Search results for: reasons of working

Authors: S. Odabasi Cimer, A. Cimer

Abstract:

Recently, the poor quality of education, low achieving students, low international exam performances and little or no effect of the education reforms on the teaching in the classrooms are the main problems of education discussed in Turkey. Research showed that the quality of an education system can not exceed the quality of its teachers and teaching. Therefore, in-service training (INSET) courses are important to improve teacher quality, thereby, the quality of education. However, according to the research conducted on the evaluation of the INSET courses in Turkey, they are not effective in improving the quality of teaching in the classroom. The main reason for this result is because INSET courses are conducted and delivered in limited time and presented theoretically, which does not meet the needs of teachers and as a result, the knowledge and skills taught are not used in the classrooms. Recently, developed countries have been using Critical Friends Groups (CFGs) successfully for the purpose of school-based training of teachers. CFGs are the learning groups which contain 6-10 teachers aimed at fostering their capacities to undertake instructional and personal improvement and schoolwide reform. CFGs have been recognized as a critical feature in school reform, improving teaching practice and improving student achievement. In addition, in the USA, teachers have named CFGs one of the most powerful professional development activities in which they have ever participated. Whereas, in Turkey, the concept is new. This study aimed to investigate the implications of application, evaluation, and promotion of CFGs which has the potential to contribute to teacher development and student learning in schools in Turkey. For this purpose, the study employed a qualitative approach and case study methodology to implement the model in high schools. The research was conducted in two schools and 13 teachers working in these schools participated. The study lasted two years and the data were collected through various data collection tools including interviews, meeting transcripts, questionnaires, portfolios, and diaries. The results of the study showed that CFGs contributed professional development of teachers and their students’ learning. It also contributed to a culture of collaborative work in schools. A number of barriers and challenges which prevent effective implementation were also determined.

Keywords: critical friends group, education reform, science learning, teacher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Vish Putcha, Chandrasekhar Putcha, Siva Hari

Abstract:

In the current digital era of free trading and pandemic-driven remote work culture, markets worldwide gained momentum for retail investors to trade from anywhere easily. The number of retail traders rose to 24% of the market from 15% at the pre-pandemic level. Most of them are young retail traders with high-risk tolerance compared to the previous generation of retail traders. This trend boosted the growth of subscription-based market predictors and market data vendors. Young traders are betting on these predictors, assuming one of them is correct. However, 90% of retail traders are on the losing end. This paper presents multiple indicators and attempts to derive behavioral patterns from the underlying stocks. The two major indicators that traders and investors follow are technical and fundamental. The famous investor, Warren Buffett, adheres to the “Value Investing” method that is based on a stock’s fundamental Analysis. In this paper, we present multiple indicators from various methods to understand the behavior patterns of stocks. For this research, we picked five stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200M, listed on the exchange for more than 20 years, and from different industry sectors. To study the behavioral pattern over time for these five stocks, a total of 8 indicators are chosen from fundamental, technical, and financial indicators, such as Price to Earning (P/E), Price to Book Value (P/B), Debt to Equity (D/E), Beta, Volatility, Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Averages and Dividend yields, followed by detailed mathematical Analysis. This is an interdisciplinary paper between various disciplines of Engineering, Accounting, and Finance. The research takes a new approach to identify clear indicators affecting stocks. Statistical Analysis of the data will be performed in terms of the probabilistic distribution, then follow and then determine the probability of the stock price going over a specific target value. The Chi-square test will be used to determine the validity of the assumed distribution. Preliminary results indicate that this approach is working well. When the complete results are presented in the final paper, they will be beneficial to the community.

Keywords: stock pattern, stock market analysis, stock predictions, trading, investing, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, quantitative trading, financial analysis, behavioral analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Matthew Yeager, Christopher Willy, John Bischoff

Abstract:

The conceptualization and design phases of a system lifecycle consume a significant amount of the lifecycle budget in the form of direct tasking and capital, as well as the implicit costs associated with unforeseeable design errors that are only realized during downstream phases. Ad hoc or iterative approaches to generating system requirements oftentimes fail to consider the full array of feasible systems or product designs for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: initial conceptualization that oftentimes incorporates a priori or legacy features; the inability to capture, communicate and accommodate stakeholder preferences; inadequate technical designs and/or feasibility studies; and locally-, but not globally-, optimized subsystems and components. These design pitfalls can beget unanticipated developmental or system alterations with added costs, risks and support activities, heightening the risk for suboptimal system performance, premature obsolescence or forgone development. Supported by rapid advances in learning algorithms and hardware technology, sensors and sensor systems have become commonplace in both commercial and industrial products. The evolving array of hardware components (i.e. sensors, CPUs, modular / auxiliary access, etc…) as well as recognition, data fusion and communication protocols have all become increasingly complex and critical for design engineers during both concpetualization and implementation. This work seeks to develop and utilize a non-deterministic approach for sensor system design within the multi-attribute tradespace exploration (MATE) paradigm, a technique that incorporates decision theory into model-based techniques in order to explore complex design environments and discover better system designs. Developed to address the inherent design constraints in complex aerospace systems, MATE techniques enable project engineers to examine all viable system designs, assess attribute utility and system performance, and better align with stakeholder requirements. Whereas such previous work has been focused on aerospace systems and conducted in a deterministic fashion, this study addresses a wider array of system design elements by incorporating both traditional tradespace elements (e.g. hardware components) as well as popular multi-sensor data fusion models and techniques. Furthermore, statistical performance features to this model-based MATE approach will enable non-deterministic techniques for various commercial systems that range in application, complexity and system behavior, demonstrating a significant utility within the realm of formal systems decision-making.

Keywords: multi-attribute tradespace exploration, data fusion, sensors, systems engineering, system design

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Stefano Pelaggi

Abstract:

The research is focused on youth labor and mobility in Berlin. Mobility has become a common denominator in our daily lives but it does not primarily move according to monetary incentives. Labor, knowledge and leisure overlap on this point as cities are trying to attract people who could participate in production of the innovations while the new migrants are experiencing the lifestyle of the host cities. The research will present the project of empirical study focused on Italian workers in the digital industry in Berlin, trying to underline the connection between pleasure, leisure with the choice of life abroad. Berlin has become the epicenter of the European Internet start-up scene, but people suitable to work for digital industries are not moving in Berlin to make a career, most of them are attracted to the city for different reasons. This point makes a clear exception to traditional migration flows, which are always originated from a specific search of employment opportunities or strong ties, usually families, in a place that could guarantee success in finding a job. Even the skilled migration has always been originated from a specific need, finding the right path for a successful professional life. In a society where the lack of free time in our calendar seems to be something to be ashamed, the actors of youth mobility incorporate some categories of experiential tourism within their own life path. Professional aspirations, lifestyle choices of the protagonists of youth mobility are geared towards meeting the desires and aspirations that define leisure. While most of creative work places, in particular digital industries, uses the category of fun as a primary element of corporate policy, virtually extending the time to work for the whole day; more and more people around the world are deciding their path in life, career choices on the basis of indicators linked to the realization of the self, which may include factors like a warm climate, cultural environment. All indicators that are usually eradicated from the hegemonic approach to labor. The interpretative framework commonly used seems to be mostly focused on a dualism between Florida's theories and those who highlight the absence of conflict in his studies. While the flexibility of the new creative industries is minimizing leisure, incorporating elements of leisure itself in work activities, more people choose their own path of life by placing great importance to basic needs, through a gaze on pleasure that is only partially driven by consumption. The multi localism is the co-existence of different identities and cultures that do not conflict because they reject the bind on territory. Local loses its strength of opposition to global, with an attenuation of the whole concept of citizenship, territory and even integration. A similar perspective could be useful to search a new approach to all the studies dedicated to the gentrification process, while studying the new migrations flow.

Keywords: brain drain, digital industry, leisure and gentrification, multi localism

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: Raluca Cosmina Budian

Abstract:

The homeless population in Spain, particularly among immigrants, has been a persistent and multifaceted issue. The government has implemented various housing public policies over the years to address homelessness, ranging from shelter programs to initiatives promoting permanent housing solutions. However, understanding the effectiveness of these policies requires insight from the very individuals and professionals directly impacted by or involved in their execution. This research sheds light on national strategies (The 2015-2020 Comprehensive National Strategy for the Homeless and National Strategy to Combat Homelessness in Spain 2023-2030) aimed at tackling homelessness in Spain, with a focus on the evolving landscape of housing public policies and their relationship with the homeless population. We investigate how these strategies have transformed over time and their impact on the inclusion of this vulnerable group. Furthermore, we explore the perspectives of homeless immigrants, distinguishing between those with an extended residency in Spain and those who have more recently arrived (less than 2 years); and distinguishing between women and men. Additionally, we incorporate insights from 13 interviews with professionals dedicated to serving the homeless population. These insights offer a deeper understanding of the intricacies of current homelessness service provision. Our findings reveal the complex dynamics of providing services to homeless individuals, and the importance of aligning these efforts with the broader national strategies for tackling homelessness. Drawing on a comprehensive dataset, we offer a nuanced view of the challenges and successes in implementing inclusive housing policies in the Spanish context. Our research highlights the importance of collaboration between policy makers, service providers and advocates to create a cohesive and effective approach. By fostering such collaboration, we aim to create a more inclusive and comprehensive strategy to address homelessness in Spain and possible affordable housing proposals for this vulnerable group. It´s only underscores the importance of tailored approaches but also contributes to the broader discourse on housing public policies' ability to address homelessness and foster integration. We suggest that a more comprehensive approach, considering the unique needs of immigrants and working in collaboration with professionals in the field, is essential for the development of effective strategies to combat homelessness and ensure the right to adequate housing for all.

Keywords: housing, homeless, public policy, Spain

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: E. Ielegems, J. Herssens, J. Vanrie

Abstract:

Designers require knowledge and data about a diversity of users throughout the design process to create inclusive design solutions which are usable, understandable and desirable by everyone. Besides understanding users’ needs and expectations, the ways in which users perceive and experience the built environment contain valuable knowledge for architects. Since users’ perceptions and experiences are mainly tacit by nature, they are much more difficult to express in words and therefore more difficult to externalise. Nevertheless, literature confirms the importance of articulating embodied knowledge from users throughout the design process. Hence, more insight is needed into the ways architects can build knowledge on Universal Design through direct user contact. In a project called ‘light up for all’ architecture students are asked to design a light switch and socket, elegant, usable and understandable to the greatest extent possible by everyone. Two workshops with user/experts are organised in the first stages of the design process in which students could gain insight into users’ experiences through direct contact. Three data collection techniques are used to analyse the teams’ design processes. First, students were asked to keep a design diary, reporting design activities, personal experiences, and thoughts about users throughout the design process. Second, one of the authors observed workshops taking field notes. Finally, focus groups are conducted with the design teams after the design process was finished. By means of analysing collected qualitative data, we first identify different design aspects that make the teams’ proposals more inclusive than standard design solutions. For this paper, we specifically focus on aspects that externalise embodied user knowledge from users’ experiences. Subsequently, we look at designers’ approaches to learn about these specific aspects throughout the design process. Results show that in some situations, designers perceive contradicting knowledge between observations and verbal conversations, which shows the value of direct user contact. Additionally, findings give indications on values and limitations of working with selected prototypes as ‘boundary objects’ when externalising users’ experiences. These insights may help researchers to better understand designers’ process of eliciting embodied user knowledge. This way, research can offer more effective support to architects, which may result in better incorporating users’ experiences so that the built environment gradually can become more inclusive for all.

Keywords: universal design, architecture, design process, embodied user knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Adriana Sosa, Susana Rincon, Chérif Ben, Diana Cabañas, Juan E. Ruiz, Alejandro Zepeda

Abstract:

The complex chemical composition (mixtures of ammonium and recalcitrant compounds) of the effluents from the chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries represents a challenge in their biological treatment. This treatment involves nitrification process that can suffer an inhibition due to the presence of aromatic compounds giving as a result the decrease of the process efficiency. The inhibitory effects on nitrification in the presence of aromatic compounds have already been studied; however a few studies have considered the presence of phenolic compounds in the form of mixtures, which is the form that they are present in real context. For this reason, we realized a kinetic study on the nitrifying process in the presence of different concentrations of a mixture of phenol, o-cresol, m-cresol and p-cresol (0 - 320 mg C/L) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Firstly, the nitrifying process was evaluated in absence of the phenolic mixture (control 1) in a SBR with 2 L working volume and 176 mg/L of nitrogen of microbial protein. Total oxidation of initial ammonium (efficiency; ENH4+ of 100 %) to nitrate (nitrifying yield; YNO3- of 0.95) were obtained with specific rates of ammonium consumption (qN-NH4+) and nitrate production (qN-NO3-) (of 1.11 ± 0.04 h-1 and 0.67 h-1 ± 0.11 respectively. During the phase of acclimation with 40 mg C/L of the phenolic mixture, an inhibitory effect on the nitrifying process was observed, provoking a decrease in ENH4+ and YNO3- (11 and 54 % respectively) as well as in the specific rates (89 y 46 % respectively), being the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (BAO) the most affected. However, in the next cycles without the phenolic mixture (control 2), the nitrifying consortium was able to recover its nitrifying capacity (ENH4+ = 100% and YNO3-=0.98). Afterwards the SBR was fed with 10 mg C/L of the phenolic mixture, obtaining and ENH4+ of 100%, YNO3- and qN-NH4+ 0.62 ± 0.006 and 0.13 ± 0.004 respectively, while the qN-NO3- was 0.49 ± 0.007. Moreover, with the increase of the phenolic concentrations (10-160 mg C/L) and the number of cycles the nitrifying consortium was able to oxidize the ammonia with ENH4+ of 100 % and YNO3- close to 1. However a decrease in the values of the nitrification specific rates and increase in the oxidation in phenolic compounds (70 to 94%) were observed. Finally, in the presence of 320 mg C/L, the nitrifying consortium was able to simultaneously oxidize the ammonia (ENH4+= 100%) and the phenolic mixture (p-cresol>phenol>m-cresol>o-cresol) being the o-cresol the most recalcitrant compound. In all the experiments the use of a SBR allowed a respiratory adaptation of the consortium to oxidize the phenolic mixture achieving greater adaptation of the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) than in the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB).

Keywords: cresol, inhibition, nitrification, phenol, sequencing batch reactor

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Ahlad Neti, Elisa Arch, Martha Hall

Abstract:

Studies have shown that individuals who use Ankle-Foot-Orthoses (AFOs) have a high level of dissatisfaction regarding their current AFOs. Studies point to the focus on technical design with little attention given to the user perspective as a source of AFO designs that leave users dissatisfied. To design a new AFO that satisfies users and thereby improves their quality of life, the reasons for their dissatisfaction and their wants and needs for an improved AFO design must be identified. There has been little research into the user perspective on AFO use and desired improvements, so the relationship between AFO design and satisfaction in daily use must be assessed to develop appropriate metrics and constraints prior to designing a novel AFO. To assess the user perspective on AFO design, structured interviews were conducted with 7 individuals (average age of 64.29±8.81 years) who use AFOs. All interviews were transcribed and coded to identify common themes using Grounded Theory Method in NVivo 12. Qualitative analysis of these results identified sources of user dissatisfaction such as heaviness, bulk, and uncomfortable material and overall needs and wants for an AFO. Beyond the user perspective, certain objective factors must be considered in the construction of metrics and constraints to ensure that the AFO fulfills its medical purpose. These more objective metrics are rooted in a common medical device market and technical standards. Given the large body of research concerning these standards, these objective metrics and constraints were derived through a literature review. Through these two methods, a comprehensive list of metrics and constraints accounting for both the user perspective on AFO design and the AFO’s medical purpose was compiled. These metrics and constraints will establish the framework for designing a new AFO that carries out its medical purpose while also improving the user experience. The metrics can be categorized into several overarching areas for AFO improvement. Categories of user perspective related metrics include comfort, discreteness, aesthetics, ease of use, and compatibility with clothing. Categories of medical purpose related metrics include biomechanical functionality, durability, and affordability. These metrics were used to guide an iterative prototyping process. Six concepts were ideated and compared using system-level analysis. From these six concepts, two concepts – the piano wire model and the segmented model – were selected to move forward into prototyping. Evaluation of non-functional prototypes of the piano wire and segmented models determined that the piano wire model better fulfilled the metrics by offering increased stability, longer durability, fewer points for failure, and a strong enough core component to allow a sock to cover over the AFO while maintaining the overall structure. As such, the piano wire AFO has moved forward into the functional prototyping phase, and healthy subject testing is being designed and recruited to conduct design validation and verification.

Keywords: ankle-foot orthotic, assistive technology, human centered design, medical devices

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: M. Silveirinha, P. Lobo

Abstract:

In the last few decades, many studies have documented a systematic under-representation of women in the news. Aside from being fewer than men, research has also shown that they are frequently portrayed according to traditional stereotypes that have been proven to be disadvantageous for women. When considering this problem, it has often been argued that news content will be more gender balanced when the number of female journalists increases. However, the recent so-called ‘feminization’ of media professions has shown that this assumption is too simplistic. If we want to better grasp gender biases in news content we will need to take a deeper approach into the processes of news production and into journalism culture itself, taking the study of newsmaking as a starting point and theoretical framework, with the purpose of examining the actual newsroom routines, professional values, structures and news access that eventually lead to an unbalanced media representation of women. If journalists consider themselves to be observers of everyday social and political life, of specific importance, as a vast body of research shows, is the observation of women journalist’s believes and of their roles and practices in a gendered newsroom. In order to better understand the professional and organizational context of news production, and the gender power relations in decision-making processes, we conducted a participant observation in two television newsrooms. Our approach involved a combination of methods, including overt observation itself, formal and informal interviews and the writing-up and analysis of our own diaries. Drawing insights in organizational sociology, we took newsroom practices to be a result of professional routines and socialization and focused on how women and men respond to newsroom dynamics and structures. We also analyzed the gendered organization of the newsmaking process and the subtle and/or obvious glass-ceiling obstacles often reported on. In our paper we address two levels of research: first, we look at our results and establish an overview of the patterns of continuity between the gendering of organizations, working conditions and professional journalist beliefs. At this level, the study not only interrogates how journalists handle views on gender and the practice of the profession but also highlights the structural inequalities in journalism and the pervasiveness of family–work tensions for female journalists. Secondly, we reflect on our observation method, and establish a critical assessment of the method itself.

Keywords: gender, journalism, participant observation, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: V. Sai Geethika, Sai Snehitha Yadavalli, Swati Ghosh Acharyya

Abstract:

This study involves a single element and simultaneous electrochemical detection of heavy metal ions through square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. A glassy carbon electrode was used to detect and quantify heavy metals such as As(III), Hg(II), Cr(VI) ions in water. Under optimized conditions, peak separation was obtained by varying concentrations, scan rates, and temperatures. As (III), Hg (II), Cr (III) were simultaneously detected with GCE. Several analytical methods, such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), were used previously to detect heavy metal ions, which are authentic but are not good enough for online monitoring due to the bulkiness of the equipment. The study provides a good alternative that is simple, more efficient, and low-cost, involving a portable potentiostat. Heavy metals having different oxidation states can be detected by anodic stripping voltammetry. This method can be easily integrated with electronics. Square wave Anodic stripping voltammetry is used with a potential range of -2.5 V – 2.5 V for single ion detection by a three-electrode cell consisting of silver/silver chloride(Ag/AgCl) as reference and platinum (Pt) counter and glassy carbon (GCE) working electrodes. All three ions are optimized by varying the parameters like concentration, scan rate, pH, temperature, and all these optimized parameters were used for studying the effects of simultaneous detection. The procedure involves preparing an electrolyte using deionized water, cleaning the surface of GCE, depositing the ions by applying the redox potentials obtained from cyclic voltammetry (CV), and then detecting by applying oxidizing potential, i.e., stripping voltage. So this includes ASV techniques such as open-circuit voltage (OCV), chronoamperometry (CA), and square wave voltammetry (SWV). Firstly, the concentration of the ions varied from 50 ppb to 5000 ppb, and an optimum concentration was determined where the three ions were detected. A concentration of 400 ppb was used while varying the temperatures in the range of 25°C – 45°C. Optimum peak intensity was obtained at a temperature of 30°C with a low scan rate of 0.005 V-s⁻¹. All the parameters were optimized, and several effects have been noticed while three ions As(II), Cr(III), Hg(II) were detected alone and simultaneously.

Keywords: Arsenic(III), Chromium(III), glassy carbon electrode, Mercury (II), square wave anodic stripping voltammetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: P. M. Natarajan, Shambhu Kallolikar, S. Ganesh

Abstract:

By size and volume of water, Ganges River basin is the biggest among the fourteen major river basins in India. By Hindu’s faith, it is the main ‘holy river’ in this nation. But, of late, the pollution load, both domestic and industrial sources are deteriorating the surface and groundwater as well as land resources and hence the environment of the Ganges River basin is under threat. Seeing this scenario, the Indian government began to reclaim this river by two Ganges Action Plans I and II since 1986 by spending Rs. 2,747.52 crores ($457.92 million). But the result was no improvement in the water quality of the river and groundwater and environment even after almost three decades of reclamation, and hence now the New Indian Government is taking extra care to rejuvenate this river and allotted Rs. 2,037 cores ($339.50 million) in 2014 and Rs. 20,000 crores ($3,333.33 million) in 2015. The reasons for the poor water quality and stinking environment even after three decades of reclamation of the river are either no treatment/partial treatment of the sewage. Hence, now the authors are suggesting a tertiary level treatment standard of sewages of all sources and origins of the Ganges River basin and recycling the entire treated water for nondomestic uses. At 20million litres per day (MLD) capacity of each sewage treatment plant (STP), this basin needs about 2020 plants to treat the entire sewage load. Cost of the STPs is Rs. 3,43,400 million ($5,723.33 million) and the annual maintenance cost is Rs. 15,352 million ($255.87 million). The advantages of the proposed exercise are: we can produce a volume of 1,769.52 million m³ of biogas. Since biogas is energy, can be used as a fuel, for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat. It is possible to generate about 3,539.04 million kilowatt electricity per annum from the biogas generated in the process of wastewater treatment in Ganges basin. The income generation from electricity works out to Rs 10,617.12million ($176.95million). This power can be used to bridge the supply and demand gap of energy in the power hungry villages where 300million people are without electricity in India even today, and to run these STPs as well. The 664.18 million tonnes of sludge generated by the treatment plants per annum can be used in agriculture as manure with suitable amendments. By arresting the pollution load the 187.42 cubic kilometer (km³) of groundwater potential of the Ganges River basin could be protected from deterioration. Since we can recycle the sewage for non-domestic purposes, about 14.75km³ of fresh water per annum can be conserved for future use. The total value of the water saving per annum is Rs.22,11,916million ($36,865.27million) and each citizen of Ganges River basin can save Rs. 4,423.83/ ($73.73) per annum and Rs. 12.12 ($0.202) per day by recycling the treated water for nondomestic uses. Further the environment of this basin could be kept clean by arresting the foul smell as well as the 3% of greenhouse gages emission from the stinking waterways and land. These are the ways to reclaim the waterways of Ganges River basin from deterioration.

Keywords: Holy Ganges River, lifeline of India, wastewater treatment and management, making Ganges permanently holy

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: S. Maleczek, K. Drabczyk, L. Bogdan, A. Iwan

Abstract:

It is known that for industrial applications using solar panel constructed from silicon solar cells require high-efficiency performance. One of the main problems in solar panels is different mechanical and structural defects, causing the decrease of generated power. To analyse defects in solar cells, various techniques are used. However, the thermal imaging is fast and simple method for locating defects. The main goal of this work was to analyze defects in constructed flexible silicon photovoltaic modules via thermal imaging and electroluminescence method. This work is realized for the GEKON project (No. GEKON2/O4/268473/23/2016) sponsored by The National Centre for Research and Development and The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. Thermal behavior was observed using thermographic camera (VIGOcam v50, VIGO System S.A, Poland) using a DC conventional source. Electroluminescence was observed by Steinbeis Center Photovoltaics (Stuttgart, Germany) equipped with a camera, in which there is a Si-CCD, 16 Mpix detector Kodak KAF-16803type. The camera has a typical spectral response in the range 350 - 1100 nm with a maximum QE of 60 % at 550 nm. In our work commercial silicon solar cells with the size 156 × 156 mm were cut for nine parts (called single solar cells) and used to create photovoltaic modules with the size of 160 × 70 cm (containing about 80 single solar cells). Flexible silicon photovoltaic modules on polyamides or polyester fabric were constructed and investigated taking into consideration anomalies on the surface of modules. Thermal imaging provided evidence of visible voltage-activated conduction. In electro-luminescence images, two regions are noticeable: darker, where solar cell is inactive and brighter corresponding with correctly working photovoltaic cells. The electroluminescence method is non-destructive and gives greater resolution of images thereby allowing a more precise evaluation of microcracks of solar cell after lamination process. Our study showed good correlations between defects observed by thermal imaging and electroluminescence. Finally, we can conclude that the thermographic examination of large scale photovoltaic modules allows us the fast, simple and inexpensive localization of defects at the single solar cells and modules. Moreover, thermographic camera was also useful to detection electrical interconnection between single solar cells.

Keywords: electro-luminescence, flexible devices, silicon solar cells, thermal imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Charisse H. Tay

Abstract:

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe chronic mental disorder that can result in hallucinations, delusions, reduced social engagement, and lack of motivation. While antipsychotic medications often provide the basis for treatment, psychosocial strategies complement the benefit of medications and can result in meaningful improvements in symptoms and functioning. The aim of the study was to investigate psychosocial strategies used by internet self-help forum participants to effectively manage symptoms caused by schizophrenia. Internet self-help forums are a resource for medical and psychological problems and are commonly used to share information about experiences with symptom management. Method: Three international self-help internet forums on schizophrenia were identified using a search engine. 1,181 threads regarding non-pharmacological, psychosocial self-management of schizophrenia symptoms underwent screening, resulting in the final identification and coding of 91 threads and 191 posts from 134 unique forum users that contained details on psychosocial strategies endorsed personally by users that allowed them to effectively manage symptoms of schizophrenia, including positive symptoms (e.g., auditory/visual/tactile hallucinations, delusions, paranoia), negative symptoms (e.g.., avolition, apathy, anhedonia), symptoms of distress, and cognitive symptoms (e.g., memory loss). Results: Effective symptom management strategies personally endorsed by online forum users were psychological skills (e.g., re-focusing, mindfulness/meditation, reality checking; n = 94), engaging in activities (e.g., exercise, working/volunteering, hobbies; n = 84), social/familial support (n = 48), psychotherapy (n = 33), diet (n = 18), and religion/spirituality (n = 14). 44.4% of users reported using more than one strategy to manage their symptoms. The most common symptoms targeted and effectively managed, as specified by users, were positive symptoms (n = 113), negative symptoms (n = 17), distress (n = 8), and memory loss (n = 6). 10.5% of users reported more than one symptom effectively targeted. 70.2% of users with positive symptoms reported that psychological skills were effective for symptom relief. 88% of users with negative symptoms and 75% with distress symptoms reported that engaging in activities was effective. Discussion: Individuals with schizophrenia rely on a variety of different psychosocial methods to manage their symptoms. Different symptomology appears to be more effectively targeted by different types of psychosocial strategies. This may help to inform treatment strategy and tailored for individuals with schizophrenia.

Keywords: psychosocial treatment, qualitative methods, schizophrenia, symptom management

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Venkat Kamavaram, Ravi Pare

Abstract:

Modern warfighters experience extreme environmental conditions in many of their operational and training activities. In temperatures exceeding 95°F, the body’s temperature regulation can no longer cool through convection and radiation. In this case, the only cooling mechanism is evaporation. However, evaporative cooling is often compromised by excessive humidity. Natural cooling mechanisms can be further compromised by clothing and protective gear, which trap hot air and moisture close to the body. Creating an efficient heat extraction apparel system that is also lightweight without hindering dexterity or mobility of personnel working in extreme temperatures is a difficult technical challenge and one that needs to be addressed to increase the probability for the future success of the US military. To address this challenge, Oceanit Laboratories, Inc. has developed and patented a Liquid Cooled Garment (LCG) more effective than any on the market today. Oceanit’s LCG is a form-fitting garment with a network of thermally conductive tubes that extracts body heat and can be worn under all authorized and chemical/biological protective clothing. Oceanit specifically designed and developed ThermoCore®, a thermally conductive polymer, for use in this apparel, optimizing the product for thermal conductivity, mechanical properties, manufacturability, and performance temperatures. Thermal Manikin tests were conducted in accordance with the ASTM test method, ASTM F2371, Standard Test Method for Measuring the Heat Removal Rate of Personal Cooling Systems Using a Sweating Heated Manikin, in an environmental chamber using a 20-zone sweating thermal manikin. Manikin test results have shown that Oceanit’s LCG provides significantly higher heat extraction under the same environmental conditions than the currently fielded Environmental Control Vest (ECV) while at the same time reducing the weight. Oceanit’s LCG vests performed nearly 30% better in extracting body heat while weighing 15% less than the ECV. There are NO cooling garments in the market that provide the same thermal extraction performance, form-factor, and reduced weight as Oceanit’s LCG. The two cooling garments that are commercially available and most commonly used are the Environmental Control Vest (ECV) and the Microclimate Cooling Garment (MCG).

Keywords: thermally conductive composite, tubing, garment design, form fitting vest, thermocore

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Yan Yan, Erhong Sun, Lin Peng, Xuchun Ye

Abstract:

Aims: The present study aimed to explore Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses’ mental workload (MWL) and associated factors with it in performing human-machine tasks. Background: A wide range of emerging technologies have penetrated widely in the field of health care, and ICU nurses are facing a dramatic increase in nursing human-machine tasks. However, there is still a paucity of literature reporting on the general MWL of ICU nurses performing human-machine tasks and the associated influencing factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was employed. The data was collected from January to February 2021 from 9 tertiary hospitals in 6 provinces (Shanghai, Gansu, Guangdong, Liaoning, Shandong, and Hubei). Two-stage sampling was used to recruit eligible ICU nurses (n=427). The data were collected with an electronic questionnaire comprising sociodemographic characteristics and the measures of MWL, self-efficacy, system usability, and task difficulty. The univariate analysis, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and a linear mixed model were used for data analysis. Results: Overall, the mental workload of ICU nurses in performing human-machine tasks was medium (score 52.04 on a 0-100 scale). Among the typical nursing human-machine tasks selected, the MWL of ICU nurses in completing first aid and life support tasks (‘Using a defibrillator to defibrillate’ and ‘Use of ventilator’) was significantly higher than others (p < .001). And ICU nurses’ MWL in performing human-machine tasks was also associated with age (p = .001), professional title (p = .002), years of working in ICU (p < .001), willingness to study emerging technology actively (p = .006), task difficulty (p < .001), and system usability (p < .001). Conclusion: The MWL of ICU nurses is at a moderate level in the context of a rapid increase in nursing human-machine tasks. However, there are significant differences in MWL when performing different types of human-machine tasks, and MWL can be influenced by a combination of factors. Nursing managers need to develop intervention strategies in multiple ways. Implications for practice: Multidimensional approaches are required to perform human-machine tasks better, including enhancing nurses' willingness to learn emerging technologies actively, developing training strategies that vary with tasks, and identifying obstacles in the process of human-machine system interaction.

Keywords: mental workload, nurse, ICU, human-machine, tasks, cross-sectional study, linear mixed model, China

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Sarai Guerrero, Lijia Liu

Abstract:

Zinc gallogermanate (ZGGO) is a persistent phosphor that can emit in the near infrared (NIR) range once dopped with Cr³⁺ enabling its use for in-vivo deep-tissue bio-imaging. Such a property also allows for its application in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Given this, work into developing a synthetic procedure that can be done using common laboratory instruments and equipment as well as understanding ZGGO overall, is in demand. However, the ZGGO nanoparticles must have a size compatible for cell intake to occur while still maintaining sufficient photoluminescence. The nanoparticle must also be made biocompatible by functionalizing the surface for hydrophilic solubility and for high particle uniformity in the final product. Additionally, most research is completed on doped ZGGO, leaving a gap in understanding the base form of ZGGO. It also leaves a gap in understanding how doping affects the synthesis of ZGGO. In this work, the first step of optimizing the particle size via the crystalline size of ZGGO was done with undoped ZGGO using the organic acid, oleic acid (OA) for organic ligand-assisted biphasic hydrothermal synthesis. The effects of this synthesis procedure on ZGGO’s crystallinity were evaluated using Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD). OA was selected as the capping ligand as experiments have shown it beneficial in synthesizing sub-10 nm zinc gallate (ZGO) nanoparticles as well as palladium nanocrystals and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles. Later it is possible to substitute OA with a different ligand allowing for hydrophilic solubility. Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier-Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) was used to investigate the surface of the nanoparticle to investigate and verify that OA had capped the nanoparticle. PXRD results showed that using this procedure led to improved crystallinity, comparable to the high-purity reagents used on the ZGGO nanoparticles. There was also a change in the crystalline size of the ZGGO nanoparticles. ATR-FTIR showed that once capped ZGGO cannot be annealed as doing so will affect the OA. These results point to this new procedure positively affecting the crystallinity of ZGGO nanoparticles. There are also repeatable implying the procedure is a reliable source of highly crystalline ZGGO nanoparticles. With this completed, the next step will be working on substituting the OA with a hydrophilic ligand. As these ligands effect the solubility of the nanoparticle as well as the pH that the nanoparticles can dissolve in, further research is needed to verify which ligand is best suited for preparing ZGGO for bio-imaging.

Keywords: biphasic hydrothermal synthesis, crystallinity, oleic acid, zinc gallogermanate

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Eliane Cristina De Carvalho Mendoza Meza

Abstract:

The Brazilian Federal Constitution from 1988 innovated with decentralized management, sharing the decision process among the federal government, states, and municipality (federalism). This innovation gave the opportunity to the civil society participates in the public policy agenda, including the municipal one; the state recognized that new actors were needed now it has been one more actor and not the only one. It was in this context that the woman’s Policy Secretaries were created in the three levels of government: federal, state and municipal. It intend to reduce the historical and social differences between men and women, especially in the poorest municipalities, working in a network basis with other secretaries, governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations to promote actions that can result in benefits and empowerment for women. In addition, they promote actions to protect them from domestic violence and to help them to learn how generate income. It was not a calm process, women have been fighting for their rights since the 1970s and despite the gender equality was recognized in the Federal Constitution of 1988, just in 2013 it was possible to see a real growth in the creation of municipal Women’s Policy Secretary. In 2009, just 6.5% of the cities in Brazil had implemented the Secretary; in 2013, it was 11%. The municipality realized that the gender issue was in reality a public problem, so the municipal agenda incorporated it and transformed in public policy, creating the municipal Women’s Policy Secretary. The introduction of a gender policy in Brazilian municipalities shows us that the female citizens are treated as political subjects and it is the first step to try to compensate inequality between men and women in the local level. It becomes more important when the Brazilian federalism is analyzed. In Brazil, the federal government controls the municipalities’ budgets to implement federal public policies and others federal interests, so having a public policy of gender approved by the actors in the local government with so little freedom to manage is something very important. It is necessary mark some points: taking a gender policy to the poorest cities is a form to protect all citizens with no distinction, men and women, as recommended in the Federal Constitution; not all problems in a city center in the municipal agenda, this only happens when a problem is perceived as an issue, it means the women situation was perceived as important, so that it became a public policy; at least, the gender public policy intend to emancipate and contemplate the empowerment of women.

Keywords: federalism, gender, municipal agenda, social participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 397

Authors: Shahrzad Zolfagharnassab, Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff, Siti Khairunniza Bejo

Abstract:

Conventional methods for nutrient soil mapping are based on laboratory tests of samples that are obtained from surveys. The time and cost involved in gathering and analyzing soil samples are the reasons that researchers use Predictive Soil Mapping (PSM). PSM can be defined as the development of a numerical or statistical model of the relationship among environmental variables and soil properties, which is then applied to a geographic database to create a predictive map. Kriging is a group of geostatistical techniques to spatially interpolate point values at an unobserved location from observations of values at nearby locations. The main problem with using kriging as an interpolator is that it is excessively data-dependent and requires a large number of closely spaced data points. Hence, there is a need to minimize the number of data points without sacrificing the accuracy of the results. In this paper, an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) scheme was used to predict macronutrient values at un-sampled points. ANN has become a popular tool for prediction as it eliminates certain difficulties in soil property prediction, such as non-linear relationships and non-normality. Back-propagation multilayer feed-forward network structures were used to predict nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium values in the soil of the study area. A limited number of samples were used in the training, validation and testing phases of ANN (pattern reconstruction structures) to classify soil properties and the trained network was used for prediction. The soil analysis results of samples collected from the soil survey of block C of Sawah Sempadan, Tanjung Karang rice irrigation project at Selangor of Malaysia were used. Soil maps were produced by the Kriging method using 236 samples (or values) that were a combination of actual values (obtained from real samples) and virtual values (neural network predicted values). For each macronutrient element, three types of maps were generated with 118 actual and 118 virtual values, 59 actual and 177 virtual values, and 30 actual and 206 virtual values, respectively. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, for each macronutrient element, a base map using 236 actual samples and test maps using 118, 59 and 30 actual samples respectively produced by the Kriging method. A set of parameters was defined to measure the similarity of the maps that were generated with the proposed method, termed the sample reduction method. The results show that the maps that were generated through the sample reduction method were more accurate than the corresponding base maps produced through a smaller number of real samples. For example, nitrogen maps that were produced from 118, 59 and 30 real samples have 78%, 62%, 41% similarity, respectively with the base map (236 samples) and the sample reduction method increased similarity to 87%, 77%, 71%, respectively. Hence, this method can reduce the number of real samples and substitute ANN predictive samples to achieve the specified level of accuracy.

Keywords: artificial neural network, kriging, macro nutrient, pattern recognition, precision farming, soil mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Baha Eddine Aissou, Aichouche Belhadj Aissa

Abstract:

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is an active remote sensing technology used for several applications. Airborne LiDAR is becoming an important technology for the acquisition of a highly accurate dense point cloud. A classification of airborne laser scanning (ALS) point cloud is a very important task that still remains a real challenge for many scientists. Support vector machine (SVM) is one of the most used statistical learning algorithms based on kernels. SVM is a non-parametric method, and it is recommended to be used in cases where the data distribution cannot be well modeled by a standard parametric probability density function. Using a kernel, it performs a robust non-linear classification of samples. Often, the data are rarely linearly separable. SVMs are able to map the data into a higher-dimensional space to become linearly separable, which allows performing all the computations in the original space. This is one of the main reasons that SVMs are well suited for high-dimensional classification problems. Only a few training samples, called support vectors, are required. SVM has also shown its potential to cope with uncertainty in data caused by noise and fluctuation, and it is computationally efficient as compared to several other methods. Such properties are particularly suited for remote sensing classification problems and explain their recent adoption. In this poster, the SVM classification of ALS LiDAR data is proposed. Firstly, connected component analysis is applied for clustering the point cloud. Secondly, the resulting clusters are incorporated in the SVM classifier. Radial basic function (RFB) kernel is used due to the few numbers of parameters (C and γ) that needs to be chosen, which decreases the computation time. In order to optimize the classification rates, the parameters selection is explored. It consists to find the parameters (C and γ) leading to the best overall accuracy using grid search and 5-fold cross-validation. The exploited LiDAR point cloud is provided by the German Society for Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, and Geoinformation. The ALS data used is characterized by a low density (4-6 points/m²) and is covering an urban area located in residential parts of the city Vaihingen in southern Germany. The class ground and three other classes belonging to roof superstructures are considered, i.e., a total of 4 classes. The training and test sets are selected randomly several times. The obtained results demonstrated that a parameters selection can orient the selection in a restricted interval of (C and γ) that can be further explored but does not systematically lead to the optimal rates. The SVM classifier with hyper-parameters is compared with the most used classifiers in literature for LiDAR data, random forest, AdaBoost, and decision tree. The comparison showed the superiority of the SVM classifier using parameters selection for LiDAR data compared to other classifiers.

Keywords: classification, airborne LiDAR, parameters selection, support vector machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Ewelina Zdebska

Abstract:

A social worker is an integral part of an interdisciplinary team working with the child and his family in a terminal state. Social support is an integral part of the medical procedure in the care of hospice. This is the basis and prerequisite of full treatment and good care of the child - patient, whose illness often finds at least the expected period of his life when his personal and legal issues are not regulated, and the family burdened with the problem requires care and support specialists - professionals. Hospice for Children in Krakow: a palliative care team operating in the province of Krakow and Malopolska, conducts specialized care for terminally ill children in place of their residence from the time when parents and doctors decided to end of treatment in hospital, allows parents to carry out medical care at home, provides parents social and legal assistance and provides care, psychological support and friendship to families throughout the life of the child's illness and after his death, as long as it is needed. The social worker in a hospice does not bear the burden of solving social problems, which is the responsibility of other authorities, but provides support possible and necessary at the moment. The most common form of assistance is to provide information on benefits, which for the child and his family may be subject to any treatment and fight for the life and health of a child. Employee assists in the preparation and completion of documents, requests to increase the degree of disability because of progressive disease or Allowance care because of the inability to live independently. It works in settling all the issues with the Department of Social Security, as well as with the Municipal and District Team Affairs of disability. Seeking help and support using multi-faceted childcare. With the Centres for Social Welfare contacts are also often on the organization of additional respite care for the sick at home (care), especially in the work of the other members of the family or if the family can not cope with the care and needs extra help. Hospice for Children in Cracow completing construction of Poland's first Respite Care Centre for chronically and terminally ill children, will be an open house where children suffering from chronic and incurable diseases and their families can get professional help, whenever - when they need it. The social worker has to pick up a very important role in caring for a terminally ill child. His presence gives a little patient and family the opportunity to be at this difficult time together while organizing assistance and support.

Keywords: social worker, care, terminal care, hospice

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Tsao Jui-Jung

Abstract:

Previous research findings have shown that most students do not fully utilize the written corrective feedback provided by teachers (Stone, 2014). This common phenomenon results in the ineffective utilization of teachers' written corrective feedback. As Ellis (2010) points out, the effectiveness of written corrective feedback depends on the level of student engagement with it. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how students utilize the written corrective feedback from their teachers. Previous studies have confirmed the positive impact of teacher-student writing conferences on students' engagement in the writing process and their writing abilities (Hum, 2021; Nosratinia & Nikpanjeh, 2019; Wong, 1996; Yeh, 2016, 2019). However, due to practical constraints such as time limitations, this instructional activity is not fully utilized in writing classrooms (Alfalagg, 2020). Therefore, to address this research gap, the purpose of this study was to explore several aspects of teacher-student writing conferences, including the frequency of meaning negotiation (i.e., comprehension checks, confirmation checks, and clarification checks) and teacher scaffolding techniques (i.e., feedback, prompts, guidance, explanations, and demonstrations) in teacher-student writing conferences, examining students’ self-assessment of their writing strengths and weaknesses in post-conference journals and their experiences with teacher-student writing conferences (i.e., interaction styles, communication levels, how teachers addressed errors, and overall perspectives on the conferences), and gathering insights from their responses to open-ended questions in the final stage of the study (i.e., their preferences and reasons for different written corrective feedback techniques used by teachers and their perspectives and suggestions on teacher-student writing conferences). Data collection methods included transcripts of audio recordings of teacher-student writing conferences, students’ post-conference journals, and open-ended questionnaires. The participants of this study were sophomore students enrolled in an English writing course for a duration of one school year. Key research findings are as follows: Firstly, in terms of meaning negotiation, students attempted to clearly understand the corrective feedback provided by the teacher-researcher twice as often as the teacher-researcher attempted to clearly understand the students' writing content. Secondly, the most commonly used scaffolding technique in the conferences was prompting (indirect feedback). Thirdly, the majority of participants believed that teacher-student writing conferences had a positive impact on their writing abilities. Fourthly, most students preferred direct feedback from the teacher-research as it directly pointed out their errors and saved them time in revision. However, some students still preferred indirect feedback, as they believed it encouraged them to think and self-correct. Based on the research findings, this study proposes effective teaching recommendations for English writing instruction aimed at optimizing teaching strategies and enhancing students' writing abilities.

Keywords: written corrective feedback, student engagement, teacher-student writing conferences, action research

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Ayesha Anjum, Arbaz Basha

Abstract:

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are the actively accreting centers of the galaxies that host supermassive black holes. AGN emits radiation in all wavelengths and also shows variability across all the wavelength bands. The analysis of flux variability tells us about the morphology of the site of emission radiation. Some of the major classifications of AGN are (a) Blazars, with featureless spectra. They are subclassified as BLLacertae objects, Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs), and others; (b) Seyferts with prominent emission line features are classified into Broad Line, Narrow Line Seyferts of Type 1 and Type 2 (c) quasars, and other types. Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is an optical telescope based in Mexico that has observed and classified billions of objects based on automated photometric and spectroscopic methods. A sample of blazars is obtained from the third Fermi catalog. For variability analysis, we searched for light curves for these objects in Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Near Earth Orbit WISE (NEOWISE) in two bands: W1 (3.4 microns) and W2 (4.6 microns), reducing the final sample to 256 objects. These objects are also classified into 155 BLLacs, 99 FSRQs, and 2 Narrow Line Seyferts, namely, PMNJ0948+0022 and PKS1502+036. Mid-infrared variability studies of these objects would be a contribution to the literature. With this as motivation, the present work is focused on studying a final sample of 256 objects in general and the Seyferts in particular. Owing to the fact that the classification is automated, SDSS has miclassified these objects into quasars, galaxies, and stars. Reasons for the misclassification are explained in this work. The variability analysis of these objects is done using the method of flux amplitude variability and excess variance. The sample consists of observations in both W1 and W2 bands. PMN J0948+0022 is observed between MJD from 57154.79 to 58810.57. PKS 1502+036 is observed between MJD from 57232.42 to 58517.11, which amounts to a period of over six years. The data is divided into different epochs spanning not more than 1.2 days. In all the epochs, the sources are found to be variable in both W1 and W2 bands. This confirms that the object is variable in mid-infrared wavebands in both long and short timescales. Also, the sources are observed for color variability. Objects either show a bluer when brighter trend (BWB) or a redder when brighter trend (RWB). The possible claim for the object to be BWB (present objects) is that the longer wavelength radiation emitted by the source can be suppressed by the high-energy radiation from the central source. Another result is that the smallest radius of the emission source is one day since the epoch span used in this work is one day. The mass of the black holes at the centers of these sources is found to be less than or equal to 108 solar masses, respectively.

Keywords: active galaxies, variability, Seyfert galaxies, SDSS, WISE

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Thayalan Nall, Harry Poulos

Abstract:

Piling is the most widely used foundation method for heavy structures in poor soil conditions. The geotechnical engineer can choose among a variety of piling methods, but in most cases, driving piles by impact hammer is the most cost-effective alternative. Under unfavourable conditions, driving piles can cause environmental problems, such as noise, ground movements and vibrations, with the risk of ground disturbance leading to potential damage to proposed structures. In one of the project sites in which the authors were involved, three offshore container terminals, namely CT1, CT2 and CT3, were constructed over thick compressible marine mud. The seabed was around 6m deep and the soft clay thickness within the project site varied between 9m and 20m. CT2 and CT3 were connected together and rectangular in shape and were 2600mx800m in size. CT1 was 400m x 800m in size and was located on south opposite of CT2 towards its eastern end. CT1 was constructed first and due to time and environmental limitations, it was supported on a “forest” of large diameter driven piles. CT2 and CT3 are now under construction and are being carried out using a traditional dredging and reclamation approach with ground improvement by surcharging with vertical drains. A few months after the installation of the CT1 piles, a 2600m long sand bund to 2m above mean sea level was constructed along the southern perimeter of CT2 and CT3 to contain the dredged mud that was expected to be pumped. The sand bund was constructed by sand spraying and pumping using a dredging vessel. About 2000m length of the sand bund in the west section was constructed without any major stability issues or any noticeable distress. However, as the sand bund approached the section parallel to CT1, it underwent a series of deep seated failures leading the displaced soft clay materials to heave above the standing water level. The crest of the sand bund was about 100m away from the last row of piles. There were no plausible geological reasons to conclude that the marine mud only across the CT1 region was weaker than over the rest of the site. Hence it was suspected that the pile driving by impact hammer may have caused ground movements and vibrations, leading to generation of excess pore pressures and cyclic softening of the marine mud. This paper investigates the probable cause of failure by reviewing: (1) All ground investigation data within the region; (2) Soil displacement caused by pile driving, using theories similar to spherical cavity expansion; (3) Transfer of stresses and vibrations through the entire system, including vibrations transmitted from the hammer to the pile, and the dynamic properties of the soil; and (4) Generation of excess pore pressure due to ground vibration and resulting cyclic softening. The evidence suggests that the problems encountered at the site were primarily caused by the “side effects” of the pile driving operations.

Keywords: pile driving, ground vibration, excess pore pressure, cyclic softening

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Shamie Kumar

Abstract:

Background: Radiologists and radiographers (RR) need to educate themselves and their colleagues to ensure that AI is integrated safely, useful, and in a meaningful way with the direction it always benefits the patients. AI education and training are fundamental to the way RR work and interact with it, such that they feel confident using it as part of their clinical practice in a way they understand it. Methodology: This exploratory research will outline the current educational and training gaps for radiographers and radiologists in AI radiology diagnostics. It will review the status, skills, challenges of educating and teaching. Understanding the use of artificial intelligence within daily clinical practice, why it is fundamental, and justification on why learning about AI is essential for wider adoption. Results: The current knowledge among RR is very sparse, country dependent, and with radiologists being the majority of the end-users for AI, their targeted training and learning AI opportunities surpass the ones available to radiographers. There are many papers that suggest there is a lack of knowledge, understanding, and training of AI in radiology amongst RR, and because of this, they are unable to comprehend exactly how AI works, integrates, benefits of using it, and its limitations. There is an indication they wish to receive specific training; however, both professions need to actively engage in learning about it and develop the skills that enable them to effectively use it. There is expected variability amongst the profession on their degree of commitment to AI as most don’t understand its value; this only adds to the need to train and educate RR. Currently, there is little AI teaching in either undergraduate or postgraduate study programs, and it is not readily available. In addition to this, there are other training programs, courses, workshops, and seminars available; most of these are short and one session rather than a continuation of learning which cover a basic understanding of AI and peripheral topics such as ethics, legal, and potential of AI. There appears to be an obvious gap between the content of what the training program offers and what the RR needs and wants to learn. Due to this, there is a risk of ineffective learning outcomes and attendees feeling a lack of clarity and depth of understanding of the practicality of using AI in a clinical environment. Conclusion: Education, training, and courses need to have defined learning outcomes with relevant concepts, ensuring theory and practice are taught as a continuation of the learning process based on use cases specific to a clinical working environment. Undergraduate and postgraduate courses should be developed robustly, ensuring the delivery of it is with expertise within that field; in addition, training and other programs should be delivered as a way of continued professional development and aligned with accredited institutions for a degree of quality assurance.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, training, radiology, education, learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: O. R. Razanakoto, L. Temple

Abstract:

Living in a least developed country, the Malagasy society has a weak capacity to internalize progress, including health concerns. Since the arrival in the fifteenth century of Arabic script, called Sorabe, that was mainly dedicated to the aristocracy, until the colonial era beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and that has popularized the current usual script of the occidental civilization, the upcoming manuscripts that deal with apparent scientific or at least academic issue have been slowly established. So that, the Malagasy communities’ way of life is not well documented yet to allow a precise understanding of the major concerns, reason, and purpose of the existence of the farmers that compose them. A question arises, according to literature, how does Malagasy community that is dominated by agrarian society conceive the conservation of its wellbeing? This study aims to emphasize the scope and the limits of the « One Health » concept or of the Health Integrated Approach (HIA) that evolves at global scale, with regard to the specific context of local Malagasy smallholder farms. It is expected to identify how this society represents linked risks and the mechanisms between human health, animal health, plant health, and ecosystem health within the last 100 years. To do so, the framework to conduct systematic review for agricultural research has been deployed to access available literature. This task has been coupled with the reading of articles that are not indexed by online scientific search engine but that mention part of a history of agriculture and of farmers in Madagascar. This literature review has informed the interactions between human illnesses and those affecting animals and plants (breeded or wild) with any unexpected event (ecological or economic) that has modified the equilibrium of the ecosystem, or that has disturbed the livelihoods of agrarian communities. Besides, drivers that may either accentuate or attenuate the devasting effects of these illnesses and changes were revealed. The study has established that the reasons of human worries are not only physiological. Among the factors that regulate global health, food system and contemporary medicine have helped to the improvement of life expectancy from 55 to 63 years in Madagascar during the last 50 years. However, threats to global health are still occurring. New human or animal illnesses and livestock / plant pathology or enemies may also appear, whereas ancient illnesses that are supposed to have disappeared may be back. This study has highlighted how much important are the risks associated to the impact of unmanaged externalities that weaken community’s life. Many risks, and also solutions, come from abroad and have long term effects even though those happen as punctual event. Thus, a constructivist strategy is suggested to the « One Health » global concept throughout the record of local facts. This approach should facilitate the exploration of methodological pathways and the identification of relevant indicators for research related to HIA.

Keywords: agrarian system, health integrated approach, history, madagascar, resilience, risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Peggy Näser

Abstract:

Factory planning is a systematic, objective-oriented process for planning a factory, structured into a sequence of phases, each of which is dependent on the preceding phase and makes use of particular methods and tools, and extending from the setting of objectives to the start of production. The digital factory, on the other hand, is the generic term for a comprehensive network of digital models, methods, and tools – including simulation and 3D visualisation – integrated by a continuous data management system. Its aim is the holistic planning, evaluation and ongoing improvement of all the main structures, processes and resources of the real factory in conjunction with the product. Digital factory planning has already become established in factory planning. The application of Building Information Modeling has not yet been established in factory planning but has been used predominantly in the planning of public buildings. Furthermore, this concept is limited to the planning of the buildings and does not include the planning of equipment of the factory (machines, technical equipment) and their interfaces to the building. BIM is a cooperative method of working, in which the information and data relevant to its lifecycle are consistently recorded, managed and exchanged in a transparent communication between the involved parties on the basis of digital models of a building. Both approaches, the planning approach of Building Information Modeling and the methodical approach of the Digital Factory, are based on the use of a comprehensive data model. Therefore it is necessary to examine how the approach of Building Information Modeling can be extended in the context of factory planning in such a way that an integration of the equipment planning, as well as the building planning, can take place in a common digital model. For this, a number of different perspectives have to be investigated: the equipment perspective including the tools used to implement a comprehensive digital planning process, the communication perspective between the planners of different fields, the legal perspective, that the legal certainty in each country and the quality perspective, on which the quality criteria are defined and the planning will be evaluated. The individual perspectives are examined and illustrated in the article. An approach model for the integration of factory planning into the BIM approach, in particular for the integrated planning of equipment and buildings and the continuous digital planning is developed. For this purpose, the individual factory planning phases are detailed in the sense of the integration of the BIM approach. A comprehensive software concept is shown on the tool. In addition, the prerequisites required for this integrated planning are presented. With the help of the newly developed approach, a better coordination between equipment and buildings is to be achieved, the continuity of the digital factory planning is improved, the data quality is improved and expensive implementation errors are avoided in the implementation.

Keywords: building information modeling, digital factory, digital planning, factory planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Yu-Chi Liao, Nai-Wen Guo, Chun‑Hung Lee, Yung-Chin Lu, Cheng-Hung Ko

Abstract:

Objective: The incidence of behavioral addictions, especially substance use disorders (SUDs), is gradually be taken seriously with various physical health problems. Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) is a treatment option for promoting long-term health behavior change in recent years. MBRP is a structured protocol that integrates formal meditation practices with the cognitive-behavioral approach of relapse prevention treatment by teaching participants not to engage in reappraisal or savoring techniques. However, considering SUDs as a complex brain disease, questionnaires and symptom evaluation are not sufficient to evaluate the effect of MBRP. Neurophysiological biomarkers such as quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) may improve accurately represent the curative effects. This study attempted to find out the neurophysiological indicator of MBRP in various severity SUD involuntary clients. Participants and Methods: Thirteen participants (all males) completed 8-week mindfulness-based treatment provided by trained, licensed clinical psychologists. The behavioral data were from the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) and Negative Mood Regulation Scale (NMR) before and afterMBRP treatment. The QEEG data were simultaneously recorded with executive attention tasks, called comprehensive nonverbal attention test(CNAT). The two-way repeated-measures (treatment * severity) ANOVA and independent t-test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Thirteen participants regrouped into high substance dependence (HS) and low substance dependence (LS) by SDS cut-off. The HS group showed more SDS total score and lower gamma wave in the Go/No Go task of CNAT at pretest. Both groups showed the main effect that they had a lower frontal theta/beta ratio (TBR) during the simple reaction time task of CNAT. The main effect showed that the delay errors of CNAT were lower after MBRP. There was no other difference in CNAT between groups. However, after MBRP, compared to LS, the HS group have resonant progress in improving SDS and NMR scores. The neurophysiological index, the frontal TBR of the HS during the Go/No Go task of CNATdecreased than that of the LS group. Otherwise, the LS group’s gamma wave was a significant reduction on the Go/No Go task of CNAT. Conclusion: The QEEG data supports the MBRP can restore the prefrontal function of involuntary addicts and lower their errors in executive attention tasks. However, the improvement of MBRPfor the addict with high addiction severity is significantly more than that with low severity, including QEEG’s indicators and negative emotion regulation. Future directions include investigating the reasons for differences in efficacy among different severity of the addiction.

Keywords: mindfulness, involuntary clients, QEEG, emotion regulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Virginia Vettori, Chiara Lorini, Vieri Lastrucci, Giulia Di Pisa, Alessia De Blasi, Sara Giuggioli, Guglielmo Bonaccorsi

Abstract:

The design of the Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument (NLit) responds to the need to provide a tool to adequately assess the construct of nutrition literacy (NL), which is strictly connected to the quality of the diet and nutritional health status. The NLit was originally developed and validated in the US context, and it was recently validated for Italian people too (NLit-IT), involving a sample of N = 74 adults. The results of the cross-cultural adaptation of the tool confirmed its validity since it was established that the level of NL contributed to predicting the level of adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (convergent validity). Additionally, results obtained proved that Internal Consistency and reliability of the NLit-IT were good (Cronbach’s alpha (ρT) = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.69–0.84; Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) = 0.68, 95% CI, 0.46–0.85). However, the Subscale 3 of the NLit-IT “Household Food Measurement” showed lower values of ρT and ICC (ρT = 0.27; 95% CI, 0.1–0.55; ICC = 0.19, 95% CI, 0.01–0.63) than the entire instrument. Subscale 3 includes nine items which are constituted by written questions and the corresponding pictures of the meals. In particular, items 2, 3, and 8 of Subscale 3 had the lowest level of correct answers. The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors that influenced the Internal Consistency and reliability of Subscale 3 of NLit-IT using the methodology of a focus group. A panel of seven experts was formed, involving professionals in the field of public health nutrition, dietetics, and health promotion and all of them were trained on the concepts of nutrition literacy and food appearance. A member of the group drove the discussion, which was oriented in the identification of the reasons for the low levels of reliability and Internal Consistency. The members of the group discussed the level of comprehension of the items and how they could be readapted. From the discussion, it emerges that the written questions were clear and easy to understand, but it was observed that the representations of the meal needed to be improved. Firstly, it has been decided to introduce a fork or a spoon as a reference dimension to better understand the dimension of the food portion (items 1, 4 and 8). Additionally, the flat plate of items 3 and 5 should be substituted with a soup plate because, in the Italian national context, it is common to eat pasta or rice on this kind of plate. Secondly, specific measures should be considered for some kind of foods such as the brick of yogurt instead of a cup of yogurt (items 1 and 4). Lastly, it has been decided to redo the photos of the meals basing on professional photographic techniques. In conclusion, we noted that the graphical representation of the items strictly influenced the level of participants’ comprehension of the questions; moreover, the research group agreed that the level of knowledge about nutrition and food portion size is low in the general population.

Keywords: nutritional literacy, cross cultural adaptation, misinformation, food design

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Zafar Iqbal, Eugene Chan, Fareed Ahmed, Mohamed Jama, Avez Rizvi

Abstract:

Advancements in Ultrasound Technology have enabled machines to capture 3D and 4D images with intricate features of the growing fetus. Sonographers can now capture clear 3D images and 4D videos of the fetus, especially of the face. Fetal faces are often seen on the ultrasound scan of the third trimester where anatomical features become more defined. Parents often want 3D/4D images and videos of their ultrasounds, and particularly image that capture the child’s face. Sidra Medicine developed a patient education mobile app called 10 Moons to improve care and provide useful information during the length of their pregnancy. In addition to general information, we built the ability to send ultrasound images directly from the modality to the mobile application, allowing expectant mothers to easily store and share images of their baby. 10 Moons represent the length of the pregnancy on a lunar calendar, which has both cultural and religious significance in the Middle East. During the third trimester scan, sonographers can capture 3D pictures of the fetus. Ultrasound machines are connected with a local 10 Moons Server with a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) application running on it. Sonographers are able to send images directly to the DICOM server by a preprogrammed button on the ultrasound modality. Mothers can also request which pictures they would like to be available on the app. An internally built DICOM application receives the image and saves the patient information from DICOM header (for verification purpose). The application also anonymizes the image by removing all the DICOM header information and subsequently converts it into a lossless JPEG. Finally, and the application passes the image to the mobile application server. On the 10 Moons mobile app – patients enter their Medical Record Number (MRN) and Date of Birth (DOB) to receive a One Time Password (OTP) for security reasons to view the images. Patients can also share the images anonymized images with friends and family. Furthermore, patients can also request 3D printed mementos of their child through 10 Moons. 10 Moons is unique patient education and information application where expected mothers can also see 3D ultrasound images of their children. Sidra Medicine staff has the added benefit of a full content management administrative backend where updates to content can be made. The app is available on secure infrastructure with both local and public interfaces. The application is also available in both English and Arabic languages to facilitate most of the patients in the region. Innovation is at the heart of modern healthcare management. With Innovation being one of Sidra Medicine’s core values, our 10 Moons application provides expectant mothers with unique educational content as well as the ability to store and share images of their child and purchase 3D printed mementos.

Keywords: patient educational mobile application, ultrasound images, digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM), imaging informatics

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: P. S. Hsi, Y. F. Wang, Y. F. Ho, P. C. Hung

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to explore the dermal exposure assessment model of chemicals that have been developed abroad and to evaluate the feasibility of chemical dermal exposure assessment model for manufacturing industry in Taiwan. We conducted and analyzed six semi-quantitative risk management tools, including UK - Control of substances hazardous to health ( COSHH ) Europe – Risk assessment of occupational dermal exposure ( RISKOFDERM ), Netherlands - Dose related effect assessment model ( DREAM ), Netherlands – Stoffenmanager ( STOFFEN ), Nicaragua-Dermal exposure ranking method ( DERM ) and USA / Canada - Public Health Engineering Department ( PHED ). Five types of manufacturing industry were selected to evaluate. The Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the sensitivity of each factor, and the correlation between the assessment results of each semi-quantitative model and the exposure factors used in the model was analyzed to understand the important evaluation indicators of the dermal exposure assessment model. To assess the effectiveness of the semi-quantitative assessment models, this study also conduct quantitative dermal exposure results using prediction model and verify the correlation via Pearson's test. Results show that COSHH was unable to determine the strength of its decision factor because the results evaluated at all industries belong to the same risk level. In the DERM model, it can be found that the transmission process, the exposed area, and the clothing protection factor are all positively correlated. In the STOFFEN model, the fugitive, operation, near-field concentrations, the far-field concentration, and the operating time and frequency have a positive correlation. There is a positive correlation between skin exposure, work relative time, and working environment in the DREAM model. In the RISKOFDERM model, the actual exposure situation and exposure time have a positive correlation. We also found high correlation with the DERM and RISKOFDERM models, with coefficient coefficients of 0.92 and 0.93 (p<0.05), respectively. The STOFFEN and DREAM models have poor correlation, the coefficients are 0.24 and 0.29 (p>0.05), respectively. According to the results, both the DERM and RISKOFDERM models are suitable for performance in these selected manufacturing industries. However, considering the small sample size evaluated in this study, more categories of industries should be evaluated to reduce its uncertainty and enhance its applicability in the future.

Keywords: dermal exposure, risk management, quantitative estimation, feasibility evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 141