Search results for: integrated audit quality model

Authors: Jatuporn Juyjingam, Pitak Siriwong

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This paper presents a study of factors effecting the success and failure of social enterprise in Thailand identifying communication as one of the criteria for measuring the social impact of social enterprise. The study focused on the communication driver of the SCALERS model. The research examines how communication is viewed in Thailand social enterprise. The research aims to determine how selected social enterprise uses communication in their operations. More specifically, the study aims to 1) describe the profile of social enterprise in Thailand, 2) identify the different roles of communication in the operation of social enterprise in Thailand, 3) determine Thailand social enterprise concept of communication. The study made use of the case study and cross case study research designs. For the profiling of the social enterprises, the case study was used. The researchers made use of the cross-case research design in identifying trends across the ten social enterprises and in determining the social entrepreneurs’ concept of communication. Key informant interviews were conducted with the heads or representatives of selected social enterprises, a three-part interview schedule was used to facilitate data gathering. The three parts included are 1) Profile of social enterprise in Thailand 2) How social enterprises apply communication in their operations 3) What is the key success in using communication among social enterprise in Thailand. This study is an exploratory research.

Keywords: communication, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, sustainability development

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Authors: Sulaiman Al-Hinai, Setyawan Widyarto

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The aim of this study is to identify the critically dominating factors on the delays of road constructions in the GCC countries and their effects on project delivery in Arab countries. Towards the achieved of the objectives the study used the empirical literature from the all relevant online sources and database as many as possible. The findings of this study have summarized and short listed of the success factors in the two categories such as internal and external factors have caused to be influenced to delay of road constructions in the Arab regions. However, in the category of internal factors, there are 63 factors short listed from seven group of factors which has revealed to effects on the delay of road constructions especially, the consultant related factors, the contractor related factors, designed related factors, client related factors, labor related factors, material related issues, equipment related issues respectively. Moreover, for external related factors are also considered to summarized especially natural disaster (flood, hurricanes and cyclone etc.), conflict, war, global financial crisis, compensation delay to affected property owner, price fluctuated, unexpected ground conditions (soil and high-water level), changing of government regulations and laws, delays in obtaining permission from municipality, loss of time by traffic control and restrictions at job site, problem with inhabitant of community, delays in providing service from utilities (water and electricity’s) and accident during constructions accordingly. The present study also concluded the effects of above factors which has delay road constructions through increasing of cost and overrun it, taken overtime, creating of disputes, going for lawsuits, finally happening of abandon of projects. Thus, the present study has given the following recommendations to overcome of above problems by increasing of detailed site investigations, ensure careful monitoring and regular meetings, effective site management, collaborative working and effective coordination’s, proper and comprehensive planning and scheduling and ensure full and intensive commitment from all parties accordingly.

Keywords: Arab GCC countries, critical success factors, road constructions delay, project management

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Authors: Haider M. Alsaeq

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The present research is an attempt to figure out the best configuration of composite cylindrical shells of the sandwich type, i.e. the lightest design of such shells required to sustain a certain load over a certain area. The optimization is based on elastic-plastic geometrically nonlinear incremental-iterative finite element analysis. The nine-node degenerated curved shell element is used in which five degrees of freedom are specified at each nodal point, with a layered model. The formulation of the geometrical nonlinearity problem is carried out using the well-known total Lagrangian principle. For the structural optimization problem, which is dealt with as a constrained nonlinear optimization, the so-called Modified Hooke and Jeeves method is employed by considering the weight of the shell as the objective function with stress and geometrical constraints. It was concluded that the optimum design of composite sandwich cylindrical shell that have a rigid polyurethane foam core and steel facing occurs when the area covered by the shell becomes almost square with a ratio of core thickness to facing thickness lies between 45 and 49, while the optimum height to length ration varies from 0.03 to 0.08 depending on the aspect ratio of the shell and its boundary conditions.

Keywords: composite structure, cylindrical shell, optimization, non-linear analysis, finite element

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Authors: Nasir Khalid, S. Thirumalaichelvam

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In most buildings, according to US Department of Energy Data Book, the electrical consumption attributable to centralized heating and ventilation of air- condition (HVAC) component can be as high as 40-60% of the total electricity consumption for an entire building. To provide efficient energy management for the market today, researchers are finding new ways to develop a system that can save electrical consumption of buildings even more. In this concept paper, a system known as Intelligent Chiller Energy Efficiency (iCEE) System is being developed that is capable of saving up to 25% from the chiller’s existing electrical energy consumption. In variable frequency drives (VFDs), research has found significant savings up to 30% of electrical energy consumption. Together with the VFDs at specific Air Handling Unit (AHU) of HVAC component, this system will save even more electrical energy consumption. The iCEE System is compatible with any make, model or age of centrifugal, rotary or reciprocating chiller air-conditioning systems which are electrically driven. The iCEE system uses engineering principles of efficiency analysis, enthalpy analysis, heat transfer, mathematical prediction, modified genetic algorithm, psychometrics analysis, and optimization formulation to achieve true and tangible energy savings for consumers.

Keywords: variable frequency drives, adjustable speed drives, ac drives, chiller energy system

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Authors: Wen-Tsung Ho, Ku-Kuang Chang, Hsin-Yuan Chang

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In this study, we consider an economic lot-size batch-shipment scheduling problem (ELBSP) with extended basic period (EBP) and power-of-two (PoT) policies. In this problem, the supplier using a single facility to manufacture multiple products and equally sized batches are then delivered by the supplier to buyers over an infinite planning horizon. Further, the extended basic period (EBP) and power-of-two (PoT) policy are utilized. Relaxing the production schedule converts the ELBSP to an economic lot-size batch-shipment problem (ELBP) with EBP and PoT policies, and a nonlinear integer programming model of the ELBP is constructed. Using the replenishment cycle division and recursive tightening methods, optimal solutions are then solved separately for each product. The sum of these optimal solutions is the lower bound of the ELBSP. A proposed heuristic method with polynomial complexity is then applied to figure out the near-optimal solutions of the ELBSP. Numerical example is presented to confirm the efficacy of the proposed method.

Keywords: economic lot-size scheduling problem, extended basic period, replenishment cycle division, recursive tightening, power-of-two

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Authors: Lancer Scott

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Purpose: High quality clinical disaster medicine requires providers working collaboratively to care for multiple patients in chaotic environments; however, many providers lack adequate training. To address this deficit, we created a competency-based, 5-hour Emergency Preparedness Training (EPT) curriculum using didactics, small-group discussion, and kinetic learning. The goal was to evaluate the effect of a short course on improving provider knowledge, confidence and skills in disaster scenarios. Methods: Diverse groups of medical university students, health care professionals, and community members were enrolled between 2011 and 2014. The course consisted of didactic lectures, small group exercises, and two live, multi-patient mass casualty incident (MCI) scenarios. The outcome measures were based on core competencies and performance objectives developed by a curriculum task force and assessed via trained facilitator observation, pre- and post-testing, and a course evaluation. Results: 708 participants completed were trained between November 2011 and August 2014, including 49.9% physicians, 31.9% medical students, 7.2% nurses, and 11% various other healthcare professions. 100% of participants completed the pre-test and 71.9% completed the post-test, with average correct answers increasing from 39% to 60%. Following didactics, trainees met 73% and 96% of performance objectives for the two small group exercises and 68.5% and 61.1% of performance objectives for the two MCI scenarios. Average trainee self-assessment of both overall knowledge and skill with clinical disasters improved from 33/100 to 74/100 (overall knowledge) and 33/100 to 77/100 (overall skill). The course assessment was completed by 34.3% participants, of whom 91.5% highly recommended the course. Conclusion: A relatively short, intensive EPT course can improve the ability of a diverse group of disaster care providers to respond effectively to mass casualty scenarios.

Keywords: clinical disaster medicine, training, hospital preparedness, surge capacity, education, curriculum, research, performance, training, student, physicians, nurses, health care providers, health care

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Authors: Ankit Kumar, Balram Dubey

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This study proposes a three dimensional prey-predator model with additional food, provided to predator individuals, including gestation delay in predators and delay in supplying the additional food to predators. It is assumed that the interaction between prey and predator is followed by Holling type-II functional response. We discussed the steady states and their local and global asymptotic behavior for the non-delayed system. Hopf-bifurcation phenomenon with respect to different parameters has also been studied. We obtained a range of predator’s tendency factor on provided additional food, in which the periodic solutions occur in the system. We have shown that oscillations can be controlled from the system by increasing the tendency factor. Moreover, the existence of periodic solutions via Hopf-bifurcation is shown with respect to both the delays. Our analysis shows that both delays play an important role in governing the dynamics of the system. It changes the stability behavior into instability behavior. The direction and stability of Hopf-bifurcation are also investigated through the normal form theory and the center manifold theorem. Lastly, some numerical simulations and graphical illustrations have been carried out to validate our analytical findings.

Keywords: additional food, gestation delay, Hopf-bifurcation, prey-predator

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Authors: Noorulain Khalid, Unsaar Hayat, Muhammad Chaudhary, Christos Iosifidis, Felipe Dhawahir-Scala, Fiona Carley

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Dry eye disease (DED) is a common condition seen in the emergency eye department (EED) at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH). However, there is variability in the prescription of lubricating eye drops among different healthcare providers. The aim of this study was to develop an up-to-date, standardized algorithm for the prescription of lubricating eye drops in the EED at MREH based on international and national guidelines. The study also aimed to assess the impact of implementing the guideline on the rate of inappropriate lubricant prescriptions. Primarily, the impact was to be assessed in the form of the appropriateness of prescriptions for patients’ DED. The impact was secondary to be assessed through analysis of the cost to the hospital. Data from 845 patients who attended the EED over a 3-month period were analyzed, and 157 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After conducting a review of the literature and collaborating with the corneal team, an algorithm for the prescription of lubricants in the EED was developed. Three plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles were conducted, with interventions such as emails, posters, in-person reminders, and education for incoming trainees. The appropriateness of prescriptions was evaluated against the guidelines. Data were collected from patient records and analyzed using statistical methods. The appropriateness of prescriptions was assessed by comparing them to the guidelines and by clinical correlation with a specialized registrar. The study found a substantial improvement in the number of appropriate prescriptions, with an increase from 55% to 93% over the three PDSA cycles. There was additionally a 51% reduction in expenditure on lubricant prescriptions, resulting in cost savings for the hospital (approximate saving of £50/week). Theoretical importance: Appropriate prescription of lubricating eye drops improves disease management for patients and reduces costs for the hospital. The development and implementation of a standardized guideline facilitate the achievement of these goals. Conclusion: This study highlights the inconsistent management of DED in the EED and the potential lack of training in this area for healthcare providers. The implementation of a standardized, easy-to-follow guideline for lubricating eye drops can help to improve disease management while also resulting in cost savings for the hospital.

Keywords: lubrication, dry eye disease, guideline, prescription

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Authors: Chieh-Chun Chang, Cheng-Ting Shih, Yan-Lin Liu, Shu-Jun Chang, Jay Wu

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With the widespread use of digital mammography (DM), radiation dose evaluation of breasts has become important. X-ray spectra are one of the key factors that influence the absorbed dose of glandular tissue. In this study, we estimated the X-ray spectrum of DM using the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm with the transmission measurement data. The interpolating polynomial model proposed by Boone was applied to generate the initial guess of the DM spectrum with the target/filter combination of Mo/Mo and the tube voltage of 26 kVp. The Monte Carlo N-particle code (MCNP5) was used to tally the transmission data through aluminum sheets of 0.2 to 3 mm. The X-ray spectrum was reconstructed by using the EM algorithm iteratively. The influence of the initial guess for EM reconstruction was evaluated. The percentage error of the average energy between the reference spectrum inputted for Monte Carlo simulation and the spectrum estimated by the EM algorithm was -0.14%. The normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) and the normalized root max square error (NRMaSE) between both spectra were 0.6% and 2.3%, respectively. We conclude that the EM algorithm with transmission measurement data is a convenient and useful tool for estimating x-ray spectra for DM in clinical practice.

Keywords: digital mammography, expectation maximization algorithm, X-Ray spectrum, X-Ray

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Authors: Valentina Narvaez Gaitan, Laura Valentina Rodriguez Leguizamon, Ruben Dario Hernandez B.

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This work describes a physiological signal emulation system that uses electromyography (EMG) signals obtained from muscle sensors in the first instance. These signals are used to extract their characteristics to model and emulate specific arm movements. The main objective of this effort is to develop a new biomedical software system capable of generating physiological signals through the use of embedded systems by establishing the characteristics of the acquired signals. The acquisition system used was Biosignals, which contains two EMG electrodes used to acquire signals from the forearm muscles placed on the extensor and flexor muscles. Processing algorithms were implemented to classify the signals generated by the arm muscles when performing specific movements such as wrist flexion extension, palmar grip, and wrist pronation-supination. Matlab software was used to condition and preprocess the signals for subsequent classification. Subsequently, the mathematical modeling of each signal is performed to be generated by the embedded system, with a validation of the accuracy of the obtained signal using the percentage of cross-correlation, obtaining a precision of 96%. The equations are then discretized to be emulated in the embedded system, obtaining a system capable of generating physiological signals according to the characteristics of medical analysis.

Keywords: classification, electromyography, embedded system, emulation, physiological signals

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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: Trupti Meher, Harihar Sahoo

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Premature menopause refers to the occurrence of menopause before the age of 40 years. Women who experience premature menopause either due to biological or induced reasons have a longer duration of exposure to severe symptoms and adverse health consequences when compared to those who undergo menopause at a later age, despite the fact that premature menopause has a profound effect on the health of women. This study attempted to determine the prevalence and predictors of premature menopause among women aged 25-39 years, using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted during 2015–16 in India. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were used to carry out the result. The results revealed that the prevalence of premature menopause in India was 3.7 percent. Out of which, 2.1 percent of women had experienced natural premature menopause, whereas 1.7 percent had premature surgical menopause. The prevalence of premature menopause was highest in the southern region of India. Further, results of the multivariate model indicated that rural women, women with higher parity, early age at childbearing and women with smoking habits were at a greater risk of premature menopause. A sizeable proportion of women in India are attaining menopause prematurely. Unless due attention is given to this matter, it will emerge as a major problem in India in the future. The study also emphasized the need for further research to enhance knowledge on the problems of premature menopausal women in different socio-cultural settings in India.

Keywords: India, natural menopause, premature menopause, surgical menopause

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Authors: Hamid Ahmadi, Neda Azari Dodaran

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This paper aims to study the structural behavior of tubular KT-joints subjected to axial loading at fire induced elevated temperatures. At first, a finite element (FE) model was developed and validated against the data available from experimental tests. Then, a set of 810 FE analyses were performed to study the influence of temperature and dimensionless geometrical parameters (β, γ, θ, and τ) on the ultimate strength and initial stiffness. The joints were analyzed under two types of axial loading and five different temperatures (20 ºC, 200 ºC, 400 ºC, 550 ºC, and 700 ºC). Results show that the ultimate strength and initial stiffness of KT-joints decrease considerably by increasing the temperature. In the joints having bigger values of the β, the temperature elevation leads to less reduction in ultimate strength; while in the joints with bigger values of the γ, the temperature elevation results in more reduction in ultimate strength. The influence of the θ on the ultimate strength is independent from the temperature. To our knowledge, there is no design formula available for determining the ultimate strength of KT-joints at elevated temperatures. Hence, after parametric study, two equations were developed through nonlinear regression, for calculating the ultimate strength of KT-joints at elevated temperatures.

Keywords: axial loads, fire condition, parametric formula, static strength, tubular KT-joint

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Authors: Kgabo H. Badimo, Sheryl Buckley

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Knowledge is increasingly recognised in this, the knowledge era, as a strategic resource, by public sector organisations, in view of the public sector reform initiatives. People and knowledge play a vital role in attaining improved organisational performance and high service quality. Many government departments in the public sector have started to realise the importance of knowledge management in streamlining their operations and processes. This study focused on knowledge management in the public healthcare service organisations, where the concept of service provider competitiveness pales to insignificance, considering the huge challenges emanating from the healthcare and public sector reforms. Many government departments are faced with challenges of improving organisational performance and service delivery, improving accountability, making informed decisions, capturing the knowledge of the aging workforce, and enhancing partnerships with stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge management practices of the Gauteng Department of Health in South Africa, in order to understand how knowledge management practices influence improvement in organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. This issue is explored through a review of literature on dominant views on knowledge management and healthcare service delivery, as well as results of interviews with, and questionnaire responses from, the general staff of the Gauteng Department of Health. Web-based questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and organisational documents were used to collect data. The data were analysed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods. The central question investigated was: To what extent can the conditions required for successful knowledge management be observed, in order to improve organisational performance and healthcare service delivery in the Gauteng Department of Health. The findings showed that the elements of knowledge management capabilities investigated in this study, namely knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, have a positive, significant relationship with all measures of organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. These findings thus indicate that by employing knowledge management principles, the Gauteng Department of Health could improve its ability to achieve its operational goals and objectives, and solve organisational and healthcare challenges, thereby improving organisational.

Keywords: knowledge management, Healthcare Service Delivery, public healthcare, public sector

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Authors: Joseph M. Rich, Vinay A. Duddalwar, Assad A. Oberai

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Prostate adenocarcinoma is the most common cancer in males, with osseous metastases as the commonest site of metastatic prostate carcinoma (mPC). Treatment monitoring is based on the evaluation and characterization of lesions on multiple imaging studies, including Computed Tomography (CT). Monitoring of the osseous disease burden, including follow-up of lesions and identification and characterization of new lesions, is a laborious task for radiologists. Deep learning algorithms are increasingly used to perform tasks such as identification and segmentation for osseous metastatic disease and provide accurate information regarding metastatic burden. Here, nnUNet was used to produce a model which can segment CT scan images of prostate adenocarcinoma vertebral bone metastatic lesions. nnUNet is an open-source Python package that adds optimizations to deep learning-based UNet architecture but has not been extensively combined with transfer learning techniques due to the absence of a readily available functionality of this method. The IRB-approved study data set includes imaging studies from patients with mPC who were enrolled in clinical trials at the University of Southern California (USC) Health Science Campus and Los Angeles County (LAC)/USC medical center. Manual segmentation of metastatic lesions was completed by an expert radiologist Dr. Vinay Duddalwar (20+ years in radiology and oncologic imaging), to serve as ground truths for the automated segmentation. Despite nnUNet’s success on some medical segmentation tasks, it only produced an average Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.31 on the USC dataset. DSC results fell in a bimodal distribution, with most scores falling either over 0.66 (reasonably accurate) or at 0 (no lesion detected). Applying more aggressive data augmentation techniques dropped the DSC to 0.15, and reducing the number of epochs reduced the DSC to below 0.1. Datasets have been identified for transfer learning, which involve balancing between size and similarity of the dataset. Identified datasets include the Pancreas data from the Medical Segmentation Decathlon, Pelvic Reference Data, and CT volumes with multiple organ segmentations (CT-ORG). Some of the challenges of producing an accurate model from the USC dataset include small dataset size (115 images), 2D data (as nnUNet generally performs better on 3D data), and the limited amount of public data capturing annotated CT images of bone lesions. Optimizations and improvements will be made by applying transfer learning and generative methods, including incorporating generative adversarial networks and diffusion models in order to augment the dataset. Performance with different libraries, including MONAI and custom architectures with Pytorch, will be compared. In the future, molecular correlations will be tracked with radiologic features for the purpose of multimodal composite biomarker identification. Once validated, these models will be incorporated into evaluation workflows to optimize radiologist evaluation. Our work demonstrates the challenges of applying automated image segmentation to small medical datasets and lays a foundation for techniques to improve performance. As machine learning models become increasingly incorporated into the workflow of radiologists, these findings will help improve the speed and accuracy of vertebral metastatic lesions detection.

Keywords: deep learning, image segmentation, medicine, nnUNet, prostate carcinoma, radiomics

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Authors: Soma Chatterjee, I. Das

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In the present study, we have investigated the structural, electrical and magneto-transport properties of polycrystalline and nanocrystalline Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 compounds. The variation of transport properties is modified by tuning the grain size of the material. In the high-temperature semiconducting region, temperature-dependent resistivity data can be well explained by the non-adiabatic small polaron hopping (SPH) mechanism. In addition, the resistivity data for all compounds in the low-temperature paramagnetic region can also be well explained by the variable range hopping (VRH) model. The parameters obtained from SPH and VRH mechanisms are found to be reasonable. In the case of nanocrystalline compounds, there is an overlapping temperature range where both SPH and VRH models are valid simultaneously, and a new conduction mechanism - variable range hopping of small polaron s(VR-SPH) is satisfactorily valid for the whole temperature range of these compounds. However, for the polycrystalline compound, the overlapping temperature region between VRH and SPH models does not exist and the VR-SPH mechanism is not valid here. Thus, polarons play a leading role in selecting different conduction mechanisms in different temperature ranges.

Keywords: electrical resistivity, manganite, small polaron hopping, variable range hopping, variable range of small polaron hopping

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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: Rezwana Rahman

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Various simulations have been conducted to understand the particle's macroscopic behavior in the solid-gas multiphase flow in rotating drums in the past. In these studies, the particle-wall no-slip boundary condition was usually adopted. However, the non-slip boundary condition is rarely encountered in real systems. A little effort has been made to investigate the particle behavior at slip boundary conditions. The paper represents a study of the gas-solid flow in a horizontal rotating drum at a slip boundary wall condition. Two different sizes of particles with the same density have been considered. The Eulerian–Eulerian multiphase model with the kinetic theory of granular flow was used in the simulations. The granular pressure at the rolling flow regime with specularity coefficient 1 was examined and compared with that obtained based on the no-slip boundary condition. The results reveal that the profiles of granular pressure distribution on the transverse plane of the drum are similar for both boundary conditions. But, overall, compared with those for the no-slip boundary condition, the values of granular pressure for specularity coefficient 1 are larger for the larger particle and smaller for the smaller particle.

Keywords: boundary condition, eulerian–eulerian, multiphase, specularity coefficient, transverse plane

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: N. B. Ikenweiwe, A. A. Alimi, N. A. Bamidele, A. O. Ewumi, J. Dairo, I. A. Akinnubi, S. O. Otubusin

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A study on the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the lower course of Ogun River, Isheri-Olofin was carried out between January and December 2014 in order to determine the effects of the anthropogenic activities of the Kara abattoir and domestic waste depositions on the quality of the water. Water samples were taken twice each month at three selected stations A, B and C (based on characteristic features or activity levels) along the water course. Samples were analysed using standard methods for chemical and biological parameters the same day in the laboratory while physical parameters were determined in-situ with water parameters kit. Generally, results of Transparency, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrates, TDS and Alkalinity fall below the permissible limits of WHO and FEPA standards for drinking and fish production. Results of phosphates, lead and cadmium were also low but still within the permissible limit. Only Temperature and pH were within limit. Low plankton community, (phytoplankton, zooplankton), which ranges from 3, 5 to 40, 23 were as a result of low levels of DO, transparency and phosphate. The presence of coliform bacteria of public health importance like Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Aeromonas sp., Shigella sp, Enterobacter aerogenes as well as gram negative bacteria Proteus morganii are mainly indicators of faecal pollution. Fish and other resources obtained from this water stand the risk of being contaminated with these organisms and man is at the receiving end. The results of the physical, chemical and some biological parameters of Isheri, Ogun River, according to this study showed that the live forms of aquatic and fisheries resources there are dwelling under stress as a result of deposition of bones, horns, faecal components, slurry of suspended solids, fat and blood into the water. Government should therefore establish good monitoring system against illegal waste depositions and create education programmes that will enlighten the community on the social, ecological and economic values of the river.

Keywords: water parameters, Isheri Ogun river, anthropogenic activities, Kara abattoir

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Authors: M. Masroor Akhtar Khan, Moin Uddin, Lalit Varshney

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Recently, there has been a rapidly expanding interest in finding applications of natural polymers in view of value addition to agriculture. It is now being realized that radiation processing of natural polysaccharides can be beneficially utilized either to improve the existing methodologies used for processing the natural polymers or to impart value addition to agriculture by converting them into more useful form. Gamma-ray irradiation is employed to degrade and lower the molecular weight of some of the natural polysaccharides like alginates, chitosan and carrageenan into small sized oligomers. When these oligomers are applied to plants as foliar sprays, they elicit various kinds of biological and physiological activities, including promotion of plant growth, seed germination, shoot elongation, root growth, flower production, suppression of heavy metal stress, etc. Furthermore, application of these oligomers can shorten the harvesting period of various crops and help in reducing the use of insecticides and chemical fertilizers. In recent years, the oligomers of sodium alginate obtained by irradiating the latter with gamma-rays at 520 kGy dose are being employed. It was noticed that the oligomers derived from the natural polysaccharides could induce growth, photosynthetic efficiency, enzyme activities and most importantly the production of secondary metabolite in the plants like Artemisia annua, Beta vulgaris, Catharanthus roseus, Chrysopogon zizanioides, Cymbopogon flexuosus, Eucalyptus citriodora, Foeniculum vulgare, Geranium sp., Mentha arvensis, Mentha citrata, Mentha piperita, Mentha virdis, Papaver somniferum and Trigonella foenum-graecum. As a result of the application of these oligomers, the yield and/or contents of the active constituents of the aforesaid plants were significantly enhanced. The productivity, as well as quality of medicinal and aromatic plants, may be ameliorated by this novel technique in an economical way as a very little quantity of these irradiated (depolymerised) polysaccharides is needed. Further, this is a very safe technique, as we did not expose the plants directly to radiation. The radiation was used to depolymerize the polysaccharides into oligomers.

Keywords: essential oil, medicinal and aromatic plants, plant production, radiation processed polysaccharides, active constituents

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Authors: Hakan Ozturk, Aydin Demir, Kemal Edip, Marta Stojmanovska, Julijana Bojadjieva

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There are many factors that affect the behavior of reinforced concrete beams. These can be listed as concrete compressive and reinforcement yield strength, amount of tension, compression and confinement bars, and strain hardening of reinforcement. In the study, support condition of short beams is selected statically indeterminate to first degree. Experimental and numerical analysis are carried for reinforcement concrete (RC) short beams. Dimensions of cross sections are selected as 250mm width and 500 mm height. The length of RC short beams is designed as 2250 mm and these values are constant in all beams. After verifying accurately finite element model, a numerical parametric study is performed with varied diameter of tension reinforcement. Effect of change in diameter is investigated on behavior of RC short beams. As a result of the study, ductility ratios and failure modes are determined, and load-displacement graphs are obtained in order to understand the behavior of short beams. It is deduced that diameter of tension reinforcement plays very important role on the behavior of RC short beams in terms of ductility and brittleness.

Keywords: short beam, reinforced concrete, finite element analysis, longitudinal reinforcement

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Authors: Spandan Sahu, Amiya Kumar Pati, Kishanjit Kumar Khatua

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River is our main source of water which is a form of open channel flow and the flow in open channel provides with many complex phenomenon of sciences that needs to be tackled such as the critical flow conditions, boundary shear stress and depth averaged velocity. During floods, part of a river is carried by the simple main channel and rest is carried by flood plains. For such compound asymmetric channels, the flow structure becomes complicated due to momentum exchange between main channel and adjoining flood plains. Distribution of boundary shear in subsections provides us with the concept of momentum transfer between the interface of main channel and the flood plains. Experimentally, to get better data with accurate results are very complex because of the complexity of the problem. Hence, CES software has been used to tackle the complex processes to determine the shear stresses at different sections of an open channel having asymmetric flood plains on both sides of the main channel and the results is compared with the symmetric flood plains for various geometrical shapes and flow conditions. Error analysis is also performed to know the degree of accuracy of the model implemented.

Keywords: depth average velocity, non prismatic compound channel, relative flow depth, velocity distribution

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Authors: Tam Nguyen

Abstract:

Self-leadership is strongly tied to the ability to be resilient in the face of adversity. This study aims to demonstrate how a strategy based on a culturally relevant "bamboo metaphor" enables Asian students to cross cultural boundaries and to engage in online discussions to unlock their self-leadership potential. Asian students are influenced to varying degrees by the Confucian heritage culture, which educates students to respect authority, maintain harmony, and avoid public confrontations. This has a significant impact on the cultural readiness of Asian students to express their development as self-leaders. In this research project, researchers as mentors individually assist students, cultivate cognitive progress, encourage and personally ask students to join a process of mentorship program. This study analyzes and interprets the data from a large online seminar in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where students were trained in self-leadership skills. Focus-group interviews were implemented among 90 students in the program. Findings reveal the emotional needs of Asian students and suggest a cognitive model for developing students' self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. The research results are anticipated to be applicable to a broader Asian population with a comparable cultural environment to Vietnam.

Keywords: self-leadership, bamboo resilience, cognitive modeling, Asian culture

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Authors: M. Achemo, O. Saito

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Jefoure land use system is one of the traditional landscape human settlement patterns, and it is a cultural design and peculiar art of the people of Gurage in Ethiopia via which houses and trees flank roads left and right. Assessment of the multiple benefits of the traditional road that benefit society and development could enhance the understanding of the land use planners and decision makers to pay attention while planning and managing the land use system. Recent trend shows that the Jefoure land use is on the threshold of change as a result of flourishing road networks, overgrazing, and agricultural expansion. This study aimed to evaluate the multiple ecosystem services provided by the Jefoure land use system after characterization of the socio-ecological landscape. Information was compiled from existing data sources such as ordnance survey maps, aerial photographs, recent high resolution satellite imageries, designated questionnaires and interviews, and local authority contacts. The result generated scientific data on the characteristics, ecosystem services provision, and drivers of changes. The cultural landscape has novel characteristics and providing multiple ecosystem services to the community for long period of time. It is serving as road for humans, livestock and vehicles, habitat for plant species, regulating local temperature, climate, runoff and infiltration, and place for meeting, conducting religious and spiritual activities, holding social events such as marriage and mourning, playing station for children and court for football and other traditional games. As a result of its aesthetic quality and scenic beauty, it is considered as recreational place for improving mental and physical health. The study draws relevant land use planning and management solution in the improvement of socio-ecological resilience in the Jefoure land use system. The study suggests the landscape needs to be registrar as heritage site for recognizing the wisdom of the community and enhancing the conservation mechanisms.

Keywords: cultural landscape, ecosystem services, Gurage, Jefoure

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Authors: Hanan K. Hassanein

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Task-based language teaching (TBLT) and focus on form instruction (FFI) methods were proven to improve quality and quantity of immediate language production. However, studies that compare between the effectiveness of the language production when using TBLT versus FFI are very little with results that are not consistent. Moreover, teaching Arabic using TBLT is a new field with few research that has investigated its application inside classrooms. Furthermore, to the best knowledge of the researcher, there are no prior studies that compared teaching Arabic as a foreign language in a classroom setting using computer-assisted task-based language teaching (CATBLT) with computer-assisted form focused language instruction (CAFFI). Accordingly, the focus of this presentation is to display CATBLT and CAFFI tools when teaching Arabic as a foreign language as well as demonstrate an experimental study that aims to identify whether or not CATBLT is a more effective instruction method. The effectiveness will be determined through comparing CATBLT and CAFFI in terms of accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency of language produced by students. The participants of the study are 20 students enrolled in two intermediate-level Arabic as a foreign language classes. The experiment will take place over the course of 7 days. Based on a study conducted by Abdurrahman Arslanyilmaz for teaching Turkish as a second language, an in-house computer assisted tool for the TBLT and another one for FFI will be designed for the experiment. The experimental group will be instructed using the in-house CATBLT tool and the control group will be taught through the in-house CAFFI tool. The data that will be analyzed are the dialogues produced by students in both the experimental and control groups when completing a task or communicating in conversational activities. The dialogues of both groups will be analyzed to understand the effect of the type of instruction (CATBLT or CAFFI) on accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency. Thus, the study aims to demonstrate whether or not there is an instruction method that positively affects the language produced by students learning Arabic as a foreign language more than the other.

Keywords: computer assisted language teaching, foreign language teaching, form-focused instruction, task based language teaching

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Authors: Riina I. Bray, Yifan Wang, Nikolas Argiropoulos, Stephanie Robins, John Molot, Kelly Tragash, Lynn M. Marshall, Margaret E. Sears, Marie-Andrée Pigeon, Michel Gaudet, Pierre Auger, Emily Bélanger, Rohini Peris

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Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic medical condition characterized by intolerances to chemical substances. Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated health measures, people experiencing MCS (PEMCS) are at a heightened risk of environmental exposures associated with cleaners, disinfectants, and sanitizers. Little attention has been paid to the well-being of PEMCS in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: This study assesses the lived experiences of Canadian adults with MCS in relation to their living environment, access to healthcare, and levels of perceived social support before and during the pandemic. Methods: A total of 119 PEMCS completed an online questionnaire. McNemar Chi-Squared and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to evaluate if there were statistically significant changes in participants’ perception of their living environment, access to healthcare, and levels of social support before and after March 11, 2020. Results: Both positive and negative outcomes were noted. Participants reported an increase in exposure to disinfectants/sanitizers that entered their living environment (p<.001). There was a reported decrease in access to a family doctor during the pandemic (p<0.001). Although PEMCS experienced increased social isolation (p<0.001), they also reported an increase in understanding from family (p<0.029) and a decrease in stigma for wearing personal protective equipment (p<0.001). Conclusion: PEMCS reported experiencing: increased exposure to disinfectants or sanitizers, a loss of social support, and barriers in accessing healthcare during the pandemic. However, COVID-19 provided an opportunity to normalize the living conditions of PEMCS, such as wearing masks and social isolation. These findings can guide decision-makers on the importance of implementing nontoxic alternatives for cleaning and disinfection, as well as improving accommodation measures for PEMCS.

Keywords: covid-19, multiple chemical sensitivity, MCS, quality of life, social isolation, physical environment, healthcare

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Authors: Mateusz Mokrogulski, Piotr Śliwka

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The aim of this paper is the identification of periods of excessive credit growth in the Polish banking sector in years 2007-2014 using different methodologies. Due to the lack of precise guidance in CRD IV regarding methods of calculating the credit gap and related deviations from the long-term trends, a few filtering methods are applied, e.g. Hodrick-Prescott and Baxter-King. The solutions based on the switching model are also proposed. The next step represent computations of both the credit gap, and the counter cyclical capital buffer (CCB) rates on a quarterly basis. The calculations are carried out for the entire banking sector in Poland, as well as for its components (commercial and co-operative banks), and different types of loans. The calculations show vividly that in the analysed period there were the times of excessive credit growth. However, the results are different for the above mentioned sub-sectors. Of paramount importance here are mortgage loans, where the outcomes are distorted by high exchange rate fluctuations. The research on the CCB is now going to gain popularity as the buffer will soon become one of the tools of the macro prudential policy under CRD IV. Although the presented method is focused on the Polish banking sector, it can also be applied to other member states. Especially to the Central and Eastern European countries, that are usually characterized by smaller banking sectors compared to EU-15.

Keywords: countercyclical capital buffer, CRD IV, filtering methods, mortgage loans

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Authors: Madifedile Thasi, Azola Mayeza

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In South Africa, provision of housing to the growing population has been described as one of the greatest challenges facing the government. Between 1994 to 2015, more than 2.5 million housing units were provided by the government for the poorest households and the low-income earners under the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Yet, the latest census figure revealed that about 2.1 million households still live in shacks and informal dwellings. Human settlements patterns remain dysfunctional across in South Africa because of rapid urbanisation. The housing backlog is growing at a rate of 178 000 units a year. The aforementioned predicament calls the need for innovative approaches to address the issue in a sustainable way and this need not be overemphasized. Aside from the issue of cost, the delivery of more housing units comes with environmental and sustainability issues. The prefabrication building technology has resulted into accelerated housing delivery to a satisfactory level in some countries such as Nigeria and Malaysia that are facing similar issue. It is therefore expected to be a foremost option to address the social housing backlog in South Africa and within the country housing sustainability agenda. This paper appraises the factors responsible for the limited implementation of prefabrication technology in South African housing projects. The objective is to recommend the method and materials that can be best sustained in the country in terms of local availability, cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness. It presents empirical data to support the hypothesis that a wider implementation of prefabrication technology in the social housing projects will be of significant benefit, by providing fast turnaround, cost-effective and sustainable solution that will dent the housing backlog, as well as improving the quality of the social housings. It was found that only 17 000 units of the RDP housings provided were constructed using alternative building technologies. Furthermore, there are variety of prefabricated technologies in the market but mostly have limited production capacity, minimal manufacturing capacity and most materials are imported, which leads to unavailability of the technology for large scale delivery and utilization despite its obvious advantages.

Keywords: prefabrication technology, sustainable social housings, South Africa, housing delivery

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Authors: Offer E. Edelstein, Iris Vered, Orly Sarid

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Background: Physical activity (PA) is considered as a major factor in bone density preservation and fracture prevention. Yet, gaps in understanding exist regarding how ethnocultural backgrounds might shape attitudes, intentions, and actual PA participation. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for predicting PA, the aims of the current study were: i) to compare attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, intentions and knowledge, across two ethnocultural groups; ii) to evaluate the fit of the model across two ethnocultural groups of women: Israeli-born Jews and Ethiopian immigrants. Methods: Two hundred women (one hundred from each group), aged > 65, completed valid and reliable questionnaires assessing knowledge, TPB components, and actual PA. Results: The level of knowledge on osteoporosis was relatively low in both groups. Intention to participate in PA was the only variable that directly predicted actual PA. Intention to participate in PA served as a mediator among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, and actual PA. The TPB components mediated the link between knowledge and intention to participate in PA. Conclusion: It is important to understand and augment interventions that enhance PA, in the community, and with sensitivity concerning each ethnocultural group.

Keywords: attitudes, ethnocultural groups, knowledge, physical activity

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Authors: Firoz Alam Faroque, Ankur Neog

Abstract:

Earthquake causes significant loss of lives and severe damage to infrastructure. Base isolator is one of the most suitable solutions to make a building earthquake resistant. Base isolation consists of installing an isolator along with the steel plates covered with pads of strong material like steel, rubber, etc. In our study, we have used lead rubber bearing (LRB). The basic idea of seismic isolation is based on the reduction of the earthquake-induced inertia forces by shifting the fundamental period of the structure out of dangerous resonance range, and concentration of the deformation and energy dissipation demands at the isolation and energy dissipation systems, which are designed for this purpose. In this paper, RC frame buildings have been modeled and analyzed by response spectrum method using ETABS software. The LRB used in the model is designed as per uniform building code (UBC) 97. It is found that time period for the base isolated structures are higher than that of the fixed base structure and the value of base shear significantly reduces in the case of base-isolated buildings. It has also been found that buildings with vertical irregularities give better performance as compared to building with plan irregularities using base isolators.

Keywords: base isolation, base shear, irregularities in buildings, lead rubber bearing (LRB)

Procedia PDF Downloads 298