Analysis of the thermomechanical inconsistency of some extended hydrodynamic models at high Knudsen number

There are some hydrodynamic equations that, while their parent kinetic equation satisfies fundamental mechanical properties, appear themselves to violate mechanical or thermodynamic properties. This article aims to shed some light on the source of this problem. Starting with diffusive volume hydrodynamic models, the microscopic temporal and spatial scales are first separated at the kinetic level from the macroscopic scales at the hydrodynamic level. Then we consider Klimontovich’s spatial stochastic version of the Boltzmann kinetic equation, and show that, for small local Knudsen numbers, the stochastic term vanishes and the kinetic equation becomes the Boltzmann equation. The collision integral dominates in the small local Knudsen number regime, which is associated with the exact traditional continuum limit. We find a sub-domain of the continuum range which the conventional Knudsen number classification does not account for appropriately. In this sub-domain, it is possible to obtain a fully mechanically-consistent volume (or mass) diffusion model that satisfies the second law of thermodynamics on the grounds of extended non-local-equilibrium thermodynamics

Implications of Palm Kernel Shell-Filled Plastic Bottles on the Structural Behavior of Concrete Slab

The implications of palm kernel shell (PKS)-filled plastic bottles on the structural behaviour of concrete slabs were carried out by comparing the flexural performance of conventional solid concrete slabs to concrete slabs incorporated with plastic bottles filled with palm kernel shells and placed vertically, horizontally, and diagonally at the neutral axis of the slab as per Bubble Deck Slab technology. One-way slab specimens of size 700 × 300 × 150 mm thick were produced and subjected to a four-point flexural load test. Findings from the study indicated that: (1) The PKS-filled bottle slabs deflected more than the conventional solid slab, hence making them more flexible than the conventional slabs and, as such, giving the occupants enough time to evacuate. (2) The flexural strengths of the PKS-filled bottle slabs exceeded those of conventional slabs by 18.3% and 10.9%, respectively, for five and ten percentages of the volume of slab concrete occupied. (3) The condition of the PKS, either dry or saturated, coupled with the bottle arrangement (either vertical, horizontal, or diagonal), does not, however, cause any significant change to the performance of the PKS filled bottle slabs in terms of load carrying capacity, deflection, and strength. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-03-016 Full Text: PD

Sustainability Performance of Voided Concrete Slab Using Waste Plastic Bottles

The present study is aimed at investigating the cost assessment of incorporating waste plastic bottles in the manufacture of voided concrete slabs; assessing the depth ratio vis-à-vis the cost reduction of incorporating waste plastic bottles in the manufacture of voided concrete slabs; assessing the energy consumption and CO2 emission obtained by incorporating waste plastic bottles in the manufacture of voided concrete slabs; and evaluating the impact of the depth ratio on embodied energy consumption and CO2 emission. The study was conducted on five types of slab specimens made: (1) conventional solid slab specimens; (2) slab specimens incorporated with 5% air-filled plastic bottles; and (3) slab specimens incorporated with 10% air-filled plastic bottles. Slab specimens of size 1000×1000×150 mm thick incorporated with 0, 5, and 10% waste plastic bottles were considered for the analysis of sustainability with respect to cost, energy, and CO2 savings. As part of the findings, it was revealed that the incorporation of waste plastic bottles into concrete slabs results in a reduction in the cost and volume of concrete. Again, using recycled plastic bottles in the slabs saved money, but for each percentage of bottles used, additional materials (plastic bottles, chicken wire, etc.) and labour were needed, which added to the cost. It was also revealed that embodied energy and CO2 emissions decrease as the percentage of plastic bottles in the slab increases. The study has confirmed that the void slab made with plastic bottles is more sustainable than the traditional solid slab system when it comes to cost, energy use, and CO2emissions. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-11-09 Full Text: PD

Interface tactile pour la saisie guidée de connaissances

International audienceIn recent years, artificial intelligence tools have democratized and are increasingly used by people who are not experts in the field. These artificial intelligence tools, like rule-based or constraint-based systems require the input of human expertise to replicate the desired reasoning. Despite the explosion of new devices and new input paradigms, such as tablets and other touch interfaces, it seems that the usability of these tools have not taken advantage of these recent advances. In this article, we illustrate our concept with the rule edition in a fuzzy expert system. The special feature of fuzzy logic is that these rules look closer to natural language than classical logic. We present our work that involves the use of new touch interfaces to edit a fuzzy rule base with one finger. We end this section by the evaluation of the interface with a user panel.Au cours de ces dernières années, les outils d'intelligence artificielle se sont démocratisés et sont de plus en plus sou-vent utilisés par des personnes qui ne sont pas expertes du domaine. Parmi ces outils d'intelligence artificielle, les systèmes à base de règles ou de contraintes nécessitent la saisie de l'expertise humaine afin de reproduire le comporte-ment souhaité. Malgré l'explosion des nouveaux périphé-riques et de nouveaux paradigmes de saisie, comme les tablettes et autres interfaces tactiles, l'ergonomie de ces outils semble ne pas avoir profité de toutes ces avancées récentes. Dans cet article, nous prenons l'exemple d'un système expert flou pour lequel il faut rédiger des règles. La particu-larité de la logique floue est que ces règles sont construites d'une manière plus proche du langage naturel qu'en lo-gique classique. Nous présentons notre travail qui consiste en l'exploitation des nouvelles interfaces tactiles afin de rédiger une base de règles floues avec un seul doigt. Nous terminons cet article par l'évaluation de l'interface auprès d'un panel d'utilisateurs

Self-reported sexually transmitted infections among sexually active men in Ghana

Background In sub-Saharan Africa, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) other than HIV are major public health problems. This study, therefore, sought to assess the prevalence and factors associated with self-reported STIsamong sexually active men in Ghana. Methods Data from the 2014 Ghana demographic and health survey wereused to conduct the study. This research included a total of 3051 sexually active men aged 15–59 years. Self-reported STI was the outcome variable. The data were analyzed using both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (binary logistic regression) analysis. Results The prevalence of self-reported STIs in the past 12 months preceding the survey was 6.0% (CI:4.7–6.8). Compared to men aged 45-59 years, those aged 25–34 (aOR = 2.96, CI: 1.64–5.35), 15–24 (aOR = 2.19, CI: 1.13–4.26), and 35–44 (aOR = 2.29, CI: 1.23–4.24) were more likely to report an STI. Men who had 2 or more sexual partners apart from their spouse were more likely to report an STI compared to those with no other partner apart from spouse (aOR = 4.24, CI: 2.52–7.14). However, those who had their first sex when they were 20 years and above (AOR = 0.66, CI: 0.47–0.93) and men who read newspaper/magazine had lower odds (aOR = 0.53, CI: 0.37–0.77) of reporting STIs compared to those who had sex below 20 and those who did not read newspaper/magazine respectively. Conclusion The study has revealed a relatively low prevalence of self-reported STI among sexually active men in Ghana. Sexually active men aged 25–34 years, those whose age at first sex is below 20 years and those with two or more sexual partners apart from their spouse had higher odds of reporting STIs. However, reading a newspaper was found to be positive in reducing the odds of reporting STIs. To reduce STIs among sexually active men in Ghana, it is important for health systems and stakeholders to consider these factors and put in place measures to mitigate those that put men at risk of STIs and encourage the adoption of the protective factors. Mass media can be used as a useful avenue for encouraging men to report STIs in order to avoid transmitting them to their partners

Towards Scalable Visual Exploration of Very Large RDF Graphs

In this paper, we outline our work on developing a disk-based infrastructure for efficient visualization and graph exploration operations over very large graphs. The proposed platform, called graphVizdb, is based on a novel technique for indexing and storing the graph. Particularly, the graph layout is indexed with a spatial data structure, i.e., an R-tree, and stored in a database. In runtime, user operations are translated into efficient spatial operations (i.e., window queries) in the backend.Comment: 12th Extended Semantic Web Conference (ESWC 2015

Assessing the presence of Wuchereria bancrofti in vector and human populations from urban communities in Conakry, Guinea

The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis was launched in 2000 with the goal of interrupting transmission of lymphatic filariasis (LF) through multiple rounds of mass drug administration (MDA). In Guinea, there is evidence of ongoing LF transmission, but little is known about the most densely populated parts of the country, including the capital Conakry. In order to guide the LF control and elimination efforts, serological and entomological surveys were carried out to determine whether or not LF transmission occurs in Conakry.; The prevalence of circulating filarial antigen (CFA) of Wuchereria bancrofti was assessed by an immuno-chromatography test (ICT) in people recruited from all five districts of Conakry. Mosquitoes were collected over a 1-year period, in 195 households in 15 communities. A proportion of mosquitoes were analysed for W. bancrofti, using dissection, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR).; CFA test revealed no infection in the 611 individuals examined. A total of 14,334 mosquitoes were collected; 14,135 Culex (98.6 %), 161 Anopheles (1.1 %) and a few other species. Out of 1,312 Culex spp. (9.3 %) and 51 An. gambiae (31.7 %) dissected, none was infected with any stage of the W. bancrofti parasite. However, the LAMP assay revealed that 1.8 % of An. gambiae and 0.31 % of Culex spp. were positive, while PCR determined respective prevalences of 0 % and 0.19 %.; This study revealed the presence of W. bancrofti DNA in mosquitoes, despite the apparent absence of infection in the human population. Although MDA interventions are not recommended where the prevalence of ICT is below 1 %, the entomological results are suggestive of the circulation of the parasite in the population of Conakry. Therefore, rigorous surveillance is still warranted so that LF transmission in Conakry would be identified rapidly and adequate responses being implemented

Individual and contextual factors associated with disposal of children's stools in Papua New Guinea: evidence from the 2016-2018 demographic and health survey.

BackgroundProper sanitation has been one of the topmost priorities on the global public health agenda. In the past few decades, sanitation programs targeting households have often paid little attention to the disposal of children's stools. We assessed the individual and contextual factors associated with disposal of children's faeces in Papua New Guinea.MethodsThe data used for this study forms part of the 2016-2018 Papua New Guinea Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS). For this study, we focused on women with children less than five years (n = 2095). Both descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, using frequency counts and percentages. The inferential analysis used multilevel logistic regression models to investigate the individual and contextual factors associated with disposal of children's stools. These models were presented as adjusted odds ratio (AORs), together with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was set at p ResultsMore than half (56%) of the women had disposed of their children's stools unsafely. With the individual level factors, the results showed that women with children ConclusionBoth individual and contextual factors predict unsafe disposal of children's faeces in Papua New Guinea. It is recommended that sanitation programs should focus on behavioral change and not only on the extension of water and improved toilet facilities. Such programs should also focus on both individual and contextual factors of women

Performance of Higher National Diploma of Building Technology Graduates in the Construction Industry: A Tracer Study in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Building Technology graduates from Ghanaian Polytechnics seek employment in the construction industry, yet little information is known as to whether their tertiary education is really related to and meeting the actual needs of their prospective employers in the construction industry. The tracer study was conducted to ascertain the performance of Higher National Diploma (HND) Building Technology graduates and the extent to which their academic training meets the employers’ needs in the construction industry. In order to obtain a good assessment of the skills (technical and non-technical) and competencies of Polytechnic HND building Technology graduates, purposive sampling technique was used. Construction firms with Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing classification of D3K3 and above who have been in operation for a minimum of one year and have employed Polytechnic HND Building Technology graduates were identified. Out of the firms identified, thirty-five (35) were selected using simple random sampling technique. A Structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to site engineers, site supervisors, quantity surveyors, operation managers and project managers in the selected construction firms. Descriptive statistic was used to analyse the data using. The study revealed that Polytechnic HND graduates in the construction industry were performing creditably since the index of performance of site supervisors, quantity surveyors and site managers were generally above average. Apart from the academic competence, graduates possessed non-academic attributes which the employers emphasized as criteria for graduates’ employability and performance in the construction industry. These attributes included verbal communication, teamwork, time management, commitment and interpersonal skills. Keywords: Building Technology, Graduates, Polytechnic, Construction Industry, Performanc

Modern contraceptive utilization and associated factors among married and cohabiting women in Papua New Guinea: a population-based cross-sectional study.

BackgroundUniversal access to family planning has been emphasized by the international development agenda, as evident in the Sustainable Development Goal 3.7. This notwithstanding, the use of modern contraceptives has been minimal in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Papua New Guinea. In view of this, we investigated the factors associated with the use of modern contraceptives and the associated factors among married and cohabiting women in Papua New Guinea.MethodsThe study utilised the Demographic and Health Survey data of 2345 women in sexual unions in Papua New Guinea. We employed a descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses. We presented the results as crude Odds Ratios (COR) and adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR), with 95% confidence intervals (CI) signifying level of precision. Level of statistical significance was set at p ResultsWe found that 74.4% of the women were using modern contraceptives ranging from injectables (44.5%) to other modern methods (0.23%). Women aged 15-19 [AOR = 7.425, 95% CI = 2.853, 19.32], residents of the Highland region [AOR = 1.521, 95% CI =1.086, 2.131], self-employed women in the agricultural sector [AOR = 1.710, 95% CI = 1.218, 2.400], and women who listened to radio at least once a week [AOR = 1.409, 95% CI = 1.048, 1.895] had higher odds of modern contraceptive usage. However, women in the Islands region [AOR = 0.291, 95% CI = 0.224, 0.377], women whose husbands had higher education [AOR = 0.531,95%CI = 0.318,0.886], women in professional/technical/managerial work [AOR = 0.643, 95% CI = 0.420, 0.986], and those with no child [AOR = 0.213, CI = 0.0498,0.911] had lower odds of modern contraceptive use.ConclusionOut of the 2345 participants, we found that majority of them were using modern contraceptives and the commonly used modern contraceptive was injectables. Age, region of residence, partner's education, employment, partner's desire for children, and frequency of listening to radio are associated with modern contraceptive usage. Tailored reproductive healthcare should be developed for women who are disadvantaged when it comes to the usage of modern contraceptives in order to boost modern contraceptive use among them. Further investigation is needed to unravel the motivation for the high usage of injectables among married and cohabiting women in Papua New Guinea