Search results for: the energy pattern factor method

Authors: N. F. Mikhailova, M. E. Fattakhova, M. A. Mironova, E. V. Vyacheslavova

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For the mental and social adaptation of the deaf and hard-of-hearing people, cultural and social aspects - the formation of identity (acculturation) and educational conditions – are highly significant. We studied 137 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in different educational situations. We used these methods: Big Five (Costa & McCrae, 1997), TRF (Becker, 1989), WCQ (Lazarus & Folkman, 1988), self-esteem, and coping strategies (Jambor & Elliott, 2005), self-stigma scale (Mikhailov, 2008). Type of self-identification of students depended on the degree of deafness, type of education, method of communication in the family: large hearing loss, education in schools for deaf, and gesture communication increased the likelihood of a 'deaf' acculturation. Less hearing loss, inclusive education in public school or school for the hearing-impaired, mixed communication in the family contributed to the formation of 'hearing' acculturation. The choice of specific coping depended on the degree of deafness: a large hearing loss increased coping 'withdrawal into the deaf world' and decreased 'bicultural skills' coping. People with mild hearing loss tended to cover-up it. In the context of ongoing discussion, we researched personality characteristics in deaf and hard on-hearing students, coping and other deafness associated factors depending on their acculturation type. Students who identified themselves with the 'hearing world' had a high self-esteem, a higher level of extraversion, self-awareness, personal resources, willingness to cooperate, better psychological health, emotional stability, higher ability to empathy, a greater satiety of life with feelings and sense and high sense of self-worth. They also actively used strategies, problem-solving, acceptance of responsibility, positive revaluation. Student who limited themselves within the culture of deaf people had more severe hearing loss and accordingly had more communication barriers. Lack of use or seldom use of coping strategies by these students point at decreased level of stress in their life. Their self-esteem have not been challenged in the specific social environment of the students with the same severity of defect, and thus this environment provided sense of comfort (we can assume that from the high scores on psychological health, personality resources, and emotional stability). Students with bicultural acculturation had higher level of psychological resources - they used Positive Reappraisal coping more often and had a higher level of psychological health. Lack of belonging to certain culture (marginality) leads to personality disintegration, social and psychological disadaptation: deaf and hard-of-hearing students with marginal identification had a lower self-estimation level, worse psychological health and personal resources, lower level of extroversion, self-confidence and life satisfaction. They, in fact, become 'risk group' (many of them dropped out of universities, divorced, and one even ended up in the ranks of ISIS). All these data argue the importance of cultural 'anchor' for people with hearing deprivation. Supported by the RFBR No 19-013-00406.

Keywords: acculturation, coping, deafness, marginality

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Authors: Shubhangi Roy

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Relational Contracts (informal understandings not enforceable by law) are a common feature of most economies. However, their dominance is higher in developing countries. Such informality of economic sectors is often co-related to lower economic growth. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether informal arrangements i.e. relational contracts are a cause or symptom of lower levels of economic and/or institutional development. The methodology followed involves an initial survey of 150 test subjects in Northern India. The subjects are all members of occupations where they frequently transact ensuring uniformity in transaction volume. However, the subjects are from varied socio-economic backgrounds to ensure sufficient variance in transaction values allowing us to understand the relationship between the amount of money involved to the method of transaction used, if any. Questions asked are quantitative and qualitative with an aim to observe both the behavior and motivation behind such behavior. An overarching similarity observed during the survey across all subjects’ responses is that in an economy like India with pervasive corruption and delayed litigation, economy participants have created alternative social sanctions to deal with non-performers. In a society that functions predominantly on caste, class and gender classifications, these sanctions could, in fact, be more cumbersome for a potential rule-breaker than the legal ramifications. It, therefore, is a symptom of weak formal regulatory enforcement and dispute settlement mechanism. Additionally, the study bifurcates such informal arrangements into two separate systems - a) when it exists in addition to and augments a legal framework creating an efficient socio-legal equilibrium or; b) in conflict with the legal system in place. This categorization is an important step in regulating informal arrangements. Instead of considering the entire gamut of such arrangements as counter-development, it helps decision-makers understand when to dismantle (latter) and when to pivot around existing informal systems (former). The paper hypothesizes that those social arrangements that support the formal legal frameworks allow for cheaper enforcement of regulations with lower enforcement costs burden on the state mechanism. On the other hand, norms which contradict legal rules will undermine the formal framework. Law infringement, in presence of these norms, will have no impact on the reputation of the business or individual outside of the punishment imposed under the law. It is especially exacerbated in the Indian legal system where enforcement of penalties for non-performance of contracts is low. In such a situation, the social norm will be adhered to more strictly by the individuals rather than the legal norms. This greatly undermines the role of regulations. The paper concludes with recommendations that allow policy-makers and legal systems to encourage the former category of informal arrangements while discouraging norms that undermine legitimate policy objectives. Through this investigation, we will be able to expand our understanding of tools of market development beyond regulations. This will allow academics and policymakers to harness social norms for less disruptive and more lasting growth.

Keywords: distribution of income, emerging economies, relational contracts, sample survey, social norms

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Authors: Kinyas Aydin, Fatih Erguney, Tolga Ceper, Serap Ozay, Ipar N. Uzun, Sebnem Kemaloglu Dogan, Deniz Tunc

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In order to meet high growth rates in baby diaper industry worldwide, the high-speed textile backsheet lamination lines have recently been introduced to the market for non-woven/film lamination applications. It is a process where two substrates are bonded to each other via hotmelt adhesive (HMA). Nonwoven (NW) lamination system basically consists of 4 components; polypropylene (PP) nonwoven, polyethylene (PE) film, HMA and applicator system. Each component has a substantial effect on the process efficiency of continuous line and final product properties. However, for a precise subject cover, we will be addressing only the main challenges and possible solutions in this paper. The NW is often produced by spunbond method (SSS or SMS configuration) and has a 10-12 gsm (g/m²) basis weight. The NW rolls can have a width and length up to 2.060 mm and 30.000 linear meters, respectively. The PE film is the 2ⁿᵈ component in TBS lamination, which is usually a 12-14 gsm blown or cast breathable film. HMA is a thermoplastic glue (mostly rubber based) that can be applied in a large range of viscosity ranges. The main HMA application technology in TBS lamination is the slot die application in which HMA is spread on the top of the NW along the whole width at high temperatures in the melt form. Then, the NW is passed over chiller rolls with a certain open time depending on the line speed. HMAs are applied at certain levels in order to provide a proper de-lamination strength in cross and machine directions to the entire structure. Current TBS lamination line speed and width can be as high as 800 m/min and 2100 mm, respectively. They also feature an automated web control tension system for winders and unwinders. In order to run a continuous trouble-free mass production campaign on the fast industrial TBS lines, rheological properties of HMAs and micro-properties of NWs can have adverse effects on the line efficiency and continuity. NW fiber orientation and fineness, as well as spun/melt blown composition fabric micro-level properties, are the significant factors to affect the degree of “HMA bleed through.” As a result of this problem, frequent line stops are observed to clean the glue that is being accumulated on the chiller rolls, which significantly reduces the line efficiency. HMA rheology is also important and to eliminate any bleed through the problem; one should have a good understanding of rheology driven potential complications. So, the applied viscosity/temperature should be optimized in accordance with the line speed, line width, NW characteristics and the required open time for a given HMA formulation. In this study, we will show practical aspects of potential preventative actions to minimize the HMA bleed through the problem, which may stem from both HMA rheological properties and NW spun melt/melt blown fiber characteristics.

Keywords: breathable, hotmelt, nonwoven, textile backsheet lamination, spun/melt blown

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Authors: Çağrı Bekir Baysal, Göktuğ Burak Çalık

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Armored vehicles may have different traction layouts as a result of terrain capabilities and mobility needs. Two main categories of layouts can be separated as wheeled and tracked. Tracked vehicles have superior off-road capabilities but what they gain on terrain performance they lose on mobility front. Wheeled vehicles on the other hand do not have as good terrain capabilities as tracked vehicles but they have superior mobility capabilities such as top speed, range and agility with respect to tracked vehicles. Conventional armored vehicles employ a diesel ICE as main power source. In these vehicles ICE is mechanically connected to the powertrain. This determines the ICE rpm as a result of speed and torque requested by the driver. ICE efficiency changes drastically with torque and speed required and conventional vehicles suffer in terms of fuel consumption because of this. Hybrid electric vehicles employ at least one electric motor in order to improve fuel efficiency. There are different types of hybrid vehicles but main types are Series Hybrid, Parallel Hybrid and Series-Parallel Hybrid. These vehicles introduce an electric motor for traction and also can have a generator electric motor for range extending purposes. Having an electric motor as the traction power source brings the flexibility of either using the ICE as an alternative traction source while it is in efficient range or completely separating the ICE from traction and using it solely considering efficiency. Hybrid configurations have additional advantages for armored vehicles in addition to fuel efficiency. Heat signature, silent operation and prolonged stationary missions can be possible with the help of the high-power battery pack that will be present in the vehicle for hybrid drivetrain. Because of the reasons explained, hybrid armored vehicles are becoming a target area for military and also for vehicle suppliers. In order to have a better idea and starting point when starting a hybrid armored vehicle design, hybrid drivetrain configuration has to be selected after performing a trade-off study. This study has to include vehicle mobility simulations, integration level, vehicle level and performance level criteria. In this study different hybrid traction configurations possible for an 8x8 vehicle is compared using above mentioned criteria set. In order to compare hybrid traction configurations ease of application, cost, weight advantage, reliability, maintainability, redundancy and performance criteria have been used. Performance criteria points have been defined with the help of vehicle simulations and tests. Results of these simulations and tests also help determining required tractive power for an armored vehicle including conditions like trench and obstacle crossing, gradient climb. With the method explained in this study, each configuration is assigned a point for each criterion. This way, correct configuration can be selected objectively for every application. Also, key aspects of armored vehicles, mine protection and ballistic protection will be considered for hybrid configurations. Results are expected to vary for different types of vehicles but it is observed that having longitudinal differential locking capability improves mobility and having high motor count increases complexity in general.

Keywords: armored vehicles, electric drivetrain, electric mobility, hybrid vehicles

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Authors: Shomaila Sadaf, Margarethe Olbertz-Siitonen

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This study looks at identity and othering in discourses around sensitive issues in social media. More specifically, the study explores the multimodal resources and narratives through which the other is formed, and identities are ascribed in online spaces. As an integral part of social life, media spaces have become an important site for negotiating and ascribing identities. In line with recent research, identity is seen hereas constructions of belonging which go hand in hand with processes of in- and out-group formations that in some cases may lead to othering. Previous findings underline that identities are neither fixed nor limited but rather contextual, intersectional, and interactively achieved. The goal of this study is to explore and develop an understanding of how people co-construct the ‘other’ and ascribe certain identities in social media using multiple modes. In the beginning of the year 2018, the British government decided to include relationships, sexual orientation, and sex education into the curriculum of state funded primary schools. However, the addition of information related to LGBTQ+in the curriculum has been met with resistance, particularly from religious parents.For example, the British Muslim community has voiced their concerns and protested against the actions taken by the British government. YouTube has been used by news companies to air video stories covering the protest and narratives of the protestors along with the position ofschool officials. The analysis centers on a YouTube video dealing with the protest ofa local group of parents against the addition of information about LGBTQ+ in the curriculum in the UK. The video was posted in 2019. By the time of this study, the videos had approximately 169,000 views andaround 6000 comments. In deference to multimodal nature of YouTube videos, this study utilizes multimodal discourse analysis as a method of choice. The study is still ongoing and therefore has not yet yielded any final results. However, the initial analysis indicates a hierarchy of ascribing identities in the data. Drawing on multimodal resources, the media works with social categorizations throughout the documentary, presenting and classifying involved conflicting parties in the light of their own visible and audible identifications. The protesters can be seen to construct a strong group identity as Muslim parents (e.g., clothing and reference to shared values). While the video appears to be designed as a documentary that puts forward facts, the media does not seem to succeed in taking a neutral position consistently throughout the video. At times, the use of images, soundsand language contributes to the formation of “us” vs. “them”, where the audience is implicitly encouraged to pick a side. Only towards the end of the documentary this problematic opposition is addressed and critically reflected through an expert interview that is – interestingly – visually located outside the previously presented ‘battlefield’. This study contributes to the growing understanding of the discursive construction of the ‘other’ in social media. Videos available online are a rich source for examining how the different social actors ascribe multiple identities and form the other.

Keywords: identity, multimodal discourse analysis, othering, youtube

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Authors: Santos Maza, Enzo Aldoradin, Carlos Pariona, Eliud Arpi, Maria Rosales

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The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of flaying then bleeding anchovy (Engraulis ringens) immersed within a sodium citrate solution. Anchovy is a pelagic fish that readily deteriorates due to its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. As such, within the Peruvian food industry, the shelf life of frozen anchovy is explicitly 6 months, this short duration imparts a barrier to use for direct consumption human. Thus, almost all capture of anchovy by the fishing industry is eventually used in the production of fishmeal. We offer this an alternative to its typical production process in order to increase shelf life. In the present study, 100 kg of anchovies were captured and immediately mixed with ice on ship, maintaining a high quality sensory metric (e.g., with color blue in back) while still arriving for processing less than 2 h after capture. Anchovies with fat content of 3% were immediately flayed (i.e., reducing subcutaneous fat), beheaded, gutted and bled (i.e., removing hemoglobin) by immersion in water (Control) or in a solution of 2.5% sodium citrate (treatment), then subsequently frozen at -30 °C for 8 h in 2 kg batches. Subsequent glazing and storage at -25 °C for 14 months completed the experiments parameters. The peroxide value (PV), acidity (A), fatty acid profile (FAP), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), heme iron (HI), pH and sensory attributes of the samples were evaluated monthly. The results of the PV, TBARS, A, pH and sensory analyses displayed significant differences (p<0.05) between treatment and control sample; where the sodium citrate treated samples showed increased preservation features. Specifically, at the beginning of the study, flayed, beheaded, gutted and bled anchovies displayed low content of fat (1.5%) with moderate amount of PV, A and TBARS, and were not rejected by sensory analysis. HI values and FAP displayed varying behavior, however, results of HI did not reveal a decreasing trend. This result is indicative of the fact that levels of iron were maintained as HI and did not convert into no heme iron, which is known to be the primary catalyst of lipid oxidation in fish. According to the FAP results, the major quantity of fatty acid was of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PFA) followed by saturated fatty acid (SFA) and then monounsaturated fatty acid (MFA). According to sensory analysis, the shelf life of flayed, beheaded and gutted anchovy (control and treatment) was 14 months. This shelf life was reached at laboratory level because high quality anchovies were used and immediately flayed, beheaded, gutted, bled and frozen. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the shelf life of anchovies for a long time. Overall, this method displayed a large increase in shelf life relative to that commonly seen for anchovies in this industry. However, these results should be extrapolated at industrial scales to propose better processing conditions and improve the quality of anchovy for direct human consumption.

Keywords: citrate sodium solution, heme iron, polyunsaturated fatty acids, shelf life of frozen anchovy

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Authors: Maria Ines Azambuja

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Graphic displays of Age-Period-Cohort (APC) mortality trends generally uses data aggregated within 5 or 10-year intervals. Technology allows one to increase the amount of processed data. Displaying occurrences by 1-year intervals is a logic first step in the direction of attaining higher quality landscapes of variations in temporal occurrences. Method: 1) Comparison of UK mortality trends plotted by 10-, 5- and 1-year intervals; 2) Comparison of UK and US mortality trends (period X age and cohort X age) displayed by 1-year intervals. Source: Mortality data (period, 1x1, males, 1933-1912) uploaded from the Human Mortality Database to Excel files, where Period X Age and Cohort X Age graphics were produced. The choice of transforming age-specific trends from calendar to birth-cohort years (cohort = period – age) (instead of using cohort 1x1 data available at the HMD resource) was taken to facilitate the comparison of age-specific trends when looking across calendar-years and birth-cohorts. Yearly live births, males, 1933 to 1912 (UK) were uploaded from the HFD. Influenza references are from the literature. Results: 1) The use of 1-year intervals unveiled previously unsuspected period, cohort and interacting period x cohort effects upon all-causes mortality. 2) The UK and US figures showed variations associated with particular calendar years (1936, 1940, 1951, 1957-68, 72) and, most surprisingly, with particular birth-cohorts (1889-90 in the US, and 1900, 1918-19, 1940-41 and 1946-47, in both countries. Also, the figures showed ups and downs in age-specific trends initiated at particular birth-cohorts (1900, 1918-19 and 1947-48) or a particular calendar-year (1968, 1972, 1977-78 in the US), variations at times restricted to just a range of ages (cohort x period interacting effects). Importantly, most of the identified “scars” (period and cohort) correlates with the record of occurrences of Influenza A epidemics since the late 19th Century. Conclusions: The use of 1-year intervals to describe APC mortality trends both increases the amount of information available, thus enhancing the opportunities for patterns’ recognition, and increases our capability of interpreting those patterns by describing trends across smaller intervals of time (period or birth-cohort). The US and the UK mortality landscapes share many but not all 'scars' and distortions suggested here to be associated with influenza epidemics. Different size-effects of wars are evident, both in mortality and in fertility. But it would also be realistic to suppose that the preponderant influenza A viruses circulating in UK and US at the beginning of the 20th Century might be different and the difference to have intergenerational long-term consequences. Compared with the live births trend (UK data), birth-cohort scars clearly depend on birth-cohort sizes relatives to neighbor ones, which, if causally associated with influenza, would result from influenza-related fetal outcomes/selection. Fetal selection could introduce continuing modifications on population patterns of immune-inflammatory phenotypes that might give rise to 'epidemic constitutions' favoring the occurrence of particular diseases. Comparative analysis of mortality landscapes may help us to straight our record of past circulation of Influenza viruses and document associations between influenza recycling and fertility changes.

Keywords: age-period-cohort trends, epidemic constitution, fertility, influenza, mortality

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Authors: Yollande Sènan Djivoh, Dominique de Jaeger

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Background: Abdominal exercises are commonly practised nowadays. Specific techniques of abdominal muscles strengthening like hypopressive exercises have recently emerged and their practice is encouraged against the practice of Curl-up especially in postpartum. The acute and the training effects of these exercises did not allow to advise one exercise to the detriment of another. However, physiotherapists remain reluctant to perform Curl-up with postpartum women because of its potential harmful effect on the pelvic floor. Design: This study was a randomized control trial registered under the number PACTR202110679363984. Objective: to observe the training effect of two experimental protocols (Curl-up versus Drawing-in+Diaphragmatic aspiration) on the abdominal wall (interrecti distance, rectus and transversus abdominis thickness, abdominal strength) in Beninese postpartum women. Pelvic floor function (tone, endurance, urinary incontinence) will be assessed to evaluate potential side effects of exercises on the pelvic floor. Method: Postpartum women diagnosed with diastasis recti were randomly assigned to one of three groups (Curl-up, Drawingin+Diaphragmatic aspiration and control). Abdominal and pelvic floor parameters were assessed before and at the end of the 6-week protocol. The interrecti distance and the abdominal muscles thickness were assessed by ultrasound and abdominal strength by dynamometer. Pelvic floor tone and strength were assessed with Biofeedback and urinary incontinence was quantified by pad test. To compare the results between the three groups and the two measurements, a two-way Anova test with repeated measures was used (p<0.05). When interaction was significant, a posthoc using Student t test, with Bonferroni correction, was used to compare the three groups regarding the difference (end value minus initial value). To complete these results, a paired Student t test was used to compare in each group the initial and end values. Results: Fifty-eight women participated in this study, divided in three groups with similar characteristics regarding their age (29±5 years), parity (2±1 children), BMI (26±4 kg/m2 ), time since the last birth (10±2 weeks), weight of their baby at birth (330±50 grams). Time effect and interaction were significant (p<0.001) for all abdominal parameters. Experimental groups improved more than control group. Curl-up group improved more (p=0.001) than Drawing-in+Diaphragmatic aspiration group regarding the interrecti distance (9.3±4.2 mm versus 6.6±4.6 mm) and abdominal strength (20.4±16.4 Newton versus 11.4±12.8 Newton). Drawingin+Diaphragmatic aspiration group improved (0.8±0.7 mm) more than Curl-up group (0.5±0.7 mm) regarding the transversus abdominis thickness (p=0.001). Only Curl-up group improved (p<0.001) the rectus abdominis thickness (1.5±1.2 mm). For pelvic floor parameters, both experimental groups improved (p=0.01) except for tone which improved (p=0.03) only in Drawing-in+Diaphragmatic aspiration group from 19.9±4.1 cmH2O to 22.2±4.5 cmH2O. Conclusion: Curl-up was more efficient to improve abdominal function than Drawingin+Diaphragmatic aspiration. However, these exercises are complementary. None of them degraded the pelvic floor, but Drawing-in+Diaphragmatic aspiration improved further the pelvic floor function. Clinical implications: Curl-up, Drawing-in and Diaphragmatic aspiration can be used for the management of abdominal function in postpartum women. Exercises must be chosen considering the specific needs of each woman’s abdominal and pelvic floor function.

Keywords: curl-up, drawing-in, diaphragmatic aspiration, hypopressive exercise, postpartum women

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Authors: Monika Soni, Shovonlal Bhowmick, Chandra Bhattacharya, Jitendra Sharma, Prafulla Dutta, Jagadish Mahanta

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Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are considered as two major vectors to transmit dengue virus. In North-east India, two states viz. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are known to be high endemic zone for dengue and Chikungunya viral infection. The taxonomical classification of medically important vectors are important for mapping of actual evolutionary trends and epidemiological studies. However, misidentification of mosquito species in field-collected mosquito specimens could have a negative impact which may affect vector-borne disease control policy. DNA barcoding is a prominent method to record available species, differentiate from new addition and change of population structure. In this study, a combined approach of a morphological and molecular technique of DNA barcoding was adopted to explore sequence variation in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene within dengue vectors. The study has revealed the map distribution of the dengue vector from two states i.e. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, India. Approximate five hundred mosquito specimens were collected from different parts of two states, and their morphological features were compared with the taxonomic keys. The analysis of detailed taxonomic study revealed identification of two species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The species aegypti comprised of 66.6% of the specimen and represented as dominant dengue vector species. The sequences obtained through standard DNA barcoding protocol were compared with public databases, viz. GenBank and BOLD. The sequences of all Aedes albopictus have shown 100% similarity whereas sequence of Aedes aegypti has shown 99.77 - 100% similarity of COI gene with that of different geographically located same species based on BOLD database search. From dengue prevalent different geographical regions fifty-nine sequences were retrieved from NCBI and BOLD databases of the same and related taxa to determine the evolutionary distance model based on the phylogenetic analysis. Neighbor-Joining (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree was constructed in MEGA6.06 software with 1000 bootstrap replicates using Kimura-2-Parameter model. Data were analyzed for sequence divergence and found that intraspecific divergence ranged from 0.0 to 2.0% and interspecific divergence ranged from 11.0 to 12.0%. The transitional and transversional substitutions were tested individually. The sequences were deposited in NCBI: GenBank database. This observation claimed the first DNA barcoding analysis of Aedes mosquitoes from North-eastern states in India and also confirmed the range expansion of two important mosquito species. Overall, this study insight into the molecular ecology of the dengue vectors from North-eastern India which will enhance the understanding to improve the existing entomological surveillance and vector incrimination program.

Keywords: COI, dengue vectors, DNA barcoding, molecular identification, North-east India, phylogenetics

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Authors: Wei Xu, Abdo S. Haidar, Jianxin Gao

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Prosthetic socket is a component that connects the residual limb of an amputee with an artificial prosthesis. It is widely recognized as the most critical component that determines the comfort of a patient when wearing the prosthesis in his/her daily activities. Through the socket, the body weight and its associated dynamic load are distributed and transmitted to the prosthesis during walking, running or climbing. In order to achieve a good-fit socket for an individual amputee, it is essential to obtain the biomechanical properties of the residual limb. In current clinical practices, this is achieved by a touch-and-feel approach which is highly subjective. Although there have been significant advancements in prosthetic technologies such as microprocessor controlled knee and ankle joints in the last decade, the progress in designing a comfortable socket has been rather limited. This means that the current process of socket design is still very time-consuming, and highly dependent on the expertise of the prosthetist. Supported by the state-of-the-art sensor technologies and numerical simulations, a new socket design system is being developed to help prosthetists achieve rapid design of comfortable sockets for above knee amputees. This paper reports the research work related to establishing biomechanical models for socket design. Through numerical simulation using finite element method, comprehensive relationships between pressure on residual limb and socket geometry were established. This allowed local topological adjustment for the socket so as to optimize the pressure distributions across the residual limb. When the full body weight of a patient is exerted on the residual limb, high pressures and shear forces between the residual limb and the socket occur. During numerical simulations, various hyperplastic models, namely Ogden, Yeoh and Mooney-Rivlin, were used, and their effectiveness in representing the biomechanical properties of soft tissues of the residual limb was evaluated. This also involved reverse engineering, which resulted in an optimal representative model under compression test. To validate the simulation results, a range of silicone models were fabricated. They were tested by an indentation device which yielded the force-displacement relationships. Comparisons of results obtained from FEA simulations and experimental tests showed that the Ogden model did not fit well the soft tissue material indentation data, while the Yeoh model gave the best representation of the soft tissue mechanical behavior under indentation. Compared with hyperplastic model, the result showed that elastic model also had significant errors. In addition, normal and shear stress distributions on the surface of the soft tissue model were obtained. The effect of friction in compression testing and the influence of soft tissue stiffness and testing boundary conditions were also analyzed. All these have contributed to the overall goal of designing a good-fit socket for individual above knee amputees.

Keywords: above knee amputee, finite element simulation, hyperplastic model, prosthetic socket

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Authors: Ehsan K. Hazaveh

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This research project explores creative methods of storytelling through photography to portray a vulnerable and marginalised community: former refugees living in Wellington, New Zealand. The project explores photographic representational techniques that can not only empower and give voice to those communities but also challenge dominant stereotypes about refugees and support humanitarian actions. The aims of this study are to develop insights surrounding issues associated with the photographic representation of refugees and to explore the collaborative construction of possible counter-narratives that might lead to the formulation of a practice framework for representing refugees using photography. In other words, the goal of this study is to explore representational and narrative strategies that frame refugees as active community members and as individuals with specific histories and expertise. These counter-narratives will bring the diversity of refugees to the surface by offering personal stories, contextualising their experience, raising awareness about the plight and human rights of the refugee community in New Zealand, evoking empathy and, therefore, facilitating the process of social change. The study has designed a photographic narrative framework by determining effective methods of photo storytelling, framing, and aesthetic techniques, focusing on different ways of taking, selecting, editing and curating photographs. Photo elicitation interviews have been used to ‘explore’, ‘produce’ and ‘co-curate’ the counter-narrative along with participants. Photo elicitation is a qualitative research method that employs images to evoke data in order to find out how other people experience their world - the researcher shows photographs to the participant and asks open-ended questions to get them to talk about their life experiences and the world around them. The qualitative data have been collected and produced through interactions with four former refugees living in Wellington, New Zealand. In this way, this project offers a unique account of their conditions and basic knowledge about their living experience and their stories. The participants of this study have engaged with PhotoVoice, a photo elicitation methodology that employs photography and storytelling, to share activities, emotions, hopes, and aspects of their lived experiences. PhotoVoice was designed to empower members of marginalised populations. It involves a series of meeting sessions, in which participants share photographs they have taken and discuss stories about the photographs to identify, represent, and enhance the issues important to their lives and communities. Finally, the data provide a basis for systematically producing visual counter-narratives that highlight the experiences of former- refugees. By employing these methods, refugees can represent their world as well as interpret it. The process of developing this research framing has enabled the development of powerful counter-narratives that challenge prevailing stereotypical depictions which in turn have the potential to shape improved humanitarian outcomes, shifts in public attitudes and political perspectives in New Zealand.

Keywords: media, photography, refugees, photo-elicitation, storytelling

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Authors: Tavee Cheausuwantavee

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: COVID-19 pandemic significantly has impacted everyone’s life. Persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Thailand have been also effected by COVID-19 situation in many aspects of their lives, while there have been no more appropriate services of the government and providers. Research projects had been only focused on health precaution and protection. Rapid need assessments on populations and vulnerable groups were limited and conducted via social media and an online survey. However, little is known about the real problems and needs of Thai PWDs during the COVID-19 pandemic for an effective plan and integral services for those PWDs. Therefore, this study aims to explore the diverse problems and needs of Thai PWDs in the COVID -19 pandemic. Results from the study can be used by the government and other stakeholders for further effective services. Methods: This study was used a mixed-method design that consisted of both quantitative and qualitative measures. In terms of the quantitative approach, there were 744 PWDs and caregivers of all types of PWDs selected by proportional multistage stratified random sampling according to their disability classification and geographic location. Questionnaires with 59 items regarding participant characteristics, problems, and needs in health, education, employment, and other social inclusion, were distributed to all participants and some caregivers completed questionnaires when PWDs were not able to due to limited communication and/or literacy skills. Completed questionnaires were analyzed by descriptive statistics. For qualitative design, 62 key informants who were PWDs or caregivers were selected by purposive sampling. Ten focus groups, each consisting of 5-6 participants and 7 in-depth interviews from all the groups identified above, were conducted by researchers across five regions. Focus group and in-depth interview guidelines with 6 items regarding problems and needs in health, education, employment, other social inclusion, and their coping during COVID -19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using a modification of thematic content analysis. Results: Both quantitative and qualitative studies showed that PWDs and their caregivers had significant problems and needs all aspects of their life, including income and employment opportunity, daily living and social inclusion, health, and education, respectively. These problems and needs were related to each other, forming a vicious cycle. Participants also learned from negative pandemic to more positive life aspects, including their health protection, financial plan, family cohesion, and virtual technology literacy and innovation. Conclusion and implications: There have been challenges facing all life aspects of PWDs in Thailand during the COVID -19 pandemic, particularly incomes and daily living. All challenges have been the vicious cycle and complicated. There have been also a positive lesson learned of participants from the pandemic. Recommendations for government and stakeholders in the COVID-19 pandemic for PWDs are the following. First, the health protection strategy and policy of PWDs should be promoted together with other quality of life development including income generation, education and social inclusion. Second, virtual technology and alternative innovation should be enhanced for proactive service providers. Third, accessible information during the pandemic for all PWDs must be concerned. Forth, lesson learned from the pandemic should be shared and disseminated for crisis preparation and a positive mindset in the disruptive world.

Keywords: challenge, COVID-19, disability, Thailand

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Authors: Jia Li, Xing Wei, Yuchen Hong, Yang Lu

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Detecting vehicle behavior has always been the focus of intelligent transportation, but with the explosive growth of the number of vehicles and the complexity of the road environment, the vehicle behavior videos captured by traditional surveillance have been unable to satisfy the study of vehicle behavior. The traditional method of manually labeling vehicle behavior is too time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the existing object detection and tracking algorithms have poor practicability and low behavioral location detection rate. This paper proposes a vehicle behavior detection algorithm based on the dual-stream convolution network and the multi-dimensional video dynamic detection network. In the videos, the straight-line behavior of the vehicle will default to the background behavior. The Changing lanes, turning and turning around are set as target behaviors. The purpose of this model is to automatically mark the target behavior of the vehicle from the untrimmed videos. First, the target behavior proposals in the long video are extracted through the dual-stream convolution network. The model uses a dual-stream convolutional network to generate a one-dimensional action score waveform, and then extract segments with scores above a given threshold M into preliminary vehicle behavior proposals. Second, the preliminary proposals are pruned and identified using the multi-dimensional video dynamic detection network. Referring to the hierarchical reinforcement learning, the multi-dimensional network includes a Timer module and a Spacer module, where the Timer module mines time information in the video stream and the Spacer module extracts spatial information in the video frame. The Timer and Spacer module are implemented by Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and start from an all-zero hidden state. The Timer module uses the Transformer mechanism to extract timing information from the video stream and extract features by linear mapping and other methods. Finally, the model fuses time information and spatial information and obtains the location and category of the behavior through the softmax layer. This paper uses recall and precision to measure the performance of the model. Extensive experiments show that based on the dataset of this paper, the proposed model has obvious advantages compared with the existing state-of-the-art behavior detection algorithms. When the Time Intersection over Union (TIoU) threshold is 0.5, the Average-Precision (MP) reaches 36.3% (the MP of baselines is 21.5%). In summary, this paper proposes a vehicle behavior detection model based on multi-dimensional dynamic detection network. This paper introduces spatial information and temporal information to extract vehicle behaviors in long videos. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm is advanced and accurate in-vehicle timing behavior detection. In the future, the focus will be on simultaneously detecting the timing behavior of multiple vehicles in complex traffic scenes (such as a busy street) while ensuring accuracy.

Keywords: vehicle behavior detection, convolutional neural network, long short-term memory, deep learning

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Authors: Elena Perepelova

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As the world approaches the 4th industrial revolution, income inequality has become one of the major societal concerns. Displacement of workers by technology becomes a reality, and in return, new skills and competencies are required. More important than ever, education needs to help individuals understand the wider world around them and make global connections. The author argues for the necessity to incorporate business, economics and finance studies as a part of primary education and offer access to business education to the general population with the primary objective to understand how the world functions. The paper offers a fresh look at existing business theory through an innovative program called 'Usefulnomics'. Realizing that the subject of Economics, Finance and Business are perceived as overwhelming for a large part of the population, the author has taken a holistic approach and created a program that simplifies the definitions of the existing concepts and shifts from the traditional breakdown into subjects and specialties to a teaching method that is based exclusively on real-life example case studies and group debates, in order to better grasp the concepts and put them into context. The paper findings are the result of a two-year project and experimental work with students from UK, USA, Malaysia, Russia, and Spain. The author conducted extensive research through on-line and in-person classes and workshops as well as in-depth interviews of primary and secondary grade students to assess their understanding of what is a business, how businesses operate and the role businesses play in their communities. The findings clearly indicate that students of all ages often understood business concepts and processes only in an intuitive way, which resulted in misconceptions and gaps in knowledge. While knowledge gaps were easier to identify and correct in primary school students, as students’ age increased, the learning process became distorted by career choices, political views, and the students’ actual (or perceived) economic status. While secondary school students recognized more concepts, their real understanding was often on par with upper primary school age students. The research has also shown that lack of correct vocabulary created a strong barrier to communication and real-life application or further learning. Based on these findings, each key business concept was practiced and put into context with small groups of students in order to design the content and format which would be well accepted and understood by the target group. As a result, the final learning program package was based on case studies from daily modern life and used a wide range of examples: from popular brands and well-known companies to basic commodities. In the final stage, the content and format were put into practice in larger classrooms. The author would like to share the key findings from the research, the resulting learning program as well as present new ideas on how the program could be further enriched and adapted so schools and organizations can deliver it.

Keywords: business, finance, economics, lifelong learning, XXI century skills

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Authors: Vangmayee. V. Subban, Somashekara H. S, Shwetha Prabhu, Jayashree S. Bhat

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Introduction and Need: Phonological processing is critical in learning to read alphabetical and non-alphabetical languages. However, its role in learning to read Kannada an alphasyllabary is equivocal. The literature has focused on the developmental role of phonological awareness on reading. To the best of authors knowledge, the role of phonological memory and phonological naming has not been addressed in alphasyllabary Kannada language. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate the comprehensive role of the phonological processing skills in Kannada on word decoding skills during the early years of schooling. Aim and Objectives: The present study aimed to explore the phonological processing abilities and their role in learning to decode pseudowords in children learning to read the Kannada language during initial years of formal schooling between 5.6 to 8.6 years. Method: In this cross sectional study, 60 typically developing Kannada speaking children, 20 each from Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III between the age range of 5.6 to 6.6 years, 6.7 to 7.6 years and 7.7 to 8.6 years respectively were selected from Kannada medium schools. Phonological processing abilities were assessed using an assessment tool specifically developed to address the objectives of the present research. The assessment tool was content validated by subject experts and had good inter and intra-subject reliability. Phonological awareness was assessed at syllable level using syllable segmentation, blending, and syllable stripping at initial, medial and final position. Phonological memory was assessed using pseudoword repetition task and phonological naming was assessed using rapid automatized naming of objects. Both phonological awareneness and phonological memory measures were scored for the accuracy of the response, whereas Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) was scored for total naming speed. Results: The mean scores comparison using one-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) between the groups on all the measures of phonological awareness, pseudoword repetition, rapid automatized naming, and pseudoword reading. Subsequent post-hoc grade wise comparison using Bonferroni test revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between each of the grades for all the tasks except (p ≥ 0.05) for syllable blending, syllable stripping, and pseudoword repetition between Grade II and Grade III. The Pearson correlations revealed a highly significant positive correlation (p=0.000) between all the variables except phonological naming which had significant negative correlations. However, the correlation co-efficient was higher for phonological awareness measures compared to others. Hence, phonological awareness was chosen a first independent variable to enter in the hierarchical regression equation followed by rapid automatized naming and finally, pseudoword repetition. The regression analysis revealed syllable awareness as a single most significant predictor of pseudoword reading by explaining the unique variance of 74% and there was no significant change in R² when RAN and pseudoword repetition were added subsequently to the regression equation. Conclusion: Present study concluded that syllable awareness matures completely by Grade II, whereas the phonological memory and phonological naming continue to develop beyond Grade III. Amongst phonological processing skills, phonological awareness, especially syllable awareness is crucial for word decoding than phonological memory and naming during initial years of schooling.

Keywords: phonological awareness, phonological memory, phonological naming, phonological processing, pseudo-word decoding

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Authors: Susmita Ghosh

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Catchment area of Damodar River, India experiences seasonal rains due to the south-west monsoon every year and depending upon the intensity of the storms, floods occur. During the monsoon season, the rainfall in the area is mainly due to active monsoon conditions. The upstream reach of Damodar river system has five dams store the water for utilization for various purposes viz, irrigation, hydro-power generation, municipal supplies and last but not the least flood moderation. But, in the downstream reach of Damodar River, known as Lower Damodar region, is severely and frequently suffering from flood due to heavy monsoon rainfall and also release from upstream reservoirs. Therefore, an effective flood management study is required to know in depth the nature and extent of flood, water logging, and erosion related problems, affected area, and damages in the Lower Damodar region, by conducting mathematical model study. The design flood or discharge is needed to decide to assign the respective model for getting several scenarios from the simulation runs. The ultimate aim is to achieve a sustainable flood management scheme from the several alternatives. there are various methods for estimating flood discharges to be carried through the rivers and their tributaries for quick drainage from inundated areas due to drainage congestion and excess rainfall. In the present study, the flood frequency analysis is performed to decide the design flood discharge of the study area. This, on the other hand, has limitations in respect of availability of long peak flood data record for determining long type of probability density function correctly. If sufficient past records are available, the maximum flood on a river with a given frequency can safely be determined. The floods of different frequency for the Damodar has been calculated by five candidate distributions i.e., generalized extreme value, extreme value-I, Pearson type III, Log Pearson and normal. Annual peak discharge series are available at Durgapur barrage for the period of 1979 to 2013 (35 years). The available series are subjected to frequency analysis. The primary objective of the flood frequency analysis is to relate the magnitude of extreme events to their frequencies of occurrence through the use of probability distributions. The design flood for return periods of 10, 15 and 25 years return period at Durgapur barrage are estimated by flood frequency method. It is necessary to develop flood hydrographs for the above floods to facilitate the mathematical model studies to find the depth and extent of inundation etc. Null hypothesis that the distributions fit the data at 95% confidence is checked with goodness of fit test, i.e., Chi Square Test. It is revealed from the goodness of fit test that the all five distributions do show a good fit on the sample population and is therefore accepted. However, it is seen that there is considerable variation in the estimation of frequency flood. It is therefore considered prudent to average out the results of these five distributions for required frequencies. The inundated area from past data is well matched using this flood.

Keywords: design discharge, flood frequency, goodness of fit, sustainable flood management

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Authors: Kenan Saatcioglu, Fatma Koc

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When the immigration is considered, it has been found that communities were continuously influenced by the immigrations from the date of the emergence of mankind until the day. The political, social and economic reasons seen at the various periods caused the communities go to new places from where they have lived before. Immigrations have occurred as a result of unequal opportunities among communities, social exclusion and imposition, compulsory homeland emerging politically, exile and war. Immigration is a social tool that is defined as a geographical relocation of people from a housing unit (city, village etc.) to another to spend all or part of their future lives. Immigrations have an effect on the history of humanity directly or indirectly, revealing new dimensions for communities to evaluate the concept of homeland. With these immigrations, communities carried their cultural values to their new settlements leading to a new interaction process. With this interaction process both migrant and native community cultures were reshaped and richer cultural values emerged. The clothes of these communities are amongst the most important visual evidence of this rich cultural interaction. As a result of these immigrations, communities affected each other culture’s clothing mutually and they started adding features of other cultures to the garments of its own, resulting new clothing cultures in time. The cultural and historical differences between these communities are seem to be the most influential factors of keeping the clothing cultures of the people alive. The most important and tragic of these immigrations took place after the Turkish War of Independence that was fought against Greece in 1922. The concept of forced immigration was a result of Lausanne Peace Treaty, which was signed between Turkish and Greek governments on 30th January 1923. As a result Greek Orthodoxes, who lived in Turkey (Anatolia and Thrace) and Muslim Turks, who lived in Greece were forced to immigrate. In this study, clothing features of Greek Orthodox woman immigrants who emigrated from Turkey to Greece in the period of the ‘1923 Greek-Turkish Population Exchange’ are aimed to be examined. In the study using the descriptive research method, before the ‘1923 Greek-Turkish Population Exchange’, the clothings belong to Greek Orthodox woman immigrants who lived in ‘Konya (Iconium)’ region in the Ottoman Empire, are discussed. In the study that is based on two different clothings belonging to ‘Konya (Iconium)’ region in the clothing collection archive at the ‘National Historical Museum’ in Greece, clothings of the Greek Orthodox woman immigrants are discussed with cultural norms, beliefs, values as well as in terms of form, ornamentation and dressing styles. Technical drawings are provided demonstrating formal features of the clothing parts that formed clothing integrity and their properties are described with the use of related literature in this study. This study is of importance that that it contains Greek Orthodox refugees’ clothings that are found in the clothing collection archive at the ‘National Historical Museum’ in Greece reflecting the cultural identities, providing information and documentation on the clothing features of the ‘1923 Greek-Turkish Population Exchange’.

Keywords: clothing, Greece, Greek Orthodoxes, immigration, national historical museum, Turkey

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: Ifeyinwa Victor-Uadiale, Georgina Pearson, Sophie Witter, D. Reidpath

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Introduction: Smoking, alcohol misuse, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity are the primary drivers of noncommunicable diseases (NCD), including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes, worldwide. Collectively, these diseases are the leading cause of all global deaths, most of which are premature, affecting people between 30 and 70 years. Empirical evidence suggests that these risk behaviors can be modified by community-based interventions (CBI). However, there is little insight into the mechanisms and contextual factors of successful community interventions that impact risk behaviours for chronic diseases. This study examined “Under what circumstances, for whom, and how, do community-based interventions modify smoking, alcohol use, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity among adults”. Adopting the Capability (C), Opportunity (O), Motivation (M), Behavior (B) (COM-B) framework for behaviour change, it sought to: (1) identify the mechanisms through which CBIs could reduce tobacco use and alcohol consumption and increase physical activity and the consumption of healthy diets and (2) examine the contextual factors that trigger the impact of these mechanisms on these risk behaviours among adults. Methods: Pawson’s realist review method was used to examine the literature. Empirical evidence and theoretical understanding were combined to develop a realist program theory that explains how CBIs influence NCD risk behaviours. Documents published between 2002 and 2020 were systematically searched in five electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Medline, ProQuest Central, and PsycINFO). They were included if they reported on community-based interventions aimed at cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes in a global context; and had an outcome targeted at smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and diet. Findings: Twenty-nine scientific documents were retrieved and included in the review. Over half of them (n = 18; 62%) focused on three of the four risk behaviours investigated in this review. The review identified four mechanisms: capability, opportunity, motivation, and social support that are likely to change the dietary and physical activity behaviours in adults given certain contexts. There were weak explanations of how the identified mechanisms could likely change smoking and alcohol consumption habits. In addition, eight contextual factors that may affect how these mechanisms impact physical activity and dietary behaviours were identified: suitability to work and family obligations, risk status awareness, socioeconomic status, literacy level, perceived need, availability and access to resources, culture, and group format. Conclusion: The findings suggest that CBIs are likely to improve the physical activity and dietary habits of adults if the intervention function seeks to educate, incentivize, change the environment, and model the right behaviours. The review applies and advances theory, realist research, and the design and implementation of community-based interventions for NCD prevention.

Keywords: community-based interventions, noncommunicable disease, realist program theory, risk behaviors

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Authors: David X. Dong, Qingming Zhang, Meng Lu

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Nitrites enter waterways as runoff from croplands and are discharged from many industrial sites. Excessive nitrite inputs to water bodies lead to eutrophication. On-site rapid detection of nitrite is of increasing interest for managing fertilizer application and monitoring water source quality. Existing methods for detecting nitrites use spectrophotometry, ion chromatography, electrochemical sensors, ion-selective electrodes, chemiluminescence, and colorimetric methods. However, these methods either suffer from high cost or provide low measurement accuracy due to their poor selectivity to nitrites. Therefore, it is desired to develop an accurate and economical method to monitor nitrites in environments. We report a low-cost optical sensor, in conjunction with a machine learning (ML) approach to enable high-accuracy detection of nitrites in water sources. The sensor works under the principle of measuring molecular absorptions of nitrites at three narrowband wavelengths (295 nm, 310 nm, and 357 nm) in the ultraviolet (UV) region. These wavelengths are chosen because they have relatively high sensitivity to nitrites; low-cost light-emitting devices (LEDs) and photodetectors are also available at these wavelengths. A regression model is built, trained, and utilized to minimize cross-sensitivities of these wavelengths to the same analyte, thus achieving precise and reliable measurements with various interference ions. The measured absorbance data is input to the trained model that can provide nitrite concentration prediction for the sample. The sensor is built with i) a miniature quartz cuvette as the test cell that contains a liquid sample under test, ii) three low-cost UV LEDs placed on one side of the cell as light sources, with each LED providing a narrowband light, and iii) a photodetector with a built-in amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter placed on the other side of the test cell to measure the power of transmitted light. This simple optical design allows measuring the absorbance data of the sample at the three wavelengths. To train the regression model, absorbances of nitrite ions and their combination with various interference ions are first obtained at the three UV wavelengths using a conventional spectrophotometer. Then, the spectrophotometric data are inputs to different regression algorithm models for training and evaluating high-accuracy nitrite concentration prediction. Our experimental results show that the proposed approach enables instantaneous nitrite detection within several seconds. The sensor hardware costs about one hundred dollars, which is much cheaper than a commercial spectrophotometer. The ML algorithm helps to reduce the average relative errors to below 3.5% over a concentration range from 0.1 ppm to 100 ppm of nitrites. The sensor has been validated to measure nitrites at three sites in Ames, Iowa, USA. This work demonstrates an economical and effective approach to the rapid, reagent-free determination of nitrites with high accuracy. The integration of the low-cost optical sensor and ML data processing can find a wide range of applications in environmental monitoring and management.

Keywords: optical sensor, regression model, nitrites, water quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Ramez F. Saad, Ahmad Kobaissi, Bernard Amiaud, Julien Ruelle, Emile Benizri

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Agromining is a new technology that establishes agricultural systems on ultramafic soils in order to produce valuable metal compounds such as nickel (Ni), with the final aim of restoring a soil's agricultural functions. But ultramafic soils are characterized by low fertility levels and this can limit yields of hyperaccumulators and metal phytoextraction. The objectives of the present work were to test if the association of a hyperaccumulating plant (Alyssum murale) and a Fabaceae (Vicia sativa var. Prontivesa) could induce changes in physicochemical characteristics of a serpentine soil and in root architecture of a hyperaccumulating plant then lead to efficient agromining practices through soil quality improvement. Based on standard agricultural systems, consisting in the association of legumes and another crop such as wheat or rape, a three-month rhizobox experiment was carried out to study the effect of the co-cropping (Co) or rotation (Ro) of a hyperaccumulating plant (Alyssum murale) with a legume (Vicia sativa) and incorporating legume biomass to soil, in comparison with mineral fertilization (FMo), on the structure and physicochemical properties of an ultramafic soil and on root architecture. All parameters measured (biomass, C and N contents, and taken-up Ni) on Alyssum murale conducted in co-cropping system showed the highest values followed by the mineral fertilization and rotation (Co > FMo > Ro), except for root nickel yield for which rotation was better than the mineral fertilization (Ro > FMo). The rhizosphere soil of Alyssum murale in co-cropping had larger soil particles size and better aggregates stability than other treatments. Using geostatistics, co-cropped Alyssum murale showed a greater root surface area spatial distribution. Moreover, co-cropping and rotation-induced lower soil DTPA-extractable nickel concentrations than other treatments, but higher pH values. Alyssum murale co-cropped with a legume showed a higher biomass production, improved soil physical characteristics and enhanced nickel phytoextraction. This study showed that the introduction of a legume into Ni agromining systems could improve yields of dry biomass of the hyperaccumulating plant used and consequently, the yields of Ni. Our strategy can decrease the need to apply fertilizers and thus minimizes the risk of nitrogen leaching and underground water pollution. Co-cropping of Alyssum murale with the legume showed a clear tendency to increase nickel phytoextraction and plant biomass in comparison to rotation treatment and fertilized mono-culture. In addition, co-cropping improved soil physical characteristics and soil structure through larger and more stabilized aggregates. It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that the use of legumes in Ni-agromining systems could be a good strategy to reduce chemical inputs and to restore soil agricultural functions. Improving the agromining system by the replacement of inorganic fertilizers could simultaneously be a safe way of rehabilitating degraded soils and a method to restore soil quality and functions leading to the recovery of ecosystem services.

Keywords: plant association, legumes, hyperaccumulating plants, ultramafic soil physicochemical properties

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Authors: R. P. Naik, A. K. Rakshit

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In recent years, with the rapid development in science and technology, people have increasing requirements on uses of clothing for new functions, which contributes to opportunities for further development and incorporation of new technologies along with novel materials. In this context, textiles are of fast decalescence or fast heat radiation media as per as comfort accountability of textile articles are concern. The microstructure and texture of textiles play a vital role in determining the heat-moisture comfort level of the human body because clothing serves as a barrier to the outside environment and a transporter of heat and moisture from the body to the surrounding environment to keep thermal balance between body heat produced and body heat loss. The main bottleneck which is associated with textile materials to be successful as thermal insulation materials can be enumerated as; firstly, high loft or bulkiness of material so as to provide predetermined amount of insulation by ensuring sufficient trapping of air. Secondly, the insulation depends on forced convection; such convective heat loss cannot be prevented by textile material. Third is that the textile alone cannot reach the level of thermal conductivity lower than 0.025 W/ m.k of air. Perhaps, nano-fibers can do so, but still, mass production and cost-effectiveness is a problem. Finally, such high loft materials for thermal insulation becomes heavier and uneasy to manage especially when required to carry over a body. The proposed works aim at developing lightweight effective thermal insulation textiles in combination with nanoporous silica-gel which provides the fundamental basis for the optimization of material properties to achieve good performance of the clothing system. This flexible nonwoven silica-gel composites fabric in intact monolith was successfully developed by reinforcing SiO2-gel in thermal bonded nonwoven fabric via sol-gel processing. Ambient Pressure Drying method is opted for silica gel preparation for cost-effective manufacturing. The formed structure of the nonwoven / SiO₂ -gel composites were analyzed, and the transfer properties were measured. The effects of structure and fibre on the thermal properties of the SiO₂-gel composites were evaluated. Samples are then tested against untreated samples of same GSM in order to study the effect of SiO₂-gel application on various properties of nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric composites reinforced with aerogel showed intact monolith structure were also analyzed for their surface structure, functional group present, microscopic images. Developed product reveals a significant reduction in pores' size and air permeability than the conventional nonwoven fabric. Composite made from polyester fibre with lower GSM shows lowest thermal conductivity. Results obtained were statistically analyzed by using STATISTICA-6 software for their level of significance. Univariate tests of significance for various parameters are practiced which gives the P value for analyzing significance level along with that regression summary for dependent variable are also studied to obtain correlation coefficient.

Keywords: silica-gel, heat insulation, nonwoven fabric, thermal barrier clothing

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Mehdi Soula, Yosra Mani, Estelle Saras, Antoine Drapeau, Raoudha Grami, Mahjoub Aouni, Jean-Yves Madec, Marisa Haenni, Wejdene Mansour

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Multi-resistance to antibiotics in gram-negative bacilli and particularly in enterobacteriaceae, has become frequent in hospitals in Tunisia. However, data on antibiotic resistant bacteria in aquatic products are scarce. The aims of this study are to estimate the proportion of ESBL- and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in seafood (clams and fish) in Tunisia and to molecularly characterize the collected isolates. Two types of seafood were sampled in unrelated markets in four different regions in Tunisia (641 pieces of farmed fish and 1075 mediterranean clams divided into 215 pools, and each pool contained 5 pieces). Once purchased, all samples were incubated in tubes containing peptone salt broth for 24 to 48h at 37°C. After incubation, overnight cultures were isolated on selective MacConkey agar plates supplemented with either imipenem or cefotaxime, identified using API20E test strips (bioMérieux, Marcy-l’Étoile, France) and confirmed by Maldi-TOF MS. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar plates and results were interpreted according to CA-SFM 2021. ESBL-producing Enterobacterales were detected using the Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST). Carbapenem-resistance was detected using an ertapenem disk and was respectively confirmed using the ROSCO KPC/MBL and OXA-48 Confirm Kit (ROSCO Diagnostica, Taastrup, Denmark). DNA was extracted using a NucleoSpin Microbial DNA extraction kit (Macherey-Nagel, Hoerdt, France), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Resistance genes were determined using the CGE online tools. The replicon content and plasmid formula were identified from the WGS data using PlasmidFinder 2.0.1 and pMLST 2.0. From farmed fishes, nine ESBL-producing strains (9/641, 1.4%) were isolated, which were identified as E. coli (n=6) and K. pneumoniae (n=3). Among the 215 pools of 5 clams analyzed, 18 ESBL-producing isolates were identified, including 14 E. coli and 4 K. pneumoniae. A low isolation rate of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales was detected 1.6% (18/1075) in clam pools. In fish, the ESBL phenotype was due to the presence of the blaCTX-M-15 gene in all nine isolates, but no carbapenemase gene was identified. In clams, the predominant ESBL phenotype was blaCTX-M-1 (n=6/18). blaCPE (NDM1, OXA48) was detected only in 3 isolates ‘K. pneumoniae isolates’. Replicon typing on the strains carring the ESBL and carbapenemase gene revelead that the major type plasmid carried ESBL were IncF (42.3%) [n=11/26]. In all, our results suggest that seafood can be a reservoir of multi-drug resistant bacteria, most probably of human origin but also by the selection pressure of antibiotic. Our findings raise concerns that seafood bought for consumption may serve as potential reservoirs of AMR genes and pose serious threat to public health.

Keywords: BLSE, carbapenemase, enterobacterales, tunisian seafood

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Lilah Inzelberg, David Rand, Stanislav Steinberg, Moshe David Pur, Yael Hanein

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Human facial expressions carry important psychological and neurological information. Facial expressions involve the co-activation of diverse muscles. They depend strongly on personal affective interpretation and on social context and vary between spontaneous and voluntary activations. Smiling, as a special case, is among the most complex facial emotional expressions, involving no fewer than 7 different unilateral muscles. Despite their ubiquitous nature, smiles remain an elusive and debated topic. Smiles are associated with happiness and greeting on one hand and anger or disgust-masking on the other. Accordingly, while high-resolution recording of muscle activation patterns, in a non-interfering setting, offers exciting opportunities, it remains an unmet challenge, as contemporary surface facial electromyography (EMG) methodologies are cumbersome, restricted to the laboratory settings, and are limited in time and resolution. Here we present a wearable and non-invasive method for objective mapping of facial muscle activation and demonstrate its application in a natural setting. The technology is based on a recently developed dry and soft electrode array, specially designed for surface facial EMG technique. Eighteen healthy volunteers (31.58 ± 3.41 years, 13 females), participated in the study. Surface EMG arrays were adhered to participant left and right cheeks. Participants were instructed to imitate three facial expressions: closing the eyes, wrinkling the nose and smiling voluntary and to watch a funny video while their EMG signal is recorded. We focused on muscles associated with 'enjoyment', 'social' and 'masked' smiles; three categories with distinct social meanings. We developed a customized independent component analysis algorithm to construct the desired facial musculature mapping. First, identification of the Orbicularis oculi and the Levator labii superioris muscles was demonstrated from voluntary expressions. Second, recordings of voluntary and spontaneous smiles were used to locate the Zygomaticus major muscle activated in Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles. Finally, recording with a wireless device in an unmodified natural work setting revealed expressions of neutral, positive and negative emotions in face-to-face interaction. The algorithm outlined here identifies the activation sources in a subject-specific manner, insensitive to electrode placement and anatomical diversity. Our high-resolution and cross-talk free mapping performances, along with excellent user convenience, open new opportunities for affective processing and objective evaluation of facial expressivity, objective psychological and neurological assessment as well as gaming, virtual reality, bio-feedback and brain-machine interface applications.

Keywords: affective expressions, affective processing, facial EMG, high-resolution electromyography, independent component analysis, wireless electrodes

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Authors: Jonathan D. Recchi

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Introduction: Workplace violence is a major concern for nurses throughout the United States and is a rising occupational health hazard that has been exacerbated by both the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing patient and family member incivility. De-escalation training has been found to be an evidence-based tool for emergency department nurses to help avoid or mitigate high-risk situations that could lead to workplace violence. Many healthcare organizations either do not provide de-escalation training to their staff or only provide it sparingly, such as during new employee orientation. There is limited research in the literature on the psychological benefits of de-escalation training. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine if there are psychological and organizational advantages to providing emergency department nurses with de-escalation training. Equipping emergency department nurses with skills that are essential to de-escalate violent or potentially violent patients may help prevent physical, mental, and/or psychological damage to the nurse because of violence and/or threatening acts. The hypothesis is that providing de-scalation training to emergency department nurses will lead to increased nurse confidence in dealing with aggressive patients, increased resiliency, increased professional quality of life, and increased intention to stay with their current organization. This study aims to show that organizations would benefit from providing de-escalation training to all nurses operating in high-risk areas on a regular basis. Significance: Showing psychological benefits to providing evidence-based de-escalation training can provide healthcare organizations with the ability to retain a more resilient and prepared workforce. Method: This study uses a pre-experimental cross-sectional pre-/post-test design using a convenience sample of emergency department registered nurses employed across Jefferson Health Northeast (Jefferson Torresdale, Jefferson Bucks, and Jefferson Frankford. Inclusion criteria include registered nurses who work full or part-time, with 51% or more of their clinical time spent in direct clinical care. Excluded from participation are registered nurses in orientation, per-diem nurses, temporary and/or travel nurses, nurses who spend less than 51% of their time in direct patient care, and nurses who have received de-escalation training within the past two years. This study uses the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC-10), the Clinician Confidence in Coping with Patient Aggression Scale, the Press Ganey Intention To Stay question, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Results: A Paired t-Test will be used to analyze the mean scores of the three scales and one question pre and post-intervention to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in RN resiliency, confidence in coping with patient aggression, intention to stay, and professional quality of life. Discussion and Conclusions: Upon completion, the outcomes of this intervention will show the importance of providing evidence-based de-escalation training to all nurses operating within the emergency department.

Keywords: de-escalation, nursing, emergency department, workplace violence

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Authors: Mogale T. E., Ayisi K. K., Munjonji L., Kifle Y. G.

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Grain sorghum and cowpea are important staple crops in many areas of South Africa, particularly the Limpopo Province. The two crops are produced under a wide range of unsustainable conventional methods, which reduces productivity in the long run. Climate-smart traditional methods such as intercropping can be adopted to ensure sustainable production of these important two crops in the province. A no-tillage field experiment was laid out in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four replications over two seasons in two distinct agro-ecological zones, Syferkuil and Ofcolacoin, the province to assess the productivity of sorghum-cowpea intercropped under two cowpea densities.LCi Ultra compact photosynthesis machine was used to collect photosynthetic rate data biweekly between 11h00 and 13h00 until physiological maturity. Biomass and grain yield of the component crops in binary and sole cultures were determined at harvest maturity from middle rows of 2.7 m2 area. The biomass was oven dried in the laboratory at 65oC till constant weight. To obtain grain yield, harvested sorghum heads and cowpea pods were threshed, cleaned, and weighed. Harvest index (HI) and land equivalent ratio (LER) of the two crops were calculated to assess intercrop productivity relative to sole cultures. Data was analysed using the statistical analysis software system (SAS) 9.4 version, followed by mean separation using the least significant difference method. The photosyntheticrate of sorghum-cowpea intercrop was influenced by cowpea density and sorghum cultivar. Photosynthetic rate under low density was higher compared to high density, but this was dependent on the growing conditions. Dry biomass accumulation, grain yield, and harvest index differed among the sorghum cultivars and cowpea in both binary and sole cultures at the two test locations during the 2018/19 and 2020/21 growing seasons. Cowpea grain and dry biomass yields werein excess of 60% under high density compared to low density in both binary and sole cultures. The results revealed that grain yield accumulation of sorghum cultivars was influenced by the density of the companion cowpea crop as well as the production season. For instant, at Syferkuil, Enforcer and Ns5511 accumulated high yield under low density, whereas, at Ofcolaco, the higher yield was recorded under high density. Generally, under low cowpea density, cultivar Enforcer produced relatively higher grain yield whereas, under higher density, Titan yield was superior. The partial and total LER varied with growing season and the treatments studied. The total LERs exceeded 1.0 at the two locations across seasons, ranging from 1.3 to 1.8. From the results, it can be concluded that resources were used more efficiently in sorghum-cowpea intercrop at both Syferkuil and Ofcolaco. Furthermore, intercropping system improved photosynthetic rate, grain yield, and dry matter accumulation of sorghum and cowpea depending on growing conditions and density of cowpea. Hence, the sorghum-cowpea intercropping system can be adopted as a climate-smart practice for sustainable production in the Limpopo province.

Keywords: cowpea, climate-smart, grain sorghum, intercropping

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Authors: Ehsan Javanmardemamgheisi, Javad Mehr, Jason Ali-Lavroff, Damien Holloway, Michael Davis

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During the last decades, a growing interest in faster and more efficient waterborne transportation has led to the development of high-speed vessels for both commercial and military applications. To satisfy this global demand, a wide variety of arrangements of high-speed crafts have been proposed by designers. Among them, high-speed catamarans have proven themselves to be a suitable Roll-on/Roll-off configuration for carrying passengers and cargo due to widely spaced demi hulls, a wide deck zone, and a high ratio of deadweight to displacement. To improve passenger comfort and crew workability and enhance the operability and performance of high-speed catamarans, mitigating the severity of motions and structural loads using Ride Control Systems (RCS) is essential.In this paper, a set of towing tank tests was conducted on a 2.5 m scaled model of a 112 m Incat Tasmania high-speed catamaran in irregular head seas to investigate the effect of different ride control algorithms including linear and nonlinear versions of the heave control, pitch control, and local control on motion responses and passenger comfort of the full-scale ship. The RCS included a centre bow-fitted T-Foil and two transom-mounted stern tabs. All the experiments were conducted at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) towing tank at a model speed of 2.89 m/s (37 knots full scale), a modal period of 1.5 sec (10 sec full scale) and two significant wave heights of 60 mm and 90 mm, representing full-scale wave heights of 2.7 m and 4 m, respectively. Spectral analyses were performed using Welch’s power spectral density method on the vertical motion time records of the catamaran model to calculate heave and pitch Response Amplitude Operators (RAOs). Then, noting that passenger discomfort arises from vertical accelerations and that the vertical accelerations vary at different longitudinal locations within the passenger cabin due to the variations in amplitude and relative phase of the pitch and heave motions, the vertical accelerations were calculated at three longitudinal locations (LCG, T-Foil, and stern tabs). Finally, frequency-weighted Root Mean Square (RMS) vertical accelerations were calculated to estimate Motion Sickness Dose Value (MSDV) of the ship based on ISO 2631-recommendations. It was demonstrated that in small seas, implementing a nonlinear pitch control algorithm reduces the peak pitch motions by 41%, the vertical accelerations at the forward location by 46%, and motion sickness at the forward position by around 20% which provides great potential for further improvement in passenger comfort, crew workability, and operability of high-speed catamarans.

Keywords: high-speed catamarans, ride control system, response amplitude operators, vertical accelerations, motion sickness, irregular waves, towing tank tests.

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Authors: Aşina Gülerarslan, M. Faik Özdengül

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The new economic, social and political world order has led to the emergence of a wide range of persuasion strategies and practices based on an ever expanding marketing axis that involves organizations, ideas and persons as well as products and services. It is seen that since the 1990's, a wide variety of competitive marketing ideas have been offered systematically to target audiences in the field of politics as in other fields. When the components of marketing are taken into consideration, all kinds of communication efforts involving “political leaders”, who are conceptualized as products in terms of political marketing, serve a process of social persuasion, which cannot be restricted to election periods only, and a manageable “image”. In this context, image, which is concerned with how the political product is perceived, involves not only the political discourses shared with the public but also all kinds of biographical information about the leader, the leader’s specific way of living and routines and his/her attitudes and behaviors in their private lives, and all these are regarded as components of the “product image”. While on the one hand the leader’s verbal or supra-verbal references serve the way the “spirit of the product” is perceived –just as in brand positioning- they also show their self-esteem levels, in other words how they perceive themselves on the other hand. Indeed, their self-esteem levels are evaluated in three fundamental categories in the “Functional Analysis”, namely parent, child and adult, and it is revealed that the words, tone of voice and body language a person uses makes it easy to understand at what self-esteem level that person is. In this context, words, tone of voice and body language, which provide important clues as to the “self” of the person, are also an indication of how political leaders evaluate both “themselves” and “the mass/audience” in the communication they establish with their audiences. When the matter is taken from the perspective of Turkey, the levels of self-esteem in the relationships that the political leaders establish with the masses are also important in revealing how our society is seen from the perspective of a specific leader. Since the leader is a part of the marketing strategy of a political party as a product, this evaluation is significant in terms of the forms of relationships between political institutions in our country with the society. In this study, the self-esteem level in the documentary entitled “Master’s Story”, where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s life history is told, is analyzed in the context of words, tone of voice and body language. Within the scope of the study, at what level of self-esteem Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in the “Master’s Story”, a documentary broadcast on Beyaz TV, was investigated using the content analysis method. First, based on the Functional Analysis Literature, a transactional approach scale was created regarding parent, adult and child self-esteem levels. On the basis of this scale, the prime minister’s self-esteem level was determined in three basic groups, namely “tone of voice”, “the words he used” and “body language”. Descriptive analyses were made to the data within the framework of these criteria and at what self-esteem level the prime minister spoke throughout the documentary was revealed.

Keywords: political marketing, leader image, level of self-esteem, transactional approach

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Authors: Özgür Bahadir, Meltem Kurtuncu

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The study was designed as quasi-experimental and conducted to determine the effect of music therapy on anxiety, fear and pain management in 6-12-year-old children undergoing surgery. The present study was carried out between 01.01.2016 and 19.08.2016 in BEU. Application and Research Center. The children aged 6 -12 who applied for surgery between the mentioned dates constituted the universe of the study. In the quasi-experimental study that was conducted in the clinics where children received operational treatment, two groups were formed: experimental group (the children who received musical therapy before the surgery) and control group (the children who were administered surveys and the surgery service routines only). Each group consisted of 30 children, and the participants of the study were 60 children in total. Necessary permissions were obtained from the parents of the children hospitalized before the beginning of the implementation. The data was collected through Child Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), “Fear In Medical Treatment Scale”, Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability Scale (FLACC), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Participant Information Form. In the analysis of the data, Kolmogorov-Smirnov distribution scale was used to examine the normality of the distribution along with descriptive statistics methods (Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation). Data was presented in the tables in numbers and percentages. Means were demonstrated along with the standard deviations. The research compared children received; case and control groups include socio-demographic perspective, non-significant difference statistically among similar groups are intertwined. The general level of fear regarding the medical processes before returning to service after the operation and 30 minutes before getting discharged was found to be significantly low in the experimental group compared to control group (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between experimental and control groups in terms of general level of fear regarding the medical processes before the operation, during the operation day and in the recovery room after the operation (p>0.05). Total CASI AD (anxiety sensitivity) levels before the operation, day of the operation and 30 minutes before the discharge for patients in experimental group was found to be significantly higher than the control group (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the total CASI AD levels for the post-operative recovery room and for returning to the service room after the operation (p>0.05). VAS levels for patients in the experimental group in the post-operative recovery room was significantly higher than the control group (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of VAS findings in returning to service room after the operation and in 30 minutes before the discharge (p>0.05). As a result of the research; applied children music therapy in the experimental group anxiety, fear, and pain of the scales, their scores average, is lower than the control group children in this situation an increase in the satisfaction of children and parents was observed. In line with this, music therapy preoperative anxiety, fear, and can be used as an effective method of decreasing postoperative pain clinics is suggested.

Keywords: anxiety, children, fear, music therapy, pain

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Authors: Mengjiao Fan, Thomson W. L. Wong

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It is unavoidable that older adults may have to deal with aging-related motor problems. Aging is highly likely to affect motor learning and control as well. For example, older adults may suffer from poor motor function and quality of life due to age-related eye changes. These adverse changes in vision results in impairment of movement automaticity. Reaching is a fundamental component of various complex movements, which is therefore beneficial to explore the changes and adaptation in visuomotor behaviors. The current study aims to explore how aging affects visuomotor behaviors by comparing motor performance and gaze behaviors between two age groups (i.e., young and older adults). Visuomotor behaviors in reaching under providing or blocking online visual feedback (simulated visual deficiency) conditions were investigated in 60 healthy young adults (Mean age=24.49 years, SD=2.12) and 37 older adults (Mean age=70.07 years, SD=2.37) with normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Participants in each group were randomly allocated into two subgroups. Subgroup 1 was provided with online visual feedback of the hand-controlled mouse cursor. However, in subgroup 2, visual feedback was blocked to simulate visual deficiency. The experimental task required participants to complete 20 times of reaching to a target by controlling the mouse cursor on the computer screen. Among all the 20 trials, start position was upright in the center of the screen and target appeared at a randomly selected position by the tailor-made computer program. Primary outcomes of motor performance and gaze behaviours data were recorded by the EyeLink II (SR Research, Canada). The results suggested that aging seems to affect the performance of reaching tasks significantly in both visual feedback conditions. In both age groups, blocking online visual feedback of the cursor in reaching resulted in longer hand movement time (p < .001), longer reaching distance away from the target center (p<.001) and poorer reaching motor accuracy (p < .001). Concerning gaze behaviors, blocking online visual feedback increased the first fixation duration time in young adults (p<.001) but decreased it in older adults (p < .001). Besides, under the condition of providing online visual feedback of the cursor, older adults conducted a longer fixation dwell time on target throughout reaching than the young adults (p < .001) although the effect was not significant under blocking online visual feedback condition (p=.215). Therefore, the results suggested that different levels of visual feedback during movement execution can affect gaze behaviors differently in older and young adults. Differential effects by aging on visuomotor behaviors appear on two visual feedback patterns (i.e., blocking or providing online visual feedback of hand-controlled cursor in reaching). Several specific gaze behaviors among the older adults were found, which imply that blocking of visual feedback may act as a stimulus to seduce extra perceptive load in movement execution and age-related visual degeneration might further deteriorate the situation. It indeed provides us with insight for the future development of potential rehabilitative training method (e.g., well-designed errorless training) in enhancing visuomotor adaptation for our aging population in the context of improving their movement automaticity by facilitating their compensation of visual degeneration.

Keywords: aging effect, movement automaticity, reaching, visuomotor behaviors, visual degeneration

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: S. H. Chew, Z. X. Eng, K. E. Chuah, T. Y. Lim, H. M. A. Yim

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In recent years, geotextile tube has been widely used in the hydraulic engineering and dewatering industry. To construct a stable containment bund with geotextile tubes, the sand slurry is always the preference infilling material. However, the shortage of sand supply posts a problem in Singapore to adopt this construction method in the actual construction of long containment bund. Hence, utilizing the soft dredged clay or the excavated soft clay as the infilling material of geotextile tubes has a great economic benefit. There are any technical issues with using this soft clayey material as infilling material, especially on the excessive settlement and stability concerns. To minimize the shape deformation and settlement of geotextile tube associated with the use of this soft clay infilling material, a modified innovative infilling material is proposed – lightly cemented soft clay. The preliminary laboratory studies have shown that the dewatering mechanism via geotextile material of the tube skin, and the introduction of cementitious chemical action of the lightly cemented soft clay will accelerate the consolidation and improve the shear strength of infill material. This study aims to extend the study by conducting a pilot test of the geotextile tube filled with lightly cemented clay. This study consists of testing on a series of miniature geo-tubes and two full-size geotextile tube. In the miniature geo-tube tests, a number of small scaled-down size of geotextile tubes were filled with cemented clay (at water content of 150%) with cement content of 0% to 8% (by weight). The shear strength development of the lightly cemented clay under dewatering mechanism was evaluated using a modified in-situ Cone Penetration Test (CPT) at 0 days, 3 days, 7 days and 28 days after the infilling. The undisturbed soil samples of lightly cemented infilled clay were also extracted at 3-days and 7-days for triaxial tests and evaluation of final water content. The results suggested that the geotextile tubes filled with un-cemented soft clay experienced very significant shape change over the days (as control test). However, geotextile mini-tubes filled with lightly cemented clay experienced only marginal shape changed, even that the strength development of this lightly cemented clay inside the tube may not show significant strength gain at the early stage. The shape stability is believed to be due to the confinement effect of the geotextile tube with clay at non-slurry state. Subsequently, a full-scale instrumented geotextile tube filled with lightly cemented clay was performed. The extensive results of strain gauges and pressure transducers installed on this full-size geotextile tube demonstrated a substantial mobilization of tensile forces on the geotextile skin corresponding to the filling activity and the subsequent dewatering stage. Shape change and the in-fill material strength development was also monitored. In summary, the construction of containment bund with geotextile tube filled with lightly cemented clay is found to be technically feasible and stable with the use of the sufficiently strong (i.e. adequate tensile strength) geotextile tube, the adequate control on the dosage of cement content, and suitable water content of infilling soft clay material.

Keywords: cemented clay, containment bund, dewatering, geotextile tube

Procedia PDF Downloads 247