Search results for: mobile collaboration

Authors: Tony R. Walker, N. Devin MacAskill, Andrew Thalhiemer

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Sydney Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada has long been subject to effluent and atmospheric inputs of contaminants, including thousands of tons of PAHs from a large coking and steel plant which operated in Sydney for nearly a century. Contaminants comprised of coal tar residues which were discharged from coking ovens into a small tidal tributary, which became known as the Sydney Tar Ponds (STPs), and subsequently discharged into Sydney Harbour. An Environmental Impact Statement concluded that mobilization of contaminated sediments posed unacceptable ecological risks, therefore immobilizing contaminants in the STPs using solidification and stabilization was identified as a primary source control remediation option to mitigate against continued transport of contaminated sediments from the STPs into Sydney Harbour. Recent developments in contaminant mass flux techniques focus on understanding “mobile” vs. “immobile” contaminants at remediation sites. Forensic source evaluations are also increasingly used for understanding origins of PAH contaminants in soils or sediments. Flux and forensic source evaluation-informed remediation decision-making uses this information to develop remediation end point goals aimed at reducing off-site exposure and managing potential ecological risk. This study included reviews of previous flux studies, calculating current mass flux estimates and a forensic assessment using PAH fingerprint techniques, during remediation of one of Canada’s most polluted sites at the STPs. Historically, the STPs was thought to be the major source of PAH contamination in Sydney Harbour with estimated discharges of nearly 800 kg/year of PAHs. However, during three years of remediation monitoring only 17-97 kg/year of PAHs were discharged from the STPs, which was also corroborated by an independent PAH flux study during the first year of remediation which estimated 119 kg/year. The estimated mass efflux of PAHs from the STPs during remediation was in stark contrast to ~2000 kg loading thought necessary to cause a short term increase in harbour sediment PAH concentrations. These mass flux estimates during remediation were also between three to eight times lower than PAHs discharged from the STPs a decade prior to remediation, when at the same time, government studies demonstrated on-going reduction in PAH concentrations in harbour sediments. Flux results were also corroborated using forensic source evaluations using PAH fingerprint techniques which found a common source of PAHs for urban soils, marine and aquatic sediments in and around Sydney. Coal combustion (from historical coking) and coal dust transshipment (from current coal transshipment facilities), are likely the principal source of PAHs in these media and not migration of PAH laden sediments from the STPs during a large scale remediation project.

Keywords: contaminated sediment, mass flux, forensic source evaluations, remediation

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Authors: Elena Bellini, Daniele Mugnaini, Michele Boschetto

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People with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and an Intellectual Disability who need to attend a Hospital Emergency Waiting Room frequently present high levels of discomfort and challenging behaviors due to stress-related hyperarousal, sensory sensitivity, novelty-anxiety, communication and self-regulation difficulties. Increased agitation and acting out also disturb the diagnostic and therapeutic processes, and the emergency room climate. Architectural design disciplines aimed at reducing distress in hospitals or creating autism-friendly environments are called for to find effective answers to this particular need. A growing number of researchers are considering the physical environment as an important point of intervention for people with autism. It has been shown that providing the right setting can help enhance confidence and self-esteem and can have a profound impact on their health and wellbeing. Environmental psychology has evaluated the perceived quality of care, looking at the design of hospital rooms, paths and circulation, waiting rooms, services and devices. Furthermore, many studies have investigated the influence of the hospital environment on patients, in terms of stress-reduction and therapeutic intervention’ speed, but also on health professionals and their work. Several services around the world are organizing autism-friendly hospital environments which involve the architecture and the specific staff training. In Italy, the association Spes contra spem has promoted and published, in 2013, the ‘Chart of disabled people in the hospital’. It stipulates that disabled people should have equal rights to accessible and high-quality care. There are a few Italian examples of therapeutic programmes for autistic people as the Dama project in Milan and the recent experience of Children and Autism Foundation in Pordenone. Careggi’s Emergency Waiting Room in Florence has been built to satisfy this challenge. This project of research comes from a collaboration between the technical staff of Careggi Hospital, the Center for autism PAMAPI and some architects expert in the sensory environment. The methodology of focus group involved architects, psychologists and professionals through a transdisciplinary research, centered on the links between the spatial characteristics and clinical state of people with ASD. The relationship between architectural space and quality of life is studied to pay maximum attention to users’ needs and to support the medical staff in their work by a specific program of training. The result of this research is a sum of criteria used to design the emergency waiting room, that will be illustrated. A protected room, with a clear space design, maximizes comprehension and predictability. The multisensory environment is thought to help sensory integration and relaxation. Visual communication through Ipad allows an anticipated understanding of medical procedures, and a specific technological system supports requests, choices and self-determination in order to fit sensory stimulation to personal preferences, especially for hypo and hypersensitive people. All these characteristics should ensure a better regulation of the arousal, less behavior problems, improving treatment accessibility, safety, and effectiveness. First results about patient-satisfaction levels will be presented.

Keywords: accessibility of care, autism-friendly architecture, personalized therapeutic process, sensory environment

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Authors: Michael Sonne Kristensen, Frank Loesche, James Foster, Elif Ozcan, Judy Edworthy

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Auditory alarms play an integral role in intensive care nurses’ daily work. Most medical devices in the intensive care unit (ICU) are designed to produce alarm sounds in order to make nurses aware of immediate or prospective safety risks. The utilisation of sound as a carrier of crucial patient information is highly dependent on nurses’ presence - both physically and mentally. For ICU nurses, especially the ones who work with stationary alarm devices at the patient bed space, it is a challenge to display ‘appropriate’ alarm responses at all times as they have to navigate with great flexibility in a complex work environment. While being primarily responsible for a small number of allocated patients they are often required to engage with other nurses’ patients, relatives, and colleagues at different locations inside and outside the unit. This work explores the social strategies used by a team of nurses to comprehend and react to the information conveyed by the alarms in the ICU. Two main research questions guide the study: To what extent do alarms from a patient bed space reach the relevant responsible nurse by direct auditory exposure? By which means do responsible nurses get informed about their patients’ alarms when not directly exposed to the alarms? A comprehensive video-ethnographic field study was carried out to capture and evaluate alarm-related events in an ICU. The study involved close collaboration with four nurses who wore eye-level cameras and ear-level binaural audio recorders during several work shifts. At all time the entire unit was monitored by multiple video and audio recorders. From a data set of hundreds of hours of recorded material information about the nurses’ location, social interaction, and alarm exposure at any point in time was coded in a multi-channel replay-interface. The data shows that responsible nurses’ direct exposure and awareness of the alarms of their allocated patients vary significantly depending on work load, social relationships, and the location of the patient’s bed space. Distributed listening is deliberately employed by the nursing team as a social strategy to respond adequately to alarms, but the patterns of information flow prompted by alarm-related events are not uniform. Auditory Spatiotemporal Trajectory (AST) is proposed as a methodological label to designate the integration of temporal, spatial and auditory load information. As a mixed-method metrics it provides tangible evidence of how nurses’ individual alarm-related experiences differ from one another and from stationary points in the ICU. Furthermore, it is used to demonstrate how alarm-related information reaches the individual nurse through principles of social and distributed cognition, and how that information relates to the actual alarm event. Thereby it bridges a long-standing gap in the literature on medical alarm utilisation between, on the one hand, initiatives to measure objective data of the medical sound environment without consideration for any human experience, and, on the other hand, initiatives to study subjective experiences of the medical sound environment without detailed evidence of the objective characteristics of the environment.

Keywords: auditory spatiotemporal trajectory, medical alarms, social cognition, video-ethography

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Authors: Enoch Ocran

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Film Pertinence maintains consistency in storytelling by sustaining the natural flow of action while evoking a particular feeling or emotion from the viewers with selected motion pictures. This study presents a thorough investigation of "Film Pertinence" in videography that examines its influence in Africa and around the world. This research delves into the dynamic realm of visual storytelling through film, with a specific focus on the concept of Film Pertinence (FP). The study’s primary objectives are to conduct a comparative analysis of videography tools and techniques employed in both African and international contexts, examining how they contribute to the achievement of organizational goals and the enhancement of cultural awareness. The research methodology includes a comprehensive literature review, interviews with videographers from diverse backgrounds in Africa and the international arena, and the examination of pertinent case studies. The investigation aims to elucidate the multifaceted nature of videographic practices, with particular attention to equipment choices, visual storytelling techniques, cultural sensitivity, and adaptability. This study explores the impact of cultural differences on videography choices, aiming to promote understanding between African and foreign filmmakers and create more culturally sensitive films. It also explores the role of technology in advancing videography practices, resource allocation, and the influence of globalization on local filmmaking practices. The research also contributes to film studies by analyzing videography's impact on storytelling, guiding filmmakers to create more compelling narratives. The findings can inform film education, tailoring curricula to regional needs and opportunities. The study also encourages cross-cultural collaboration in the film industry by highlighting convergence and divergence in videography practices. At its core, this study seeks to explore the implications of film pertinence as a framework for videographic practice. It scrutinizes how cultural expression, education, and storytelling transcend geographical boundaries on a global scale. By analyzing the interplay between tools, techniques, and context, the research illuminates the ways in which videographers in Africa and worldwide apply film Pertinence principles to achieve cross-cultural communication and effectively capture the objectives of their clients. One notable focus of this paper is on the techniques employed by videographers in West Africa to emphasize storytelling and participant engagement, showcasing the relevance of FP in highlighting cultural awareness in visual storytelling. Additionally, the study highlights the prevalence of film pertinence in African agricultural documentaries produced for esteemed organizations such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Proforest, World Food Program, Fidelity Bank Ghana, Instituto BVRio, Aflatoun International, and the Solidaridad Network. These documentaries serve to promote prosperity, resilience, human rights, sustainable farming practices, community respect, and environmental preservation, underlining the vital role of film in conveying these critical messages. In summary, this research offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of videography in different contexts, emphasizing the significance of film pertinence as a unifying principle in the pursuit of effective visual storytelling and cross-cultural communication.

Keywords: film pertinence, Africa, cultural awareness, videography tools

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Authors: Eleni Akritopoulou, Katerina Topouzoglou

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The last 20 years marine debris has been identified as one of the main marine pollution sources caused by anthropogenic activities. Plastics has reached the farthest marine areas of the planet affecting all marine trophic levels including the, recently discovered, amphipoda Eurythenes plasticus inhabiting Mariana Trench to large cetaceans, marine reptiles and sea birds causing immunodeficiency disorders, deteriorating health and death overtime. For the time period 2016-20, in the framework of the national initiative ‘Keep Aegean Blue”, All for Blue team has been collecting marine debris (coastline and underwater) following a modified in situ MEDSEALITTER monitoring protocol from eight Greek islands. After collection, marine debris was weighted, sorted and categorised according to material; plastic (PL), glass (G), metal (M), wood (W), rubber (R), cloth (CL), paper (P), mixed (MX). The goal of the project included the documentation of marine debris sources, human trends, waste management and public marine environmental awareness. Waste management was focused on plastics recycling and utilisation into daily useful products. This research is focused on the island of Mykonos due to its continuous touristic activity and lack of scientific information. In overall, a field work area of 1.832.856 m2 was cleaned up yielding 5092 kg of marine debris. The preliminary results indicated PL as main source of marine debris (62,8%) followed by M (15,5%), GL (13,2%) and MX (2,8%). Main items found were fishing tools (lines, nets), disposable cutlery, cups and straws, cigarette butts, flip flops and other items like plastic boat compartments. In collaboration with a local company for plastic management and the Circular Economy and Eco Innovation Institute (Sweden), all plastic debris was recycled. Granulation process was applied transforming plastic into building materials used for refugees’ houses, litter bins bought by municipalities and schools and, other items like shower components. In terms of volunteering and attendance in public awareness seminars, there was a raise of interest by 63% from different age ranges and professions. Regardless, the research being fairly new for Mykonos island and logistics issues potentially affected systemic sampling, it appeared that plastic debris is the main littering source attributed, possibly to the intense touristic activity of the island all year around. However, marine environmental awareness activities were pointed out to be an effective tool in forming public perception against marine debris and, alter the daily habits of local society. Since the beginning of this project, three new local environmental teams were formed against marine pollution supported by the local authorities and stakeholders. The continuous need and request for the production of items made by recycled marine debris appeared to be beneficial socio-economically to the local community and actions are taken to expand the project nationally. Finally, as an ongoing project and whilst, new scientific information is collected, further funding and research is needed.

Keywords: Greece, marine debris, marine environmental awareness, Mykonos island, plastics debris, plastic granulation, recycled plastic, tourism, waste management

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Authors: Sinead Impey, Gaye Stephens, Lucy Hederman, Declan O'Sullivan

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Continued paper use in the clinical area post-Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption is regularly linked to hardware and software usability challenges. Although paper is used as a workaround to circumvent challenges, including limited availability of a computer, this perspective does not consider the important role paper, such as the nurses’ handover sheet, play in practice. The purpose of this study is to confirm the hypothesis that paper use post-EHR adoption continues as paper provides both a cognitive tool (that assists with workflow) and a compensation tool (to circumvent usability challenges). Distinguishing the different motivations for continued paper-use could assist future evaluations of electronic record systems. Methods: Qualitative data were collected from three clinical care environments (ICU, general ward and specialist day-care) who used an electronic record for at least 12 months. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 22 nurses. Data were transcribed, themes extracted using an inductive bottom-up coding approach and a thematic index constructed. Findings: All nurses interviewed continued to use paper post-EHR adoption. While two distinct motivations for paper use post-EHR adoption were confirmed by the data - paper as a cognitive tool and paper as a compensation tool - further finding was that there was an overlap between the two uses. That is, paper used as a compensation tool could also be adapted to function as a cognitive aid due to its nature (easy to access and annotate) or vice versa. Rather than present paper persistence as having two distinctive motivations, it is more useful to describe it as presenting on a continuum with compensation tool and cognitive tool at either pole. Paper as a cognitive tool referred to pages such as nurses’ handover sheet. These did not form part of the patient’s record, although information could be transcribed from one to the other. Findings suggest that although the patient record was digitised, handover sheets did not fall within this remit. These personal pages continued to be useful post-EHR adoption for capturing personal notes or patient information and so continued to be incorporated into the nurses’ work. Comparatively, the paper used as a compensation tool, such as pre-printed care plans which were stored in the patient's record, appears to have been instigated in reaction to usability challenges. In these instances, it is expected that paper use could reduce or cease when the underlying problem is addressed. There is a danger that as paper affords nurses a temporary information platform that is mobile, easy to access and annotate, its use could become embedded in clinical practice. Conclusion: Paper presents a utility to nursing, either as a cognitive or compensation tool or combination of both. By fully understanding its utility and nuances, organisations can avoid evaluating all incidences of paper use (post-EHR adoption) as arising from usability challenges. Instead, suitable remedies for paper-persistence can be targeted at the root cause.

Keywords: cognitive tool, compensation tool, electronic record, handover sheet, nurse, paper persistence

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Authors: Luc Beal

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Introduction. Among the stakeholders involved in the tourist decision-making process, the accommodation provider has the potential to play a crucial role in raising awareness, disseminating information, and thus influencing the tourists’ choice of transportation. Since the early days of tourism, the accommodation provider has consistently served as the primary point of contact with the destination, and consequently, as the primary source of information for visitors. By offering accommodation and hospitality, the accommodation provider has evolved into a trusted third party, functioning as an 'ambassador' capable of recommending the finest attractions and activities available at the destination. In contemporary times, when tourists plan their trips, they make a series of consecutive decisions, with the most important decision being to lock-in the accommodation reservation for the earliest days, so as to secure a safe arrival. Consequently, tourists place their trust in the accommodation provider not only for lodging but also for recommendations regarding restaurants, activities, and more. Thus, the latter has the opportunity to inform and influence tourists well in advance of their arrival, particularly during the booking phase, namely when it comes to selecting their mode of transportation. The pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the tourism sector presents an opportunity to underscore the influence that accommodation providers have historically exerted on tourist decision-making . Methodology A participatory research, currently ongoing in south-western France, in collaboration with a nationwide hotel group and several destination management organizations, aims at examining the factors that determine the ability of accommodation providers to influence tourist transportation choices. Additionally, the research seeks to identify the conditions that motivate accommodation providers to assume a proactive role, such as fostering customer loyalty, reduced distribution costs, and financial compensation mechanisms. A panel of hotels participated in a series of focus group sessions with tourists, with the objective of modeling the decision-making process of tourists regarding their choice of transportation mode and to identify and quantify the types and levels of incentives liable to encourage environmentally responsible choices. Individual interviews were also conducted with hotel staff, including receptionists and guest relations officers, to develop a framework for interactions with tourists during crucial decision-making moments related to transportation choices. The primary finding of this research indicates that financial incentives significantly outweigh symbolic incentives in motivating tourists to opt for eco-friendly modes of transportation. Another noteworthy result underscores the crucial impact of organizational conditions governing interactions with tourists both before and during their stay. These conditions greatly influence the ability to raise awareness at key decision-making moments and the possibility of gathering data about the chosen transportation mode during the stay. In conclusion, this research has led to the formulation of practical recommendations for accommodation providers and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs). These recommendations pertain to communication protocols with tourists, the collection of evidences confirming chosen transportation modes, and the implementation of necessary incentives. Through these measures, accommodation provider can assume a central role in guiding tourists towards making responsible choices in terms of transportation.

Keywords: accommodation provider, trusted third party, environmentally-friendly transportation, green house gas, tourist decision-making process

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Authors: Omaima A. Sharaf, Wafaa M. Abd El-Rahim, Hassan Moawad, Michael J. Sadowsky

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Textile industry is one of the important industries in the worldwide. It is known that the eco-friendly industrial and agricultural activities are significant for socio-economic stability of all countries. The absence of appropriate industrial waste water treatments is essential barrier for sustainable development in food and agricultural sectors especially in developing country like Egypt. Thus, the development of enzymatic bioremediation technology for textile dye removal will enhance the collaboration between scientists who develop the technology and industry where this technology will be implemented towards the safe disposal of the textile dye wastes. Highly efficient microorganisms are of most importance in developing and using highly effective biological treatment processes. Bacterial degradation of azo dyes is generally initiated by an enzymatic step that involves cleavage of azo linkages, usually with the aid of an azoreductase as electron donor. Thus, expanding the spectrum of microorganisms with high enzymatic activities as azoreductases and discovering novel azo-dye degrading enzymes, with enhanced stability and superior catalytic properties, are necessary for many environmental and industrial applications. Consequently, the use of molecular tools has become increasingly integrated into the understanding of enzyme properties and characterization. Researchers have utilized a gene cloning and expression methods as a tool to produce recombinant protein for decolorizing dyes more efficiently. Thus, presumptive evidence for the presence of genes encoding azoreductases in the genomes of selected local, and most potent azo-degrading strains were obtained by using specific oligonucleotides primers. These potent strains have been isolated from textile industrial wastewater in Egypt and identified using 16S rRNA sequence analysis as 'Lysinibacillus macrolidesB8, Brevibacillus parabrevisB11, Bacillus coagulansB7, and B. cereusB5'. PCR products of two full length genes designated as (AZO1;621bp and AZO2;534bp) were detected. BLASTx results indicated that AZO1 gene was corresponding to predicted azoreductase from of Bacillus sp. ABP14, complete genome, multispecies azoreductase [Bacillus], It was submitted to the gene bank by an accession no., BankIt2085371 AZO1 MG923210 (621bp; 207 amino acids). AZO1 was generated from the DNA of our identified strains Lysinibacillus macrolidesB8. On the other hand, AZO2 gene was corresponding to a predicted azoreductase from Bacillus cereus strain S2-8. Gene bank accession no. was BankIt2085839 AZO2 MG932081 (534bp;178 amino acids) and it was amplified from our Bacillus coagulansB7. Both genes were successfully cloned into pCR2.1TOPO (Invitrogen) and in pET28b+ vectors, then they transformed into E. coli DH5α and BL21(DE3) cells for heterologous expression studies. Our recombinant azoreductases (AZO1&AZO2) exhibited potential enzyme activity and efficiently decolorized an azo dye (Direct violet). They exhibited pH stability between 6 and 8 with optimum temperature up to 60°C and 37 °C after induction by 1mM and 1.5mM IPTG, for both AZO1 &AZO2, respectively. These results suggested that further optimization and purification of these recombinant proteins by using different heterologous expression systems will give great potential for the sustainable utilization of these recombinant enzymes in several industrial applications especially in wastewater treatments.

Keywords: azoreductases, decolorization, enzyme activity, gene cloning and expression

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Authors: Carles Martinez-Almoyna Gual, Jiwon Choi

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Urban communities face risks of disintegration and segregation as a consequence of globalised migration processes towards urban environments. Linking social and cultural components with environmental and economic dimensions becomes the goal of all the disciplines that aim to shape more sustainable urban environments. Solutions require interdisciplinary approaches and the use of a complex array of tools. One of these tools is the implementation of urban farming, which provides a wide range of advantages for creating more inclusive spaces and integrated communities. Since food is strongly related to the values and identities of any cultural group, it can be used as a medium to promote social inclusion in the context of urban multicultural societies. By bringing people together into specific urban sites, food production can be integrated into multifunctional spaces while addressing social, economic and ecological goals. The goal of this research is to assess different approaches to urban agriculture by analysing three existing community gardens located in Newtown, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. As a context for developing research, Newtown offers different approaches to urban farming and is really valuable for observing current trends of socialization in diverse and multicultural societies. All three spaces are located on public land owned by Wellington City Council and confined to a small, complex and progressively denser urban area. The developed analysis was focused on social, cultural and physical dimensions, combining community engagement with different techniques of spatial assessment. At the same time, a detailed investigation of each community garden was conducted with comparative analysis methodologies. This multidirectional setting of the analysis was established for extracting from the case studies both specific and typological knowledge. Each site was analysed and categorised under three broad themes: people, space and food. The analysis revealed that all three case studies had really different spatial settings, different approaches to food production and varying profiles of supportive communities. The main differences identified were demographics, values, objectives, internal organization, appropriation, and perception of the space. The community gardens were approached as case studies for developing design research. Following participatory design processes with the different communities, the knowledge gained from the analysis was used for proposing changes in the physical environment. The end goal of the design research was to improve the capacity of the spaces to facilitate social inclusiveness. In order to generate tangible changes, a range of small, strategic and feasible spatial interventions was explored. The smallness of the proposed interventions facilitates implementation by reducing time frames, technical resources, funding needs, and legal processes, working within the community´s own realm. These small interventions are expected to be implemented over time as part of an ongoing collaboration between the different communities, the university, and the local council. The applied research methodology showcases the capacity of universities to develop civic engagement by working with real communities that have concrete needs and face overall threats of disintegration and segregation.

Keywords: community gardening, landscape architecture, participatory design, placemaking, social inclusion

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Authors: Constantinos S. Mammas, Andreas Lazaris, Adamantia S. Mamma-Graham, Georgia Kostopanagiotou, Chryssa Lemonidou, John Mantas, Eustratios Patsouris

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The process to build a better safety culture, methods of error analysis, and preventive measures, starts with an understanding of the effects when human factors engineering refer to remote microscopic diagnosis in surgery and specially in organ transplantation for the evaluation of the grafts. Α high percentage of solid organs arrive at the recipient hospitals and are considered as injured or improper for transplantation in the UK. Digital microscopy adds information on a microscopic level about the grafts (G) in Organ Transplant (OT), and may lead to a change in their management. Such a method will reduce the possibility that a diseased G will arrive at the recipient hospital for implantation. Aim: The aim of this study is to analyze the ergonomics of digital microscopy (DM) based on virtual slides, on telemedicine systems (TS) for tele-pathological evaluation (TPE) of the grafts (G) in organ transplantation (OT). Material and Methods: By experimental simulation, the ergonomics of DM for microscopic TPE of renal graft (RG), liver graft (LG) and pancreatic graft (PG) tissues is analyzed. In fact, this corresponded to the ergonomics of digital microscopy for TPE in OT by applying virtual slide (VS) system for graft tissue image capture, for remote diagnoses of possible microscopic inflammatory and/or neoplastic lesions. Experimentation included the development of an OTE-TS similar experimental telemedicine system (Exp.-TS) for simulating the integrated VS based microscopic TPE of RG, LG and PG Simulation of DM on TS based TPE performed by 2 specialists on a total of 238 human renal graft (RG), 172 liver graft (LG) and 108 pancreatic graft (PG) tissues digital microscopic images for inflammatory and neoplastic lesions on four electronic spaces of the four used TS. Results: Statistical analysis of specialist‘s answers about the ability to accurately diagnose the diseased RG, LG and PG tissues on the electronic space among four TS (A,B,C,D) showed that DM on TS for TPE in OT is elaborated perfectly on the ES of a desktop, followed by the ES of the applied Exp.-TS. Tablet and mobile-phone ES seem significantly risky for the application of DM in OT (p<.001). Conclusion: To make the largest reduction in errors and adverse events referring to the quality of the grafts, it will take application of human factors engineering to procurement, design, audit, and awareness-raising activities. Consequently, it will take an investment in new training, people, and other changes to management activities for DM in OT. The simulating VS based TPE with DM of RG, LG and PG tissues after retrieval, seem feasible and reliable and dependable on the size of the electronic space of the applied TS, for remote prevention of diseased grafts from being retrieved and/or sent to the recipient hospital and for post-grafting and pre-transplant planning.

Keywords: digital microscopy, organ transplantation, tele-pathology, virtual slides

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Authors: Soni T. L.

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Sustainable environmental stress is a major concern which needs immediate attention. This paper is an attempt to present participatory action research for sustainable agriculture. Being first and best culture, agriculture protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of people, and safeguards the health and welfare of all groups. During course of time agriculture turned to agribusiness, then the values are not safeguarded. Moreover, in today’s busy life many are not taking efforts to take part in agriculture production. Then children are not getting the opportunity to understand agriculture and farming practices. So student initiatives are vital to make them aware. Here the programmes structured by the researcher come under the auspicious of National Service Scheme, a student-centered educational programme, organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. The twin objectives of the study are to examine the role of student initiatives for sustainable agriculture and the role of participatory action research in student initiatives. SWOT analysis is made to study strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The Methodology adopted is Participatory Action Research. The method is participatory in a sense there is collaboration through participation. The method is action, there is lab land experiences which is real. The method is research that there is documented lessons and creation of new knowledge. Plan of action cover measures adopted and strategies taken i.e., bhavana – kalpana – yojana – sadhana. Through the team effort, the team was successful in converting more than 10 hectares of barren land into cultivable land within and outside the campus. Team efforts of students saved a huge amount of labour cost and produced a huge quantity of organic output and the team was also successful in creating 1000 rain pits in the premises of College for rainwater harvesting. The findings include conveyance of the Message: Food Production is superior to Food donation. Moreover, the study fostered good work ethic and social responsibility among students. Students undertake innovative programmes underlying social and environmental issues and participants got increased opportunities to interact with local and less privileged and acquired increased awareness about real-life experiences which make them confident to interact with people and it resulted in the strengthening of social capital- cooperation, team spirit, social commitment among students. Participants promoted sustainable domestic efforts and ultimately environmental protection is ensured. Finally, there is recognition to the team, institution and the researcher at the university level, state level and at the national level. The learned lessons are, if the approach is good, the response is good and success generates success. Participatory action research is empowering experience for practitioners, focusing the combined time, energy and creativity of a committed group we should lead so many programmes which makes the institution centre of excellence. Authorities should take necessary steps for the Inclusion of community development activities in the curriculum. Action research is problem, client and action centered. So, we must adapt and adopt, coordinates and correlates measures which preserve and conserve the environment.

Keywords: participatory action research, student initiatives, sustainable development, sustainability

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Authors: Emily Wood, James K. Westphal, Itamar Lerner

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Background: Polysomnography (PSG) recordings are regularly used in research and clinical settings to study sleep and sleep-related disorders. Typical PSG studies are conducted in professional laboratories and performed by qualified researchers. However, the number of sleep labs worldwide is disproportionate to the increasing number of individuals with sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia. Consequently, there is a growing need to supply cheaper yet reliable means to measure sleep, preferably autonomously by subjects in their own home. Over the last decade, a variety of devices for self-monitoring of sleep became available in the market; however, very few have been directly validated against PSG to demonstrate their ability to perform reliable automatic sleep scoring. Two popular mobile EEG-based systems that have published validation results, the DREEM 3 headband and the Z-Machine, have never been directly compared one to the other by independent researchers. The current study aimed to compare the performance of DREEM 3 and the Z-Machine to help investigators and clinicians decide which of these devices may be more suitable for their studies. Methods: 26 participants have completed the study for credit or monetary compensation. Exclusion criteria included any history of sleep, neurological or psychiatric disorders. Eligible participants arrived at the lab in the afternoon and received the two devices. They then spent two consecutive nights monitoring their sleep at home. Participants were also asked to keep a sleep log, indicating the time they fell asleep, woke up, and the number of awakenings occurring during the night. Data from both devices, including detailed sleep hypnograms in 30-second epochs (differentiating Wake, combined N1/N2, N3; and Rapid Eye Movement sleep), were extracted and aligned upon retrieval. For analysis, the number of awakenings each night was defined as four or more consecutive wake epochs between sleep onset and termination. Total sleep time (TST) and the number of awakenings were compared to subjects’ sleep logs to measure consistency with the subjective reports. In addition, the sleep scores from each device were compared epoch-by-epoch to calculate the agreement between the two devices using Cohen’s Kappa. All analysis was performed using Matlab 2021b and SPSS 27. Results/Conclusion: Subjects consistently reported longer times spent asleep than the time reported by each device (M= 448 minutes for sleep logs compared to M= 406 and M= 345 minutes for the DREEM and Z-Machine, respectively; both ps<0.05). Linear correlations between the sleep log and each device were higher for the DREEM than the Z-Machine for both TST and the number of awakenings, and, likewise, the mean absolute bias between the sleep logs and each device was higher for the Z-Machine for both TST (p<0.001) and awakenings (p<0.04). There was some indication that these effects were stronger for the second night compared to the first night. Epoch-by-epoch comparisons showed that the main discrepancies between the devices were for detecting N2 and REM sleep, while N3 had a high agreement. Overall, the DREEM headband seems superior for reliably scoring sleep at home.

Keywords: DREEM, EEG, seep monitoring, Z-machine

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Authors: Young Ik Suh, Tywan G. Martin

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Sports apps in a smartphone provide up-to-date information and fast and convenient access to live games. The market of sports apps has emerged as the second fastest growing app category worldwide. Further, many sports fans use their smartphones to know the schedule of sporting events, players’ position and bios, videos and highlights. In recent years, a growing number of scholars and practitioners alike have emphasized the importance of interactivity with sports apps, hypothesizing that interactivity plays a significant role in enticing sports apps users and that it is a key component in measuring the success of sports apps. Interactivity in sports apps focuses primarily on two functions: (1) two-way communication and (2) active user control, neither of which have been applicable through traditional mass media and communication technologies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine whether the interactivity function on sports apps leads to positive outcomes such as intent to revisit. More specifically, this study investigates how three major functions of interactivity (i.e., two-way communication, active user control, and real-time information) influence the attitude of sports apps users and their intent to revisit the sports apps. The following hypothesis is proposed; interactivity functions will be positively associated with both attitudes toward sports apps and intent to revisit sports apps. The survey questionnaire includes four parts: (1) an interactivity scale, (2) an attitude scale, (3) a behavioral intention scale, and (4) demographic questions. Data are to be collected from ESPN apps users. To examine the relationships among the observed and latent variables and determine the reliability and validity of constructs, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized to test hypothesized relationships among constructs. Additionally, this study compares the proposed interactivity model with a rival model to identify the role of attitude as a mediating factor. The findings of the current sports apps study provide several theoretical and practical contributions and implications by extending the research and literature associated with the important role of interactivity functions in sports apps and sports media consumption behavior. Specifically, this study may improve the theoretical understandings of whether the interactivity functions influence user attitudes and intent to revisit sports apps. Additionally, this study identifies which dimensions of interactivity are most important to sports apps users. From practitioners’ perspectives, this findings of this study provide significant implications. More entrepreneurs and investors in the sport industry need to recognize that high-resolution photos, live streams, and up-to-date stats are in the sports app, right at sports fans fingertips. The result will imply that sport practitioners may need to develop sports mobile apps that offer greater interactivity functions to attract sport fans.

Keywords: interactivity, two-way communication, active user control, real time information, sports apps, attitude, intent to revisit

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Pedro J. Rolim-Neto, Leslie R. M. Ferraz, Fabiana L. A. Santos, Pablo A. Ferreira, Ricardo T. L. Maia-Jr., Magaly A. M. Lyra, Danilo A F. Fonte, Salvana P. M. Costa, Amanda C. Q. M. Vieira, Larissa A. Rolim

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Initially developed as an antimalarial agent, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) sulfate is often used as a slow-acting antirheumatic drug in the treatment of disorders of connective tissue. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 37 provides a reversed-phase HPLC method for quantification of HCQ. However, this method was not reproducible, producing asymmetric peaks in a long analysis time. The asymmetry of the peak may cause an incorrect calculation of the concentration of the sample. Furthermore, the analysis time is unacceptable, especially regarding the routine of a pharmaceutical industry. The aiming of this study was to develop a fast, easy and efficient method for quantification of HCQ sulfate by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) based on the Quality by Design (QbD) methodology. This method was optimized in terms of peak symmetry using the surface area graphic as the Design of Experiments (DoE) and the tailing factor (TF) as an indicator to the Design Space (DS). The reference method used was that described at USP 37 to the quantification of the drug. For the optimized method, was proposed a 33 factorial design, based on the QbD concepts. The DS was created with the TF (in a range between 0.98 and 1.2) in order to demonstrate the ideal analytical conditions. Changes were made in the composition of the USP mobile-phase (USP-MP): USP-MP: Methanol (90:10 v/v, 80:20 v/v and 70:30 v/v), in the flow (0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mL) and in the oven temperature (30, 35, and 40ºC). The USP method allowed the quantification of drug in a long time (40-50 minutes). In addition, the method uses a high flow rate (1,5 mL.min-1) which increases the consumption of expensive solvents HPLC grade. The main problem observed was the TF value (1,8) that would be accepted if the drug was not a racemic mixture, since the co-elution of the isomers can become an unreliable peak integration. Therefore, the optimization was suggested in order to reduce the analysis time, aiming a better peak resolution and TF. For the optimization method, by the analysis of the surface-response plot it was possible to confirm the ideal setting analytical condition: 45 °C, 0,8 mL.min-1 and 80:20 USP-MP: Methanol. The optimized HPLC method enabled the quantification of HCQ sulfate, with a peak of high resolution, showing a TF value of 1,17. This promotes good co-elution of isomers of the HCQ, ensuring an accurate quantification of the raw material as racemic mixture. This method also proved to be 18 times faster, approximately, compared to the reference method, using a lower flow rate, reducing even more the consumption of the solvents and, consequently, the analysis cost. Thus, an analytical method for the quantification of HCQ sulfate was optimized using QbD methodology. This method proved to be faster and more efficient than the USP method, regarding the retention time and, especially, the peak resolution. The higher resolution in the chromatogram peaks supports the implementation of the method for quantification of the drug as racemic mixture, not requiring the separation of isomers.

Keywords: analytical method, hydroxychloroquine sulfate, quality by design, surface area graphic

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Authors: Ririh Rahma Ratinghayu, Jayu Pramudya, Nur Aini Masruroh, Shi-Woei Lin

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This research studies pricing strategy in cooperative setting of hotel duopoly selling perishable product under fixed capacity constraint by using the perspective of managers. In hotel revenue management, competitor’s average room rate and occupancy rate should be taken into manager’s consideration in determining pricing strategy to generate optimum revenue. This information is not provided by business intelligence or available in competitor’s website. Thus, Information Sharing (IS) among players might result in improved performance of pricing strategy. IS is widely adopted in the logistics industry, but IS within hospitality industry has not been well-studied. This research put IS as one of cooperative game schemes, besides Mutual Price Setting (MPS) scheme. In off-peak season, hotel manager arranges pricing strategy to offer promotion package and various kinds of discounts up to 60% of full-price to attract customers. Competitor selling homogenous product will react the same, then triggers a price war. Price war which generates lower revenue may be avoided by creating collaboration in pricing strategy to optimize payoff for both players. In MPS cooperative game, players collaborate to set a room rate applied for both players. Cooperative game may avoid unfavorable players’ payoff caused by price war. Researches on horizontal cooperative game in logistics show better performance and payoff for the players, however, horizontal cooperative game in hotel revenue management has not been demonstrated. This paper aims to develop hotel revenue management models under duopoly cooperative schemes (IS & MPS), which are compared to models under non-cooperative scheme too. Each scheme has five models, Capacity Allocation Model; Demand Model; Revenue Model; Optimal Price Model; and Equilibrium Price Model. Capacity Allocation Model and Demand Model employs self-hotel and competitor’s full and discount price as predictors under non-linear relation. Optimal price is obtained by assuming revenue maximization motive. Equilibrium price is observed by interacting self-hotel’s and competitor’s optimal price under reaction equation. Equilibrium is analyzed using game theory approach. The sequence applies for three schemes. MPS Scheme differently aims to optimize total players’ payoff. The case study in which theoretical models are applied observes two hotels offering homogenous product in Indonesia during a year. The Capacity Allocation, Demand, and Revenue Models are built using multiple regression and statistically tested for validation. Case study data confirms that price behaves within demand model in a non-linear manner. IS Models can represent the actual demand and revenue data better than Non-IS Models. Furthermore, IS enables hotels to earn significantly higher revenue. Thus, duopoly hotel players in general, might have reasonable incentives to share information horizontally. During off-peak season, MPS Models are able to predict the optimal equal price for both hotels. However, Nash equilibrium may not always exist depending on actual payoff of adhering or betraying mutual agreement. To optimize performance, horizontal cooperative game may be chosen over non-cooperative game. Mathematical models can be used to detect collusion among business players. Empirical testing can be used as policy input for market regulator in preventing unethical business practices potentially harming society welfare.

Keywords: horizontal cooperative game theory, hotel revenue management, information sharing, mutual price setting

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: Margareth S. Zanchetta, Kateryna Metersky, Valerie Tan, Charissa Cordon, Stephanie Lucchese, Yana Siganevich, Prasha Sivasundaram, Truong Binh Nguyen, Imran Qureshi

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Due to a new area of practice, Canadian nurses possess knowledge gaps regarding the use of cannabis-based therapies by clients/patients. Education related to medical cannabis (MC) and recreational cannabis (RC) is required to promote nurses’ competency and confidence in supporting clients/patients using MC/RC toward the improvement of health outcomes. A team composed of nursing researchers and undergraduate/graduate students implemented a national survey to explore this theme with the population of undergraduate, graduate (MN and NP), and Post-Diploma (RN Bridging) nursing students enrolled in Canadian Universities Nursing Programs. Upon Research Ethics Board approval, survey recruitment was supported by major nursing stakeholders. The research questions were : (a) Which are the most preferred sources of information on MC/RC for nursing students? (b) Which are the factors and preferred learning modalities that could increase interest in learning about MC/RC, and (c) What are the future career plans among nursing students, and how would they consider the prospective use of cannabis in their practice? The survey was available from Sept. 2022 to Feb. 2023, hosted by a remote platform. An original questionnaire (English-French) was composed of 18 multiple choice questions and 2 open-ended questions. Sociodemographic information and closed-ended responses were compiled as descriptive statistics, while narrative accounts will be analysed through thematic analysis. Respondents (n=153) were from 7 Canadian provinces, national (99%) and international students (1%); the majority of respondents (61%) were in the age range of 21-30 years old. Results indicated that respondents perceive a gap in the undergraduate curriculum on the topics of MC/RC (91%) and that their learning needs include regulations (90%), data on effectiveness (88%), dosing best practices (86%), contraindications (83%), and clinical and medical indications (76%). Respondents reported motivation to learn more about MC/RC through online lectures/videos (65%), e-learning modules or online interactive training (61%), workshops (51%), webinars (36%), and social media (35%). Their primary career-related motivations regarding MC/RC knowledge include enhancing nursing practice (76%), learning about this growing scope of practice (61%), keeping up-to-date responding to scientific curiosity (59%), learning about evidence-based practice (59%), and utilizing alternative forms of medical treatment (37%). Respondents indicated that the integration of topics on cannabis in any course in the undergraduate and/or graduate curriculum would increase their desire to learn about MC/RC as equally as exposure within a clinical setting (75%). The emerging trend in the set of narrative responses (n=130) suggests that respondents believe educational MC/RC content should be integrated into core nursing courses. Respondents also urged educators to be well-informed about evidence-based practice related to MC/RC and to reflect upon stigma and biases surrounding its use. Future knowledge dissemination and translation activities include scholarly products and presentations to stimulate discussion amongst nursing faculty and students, as well as nurses in clinical settings. The goal is to mobilise talents and build collaboration for the development of a socially responsive curriculum on MC/RC competency to address the education-related expectations of all these social actors.

Keywords: Canada, medical cannabis, nursing education, nursing graduate student, nursing undergraduate student, online survey, recreational cannabis

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Authors: Aryati Yashadhana, Ted Fields Jnr., Wendy Fernando, Kelvin Brown, Godfrey Blitner, Francis Hayes, Ruby Stanley, Brian Donnelly, Bridgette Jerrard, Anthea Burnett, Anthony B. Zwi

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Indigenous Australians experience some of the worst health outcomes globally, with life expectancy being significantly poorer than those of non-Indigenous Australians. This is largely attributed to preventable diseases such as diabetes (prevalence 39% in Indigenous Australian adults > 55 years), which is attributed to a raised risk of diabetic visual impairment and cataract among Indigenous adults. Our study aims to explore the interface between structural and sociocultural determinants and human agency, in order to understand how they impact (1) accessibility of eye health and chronic disease services and (2) the potential for Indigenous patients to achieve positive clinical eye health outcomes. We used Participatory Action Research methods, and aimed to privilege the voices of Indigenous people through community collaboration. Semi-structured interviews (n=82) and patient focus groups (n=8) were conducted by Indigenous Community-Based Researchers (CBRs) with diabetic Indigenous adults (> 40 years) in four remote communities in Australia. Interviews (n=25) and focus groups (n=4) with primary health care clinicians in each community were also conducted. Data were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically using grounded theory, comparative analysis and Nvivo 10. Preliminary analysis occurred in tandem with data collection to determine theoretical saturation. The principal investigator (AY) led analysis sessions with CBRs, fostering cultural and contextual appropriateness to interpreting responses, knowledge exchange and capacity building. Identified themes were conceptualised into three spheres of influence: structural (health services, government), sociocultural (Indigenous cultural values, distrust of the health system, ongoing effects of colonialism and dispossession) and individual (health beliefs/perceptions, patient phenomenology). Permeating these spheres of influence were three core determinants: economic disadvantage, health literacy/education, and cultural marginalisation. These core determinants affected accessibility of services, and the potential for patients to achieve positive clinical outcomes at every level of care (primary, secondary, tertiary). Our findings highlight the clinical realities of institutionalised and structural inequities, illustrated through the lived experiences of Indigenous patients and primary care clinicians in the four sampled communities. The complex determinants surrounding inequity in health for Indigenous Australians, are entrenched through a longstanding experience of cultural discrimination and ostracism. Secure and long term funding of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services will be valuable, but are insufficient to address issues of inequity. Rather, working collaboratively with communities to build trust, and identify needs and solutions at the grassroots level, while leveraging community voices to drive change at the systemic/policy level are recommended.

Keywords: indigenous, Australia, culture, public health, eye health, diabetes, social determinants of health, sociology, anthropology, health equity, aboriginal and Torres strait islander, primary care

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Rabbia Idrees, Ananda Maiti, Saurabh Garg, Muhammad Bilal Amin

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IoT devices are the basic building blocks of IoT network that generate enormous volume of real-time and high-speed data to help organizations and companies to take intelligent decisions. To integrate this enormous data from multisource and transfer it to the appropriate client is the fundamental of IoT development. The handling of this huge quantity of devices along with the huge volume of data is very challenging. The IoT devices are battery-powered and resource-constrained and to provide energy efficient communication, these IoT devices go sleep or online/wakeup periodically and a-periodically depending on the traffic loads to reduce energy consumption. Sometime these devices get disconnected due to device battery depletion. If the node is not available in the network, then the IoT network provides incomplete, missing, and inaccurate data. Moreover, many IoT applications, like vehicle tracking and patient tracking require the IoT devices to be mobile. Due to this mobility, If the distance of the device from the sink node become greater than required, the connection is lost. Due to this disconnection other devices join the network for replacing the broken-down and left devices. This make IoT devices dynamic in nature which brings uncertainty and unreliability in the IoT network and hence produce bad quality of data. Due to this dynamic nature of IoT devices we do not know the actual reason of abnormal data. If data are of poor-quality decisions are likely to be unsound. It is highly important to process data and estimate data quality before bringing it to use in IoT applications. In the past many researchers tried to estimate data quality and provided several Machine Learning (ML), stochastic and statistical methods to perform analysis on stored data in the data processing layer, without focusing the challenges and issues arises from the dynamic nature of IoT devices and how it is impacting data quality. A comprehensive review on determining the impact of dynamic nature of IoT devices on data quality is done in this research and presented a data quality model that can deal with this challenge and produce good quality of data. This research presents the data quality model for the sensors monitoring water quality. DBSCAN clustering and weather sensors are used in this research to make data quality model for the sensors monitoring water quality. An extensive study has been done in this research on finding the relationship between the data of weather sensors and sensors monitoring water quality of the lakes and beaches. The detailed theoretical analysis has been presented in this research mentioning correlation between independent data streams of the two sets of sensors. With the help of the analysis and DBSCAN, a data quality model is prepared. This model encompasses five dimensions of data quality: outliers’ detection and removal, completeness, patterns of missing values and checks the accuracy of the data with the help of cluster’s position. At the end, the statistical analysis has been done on the clusters formed as the result of DBSCAN, and consistency is evaluated through Coefficient of Variation (CoV).

Keywords: clustering, data quality, DBSCAN, and Internet of things (IoT)

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Authors: B. S. Muddukrishna, Karthik Aithal, Aravind Pai

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Introduction: Preparation of binary cocrystals of Etraverine (ETR) by using Tartaric Acid (TAR) as a conformer was the main focus of this study. Etravirine is a Class IV drug, as per the BCS classification system. Methods: Cocrystals were prepared by slow evaporation technique. A mixture of total 500mg of ETR: TAR was weighed in molar ratios of 1:1 (371.72mg of ETR and 128.27mg of TAR). Saturated solution of Etravirine was prepared in Acetone: Methanol (50:50) mixture in which tartaric acid is dissolved by sonication and then this solution was stirred using a magnetic stirrer until the solvent got evaporated. Shimadzu FTIR – 8300 system was used to acquire the FTIR spectra of the cocrystals prepared. Shimadzu thermal analyzer was used to achieve DSC measurements. X-ray diffractometer was used to obtain the X-ray powder diffraction pattern. Shake flask method was used to determine the equilibrium dynamic solubility of pure, physical mixture and cocrystals of ETR. USP buffer (pH 6.8) containing 1% of Tween 80 was used as the medium. The pure, physical mixture and the optimized cocrystal of ETR were accurately weighed sufficient to maintain the sink condition and were filled in hard gelatine capsules (size 4). Electrolab-Tablet Dissolution tester using basket apparatus at a rotational speed of 50 rpm and USP phosphate buffer (900 mL, pH = 6.8, 37 ˚C) + 1% Tween80 as a media, was used to carry out dissolution. Shimadzu LC-10 series chromatographic system was used to perform the analysis with PDA detector. An Hypersil BDS C18 (150mm ×4.6 mm ×5 µm) column was used for separation with mobile phase comprising of a mixture of ace¬tonitrile and phosphate buffer 20mM, pH 3.2 in the ratio 60:40 v/v. The flow rate was 1.0mL/min and column temperature was set to 30°C. The detection was carried out at 304 nm for ETR. Results and discussions: The cocrystals were subjected to various solid state characterization and the results confirmed the formation of cocrystals. The C=O stretching vibration (1741cm-1) in tartaric acid was disappeared in the cocrystal and the peak broadening of primary amine indicates hydrogen bond formation. The difference in the melting point of cocrystals when compared to pure Etravirine (265 °C) indicates interaction between the drug and the coformer which proves that first ordered transformation i.e. melting endotherm has disappeared. The difference in 2θ values of pure drug and cocrystals indicates the interaction between the drug and the coformer. Dynamic solubility and dissolution studies were also conducted by shake flask method and USP apparatus one respectively and 3.6 fold increase in the dynamic solubility were observed and in-vitro dissolution study shows four fold increase in the solubility for the ETR: TAR (1:1) cocrystals. The ETR: TAR (1:1) cocrystals shows improved solubility and dissolution as compared to the pure drug which was clearly showed by solid state characterization and dissolution studies.

Keywords: dynamic solubility, Etraverine, in vitro dissolution, slurry method

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Authors: Carolyn Hatch, Laurent Simon

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Urban mobility and the transportation industry are undergoing a transformation, shifting from an auto production-consumption model that has dominated since the early 20th century towards new forms of personal and shared multi-modality [1]. This is shaped by key forces such as climate change, which has induced a shift in production and consumption patterns and efforts to decarbonize and improve transport services through, for instance, the integration of vehicle automation, electrification and mobility sharing [2]. Advanced innovation practices and platforms for experimentation and validation of new mobility products and services that are increasingly complex and multi-stakeholder-oriented are shaping this new world of mobility. Transportation hubs – such as airports - are emblematic of these disruptive forces playing out in the mobility industry. Airports are emerging as the core of innovation ecosystems on and around contemporary mobility issues, and increasingly recognized as complex public/private nodes operating in many societal dimensions [3,4]. These include urban development, sustainability transitions, digital experimentation, customer experience, infrastructure development and data exploitation (for instance, airports generate massive and often untapped data flows, with significant potential for use, commercialization and social benefit). Yet airport innovation practices have not been well documented in the innovation literature. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a model of airport innovation that aims to equip airport stakeholders to respond to these new and complex innovation needs in practice. The methodology involves: 1 – a literature review bringing together key research and theory on airport innovation management, open innovation and innovation ecosystems in order to evaluate airport practices through an innovation lens; 2 – an international benchmarking of leading airports and their innovation practices, including such examples as Aéroports de Paris, Schipol in Amsterdam, Changi in Singapore, and others; and 3 – semi-structured interviews with airport managers on key aspects of organizational practice, facilitated through a close partnership with the Airport Council International (ACI), a major stakeholder in this research project. Preliminary results find that the most successful airports are those that have shifted to a multi-stakeholder, platform ecosystem model of innovation. The recent entrance of new actors in airports (Google, Amazon, Accor, Vinci, Airbnb and others) have forced the opening of organizational boundaries to share and exchange knowledge with a broader set of ecosystem players. This has also led to new forms of governance and intermediation by airport actors to connect complex, highly distributed knowledge, along with new kinds of inter-organizational collaboration, co-creation and collective ideation processes. Leading airports in the case study have demonstrated a unique capacity to force traditionally siloed activities to “think together”, “explore together” and “act together”, to share data, contribute expertise and pioneer new governance approaches and collaborative practices. In so doing, they have successfully integrated these many disruptive change pathways and forced their implementation and coordination towards innovative mobility outcomes, with positive societal, environmental and economic impacts. This research has implications for: 1 - innovation theory, 2 - urban and transport policy, and 3 - organizational practice - within the mobility industry and across the economy.

Keywords: airport management, ecosystem, innovation, mobility, platform, transport hubs

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Kumalbeo Paul Kamani

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Marketing plays a very important role in the success of any firm since it represents the means through which a firm can reach its customers and also promotes its products and services. In fact, marketing aids the firm in identifying customers who the business can competitively serve, and tailoring product offerings, prices, distribution, promotional efforts, and services towards those customers. Unfortunately, in many firms, marketing has been reduced to merely advertisement. For effective marketing, firms must go beyond this often-limited function of advertisement. In the fashion industry in particular, marketing faces challenges due to its peculiar characteristics. Previous research for instance affirms the idiosyncrasy and peculiarities that differentiate the fashion industry from other industrial areas. It has been documented that the fashion industry is characterized seasonal intensity, short product life cycles, the difficulty of competitive differentiation, and long time for companies to reach financial stability. These factors are noted to pose obstacles to the fashion entrepreneur’s endeavours and can be the reasons that explain their low survival rates. In recent times, the fashion industry has been described as a market that is accessible market, has low entry barriers, both in terms of needed capital and skills which have all accounted for the burgeoning nature of startups. Yet as already stated, marketing is particularly challenging in the industry. In particular, areas such as marketing, branding, growth, project planning, financial and relationship management might represent challenges for the fashion entrepreneur but that have not been properly addressed by previous research. It is therefore important to assess marketing strategies of fashion firms and the factors influencing their success. This study generally sought to examine marketing strategies of fashion dealers in Ghana and their critical success factors. The study employed the quantitative survey research approach. A total of 120 fashion dealers were sampled. Questionnaires were used as instrument of data collection. Data collected was analysed using quantitative techniques including descriptive statistics and Relative Importance Index. The study revealed that the marketing strategies used by fashion apparels are text messages using mobile phones, referrals, social media marketing, and direct marketing. Results again show that the factors influencing fashion marketing effectiveness are strategic management, marketing mix (product, price, promotion etc), branding and business development. Policy implications are finally outlined. The study recommends among others that there is a need for the top management executive to craft and adopt marketing strategies that enable that are compatible with the fashion trends and the needs of the customers. This will improve customer satisfaction and hence boost market penetration. The study further recommends that the fashion industry in Ghana should seek to ensure that fashion apparels accommodate the diversity and the cultural setting of different customers to meet their unique needs.

Keywords: marketing, fashion, industry, success factors

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Authors: Rene Hellmuth

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The requirements for the factory planning and the building concerned have changed in the last years. Factory planning has the task of designing products, plants, processes, organization, areas, and the building of a factory. Regular restructuring gains more importance in order to maintain the competitiveness of a factory. Restrictions regarding new areas, shorter life cycles of product and production technology as well as a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world cause more frequently occurring rebuilding measures within a factory. Restructuring of factories is the most common planning case today. Restructuring is more common than new construction, revitalization and dismantling of factories. The increasing importance of restructuring processes shows that the ability to change was and is a promising concept for the reaction of companies to permanently changing conditions. The factory building is the basis for most changes within a factory. If an adaptation of a construction project (factory) is necessary, the inventory documents must be checked and often time-consuming planning of the adaptation must take place to define the relevant components to be adapted, in order to be able to finally evaluate them. The different requirements of the planning participants from the disciplines of factory planning (production planner, logistics planner, automation planner) and industrial construction planning (architect, civil engineer) come together during reconstruction and must be structured. This raises the research question: Which requirements do the disciplines involved in the reconstruction planning place on a digital factory model? A subordinate research question is: How can model-based decision support be provided for a more efficient design of the conversion within a factory? Because of the high adaptation rate of factories and its building described above, a methodology for rescheduling factories based on the requirements engineering method from software development is conceived and designed for practical application in factory restructuring projects. The explorative research procedure according to Kubicek is applied. Explorative research is suitable if the practical usability of the research results has priority. Furthermore, it will be shown how to best use a digital factory model in practice. The focus will be on mobile applications to meet the needs of factory planners on site. An augmented reality (AR) application will be designed and created to provide decision support for planning variants. The aim is to contribute to a shortening of the planning process and model-based decision support for more efficient change management. This requires the application of a methodology that reduces the deficits of the existing approaches. The time and cost expenditure are represented in the AR tablet solution based on a building information model (BIM). Overall, the requirements of those involved in the planning process for a digital factory model in the case of restructuring within a factory are thus first determined in a structured manner. The results are then applied and transferred to a construction site solution based on augmented reality.

Keywords: augmented reality, digital factory model, factory planning, restructuring

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Buket Celik Ünal, Onur Ünal

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Communication is the most challenging part of maintenance operations. Communication between expert and fieldworker is crucial for effective maintenance and this also affects the safety of the fieldworkers. To support a machine user in a remote collaborative physical task, both, a mobile and a stationary device are needed. Such a system is called a shared vision system and the system supports two people to solve a problem from different places. This system reduces the errors and provides a reliable support for qualified and less qualified users. Through this research, it was aimed to validate the effectiveness of using a shared vision system to facilitate communication between on-site workers and those issuing instructions regarding maintenance or inspection works over long distances. The system is designed with head-worn display which is called a shared vision system. As a part of this study, a substitute system is used and implemented by using a shared vision system for maintenance operation. The benefits of the use of a shared vision system are analyzed and results are adapted to the wind turbines to improve the occupational safety and health for maintenance technicians. The motivation for the research effort in this study can be summarized in the following research questions: -How can expert support technician over long distances during maintenance operation? -What are the advantages of using a shared vision system? Experience from the experiment shows that using a shared vision system is an advantage for both electrical and mechanical system failures. Results support that the shared vision system can be used for wind turbine maintenance and repair tasks. Because wind turbine generator/gearbox and the substitute system have similar failures. Electrical failures, such as voltage irregularities, wiring failures and mechanical failures, such as alignment, vibration, over-speed conditions are the common and similar failures for both. Furthermore, it was analyzed the effectiveness of the shared vision system by using a smart glasses in connection with the maintenance task performed by a substitute system under four different circumstances, namely by using a shared vision system, an audio communication, a smartphone and by yourself condition. A suitable method for determining dependencies between factors measured in Chi Square Test, and Chi Square Test for Independence measured for determining a relationship between two qualitative variables and finally Mann Whitney U Test is used to compare any two data sets. While based on this experiment, no relation was found between the results and the gender. Participants` responses confirmed that the shared vision system is efficient and helpful for maintenance operations. From the results of the research, there was a statistically significant difference in the average time taken by subjects on works using a shared vision system under the other conditions. Additionally, this study confirmed that a shared vision system provides reduction in time to diagnose and resolve maintenance issues, reduction in diagnosis errors, reduced travel costs for experts, and increased reliability in service.

Keywords: communication support, maintenance and inspection tasks, occupational health and safety, shared vision system

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Amita Rana

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From the ancient to modern times, the nature of fitness activities has varied. We can choose any form of exercise that is suitable for our particular need. Watchers of fitness trends say that the road to better health is paved with new possibilities along with some old ones that are poised to make a comeback. Educated, certified and experienced fitness professionals; strength training; fitness programmes for older adults; exercise and weight loss; children and obesity; personal training; core training; group personal training; Zumba and other dance workouts; functional fitness; yoga; comprehensive health promotion programmes at worksite; boot-camp; outdoor activities; reaching new markets; spinning; sport-specific training; worker incentive programmes; wellness coaching; and physician referrals are among the fitness trends included in worldwide surveys. However, trends related to fitness in India could be the same or different. Hence, the present paper makes an attempt to analyze the latest fitness trends in India. A total of eighteen (18) surveys were shortlisted on the basis of their relevance to the present topic of study and were arranged in descending order of their chronology. Content analysis was done after the preliminary set of data collection, which formed the basis of a group of data. Further, frequency and percentage were used to statistically represent the data. It can be concluded from the analysis of data regarding recent fitness trends in India that yoga dominates the fitness activity list, followed by numerous other activities including running, Zumba and sh’bam, boot camp, boxing, kickboxing, cycling, swimming, TRX, ass-pocalypse, ballet, biking, bokwa fitness, dance-iso-bic, masala bhangra, outdoor activities, pilates, planks, push-ups, sofa workouts, stairs Workouts, tabata training, and twerking. The body weight/ gym-specified/ strength training as well as high intensity interval training dominate the preferred workouts; followed by mixed work-outs, cross training work-outs, express work-outs, functional fitness, natural body movements, personalized training, and stay-at-home workouts. General areas that featured in the latest fitness trends in India demonstrates that the fitness is making an impact on all sections of the society be it children, women, older adults, senior citizens, worksite fitness. Fitness is becoming the lifestyle of the masses. People are doing exercise for weight-loss, combining diet with exercising; prefer sweating, making groups participate in fitness activities and wellness programmes. Technology is another area which has a high impact on the lives of people. They are using wearable technology for workout tracking and following numerous mobile friendly apps.

Keywords: fitness, India, survey, trend

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Àidan Higgins

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Higher education will be crucial in the coming decades in helping to make Ireland a nation is known for innovation, competitive enterprise, and ongoing academic success, as well as a desirable location to live and work with a high quality of life, vibrant culture, and inclusive social structures. Higher education institutions will actively connect with each student community, society, and business; they will help students develop a sense of place and identity in Ireland and provide the tools they need to contribute significantly to the global community. It will also serve as a catalyst for novel ideas through research, many of which will become the foundation for long-lasting inventive businesses in the future as part of the 2030 National Strategy on Education focuses on change and developing our education system with a focus on how we carry out Research. The emphasis is central to knowledge transfer and a consistent research framework with exploiting opportunities and having the necessary expertise. The newly formed Technological Universities (TU) in Ireland are based on a government initiative to create a new type of higher education institution that focuses on applied and industry-focused research and education. The basis of the TU is to bring together two or more existing institutes of technology to create a larger and more comprehensive institution that offers a wider range of programs and services to students and industry partners. The TU model aims to promote collaboration between academia, industry, and community organizations to foster innovation, research, and economic development. The TU model also aims to enhance the student experience by providing a more seamless pathway from undergraduate to postgraduate studies, as well as greater opportunities for work placements and engagement with industry partners. Additionally, the TUs are designed to provide a greater emphasis on applied research, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship, with the goal of fostering innovation and contributing to economic growth. A project is a collection of organised tasks carried out precisely to produce a singular output (product or service) within a given time frame. Project management is a set of activities that facilitates the successful implementation of a project. The significant differences between research and development projects are the (lack of) precise requirements and (the inability to) plan an outcome from the beginning of the project. The evaluation criteria for a research project must consider these and other "particularities" in works; for instance, proving something cannot be done may be a successful outcome. This study intends to explore how a newly established multi-campus technological university manages research projects effectively. The study will identify the potential and difficulties of managing research projects, the tools, resources and processes available in a multi-campus Technological University context and the methods and approaches employed to deal with these difficulties. Key stakeholders like project managers, academics, and administrators will be surveyed as part of the study, which will also involve an explorative investigation of current literature and data. The findings of this study will contribute significantly to creating best practices for project management in this setting and offer insightful information about the efficient management of research projects within a multi-campus technological university.

Keywords: project management, research and research-related projects, multi-campus technology university, processes

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Authors: Atefeh Salehipoor

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Textiles play a vital role in human life, particularly in the form of clothing. However, the alarming rate at which textiles end up in landfills presents a significant environmental risk. With approximately one garbage truck per second being filled with discarded textiles, urgent measures are required to mitigate this trend. Governments and responsible organizations are calling upon various stakeholders to shift from a linear economy to a circular economy model in the textile industry. This article highlights several key approaches that can be undertaken to address this pressing issue. These approaches include the creation of renewable raw material sources, rethinking production processes, maximizing the use and reuse of textile products, implementing reproduction and recycling strategies, exploring redistribution to new markets, and finding innovative means to extend the lifespan of textiles. However, the rapid accumulation of textiles in landfills poses a significant threat to the environment. This article explores the urgent need for the textile industry to transition from a linear economy model to a circular economy model. The linear model, characterized by the creation, use, and disposal of textiles, is unsustainable in the long term. By adopting a circular economy approach, the industry can minimize waste, reduce environmental impact, and promote sustainable practices. This article outlines key approaches that can be undertaken to drive this transition. Approaches to Address Environmental Challenges: 1. Creation of Renewable Raw Materials Sources: Exploring and promoting the use of renewable and sustainable raw materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, and recycled fibers, can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of textile production. 2. Rethinking Production Processes: Implementing cleaner production techniques, optimizing resource utilization, and minimizing waste generation are crucial steps in reducing the environmental impact of textile manufacturing. 3. Maximizing Use and Reuse of Textile Products: Encouraging consumers to prolong the lifespan of textile products through proper care, maintenance, and repair services can reduce the frequency of disposal and promote a culture of sustainability. 4. Reproduction and Recycling Strategies: Investing in innovative technologies and infrastructure to enable efficient reproduction and recycling of textiles can close the loop and minimize waste generation. 5. Redistribution of Textiles to New Markets: Exploring opportunities to redistribute textiles to new and parallel markets, such as resale platforms, can extend their lifecycle and prevent premature disposal. 6. Improvising Means to Extend Textile Lifespan: Encouraging design practices that prioritize durability, versatility, and timeless aesthetics can contribute to prolonging the lifespan of textiles. Conclusion The textile industry must urgently transition from a linear economy to a circular economy model to mitigate the adverse environmental impact caused by textile waste. By implementing the outlined approaches, such as sourcing renewable raw materials, rethinking production processes, promoting reuse and recycling, exploring new markets, and extending the lifespan of textiles, stakeholders can work together to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly textile industry. These measures require collective action and collaboration between governments, organizations, manufacturers, and consumers to drive positive change and safeguard the planet for future generations.

Keywords: textiles, circular economy, environmental challenges, renewable raw materials, production processes, reuse, recycling, redistribution, textile lifespan extension

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Authors: Lauren B. Birney

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The project utilizes the Billion Oyster Project (BOP-CCERS) place-based “restoration through education” model to promote computational thinking in NYC high school teachers and their students. Key learning standards such as Next Generation Science Standards and the NYC CS4All Equity and Excellence initiative are used to develop a computer science curriculum that connects students to their Harbor through hands-on activities based on BOP field science and educational programming. Project curriculum development is grounded in BOP-CCERS restoration science activities and data collection, which are enacted by students and educators at two Restoration Science STEM Hubs or conveyed through virtual materials. New York City Public School teachers with relevant experience are recruited as consultants to provide curriculum assessment and design feedback. The completed curriculum units are then conveyed to NYC high school teachers through professional learning events held at the Pace University campus and led by BOP educators. In addition, Pace University educators execute the Summer STEM Institute, an intensive two-week computational thinking camp centered on applying data analysis tools and methods to BOP-CCERS data. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed throughout the five-year study. STEM+C – Community Based Restoration STEM Hubs. STEM Hubs are active scientific restoration sites capable of hosting school and community groups of all grade levels and professional scientists and researchers conducting long-term restoration ecology research. The STEM Hubs program has grown to include 14 STEM Hubs across all five boroughs of New York City and focuses on bringing in-field monitoring experience as well as coastal classroom experience to students. Restoration Science STEM Hubs activities resulted in: the recruitment of 11 public schools, 6 community groups, 12 teachers, and over 120 students receiving exposure to BOP activities. Field science protocols were designed exclusively around the use of the Oyster Restoration Station (ORS), a small-scale in situ experimental platforms which are suspended from a dock or pier. The ORS is intended to be used and “owned” by an individual school, teacher, class, or group of students, whereas the STEM Hub is explicitly designed as a collaborative space for large-scale community-driven restoration work and in-situ experiments. The ORS is also an essential tool in gathering Harbor data from disparate locations and instilling ownership of the research process amongst students. As such, it will continue to be used in that way. New and previously participating students will continue to deploy and monitor their own ORS, uploading data to the digital platform and conducting analysis of their own harbor-wide datasets. Programming the STEM Hub will necessitate establishing working relationships between schools and local research institutions. NYHF will provide introductions and the facilitation of initial workshops in school classrooms. However, once a particular STEM Hub has been established as a space for collaboration, each partner group, school, university, or CBO will schedule its own events at the site using the digital platform’s scheduling and registration tool. Monitoring of research collaborations will be accomplished through the platform’s research publication tool and has thus far provided valuable information on the projects’ trajectory, strategic plan, and pathway.

Keywords: environmental science, citizen science, STEM, technology

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Authors: Dorottya Guban, Irina Borbath, Istvan Bakos, Peter Nemeth, Andras Tompos

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One of the greatest challenges of the implementation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is to find active and durable electrocatalysts. The cell performance is always limited by the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the cathode since it is at least 6 orders of magnitude slower than the hydrogen oxidation on the anode. Therefore high loading of Pt is required. Catalyst corrosion is also more significant on the cathode, especially in case of mobile applications, where rapid changes of loading have to be tolerated. Pt-Sn bulk alloys and SnO2-decorated Pt3Sn nanostructures are among the most studied bimetallic systems for fuel cell applications. Exclusive formation of supported Sn-Pt alloy phases with different Pt/Sn ratios can be achieved by using controlled surface reactions (CSRs) between hydrogen adsorbed on Pt sites and tetraethyl tin. In this contribution our results for commercial and a home-made 20 wt.% Pt/C catalysts modified by tin anchoring via CSRs are presented. The parent Pt/C catalysts were synthesized by modified NaBH4-assisted ethylene-glycol reduction method using ethanol as a solvent, which resulted either in dispersed and highly stable Pt nanoparticles or evenly distributed raspberry-like agglomerates according to the chosen synthesis parameters. The 20 wt.% Pt/C catalysts prepared that way showed improved electrocatalytic performance in the ORR and stability in comparison to the commercial 20 wt.% Pt/C catalysts. Then, in order to obtain Sn-Pt/C catalysts with Pt/Sn= 3 ratio, the Pt/C catalysts were modified with tetraethyl tin (SnEt4) using three and five consecutive tin anchoring periods. According to in situ XPS studies in case of catalysts with highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles, pre-treatment in hydrogen even at 170°C resulted in complete reduction of the ionic tin to Sn0. No evidence of the presence of SnO2 phase was found by means of the XRD and EDS analysis. These results demonstrate that the method of CSRs is a powerful tool to create Pt-Sn bimetallic nanoparticles exclusively, without tin deposition onto the carbon support. On the contrary, the XPS results revealed that the tin-modified catalysts with raspberry-like Pt agglomerates always contained a fraction of non-reducible tin oxide. At the same time, they showed increased activity and long-term stability in the ORR than Pt/C, which was assigned to the presence of SnO2 in close proximity/contact with Pt-Sn alloy phase. It has been demonstrated that the content and dispersion of the fcc Pt3Sn phase within the electrocatalysts can be controlled by tuning the reaction conditions of CSRs. The bimetallic catalysts displayed an outstanding performance in the ORR. The preparation of a highly dispersed 20Pt/C catalyst permits to decrease the Pt content without relevant decline in the electrocatalytic performance of the catalysts.

Keywords: anode catalyst, cathode catalyst, controlled surface reactions, oxygen reduction reaction, PtSn/C electrocatalyst

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Authors: Haytam Kasem

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The problem of quick and easy reversible attachment has become of great importance in different fields of technology. For the reason, during the last decade, a new emerging field of adhesion science has been developed. Essentially inspired by some animals and insects, which during their natural evolution have developed fantastic biological attachment systems allowing them to adhere and run on walls and ceilings of uneven surfaces. Potential applications of engineering bio-inspired solutions include climbing robots, handling systems for wafers in nanofabrication facilities, and mobile sensor platforms, to name a few. However, despite the efforts provided to apply bio-inspired patterned adhesive-surfaces to the biomedical field, they are still in the early stages compared with their conventional uses in other industries mentioned above. In fact, there are some critical issues that still need to be addressed for the wide usage of the bio-inspired patterned surfaces as advanced biomedical platforms. For example, surface durability and long-term stability of surfaces with high adhesive capacity should be improved, but also the friction and adhesion capacities of these bio-inspired microstructures when contacting rough surfaces. One of the well-known prototypes for bio-inspired attachment systems is biomimetic wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure for gecko-like attachments. Although physical background of these attachment systems is widely understood, the influence of counter-face roughness and its relationship with the friction force generated when sliding against wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure have yet to be fully analyzed and understood. To elucidate the effect of the counter-face roughness on the friction of biomimetic wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure we have replicated the isotropic topography of 12 different surfaces using replicas made of the same epoxy material. The different counter-faces were fully characterized under 3D optical profilometer to measure roughness parameters. The friction forces generated by spatula-shaped microstructure in contact with the tested counter-faces were measured on a home-made tribometer and compared with the friction forces generated by the spatulae in contact with a smooth reference. It was found that classical roughness parameters, such as average roughness Ra and others, could not be utilized to explain topography-related variation in friction force. This has led us to the development of an integrated roughness parameter obtained by combining different parameters which are the mean asperity radius of curvature (R), the asperity density (η), the deviation of asperities high (σ) and the mean asperities angle (SDQ). This new integrated parameter is capable of explaining the variation of results of friction measurements. Based on the experimental results, we developed and validated an analytical model to predict the variation of the friction force as a function of roughness parameters of the counter-face and the applied normal load, as well.

Keywords: friction, bio-mimetic micro-structure, counter-face roughness, analytical model

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Authors: Suzanne Zazycki, Bamidele Osamika, Heather Craska, Kaelyn Conaway, Reena Murphy, Stephanie Spence

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Invasive Plant Species (IPS) are an important component of effective preservation and conservation of natural lands management. IPS are non-native plants which can aggressively encroach upon native species and pose a significant threat to the ecology, public health, and social welfare of a community. The presence of IPS in U.S. nature preserves has caused economic costs, which has estimated to exceed $26 billion a year. While different methods have been identified to control IPS, few methods have been recognized for early detection of IPS. This study examined identified methods for early detection of IPS in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. Mixed methods research design was adopted in this four-phased study. The first phase entailed data gathering, the phase described the characteristics and qualities of IPS and the importance of early detection (ED). The second phase explored ED methods, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Citizen Science were discovered as ED methods for IPS. The third phase of the study involved the creation of hotspot maps to identify likely areas for IPS growth. While the fourth phase involved testing and evaluating mobile applications that can support the efforts of citizen scientists in IPS detection. Literature reviews were conducted on IPS and ED methods, and four regional experts from ODNR and Miami University were interviewed. A questionnaire was used to gather information about ED methods used across the state. The findings revealed that geospatial methods, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Multispectral Satellites (MSS), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), are not feasible for early detection of IPS, as they require GIS expertise, are still an emerging technology, and are not suitable for every habitat for the ED of IPS. Therefore, Other ED methods options were explored, which include predicting areas where IPS will grow, which can be done through monitoring areas that are like the species’ native habitat. Through literature review and interviews, IPS are known to grow in frequently disturbed areas such as along trails, shorelines, and streambanks. The research team called these areas “hotspots” and created maps of these hotspots specifically for HW NP to support and narrow the efforts of citizen scientists and staff in the ED of IPS. The results further showed that utilizing citizen scientists in the ED of IPS is feasible, especially through single day events or passive monitoring challenges. The study concluded that the creation of hotspot maps to direct the efforts of citizen scientists are effective for the early detection of IPS. Several recommendations were made, among which is the creation of hotspot maps to narrow the ED efforts as citizen scientists continues to work in the preserves and utilize citizen science volunteers to identify and record emerging IPS.

Keywords: early detection, hueston woods state nature preserve, invasive plant species, hotspots

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