Modern Facilities Research Articles

Secondary School Teachers’ and Principals’ Knowledge and Perception of School-Based Supervision Practices

This study sought to find out teachers’ and principals’ knowledge and perception of school-based supervision practices in public secondary schools in Benin metropolis. To achieve this purpose, four research questions were raised. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of the teachers and principals in the Benin metropolis. A sample size of three hundred and sixty-three (363) principals and teachers was used. A structured questionnaire was used for the collection of data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation for the research questions while the Chi-square and independent sample t-test were used to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers and principals were knowledgeable in the art of school-based supervision practices, and there were a lot of problems facing the effective practice of school-based supervision. The findings further revealed that years of experience was a determining factor in the art of carrying out school-based supervision. Therefore, appointing principals with at least ten years of experience and provision of modern facilities for school supervision were recommended.

Patients’ choice of healthcare providers and predictors of modern healthcare utilisation in Bangladesh: Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016–2017 (BBS)

ObjectivesThe number of modern healthcare providers in Bangladesh has increased and they are well equipped with modern medical instruments and infrastructures. Despite this development, patients seeking treatment from alternative healthcare...

Sustainable Healthcare Facilities: A Scoping Review

Sustainable development has become one of the major objectives in building and operating healthcare facilities, as they exert a major impact on the environment and society. It is also critically important for modern healthcare facilities to adapt to an aging population, rapid technology upgrades, and the increasing demand for quality health care. In this background, sustainable healthcare facilities (SHFs) have attracted growing attention from researchers in the past decade. However, there has not been a clear scope of SHFs, which undermines the theoretical foundation of SHFs evaluation. This study identifies, aggregates, and analyzes the existing body of knowledge to address such issue. We attempted to reveal the dimensions of sustainability in the context of healthcare facilities, the links among the dimensions of sustainability, and the framework of SHFs themes based on a systematic scoping review. A four-dimensional model of sustainability was discussed and a framework of SHFs themes is proposed, consisting of core business, supporting service, and organizational environment layers. We suggest future research to focus more on the core business and organizational environment layers and the links among the different attributes of sustainability in the SHFs field.

Взаимосвязи физико-механических свойств древесины и закономерности их изменения внутри ствола березы

The physical and mechanical properties of standing wood are not constant along the tree height and diameter. They also differ depending on the tree species and conditions of its growth. So, the research purpose is to identify patterns of change and interrelations between the parameters of density, compressive strength and sound propagation velocity along the wood fibers inside the stem of a birch tree growing in the forests of the Middle Volga region of Russia, where such research had never been conducted before. The work was carried out on two sampling areas laid out by standard methods in birch forests of natural origin with average productive capacity on the territory of the Scientific-Experimental Forest District of the Volga State University of Technology in the Mari El Republic. The average age of the birch trees is about 70 yrs, breast height diameter is 30 cm, and height is 28.5 m; 14 sample trees were studied; 0.5 m long chucks were cut out from their stems at a height of 1.3 m from the butt end and at relative heights of 0.25H, 0.5H, and 0.75H. Experimental work was carried out in a laboratory environment with modern technical facilities using standard procedures. Mathematical models describing the changes in the parameters stated above and the interrelations between them with regard to the stem diameter at relative heights were obtained. The research results generally confirmed the findings of other researchers on densitograms and other physical and mechanical properties of wood within the tree stem. However, the features listed above were revealed for birch trees growing under such conditions; in particular, it concerns the ratio of strength and density, as well as the wood strength and the velocity of sound propagation through the fibers. The results obtained have both scientific and practical value as a basis for the development of a non-destructive method for predicting technical properties of standing wood as well as timber for producing assortments for special purposes. For citation: Fedyukov V.I., Chernov V.Yu., Chernova M.S., Tsoy O.V. Interrelations of Wood Physical and Mechanical Properties and Patterns of Their Change within the Birch Stem. Lesnoy Zhurnal [Russian Forestry Journal], 2021, no. 6, pp. 150–159. DOI: 10.37482/0536-1036-2021-6-150-159

Modern Means of Information Technologies in Document Communications

With the expansion of human capabilities, the discovery of the latest laws and knowledge, with the development of the economy and production, the oral method of transmitting information gradually ceased to satisfy communicative needs. The society faced the need to build a system of documentary communications, providing for the long-term storage of information on tangible media in order to record significant information. Considering the large flow of information, the solution of office work issues is possible only through the widespread use of new information technologies using computer technology. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the need to use modern information technology capabilities in the process of document communications. Methods. In the course of the research the scientific and methodical materials, Internet sources, platforms for the theoretical substantiation of the covered problem are analyzed and generalized, so the methods of analysis and generalization are used. The results. In the course of the research, an overview of modern services and platforms for working with documents was carried out. Moreover the advantages of electronic document management were identified in the article. The substantiation of the need to use modern facilities information technology in the document communication process received further development. Conclusions. The authors stated that today's traditional professional activities are transferred in digital format, which greatly increases the efficiency and productivity of work, provides convenience and mobility of working with electronic documents, greatly facilitates and simplifies document communication. Currently, there are a lot of services for working with documents, and that is why it is quite difficult to make sense of such a variety. In the authors’ opinion, in the professional training of future specialists in the relevant specialties, it is necessary to familiarize applicants with the possibilities of modern information technologies. After all, the ability to use platforms, services for working with document flow allows you to optimize and rationalize management activities in all its areas of activity. The authors concluded that information analysts, document managers should have an idea of the capabilities of such resources and instantly respond to qualitative changes in this area.

REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS IN THE FIELD OF FUNCTIONAL-PLANNING ORGANIZATION OF CULTURAL AND LEISURE FACILITIES

The article provides an overview of scientific publications in the field of functional planning organization of cultural and leisure facilities. The analysis of the works made it possible to systematize the available data on the research topic and identify promising directions for studying the architectural-typological and functional-planning characteristics of modern cultural and leisure facilities.

Sustaining the Image of the City: What Matters More? An Investigation in the City of Colombo

How a city is known to its inhabitants is largely impacted by its physical environment and this knowledge in turn, impacts the behavior and the sustainability of the city. From Kevin Lynch’s landmark study in 1960, many studies attempted to explore the ‘image of a city’ and revealed that the image was a collectively held psycho-spatial phenomenon that evolved with the changes take place in its physical environment. Colombo, the primate city of Sri Lanka has experienced a fast growth both internally and externally over the last four decades. A large number of high-rises, modern shopping facilities, etc., have been dramatically changing its physical environment. This study investigated the changes evident in the image of the City of Colombo as a result of ongoing developments through the findings of a survey, carried out during 2019-20 period. Analyzing the free recalling responses of 150 participants from different age and user categories, the study reveals that there is a shift in the constituents of the image of Colombo, and the emerging high-rise developments and modern facilities do have, but only a marginal impact on this shift. What matters more are the spaces and physical elements experienced at the ground level.

The Children's Hospital of the Future: A Vision That Meets All Needs.

Objectives:The objective of this article is twofold. First, to present a comprehensive internal assessment of the hospital by different groups of stakeholders and, second, to determine whether there are common needs and wishes that, if incorporated in the hospital vision, will enable future development.Background:The Children’s Memorial Health Center is the largest children’s hospital in Poland. The hospital began operations in 1977 with a vision to be a modern healthcare facility that provides comprehensive care for children. That vision has not changed over time but everything else did.Methods:Six design thinking sessions were conducted with 83 employees and 40 respondents who used health services in the hospital in the past, along with in-depth interviews with 25 representatives of management to gather data for the hospital assessment.Results:Sixty-three features influencing future development were identified. Seven groups of features were classified to be either transformation drivers (four groups) or enablers (three groups). We focused on features that were indicated by all groups of respondents to define a common vision for future development.Conclusions:Depending on the respondent’s role in the healthcare ecosystem, the list of variables within each of seven groups defining the “hospital of the future” was different while evaluating the healthcare services. Therefore, all stakeholders must be engaged in the ideation process to create a strategy for a future care model driven by innovation.

Ethnomedicinal plants used by the indigenous tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh, India: a review

Background: In the absence of modern healthcare facilities in remote rural localities, the indigenous tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayan region of India continue to rely on plant-based ethnomedicine for the treatment of various ailments prevalent within their biocultural landscape. This review work has been carried out to document the ethnomedicinal knowledge of the indigenous tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh by critically perusing the selected published literature. The exploration of ethnomedicinal knowledge of the tribal communities may provide clues for development of new drugs and can also help in the continuity and preservation of such important traditional healing practices. Methods: We downloaded 20 published ethnomedicinal literature (between 2005 to 2019) from online databases such as iMedPub, Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Semantic Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, Publons, PubMed, etc. using keywords ‘ethnomedicine’, ‘tribes of Arunachal Pradesh’, and ‘North-East India’. The diversity of ethnomedicinal plants, types of ailments treated, herbal formulation, informant consensus and the species and family use values have been quantified using relevant statistical tools and techniques. Results: The present review have reported 358 species of medicinal plants belonging to 100 families used by the fourteen indigenous tribal communities for treating 107 specific types of ailments which are classified under 10 broad categories of ailments, namely, cardiovascular, dermatological, gastrointestinal, general health, gynecological, musculoskeletal, odontological, orthopaedic, respiratory, and urological disorders. Asteraceae has shown the highest use reports per family (86) while Acanthacaeae demonstrated the highest family use value index (UVf) of 4.90. The highest species use report was observed under gastrointestinal disorders with an Informant consensus factor (FIC) of 0.41 while the least species use report was observed under urological disorder (FIC 0.11). Conclusion: Plants showing higher UVf index and FIC in the present analysis should be useful for conservation priority. It will also help in prioritization for in-depth investigation of bioactive phytochemicals of potential medicinal plants effective against reported target ailment categories. Keywords: Ailments, Ethnomedicine, Family use value (UVf), Tribal communities, Informant consensus factor (FIC).

Groups of mobile cellular service stations for operational radio communication tasks in remote areas

The authors of the article consider solutions needed to organize mobile cellular communication systems in remote areas. Modern mobile stations do not have the capability to overcome marshy areas, steppe, heavily rugged reliefs of the desert, water barriers and forests. Moreover, the coverage area from one base station is not highly localized (radio coverage area is not significant). Furthermore, modern mobile communication facilities have poor autonomy. The article proposes measures for an operational organization of cellular communications in large remote areas with a coverage radius of a medium-sized city. Article also considers the issues posed by a temporary organization of communication service in large sections near important locations (pipelines, riverbeds, transport and railway lines). The need for such an operational usage of mobile communication systems is most associated with geological exploration and scientific research in large remote areas and large areas with a damaged communication system due to natural emergencies or military operations.

Urban Renewal in American Cities and Responses of the White Working-Class Ethnic Groups: A Preliminary Exploration

In the post-World War II decades, urban renewal became a part of the larger vision for the revitalization of American cities. Between 1949 and 1974, federal legislation provided a legal and economic framework for demolition of so-called blighted areas and replacing them with new modern housing, infrastructure, and facilities for services and commerce. It was a response to the perceived urban crisis: a move of city residents to the suburbs and collapse of the tax base, congestion of urban areas, and aging urban infrastructure. The areas slated for demolition or highway construction belonged often to communities of color and to older urban working-class white ethnic communities. This article examines the responses of various white ethnic groups, including American Polonia, to the local plans of urban renewal, which ranged from apathy, to acceptance and support, to internal mobilization and protest, to coalition building and political action.

Global Surgery Education: Whose Needs Should We Serve?

It is only in the past two decades that surgical care has begun to be recognized by global public health experts to be cost-effective and important to the overall health and productivity of citizens world-wide. As the attention of surgeons in the First World has been drawn to the immense unmet need for modern facilities and well-trained surgeons to care for the populations in the many resource-poor areas of the world, the field of global health has emerged as an appropriate academic endeavor.1

ANALYSIS OF MODERN METHODS AND MEANS OF ELECTRONIC INTELLIGENCE FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES FOR MONITORING THREATENING STATIONARY AND MOBILE OBJECTS

Electronic methods and means of reconnaissance are a set of methods and organizational structures for conducting intelligence activities using electronic equipment and radio-technical devices (systems). The development of modern element base and computing facilities allows us to miniaturize modern facilities, introducing into them previously inaccessible algorithms and methods for processing the information received. This allows real-time monitoring of potentially dangerous (threatening) stationary and mobile objects, promptly responding to emerging terrorist threats and other dangerous phenomena. On the paper briefly discusses the main modern methods and means of electronic intelligence for special purposes, used in practice.

High-Resolution Boundary Refined Convolutional Neural Network for Automatic Agricultural Greenhouses Extraction from GaoFen-2 Satellite Imageries

Agricultural greenhouses (AGs) are an important component of modern facility agriculture, and accurately mapping and dynamically monitoring their distribution are necessary for agricultural scientific management and planning. Semantic segmentation can be adopted for AG extraction from remote sensing images. However, the feature maps obtained by traditional deep convolutional neural network (DCNN)-based segmentation algorithms blur spatial details and insufficient attention is usually paid to contextual representation. Meanwhile, the maintenance of the original morphological characteristics, especially the boundaries, is still a challenge for precise identification of AGs. To alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a novel network called high-resolution boundary refined network (HBRNet). In this method, we design a new backbone with multiple paths based on HRNetV2 aiming to preserve high spatial resolution and improve feature extraction capability, in which the Pyramid Cross Channel Attention (PCCA) module is embedded to residual blocks to strengthen the interaction of multiscale information. Moreover, the Spatial Enhancement (SE) module is employed to integrate the contextual information of different scales. In addition, we introduce the Spatial Gradient Variation (SGV) unit in the Boundary Refined (BR) module to couple the segmentation task and boundary learning task, so that they can share latent high-level semantics and interact with each other, and combine this with the joint loss to refine the boundary. In our study, GaoFen-2 remote sensing images in Shouguang City, Shandong Province, China are selected to make the AG dataset. The experimental results show that HBRNet demonstrates a significant improvement in segmentation performance up to an IoU score of 94.89%, implying that this approach has advantages and potential for precise identification of AGs.

Video registration of physicochemical processes in BOF cavity at bath top blowing at application oxygen lances of various designs. Report 1. Facility and methodology of the study

Interaction of the upper oxygen jets with the BOF bath considerably effects the hot metal refining flow. To optimize the lances designs and methods of BOF bath blowing, information is needed on the actual physical and technical phenomena taking place during top blowing of BOF bath by groups of ultrasonic and sonic oxygen jets. It was shown that obtaining the information is possible at high temperature simulation of the BOF bath blowing by application oxygen lances of various designs and video registration. Results of previous studies by filming of the blowing in a BOF and OHF presented. Description of modern facilities of high temperature simulation within a multi-purpose 160 and 60‒80 kg BOFs, equipped by special manholes for observation and registration by video camera the physicochemical processes taking place on the surface of the bath presented. In particular the manholes made it possible to observe the processes taking place at various methods of top and combined blowing of the BOF bath by application regular, two-circuit and double-flow oxygen lances. A methodology of test heats carrying out presented, which ensured obtaining important practical information on forming and variation of dimensions of the reaction zone. In particular, information was obtained about the interaction of ultrasonic and sonic oxygen jets with the metal melt, development of afterburning, emission out of reaction zone C to CO2 in the subsonic and sonic oxygen jets with forming high temperature flares directed on the BOF bath surface or penetrated in the foamed slag, emissions of slag-metal suspension out the BOF, forming of metal-slag sculls on the lance tube during the blowing with various level of foamed slag-metal emulsion.

Obstacle avoidance transplanting method based on Kinect visual processing

In modern facility agriculture, to improve the quality and efficiency of transplanting, the application of transplanting robots based on visual processing is becoming more and more widespread. In order to reduce the damage to plants during the transplanting process and reduce the damage rate of plant stems, leaves and substrates, a transplanting method based on Kinect visual processing combined with an inclined transplanting manipulator was proposed. In the research, the Kinect visual processing was used to obtain and process the seedling height information and leaf edge information, and the working coordinate system of the transplanting manipulator was established and applied to plan the obstacle avoidance path. Combined with the oblique manipulator, the obstacle avoidance transplanting method was proposed. Through the structural design and force analysis of the seedling transplanting device, the key parameters that affect the transplanting quality were obtained, and the optimal transplanting performance parameters were obtained through experiments. In the experiment, with the aid of the Kinect vision processing system, the designed obstacle avoidance transplanting manipulator had a leaf damage degree of 4.70%, a stem bending rate of 16.67%, substrate integrity of 83.45% and a transplanting quality parameter of 87.36%. The time for a single seedling transplanting was (8.32±0.40) s. The experiment result proves that the obstacle avoidance transplanting method based on Kinect visual processing can effectively reduce the damage to seedlings when ensuring the transplanting efficiency. Keywords: Kinect vision processing, oblique-type transplanting robot, path planning, obstacle avoidance DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211405.6451 Citation: Jin X, Li R S, Ji J T, Yuan Y W, Li M Y. Obstacle avoidance transplanting method based on Kinect visual processing. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(5): 72–78.

MASTERING THE PROCESSES OF SYNTHESIS OF OXIDE COMPOUNDS WITH THE USE OF A POWERFUL SOURCE OF FAST HEATING OF THE INITIAL INGREDIENTS

The creation of new materials with predetermined properties is perhaps the mostimportant issue and problem of modern materials science. Increasingly harsh conditions for the useof materials in modern, and especially - promising technological processes, the need to ensure andimplement the safest conditions for humanity and the environment of modern industrial production,the importance and increasing role of economic factors – all these factors necessitate improvingknown and creating new materials, as well as technologies for their production and use. Furthereconomically justified, socially attractive and technologically safe use of nuclear technologies andoperation of modern complex technical facilities, which undoubtedly include nuclear power devices,further development of nuclear and in the future thermonuclear energy is impossible withoutmodernization.The article implements the method of electron beam heating of a mixture of yttrium andzirconium oxides for the synthesis of complex oxides. The initial mixture contained ingredients in anamount corresponding to the compound Y2Zr2O7. The mixture was heated in a tantalum containeralmost to the melting point of tantalum (2915 C). The high temperature of the process is provided bythe use of a system with a plasma electron emitter. The purpose of the vacuum high-temperature effect on the powder mixture was to implement conditions sufficient to initiate reactions for the synthesis ofcomplex oxides. The analysis of the obtained samples recorded after the initial high-temperaturetreatment a fluorite-type phase (Y, Zr) Ox with a lattice parameter of 5.2 Å and technologicalimpurities of tantalum oxide. After additional annealing in air at 1200 C for 7 hours, another phasewith a lattice parameter of 5.17 Å was recorded, as well as impurities of tantalum oxide. The testedsynthesis conditions lead to the formation of multi-element oxides with a structure of only fluorite,pyrochlore phase in the heat is not detected.

Effect of Physical Characteristics on Resident’s Satisfaction in a High-Density Area of Ilorin Metropolis

This study looked at the impact of a resident’s physical attributes on housing satisfaction in Ilorin to figure out how to uncover the significant relationship in Ilorin. The research took a quantitative method. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to 126 household heads, with 94 responses. Households were polled using systematic random sampling to collect information on socio-economic variables and housing satisfaction. To analyze the effect of variables, the data were subjected to descriptive statistics and linear regression using SPSS. The study found that physical factors have a substantial impact on home satisfaction in the studied area. The study discovered that toilet facilities, rendered and painted walls, tiles, a well-equipped kitchen, no finishing wall, electricity and generator as an alternative means of lighting a kitchen without modern facilities, concrete, and a pit toilet are all factors that influence residents’ satisfaction. It was also discovered that the most excellent mean score was for bathroom facilities, rendered and painted walls, and tiles. It was suggested that the government make the missing social amenities available and rehabilitate the deteriorating ones as urgent. To improve resident satisfaction in the study region, proper routine management of social amenities should be done.

РОЗВИТОК РАДІОЕЛЕКТРОННОГО ОСНАЩЕННЯ СИСТЕМИ УПРАВЛІННЯ КОМПЛЕКСУ БОЙОВОГО ЕКІПІРУВАННЯ ВІЙСЬКОВОСЛУЖБОВЦІВ ЗБРОЙНИХ СИЛ ПРОВІДНИХ КРАЇН НАТО

During the battle job processing a serviceman wants to know a few master data: the exact location and location of his subdivision, information about surrounding locality and reference-points and where an opponent is. In an ideal these data must be passed and in the day and night, in any weather, in independence from a vegetation and from the geographical features of locality. In this connection the modern state of control system of complex of battle equipment of separate serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is certain in this article. On this stage of management troops by means of communication means is not satisfactory. Experience of the battle operating on East of Ukraine showed the row of problem questions from organization of connection in the tactical (operative) link of management. In the leading countries of NATO the programs of creation of perspective equipment of serviceman will be realized actively. Researches that is conducted in interests of increase of the productivity and efficiency of actions of subdivisions and separate fighters on the basis of modern facilities of armament and compact radio electronic facilities it is integrated in the equipment of serviceman. The complex analysis of the programs shows that introduction of radio electronic facilities in co-operating with facilities of automation in the structure of rigging of soldier will allow substantially to promote not only battle potential of certain warrior on a battle-field but also combined battle possibilities of all tactical subdivision on the whole. Scientific researchers are conducted in direction of integration of radio electronic equipment of serviceman in single of informatively-communication space. Keywords: control system, radio electronic arming, communication means, orientations and navigations to the complex of battle equipment of separate serviceman.

Modern facilities of pharmacological correction of hyperuricemia in rheumatic diseases: management of difficult clinical cases

The article presents clinical cases of management of patients with low compliance with treatment, suffering from rheumatic diseases and disorders of purine metabolism.Cases report 1. The first patient with advanced gout, after taking 100 mg of allopurinol, developed undesirable effects: sore throat, change in voice, cough, and therefore treatment was discontinued. After six months without therapy, the condition worsened and, in self-medication, the patient resumed taking allopurinol at a dose of 300 mg per day, which, as expected, resulted in a resumption of the allergic reaction and a serious exacerbation of gouty arthritis. In order to stop continuous relapses of arthritis, it became necessary to prescribe glucocorticoids. After stabilization of the state, constant administration of febucostat with positive clinical and laboratory dynamics was recommended.Cases report 2. The second patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) developed analgesic nephropathy, secondary hyperuricemia, and typical gouty attacks in the background of high activity of the underlying disease, existing kidney pathology and inappropriate use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Frequent exacerbations of arthritis prompted the patient to finally see a rheumatologist. The adjusted therapy made it possible to reduce RA activity, reach the recommended level of uric acid, and reduce the drug load on the kidneys with almost complete withdrawal of NSAIDs. Thus, in modern conditions, rheumatologists have in reserve all the necessary means for the pharmacological correction of hyperuricemia, even in difficult clinical cases. Febucostat is the drug of choice for correcting uric acid levels in case of intolerance to allopurinol, as well as in the development of secondary gout against the background of renal failure. In addition, it should be noted that the effectiveness of the treatment of rheumatic diseases largely depends on the patient’s compliance. To increase adherence to therapy, regular patient schools are recommended.