Search results for: society of knowledge

Authors: Sara Bonetti

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The use of quantitative data to support policies and justify investments has become imperative in many fields including the field of education. However, the topic of data literacy has only marginally touched the early care and education (ECE) field. In California, within the ECE workforce, there is a group of professionals working in policy and advocacy that use quantitative data regularly and whose educational and professional experiences have been neglected by existing research. This study aimed at analyzing these experiences in accessing, using, and producing quantitative data. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to capture the differences in educational and professional backgrounds, policy contexts, and power relations. The participants were three key professionals from county-level organizations and one working at a State Department to allow for a broader perspective at systems level. The study followed Núñez’s multilevel model of intersectionality. The key in Núñez’s model is the intersection of multiple levels of analysis and influence, from the individual to the system level, and the identification of institutional power dynamics that perpetuate the marginalization of certain groups within society. In a similar manner, this study looked at the dynamic interaction of different influences at individual, organizational, and system levels that might intersect and affect ECE professionals’ experiences with quantitative data. At the individual level, an important element identified was the participants’ educational background, as it was possible to observe a relationship between that and their positionality, both with respect to working with data and also with respect to their power within an organization and at the policy table. For example, those with a background in child development were aware of how their formal education failed to train them in the skills that are necessary to work in policy and advocacy, and especially to work with quantitative data, compared to those with a background in administration and/or business. At the organizational level, the interviews showed a connection between the participants’ position within the organization and their organization’s position with respect to others and their degree of access to quantitative data. This in turn affected their sense of empowerment and agency in dealing with data, such as shaping what data is collected and available. These differences reflected on the interviewees’ perceptions and expectations for the ECE workforce. For example, one of the interviewees pointed out that many ECE professionals happen to use data out of the necessity of the moment. This lack of intentionality is a cause for, and at the same time translates into missed training opportunities. Another interviewee pointed out issues related to the professionalism of the ECE workforce by remarking the inadequacy of ECE students’ training in working with data. In conclusion, Núñez’s model helped understand the different elements that affect ECE professionals’ experiences with quantitative data. In particular, what was clear is that these professionals are not being provided with the necessary support and that we are not being intentional in creating data literacy skills for them, despite what is asked of them and their work.

Keywords: data literacy, early childhood professionals, intersectionality, quantitative data

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Authors: Awdhesh Yadav, P. S. Saravanamurthy, Shaikh Tayyaba, Uma Shah, Ashok Agarwal

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Objectives: HIV interventions in India has leveraged Self-Help Group (SHG) as one of the key strategies under structural intervention to empower female sex workers (FSW) to reduce their risk exposure and vulnerability to STI/HIV. Understanding the role of SHGs in light of the evolving dynamics of sex work needs to be delved into to strategize HIV interventions among FSWs in India. This paper aims to study the HIV program outcome among the FSWs associated with SHGs and FSWs not associated with SHGs in Thane, Maharashtra. Study Design: This cross-sectional study, was undertaken from the Behavioral Tracking Survey (BTS) conducted among 503 FSWs in Thane in 2015. Two-stage probability based conventional sampling was done for selection of brothel and bar based FSWs, while Time Location Cluster (TLC) sampling was done for home, lodge and street-based sex workers. Methods: Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to compare and contrast between FSWs associated with SHG and those not associated with SHG with respect to the utilization of HIV related services by them. ‘Condom use’, ‘consistent condom use’, ‘contact with peer-educators’, ‘counseling sessions’ and ‘HIV testing’ were chosen as indicators on HIV service utilization. Results: 8% (38) of FSWs are registered with SHG; 92% aged ≥ 25 years, 47% illiterate, and 71% are currently married. The likelihood of utilizing HIV services including, knowledge on HIV/AIDS and its mode of transmission (OR:5.54; CI: 1.87-16.60; p < 0.05),accessed drop-in Centre (OR: 6.53; CI: 2.15-19.88; p < 0.10), heard about joint health camps (OR: 4.71; CI:2.12-10.46); p < 0.05), negotiated or stood up against police/broker/local goonda/clients (OR: 2.26; CI: 1.08-4.73; p < 0.05), turned away clients when they refused to use condom during sex (OR: 3.76; CI: 1.27-11.15; p < 0.05) and heard of ART (OR; 4.55; CI: 2.18-9.48; p < 0.01) were higher among FSWs associated with SHG in comparison to FSWs not associated with SHG. Conclusions: Considering the improved HIV program outcomes among FSWs associated with SHG; HIV interventions among FSWs could consider facilitating the formation of SHGs with FSWs as one of the key strategies to empower the community for ensuring better program outcomes.

Keywords: empowerment, female sex workers, HIV, Thane, self-help group

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Authors: Shivayogi Charantimath

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Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are effective for treating malignancies but are associated with side effects like oral mucositis. Chlorhexidine gluconate is one of the most commonly used mouthwash in prevention of signs and symptoms of mucositis. Evidence shows that chlorhexidine gluconate has side effects in terms of colonization of bacteria, bad breadth and less healing properties. Thus, it is essential to find a suitable alternative therapy which is more effective with minimal side effects. Curcumin, an extract of turmeric is gradually being studied for its wide-ranging therapeutic properties such as antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, antiseptic, chemo sensitizing and radio sensitizing properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical curcumin gel on radio-chemotherapy induced oral mucositis in cancer patients. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of curcumin gel in the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radio chemotherapy and compare with chlorhexidine. The study was conducted in K.L.E. Society’s Belgaum cancer hospital. 40 oral cancer patients undergoing the radiochemotheraphy with oral mucositis was selected and randomly divided into two groups of 20 each. The study group A [20 patients] was advised Cure next gel for 2 weeks. The control group B [20 patients] was advised chlorhexidine gel for 2 weeks. The NRS, Oral Mucositis Assessment scale and WHO mucositis scale were used to determine the grading. The results obtained were calculated by using SPSS 20 software. The comparison of grading was done by applying Mann-Whitney U test and intergroup comparison was calculated by Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The NRS scores observed from baseline to 1^st and 2^nd week follow up in both the group showed significant difference. The percentage of change in erythema in respect to group A was 63.3% for first week and for second week, changes were 100.0% with p = 0.0003. The changes in Group A in respect to erythema was 34.6% for 1^st week and 57.7% in second week. The intergroup comparison was significant with p value of 0.0048 and 0.0006 in relation to group A and group B respectively. The size of the ulcer score was measured which showed 35.5% [P=0.0010] of change in Group A for 1^st and 2^nd week showed totally reduction i.e. 103.4% [P=0.0001]. Group B showed 24.7% change from baseline to 1^st week and 53.6% for 2^nd week follow up. The intergroup comparison with Wilcoxon matched pair test was significant with p=0.0001 in group A. The result obtained by WHO mucositis score in respect to group A shows 29.6% [p=0.0004] change in first week and 75.0% [p=0.0180] change in second week which is highly significant in comparison to group B. Group B showed minimum changes i.e. 20.1% in 1^st week and 33.3% in 2^nd week. The p value with Wilcoxon was significant with 0.0025 in Group A for 1^st week follow up and 0.000 for 2^nd week follow up. Curcumin gel appears to an effective and safer alternative to chlorhexidine gel in treatment of oral mucositis.

Keywords: curcumin, chemotheraphy, mucositis, radiotheraphy

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Authors: Demelash Kassaye

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The Ethiopia case study reveals a unique model of community policing that has developed from a particular political context in which there is a history of violent political transition, a political structure characterized by ethnic federalism and a political ideology that straddles liberal capitalism and democracy on the one hand, and state-led development and centralized control on the other. The police see community policing as a way to reduce crime. Communities speak about community policing as an opportunity to take on policing responsibilities themselves. Both of these objectives are brought together in an overarching rhetoric of community policing as a way of ‘mobilizing for development’ – whereby the community cooperate with the police to reduce crime, which otherwise inhibits development progress. Community policing in Amhara has primarily involved the placement of Community Police Officers at the kebele level across the State. In addition, a number of structures have also been established in the community, including Advisory Councils, Conflict Resolving Committees, family police and the use of shoe shiner’s and other trade associations as police informants. In addition to these newly created structures, community policing also draws upon pre-existing customary actors, such as militia and elders. Conflict Resolving Committees, Community Police Officers and elders were reported as the most common first ports of call when community members experience a crime. The analysis highlights that the model of community policing in Amhara increased communities’ access to policing services, although this is not always attended by increased access to justice. Community members also indicate that public perceptions of the police have improved since the introduction of community policing, in part due to individual Community Police Officers who have, with limited resources, innovated some impressive strategies to improve safety in their neighborhoods. However, more broadly, community policing has provided the state with more effective surveillance of the population – a potentially oppressive function in the current political context. Ultimately, community policing in Amhara is anything but straightforward. It has been a process of attempting to demonstrate the benefits of newfound (and controversial) ‘democracy’ following years of dictatorship, drawing on generations of customary dispute resolution, providing both improved access to security for communities and an enhanced surveillance capacity for the state. For external actors looking to engage in community policing, this case study reveals the importance of close analysis in assessing potential merits, risks and entry points of programming. Factors found to be central in shaping the nature of community policing in the Amhara case include the structure of the political system, state-society relations, cultures dispute resolution and political ideology.

Keywords: community policing, community, militias, ethiopia

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Authors: Kiyanoush Ghalavand, Ali Ferydooni

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Fars province Fārs or Pārs is a vast land located in the southwest of Iran. All over the province, you can see and feel the glory of Ancient Iranian culture and civilization. There are many monuments from pre-historical to the Islamic era within this province. The existence of ancient cultural and historical monuments in Fars province including the historical complex of Persepolis, the tombs of Persian poets Hafez and Saadi, and dozens of other valuable cultural and historical works of this province as a symbol of Iranian national identity and the manifestation of transcendent cultural values of this national identity. Fars province is quintessentially Persian. Its name is the modern version of ancient Parsa, the homeland, if not the place of origin, of the Persians, one of the great powers of antiquity. From here, the Persian Empire ruled much of Western and Central Asia, receiving ambassadors and messengers at Persepolis. It was here that the Persian kings were buried, both in the mountain behind Persepolis and in the rock face of nearby Naqsh-e Rustam. We have a complex paradox in Persian and Islamic ideology in the age of technology in Iran. The main purpose of the present article is to identify and describe the problems and prospects of origin and development of the modern approach to the conservation and restoration of ancient monuments and historic buildings, the influence that this development has had on international collaboration in the protection and conservation of cultural heritage, and the present consequences worldwide. The definition of objects and structures of the past as heritage, and the policies related to their protection, restoration, and conservation, have evolved together with modernity, and are currently recognized as an essential part of the responsibilities of modern society. Since the eighteenth century, the goal of this protection has been defined as the cultural heritage of humanity; gradually this has included not only ancient monuments and past works of art but even entire territories for a variety of new values generated in recent decades. In its medium-term program of 1989, UNESCO defined the full scope of such heritage. The cultural heritage may be defined as the entire corpus of material signs either artistic or symbolic handed on by the past to each culture and, therefore, to the whole of humankind. As a constituent part of the affirmation and enrichment of cultural identities, as a legacy belonging to all humankind, the cultural heritage gives each particular place its recognizable features and is the storehouse of human experience. The preservation and the presentation of the cultural heritage are therefore a corner-stone of any cultural policy. The process, from which these concepts and policies have emerged, has been identified as the ‘modern conservation movement’.

Keywords: tradition, modern, heritage, historical building, protection, cultural policy, fars province

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Authors: Philippa Hunter

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How might history education support teachers and students to see the past as a provocation, be open to possible futures, and act differently? As teacher educators in an age of diversity and uncertainty, we need to question history’s curriculum nature, pedagogy, and policy intent. The cultural politics of history’s identity in the senior secondary curriculum influences educational socialization (disciplinary, professional, research) and engagement with curriculum decision-making. This paper reflects on curriculum disturbance that shaped a critical pedagogy stance to problematize school history’s certainties. The context is situated in an Aotearoa New Zealand university-based initial teacher education programme. A pedagogic innovation was activated whereby problematized history pedagogy [PHP] was conceptualized as the phenomenon and method of inquiry and storied in doctoral work. The PHP was a reciprocal research process involving history class’ participants and the teacher as researcher, in fashioning teaching identities, identifying with, and thinking critically about history pedagogy. PHP findings revealed evocative discourses of embodiment, nostalgia, and connectedness about living ‘inside the past’. Participants expressed certainty about their abilities as teachers living ‘outside the past’ to interpret historical perspectives. However, discomfort was evident in relation to ‘difficult knowledge’ or unfamiliar contexts of the past that exposed exclusion, powerlessness, or silenced voices. Participants identified history programmes as strongly masculine and conflict-focused. A normalized inquiry-transmission approach to history pedagogy was identified and critiqued. Individuals’ reflexive accounts of PHP implemented whilst on practicum indicate possibilities of history pedagogy as; inclusive and democratic, social and ethical reconstruction, and as a critical project. The PHP sought to reimagine history curriculum and identify spaces of possibility in secondary postgraduate teacher education.

Keywords: curriculum, pedagogy, problematise, reciprocal

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Authors: Abdullah Al Farwan, Ya Zhang

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In today’s educational arena, it is critical to understand educational data and be able to evaluate important aspects, particularly data on student achievement. Educational Data Mining (EDM) is a research area that focusing on uncovering patterns and information in data from educational institutions. Teachers, if they are able to predict their students' class performance, can use this information to improve their teaching abilities. It has evolved into valuable knowledge that can be used for a wide range of objectives; for example, a strategic plan can be used to generate high-quality education. Based on previous data, this paper recommends employing data mining techniques to forecast students' final grades. In this study, five data mining methods, Decision Tree, JRip, Naive Bayes, Multi-layer Perceptron, and Random Forest with wrapper feature selection, were used on two datasets relating to Portuguese language and mathematics classes lessons. The results showed the effectiveness of using data mining learning methodologies in predicting student academic success. The classification accuracy achieved with selected algorithms lies in the range of 80-94%. Among all the selected classification algorithms, the lowest accuracy is achieved by the Multi-layer Perceptron algorithm, which is close to 70.45%, and the highest accuracy is achieved by the Random Forest algorithm, which is close to 94.10%. This proposed work can assist educational administrators to identify poor performing students at an early stage and perhaps implement motivational interventions to improve their academic success and prevent educational dropout.

Keywords: classification algorithms, decision tree, feature selection, multi-layer perceptron, Naïve Bayes, random forest, students’ academic performance

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Authors: Mahsa Tavakoli, Seyed Mohammad Hojjati, Yahya Kooch

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Considering that coal mining is one of the important industrial activities, it may cause damages to environment. According to the author’s best knowledge, the effect of traditional coal mining activities on plant biodiversity has not been investigated in the Hyrcanian forests. Therefore, in this study, the effect of coal mining activities on vegetation and tree diversity was investigated in Hyrcanian forest, North Iran. After filed visiting and determining the mine, 16 plots (20×20 m²) were established by systematic-randomly (60×60 m²) in an area of 4 ha (200×200 m²-mine entrance placed at center). An area adjacent to the mine was not affected by the mining activity, and it is considered as the control area. In each plot, the data about trees such as number and type of species were recorded. The biodiversity of vegetation cover was considered 5 square sub-plots (1 m²) in each plot. PAST software and Ecological Methodology were used to calculate Biodiversity indices. The value of Shannon Wiener and Simpson diversity indices for tree cover in control area (1.04±0.34 and 0.62±0.20) was significantly higher than mining area (0.78±0.27 and 0.45±0.14). The value of evenness indices for tree cover in the mining area was significantly lower than that of the control area. The value of Shannon Wiener and Simpson diversity indices for vegetation cover in the control area (1.37±0.06 and 0.69±0.02) was significantly higher than the mining area (1.02±0.13 and 0.50±0.07). The value of evenness index in the control area was significantly higher than the mining area. Plant communities are a good indicator of the changes in the site. Study about changes in vegetation biodiversity and plant dynamics in the degraded land can provide necessary information for forest management and reforestation of these areas.

Keywords: vegetation biodiversity, species composition, traditional coal mining, Caspian forest

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Authors: Manuel Branco

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This paper argues that mainstream economics is one of the reasons that can explain the difficulty in fully realizing human rights because its logic is intrinsically contradictory to human rights, most especially economic, social and cultural rights. First, its utilitarianism, both in its cardinal and ordinal understanding, contradicts human rights principles. Maximizing aggregate utility along the lines of cardinal utility is a theoretical exercise that consists in ensuring as much as possible that gains outweigh losses in society. In this process an individual may get worse off, though. If mainstream logic is comfortable with this, human rights' logic does not. Indeed, universality is a key principle in human rights and for this reason the maximization exercise should aim at satisfying all citizens’ requests when goods and services necessary to secure human rights are at stake. The ordinal version of utilitarianism, in turn, contradicts the human rights principle of indivisibility. Contrary to ordinal utility theory that ranks baskets of goods, human rights do not accept ranking when these goods and services are necessary to secure human rights. Second, by relying preferably on market logic to allocate goods and services, mainstream economics contradicts human rights because the intermediation of money prices and the purpose of profit may cause exclusion, thus compromising the principle of universality. Finally, mainstream economics sees human rights mainly as constraints to the development of its logic. According to this view securing human rights would, then, be considered a cost weighing on economic efficiency and, therefore, something to be minimized. Fully realizing human rights needs, therefore, a different approach. This paper discusses a human rights-based political economy. This political economy, among other characteristics should give up mainstream economics narrow utilitarian approach, give up its belief that market logic should guide all exchanges of goods and services between human beings, and finally give up its view of human rights as constraints on rational choice and consequently on good economic performance. Giving up mainstream’s narrow utilitarian approach means, first embracing procedural utility and human rights-aimed consequentialism. Second, a more radical break can be imagined; non-utilitarian, or even anti-utilitarian, approaches may emerge, then, as alternatives, these two standpoints being not necessarily mutually exclusive, though. Giving up market exclusivity means embracing decommodification. More specifically, this means an approach that takes into consideration the value produced outside the market and an allocation process no longer necessarily centered on money prices. Giving up the view of human rights as constraints means, finally, to consider human rights as an expression of wellbeing and a manifestation of choice. This means, in turn, an approach that uses indicators of economic performance other than growth at the macro level and profit at the micro level, because what we measure affects what we do.

Keywords: economic and social rights, political economy, economic theory, markets

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Authors: Maria Jose Granero Paris, Ana Isabel Jimenez Zarco, Agustin Pablo Alvarez Herranz

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In the industrial sector the collaboration along the supply chain is key especially in order to develop product, production methods or process innovations. The access to resources and knowledge not being available inside the company, the achievement of cost competitive solutions, the reduction of the time required to innovate are some of the benefits linked with the collaboration with suppliers. The big industrial manufacturers have a long tradition to collaborate with their suppliers to develop new products in the developed countries. Since they have increased their global supply chains and global sourcing activities, the objective of the research is to analyse if the same best practices, way of working, experiences, information technology tools, governance methodologies are applied when collaborating with suppliers in the developed world or in developing countries. Most of the current research focuses to analyse the Supply Chain Collaboration in the developed countries and in recent years the number of publications related to the Supply Chain Collaboration in developing countries has increased, but there is still a lack of research comparing both and analysing the similarities, differences and key success factors among the Supply Chain Collaboration practices in developed and developing countries. With this gap in mind, the research under preparation will focus on the following goals: -Identify the most important elements required for a successful supply chain collaboration in the developed and developing countries. -Set up the optimal governance framework to manage the supply chain collaboration in the developed and developing countries. -Define some recommendations about required improvements in the current supply chain collaboration business relationship practices in place. Following the case methodology we will analyze the way manufacturers and suppliers collaborate in the development of new products, production methods or process innovations and in the set up of new global supply chains in two industries with different level of technology intensity and collaboration history being the automotive and aerospace industries.

Keywords: global supply chain networks, Supply Chain Collaboration, supply chain governance, supply chain performance

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Authors: Sally Ibrahim, Mohamed Hedia, Mohamed Taqi, Mohamed Derbala, Karima Mahmoud, Youssef Ahmed, Sayed Ismail, Mohamed El-Belely

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The identification and quantification of serum microRNA (miRNA) from mares with endometritis might serve as useful and implementable clinical biomarkers for the early diagnosis of endometiritis. Aims of the current study were (I) to study the expression pattern of eca-miR-155, eca-miR-223, eca-miR-17, eca-miR-200a, and eca-miR-205, and (II) to determine the levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), prostaglandins (PGF₂α and PGE₂), in the serum of Arabian mares with healthy and abnormal uterine status (endometritis). This study was conducted on 80 Arabian mares (4-14 years old). Mares were divided into 48 sub-fertile mares suspected of endometritis and 32 fertile at stud farms. The criteria for mares to be enrolled in the endometritis group were that they had been bred three or more times unsuccessfully in the breeding season or had a history of more than one year of reproductive failure. In addition, two or more of the following criteria on a checklist were present: abnormal clinical findings, transrectal ultrasonographic uterine examination showed abnormal fluid in the uterus (echogenic or ≥2 cm in diameter), positive endometrial cytology; and bacterial and/or fungal growth. Serum samples were collected for measuring IL-6, PGF₂α, and PGE₂ concentrations, as well as serum miRNA isolation and quantitative real-time PCR. Serum concentrations of IL-6, PGE₂, and PGF₂α were higher (P ≤ 0.001) in mares with endometritis compared to the control healthy ones. The expression profile of eca-miR-155, eca-miR-223, eca-miR-17, eca-miR-200a, and eca-miR-205 increased (P≤0.001) in mares with endometritis compared to the control ones. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that revealed that serum miRNA and serum inflammatory mediators (IL-6, PGE₂, and PGF₂α) could be used as non-invasive gold standard biomarkers, and therefore might be served as an important additional diagnostic tool for endometritis in Arabian mares. Moreover, estimation of the serum concentrations of serum miRNA, IL-6, PGE₂, and PGF₂α is a promising recommended tool during the breeding soundness examination in mares.

Keywords: Arabian Mares, endometritis, inflammatory mediators, serum miRNA

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Authors: Abhijit Trailokya

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Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD’s) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. Many clinical trials have demonstrated that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering, reduces the incidence of coronary and cerebrovascular events across a broad spectrum of patients at risk. Guidelines for the management of patients at risk have been established in Europe and North America. The guidelines have advocated progressively lower LDL-C targets and more aggressive use of statin therapy. In Indian patients, comprehensive data on dyslipidemia management and its treatment outcomes are inadequate. There is lack of information on existing treatment patterns, the patient’s profile being treated, and factors that determine treatment success or failure in achieving desired goals. Purpose: The present study was planned to determine the lipid control status in high-risk dyslipidemic patients treated with lipid-lowering therapy in India. Methods: This cross-sectional, non-interventional, single visit program was conducted across 483 sites in India where male and female patients with high-risk dyslipidemia aged 18 to 65 years who had visited for a routine health check-up to their respective physician at hospital or a healthcare center. Percentage of high-risk dyslipidemic patients achieving adequate LDL-C level (< 70 mg/dL) on lipid-lowering therapy and the association of lipid parameters with patient characteristics, comorbid conditions, and lipid lowering drugs were analysed. Results: 3089 patients were enrolled in the study; of which 64% were males. LDL-C data was available for 95.2% of the patients; only 7.7% of these patients achieved LDL-C levels < 70 mg/dL on lipid-lowering therapy, which may be due to inability to follow therapeutic plans, poor compliance, or inadequate counselling by physician. The physician’s lack of awareness about recent treatment guidelines also might contribute to patients’ poor adherence, not explaining adequately the benefit and risks of a medication, not giving consideration to the patient’s life style and the cost of medication. Statin was the most commonly used anti-dyslipidemic drug across population. The higher proportion of patients had the comorbid condition of CVD and diabetes mellitus across all dyslipidemic patients. Conclusion: As per the European Society of Cardiology guidelines the ideal LDL-C levels in high risk dyslipidemic patients should be less than 70%. In the present study, 7.7% of the patients achieved LDL-C levels < 70 mg/dL on lipid lowering therapy which is very less. Most of high risk dyslipidemic patients in India are on suboptimal dosage of statin. So more aggressive and high dosage statin therapy may be required to achieve target LDLC levels in high risk Indian dyslipidemic patients.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, LDL-C, lipid lowering drug, statins

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Authors: Basant Singh Sikarwar, Mukesh Roy, Ayush Goyal, Priya Ranjan

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This work combines two bodies of knowledge which includes biomedical basis of blood stain formation and fluid communities’ wisdom that such formation of blood stain depends heavily on physical properties. Moreover biomedical research tells that different patterns in stains of blood are robust indicator of blood donor’s health or lack thereof. Based on these valuable insights an innovative screening tool is proposed which can act as an aide in the diagnosis of diseases such Anemia, Hyperlipidaemia, Tuberculosis, Blood cancer, Leukemia, Malaria etc., with enhanced confidence in the proposed analysis. To realize this powerful technique, simple, robust and low-cost micro-fluidic devices, a micro-capillary viscometer and a pendant drop tensiometer are designed and proposed to be fabricated to measure the viscosity, surface tension and wettability of various blood samples. Once prognosis and diagnosis data has been generated, automated linear and nonlinear classifiers have been applied into the automated reasoning and presentation of results. A support vector machine (SVM) classifies data on a linear fashion. Discriminant analysis and nonlinear embedding’s are coupled with nonlinear manifold detection in data and detected decisions are made accordingly. In this way, physical properties can be used, using linear and non-linear classification techniques, for screening of various diseases in humans and cattle. Experiments are carried out to validate the physical properties measurement devices. This framework can be further developed towards a real life portable disease screening cum diagnostics tool. Small-scale production of screening cum diagnostic devices is proposed to carry out independent test.

Keywords: blood, physical properties, diagnostic, nonlinear, classifier, device, surface tension, viscosity, wettability

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Authors: Hadeer Ibrahiem, Mahmoud Nasr, Masarrat M. M. Migahid, Mohamed A. Ghazy

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The release of textile wastewater loaded with 1,4 dioxane into aquatic ecosystems has been associated with various human health risks and adverse environmental impacts. In parallel, phytoremediation has been recently employed to treat highly polluted wastewater because various plant species tend to produce certain enzymes as a defense mechanism against a toxic environment. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the ability of phytoremediation using Eichhornia crassipes for the removal of various pollutants, including 1,4 dioxane, from textile wastewater. A phytoremediation system composed of Eichhornia crassipes was acclimatized for 10 d, and then operated in four lab-scale hydroponic systems, viz., negative control, positive control, and two different 1,4 dioxane concentration (400 and 500 mg/L). After 11 d of operation, the phytoremediation system achieved removal efficiencies of 67.5±3.4%, 89.4±4.4%, 83.6±3.8% for 1,4 dioxane (at initial concentration 400 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (at initial concentration 679 mg/L), and cumulative heavy metals, respectively. The removal of these pollutants was mainly supported by the phyto-sorption and phytodegradation mechanisms. The economic feasibility of this phytoremediation system was validated by estimating the capital and operating costs, requiring 4.6 USD for the treatment of 1 m3 textile wastewater. The study concluded that the phytoremediation process could be used as a practical and economical approach to treat textile wastewater laden with various organic and inorganic pollutants. Due to the observed pollution reduction and human health protection, the study objectives would fulfill the targets of SDG 3 “Good Health and Well-being” and SDG 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation”. Further studies are required to (i) investigate the ability of plant species to withstand higher concentrations of 1,4 dioxane for an extended operation time and (ii) understand the biochemical pathways for the degradation of 1,4 dioxane via the action of plant enzymes and the associated microbial community.

Keywords: 1, 4 dioxane concentrations, hydrophytes, Eichhornia crassipes, phytoremediation effectiveness, SDGs, textile industrial effluent

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Authors: Taiebe Shokri, Shahram Yazdani, Leila Afshar, Soleiman Ahmadi

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Introduction: The importance of professionalism in higher education not only determines the appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and guides faculty members in the implementation of professional responsibilities, but also guarantees faculty members' adherence to professional principles and values, ensures the quality of teaching and facilitator will be the teaching-learning process in universities and will increase the commitment to meet the needs of students as well as the development of an ethical culture based on ethics. Therefore, considering the important role of medical education teachers to prepare teachers and students in the future, the need to determine the concept of professional teacher and teacher, and the characteristics of teacher professionalism, we have explained the concept of professionalism in teachers in this study. Methods: The concept analysis method used in this study was Walker and Avant method which has eight steps. Walker and Avant state the purpose of concept analysis as follows: The process of distinguishing between the defining features of a concept and its unrelated features. The process of concept analysis includes selecting a concept, determining the purpose of the analysis, identifying the uses of the concept, determining the defining features of the concept, identifying a model, identifying boundary and adversarial items, identifying the precedents and consequences of the concept, and defining empirical references. is. Results: Professionalism in its general sense, requires deep knowledge, insight, creating a healthy and safe environment, honesty and trust, impartiality, commitment to the profession and continuous improvement, punctuality, criticism, professional competence, responsibility, and Individual accountability, especially in social interactions, is an effort for continuous improvement, the acquisition of these characteristics is not easily possible and requires education, especially continuous learning. Professionalism is a set of values, behaviors, and relationships that underpin public trust in teachers.

Keywords: concept analysis, medical education, professionalism, faculty members

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Authors: Ann Dashwood

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Using standard Australian English with confidence is a cultural expectation of parents of primary school aged children who want to engage effectively with their children’s teachers and school administration. That confidence in support of their children’s learning at school is seldom experienced by parents whose first language is not English. Sharing language with competence in an intercultural environment is the common denominator for meaningful communication and engagement to occur in a school community. Experience in relevant interactive sessions is known to enhance engagement and participation. The purpose of this paper is to identify interactional settings for which parents who are isolated from the daily use of functional Australian cultural language learned to engage more effectively in their children’s learning at school. The outcomes measured parents’ intercultural engagement with classroom teachers and attention to the school’s administrative procedures. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods. The principles of communicative task-based language learning combined with intercultural communication principles provided the theoretical base for intensive English task-based learning and engagement. The quantitative analysis examined data samples collected by classroom teachers and administrators and parents’ writing samples. Interviews and observations qualitatively informed the study. Currently significant numbers of projects are active in community centres and schools to enhance English language knowledge of parents from Language Backgrounds Other Than English (LBOTE). The study was significant to explore the effects of conducting intensive English with parents of varied English language backgrounds by targeting language use for social interactions in the community, specific engagement in school activities, cultural interaction with teachers and responsiveness to complying with school procedures.

Keywords: engagement, intercultural communication, LBOTE, school community

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Authors: Zeynep Selin Balci, Altug Gunal

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Religion has always an effect on the policies of states. In the case of religion having a central role in defining identity, especially when becoming an independent state, the bond between religious authority and state cannot easily be broken. As independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire was acquired at the same time with the creation of its own church under the name of the Church of Greece by declaring its independence from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, the new church became an important part of Greek national identity. As the Church has the ability to influence Greeks, its rituals, public appearances, and practices are used to provide support to the state. Although there sometimes have been controversies between church and state, it has always been a fact that church is an integral part of the state, which is proved by that paying the salaries of priest by state payroll and them being naturally civil servants. European Union membership, on the other hand, has a changing impact on this relationship. This impact started to be more visible in 2000 when then government decided to exclude the religion section from identity cards. Church’s reaction was to gather people around recalling their religious identity and followed by redefining the content of nationality, which aspired nationalist fronts. After 2015 when leftist coalition Syriza and its self-described atheist leader came to power, the situation for nationalists and Church became more tangling in addition to the economic crisis started in 2010 and evolved into the Eurozone crisis by affecting not only Greece but also other members. Although the church did not have direct confrontations with the government, the fact that Tsipras refused to take the oath on Bible created tensions because it was not acceptable for a state whose Constitution starts ‘in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity’. Moreover, austerity measures to overcome the economic crisis, which affected the everyday life of citizens in terms of both prices and salaries, did not harm the church’s economic situation much. Considering church being the second biggest landowner after state and paying no taxes, the fact that church was exempt from austerity measures showed to the government the necessity to find a way to make church contribute to solution for the crisis. In 2018, when the government agreed with the head of the church on cutting off the priests from government payroll automatically meaning to end priests’ civil servant status, it created tensions both for church and in society. As a result of the elections held in July 2019, Tsipras could not have the chance to apply the decision as he left the office. In light of these, this study aims to analyze the position of the church in the economic crisis and its effects on Tsipras term. In order to sufficiently understand this, it is to look at the historical changing points of Church’s influence in Greek’s eyes.

Keywords: Eurozone crisis, Greece, Orthodox Church, Tsipras

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Authors: Saba Farheen, Uday Shankar

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Background- Attaining equality among all humans and eliminating all forms of discrimination against them are fundamental human rights. These rights are based on the belief that all human beings are born free with equal dignity, esteem, and honour. In India, more than 30 percent politicians are having criminal background. They are also illiterate, which obstacle them in governing the system. They do not know the basic human rights. Because of this, they cannot decide what to do for the sake of the nation. Bihar is the third largest populated state of India and is characterized by corrupt politicians and poor literacy rate. If the politicians can aware about the human rights, then they will show positive attitude towards these. Aim- The main goal of the present research was to study the subjects’ knowledge or awareness towards their human rights. It was an attempt to identify social-psychological conditions that inhibit or facilitate awareness among public representatives towards their human rights in the special context of Bihar, India. Thus the main variable awareness towards human rights has been treated as the main dependent variable. The other two variables-socio economic status and Educational status, have been treated as independent variables. Method- The subjects were 400 public representatives in the age group of 35 to 50 years. They were from High socio economic status (N=150), Middle socio economic status (N=150), and Low socio economic status (N=100). The subjects were either educated (N=200) or Uneducated (N=200). The subjects were selected randomly from the different districts of Bihar, India. “Human Rights Awareness Scale” by Dr. Iftekhar Hossain, Dr. Saba Farheen, and Dr. Uday Shankar was applied in this study. Results- Results have shown that the public representatives have very low level of awareness towards the human rights. Also, the subjects from Middle SES have highest awareness in comparison with subjects of High and Low SES. Uneducated public representatives have less awareness than the educated one about human rights. Conclusion- Conclusively, it can be stated that human rights awareness among the public representatives of India is very low, and it is being affected by their Socio economic status and literacy level.

Keywords: human rights, awareness, public representatives, bihar, India

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Authors: Khrukulu Khusoh

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The strategies and tactics used by governments throughout the world to counter terrorism and insurgency over the past few decades include the declaration of states of siege or martial law, enactment of anti-terrorist legislation and strengthening of judicial powers. Some of these measures taken have been more successful than the other, but some have proved counterproductive, alienating the public from the authorities and further polarizing an already fractured political environment. Such cases of alienation and polarization can be seen in the northeastern states of India. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which was introduced to curb insurgency in the remote jungles of the far-flung areas has remained a telling tale of agony in the north east India. Grievous trauma to humans through encounter killings, custodial deaths, unwarranted torture, exploitation of women and children in several ways have been reported in Nagaland, Manipur and other northeastern states where the Indian army has been exercising powers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. While terrorism and the insurgency are destructive of human rights, counter-terrorism does not necessarily restore and safeguard human rights. This special law has not proven effective particularly in dealing with terrorism and insurgency. The insurgency has persisted in the state of Nagaland even after sixty years notwithstanding the presence of a good number of special laws. There is a need to fight elements that threaten the security of a nation, but the methods chosen should be measured, otherwise the fight is lost. There has been no review on the effectiveness or failure of the act to realize its intended purpose. Nor was there any attempt on the part of the state to critically look at the violation of rights of innocent citizens by the state agencies. The Indian state keeps enacting laws, but none of these could be effectively applied as there was the absence of clarity of purpose. Therefore, every new law which has been enacted time and again to deal with security threats failed to bring any solution for the last six decades. The Indian state resorts to measures which are actually not giving anything in terms of strategic benefits but are short-term victories that might result in long-term tragedies. Therefore, right thinking citizens and human rights activists across the country feel that introduction of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was as much violation of human rights and its continuation is undesirable. What worried everyone is the arbitrary use, or rather misuse of power by the Indian armed forces particularly against the weaker sections of the society, including women. After having being subjected to indiscriminate abuse of that law, people of the north-east India have been demanding its revocation for a long time. The present paper attempts to critically examine the violation of human rights under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. It also attempts to bring out the impact of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act on the Naga people.

Keywords: armed forces, insurgency, special laws, violence

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Authors: Rui Calejo Rodrigues

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Building Refurbishing and Maintenance is a major area of knowledge ultimately dispensed to user/occupant criteria. The optimization of the service life of a building needs a special background to be assessed as it is one of those concepts that needs proficiency to be implemented. ISO 15686-2 Buildings and constructed assets - Service life planning: Part 2, Service life prediction procedures, states a factorial method based on deterministic data for building components life span. Major consequences result on a deterministic approach because users/occupants are not sensible to understand the end of components life span and so simply act on deterministic periods and so costly and resources consuming solutions do not meet global targets of planet sustainability. The estimation of 2 thousand million conventional buildings in the world, if submitted to a probabilistic method for service life planning rather than a deterministic one provide an immense amount of resources savings. Since 1989 the research team nowadays stating for CEES–Center for Building in Service Studies developed a methodology based on Montecarlo method for probabilistic approach regarding life span of building components, cost and service life care time spans. The research question of this deals with the importance of probabilistic approach of buildings life planning compared with deterministic methods. It is presented the mathematic model developed for buildings probabilistic lifespan approach and experimental data is obtained to be compared with deterministic data. Assuming that buildings lifecycle depends a lot on component replacement this methodology allows to conclude on the global impact of fixed replacements methodologies such as those on result of deterministic models usage. Major conclusions based on conventional buildings estimate are presented and evaluated under a sustainable perspective.

Keywords: building components life cycle, building maintenance, building sustainability, Montecarlo Simulation

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Authors: Bamidele Wale-Oshinowo, Doris Akyere Boateng, Lebura Sorbarikor

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Women play significant roles when it comes to the survival of family businesses; however, their efforts are less acknowledged across the developing world. In the case where these businesses are started by husbands, women in many instances work as hard as the men to build up the business. In spite of this, the benefits women receive are not equal to their inputs. For instance, the profits accruing from ownership of these businesses are mainly enjoyed by husbands, as they are deemed to be the legal owners of family businesses in most developing economies. Though the number of women involvement in the ownership, management, and direction of family businesses keeps increasing over the years, their efforts sometimes are ‘invisible’ and not rewarded. Using a phenomenological approach, this study purposively selected 20 businesswomen each from Ghana and Nigeria for in-depth interviews on the different roles they play in ensuring the success of their family businesses (FBs). This study also explored the challenges and opportunities that these women have within their family businesses. Among the major findings of this study is the important strategic direction that women give in terms of providing both tangible and intangible resources such as transfer of transit knowledge to the next generation. Women were also found to play a significant role in the implementation of entrepreneurial orientation within small family businesses in Ghana and Nigeria. However, the study revealed that women experience various challenges as stakeholders in family businesses, among which are: work-life balance issues, succession issues, and culture-related presuppositions about gender roles both within the business and in their families. In the light of the study’s findings, critical recommendations made include encouraging founders and/or owners of family businesses to create a conducive and viable platform for women to grow into key leadership positions within Family businesses; doing this would impact strongly on the growth rate of these form of businesses within the African Region.

Keywords: emerging economies, control, management, resources, strategy, women

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Authors: Dukali Abujnah

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This study was undertaken to knowledge the chemical composition of some farm animals (cows ) by using ultrasonic milk analyzer. This method was used first time in our country in the field of milk hygiene to determine and comparison the composition percent of raw milk for farm animals as attempt to protect the health of consumers 240 raw milk samples for each species of animals included in this study for two different season of year first (Novembe 2014 - January 2015) , second from (May – Novembe2015) .The chemical analysis. In this way, a range of building suitable to put in the Libyan market product structures, and milk, for use as a new product or exposure to treatment such as pasteurized milk and long-life may be wider study project..Controls have been implemented in operating in Libya, companies which are part of the business created by the Libyan state. It was created only after the companies that made many of the studies and research carried out on areas of Libya which it was possible to intervene. Although troops spent in recent years, companies have not yet found their balance and milk production has not yet come to those set forth in the action plans, due to problems of various types that will be discussed in this study. We believe that these data have been taken in four years if analyzed properly, can provide more accurate information to farmers in their companies want to take dairy cattle breeding. The total bacterial count was 76 and 38 cfu/ml for locally produced and imported UHT milk respectively. Coliforms were negative for all examined locally produce and imported samples. E. coli were not isolated from any of the examined UHT samples. Aerobic spore-formers count mean count was 49 and 27 cfu/ml for both examined samples respectively. Obtained results show that most of the locally produced UHT milk does not satisfy the suggested Libyan Standards for UHT milk for fat% as well as total bacterial count/ml. Economical and public health importance of the obtained results were discussed, and control measures for improving the quality of UHT locally made milk were also discussed.

Keywords: locally, UHT milks, farms animals, raw milk analysis milk

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Authors: Itsuo Yokoyama, Rikako Kikuti, Miti Sekikawa, Tosinori Asai, Sarai Tsuyoshi

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Introduction: Vascular access for hemodialysis therapy is often difficult, even for experienced medical personnel. Ultrasound guided needle placement have been performed occasionally but is not always helpful in certain cases with complicated vascular anatomy. Obtaining precise anatomical knowledge of the vascular structure is important to prevent access-related complications. With augmented reality (AR) device such as AR glasses, the virtual vascular structure is shown superimposed on the actual patient vessels, thus enabling the operator to maneuver catheter placement easily with free both hands. We herein report our method of AR guided vascular access method in dialysis treatment Methods: Three dimensional (3D) object of the arm with arteriovenous fistula is computer graphically created with 3D software from the data obtained by computer tomography, ultrasound echogram, and image scanner. The 3D vascular object thus created is viewed on the screen of the AR digital display device (such as AR glass or iPad). The picture of the vascular anatomical structure becomes visible, which is superimposed over the real patient’s arm, thereby the needle insertion be performed under the guidance of AR visualization with ease. By this method, technical difficulty in catheter placement for dialysis can be lessened and performed safely. Considerations: Virtual reality technology has been applied in various fields and medical use is not an exception. Yet AR devices have not been widely used among medical professions. Visualization of the virtual vascular object can be achieved by creation of accurate three dimensional object with the help of computer graphical technique. Although our experience is limited, this method is applicable with relative easiness and our accumulating evidence has suggested that our method of vascular access with the use of AR can be promising.

Keywords: abdominal-aorta, calcification, extraskeletal, dialysis, computer graphics, 3DCG, CT, calcium, phosphorus

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Authors: Young-Taeg Kim, Gwang Ho Seo, Hyungju Oh, Ho Kyung Ha, Kuk Jin Kim

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Kim et al., hypothesized an increase in volume transport in the Korea Strait based on the concurrent increase in water temperature and mean sea level observed by the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency (KHOA) in the vicinity of the Korea Strait from 2000 to 2009. Since then, to our best knowledge, no definitive studies have been reported on the increase in volume transport through the Korea Strait, but the observed water temperature (2000-2021) and sea level (1989-2021) in the Korea Strait and East Sea have been found to be increasing. In particular, the rapid increase rate in the mean sea level rise (2.55~3.53 mm/y) in these areas cannot be explained by only steric effect due to the increased water temperature. It is more reasonable interpretation that the sea level rise is due to an increase in the volume transport of warm and salty currents. If the increase in the volume transport is explained by the geostrophic equation without considering the sea level rise in the Korea Strait, the current velocity should increase. However, up to now, there are no reports of an increase in current velocity from direct observations using ADCP (e.g., observations of Camellia) or from various numerical models. Therefore, the increase in volume transport cannot be explained by the geostrophic equation. Another possible explanation for the increase in the volume transport is the effect of wind. Although Korea is dominated by monsoon, it is affected by winds according to El Niño and La Niña, which have a cycle of about 3 to 4 years. During El Niño (La Niña), northerly winds (southerly winds) prevail in Korea. Consequently, it is inferred that the transported volume in the Korea Strait slowly increases interannually. However, in this study, it was difficult to find a clear correlation between annually-averaged mean sea level and El Niño (or La Niña) during 1989-2021. This is probably due to the interactions of the PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and AO (Arctic Oscillation) along with the ENSO (El niño-Southern Oscillation). However, it is clear that the interannual variability of winds is affecting the volume transport in the Korean Strait. On the other hand, the effect of global sea level rise on the volume transport in the Korea Strait is small compared to the interannual variability of the volume transport, but it seems to play a constant role.

Keywords: mean sea level, volume transport, El nino, La nina

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Authors: Kahlouche Amal, Touzene F. Zohra, Betatache Fatihaet Nouani Abdelouahab

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The development of the world production of the cheese these last decades, as well as agents' greater request cheap coagulants, accentuated the search for new surrogates of the rennet. What about the interest to explore the vegetable biodiversity, the source well cheap of many naturals metabolites that the scientists today praise it (thistle, latex of fig tree, Cardoon, seeds of melon). Indeed, a big interest is concerned the search for surrogates of vegetable origin. The objective of the study is to show the possibility of extracting a protease coagulant the milk from the cake of Sunflower, available raw material and the potential source of surrogates of rennet. so, the determination of the proteolytic activity of raw extracts, the purification, the elimination of the pigments of tint of the enzymatic preparations, a better knowledge of the coagulative properties through study of the effect of certain factors (temperature, pH, concentration in CaCl2) are so many factors which contribute to value milk particularly those produced by the small ruminants of the Algerian dairy exploitations. Otherwise, extracts coagulants of vegetable origin allowed today to value traditional, in addition, although the extract coagulants of vegetable origin made it possible today to develop traditional cheeses whose Iberian peninsula is the promoter, but the test of 'pressed paste not cooked' cheese manufacturing led to the semi-scale pilot; and that, by using the enzymatic extract of sunflower (Helianthus annus) which gave satisfactory results as well to the level of outputs as on the sensory level,which, statistically,did not give any significant difference between studied cheeses. These results confirm the possibility of use of this coagulase as a substitute of rennet commercial on an industrial scale.

Keywords: characterization, cheese, Rennet, sunflower

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Authors: Wencong Lu, Abdul Latif, Raza Ullah, Subhan Ullah

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Agricultural production is subject to risk and the attitudes of producers toward risk, in turn, may be affected by certain socioeconomic characteristics of producers. Although, it is important to assess the risk attitude of farmers and their perception towards different calamitous risk sources for better understanding of their risk management adoption decisions, to the best of our knowledge no studies have been carried out to analyze the risk attitude and risk perceptions in the context of tobacco production in Pakistan. Therefore the study in hand is conducted with an attempt to overcome the gap in existing literature by analyzing different catastrophic risk sources faced by tobacco growers, their attitude towards risk and the effect of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, farmers’ participation in contract farming and off-farm diversification on their risk attitude and risk perception. Around 78% of Pakistan’s entire tobacco crop and nearly all of the country’s Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco is produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province alone. The yield/hectare of tobacco produced in KPK province is 14% higher than the global average and 22 % higher than national average. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was selected as main study area as nearly all of the country’s Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco is produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province alone. Six districts were purposely selected based on their contribution in overall production for the last five years which accounts for more than 94.84% of the tobacco production in KPK province. Specific objectives taken into considerations for this study are the risk attitude of the farmers for growing FCV tobacco crop, farmers’ risk perception for different risk sources related to tobacco production (as far as the incidence and severity of each risk source is concerned) and the effect of socioeconomic characteristics, contract farming participation and off-farm diversification (income) on the risk attitude and risk perception of FCV tobacco growers.

Keywords: risk attitude, risk perception, contract farming, off-farm diversification, probit model

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Authors: S. Lemoussu, J. C. Chaudemar, R. A. Vingerhoeds

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The aeronautics sector is currently living an unprecedented growth largely due to innovative projects. In several cases, such innovative developments are being carried out by Small and Medium sized-Enterprises (SMEs). For instance, in Europe, a handful of SMEs are leading projects like airships, large civil drones, or flying cars. These SMEs have all limited resources, must make strategic decisions, take considerable financial risks and in the same time must take into account the constraints of safety, cost, time and performance as any commercial organization in this industry. Moreover, today, no international regulations fully exist for the development and certification of this kind of projects. The absence of such a precise and sufficiently detailed regulatory framework requires a very close contact with regulatory instances. But, SMEs do not always have sufficient resources and internal knowledge to handle this complexity and to discuss these issues. This poses additional challenges for those SMEs that have system integration responsibilities and that must provide all the necessary means of compliance to demonstrate their ability to design, produce, and operate airships with the expected level of safety and reliability. The final objective of our research is thus to provide a methodological framework supporting SMEs in their development taking into account recent innovation and institutional rules of the sector. We aim to provide a contribution to the problematic by developing a specific Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach. Airspace regulation, aeronautics standards and international norms on systems engineering are taken on board to be formalized in a set of models. This paper presents the on-going research project combining Systems Engineering and Project Management process modeling and taking into account the metamodeling problematic.

Keywords: aeronautics, certification, process modeling, project management, SME, systems engineering

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Authors: Maaike Maria Augustina Hommes

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This paper reviews the emergence of the recently approved lust enhancing pill for women (sold under the brand name of Addyi) and its status as ‘medicine’ from a cultural studies perspective to understand the way in which the usage of the pill can be seen as a medicalization of sexual desire. It asks where this medicalization can be localized to understand the current placement of and notions on female sexuality. Via a close reading of a woman’s narration of her usage of the pill that appeared in Shape Magazine, this paper critically reviews the pill’s relation to the concept of ‘cure’ and assesses the way this Pink Pill functions as a cure to the DSM-IV based disorder called Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. As such it finds that in the diagnosis with HSDD meant a huge relief. Now this woman was not just ‘bad at life and bad at marriage’ but ‘just had this health issue’. In order to get to an understanding of the different structures that conjoin in this expression of relief this paper reviews the emergence of the sexual desire disorder within psychology and the way that the loss of desire becomes localized in the brain. This localization will be related to two ways of looking at the human body; the medical gaze as described by Michel Foucault, and the neuromolecular gaze, as introduced by Nikolas Rose and Joelle M.Abi-Rached. Both these penetrating gazes bring about a certain reductionism in which the human body is either viewed as an objectified ‘sick body’ or as a set of chemical reactions. By referring to these modes of looking as reductionist one assumes that something is lost, or forgotten in the act of reducing. It is both what is gained in the formulation of the disorder, as what is lost in reduction of the disorder in medical knowledge that is at the central inquiry of this paper. As such, this paper brings forward the way in which medicine and cultural narrative are deeply intertwined. It is this way in which different forces of subject formation come together that is addressed via an interdisciplinary and object-centered focus on the pink pill.

Keywords: disorder and cure, female sexual desire, medical gaze, neuromolecular gaze

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Authors: Omran Al Balushi, Haitham Al Rawahi

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Enterprise Asset Management (eAM) has been implemented across different Generation, Transmission and Distribution subsidiaries in Nama Group companies. As part of Nama group, Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) was the first company to implement this system. It was very important for OETC to implement and maintain such a system to achieve its business objectives and for effective operations, which will also support the delivery of the asset management strategy. Enterprise Asset Management (eAM) addresses the comprehensive asset maintenance requirements of Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC). OETC needs to optimize capacity and increase utilization, while lowering unit production. E-AM will enable OETC to adopt this strategy. Implementation of e-AM has improved operation performance with preventive and scheduled maintenance as well as it increased safety. Implementation of e-AM will also enable OETC to create optimal asset management strategy which will increase revenue and decrease cost by effectively monitoring operational data such as maintenance history and operation conditions. CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) is the main software and the back-bone of e-AM system. It is used to provide an improved working practice to properly establish information and data flow related to maintenance activities. Implementation of e-AM system was one of the factors that supported OETC to achieve ISO55001 Certificate on fourth quarter of 2016. Also, full implementation of e-AM system will result in strong integration between CMMS and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) application and it will improve OETC to build a reliable maintenance strategy for all asset classes in its Transmission network. In this paper we will share our experience and knowledge of implementing such a system and how it supported OETC’s management to make decisions. Also we would highlight the challenges and difficulties that we encountered during the implementation of e-AM. Also, we will list some features and advantages of e-AM in asset management, preventive maintenance and maintenance cost management.

Keywords: CMMS, Maintenance Management, Asset Management, Maintenance Strategy

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Authors: Jocelyn Li, Xiangyang Li

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We have employed THINC-it® to study the acute effects of Spravato on the cognitive function of patients with severe major depression disorder (MDD). The scores of the four tasks (Spotter, Symbol Check, Code Breaker, Trails) found in THINC-it® were used to measure cognitive function throughout treatment. The patients who participated in this study have tried more than 3 antidepressants without significant improvement before they began Spravato treatment. All patients received 3 doses of 28 mg Spravato 5 minutes apart (84 mg total per treatment) during this study with THINC-it®. The data were collected before the first Spravato administration (T0), 1 hour after the first Spravato administration (T1), and 2 hours after the first Spravato administration (T2) during each treatment. The following data were from 13 patients, with a total of 226 trials in a 2-3 month period. Spravato at 84 mg reduced the scores of Trails, Code Breaker, Symbol Check, and Spotter at T1 by 10-20% in all patients with one exception for a minority of patients in Spotter. At T2, the scores of Trails, Symbol Check, and Spotter were back to 97% of T0 while the score of Code Breaker was back to 92%. Interestingly, we found that the score of Spotter was consistently increased by 17% at T1 in the same 30% of patients in each treatment. We called this change reverse response while the pattern of the other patients, a decline (T1) and then recovery (T2), was called non-reverse response. We also compared the scores at T0 between the first visit and the fifth visit. The T0 scores of all four tasks were improved at visit 5 when compared to visit 1. The scores of Trails, Code Breaker, and Symbol Check at T0 were increased by 14%, 33%, and 14% respectively at visit 5. The score of Code Breaker, which had two trends, improved by 9% in reverse response patients compared to a 27% improvement in non-reverse response patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study done on the impact of Spravato on cognitive function change in major depression patients at this time frame. Whether we can predict future responses to Spravato with THINC-it® merits further study.

Keywords: Spravato, THINC-it, major depressive disorder, cognitive function

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