CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-P63WKM1TM1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-P63WKM1TM1'); </script>  <script type="text/javascript" > (function(m,e,t,r,i,k,a){m[i]=m[i]||function(){(m[i].a=m[i].a||[]).push(arguments)}; m[i].l=1*new Date(); for (var j = 0; j < document.scripts.length; j++) {if (document.scripts[j].src === r) { return; }} k=e.createElement(t),a=e.getElementsByTagName(t)[0],k.async=1,k.src=r,a.parentNode.insertBefore(k,a)}) (window, document, "script", "https://mc.yandex.ru/metrika/tag.js", "ym"); ym(55165297, "init", { clickmap:false, trackLinks:true, accurateTrackBounce:true, webvisor:false }); </script> <noscript><div><img src="https://mc.yandex.ru/watch/55165297" style="position:absolute; left:-9999px;" alt="" /></div></noscript>    <title>Search results for: Art activities in social education</title> <meta name="description" content="Search results for: Art activities in social education"> <meta name="keywords" content="Art activities in social education"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut icon"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/fontawesome/css/all.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/css/site.css?v=150220211555" rel="stylesheet"> </head> <body> <header> <div class="container"> <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light"> <a class="navbar-brand" href="https://waset.org"> <img src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/images/wasetc.png" alt="Open Science Research Excellence" title="Open Science Research Excellence" /> </a> <button class="d-block d-lg-none navbar-toggler ml-auto" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarMenu" aria-controls="navbarMenu" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation"> <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span> </button> <div class="w-100"> <div class="d-none d-lg-flex flex-row-reverse"> <form method="get" action="https://waset.org/search" class="form-inline my-2 my-lg-0"> <input class="form-control mr-sm-2" type="search" placeholder="Search Conferences" value="Art activities in social education" name="q" aria-label="Search"> <button class="btn btn-light my-2 my-sm-0" type="submit"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button> </form> </div> <div class="collapse navbar-collapse mt-1" id="navbarMenu"> <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto align-items-center" id="mainNavMenu"> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/conferences" title="Conferences in 2024/2025/2026">Conferences</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/disciplines" title="Disciplines">Disciplines</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/committees" rel="nofollow">Committees</a> </li> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="navbarDropdownPublications" role="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> Publications </a> <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="navbarDropdownPublications"> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts">Abstracts</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org">Periodicals</a> <a class="dropdown-item" href="https://publications.waset.org/archive">Archive</a> </div> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="https://waset.org/page/support" title="Support">Support</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> <main> <div class="container mt-4"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-9 mx-auto"> <form method="get" action="https://publications.waset.org/search"> <div id="custom-search-input"> <div class="input-group"> <i class="fas fa-search"></i> <input type="text" class="search-query" name="q" placeholder="Author, Title, Abstract, Keywords" value="Art activities in social education"> <input type="submit" class="btn_search" value="Search"> </div> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="row mt-3"> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Commenced</strong> in January 2007</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Frequency:</strong> Monthly</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Edition:</strong> International</div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"><strong>Paper Count:</strong> 3766</div> </div> </div> </div> <h1 class="mt-3 mb-3 text-center" style="font-size:1.6rem;">Search results for: Art activities in social education</h1> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">46</span> Improving Subjective Bias Detection Using Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Ebipatei%20Victoria%20Tunyan">Ebipatei Victoria Tunyan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=T.%20A.%20Cao"> T. A. Cao</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Cheol%20Young%20Ock"> Cheol Young Ock</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Detecting subjectively biased statements is a vital task. This is because this kind of bias, when present in the text or other forms of information dissemination media such as news, social media, scientific texts, and encyclopedias, can weaken trust in the information and stir conflicts amongst consumers. Subjective bias detection is also critical for many Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks like sentiment analysis, opinion identification, and bias neutralization. Having a system that can adequately detect subjectivity in text will boost research in the above-mentioned areas significantly. It can also come in handy for platforms like Wikipedia, where the use of neutral language is of importance. The goal of this work is to identify the subjectively biased language in text on a sentence level. With machine learning, we can solve complex AI problems, making it a good fit for the problem of subjective bias detection. A key step in this approach is to train a classifier based on BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) as upstream model. BERT by itself can be used as a classifier; however, in this study, we use BERT as data preprocessor as well as an embedding generator for a Bi-LSTM (Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory) network incorporated with attention mechanism. This approach produces a deeper and better classifier. We evaluate the effectiveness of our model using the Wiki Neutrality Corpus (WNC), which was compiled from Wikipedia edits that removed various biased instances from sentences as a benchmark dataset, with which we also compare our model to existing approaches. Experimental analysis indicates an improved performance, as our model achieved state-of-the-art accuracy in detecting subjective bias. This study focuses on the English language, but the model can be fine-tuned to accommodate other languages.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Subjective%20bias%20detection" title="Subjective bias detection">Subjective bias detection</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=machine%20learning" title=" machine learning"> machine learning</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=BERT%E2%80%93BiLSTM%E2%80%93Attention" title=" BERT–BiLSTM–Attention"> BERT–BiLSTM–Attention</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=text%20classification" title=" text classification"> text classification</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=natural%20language%20processing." title=" natural language processing."> natural language processing.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/improving-subjective-bias-detection-using-bidirectional-encoder-representations-from-transformers-and-bidirectional-long-short-term-memory" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012055.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">830</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">45</span> Exploring the Perspective of Service Quality in mHealth Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Wan-I%20Lee">Wan-I Lee</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Nelio%20Mendoza%20Figueredo"> Nelio Mendoza Figueredo</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>The impact of COVID-19 has a significant effect on all sectors of society globally. Health information technology (HIT) has become an effective health strategy in this age of distancing. In this regard, Mobile Health (mHealth) plays a critical role in managing patient and provider workflows during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the users' perception of service quality about mHealth services plays a significant role in shaping confidence and subsequent behaviors regarding the mHealth users' intention of use. This study's objective was to explore levels of user attributes analyzed by a qualitative method of how health practitioners and patients are satisfied or dissatisfied with using mHealth services; and analyzed the users' intention in the context of Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explores the experienced usability of a mHealth services during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses qualitative methods that include in-depth and semi-structured interviews that investigate participants' perceptions and experiences and the meanings they attribute to them. The five cases consisted of health practitioners, clinic staff, and patients' experiences using mHealth services. This study encourages participants to discuss issues related to the research question by asking open-ended questions, usually in one-to-one interviews. The findings show the positive and negative attributes of mHealth service quality. Hence, the significant importance of patients' and health practitioners' issues on several dimensions of perceived service quality is system quality, information quality, and interaction quality. A concept map for perceptions regards to emergency uses' intention of mHealth services process is depicted. The findings revealed that users pay more attention to "Medical care", "ease of use" and "utilitarian benefits" and have less importance for "Admissions and Convenience" and "Social influence". To improve mHealth services, the mHealth providers and health practitioners should better manage users' experiences to enhance mHealth services. This research contributes to the understanding of service quality issues in mHealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=COVID-19" title="COVID-19">COVID-19</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=mobile%20health" title=" mobile health"> mobile health</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=mHealth" title=" mHealth"> mHealth</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=service%20quality" title=" service quality"> service quality</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=use%20intention." title=" use intention. "> use intention. </a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/exploring-the-perspective-of-service-quality-in-mhealth-services-during-the-covid-19-pandemic" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012046.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">697</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">44</span> Potential of Irish Orientated Strand Board in Bending Active Structures</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=M.%20Collins">M. Collins</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=B.%20O%E2%80%99Regan"> B. O’Regan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=T.%20Cosgrove"> T. Cosgrove</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>To determine the potential of a low cost Irish engineered timber product to replace high cost solid timber for use in bending active structures such as gridshells a single Irish engineered timber product in the form of orientated strand board (OSB) was selected. A comparative study of OSB and solid timber was carried out to determine the optimum properties that make a material suitable for use in gridshells. Three parameters were identified to be relevant in the selection of a material for gridshells. These three parameters are the strength to stiffness ratio, the flexural stiffness of commercially available sections, and the variability of material and section properties. It is shown that when comparing OSB against solid timber, OSB is a more suitable material for use in gridshells that are at the smaller end of the scale and that have tight radii of curvature. Typically, for solid timber materials, stiffness is used as an indicator for strength and engineered timber is no different. Thus, low flexural stiffness would mean low flexural strength. However, when it comes to bending active gridshells, OSB offers a significant advantage. By the addition of multiple layers, an increased section size is created, thus endowing the structure with higher stiffness and higher strength from initial low stiffness and low strength materials while still maintaining tight radii of curvature. This allows OSB to compete with solid timber on large scale gridshells. Additionally, a preliminary sustainability study using a set of sustainability indicators was carried out to determine the relative sustainability of building a large-scale gridshell in Ireland with a primary focus on economic viability but a mention is also given to social and environmental aspects. For this, the Savill garden gridshell in the UK was used as the functional unit with the sustainability of the structural roof skeleton constructed from UK larch solid timber being compared with the same structure using Irish OSB. Albeit that the advantages of using commercially available OSB in a bending active gridshell are marginal and limited to specific gridshell applications, further study into an optimised engineered timber product is merited.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Bending%20active%20gridshells" title="Bending active gridshells">Bending active gridshells</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=High%20end%20timber%0D%0Astructures" title=" High end timber structures"> High end timber structures</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Low%20cost%20material" title=" Low cost material"> Low cost material</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Sustainability." title=" Sustainability."> Sustainability.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/potential-of-irish-orientated-strand-board-in-bending-active-structures" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10001017.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1711</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">43</span> Present Status, Driving Forces and Pattern Optimization of Territory in Hubei Province, China</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Tingke%20Wu">Tingke Wu</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Man%20Yuan"> Man Yuan</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> “National Territorial Planning (2016-2030)” was issued by the State Council of China in 2017. As an important initiative of putting it into effect, territorial planning at provincial level makes overall arrangement of territorial development, resources and environment protection, comprehensive renovation and security system construction. Hubei province, as the pivot of the “Rise of Central China” national strategy, is now confronted with great opportunities and challenges in territorial development, protection, and renovation. Territorial spatial pattern experiences long time evolution, influenced by multiple internal and external driving forces. It is not clear what are the main causes of its formation and what are effective ways of optimizing it. By analyzing land use data in 2016, this paper reveals present status of territory in Hubei. Combined with economic and social data and construction information, driving forces of territorial spatial pattern are then analyzed. Research demonstrates that the three types of territorial space aggregate distinctively. The four aspects of driving forces include natural background which sets the stage for main functions, population and economic factors which generate agglomeration effect, transportation infrastructure construction which leads to axial expansion and significant provincial strategies which encourage the established path. On this basis, targeted strategies for optimizing territory spatial pattern are then put forward. Hierarchical protection pattern should be established based on development intensity control as respect for nature. By optimizing the layout of population and industry and improving the transportation network, polycentric network-based development pattern could be established. These findings provide basis for Hubei Territorial Planning, and reference for future territorial planning in other provinces. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Driving%20forces" title="Driving forces">Driving forces</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Hubei" title=" Hubei"> Hubei</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=optimizing%20strategies" title=" optimizing strategies"> optimizing strategies</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=spatial%20pattern" title=" spatial pattern"> spatial pattern</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=territory." title=" territory. "> territory. </a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/present-status-driving-forces-and-pattern-optimization-of-territory-in-hubei-province-china" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010366.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">623</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">42</span> Robot-assisted Relaxation Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=V.%20Holeva">V. Holeva</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=V.%20Aliki%20Nikopoulou"> V. Aliki Nikopoulou</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=P.%20Kechayas"> P. Kechayas</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=M.%20Dialechti%20Kerasidou"> M. Dialechti Kerasidou</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=M.%20Papadopoulou"> M. Papadopoulou</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=G.%20A.%20Papakostas"> G. A. Papakostas</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=V.%20G.%20Kaburlasos"> V. G. Kaburlasos</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=A.%20Evangeliou"> A. Evangeliou</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been proven an effective tool to address anger and anxiety issues in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Robot-enhanced therapy has been used in psychosocial and educational interventions for children with ASD with promising results. Whenever CBT-based techniques were incorporated in robot-based interventions, they were mainly performed in group sessions. Objectives: The study’s main objective was the implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of a relaxation training intervention for children with ASD, delivered by the social robot NAO. Methods: 20 children (aged 7–12 years) were randomly assigned to 16 sessions of relaxation training implemented twice a week. Two groups were formed: the NAO group (children participated in individual sessions with the support of NAO) and the control group (children participated in individual sessions with the support of the therapist only). Participants received three different relaxation scenarios of increasing difficulty (a breathing scenario, a progressive muscle relaxation scenario and a body scan medication scenario), as well as related homework sheets for practicing. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for parents (SDQ-P). Participants were also asked to complete an open-ended questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Parents’ satisfaction was evaluated via a questionnaire and children satisfaction was assessed by a thermometer scale. Results: The study supports the use of relaxation training with the NAO robot as instructor for children with ASD. Parents of enrolled children reported high levels of satisfaction and provided positive ratings of the training acceptability. Children in the NAO group presented greater motivation to complete homework and adopt the learned techniques at home. Conclusions: Relaxation training could be effectively integrated in robot-assisted protocols to help children with ASD regulate emotions and develop self-control.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Autism%20spectrum%20disorders" title="Autism spectrum disorders">Autism spectrum disorders</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=CBT" title=" CBT"> CBT</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=children%20relaxation%20training" title=" children relaxation training"> children relaxation training</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=robot-assisted%20therapy." title=" robot-assisted therapy."> robot-assisted therapy.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/robot-assisted-relaxation-training-for-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorders" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012152.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">915</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">41</span> Gender Justice and Feminist Self-Management Practices in the Solidarity Economy: A Quantitative Analysis of the Factors that Impact Enterprises Formed by Women in Brazil</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Maria%20de%20Nazar%C3%A9%20Moraes%20Soares">Maria de Nazaré Moraes Soares</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Silvia%20Maria%20Dias%20Pedro%20Rebou%C3%A7as"> Silvia Maria Dias Pedro Rebouças</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Jos%C3%A9%20Carlos%20L%C3%A1zaro"> José Carlos Lázaro</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>The Solidarity Economy (SE) acts in the re-articulation of the economic field to the other spheres of social action. The significant participation of women in SE resulted in the formation of a national network of self-managed enterprises in Brazil: The Solidarity and Feminist Economy Network (SFEN). The objective of the research is to identify factors of gender justice and feminist self-management practices that adhere to the reality of women in SE enterprises. The conceptual apparatus related to feminist studies in this research covers Nancy Fraser approaches on gender justice, and Patricia Yancey Martin approaches on feminist management practices, and authors of postcolonial feminism such as Mohanty and Maria Lugones, who lead the discussion to peripheral contexts, a necessary perspective when observing the women’s movement in SE. The research has a quantitative nature in the phases of data collection and analysis. The data collection was performed through two data sources: the database mapped in Brazil in 2010-2013 by the National Information System in Solidary Economy and 150 questionnaires with women from 16 enterprises in SFEN, in a state of Brazilian northeast. The data were analyzed using the multivariate statistical technique of Factor Analysis. The results show that the factors that define gender justice and feminist self-management practices in SE are interrelated in several levels, proving statistically the intersectional condition of the issue of women. The evidence from the quantitative analysis allowed us to understand the dimensions of gender justice and feminist management practices intersectionality; in this sense, the non-distribution of domestic work interferes in non-representation of women in public spaces, especially in peripheral contexts. The study contributes with important reflections to the studies of this area and can be complemented in the future with a qualitative research that approaches the perspective of women in the context of the SE self-management paradigm.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Feminist%20management%20practices" title="Feminist management practices">Feminist management practices</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=gender%20justice" title=" gender justice"> gender justice</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=self-management" title=" self-management"> self-management</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=solidarity%20economy." title=" solidarity economy."> solidarity economy.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/gender-justice-and-feminist-self-management-practices-in-the-solidarity-economy-a-quantitative-analysis-of-the-factors-that-impact-enterprises-formed-by-women-in-brazil" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011447.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">624</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">40</span> Impacts of Climate Change under the Threat of Global Warming for an Agricultural Watershed of the Kangsabati River</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Sujana%20Dhar">Sujana Dhar</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Asis%20Mazumdar"> Asis Mazumdar</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The effects of global warming on India vary from the submergence of low-lying islands and coastal lands to the melting of glaciers in the Indian Himalayas, threatening the volumetric flow rate of many of the most important rivers of India and South Asia. In India, such effects are projected to impact millions of lives. As a result of ongoing climate change, the climate of India has become increasingly volatile over the past several decades; this trend is expected to continue. Climate change is one of the most important global environmental challenges, with implications for food production, water supply, health, energy, etc. Addressing climate change requires a good scientific understanding as well as coordinated action at national and global level. The climate change issue is part of the larger challenge of sustainable development. As a result, climate policies can be more effective when consistently embedded within broader strategies designed to make national and regional development paths more sustainable. The impact of climate variability and change, climate policy responses, and associated socio-economic development will affect the ability of countries to achieve sustainable development goals. A very well calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (R2 = 0.9968, NSE = 0.91) was exercised over the Khatra sub basin of the Kangsabati River watershed in Bankura district of West Bengal, India, in order to evaluate projected parameters for agricultural activities. Evapotranspiration, Transmission Losses, Potential Evapotranspiration and Lateral Flow to reach are evaluated from the years 2041-2050 in order to generate a picture for sustainable development of the river basin and its inhabitants. India has a significant stake in scientific advancement as well as an international understanding to promote mitigation and adaptation. This requires improved scientific understanding, capacity building, networking and broad consultation processes. This paper is a commitment towards the planning, management and development of the water resources of the Kangsabati River by presenting detailed future scenarios of the Kangsabati river basin, Khatra sub basin, over the mentioned time period. India-s economy and societal infrastructures are finely tuned to the remarkable stability of the Indian monsoon, with the consequence that vulnerability to small changes in monsoon rainfall is very high. In 2002 the monsoon rains failed during July, causing profound loss of agricultural production with a drop of over 3% in India-s GDP. Neither the prolonged break in the monsoon nor the seasonal rainfall deficit was predicted. While the general features of monsoon variability and change are fairly well-documented, the causal mechanisms and the role of regional ecosystems in modulating the changes are still not clear. Current climate models are very poor at modelling the Asian monsoon: this is a challenging and critical region where the ocean, atmosphere, land surface and mountains all interact. The impact of climate change on regional ecosystems is likewise unknown. The potential for the monsoon to become more volatile has major implications for India itself and for economies worldwide. Knowledge of future variability of the monsoon system, particularly in the context of global climate change, is of great concern for regional water and food security. The major findings of this paper were that of all the chosen projected parameters, transmission losses, soil water content, potential evapotranspiration, evapotranspiration and lateral flow to reach, display an increasing trend over the time period of years 2041- 2050. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Change" title="Change">Change</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=future%20water%20availability%20scenario" title=" future water availability scenario"> future water availability scenario</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=modeling" title=" modeling"> modeling</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=SWAT" title=" SWAT"> SWAT</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=global%20warming" title=" global warming"> global warming</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=sustainability." title=" sustainability."> sustainability.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/impacts-of-climate-change-under-the-threat-of-global-warming-for-an-agricultural-watershed-of-the-kangsabati-river" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/1204.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">2595</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">39</span> Bounded Rational Heterogeneous Agents in Artificial Stock Markets: Literature Review and Research Direction</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Talal%20Alsulaiman">Talal Alsulaiman</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Khaldoun%20Khashanah"> Khaldoun Khashanah</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> In this paper, we provided a literature survey on the artificial stock problem (ASM). The paper began by exploring the complexity of the stock market and the needs for ASM. ASM aims to investigate the link between individual behaviors (micro level) and financial market dynamics (macro level). The variety of patterns at the macro level is a function of the AFM complexity. The financial market system is a complex system where the relationship between the micro and macro level cannot be captured analytically. Computational approaches, such as simulation, are expected to comprehend this connection. Agent-based simulation is a simulation technique commonly used to build AFMs. The paper proceeds by discussing the components of the ASM. We consider the roles of behavioral finance (BF) alongside the traditionally risk-averse assumption in the construction of agent’s attributes. Also, the influence of social networks in the developing of agents interactions is addressed. Network topologies such as a small world, distance-based, and scale-free networks may be utilized to outline economic collaborations. In addition, the primary methods for developing agents learning and adaptive abilities have been summarized. These incorporated approach such as Genetic Algorithm, Genetic Programming, Artificial neural network and Reinforcement Learning. In addition, the most common statistical properties (the stylized facts) of stock that are used for calibration and validation of ASM are discussed. Besides, we have reviewed the major related previous studies and categorize the utilized approaches as a part of these studies. Finally, research directions and potential research questions are argued. The research directions of ASM may focus on the macro level by analyzing the market dynamic or on the micro level by investigating the wealth distributions of the agents. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Artificial%20stock%20markets" title="Artificial stock markets">Artificial stock markets</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=agent%20based%20simulation" title=" agent based simulation"> agent based simulation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=bounded%20rationality" title=" bounded rationality"> bounded rationality</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=behavioral%20finance" title=" behavioral finance"> behavioral finance</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=artificial%20neural%20network" title=" artificial neural network"> artificial neural network</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=interaction" title=" interaction"> interaction</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=scale-free%20networks." title=" scale-free networks."> scale-free networks.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/bounded-rational-heterogeneous-agents-in-artificial-stock-markets-literature-review-and-research-direction" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10002131.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">2528</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">38</span> Directors’ Duties, Civil Liability, and the Business Judgment Rule under the Portuguese Legal Framework</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Marisa%20Catarina%20da%20Concei%C3%A7%C3%A3o%20Dinis">Marisa Catarina da Conceição Dinis</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>The commercial companies’ management has suffered an important material and legal transformation in the last years, mainly related to the changes in the Portuguese legal framework and because of the fact they were recently object of great expansion. In fact, next to the smaller family businesses, whose management is regularly assumed by partners, companies with social investment highly scattered, whose owners are completely out from administration, are now arising. In those particular cases, the business transactions are much more complex and require from the companies’ managers a highly technical knowledge and some specific professionals’ skills and abilities. This kind of administration carries a high-level risk that can both result in great success or in great losses. Knowing that the administration performance can result in important losses to the companies, the Portuguese legislator has created a legal structure to impute them some responsibilities and sanctions. The main goal of this study is to analyze the Portuguese law and some jurisprudence about companies’ management rules and about the conflicts between the directors and the company. In order to achieve these purposes we have to consider, on the one hand, the legal duties directly connected to the directors’ functions and on the other hand the disrespect for those same rules. The Portuguese law in this matter, influenced by the common law, determines that the directors’ attitude should be guided by loyalty and honesty. Consequently, we must reflect in which cases the administrators should respond to losses that they might cause to companies as a result of their duties’ disrespect. In this way is necessary to study the business judgment rule wich is a rule that refers to a liability exclusion rule. We intend, in the same way, to evaluate if the civil liability that results from the directors’ duties disrespect can extend itself to those who have elected them ignoring or even knowing that they don´t have the necessary skills or appropriate knowledge to the position they hold. To charge directors’, without ruining entrepreneurship, charging, in the same way, those who select them reinforces the need for more responsible and cautious attitudes which will lead consequently to more confidence in the markets.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Duty%20of%20loyalty" title="Duty of loyalty">Duty of loyalty</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=duty%20of%20care" title=" duty of care"> duty of care</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=business%20judgment%20rule" title=" business judgment rule"> business judgment rule</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=civil%20liability%20of%20directors." title=" civil liability of directors."> civil liability of directors.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/directors-duties-civil-liability-and-the-business-judgment-rule-under-the-portuguese-legal-framework" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004597.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1252</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">37</span> Political Economy of Integrated Soil Fertility Management in the Okavango Delta, Botswana</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Oluwatoyin%20D.%20Kolawole">Oluwatoyin D. Kolawole</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Oarabile%20Mogobe"> Oarabile Mogobe</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Lapologang%20Magole"> Lapologang Magole</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Although many factors play a significant role in agricultural production and productivity, the importance of soil fertility cannot be underestimated. The extent to which small farmers are able to manage the fertility of their farmlands is crucial in agricultural development particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).  This paper assesses the nutrient status of selected farmers’ fields in relation to how government policy addresses the allocation of and access to agricultural inputs (e.g. chemical fertilizers) in a unique social-ecological environment of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. It also analyses small farmers and soil scientists’ perceptions about the political economy of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) in the area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to elicit quantitative and qualitative information from 228 farmers and 9 soil researchers through the use of interview schedules and questionnaires, respectively. Knowledge validation workshops and focus group discussions (FGDs) were also used to collect qualitative data from farmers. Thirty-three composite soil samples were collected from 30 farmers’ plots in three farming communities of Makalamabedi, Nokaneng and Mohembo for laboratory analysis. While meeting points exist, farmers and scientists have divergent perspectives on soil fertility management. Laboratory analysis carried out shows that most soils in the wetland and the adjoining dry-land/upland surroundings are low in essential nutrients as well as in <em>cation </em>exchange capacity (CEC). Although results suggest the identification and use of appropriate inorganic fertilizers, the low CEC is an indication that holistic cultural practices, which are beyond mere chemical fertilizations, are critical and more desirable for improved soil health and sustainable livelihoods in the area. Farmers’ age (t= -0.728;<em> p≤0.10</em>); their perceptions about the political economy (t = -0.485; <em>p≤0.01</em>) of ISFM; and their preference for the use of local knowledge in soil fertility management (t = -10.254; <em>p≤0.01</em>) had a significant relationship with how they perceived their involvement in the implementation of ISFM.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Access" title="Access">Access</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Botswana" title=" Botswana"> Botswana</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=ecology" title=" ecology"> ecology</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=inputs" title=" inputs"> inputs</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Okavango%20Delta" title=" Okavango Delta"> Okavango Delta</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=policy" title=" policy"> policy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=scientists" title=" scientists"> scientists</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=small%20farmers" title=" small farmers"> small farmers</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=soil%20fertility." title=" soil fertility. "> soil fertility. </a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/political-economy-of-integrated-soil-fertility-management-in-the-okavango-delta-botswana" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996671.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">2567</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">36</span> The Application of Dynamic Network Process to Environment Planning Support Systems</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Wann-Ming%20Wey">Wann-Ming Wey</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>In recent years, in addition to face the external threats such as energy shortages and climate change, traffic congestion and environmental pollution have become anxious problems for many cities. Considering private automobile-oriented urban development had produced many negative environmental and social impacts, the transit-oriented development (TOD) has been considered as a sustainable urban model. TOD encourages public transport combined with friendly walking and cycling environment designs, however, non-motorized modes help improving human health, energy saving, and reducing carbon emissions. Due to environmental changes often affect the planners’ decision-making; this research applies dynamic network process (DNP) which includes the time dependent concept to promoting friendly walking and cycling environmental designs as an advanced planning support system for environment improvements.</p> <p>This research aims to discuss what kinds of design strategies can improve a friendly walking and cycling environment under TOD. First of all, we collate and analyze environment designing factors by reviewing the relevant literatures as well as divide into three aspects of “safety”, “convenience”, and “amenity” from fifteen environment designing factors. Furthermore, we utilize fuzzy Delphi Technique (FDT) expert questionnaire to filter out the more important designing criteria for the study case. Finally, we utilized DNP expert questionnaire to obtain the weights changes at different time points for each design criterion. Based on the changing trends of each criterion weight, we are able to develop appropriate designing strategies as the reference for planners to allocate resources in a dynamic environment. In order to illustrate the approach we propose in this research, Taipei city as one example has been used as an empirical study, and the results are in depth analyzed to explain the application of our proposed approach.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Environment%20Planning%20Support%20Systems" title="Environment Planning Support Systems">Environment Planning Support Systems</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Walking%20and%20Cycling" title=" Walking and Cycling"> Walking and Cycling</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Transit-oriented%20Development%20%28TOD%29" title=" Transit-oriented Development (TOD)"> Transit-oriented Development (TOD)</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Dynamic%20Network%20Process%20%28DNP%29." title=" Dynamic Network Process (DNP)."> Dynamic Network Process (DNP).</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/the-application-of-dynamic-network-process-to-environment-planning-support-systems" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9999140.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1850</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">35</span> Body Mass Index and Dietary Habits among Nursing College Students Living in the University Residence in Kirkuk City, Iraq</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Jenan%20Shakoor">Jenan Shakoor</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Obesity prevalence is increasing worldwide. University life is a challenging period especially for students who have to leave their familiar surroundings and settle in a new environment. The current study aimed to assess the diet and exercise habits and their association with body mass index (BMI) among nursing college students living at Kirkuk University residence. This was a descriptive study. A non-probability (purposive) sample of 101 students living in Kirkuk University residence was recruited during the period from the 15<sup>th</sup> November 2015 to the 5<sup>th</sup> May 2016. A questionnaire was constructed for the purpose of the study which consisted of four parts: the demographic characteristics of the study sample, eating habits, eating at college and healthy habits. The data were collected by interviewing the study sample and the weight and height were measured by a trained researcher at the college. Descriptive statistical analysis was undertaken. Data were prepared, organized and entered into the computer file; the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 20) was used for data analysis. A p value≤ 0.05 was accepted as statistical significant. A total of 63 (62.4%) of the sample were aged20-21with a mean age of 22.1 (SD±0.653). A third of the sample 38 (37.6%) were from level four at college, 67 (66.3%) were female and 46 45.5% of participants were from a middle socio-economic status. 14 (13.9%) of the study sample were overweight (BMI =25-29.9kg/m<sup>2</sup>) and 6 (5.9%) were obese (BMI≥30kg/m<sup>2</sup>) compared to 73 (72.3%) were of normal weight (BMI =18.5-24.9kg/m<sup>2</sup>). With regard to eating habits and exercise, 42 (41.6%) of the students rarely ate breakfast, 79 (78.2%) eat lunch at university residence, 77 (78.2%) of the students reported rarely doing exercise and 62 (61.4%) of them were sleeping for less than eight hours. No significant association was found between the variables age, sex, level of college and socio-economic status and BMI, while there was a significant association between eating lunch at university and BMI (p =0.03). No significant association was found between eating habits, healthy habits and BMI. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the study sample was 19.8% with female students being more obese than males. Further studies are needed to identify BMI among residence students in other colleges and increasing the awareness of undergraduate students to healthy food habits.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Body%20mass%20index" title="Body mass index">Body mass index</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=diet" title=" diet"> diet</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=obesity" title=" obesity"> obesity</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=university%20residence." title=" university residence."> university residence.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/body-mass-index-and-dietary-habits-among-nursing-college-students-living-in-the-university-residence-in-kirkuk-city-iraq" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10007758.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1278</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">34</span> Security Model of a Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations System in the Health Sector Environment of Developing Countries: A Case of Uganda</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Excellence%20Favor">Excellence Favor</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Bakari%20M.%20M.%20Mwinyiwiwa"> Bakari M. M. Mwinyiwiwa</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Access to information holds the key to the empowerment of everybody despite where they are living. This research has been carried out in respect of the people living in developing countries, considering their plight and complex geographical, demographic, social-economic conditions surrounding the areas they live, which hinder access to information and of professionals providing services such as medical workers, which has led to high death rates and development stagnation. Research on Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations (UCIC) system in the health sector of developing countries aims at creating a possible solution of bridging the digital canyon among the communities. The system is meant to deliver services in a seamless manner to assist health workers situated anywhere to be accessed easily and access information which will enhance service delivery. The proposed UCIC provides the most immersive telepresence experience for one-to-one or many-to-many meetings. Extending to locations anywhere in the world, the transformative platform delivers Ultra-low operating costs through the use of general purpose networks and using special lenses and track systems. The essence of this study is to create a security model for the deployment of the UCIC system in the health sector of developing countries. The model approach used for building the UCIC system security carefully considers the specific requirements for the health sector environment organization such as data centre, national, regional and district hospitals, and health centers IV, III, II and I and then builds the single best possible secure network to meet their needs. The security model demonstrates on how the components of the UCIC system will be protected physically and logically in the health sector environment. The UCIC system once adopted and implemented correctly will bring enhancement to the speed and quality of services offered by health workers. The capacities of UCIC will help health workers shorten decision cycles, accelerate service delivery and save lives by speeding access to information and by making it possible for all health workers and patients to collaborate ubiquitously.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Developing%20Countries" title="Developing Countries">Developing Countries</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Health%20Sector%20Environment" title=" Health Sector Environment"> Health Sector Environment</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Security" title=" Security"> Security</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Unified%20Communications%20and%20Integrated%20Collaborations." title=" Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations."> Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/security-model-of-a-unified-communications-and-integrated-collaborations-system-in-the-health-sector-environment-of-developing-countries-a-case-of-uganda" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/9996790.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1529</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">33</span> Evaluation of Video Quality Metrics and Performance Comparison on Contents Taken from Most Commonly Used Devices</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Pratik%20Dhabal%20Deo">Pratik Dhabal Deo</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Manoj%20P."> Manoj P.</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>With the increasing number of social media users, the amount of video content available has also significantly increased. Currently, the number of smartphone users is at its peak, and many are increasingly using their smartphones as their main photography and recording devices. There have been a lot of developments in the field of video quality assessment in since the past years and more research on various other aspects of video and image are being done. Datasets that contain a huge number of videos from different high-end devices make it difficult to analyze the performance of the metrics on the content from most used devices even if they contain contents taken in poor lighting conditions using lower-end devices. These devices face a lot of distortions due to various factors since the spectrum of contents recorded on these devices is huge. In this paper, we have presented an analysis of the objective Video Quality Analysis (VQA) metrics on contents taken only from most used devices and their performance on them, focusing on full-reference metrics. To carry out this research, we created a custom dataset containing a total of 90 videos that have been taken from three most commonly used devices, and Android smartphone, an iOS smartphone and a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. On the videos taken on each of these devices, the six most common types of distortions that users face have been applied in addition to already existing H.264 compression based on four reference videos. These six applied distortions have three levels of degradation each. A total of the five most popular VQA metrics have been evaluated on this dataset and the highest values and the lowest values of each of the metrics on the distortions have been recorded. Finally, it is found that blur is the artifact on which most of the metrics did not perform well. Thus, in order to understand the results better the amount of blur in the data set has been calculated and an additional evaluation of the metrics was done using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) codec, which is the next version of H.264 compression, on the camera that proved to be the sharpest among the devices. The results have shown that as the resolution increases, the performance of the metrics tends to become more accurate and the best performing metric among them is VQM with very few inconsistencies and inaccurate results when the compression applied is H.264, but when the compression is applied is HEVC, Structural Similarity (SSIM) metric and Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion (VMAF) have performed significantly better.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Distortion" title="Distortion">Distortion</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=metrics" title=" metrics"> metrics</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=recording" title=" recording"> recording</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=frame%20rate" title=" frame rate"> frame rate</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=video%20quality%20assessment." title=" video quality assessment."> video quality assessment.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/evaluation-of-video-quality-metrics-and-performance-comparison-on-contents-taken-from-most-commonly-used-devices" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012920.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">366</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">32</span> Historical Development of Bagh-e Dasht in Herat, Afghanistan: A Comprehensive Field Survey of Physical and Social Aspects </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Khojesta%20Kawish">Khojesta Kawish</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Tetsuya%20Ando"> Tetsuya Ando</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Sayed%20Abdul%20Basir%20Samimi"> Sayed Abdul Basir Samimi</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Bagh-e Dasht area is situated in the northern part of Herat, an old city in western Afghanistan located on the Silk Road which has received a strong influence from Persian culture. Initially, the Bagh-e Dasht area was developed for gardens and palaces near Joy-e Injil canal during the Timurid Empire in the 15<sup>th</sup> century. It is assumed Bagh-e Dasht became a settlement in the 16<sup>th</sup> century during the Safavid Empire. The oldest area is the southern part around the canal bank which is characterized by Dalans, sun-dried brick arcades above which houses are often constructed. Traditional houses in this area are built with domical vault roofs constructed with sun-dried bricks. Bagh-e Dasht is one of the best-preserved settlements of traditional houses in Herat. This study examines the transformation of the Bagh-e Dasht area with a focus on Dalans, where traditional houses with domical vault roofs have been well-preserved until today. The aim of the study is to examine the extent of physical changes to the area as well as changes to houses and the community. This research paper contains original results which have previously not been published in architectural history. The roof types of houses in the area are investigated through examining high resolution satellite images. The boundary of each building and space is determined by both a field survey and aerial photographs of the study area. A comprehensive field survey was then conducted to examine each space and building in the area. In addition, a questionnaire was distributed to the residents of the Dalan houses and interviews were conducted with the Wakil (Chief) of the area, a local historian, residents and traditional builders. The study finds that the oldest part of Bagh-e Dasht area, the south, contains both Dalans and domical vault roof houses. The next oldest part, which is the north, only has domical vault roof houses. The rest of the area only has houses with modernized flat roofs. This observation provides an insight into the process of historical development in the Bagh-e Dasht area.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Bagh-e%20Dasht" title=" Bagh-e Dasht"> Bagh-e Dasht</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Dalan" title=" Dalan"> Dalan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Domical%20vault" title=" Domical vault"> Domical vault</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Herat" title=" Herat"> Herat</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=over%20path%20house" title=" over path house"> over path house</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=traditional%20house." title=" traditional house."> traditional house.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/historical-development-of-bagh-e-dasht-in-herat-afghanistan-a-comprehensive-field-survey-of-physical-and-social-aspects" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009999.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">925</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">31</span> Understanding Help Seeking among Black Women with Clinically Significant Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Glenda%20Wrenn">Glenda Wrenn</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Juliet%20Muzere"> Juliet Muzere</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Meldra%20Hall"> Meldra Hall</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Allyson%20Belton"> Allyson Belton</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Kisha%20Holden"> Kisha Holden</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Chanita%20Hughes-Halbert"> Chanita Hughes-Halbert</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Martha%20Kent"> Martha Kent</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Bekh%20Bradley"> Bekh Bradley</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Understanding the help seeking decision making process and experiences of health disparity populations with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is central to development of trauma-informed, culturally centered, and patient focused services. Yet, little is known about the decision making process among adult Black women who are non-treatment seekers as they are, by definition, not engaged in services. Methods: Audiotaped interviews were conducted with 30 African American adult women with clinically significant PTSD symptoms who were engaged in primary care, but not in treatment for PTSD despite symptom burden. A qualitative interview guide was used to elucidate key themes. Independent coding of themes mapped to theory and identification of emergent themes were conducted using qualitative methods. An existing quantitative dataset was analyzed to contextualize responses and provide a descriptive summary of the sample. Results: Emergent themes revealed that active mental avoidance, the intermittent nature of distress, ambivalence, and self-identified resilience as undermining to help seeking decisions. Participants were stuck within the help-seeking phase of ‘recognition’ of illness and retained a sense of “it is my decision” despite endorsing significant social and environmental negative influencers. Participants distinguished ‘help acceptance’ from ‘help seeking’ with greater willingness to <em>accept</em> help and importance placed on being of help to others. Conclusions: Elucidation of the decision-making process from the perspective of non-treatment seekers has implications for outreach and treatment within models of integrated and specialty systems care. The salience of responses to trauma symptoms and stagnation in the help seeking recognition phase are findings relevant to integrated care service design and community engagement. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Culture" title="Culture">Culture</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=help-seeking" title=" help-seeking"> help-seeking</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=integrated%20care" title=" integrated care"> integrated care</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=PTSD." title=" PTSD."> PTSD.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/understanding-help-seeking-among-black-women-with-clinically-significant-posttraumatic-stress-symptoms" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10006261.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1121</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">30</span> Reading and Teaching Poetry as Communicative Discourse: A Pragma-Linguistic Approach</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Omnia%20Elkommos">Omnia Elkommos</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Language is communication on several discourse levels. The target of teaching a language and the literature of a foreign language is to communicate a message. Reading, appreciating, analysing, and interpreting poetry as a sophisticated rhetorical expression of human thoughts, emotions, and philosophical messages is more feasible through the use of linguistic pragmatic tools from a communicative discourse perspective. The poet's intention, speech act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary goal can be better understood when communicative situational context as well as linguistic discourse structure theories are employed. The use of linguistic theories in the teaching of poetry is, therefore, intrinsic to students' comprehension, interpretation, and appreciation of poetry of the different ages. It is the purpose of this study to show how both teachers as well as students can apply these linguistic theories and tools to dramatic poetic texts for an engaging, enlightening, and effective interpretation and appreciation of the language. Theories drawn from areas of pragmatics, discourse analysis, embedded discourse level, communicative situational context, and other linguistic approaches were applied to selected poetry texts from the different centuries. Further, in a simple statistical count of the number of poems with dialogic dramatic discourse with embedded two or three levels of discourse in different anthologies outweighs the number of descriptive poems with a one level of discourse, between the poet and the reader. Poetry is thus discourse on one, two, or three levels. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers and students in the area of ESL/EFL use the linguistics theories for a better understanding of poetry as communicative discourse. The practice of applying these linguistic theories in classrooms and in research will allow them to perceive the language and its linguistic, social, and cultural aspect. Texts will become live illocutionary acts with a perlocutionary acts goal rather than mere literary texts in anthologies.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Coda" title="Coda">Coda</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=commissives" title=" commissives"> commissives</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=communicative%20situation" title=" communicative situation"> communicative situation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=context%20of%20culture" title=" context of culture"> context of culture</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=context%20of%20reference" title=" context of reference"> context of reference</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=context%20of%20utterance" title=" context of utterance"> context of utterance</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=dialogue" title=" dialogue"> dialogue</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=directives" title=" directives"> directives</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=discourse%20analysis" title=" discourse analysis"> discourse analysis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=dramatic%20discourse%20interaction" title=" dramatic discourse interaction"> dramatic discourse interaction</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=duologue" title=" duologue"> duologue</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=embedded%20discourse%20levels" title=" embedded discourse levels"> embedded discourse levels</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=language%20for%20communication" title=" language for communication"> language for communication</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=linguistic%20structures" title=" linguistic structures"> linguistic structures</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=literary%20texts" title=" literary texts"> literary texts</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=poetry" title=" poetry"> poetry</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=pragmatic%20theories" title=" pragmatic theories"> pragmatic theories</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=reader%20response" title=" reader response"> reader response</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=speech%20acts%20%28macro%2Fmicro%29" title=" speech acts (macro/micro)"> speech acts (macro/micro)</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=stylistics" title=" stylistics"> stylistics</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=teaching%20literature" title=" teaching literature"> teaching literature</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=TEFL" title=" TEFL"> TEFL</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=terms%20of%20address" title=" terms of address"> terms of address</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=turn-taking." title=" turn-taking."> turn-taking.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/reading-and-teaching-poetry-as-communicative-discourse-a-pragma-linguistic-approach" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009323.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1732</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">29</span> Program of Health/Safety Integration and the Total Worker Health Concept in the Improvement of Absenteeism of the Work Accommodation Management</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=L.%20R.%20Ferreira">L. R. Ferreira</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=R.%20Biscaro"> R. Biscaro</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=C.%20C.%20Danziger"> C. C. Danziger</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=C.%20M.%20Galhardi"> C. M. Galhardi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=L.%20C.%20Biscaro"> L. C. Biscaro</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=R.%20C.%20Biscaro"> R. C. Biscaro</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=I.%20S.%20Vasconcelos"> I. S. Vasconcelos</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=L.%20C.%20R.%20Ferreira"> L. C. R. Ferreira</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=R.%20Reis"> R. Reis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=L.%20H.%20Oliveira"> L. H. Oliveira</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> Introduction: There is a worldwide trend for the employer to be aware of investing in health promotion that goes beyond occupational hygiene approaches with the implementation of a comprehensive program with integration between occupational health and safety, and social/psychosocial responsibility in the workplace. Work accommodation is a necessity in most companies as it allows the worker to return to its function respecting its physical limitations. This study had the objective to verify if the integration of health and safety in the companies, with the inclusion of the concept of TWH promoted by an occupational health service has impacted in the management of absenteeism of workers in work accommodation. Method: A retrospective and paired cohort study was used, in which the impact of the implementation of the Program for the Health/Safety Integration and Total Worker Health Concept (PHSITWHC) was evaluated using the indices of absenteeism, health attestations, days and hours of sick leave of workers that underwent job accommodation/rehabilitation. This was a cohort study and the data were collected from January to September of 2017, prior to the initiation of the integration program, and compared with the data obtained from January to September of 2018, after the implementation of the program. For the statistical analysis, the student's t-test was used, with statistically significant differences being made at p < 0.05. Results: The results showed a 35% reduction in the number of absenteeism rate in 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. There was also a significant reduction in the total numbers of days of attestations/absences (mean of 2,8) as well as days of attestations, absence and sick leaves (mean of 5,2) in 2018 data after the implementation of PHSITWHC compared to 2017 data, means of 4,3 and 25,1, respectively, prior to the program. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the inclusion of the PHSITWHC was associated with a reduction in the rate of absenteeism of workers that underwent job accommodation. It was observed that, once health and safety were approached and integrated with the inclusion of the TWH concept, it was possible to reduce absenteeism, and improve worker’s quality of life and wellness, and work accommodation management. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Absenteeism" title="Absenteeism">Absenteeism</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=health%2Fsafety%20integration" title=" health/safety integration"> health/safety integration</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=work%20accommodation%20management" title=" work accommodation management"> work accommodation management</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=total%20worker%20health." title=" total worker health."> total worker health.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/program-of-healthsafety-integration-and-the-total-worker-health-concept-in-the-improvement-of-absenteeism-of-the-work-accommodation-management" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010108.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">859</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">28</span> Tracing Syrian Refugees Urban Mobilities: The Case of Egypt and Canada</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=N.%20Elgendy">N. Elgendy</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=N.%20Hussein"> N. Hussein</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The current Syrian crisis has caused unprecedented practices of global mobility. The process of forced eviction and the resettlement of refugees could be seen through the insights of the “new mobilities paradigm”. The mobility of refugees in terms of meaning and practice is a subject that calls for further studies. There is a need for the development of an approach to human mobility to understand a practice that is turning into a phenomenon in the 21<sup>st </sup>century. This paper aims at studying, from a qualitative point of view, the process of movement within the six constituents of mobility defined as the first phase of the journey of a refugee. The second phase would include the process of settling in and re-defining the host country as new “home” to refugees. The change in the refugee state of mind and crossing the physical and mental borders from a “foreigner” to a citizen is encouraged by both the governmental policies and the local communities’ efforts to embrace these newcomers. The paper would focus on these policies of social and economic integration. The concept of integration connotes the idea that refugees would enjoy the opportunities, rights and services available to the citizens of the refugee’s new community. So, this paper examines this concept through showcasing the two hosting countries of Canada and Egypt, as they provide two contrasting situations in terms of cultural, geographical, economic and political backgrounds. The analysis would highlight the specific policies defined towards the refugees including the mass communication, media calls, and access to employment. This research is part of a qualitative research project on the process of Urban Mobility practiced by the Syrian Refugees, drawing on conversational interviews with new-settlers who have moved to the different hosting countries, from their <em>hom</em>e in Syria. It explores these immigrants’ practical and emotional relationships with the process of movement and settlement. It uses the conversational interviews as a tool to document analysis and draw relationships in an attempt to establish an understanding of the factors that contribute to the new-settlers feeling of home and integration within the new community. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Mobility" title="Mobility">Mobility</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=refugees" title=" refugees"> refugees</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=home" title=" home"> home</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=integration." title=" integration."> integration.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/tracing-syrian-refugees-urban-mobilities-the-case-of-egypt-and-canada" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10004767.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1301</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">27</span> A Frame Work for the Development of a Suitable Method to Find Shoot Length at Maturity of Mustard Plant Using Soft Computing Model</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Satyendra%20Nath%20Mandal">Satyendra Nath Mandal</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=J.%20Pal%20Choudhury"> J. Pal Choudhury</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Dilip%20De"> Dilip De</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=S.%20R.%20Bhadra%20Chaudhuri"> S. R. Bhadra Chaudhuri</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The production of a plant can be measured in terms of seeds. The generation of seeds plays a critical role in our social and daily life. The fruit production which generates seeds, depends on the various parameters of the plant, such as shoot length, leaf number, root length, root number, etc When the plant is growing, some leaves may be lost and some new leaves may appear. It is very difficult to use the number of leaves of the tree to calculate the growth of the plant.. It is also cumbersome to measure the number of roots and length of growth of root in several time instances continuously after certain initial period of time, because roots grow deeper and deeper under ground in course of time. On the contrary, the shoot length of the tree grows in course of time which can be measured in different time instances. So the growth of the plant can be measured using the data of shoot length which are measured at different time instances after plantation. The environmental parameters like temperature, rain fall, humidity and pollution are also play some role in production of yield. The soil, crop and distance management are taken care to produce maximum amount of yields of plant. The data of the growth of shoot length of some mustard plant at the initial stage (7,14,21 & 28 days after plantation) is available from the statistical survey by a group of scientists under the supervision of Prof. Dilip De. In this paper, initial shoot length of Ken( one type of mustard plant) has been used as an initial data. The statistical models, the methods of fuzzy logic and neural network have been tested on this mustard plant and based on error analysis (calculation of average error) that model with minimum error has been selected and can be used for the assessment of shoot length at maturity. Finally, all these methods have been tested with other type of mustard plants and the particular soft computing model with the minimum error of all types has been selected for calculating the predicted data of growth of shoot length. The shoot length at the stage of maturity of all types of mustard plants has been calculated using the statistical method on the predicted data of shoot length. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Fuzzy%20time%20series" title="Fuzzy time series">Fuzzy time series</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=neural%20network" title=" neural network"> neural network</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=forecasting%20error" title=" forecasting error"> forecasting error</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=average%20error." title="average error.">average error.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/a-frame-work-for-the-development-of-a-suitable-method-to-find-shoot-length-at-maturity-of-mustard-plant-using-soft-computing-model" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/337.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1591</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">26</span> Sustainable Geographic Information System-Based Map for Suitable Landfill Sites in Aley and Chouf, Lebanon</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Allaw%20Kamel">Allaw Kamel</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Bazzi%20Hasan"> Bazzi Hasan</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation is among the most significant sources which threaten the global environmental health. Solid Waste Management has been an important environmental problem in developing countries because of the difficulties in finding sustainable solutions for solid wastes. Therefore, more efforts are needed to be implemented to overcome this problem. Lebanon has suffered a severe solid waste management problem in 2015, and a new landfill site was proposed to solve the existing problem. The study aims to identify and locate the most suitable area to construct a landfill taking into consideration the sustainable development to overcome the present situation and protect the future demands. Throughout the article, a landfill site selection methodology was discussed using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Several environmental, economic and social factors were taken as criterion for selection of a landfill. Soil, geology, and LUC (Land Use and Land Cover) indices with the Sustainable Development Index were main inputs to create the final map of Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) for landfill site. Different factors were determined to define each index. Input data of each factor was managed, visualized and analyzed using GIS. GIS was used as an important tool to identify suitable areas for landfill. Spatial Analysis (SA), Analysis and Management GIS tools were implemented to produce input maps capable of identifying suitable areas related to each index. Weight has been assigned to each factor in the same index, and the main weights were assigned to each index used. The combination of the different indices map generates the final output map of ESA. The output map was reclassified into three suitability classes of low, moderate, and high suitability. Results showed different locations suitable for the construction of a landfill. Results also reflected the importance of GIS and MCDA in helping decision makers finding a solution of solid wastes by a sanitary landfill.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Sustainable%20development" title="Sustainable development">Sustainable development</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=landfill" title=" landfill"> landfill</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=municipal%20solid%20waste" title=" municipal solid waste"> municipal solid waste</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=geographic%20information%20system" title=" geographic information system"> geographic information system</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=GIS" title=" GIS"> GIS</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=multi%20criteria%20decision%20analysis" title=" multi criteria decision analysis"> multi criteria decision analysis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=environmentally%20sensitive%20area." title=" environmentally sensitive area."> environmentally sensitive area.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/sustainable-geographic-information-system-based-map-for-suitable-landfill-sites-in-aley-and-chouf-lebanon" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009218.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">878</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">25</span> Obese and Overweight Women and Public Health Issues in Hillah City, Iraq</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Amean%20A.%20Yasir">Amean A. Yasir</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Zainab%20Kh.%20A.%20Al-Mahdi%20Al-Amean"> Zainab Kh. A. Al-Mahdi Al-Amean</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>In both developed and developing countries, obesity among women is increasing, but in different patterns and at very different speeds. It may have a negative effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. This research studied the age distribution among obese women, the types of overweight and obesity, and the extent of the problem of overweight/obesity and the obesity etiological factors among women in Hillah city in central Iraq. A total of 322 overweight and obese women were included in the study, those women were randomly selected. The Body Mass Index was used as indicator for overweight/ obesity. The incidence of overweight/obesity among age groups were estimated, the etiology factors included genetic, environmental, genetic/environmental and endocrine disease. The overweight and obese women were screened for incidence of infection and/or diseases. The study found that the prevalence of 322 overweight and obese women in Hillah city in central Iraq was 19.25% and 80.78%, respectively. The obese women types were recorded based on BMI and WHO classification as class-1 obesity (29.81%), class-2 obesity (24.22%) and class-3 obesity (26.70%), the result was discrepancy non-significant, P value < 0.05. The incidence of overweight in women was high among those aged 20-29 years (90.32%), 6.45% aged 30-39 years old and 3.22% among ≥ 60 years old, while the incidence of obesity was 20.38% for those in the age group 20-29 years, 17.30% were 30-39 years, 23.84% were 40-49 years, 16.92% were 50-59 years group and 21.53% were ≥ 60 years age group. These results confirm that the age can be considered as a significant factor for obesity types (P value < 0.0001). The result also showed that the both genetic factors and environmental factors were responsible for incidents of overweight or obesity (84.78%) p value < 0.0001. The results also recorded cases of different repeated infections (skin infection, recurrent UTI and influenza), cancer, gallstones, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and infertility. Weight stigma and bias generally refers to negative attitudes; Obesity can affect quality of life, and the results of this study recorded depression among overweight or obese women. This can lead to sexual problems, shame and guilt, social isolation and reduced work performance. Overweight and Obesity are real problems among women of all age groups and is associated with the risk of diseases and infection and negatively affects quality of life. This result warrants further studies into the prevalence of obesity among women in Hillah City in central Iraq and the immune response of obese women.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Obesity" title="Obesity">Obesity</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=overweight" title=" overweight"> overweight</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Iraq" title=" Iraq"> Iraq</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=body%20mass%20index." title=" body mass index."> body mass index.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/obese-and-overweight-women-and-public-health-issues-in-hillah-city-iraq" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10005776.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1277</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">24</span> Experimental Analysis of the Influence of Water Mass Flow Rate on the Performance of a CO2 Direct-Expansion Solar Assisted Heat Pump </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Sabrina%20N.%20Rabelo">Sabrina N. Rabelo</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Tiago%20de%20F.%20Paulino"> Tiago de F. Paulino</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Willian%20M.%20Duarte"> Willian M. Duarte</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Samer%20Sawalha"> Samer Sawalha</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Luiz%20Machado"> Luiz Machado</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Energy use is one of the main indicators for the economic and social development of a country, reflecting directly in the quality of life of the population. The expansion of energy use together with the depletion of fossil resources and the poor efficiency of energy systems have led many countries in recent years to invest in renewable energy sources. In this context, solar-assisted heat pump has become very important in energy industry, since it can transfer heat energy from the sun to water or another absorbing source. The direct-expansion solar assisted heat pump (DX-SAHP) water heater system operates by receiving solar energy incident in a solar collector, which serves as an evaporator in a refrigeration cycle, and the energy reject by the condenser is used for water heating. In this paper, a DX-SAHP using carbon dioxide as refrigerant (R744) was assembled, and the influence of the variation of the water mass flow rate in the system was analyzed. The parameters such as high pressure, water outlet temperature, gas cooler outlet temperature, evaporator temperature, and the coefficient of performance were studied. The mainly components used to assemble the heat pump were a reciprocating compressor, a gas cooler which is a countercurrent concentric tube heat exchanger, a needle-valve, and an evaporator that is a copper bare flat plate solar collector designed to capture direct and diffuse radiation. Routines were developed in the LabVIEW and CoolProp through MATLAB software’s, respectively, to collect data and calculate the thermodynamics properties. The range of coefficient of performance measured was from 3.2 to 5.34. It was noticed that, with the higher water mass flow rate, the water outlet temperature decreased, and consequently, the coefficient of performance of the system increases since the heat transfer in the gas cooler is higher. In addition, the high pressure of the system and the CO<sub>2</sub> gas cooler outlet temperature decreased. The heat pump using carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, especially operating with solar radiation has been proven to be a renewable source in an efficient system for heating residential water compared to electrical heaters reaching temperatures between 40 °C and 80 °C.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Water%20mass%20flow%20rate" title="Water mass flow rate">Water mass flow rate</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=R-744" title=" R-744"> R-744</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=heat%20pump" title=" heat pump"> heat pump</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=solar%20evaporator" title=" solar evaporator"> solar evaporator</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=water%20heater." title=" water heater. "> water heater. </a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/experimental-analysis-of-the-influence-of-water-mass-flow-rate-on-the-performance-of-a-co2-direct-expansion-solar-assisted-heat-pump" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10009263.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1112</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">23</span> Satellite Interferometric Investigations of Subsidence Events Associated with Groundwater Extraction in Sao Paulo, Brazil</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=B.%20Mendon%C3%A7a">B. Mendonça</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=D.%20Sandwell"> D. Sandwell</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo (MRSP) has suffered from serious water scarcity. Consequently, the most convenient solution has been building wells to extract groundwater from local aquifers. However, it requires constant vigilance to prevent over extraction and future events that can pose serious threat to the population, such as subsidence. Radar imaging techniques (InSAR) have allowed continuous investigation of such phenomena. The analysis of data in the present study consists of 23 SAR images dated from October 2007 to March 2011, obtained by the ALOS-1 spacecraft. Data processing was made with the software GMTSAR, by using the InSAR technique to create pairs of interferograms with ground displacement during different time spans. First results show a correlation between the location of 102 wells registered in 2009 and signals of ground displacement equal or lower than -90 millimeters (mm) in the region. The longest time span interferogram obtained dates from October 2007 to March 2010. As a result, from that interferogram, it was possible to detect the average velocity of displacement in millimeters per year (mm/y), and which areas strong signals have persisted in the MRSP. Four specific areas with signals of subsidence of 28 mm/y to 40 mm/y were chosen to investigate the phenomenon: Guarulhos (Sao Paulo International Airport), the Greater Sao Paulo, Itaquera and Sao Caetano do Sul. The coverage area of the signals was between 0.6 km and 1.65 km of length. All areas are located above a sedimentary type of aquifer. Itaquera and Sao Caetano do Sul showed signals varying from 28 mm/y to 32 mm/y. On the other hand, the places most likely to be suffering from stronger subsidence are the ones in the Greater Sao Paulo and Guarulhos, right beside the International Airport of Sao Paulo. The rate of displacement observed in both regions goes from 35 mm/y to 40 mm/y. Previous investigations of the water use at the International Airport highlight the risks of excessive water extraction that was being done through 9 deep wells. Therefore, it is affirmed that subsidence events are likely to occur and to cause serious damage in the area. This study could show a situation that has not been explored with proper importance in the city, given its social and economic consequences. Since the data were only available until 2011, the question that remains is if the situation still persists. It could be reaffirmed, however, a scenario of risk at the International Airport of Sao Paulo that needs further investigation. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Ground%20subsidence" title="Ground subsidence">Ground subsidence</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=interferometric%20satellite%20aperture%20radar%20%28InSAR%29" title=" interferometric satellite aperture radar (InSAR)"> interferometric satellite aperture radar (InSAR)</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=metropolitan%20region%20of%20Sao%20Paulo" title=" metropolitan region of Sao Paulo"> metropolitan region of Sao Paulo</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=water%20extraction." title=" water extraction."> water extraction.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/satellite-interferometric-investigations-of-subsidence-events-associated-with-groundwater-extraction-in-sao-paulo-brazil" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003598.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1397</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">22</span> The Proposal of a Shared Mobility City Index to Support Investment Decision Making for Carsharing</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=S.%20Murr">S. Murr</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=S.%20Phillips"> S. Phillips</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>One of the biggest challenges entering a market with a carsharing or any other shared mobility (SM) service is sound investment decision-making. To support this process, the authors think that a city index evaluating different criteria is necessary. The goal of such an index is to benchmark cities along a set of external measures to answer the main two challenges: financially viability and the understanding of its specific requirements. The authors have consulted several shared mobility projects and industry experts to create such a Shared Mobility City Index (SMCI). The current proposal of the SMCI consists of 11 individual index measures: general data (demographics, geography, climate and city culture), shared mobility landscape (current SM providers, public transit options, commuting patterns and driving culture) and political vision and goals (vision of the Mayor, sustainability plan, bylaws/tenders supporting SM). To evaluate the suitability of the index, 16 cities on the East Coast of North America were selected and secondary research was conducted. The main sources of this study were census data, organisational records, independent press releases and informational websites. Only non-academic sources where used because the relevant data for the chosen cities is not published in academia. Applying the index measures to the selected cities resulted in three major findings. Firstly, density (city area divided by number of inhabitants) is not an indicator for the number of SM services offered: the city with the lowest density has five bike and carsharing options. Secondly, there is a direct correlation between commuting patterns and how many shared mobility services are offered. New York, Toronto and Washington DC have the highest public transit ridership and the most shared mobility providers. Lastly, except one, all surveyed cities support shared mobility with their sustainability plan. The current version of the shared mobility index is proving a practical tool to evaluate cities, and to understand functional, political, social and environmental considerations. More cities will have to be evaluated to refine the criteria further. However, the current version of the index can be used to assess cities on their suitability for shared mobility services and will assist investors deciding which city is a financially viable market.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Carsharing" title="Carsharing">Carsharing</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=transportation" title=" transportation"> transportation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=urban%20planning" title=" urban planning"> urban planning</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=shared%20mobility%20city%20index." title=" shared mobility city index."> shared mobility city index.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/the-proposal-of-a-shared-mobility-city-index-to-support-investment-decision-making-for-carsharing" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10003902.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">2314</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">21</span> Analysis of a Faience Enema Found in the Assasif Tomb No. -28- of the Vizier Amenhotep Huy: Contributions to the Study of the Mummification Ritual Practiced in the Theban Necropolis</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Alberto%20Abello%20Moreno-Cid">Alberto Abello Moreno-Cid</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Mummification was the process through which immortality was granted to the deceased, so it was of extreme importance to the Egyptians. The techniques of embalming had evolved over the centuries, and specialists created increasingly sophisticated tools. However, due to its eminently religious nature, knowledge about everything related to this practice was jealously preserved, and the testimonies that have survived to our time are scarce. For this reason, embalming instruments found in archaeological excavations are uncommon. The tomb of the Vizier Amenhotep Huy (AT No. -28-), located in the el-Assasif necropolis that is being excavated since 2009 by the team of the Institute of Ancient Egyptian Studies, has been the scene of some discoveries of this type that evidences the existence of mummification practices in this place after the New Kingdom. The clysters or enemas are the fundamental tools in the second type of mummification described by the historian Herodotus to introduce caustic solutions inside the body of the deceased. Nevertheless, such objects only have been found in three locations: the tomb of Ankh-Hor in Luxor, where a copper enema belonged to the prophet of Ammon Uah-ib-Ra came to light; the excavation of the tomb of Menekh-ib-Nekau in Abusir, where was also found one made of copper; and the excavations in the Bucheum, where two more artifacts were discovered, also made of copper but in different shapes and sizes. Both of them were used for the mummification of sacred animals and this is the reason they vary significantly. Therefore, the object found in the tomb No. -28-, is the first known made of faience of all these peculiar tools and the oldest known until now, dated in the Third Intermediate Period (circa 1070-650 B.C.). This paper bases its investigation on the study of those parallelisms, the material, the current archaeological context and the full analysis and reconstruction of the object in question. The key point is the use of faience in the production of this item: creating a device intended to be in constant use seems to be a first illogical compared to other samples made of copper. Faience around the area of Deir el-Bahari had a strong religious component, associated with solar myths and principles of the resurrection, connected to the Osirian that characterises the mummification procedure. The study allows to refute some of the premises which are held unalterable in Egyptology, verifying the utilization of these sort of pieces, understanding its way of use and showing that this type of mummification was also applied to the highest social stratum, in which case the tools were thought out of an exceptional quality and religious symbolism.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Clyster" title="Clyster">Clyster</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=el-Assasif" title=" el-Assasif"> el-Assasif</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=embalming" title=" embalming"> embalming</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=faience%20enema" title=" faience enema"> faience enema</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=mummification" title=" mummification"> mummification</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Theban%20necropolis." title=" Theban necropolis."> Theban necropolis.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/analysis-of-a-faience-enema-found-in-the-assasif-tomb-no-28-of-the-vizier-amenhotep-huy-contributions-to-the-study-of-the-mummification-ritual-practiced-in-the-theban-necropolis" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10010244.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">671</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">20</span> Recycling of Sintered NdFeB Magnet Waste via Oxidative Roasting and Selective Leaching</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=W.%20Kritsarikan">W. Kritsarikan</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=T.%20Patcharawit"> T. Patcharawit</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=T.%20Yingnakorn"> T. Yingnakorn</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=S.%20Khumkoa"> S. Khumkoa</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets classified as high-power magnets are widely used in various applications such as automotive, electrical and medical devices. Because significant amounts of rare earth metals will be subjected to shortages in the future, therefore domestic NdFeB magnet waste recycling should therefore be developed in order to reduce social and environmental impacts towards a circular economy. Each type of wastes has different characteristics and compositions. As a result, these directly affect recycling efficiency as well as types and purity of the recyclable products. This research, therefore, focused on the recycling of manufacturing NdFeB magnet waste obtained from the sintering stage of magnet production and the waste contained 23.6% Nd, 60.3% Fe and 0.261% B in order to recover high purity neodymium oxide (Nd2O3) using hybrid metallurgical process via oxidative roasting and selective leaching techniques. The sintered NdFeB waste was first ground to under 70 mesh prior to oxidative roasting at 550–800 oC to enable selective leaching of neodymium in the subsequent leaching step using H2SO4 at 2.5 M over 24 h. The leachate was then subjected to drying and roasting at 700–800 oC prior to precipitation by oxalic acid and calcination to obtain Nd2O3 as the recycling product. According to XRD analyses, it was found that increasing oxidative roasting temperature led to an increasing amount of hematite (Fe2O3) as the main composition with a smaller amount of magnetite (Fe3O4) found. Peaks of Nd2O3 were also observed in a lesser amount. Furthermore, neodymium iron oxide (NdFeO3) was present and its XRD peaks were pronounced at higher oxidative roasting temperatures. When proceeded to acid leaching and drying, iron sulfate and neodymium sulfate were mainly obtained. After the roasting step prior to water leaching, iron sulfate was converted to form Fe2O3 as the main compound, while neodymium sulfate remained in the ingredient. However, a small amount of Fe3O4 was still detected by XRD. The higher roasting temperature at 800 oC resulted in a greater Fe2O3 to Nd2(SO4)3 ratio, indicating a more effective roasting temperature. Iron oxides were subsequently water leached and filtered out while the solution contained mainly neodymium sulfate. Therefore, low oxidative roasting temperature not exceeding 600 oC followed by acid leaching and roasting at 800 oC gave the optimum condition for further steps of precipitation and calcination to finally achieve Nd2O3.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=NdFeB%20magnet%20waste" title="NdFeB magnet waste">NdFeB magnet waste</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=oxidative%20roasting" title=" oxidative roasting"> oxidative roasting</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=recycling" title=" recycling"> recycling</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=selective%20leaching" title=" selective leaching"> selective leaching</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/recycling-of-sintered-ndfeb-magnet-waste-via-oxidative-roasting-and-selective-leaching" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10012237.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">703</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">19</span> Building Resilient Communities: The Traumatic Effect of Wildfire on Mati, Greece</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=K.%20Vallianou">K. Vallianou</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=T.%20Alexopoulos"> T. Alexopoulos</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=V.%20Plaka"> V. Plaka</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=M.%20K.%20Seleventi"> M. K. Seleventi</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=V.%20Skanavis"> V. Skanavis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=C.%20Skanavis"> C. Skanavis</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>The present research addresses the role of place attachment and emotions in community resiliency and recovery within the context of a disaster. Natural disasters represent a disruption in the normal functioning of a community, leading to a general feeling of disorientation. This study draws on the trauma caused by a natural hazard such as a forest fire. The changes of the sense of togetherness are being assessed. Finally this research determines how the place attachment of the inhabitants was affected during the reorientation process of the community. The case study area is Mati, a small coastal town in eastern Attica, Greece. The fire broke out on July 23<sup>rd</sup>, 2018. A quantitative research was conducted through questionnaires via phone interviews, one year after the disaster, to address community resiliency in the long-run. The sample was composed of 159 participants from the rural community of Mati plus 120 coming from Skyros Island that was used as a control group. Inhabitants were prompted to answer items gauging their emotions related to the event, group identification and emotional significance of their community, and place attachment before and a year after the fire took place. Importantly, the community recovery and reorientation were examined within the context of a relative absence of government backing and official support. Emotions related to the event were aggregated into 4 clusters related to: activation/vigilance, distress/disorientation, indignation, and helplessness. The findings revealed a decrease in the level of place attachment in the impacted area of Mati as compared to the control group of Skyros Island. Importantly, initial distress caused by the fire prompted the residents to identify more with their community and to report more positive feelings toward their community. Moreover, a mediation analysis indicated that the positive effect of community cohesion on place attachment one year after the disaster was mediated by the positive feelings toward the community. Finally, place attachment contributes to enhanced optimism and a more positive perspective concerning Mati’s future prospects. Despite an insufficient state support to this affected area, the findings suggest an important role of emotions and place attachment during the process of recovery. Implications concerning the role of emotions and social dynamics in meshing place attachment during the disaster recovery process as well as community resiliency are discussed.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Community%20resilience" title="Community resilience">Community resilience</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=natural%20disasters" title=" natural disasters"> natural disasters</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=place%20attachment" title=" place attachment"> place attachment</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=wildfire." title=" wildfire."> wildfire.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/building-resilient-communities-the-traumatic-effect-of-wildfire-on-mati-greece" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/10011249.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">804</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">18</span> The Urban Development Boundary as a Planning Tool for Sustainable Urban Form: The South African Situation</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=E.%20J.%20Cilliers">E. J. Cilliers</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p>It is the living conditions in the cities that determine the future of our livelihood. “To change life, we must first change space"- Henri Lefebvre. Sustainable development is a utopian aspiration for South African cities (especially the case study of the Gauteng City Region), which are currently characterized by unplanned growth and increasing urban sprawl. While the reasons for poor environmental quality and living conditions are undoubtedly diverse and complex, having political, economical and social dimensions, it is argued that the prevailing approach to layout planning in South Africa is part of the problem. This article seeks a solution to the problem of sustainability, from a spatial planning perspective. The spatial planning tool, the urban development boundary, is introduced as the concept that will ensure empty talk being translated into a sustainable vision. The urban development boundary is a spatial planning tool that can be used and implemented to direct urban growth towards a more sustainable form. The urban development boundary aims to ensure planned urban areas, in contrast to the current unplanned areas characterized by urban sprawl and insufficient infrastructure. However, the success of the urban development boundary concept is subject to effective implementation measures, as well as adequate and efficient management. The concept of sustainable development can function as a driving force underlying societal change and transformation, but the interface between spatial planning and environmental management needs to be established (as this is the core aspects underlying sustainable development), and authorities needs to understand and implement this interface consecutively. This interface can, however, realize in terms of the objectives of the planning tool – the urban development boundary. The case study, the Gauteng City Region, is depicted as a site of economic growth and innovation, but there is a lack of good urban and regional governance, impacting on the design (layout) and function of urban areas and land use, as current authorities make uninformed decisions in terms of development applications, leading to unsustainable urban forms and unsustainable nodes. Place and space concepts are thus critical matters applicable to planning of the Gauteng City Region. The urban development boundary are thus explored as a planning tool to guide decision-making, and create a sustainable urban form, leading to better environmental and living conditions, and continuous sustainability.</p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Urban%20planning" title="Urban planning">Urban planning</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=sustainable%20urban%20form" title=" sustainable urban form"> sustainable urban form</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=urbandevelopment%20boundary" title=" urbandevelopment boundary"> urbandevelopment boundary</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=planning%20tool." title=" planning tool."> planning tool.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/the-urban-development-boundary-as-a-planning-tool-for-sustainable-urban-form-the-south-african-situation" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/12075.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">2567</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mb-3 mt-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem"><span class="badge badge-info">17</span> Suggestion of Ultrasonic System for Diagnosis of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: Finite Difference Analysis, Development and Clinical Trials </h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Won-Pil%20Park">Won-Pil Park</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Qyoun-Jung%20Lee"> Qyoun-Jung Lee</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Dae-Gon%20Woo"> Dae-Gon Woo</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Chang-Yong%20Ko"> Chang-Yong Ko</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Eun-Geun%20Kim"> Eun-Geun Kim</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Dohyung%20Lim"> Dohyung Lim</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Yong-Heum%20Lee">Yong-Heum Lee</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Tae-Min%20Shin"> Tae-Min Shin</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Han-Sung%20Kim"> Han-Sung Kim</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> The disaster from functional gastrointestinal disorders has detrimental impact on the quality of life of the effected population and imposes a tremendous social and economic burden. There are, however, rare diagnostic methods for the functional gastrointestinal disorders. Our research group identified recently that the gastrointestinal tract well in the patients with the functional gastrointestinal disorders becomes more rigid than healthy people when palpating the abdominal regions overlaying the gastrointestinal tract. Objective of current study is, therefore, identify feasibility of a diagnostic system for the functional gastrointestinal disorders based on ultrasound technique, which can quantify the characteristics above. Two-dimensional finite difference (FD) models (one normal and two rigid model) were developed to analyze the reflective characteristic (displacement) on each soft-tissue layer responded after application of ultrasound signals. The FD analysis was then based on elastic ultrasound theory. Validation of the model was performed via comparison of the characteristic of the ultrasonic responses predicted by FD analysis with that determined from the actual specimens for the normal and rigid conditions. Based on the results from FD analysis, ultrasound system for diagnosis of the functional gastrointestinal disorders was developed and clinically tested via application of it to 40 human subjects with/without functional gastrointestinal disorders who were assigned to Normal and Patient Groups. The FD models were favorably validated. The results from FD analysis showed that the maximum displacement amplitude in the rigid models (0.12 and 0.16) at the interface between the fat and muscle layers was explicitly less than that in the normal model (0.29). The results from actual specimens showed that the maximum amplitude of the ultrasonic reflective signal in the rigid models (0.2±0.1Vp-p) at the interface between the fat and muscle layers was explicitly higher than that in the normal model (0.1±0.2 Vp-p). Clinical tests using our customized ultrasound system showed that the maximum amplitudes of the ultrasonic reflective signals near to the gastrointestinal tract well for the patient group (2.6±0.3 Vp-p) were generally higher than those in normal group (0.1±0.2 Vp-p). Here, maximum reflective signals was appeared at 20mm depth approximately from abdominal skin for all human subjects, corresponding to the location of the boundary layer close to gastrointestinal tract well. These findings suggest that our customized ultrasound system using the ultrasonic reflective signal may be helpful to the diagnosis of the functional gastrointestinal disorders. <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Finite%20Difference%20%28FD%29%20Analysis" title="Finite Difference (FD) Analysis">Finite Difference (FD) Analysis</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=FunctionalGastrointestinal%20Disorders" title=" FunctionalGastrointestinal Disorders"> FunctionalGastrointestinal Disorders</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Gastrointestinal%20Tract" title=" Gastrointestinal Tract"> Gastrointestinal Tract</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=UltrasonicResponses." title=" UltrasonicResponses."> UltrasonicResponses.</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/suggestion-of-ultrasonic-system-for-diagnosis-of-functional-gastrointestinal-disorders-finite-difference-analysis-development-and-clinical-trials" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/apa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">APA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/bibtex" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">BibTeX</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/chicago" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Chicago</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/endnote" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">EndNote</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/harvard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Harvard</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/json" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">JSON</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/mla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">MLA</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/ris" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">RIS</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/xml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">XML</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310/iso690" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">ISO 690</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/11310.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">1615</span> </span> </div> </div> <ul class="pagination"> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=124" rel="prev">&lsaquo;</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=1">1</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=2">2</a></li> <li class="page-item disabled"><span class="page-link">...</span></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=117">117</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=118">118</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=119">119</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=120">120</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=121">121</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=122">122</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=123">123</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=124">124</a></li> <li class="page-item active"><span class="page-link">125</span></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=126">126</a></li> <li class="page-item"><a class="page-link" href="https://publications.waset.org/search?q=Art%20activities%20in%20social%20education&page=126" rel="next">&rsaquo;</a></li> </ul> </div> </main> <footer> <div id="infolinks" class="pt-3 pb-2"> <div class="container"> <div style="background-color:#f5f5f5;" class="p-3"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> About <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support#legal-information">Legal</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/WASET-16th-foundational-anniversary.pdf">WASET celebrates its 16th foundational anniversary</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Account <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile">My Account</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Explore <li><a href="https://waset.org/disciplines">Disciplines</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/conferences">Conferences</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/conference-programs">Conference Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/committees">Committees</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org">Publications</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Research <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts">Abstracts</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org">Periodicals</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org/archive">Archive</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Open Science <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Science-Philosophy.pdf">Open Science Philosophy</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Science-Award.pdf">Open Science Award</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Society-Open-Science-and-Open-Innovation.pdf">Open Innovation</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Postdoctoral-Fellowship-Award.pdf">Postdoctoral Fellowship Award</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Scholarly-Research-Review.pdf">Scholarly Research Review</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Support <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">Support</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile/messages/create">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile/messages/create">Report Abuse</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container text-center"> <hr style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:.3rem;"> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" class="text-muted small">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a> <div id="copy" class="mt-2">© 2024 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology</div> </div> </footer> <a href="javascript:" id="return-to-top"><i class="fas fa-arrow-up"></i></a> <div class="modal" id="modal-template"> <div class="modal-dialog"> <div class="modal-content"> <div class="row m-0 mt-1"> <div class="col-md-12"> <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close"><span aria-hidden="true">×</span></button> </div> </div> <div class="modal-body"></div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/jquery-3.3.1.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/js/site.js?v=150220211556"></script> <script> jQuery(document).ready(function() { /*jQuery.get("https://publications.waset.org/xhr/user-menu", function (response) { jQuery('#mainNavMenu').append(response); });*/ jQuery.get({ url: "https://publications.waset.org/xhr/user-menu", cache: false }).then(function(response){ jQuery('#mainNavMenu').append(response); }); }); </script> </body> </html>