of a team’ by this number and formula of μ = (Pts / (k.Є)) – 1, in which Pts is a point obtained by a team in k number of games played. Moreover, K.Є index has been used to show the theoretical median line in the league table and to compare top teams and bottom teams. Theoretical coefficient of σ= 1 / (1+ (Ptx / Ptxn)) has also been defined that in every match between the teams x, xn, with respect to the ability of a team and the points of both of them Ptx, Ptxn, and it gives a performance point resulting in a special ranking for the League. And it has been useful particularly in evaluating the performance of weaker teams. The current theory has been examined for the statistical data of 4 major European Leagues during the period of 1998-2014. Results of this study showed that the issue of ranking is dependent on appropriate theoretical indicators of a League. These indicators allowed us to find different forms of ranking of teams in a league including the ‘special table’ of a league. Furthermore, on this basis the issue of a record of team has been revised and amended. In addition, the theory of ranking can be used to compare and classify the different leagues and tournaments. Experimental results obtained from archival statistics of major professional leagues in the world in the past two decades have confirmed the theory. This topic introduces a new theory for ranking of a soccer league. Moreover, this theory can be used to compare different leagues and tournaments.

Keywords: efficiency of a team, ranking, special table, theoretical mathematic

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Authors: Rudolf Hrach, Stanislav Novak, Vera Hrachova

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Composite and nanocomposite films represent the class of promising materials and are often objects of the study due to their mechanical, electrical and other properties. The most interesting ones are probably the composite metal/dielectric structures consisting of a metal component embedded in an oxide or polymer matrix. Behaviour of composite films varies with the amount of the metal component inside what is called filling factor. The structures contain individual metal particles or nanoparticles completely insulated by the dielectric matrix for small filling factors and the films have more or less dielectric properties. The conductivity of the films increases with increasing filling factor and finally a transition into metallic state occurs. The behaviour of composite films near a percolation threshold, where the change of charge transport mechanism from a thermally-activated tunnelling between individual metal objects to an ohmic conductivity is observed, is especially important. Physical properties of composite films are given not only by the concentration of metal component but also by the spatial and size distributions of metal objects which are influenced by a technology used. In our contribution, a study of composite structures with the help of methods of computational physics was performed. The study consists of two parts: -Generation of simulated composite and nanocomposite films. The techniques based on hard-sphere or soft-sphere models as well as on atomic modelling are used here. Characterizations of prepared composite structures by image analysis of their sections or projections follow then. However, the analysis of various morphological methods must be performed as the standard algorithms based on the theory of mathematical morphology lose their sensitivity when applied to composite films. -The charge transport in the composites was studied by the kinetic Monte Carlo method as there is a close connection between structural and electric properties of composite and nanocomposite films. It was found that near the percolation threshold the paths of tunnel current forms so-called fuzzy clusters. The main aim of the present study was to establish the correlation between morphological properties of composites/nanocomposites and structures of conducting paths in them in the dependence on the technology of composite films.

Keywords: composite films, computer modelling, image analysis, nanocomposite films

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Naridchaya Aberdour, Joanna Kao, Anne Miller, Timothy Shore, Richard Maher, Zhixin Liu

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Background: COVID-19 has and continues to be a strain on healthcare globally, with the number of patients requiring hospitalization exceeding the level of medical support available in many countries. As chest x-rays are the primary respiratory radiological investigation, the Radiological Assessment of Lung Edema (RALE) score was used to quantify the extent of pulmonary infection on baseline imaging. Assessment of RALE score's reproducibility and associations with clinical outcome parameters were then evaluated to determine implications for patient management and prognosis. Methods: A retrospective study was performed with the inclusion of patients testing positive for COVID-19 on nasopharyngeal swab within a single Local Health District in Sydney, Australia and baseline x-ray imaging acquired between January to June 2020. Two independent Radiologists viewed the studies and calculated the RALE scores. Clinical outcome parameters were collected and statistical analysis was performed to assess RALE score reproducibility and possible associations with clinical outcomes. Results: A total of 78 patients met inclusion criteria with the age range of 4 to 91 years old. RALE score concordance between the two independent Radiologists was excellent (interclass correlation coefficient = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.88-0.95, p<0.005). Binomial logistics regression identified a positive correlation with hospital admission (1.87 OR, 95% CI= 1.3-2.6, p<0.005), oxygen requirement (1.48 OR, 95% CI= 1.2-1.8, p<0.005) and invasive ventilation (1.2 OR, 95% CI= 1.0-1.3, p<0.005) for each 1-point increase in RALE score. For each one year increased in age, there was a negative correlation with recovery (0.05 OR, 95% CI= 0.92-1.0, p<0.01). RALE scores above three were positively associated with hospitalization (Youden Index 0.61, sensitivity 0.73, specificity 0.89) and above six were positively associated with ICU admission (Youden Index 0.67, sensitivity 0.91, specificity 0.78). Conclusion: The RALE score can be used as a surrogate to quantify the extent of COVID-19 infection and has an excellent inter-observer agreement. The RALE score could be used to prognosticate and identify patients at high risk of deterioration. Threshold values may also be applied to predict the likelihood of hospital and ICU admission.

Keywords: chest radiography, coronavirus, COVID-19, RALE score

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Mustafa Gulsen, Nihan Pekyavas, Emine Atıcı

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Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Kinesio taping on postural stability and in young soccer players. Subjects and Methods: 62 volunteered soccer players from Cayyolu Sports Club were included in our study. Permissions were also taken from the club directors about the inclusion of their players to our study. Soccer players between the age of 12 and 16 were included in our study. Players that had previous injury on lower extremities were excluded from the study. Players were randomly divided into two groups: Kinesio taping (KT) (n=31), and control group (n = 31). KT application including gastrocnemius and quadriceps femoris muscle facilitation techniques were applied to the first group. A rest time for 45 minutes was given in order to see the best effectiveness of the tape. The second group was set as the control group and no application was made. All participants were assessed before the application and 45 minutes later. In order to provide the double-blind design of the study, an experienced physiotherapist has done the assessments and another experienced physiotherapist has done the taping. The patients were randomly assigned to one of the two groups using an online random allocation software program. Postural stability was assessed by using Tetrax Interactive Balance System. Thermographic assessment was done by using FLIR E5 (FLIR Systems AB, Sweden) thermal camera in order to see which muscles have the most thermal activity while maintaining postural stability. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in all assessment parameters in both Kinesio Taping and control groups (all p<0.05) except thermal imaging of dominant gastrocnemius muscle results (p=0.668) (Table 1). In comparison of the two groups, statistically significant differences were found in all parameters (all p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we investigated the effects of Kinesio taping on postural stability in young soccer players and found that KT application on Quadriceps and Gastrocnemius muscles may have decreased the risk of falling more than the control group. According to thermal imaging assessments, both Quadriceps and Gastrocnemius muscles may be active in maintaining postural stability but in KT group, the temperature of these muscles are higher which leads us to think that they are more activated.

Keywords: Kinesio taping, fall risk, muscle temperature, postural stability

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Authors: Amer Obaid Saud

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Water quality index (WQI) is considered as an effective tool in categorization of water resources for its quality and suitability for different uses. The Canadian version of water quality index (CCME WQI) which based on the comparison of the water quality parameters to regulatory standards and give a single value to the water quality of a source was applied in this study to assess the water quality of Euphrates river in Iraq at Babylon Governorate north of Baghdad and determine its suitability for aquatic environment (GWQI), drinking water (PWSI) and irrigation(IWQI). Five stations were selected on the river in Babylon (Euphrates River/AL-Musiab, Hindia barrage, two stations at Hilla city and the fifth station at Al-Hshmeya north of Hilla. Fifteen water samples were collected every month during August 2013 to July 2014 at the study sites and analyzed for the physico-chemical parameters like (Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids(TDS), Total Suspended Solids(TSS), Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Calcium and Magnesium Concentration, some of nutrient like Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate also the study of concentration of some heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Cd) in water and comparison of measures to benchmarks such as guidelines and objectives to assess change in water quality. The result of Canadian version of(CCME .WQI) to assess the irrigation water quality (IWQI) of Euphrates river was (83-good) at site one during second seasonal period while the lowest was (66-Fair) in the second station during the fourth seasonal period, the values of potable water supply index (PWSI)that the highest value was (68-Fair) in the fifth site during the second period while the lowest value (42 -Poor) in the second site during the first seasonal period,the highest value for general water quality (GWQI) was (74-Fair) in site five during the second seasonal period, the lowest value (48-Marginal) in the second site during the first seasonal period. It was observed that the main cause of deterioration in water quality was due to the lack of, unprotected river sites ,high anthropogenic activities and direct discharge of industrial effluent.

Keywords: Babylon governorate, Canadian version, water quality, Euphrates river

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Authors: Yi Zhang, Yuan Tian, Jiehua Chen, Sihong Gu

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Chip-scale spin-exchange relaxation free (SERF) atomic magnetometer makes use of millimeter-scale vapor cells micro-fabricated by Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS) technique and SERF mechanism, resulting in the characteristics of high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. It is useful for biomagnetic imaging including magnetoencephalography and magnetocardiography. In a prevailing scheme, circularly polarized on-resonance laser beam is adapted for both pumping and probing the atomic polarization. And the magnetic-field-sensitive signal is extracted by transmission laser intensity enhancement as a result of atomic polarization increase on zero field level crossing resonance. The scheme is very suitable for integration, however, the laser amplitude modulation (AM) noise and laser frequency modulation to amplitude modulation (FM-AM) noise is superimposed on the photon shot noise reducing the signal to noise ratio (SNR). To suppress AM and FM-AM noise the paper puts forward a novel scheme which adopts circularly polarized on-resonance light pumping and linearly polarized frequency-detuning laser probing. The transmission beam is divided into transmission and reflection beams by a polarization analyzer, the angle between the analyzer's transmission polarization axis and frequency-detuning laser polarization direction is set to 45°. The magnetic-field-sensitive signal is extracted by polarization rotation enhancement of frequency-detuning laser which induces two beams intensity difference increase as the atomic polarization increases. Therefore, AM and FM-AM noise in two beams are common-mode and can be almost entirely canceled by differential detection. We have carried out an experiment to study our scheme. The experiment reveals that the noise in the differential signal is obviously smaller than that in each beam. The scheme is promising to be applied for developing more sensitive chip-scale magnetometer.

Keywords: atomic magnetometer, chip scale, differential detection, spin-exchange relaxation free

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Irfan Anjum Manarvi, Zahid Ali kaimkhani

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Predicting location of the fracture in human bones has been a keen area of research for the past few decades. A variety of tests for hardness, deformation, and strain field measurement have been conducted in the past; but considered insufficient due to various limitations. Researchers, therefore, have proposed further studies due to inaccuracies in measurement methods, testing machines, and experimental errors. Advancement and availability of hardware, measuring instrumentation, and testing machines can now provide remedies to these limitations. The human foot is a critical part of the body exposed to various forces throughout its life. A number of products are developed for using it for protection and care, which many times do not provide sufficient protection and may itself become a source of stress due to non-consideration of the delicacy of bones in the feet. A continuous strain or overloading on feet may occur resulting to discomfort and even fracture. Mechanical properties of Tarsals, Metatarsals, and phalanges are, therefore, the primary area of consideration for all such design applications. Hardness is one of the mechanical properties which are considered very important to establish the mechanical resistance behavior of a material against applied loads. Past researchers have worked in the areas of investigating mechanical properties of these bones. However, their results were based on a limited number of experiments and taking average values of hardness due to either limitation of samples or testing instruments. Therefore, they proposed further studies in this area. The present research has been carried out to develop a hardness map of the human foot by measuring micro hardness at various locations of these bones. Results are compiled in the form of distance from a reference point on a bone and the hardness values for each surface. The number of test results is far more than previous studies and are spread over a typical bone to give a complete hardness map of these bones. These results could also be used to establish other properties such as stress and strain distribution in the bones. Also, industrial engineers could use it for design and development of various accessories for human feet health care and comfort and further research in the same areas.

Keywords: tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges, hardness testing, biomechanics of human foot

Procedia PDF Downloads 390

Authors: Lily Ingsrisawang, Tasanee Nacharoen

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Introduction: The problems of unbalanced data sets generally appear in real world applications. Due to unequal class distribution, many research papers found that the performance of existing classifier tends to be biased towards the majority class. The k -nearest neighbors’ nonparametric discriminant analysis is one method that was proposed for classifying unbalanced classes with good performance. Hence, the methods of discriminant analysis are of interest to us in investigating misclassification error rates for class-imbalanced data of three diabetes risk groups. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the classification performance between parametric discriminant analysis and nonparametric discriminant analysis in a three-class classification application of class-imbalanced data of diabetes risk groups. Methods: Data from a healthy project for 599 staffs in a government hospital in Bangkok were obtained for the classification problem. The staffs were diagnosed into one of three diabetes risk groups: non-risk (90%), risk (5%), and diabetic (5%). The original data along with the variables; diabetes risk group, age, gender, cholesterol, and BMI was analyzed and bootstrapped up to 50 and 100 samples, 599 observations per sample, for additional estimation of misclassification error rate. Each data set was explored for the departure of multivariate normality and the equality of covariance matrices of the three risk groups. Both the original data and the bootstrap samples show non-normality and unequal covariance matrices. The parametric linear discriminant function, quadratic discriminant function, and the nonparametric k-nearest neighbors’ discriminant function were performed over 50 and 100 bootstrap samples and applied to the original data. In finding the optimal classification rule, the choices of prior probabilities were set up for both equal proportions (0.33: 0.33: 0.33) and unequal proportions with three choices of (0.90:0.05:0.05), (0.80: 0.10: 0.10) or (0.70, 0.15, 0.15). Results: The results from 50 and 100 bootstrap samples indicated that the k-nearest neighbors approach when k = 3 or k = 4 and the prior probabilities of {non-risk:risk:diabetic} as {0.90:0.05:0.05} or {0.80:0.10:0.10} gave the smallest error rate of misclassification. Conclusion: The k-nearest neighbors approach would be suggested for classifying a three-class-imbalanced data of diabetes risk groups.

Keywords: error rate, bootstrap, diabetes risk groups, k-nearest neighbors

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Authors: Venkateswara R. Naira, Debasish Das, Soumen K. Maiti

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Achieving high cell densities of microalgae under obligatory light-limiting and high light conditions of diurnal (low-high-low variations of daylight intensity) sunlight are further limited by CO₂ supply and dissolved oxygen (DO) accumulation in large-scale photobioreactors. High DO levels cause low growth due to photoinhibition and/or photorespiration. Hence, scalable elevated CO₂ levels (% in air) and their effect on DO accumulation in a 10 L cylindrical membrane photobioreactor (a vertical tubular type) are studied in the present study. The CO₂ elevation strategies; biomass-based, pH control based (types II & I) and diurnal light based, were explored to study the growth of Chlorella sp. FC2 IITG under single-sided LED lighting in the laboratory, mimicking diurnal sunlight. All the experiments were conducted in fed-batch mode by maintaining N and P sources at least 50% of initial concentrations of the optimized BG-11 medium. It was observed that biomass-based (2% - 1st day, 2.5% - 2nd day and 3% - thereafter) and well-known pH control based, type-I (5.8 pH throughout) strategies were found lethal for FC2 growth. In both strategies, the highest peak DO accumulation of 150% air saturation was resulted due to high photosynthetic activity caused by higher CO₂ levels. In the pH control based type-I strategy, automatically resulted CO₂ levels for pH control were recorded so high (beyond the inhibition range, 5%). However, pH control based type-II strategy (5.8 – 2 days, 6.3 – 3 days, 6.7 – thereafter) showed final biomass titer up to 4.45 ± 0.05 g L⁻¹ with peak DO of 122% air saturation; high CO₂ levels beyond 5% (in air) were recorded thereafter. Thus, it became sustainable for obtaining high biomass. Finally, a diurnal light based (2% - low light, 2.5 % - medium light and 3% - high light) strategy was applied on the basis of increasing/decreasing photosynthesis due to increase/decrease in diurnal light intensity. It has resulted in maximum final biomass titer of 5.33 ± 0.12 g L⁻¹, with total biomass productivity of 0.59 ± 0.01 g L⁻¹ day⁻¹. The values are remarkably higher than constant 2% CO₂ level (final biomass titer: 4.26 ± 0.09 g L⁻¹; biomass productivity: 0.27 ± 0.005 g L⁻¹ day⁻¹). However, 135% air saturation of peak DO was observed. Thus, the diurnal light based elevation should be further improved by using CO₂ enriched N₂ instead of air. To the best of knowledge, the light-based CO₂ elevation strategy is not reported elsewhere.

Keywords: Chlorella sp., CO₂ elevation strategy, dissolved oxygen accumulation, diurnal light based CO₂ elevation, high cell density, microalgae, scale-up

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Authors: Tooba Aslam, Efthalia Chatzisymeon

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UV-assisted irradiation technologies are well-established for water and wastewater treatment. UVC treatments are widely used at large-scale, while UVA irradiation has more often been applied in combination with a catalyst (e.g. TiO₂ or FeSO₄) in smaller-scale systems. A technical issue of these systems is the formation of fouling on the quartz sleeves that houses the lamps. This fouling can prevent complete irradiation, therefore reducing the efficiency of the process. This paper investigates the effects of operational parameters, such as the type of wastewater, irradiation source, H₂O₂ addition, and water pH on fouling formation and, ultimately, the treatment of municipal wastewater. Batch experiments have been performed at lab-scale while monitoring water quality parameters including: COD, TS, TSS, TDS, temperature, pH, hardness, alkalinity, turbidity, TOC, UV transmission, UV₂₅₄ absorbance, and metal concentrations. The residence time of the wastewater in the reactor was 5 days in order to observe any fouling formation on the quartz surface. Over this period, it was observed that chemical oxygen demand (COD) decreased by 30% and 59% during photolysis (Ultraviolet A) and photo-catalysis (UVA/Fe/H₂O₂), respectively. Higher fouling formation was observed with iron-rich and phosphorous-rich wastewater. The highest rate of fouling was developed with phosphorous-rich wastewater, followed by the iron-rich wastewater. Photo-catalysis (UVA/Fe/H₂O₂) had better removal efficiency than photolysis (UVA). This was attributed to the Photo-Fenton reaction, which was initiated under these operational conditions. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements of fouling formed on the quartz sleeves showed that particles vary in size, shape, and structure; some have more distinct structures and are generally larger and have less compact structure than the others. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) results showed that the major metals present in the fouling cake were iron, phosphorous, and calcium. In conclusion, iron-rich wastewaters are more suitable for UV-assisted treatment since fouling formation on quartz sleeves can be minimized by the formation of oxidizing agents during treatment, such as hydroxyl radicals.

Keywords: advanced oxidation processes, photo-fenton treatment, photo-catalysis, wastewater treatment

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Authors: René A. Sørensen, Søren Skovsen, Peter Christiansen, Henrik Karstoft

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Autonomous agricultural machines act in stochastic surroundings and therefore, must be able to perceive the surroundings in real time. This perception can be achieved using image sensors combined with advanced machine learning, in particular Deep Learning. Deep convolutional neural networks excel in labeling and perceiving color images and since the cost of high-quality RGB-cameras is low, the hardware cost of good perception depends heavily on memory and computation power. This paper investigates the possibility of designing lightweight convolutional neural networks for semantic segmentation (pixel wise classification) with reduced hardware requirements, to allow for embedded usage in autonomous agricultural machines. Using compression techniques, a lightweight convolutional neural network is designed to perform real-time semantic segmentation on an embedded platform. The network is trained on two large datasets, ImageNet and Pascal Context, to recognize up to 400 individual classes. The 400 classes are remapped into agricultural superclasses (e.g. human, animal, sky, road, field, shelterbelt and obstacle) and the ability to provide accurate real-time perception of agricultural surroundings is studied. The network is applied to the case of autonomous grass mowing using the NVIDIA Tegra X1 embedded platform. Feeding case-specific images to the network results in a fully segmented map of the superclasses in the image. As the network is still being designed and optimized, only a qualitative analysis of the method is complete at the abstract submission deadline. Proceeding this deadline, the finalized design is quantitatively evaluated on 20 annotated grass mowing images. Lightweight convolutional neural networks for semantic segmentation can be implemented on an embedded platform and show competitive performance with regards to accuracy and speed. It is feasible to provide cost-efficient perceptive capabilities related to semantic segmentation for autonomous agricultural machines.

Keywords: autonomous agricultural machines, deep learning, safety, visual perception

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Authors: Helga Mayr

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In our ongoing effort to address urgent global challenges related to sustainability, higher education institutions play a central role in raising a generation of informed and empowered citizens committed to sustainable development. This paper presents the preliminary results of the so far realized evaluation of a compulsory module on education for sustainable development (ESD) offered to students in the bachelor's program in elementary education at the University College of Teacher Education Tyrol (PH Tirol), Austria. The module includes a lecture on sustainability and education as well as a project-based seminar that aims to foster a deep understanding of ESD and its application in pedagogical practice. The study examines various dimensions related to the module's impact on participating students, focusing on prevalent sustainability concepts, intentions, actions, general and sustainability-related self-efficacy, perceived competence related to ESD, and ESD-related self-efficacy. In addition, the research addresses assessment of the learning process. To obtain a comprehensive overview of the effectiveness of the module, a mixed methods approach was/is used in the evaluation. Quantitative data was/is collected through surveys and self-assessment instruments, while qualitative findings were/will be obtained through focus group interviews and reflective analysis. The PH Tirol is collaborating with another University College of Teacher Education (Styria) and a university of applied sciences in Switzerland (UAS of the Grisons) to broaden the scope of the analysis and allow for comparative findings. Preliminary results indicate that students have a relatively rudimentary understanding of sustainability. The extent to which completion of the module influences understanding of sustainability, awareness, intentions, and actions, as well as self-efficacy, is currently under investigation. The results will be available at the time of the conference and will be presented there. In terms of learning, the project-based seminar, which promotes hands-on engagement with ESD, was evaluated for its effectiveness in fostering key sustainability competencies as well as sustainability-related and ESD-related self-efficacy. The research not only provides insights into the effectiveness of the compulsory module ESD at the PH Tirol but also contributes to the broader discourse on integrating ESD into teacher education.

Keywords: education for sustainable development, teacher education, project-based learning, effectiveness measurements

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Authors: Mauro Callejas-Cuervo, Andrea Catherine Alarcon-Aldana, Lorena Paola Castillo-Guerra

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The software industry requires highly-trained professionals, capable of developing the roles integrated in the cycle of software development. That is why a large part of the task is the responsibility of higher education institutions; often through a curriculum established to orientate the academic development of the students. It is so that nowadays there are different models that support proposals for the improvement of the curricula for the area of Software Engineering, such as ACM, IEEE, ABET, Swebok, of which the last stands out, given that it manages and organises the knowledge of Software Engineering and offers a vision of theoretical and practical aspects. Moreover, it has been applied by different universities in the pursuit of achieving coverage in delivering the different topics and increasing the professional quality of future graduates. This research presents the structure of teaching and learning guides from the objectives of training and methodological strategies immersed in the levels of learning of Bloom’s taxonomy with which it is intended to improve the delivery of the topics in the area of Requirements Engineering. Said guides were implemented and validated in a course of Requirements Engineering of the Systems and Computer Engineering programme in the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia) using a four stage methodology: definition of the evaluation model, implementation of the guides, guide evaluation, and analysis of the results. After the collection and analysis of the data, the results show that in six out of the seven topics proposed in the Swebok guide, the percentage of students who obtained total marks within the 'High grade' level, that is between 4.0 and 4.6 (on a scale of 0.0 to 5.0), was higher than the percentage of students who obtained marks within the 'Acceptable' range of 3.0 to 3.9. In 86% of the topics and the strategies proposed, the teaching and learning guides facilitated the comprehension, analysis, and articulation of the concepts and processes of the students. In addition, they mainly indicate that the guides strengthened the argumentative and interpretative competencies, while the remaining 14% denotes the need to reinforce the strategies regarding the propositive competence, given that it presented the lowest average.

Keywords: pedagogic guide, pedagogic strategies, requirements engineering, Swebok, teaching-learning process

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Authors: Elnaz Saeedi, Jamileh Abolaghasemi, Mohsen Nasiri Tousi, Saeedeh Khosravi

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Goals and Objectives: A typical analysis of survival data involves the modeling of time-to-event data, such as the time till death. A frailty model is a random effect model for time-to-event data, where the random effect has a multiplicative influence on the baseline hazard function. This article aims to investigate the use of gamma frailty model with concomitant variable in order to individualize the prognostic factors that influence the liver cirrhosis patients’ survival times. Methods: During the one-year study period (May 2008-May 2009), data have been used from the recorded information of patients with liver cirrhosis who were scheduled for liver transplantation and were followed up for at least seven years in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Iran. In order to determine the effective factors for cirrhotic patients’ survival in the presence of latent variables, the gamma frailty distribution has been applied. In this article, it was considering the parametric model, such as Exponential and Weibull distributions for survival time. Data analysis is performed using R software, and the error level of 0.05 was considered for all tests. Results: 305 patients with liver cirrhosis including 180 (59%) men and 125 (41%) women were studied. The age average of patients was 39.8 years. At the end of the study, 82 (26%) patients died, among them 48 (58%) were men and 34 (42%) women. The main cause of liver cirrhosis was found hepatitis 'B' with 23%, followed by cryptogenic with 22.6% were identified as the second factor. Generally, 7-year’s survival was 28.44 months, for dead patients and for censoring was 19.33 and 31.79 months, respectively. Using multi-parametric survival models of progressive and regressive, Exponential and Weibull models with regard to the gamma frailty distribution were fitted to the cirrhosis data. In both models, factors including, age, bilirubin serum, albumin serum, and encephalopathy had a significant effect on survival time of cirrhotic patients. Conclusion: To investigate the effective factors for the time of patients’ death with liver cirrhosis in the presence of latent variables, gamma frailty model with parametric distributions seems desirable.

Keywords: frailty model, latent variables, liver cirrhosis, parametric distribution

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Authors: L. Nathaniel-Wurie

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The Sellick manoeuvre a.k.a the application of cricoid force (CF), was first described by Brian Sellick in 1961. CF is the application of digital pressure against the cricoid cartilage with the intention of posterior force causing oesophageal compression against the vertebrae. This is designed to prevent passive regurgitation of gastric contents, which is a major cause of morbidity and mortality during emergency airway management inside and outside of the hospital. To the authors knowledge, there is no universally standardised training modality and, therefore, no reliable way to examine if there are appropriate outcomes. If force is not measured during training, how can one surmise that appropriate, accurate, or precise amounts of force are being used routinely. Poor homogeneity in teaching and untested outcomes will correlate with reduced efficacy and increased adverse effects. For this study, the accuracy of force delivery in trained professionals was tested, and outcomes contrasted against a novice control and a novice study group. In this study, 20 operating department practitioners were tested (with a mean experience of 5.3years of performing CF). Subsequent contrast with 40 novice students who were randomised into one of two arms. ‘Arm A’ were explained the procedure, then shown the procedure then asked to perform CF with the corresponding force measurement being taken three times. Arm B had the same process as arm A then before being tested, they had 10, and 30 Newtons applied to their hands to increase intuitive understanding of what the required force equated to, then were asked to apply the equivalent amount of force against a visible force metre and asked to hold that force for 20 seconds which allowed direct visualisation and correction of any over or under estimation. Following this, Arm B were then asked to perform the manoeuvre, and the force generated measured three times. This study shows that there is a wide distribution of force produced by trained professionals and novices performing the procedure for the first time. Our methodology for teaching the manoeuvre shows an improved accuracy, precision, and homogeneity within the group when compared to novices and even outperforms trained practitioners. In conclusion, if this methodology is adopted, it may correlate with higher clinical outcomes, less adverse events, and more successful airway management in critical medical scenarios.

Keywords: airway, cricoid, medical education, sellick

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Authors: K. Anas, M. Selvakumar, Samson David, R. R. Babu, S. Chattopadhyay

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The dynamic deformation of a visco elastic material can cause heat generation. This heat generation is aspect energy dissipation. The present work investigates the contribution of various factors like; elastomer structure, cross link type and density, filler networking, reinforcement potential and temperature at energy dissipation mechanism. The influences of these elements are investigated using very high frequency analyzer (VHF ) and dynamical mechanical analysis(DMA).VHF follows transmissibility and vibration isolation principle whereas DMA works on dynamical mechanical deformation principle. VHF analysis of different types of elastomers reveals that elastomer can act as a transmitter or damper of energy depending on the applied frequency ratio (ω/ωn). Dynamic modulus (G') of low damping rubbers like natural rubber does not varies rapidly with frequency but vice-versa for high damping rubber like butyl rubber (IIR). VHF analysis also depicts that polysulfidic linkages has high damping ratio (ζ) than mono sulfidic linkages due to its dissipative nature. At comparable cross link density, mono sulfidic linkages shows higher glass transition temperature (Tg) than poly sulfidic linkages. The intensity and location of loss modulus (G'') peak of different types of carbon black filled natural rubber compounds suggests that segmental relaxation at glass transition temperature (Tg) is seldom affected by filler particles, but the filler networks can influence the cross link density by absorbing the curatives. The filler network breaking and reformation during a dynamic strain is a thermally activated process. Thus, stronger aggregates are highly dissipative in nature. Measurements indicate that at lower temperature regimes polymeric chain friction is highly dissipative in nature.

Keywords: damping ratio, natural frequency, crosslinking density, segmental motion, surface activity, dissipative, polymeric chain friction

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Authors: Mohamud Ali Ibrahim, Ali Bayat, Ali Bolat

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Defoliant spraying is an important link in the mechanized cotton harvest because adequate and uniform spraying can improve defoliation quality and reduce cotton trash content. In defoliant application, application volume and spraying technology are extremely important. In this study, the effectiveness of defoliant application to cotton plant that has come to harvest with two different application volumes and three different types of nozzles with a standard field crop sprayer was determined. Experiments were carried in two phases as field area trials and laboratory analysis. Application rates were 250 l/ha and 400 L/ha, and spraying nozzles were (1) Standard flat fan nozzle (TP8006), (2) Air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS), and (3) Dual Pattern nozzle (AI307003VP). A tracer (BSF) and defoliant were applied to mature cotton with approximately 60% open bolls and samplings for BSF deposition and spray coverage on the cotton plant were done at two plant height (upper layer, lower layer) of plant. Before and after spraying, bolls open and leaves rate on cotton plants were calculated, and filter papers were used to detect BSF deposition, and water sensitive papers (WSP) were used to measure the coverage rate of spraying methods used. Spectrofluorophotometer was used to detect the amount of tracer deposition on targets, and an image process computer programme was used to measure coverage rate on WSP. In analysis, conclusions showed that air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS) achieved better results than the dual pattern and standard flat fan nozzles in terms of higher depositions, coverages, and leaf defoliations, and boll opening rates. AI nozzles operating at 250 L/ha application rate provide the highest deposition and coverage rate on applications of the defoliant; in addition, BSF as an indicator of the defoliant used reached on leaf beneath in merely this spray nozzle. After defoliation boll opening rate was 85% on the 7th and 12th days after spraying and falling rate of leaves was 76% at application rate of 250 L/ha with air induction (AI1102) nozzle.

Keywords: cotton defoliant, air induction nozzle, dual pattern nozzle, standard flat fan nozzle, coverage rate, spray deposition, boll opening rate, leaves falling rate

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Authors: Hongtao Zhu, Dezhi Sun

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Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential nutrients for biomass growth. But excessive nitrogen and phosphorus can contribute to accelerated eutrophication of lakes and rivers. Constructed wetland is an efficient and eco-friendly wastewater treatment technology with low operating cost and low-energy consumption. Because of high affinity with ammonium ion, zeolite, as a common substrate, is applied in constructed wetlands worldwide. Another substrate seen commonly for constructed wetlands is steel slag, which has high contents of Ca, Al, or Fe, and possesses a strong affinity with phosphate. Due to the excellent ammonium removal ability of zeolite and phosphate removal ability of steel slag, they were considered to be combined in the substrate bed of a constructed wetland in order to enhance the simultaneous removal efficiencies of nitrogen and phosphorus. In our early tests, zeolite and steel slag were combined with each other in order to simultaneously achieve a high removal efficiency of ammonium-nitrogen and phosphate-phosphorus. However, compared with the results when only zeolite was used, the removal efficiency of ammonia was sharply decreased when zeolite and steel slag were used together. The main objective of this study was to establish an overview of the interaction of steel slag and zeolite on ammonium nitrogen removal. The CaO dissolution from slag, as well as the effects of influencing parameters (i.e. pH and Ca2+ concentration) on the ammonium adsorption onto zeolite, was systematically studied. Modeling results of Ca2+ and OH- release from slag indicated that pseudo-second order reaction had a better fitness than pseudo-first order reaction. Changing pH value from 7 to 12 would result in a drastic reduction of the ammonium adsorption capacity on zeolite, from the peak at pH7. High Ca2+ concentration in solution could also inhibit the adsorption of ammonium onto zeolite. The mechanism for steel slag inhibiting the ammonium adsorption capacity of zeolite includes: on one hand, OH- released from steel slag can react with ammonium ions to produce molecular form ammonia (NH3∙H2O), which would cause the dissociation of NH4+ from zeolite. On the other hand, Ca2+ could replace the NH4+ ions to adhere onto the surface of zeolite. An innovative substrate filling configuration that zeolite and steel slag are placed sequentially was proposed to eliminate the disadvantageous effects of steel slag. Experimental results showed that the novel filling configuration was superior to the other two contrast filling configurations in terms of ammonium removal.

Keywords: ammonium nitrogen, constructed wetlands, steel slag, zeolite

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Authors: Diya Kohli, Amalia Ardeljan, Lexi Frankel, Jose Garcia, Lokesh Manjani, Omar Rashid

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Gonorrhea is the second most common sexually transmitted disease (STDs) in the United States of America. Gonorrhea affects the urethra, rectum, or throat and the cervix in females. Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune network called the lymphatic system that includes the lymph nodes/glands, spleen, thymus gland, and bone marrow. Lymphoma can affect many organs in the body. When a lymphocyte develops a genetic mutation, it signals other cells into rapid proliferation that causes many mutated lymphocytes. Multiple studies have explored the incidence of cancer in people infected with STDs such as Gonorrhea. For instance, the studies conducted by Wang Y-C and Co., as well as Caini, S and Co. established a direct co-relationship between Gonorrhea infection and incidence of prostate cancer. We hypothesize that Gonorrhea infection also increases the incidence of Lymphoma in patients. This research study aimed to evaluate the correlation between Gonorrhea infection and the incidence of Lymphoma. The data for the research was provided by a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant national database. This database was utilized to evaluate patients infected with Gonorrhea versus the ones who were not infected to establish a correlation with the prevalence of Lymphoma using ICD-10 and ICD-9 codes. Access to the database was granted by the Holy Cross Health, Fort Lauderdale for academic research. Standard statistical methods were applied throughout. Between January 2010 and December 2019, the query was analyzed and resulted in 254 and 808 patients in both the infected and control group, respectively. The two groups were matched by Age Range and CCI score. The incidence of Lymphoma was 0.998% (254 patients out of 25455) in the Gonorrhea group (patients infected with Gonorrhea that was Lymphoma Positive) compared to 3.174% and 808 patients in the control group (Patients negative for Gonorrhea but with Lymphoma). This was statistically significant by a p-value < 2.210-16 with an OR= 0.431 (95% CI 0.381-0.487). The patients were then matched by antibiotic treatment to avoid treatment bias. The incidence of Lymphoma was 1.215% (82 patients out of 6,748) in the Gonorrhea group compared to 2.949% (199 patients out of 6748) in the control group. This was statistically significant by a p-value <5.410-10 with an OR= 0.468 (95% CI 0.367-0.596). The study shows a statistically significant correlation between Gonorrhea and a reduced incidence of Lymphoma. Further evaluation is recommended to assess the potential of Gonorrhea in reducing Lymphoma.

Keywords: gonorrhea, lymphoma, STDs, cancer, ICD

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Authors: Se-Hwa Park, En-Kyung Han, Jae-Young Lim, Hye-Jung Ahn

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Purpose: The objective of this study is to provide basic data for understanding the substance of inpatient life with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) and developing efficient and effective nursing intervention. Methods: From September 2018 to November, we have interviewed 10 CRPS patients about inpatient experiences. To understand the implication of inpatient life experiences with CRPS and intrinsic structure, we have used the question: 'How about the inpatient experiences with CRPS'. For data analysis, the method suggested by Colaizzi was applied as a phenomenological method. Results: According to the analysis, the study participants' inpatient life process was structured in six categories: (a) breakthrough pain experience (b) the limitation of pain treatment, (c) worsen factors of pain during inpatient period, (d) treat method for pain, (e) positive experience for inpatient period, (f) requirements for medical team, family and people in hospital room. Conclusion: Inpatient with CRPS have experienced the breakthrough pain. They had expected immediate treatment for breakthrough pain, but they experienced severe pain because immediate treatment was not implemented. Pain-worsening factors which patients with CRPS are as follows: personal factors from negative emotions such as insomnia, stress, sensitive character, pain part touch or vibration stimulus on the bed, physical factors from high threshold or rapid speed during fast transfer, conflict with other people, climate factors such as humidity or low temperature, noise, smell, lack of space because of many visitors. Patients actively manage the pain committing into another tasks or diversion. And also, patients passively manage the pain, just suppress, give-up. They think positively about rehabilitation treatment. And they require the understanding and sympathy for other people, and emotional support, immediate intervention for medical team. Based on the results of this study, we suppose the guideline of systematic breakthrough pain management for the relaxation of sudden pain, using notice of informing caution for touch or vibration. And we need to develop non-medicine pain management nursing intervention.

Keywords: breakthrough pain, CRPS, complex regional pain syndrome, inpatient life experiences, phenomenological method

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Authors: Mylene T. Caytap-Milan

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This study was materialized with the purpose of determining the anxieties of students towards spoken English, sources of the specified anxiety, coping mechanisms to counter the apprehensions, and teacher management to reduce the anxiety within the classroom. Being qualitative in nature, interview as the data gathering tool was utilized with an audio-recorder. Participants of the study included thirteen teachers and students of speech classes in a state university in Region I, Philippines. Data elicited were transcribed in verbatim, confirmed by the participants, coded and categorized, and themed accordingly. A triangulation method was applied to establish the stronger validity of the data. Findings confirmed teachers’ and students’ awareness of the existence of Anxiety in speaking English (ASE). Based on the data gathered from the teachers, the following themes on students’ ASE were identified: (1) No Brain and Mouth Coordination, (2) Center of Attention, and (3) Acting Out Loud. However, the following themes were formulated based on the responses made by the students themselves: (1) The Common Feeling, (2) The Incompetent Me, and (3) The Limelight. With regard the sources of students’ ASE according to teachers are the following: (1) It Began at Home, (2) It Continued in School, (3) It’s not for me at all. On the other hand, the sources of students’ ASE according to students themselves are: (1) It Comes from Within, (2) It wasn’t Nursed Well, and (3) They’re Looking for Errors. In terms of coping with ASE, students identified the following mechanisms, which were themed into: (1) Acceptance, (2) Application, and (3) Apathy. Moreover, to reduce the ASE phenomenon within the classroom, the teachers demonstrate the following roles according to themes: (1) The Compass, (2) The Counselor, (3) The Referee, (4) The Polyglot, and (5) The English Nazi. Based on the findings, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) ASE can both serve positive and negative influences to the English speaking skills of students, (2) ASE can be reduced with teachers’ provision of more English speaking opportunities and with students’ initiative of personal training, (3) ASE can be reduced when English is introduced and practiced by children at an early age, and (4) ASE is inevitable in the affective domain thus teachers are encouraged to apply psychological positivism in the classroom. Studies related to the present undertaking may refer to the succeeding recommendations: (1) experiment on activities that will reduce anxiety ASE, (2) involve a psychologist for more critical but reliable results and recommendations, and (3) conduct the study among high school and primary students.

Keywords: coping mechanisms, sources, speaking anxiety, teacher management

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Authors: Bobuchi Ken-Opurum

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The impacts of climate change on urban settlements is growing. In the global south, communities are even more vulnerable and suffer there is an increased vulnerability from due to climate change disasters such as flooding and high temperatures. This is primarily due to high intensity rainfall, low-lying coasts, inadequate infrastructure, and limited resources. According to the Emergency Events Database, floods were the leading cause of disaster -based deaths in the global south between 2006 and 2015. This includes deaths from heat stress related health outcomes. Adapting to climate vulnerabilities is paramount in reducing the significant redevelopment costs from climate disasters. Governments and urban planners provide top-down approaches such as evacuation, and disaster and emergency communication. While they address infrastructure and public services, they are not always able to address the immediate and critical day to day needs of poor and vulnerable populations. There is growing evidence that some bottom-up strategies and grassroots initiatives of self-build housing such as in urban informal settlements are successful in coping and adapting to hydroclimatic impacts. However, these research findings are not consolidated and the evaluation of the resilience outcomes of the bottom-up strategies are limited. Using self-build housing as a model for sustainable and resilient urban planning, this research aimed to consolidate the flood and heat stress resilient design solutions, analyze the effectiveness of these solutions, and develop guidelines and methods for adopting these design solutions into mainstream housing in megathermal climates. The methodological approach comprised of analyses of over 40 ethnographic based peer reviewed literature, white papers, and reports between the years 2000 and 2019 to identify coping strategies and grassroots initiatives that have been applied by occupants and communities of the global south. The results of the research provide a consolidated source and prioritized list of the best bottom-up strategies for communities in megathermal climates to improve the lives of people in some of the most vulnerable places in the world.

Keywords: resilient, design, megathermal, climate change

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Authors: Emanuela Zilli, Antonio Madia, Milvia Marchiori, Paola Anello, Chiara Cabbia, Emanuela Velo, Delia Campagnolo, Michele Scomazzon, Emanuela Salvatico, S. Tikvina, Antonio Miotti

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Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of cases of hepatitis C infection, but access to diagnosis and treatment remains low. The ULSS 6 Euganea – Health Trust has implemented a campaign to eradicate hepatitis C in the province of Padua (North-East of Italy), which can be subdivided into three areas: North (300.000 inhabitants), Centre (400.000) and South (300.000). In September 2021, the project was launched in the Northern area; a set of brochures was distributed in outpatient services, general practitioners’ clinics and offices, community pharmacy services, social health districts, and through social networks. The Hepatology Service contacted 460 patients selected by the Clinical Laboratory (positivity for HCV antibodies): 83 patients (18.0%) had been already cured of HCV infection, missing or deceased; 377 patients (82.0%) met the criteria to be eligible for HCV eradication therapy and were therefore included in a Day Service specific agenda and followed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, with a dedicated telephone line. Haemato-chemical tests, general medical check-ups and ultrasound tests with fibroscan were performed. Patients were tested for Sars-CoV-2 positivity; those not yet vaccinated against Covid-19 were encouraged to complete the vaccination scheme. All 377 patients (100%) received HCV eradication therapy at the community pharmacy service; a detailed explanation of how to take their medication was provided. At the end of the first phase, Covid-19 vaccination rate was 100% (377/377), including patients already vaccinated and new-vaccinated. Check-up appointments were arranged after 2 or 3 months, according to the treatment plan. The awareness campaign and the organization of HCV eradication therapy service by ULSS 6 Euganea are proving to be effective; the project is now going to be applied to Central and Southern areas of the province (1.132 patients).

Keywords: public health, HCV-eradication, Covid-19 emergency, health communication strategies

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Authors: Franca De Sarno, Alfonso Maria Ponsiglione, Enza Torino

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Recent advances in diagnostic imaging technology have significantly contributed to a better understanding of specific changes associated with diseases progression. Among different imaging modalities, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) represents a noninvasive medical diagnostic technique, which shows low sensitivity and long acquisition time and it can discriminate between healthy and diseased tissues by providing 3D data. In order to improve the enhancement of MRI signals, some imaging exams require intravenous administration of contrast agents (CAs). Recently, emerging research reports a progressive deposition of these drugs, in particular, gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), in the body many years after multiple MRI scans. These discoveries confirm the need to have a biocompatible system able to boost a clinical relevant Gd-chelate. To this aim, several approaches based on engineered nanostructures have been proposed to overcome the common limitations of conventional CAs, such as the insufficient signal-to-noise ratios due to relaxivity and poor safety profile. In particular, nanocarriers, labeling or loading with CAs, capable of carrying high payloads of CAs have been developed. Currently, there’s no a comprehensive understanding of the thermodynamic contributions enable of boosting the efficacy of conventional CAs by using biopolymers matrix. Thus, considering the importance of MRI in diagnosing diseases, here it is reported a successful example of the next generation of these drugs where the commercial gadolinium chelate is incorporate into a biopolymer nanostructure, formed by cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA), with improved relaxation properties. In addition, they are highlighted the basic principles ruling biopolymer-CA interactions in the perspective of their influence on the relaxometric properties of the CA by adopting a multidisciplinary experimental approach. On the basis of these discoveries, it is clear that the main point consists in increasing the rigidification of readily-available Gd-CAs within the biopolymer matrix by controlling the water dynamics, the physicochemical interactions, and the polymer conformations. In the end, the acquired knowledge about polymer-CA systems has been applied to develop of Gd-based HA nanoparticles with enhanced relaxometric properties.

Keywords: biopolymers, MRI, nanoparticles, contrast agent

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Authors: Leila Tabrizi, Farnaz Dezhaboun

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In order to study the effect of plant nutrient source and different drying methods on physical and phytochemical characteristics of pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L., Asteraceae) flowers, a factorial experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design with three replications in Research Laboratory of University of Tehran in 2010. Different nutrient sources (vermicompost, municipal waste compost, cattle manure, mushroom compost and control) which were applied in a field experiment for flower production and different drying methods including microwave (300, 600 and 900 W), oven (60, 70 and 80oC) and natural-shade drying in room temperature, were tested. Criteria such as drying kinetic, antioxidant activity, total flavonoid content, total phenolic compounds and total carotenoid of flowers were evaluated. Results indicated that organic inputs as nutrient source for flowers had no significant effects on quality criteria of pot marigold except of total flavonoid content, while drying methods significantly affected phytochemical criteria. Application of microwave 300, 600 and 900 W resulted in the highest amount of total flavonoid content, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity, respectively, while oven drying caused the lowest amount of phytochemical criteria. Also, interaction effect of nutrient source and drying method significantly affected antioxidant activity in which the highest amount of antioxidant activity was obtained in combination of vermicompost and microwave 900 W. In addition, application of vermicompost combined with oven drying at 60oC caused the lowest amount of antioxidant activity. Based on results of drying trend, microwave drying showed a faster drying rate than those oven and natural-shade drying in which by increasing microwave power and oven temperature, time of flower drying decreased whereas slope of moisture content reduction curve showed accelerated trend.

Keywords: drying kinetic, medicinal plant, organic fertilizer, phytochemical criteria

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Authors: Nelson F. F. Ebecken, Gilberto C. Pereira, Lucio P. de Andrade

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Bays, estuaries and coastal ecosystems are some of the most used and threatened natural systems globally. Its deterioration is due to intense and increasing human activities. This paper aims to monitor the socio-ecological in Brazil, model and simulate it through a multilayer network representing a DPSIR structure (Drivers, Pressures, States-Impacts-Responses) considering the concept of Management based on Ecosystems to support decision-making under the National/State/Municipal Coastal Management policy. This approach considers several interferences and can represent a significant advance in several scientific aspects. The main objective of this paper is the coupling of three different types of complex networks, the first being an ecological network, the second a social network, and the third a network of economic activities, in order to model the marine ecosystem. Multilayer networks comprise two or more "layers", which may represent different types of interactions, different communities, different points in time, and so on. The dependency between layers results from processes that affect the various layers. For example, the dispersion of individuals between two patches affects the network structure of both samples. A multilayer network consists of (i) a set of physical nodes representing entities (e.g., species, people, companies); (ii) a set of layers, which may include multiple layering aspects (e.g., time dependency and multiple types of relationships); (iii) a set of state nodes, each of which corresponds to the manifestation of a given physical node in a layer-specific; and (iv) a set of edges (weighted or not) to connect the state nodes among themselves. The edge set includes the intralayer edges familiar and interlayer ones, which connect state nodes between layers. The applied methodology in an existent case uses the Flow cytometry process and the modeling of ecological relationships (trophic and non-trophic) following fuzzy theory concepts and graph visualization. The identification of subnetworks in the fuzzy graphs is carried out using a specific computational method. This methodology allows considering the influence of different factors and helps their contributions to the decision-making process.

Keywords: marine ecosystems, complex systems, multilayer network, ecosystems management

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Authors: H. N. Alyaseen, S. E. Alalawi, T. Cordoba, É. Delisle, C. Cordoba, A. Odobescu

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Sternal dehiscence is defined as the persistent separation of sternal bones that are often complicated with mediastinitis. Etiologies that lead to sternal dehiscence vary, with cardiovascular and thoracic surgeries being the most common. Early diagnosis in susceptible patients is crucial to the management of such cases, as they are associated with high mortality rates. A recent meta-analysis of more than four hundred thousand patients concluded that deep sternal wound infections were the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing cardiac procedures. Long-term complications associated with sternal dehiscence include increased hospitalizations, cardiac infarctions, and renal and respiratory failures. Numerous osteosynthesis methods have been described in the literature. Surgical materials offer enough rigidity to support the sternum and can be flexible enough to allow physiological breathing movements of the chest; however, these materials fall short when managing patients with extensive bone loss, osteopenia, or general poor bone quality, for such cases, flaps offer a better closure system. Early utilization of flaps yields better survival rates compared to delayed closure or to patients treated with sternal rewiring and closed drainage. The utilization of pectoralis major flaps, rectus abdominus, and latissimus muscle flaps have all been described in the literature as great alternatives. Flap selection depends on a variety of factors, mainly the size of the sternal defect, infection, and the availability of local tissues. Free fibular flaps are commonly harvested flaps utilized in reconstruction around the body. In cases regarding sternal reconstruction with free fibular flaps, the literature exclusively discussed the flap applied vertically to the chest wall. We present a different technique applying the free fibular triple barrel flap oriented in a transverse manner, in parallel to the ribs. In our experience, this method could have enhanced results and improved prognosis as it contributes to the normal circumferential shape of the chest wall.

Keywords: sternal dehiscence, management, free fibular flaps, novel surgical techniques

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Authors: Ruqayya Naheed Khan, Awais Amjad Malik, Awais Naeem, Amina Khan, Asad Parvaiz

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Introduction: Axillary nodal status in breast cancer patients is a paramount prognosticator, next to primary tumor size and grade. It has been well established that patients with negative sentinel lymph node biopsy can safely avoid axillary lymph node dissection. A positive sentinel lymph node has traditionally required subsequent axillary dissection. According to ACOSOG Z11 trial, patients who underwent axillary dissection with 3 or more positive sentinel nodes or opted for observation in case of negative sentinel lymph node, did not find any difference in Overall Survival (OS) and Disease Free Survival (DFS). The Z11 trial included patients who underwent breast conserving surgery and excluded patients with mastectomies. The purpose of this study is to determine whether Z0011 can be applied to mastectomy patients as well in 1-3 positive sentinel lymph nodes and avoid unnecessary ALND. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted at Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital Pakistan from Jan 2015 to Dec 2017 including patients who were treated for invasive breast cancer and required upfront mastectomy. They were clinically node negative, so sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed. Patients underwent ALND with positive sentinel lymph node. A total of 156 breast cancer patients with mastectomies were reviewed. Results: 95% of the patients were female while 3% were male. Average age was 44 years. There was no difference in race, comorbidities, histology, T stage, N stage, and overall stage, use of adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. 64 patients underwent ALND for positive lymph node while 92 patients were spared of axillary dissection due to negative sentinel lymph node biopsy. Out of 64 patients, 38 patients (59%) had only 1 lymph node positive which was the sentinel node. 18 patients (28%) had 2 lymph nodes positive including the sentinel node while only 8 patients (13%) had 3 or more positive nodes. Conclusion: Keeping in mind the complications related to ALND, above results clearly show that ALND could have been avoided in 87% of patients in the setting of adjuvant radiation, possibly avoiding the morbidity associated with axillary lymphadenectomy although a prospective randomized trial needs to confirm these results.

Keywords: mastectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, axillary lymph node dissection, breast cancer

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