Search results for: out of pocket expenses

Authors: Ayelet Gur

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Background: In recent years we are witnessing a welcome trend in which more children/persons with disabilities are living at home with their families and within their communities. This trend is related to various policy innovations as the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities that reflect a shift from the medical-institutional model to a human rights approach. We also witness the emergence of family centered approaches that perceive the family and not just the individual with the disability as a worthy target of policy planning, implementation and evaluation efforts. The current investigation aims to explore economic, psychological and social factors among households of families of children or adults with intellectual disabilities in Israel and to present policy recommendation. Methods: A national sample of 301 households was recruited through the education and employment settings of persons with intellectual disability. The main caregiver of the person with the disability (a parent) was interviewed. Measurements included the income and expense surveys; assets and debts questionnaire; the questionnaire on resources and stress; the social involvement questionnaire and Personal Wellbeing Index. Results: Findings indicate significant gaps in financial circumstances between households of families of children with intellectual disabilities and households of the general Israeli society. Households of families of children with intellectual disabilities report lower income and higher expenditures and loans than the general society. They experience difficulties in saving and coping with unexpected expenses. Caregivers (the parents) experience high stress, low social participation, low financial support from family, friend and non-governmental organizations and decreased well-being. They are highly dependent on social security allowances which constituted 40% of the household's income. Conclusions: Households' dependency on social security allowances may seem contradictory to the encouragement of persons with intellectual disabilities to favor independent living in light of the human rights approach to disability. New policy should aim at reducing caregivers' stress and enhance their social participation and support, with special emphasis on families of lower socio-economic status. Finally, there is a need to continue monitoring the economic and psycho-social needs of households of families of children with intellectual disabilities and other developmental disabilities.

Keywords: disability policy, family policy, intellectual and developmental disabilities, Israel, households study, parents of children with disabilities

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Hadi S. Hosseini, Larry A. Taber

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In the embryo, heart is initially a simple tubular structure that undergoes complex morphological changes as it transforms into a four-chambered pump. This work focuses on mechanisms that create heart tube (HT). The early embryo is composed of three relatively flat primary germ layers called endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. Precardiac cells located within bilateral regions of the mesoderm called heart fields (HFs) fold and fuse along the embryonic midline to create the HT. The right and left halves of this plate fold symmetrically to bring their upper edges into contact along the midline, where they fuse. In a region near the fusion line, these layers then separate to generate the primitive HT and foregut, which then extend vertically. The anterior intestinal portal (AIP) is the opening at the caudal end of the foregut, which descends as the HT lengthens. The biomechanical mechanisms that drive this folding are poorly understood. Our central hypothesis is that folding is caused by differences in growth between the endoderm and mesoderm while subsequent extension is driven by contraction along the AIP. The feasibility of this hypothesis is examined using experiments with chick embryos and finite-element modeling (FEM). Fertilized white Leghorn chicken eggs were incubated for approximately 22-33 hours until appropriate Hamburger and Hamilton stage (HH5 to HH9) was reached. To inhibit contraction, embryos were cultured in media containing blebbistatin (myosin II inhibitor) for 18h. Three-dimensional models were created using ABAQUS (D. S. Simulia). The initial geometry consists of a flat plate including two layers representing the mesoderm and endoderm. Tissue was considered as a nonlinear elastic material with growth and contraction (negative growth) simulated using a theory, in which the total deformation gradient is given by F=F^*.G, where G is growth tensor and F* is the elastic deformation gradient tensor. In embryos exposed to blebbistatin, initial folding and AIP descension occurred normally. However, after HFs partially fused to create the upper part of the HT, fusion, and AIP descension stopped, and the HT failed to grow longer. These results suggest that cytoskeletal contraction is required only for the later stages of HT formation. In the model, a larger biaxial growth rate in the mesoderm compared to the endoderm causes the bilayered plate to bend ventrally, as the upper edge moves toward the midline, where it 'fuses' with the other half . This folding creates the upper section of the HT, as well as the foregut pocket bordered by the AIP. After this phase completes by stage HH7, contraction along the arch-shaped AIP pulls the lower edge of the plate downward, stretching the two layers. Results given by model are in reasonable agreement with experimental data for the shape of HT, as well as patterns of stress and strain. In conclusion, results of our study support our hypothesis for the creation of the heart tube.

Keywords: heart tube formation, FEM, chick embryo, biomechanics

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: Hamideh Sadat Zekri, Seyed Mojtaba Hosseinalipour, Mohammadreza Hafezi

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Nowadays, an organization cannot usually overcome all tasks singly due to the increasing complexity and vast expanse of projects, increment in uncertainty of activities, fast advances in technology, advent and influence of various factors in decision-making and implication of projects, and competitive atmosphere of different affairs. Thus, firms proceed to outsource the tasks to subcontractors. Nevertheless, large Iranian contracting companies suffer from extra consumed costs and time owing to conflicts between the activities of suppliers and subcontractors. The paucity of coordination in planning and execution, scarcity of coordination among suppliers, subcontractors, and the main contractor during the implementation of construction activities and also the lack of proper management of the aforesaid situation result in the growth of contradictions, number of claims, and legal issues in a project and consequently impose enormous expenses on those companies. Regarding the prosperity of supply chain management in other industries, its importance is increasingly getting appreciated in the field of construction. The ultimate aim of supply chain management is an effective delivery of the best value for customers, which is achievable by encouraging the members to interact and collaborate. In the present research, there was an effort to obtain a set of relevant challenges in the managing of subcontractors by identifying the main contractors and subcontractors and their role in the execution of projects and the supply chain management in the construction industry. Then, some of those challenges were selected in accordance with the views of industry professionals and academic experts. In the next step, a questionnaire was prepared and completed based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the challenges were prioritized. When it comes to subcontractors, the findings of the research demonstrate that difficulties in timely payments, alterations in approved drawings and the lack of rectification of job after completion by the subcontractor, paucity of a predetermined and legal process for qualifications of subcontractors, neglecting the supply chain processes in material procurement from producers, and delays in delivery of works by a subcontractor are the most significant problems. Finally, some solutions for encountering, eradicating, or reducing of mentioned problems are presented in accordance with previous studies and a survey from specialists.

Keywords: main contractors, subcontractors, supply chain management, construction supply chain, analytic hierarchy process, solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Laetitia Lemiere, Marie Gosme, Gerard Subsol, Marc Jaeger

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Agroforestry is recognized as a way of developing sustainable and resilient agriculture that can fight against climate change. However, the number of species combinations, spatial configurations, and management options for trees and crops is vast. These choices must be adapted to the pedoclimatic and socio-economic contexts and to the objectives of the farmer, who therefore needs support in designing his system. Participative design workshops are a good way to integrate the knowledge of several experts in order to design such complex systems. The design of agroforestry systems should take into account both spatial aspects (e.g., spacing of trees within the lines and between lines, tree line orientation, tree-crop distance, species spatial patterns) and temporal aspects (e.g., crop rotations, tree thinning and pruning, tree planting in the case of successional agroforestry). Furthermore, the interactions between trees and crops evolve as the trees grow. However, agroforestry design workshops generally emphasize the spatial aspect only through the use of static tokens to represent the different species when designing the spatial configuration of the system. Augmented reality (AR) may overcome this limitation, allowing to visualize dynamic representations of trees and crops, and also their interactions, while at the same time retaining the possibility to physically interact with the system being designed (i.e., move trees, add or remove species, etc.). We propose an ergonomic digital solution capable of assisting a group of agroforestry experts to design an agroforestry system and to represent it. We investigated the use of web-based marker-based AR that does not require specific hardware and does not require specific installation so that all users could use their own smartphones right out of the pocket. We developed a prototype mobilizing the AR.js, ArToolKit.js, and Three.js open source libraries. In our implementation, we gradually build a virtual agroforestry system pattern scene from the users' interactions. A specific set of markers initialize the scene properties, and the various plant species are added and located during the workshop design session. The full virtual scene, including the trees positions with their neighborhood, are saved for further uses, such as virtual, augmented instantiation in the farmer fields. The number of tree species available in the application is gradually increasing; we mobilize 3D digital models for walnut, poplar, wild cherry, and other popular species used in agroforestry systems. The prototype allows shadow computations and the representation of trees at various growth stages, as well as different tree generations, and is thus able to visualize the dynamics of the system over time. Future work will focus on i) the design of complex patterns mobilizing several tree/shrub organizations, not restricted to lines; ii) the design of interfaces related to cultural practices, such as clearing or pruning; iii) the representation of tree-crop interactions. Beside tree shade (light competition), our objective is to represent also below-ground competitions (water, nitrogen) or other variables of interest for the design of agroforestry systems (e.g., predicted crop yield).

Keywords: agroforestry system design, augmented reality, marker-based AR, participative design, web-based AR

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Linda Frost, Lindsay Anderson, Jana Borras, Ariel Dysangco, Vimabayi Makwaira

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The academic environment in which nursing students are immersed in comes with many demands and expectations. Course load, clinical placements, and financial expenses are examples of the pressures facing students each semester. These pressures contribute to student stress and impact their overall well-being and mental fitness. Students' ability to cope with stress and bounce back from adversity is enhanced when we build their mental fitness. Building mental fitness has the benefit of improving physical health, relationships, self-esteem, resilience, work productivity, and overall contentment, happiness and life satisfaction. While self-care is encouraged to avoid burnout, there is a gap in literature on programs to help build nursing students’ mental health and ability to engage in self-care. There is an opportunity and a need to design programs and implement actions aimed at reducing stress and its adverse effects on nursing students. Nursing students require the support of people who understand the complexities of the nursing profession, multifaceted work environments in which they operate, and the impact these environments have on their mental fitness. Nursing academia is in the best position to ensure that tools are in place to support the next generation of nurses who face a career with significant emotional and physical demands. This is a mixed-method study using an embedded design. We utilized a pretest-posttest design to compare the difference in psychological capital (PsyCap) and burnout in students who have received the Mastering My Mental Fitness-Nurses™ (MMMF-N™) workshops (n=8) and the control group (n=9) who have not. Semi structured interviews were conducted with the eight nursing students in the intervention group, along with data from feedback forms to explore the impact of the workshops on student’s burnout and PsyCap and determine how to improve the workshops for future students. The quantitative and qualitative data will be merged using a side-by-side comparison. This will be in a discussion format that allows for the comparison of the results from both phases. The findings will be available January 2025. We anticipate that students in the control and intervention group will report similar levels of burnout. As well, students in the intervention group will indicate the benefits of the MMMF-N™ workshops through qualitative interviews and workshop feedback forms.

Keywords: burnout, mental fitness, nursing students, psychological capital

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Authors: Felippe Clemente, Evaldo Henrique da Silva

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The need to adopt some type of industrial policy and innovation in Brazil is a recurring theme in the discussion of public interventions aimed at boosting economic growth. For many years, the country has adopted various policies to change its productive structure in order to increase the participation of sectors that would have the greatest potential to generate innovation and economic growth. Only in the 2000s, tax incentives as a policy to support industrial and technological innovation are being adopted in Brazil as a phenomenon associated with rates of productivity growth and economic development. In this context, in late 2004 and 2005, Brazil reformulated its institutional apparatus for innovation in order to approach the OECD conventions and the Frascati Manual. The Innovation Law (2004) and the 'Lei do Bem' (2005) reduced some institutional barriers to innovation, provided incentives for university-business cooperation, and modified access to tax incentives for innovation. Chapter III of the 'Lei do Bem' (no. 11,196/05) is currently the most comprehensive fiscal incentive to stimulate innovation. It complies with the requirements, which stipulates that the Union should encourage innovation in the company or industry by granting tax incentives. With its introduction, the bureaucratic procedure was simplified by not requiring pre-approval of projects or participation in bidding documents. However, preliminary analysis suggests that this instrument has not yet been able to stimulate the sector diversification of these investments in Brazil, since its benefits are mostly captured by sectors that already developed this activity, thus showing problems with moral hazard. It is necessary, then, to analyze the 'Lei do Bem' to know if there is indeed the need for some change, investigating what changes should be implanted in the Brazilian innovation policy. This work, therefore, shows itself as a first effort to analyze a current national problem, evaluating the effectiveness of the 'Lei do Bem' and suggesting public policies that help and direct the State to the elaboration of legislative laws capable of encouraging agents to follow what they describes. As a preliminary result, it is known that 130 firms used fiscal incentives for innovation in 2006, 320 in 2007 and 552 in 2008. Although this number is on the rise, it is still small, if it is considered that there are around 6 thousand firms that perform Research and Development (R&D) activities in Brazil. Moreover, another obstacle to the 'Lei do Bem' is the percentages of tax incentives provided to companies. These percentages reveal a significant sectoral correlation between R&D expenditures of large companies and R&D expenses of companies that accessed the 'Lei do Bem', reaching a correlation of 95.8% in 2008. With these results, it becomes relevant to investigate the law's ability to stimulate private investments in R&D.

Keywords: brazilian innovation system, moral hazard, R&D, Lei do Bem

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: T. Elrazaz

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This paper examines accrual and real earnings management by publicly listed targets around mergers and acquisitions. Prior literature shows that earnings management around mergers and acquisitions can have a significant economic impact because of the associated wealth transfers among stakeholders. More importantly, acting on behalf of their shareholders or pursuing their self-interests, managers of both targets and acquirers may be equally motivated to manipulate earnings prior to an acquisition to generate higher gains for their shareholders or themselves. Building on the grounds of information asymmetry, agency conflicts, stewardship theory, and the revelation principle, this study addresses the question of whether takeover targets employ accrual and real earnings management in the periods prior to the announcement of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). Additionally, this study examines whether acquirers are able to detect targets’ earnings management, and in response, adjust the acquisition premium paid in order not to face the risk of overpayment. This study uses an aggregate accruals approach in estimating accrual earnings management as proxied by estimated abnormal accruals. Additionally, real earnings management is proxied for by employing widely used models in accounting and finance literature. The results of this study indicate that takeover targets manipulate their earnings using accruals in the second year with an earnings release prior to the announcement of the M&A. Moreover, in partitioning the sample of targets according to the method of payment used in the deal, the results are restricted only to targets of stock-financed deals. These results are consistent with the argument that targets of cash-only or mixed-payment deals do not have the same strong motivations to manage their earnings as their stock-financed deals counterparts do additionally supporting the findings of prior studies that the method of payment in takeovers is value relevant. The findings of this study also indicate that takeover targets manipulate earnings upwards through cutting discretionary expenses the year prior to the acquisition while they do not do so by manipulating sales or production costs. Moreover, in partitioning the sample of targets according to the method of payment used in the deal, the results are restricted only to targets of stock-financed deals, providing further robustness to the results derived under the accrual-based models. Finally, this study finds evidence suggesting that acquirers are fully aware of the accrual-based techniques employed by takeover targets and can unveil such manipulation practices. These results are robust to alternative accrual and real earnings management proxies, as well as controlling for the method of payment in the deal.

Keywords: accrual earnings management, acquisition premium, real earnings management, takeover targets

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Wint Wint Thu, Htet Ko Ko Win, Myat Mon San, Zaw Lin Tun, Nandar Than Aye, Khin Nyein Myat, Hayman Nyo Oo, Nay Aung Lin, Kusum Thapa, Kyaw Htet Aung

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Background: In Myanmar, the intense political instability happened to start in Feb-2021, while the COVID-19 pandemic waves are also threatening the public health system, which subsequently led to severe health sector crisis, including difficulties in accessing maternal and newborn health care for vulnerable women and children. The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) uses a telehealth approach United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Essential Health Project. Implementation: The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) service has adapted to the MNCH needs of vulnerable pregnant women and was implemented to mitigate the risk of limited access to essential quality MNH care in Yangon, Myanmar, under women, and the project trained 13 service providers on a telehealth care package for pregnancy and newborn developed Jhpiego to ensure understanding of evidence-based MNCH care practices. The phone numbers of the pregnant women were gathered through the preexisting and functioning community volunteers, who reach the most vulnerable pregnant women in the project's targeted area. A total of 212 pregnant women have been reached by service providers for RPNC during the implementation period. The trained service providers offer quality antenatal and postnatal care, including newborn care, via telephone calls. It includes 24/7 incoming calls and time-allotted outgoing calls to the pregnant women during antenatal and postnatal periods, including the newborn care. The required data were collected daily in time with the calls, and the quality of the medical services is made assured with the track of the calls, ensuring data privacy and patient confidentiality. Lessons learned: The key lessons are 1) cost-effectiveness: RPNC service could reduce out of pocket expenditure of pregnant women as it only costs 1.6 United States dollars (USD) per one telehealth call while it costs 8 to 10 USD per one time in-person care service at private service providers, including transportation cost, 2) network of care: telehealth call could not replace the in-person antenatal and postnatal care services, and integration of telehealth calls with in-person care by local healthcare providers with the support of the community is crucial for accessibility to essential MNH services by poor and vulnerable women, and 3) sharing information on health access points: most of the women seem to have financial barriers in accessing private health facilities while public health system collapse and telehealthcare could provide information on low-cost facilities and connect women to relevant health facilities. These key lessons are important for future efforts regarding the implementation of remote pregnancy and newborn care in Myanmar, especially during the political crisis and COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Keywords: telehealth, accessibility, maternal care, newborn care

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Reshma Parvin Nuri, Heather Michelle Aldersey, Setareh Ghahari

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Objectives: Worldwide, it is well known that taking care of children with disabilities (CWD) can have a significant impact on the entire family unit. Over the last few decades, an increased number of studies have been conducted on families of CWD in higher income countries, and much of this research has identified family needs and strategies to meet those needs. However, family needs are incredibly under-studied in developing countries. Therefore, the aims of this study were to: (a) explore the needs of families of children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Bangladesh; (b) investigate how some of the family needs have been met and (c) identify the sources of supports that might help the families to meet their needs in the future. Methods: A face to face, semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted with 20 family members (12 mothers, 4 fathers, 1 sister, 2 grandmothers, and 1 aunt) who visited the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), Bangladesh between June and August 2016. Constant comparison method of grounded theory approach within the broader spectrum of qualitative study was used to analyze the data. Results: Participants identified five categories of needs: (a) financial needs, (b) access to disability-related services, (c) family and community cohesion, (d) informational needs, and (e) emotional needs. Participants overwhelmingly reported that financial need is their greatest family need. Participants noted that families encountered additional financial expenses for a child with CP, beyond what they would typically pay for their other children. Participants were seeing education as their non-primary need as they had no hope that their children would be physically able to go to school. Some participants also shared their needs for social inclusion and participation and receiving emotional support. Participants further expressed needs to receive information related to the child’s health condition and availability/accessibility of governmental support programs. Besides unmet needs, participants also highlighted that some of their needs have been met through formal and informal support systems. Formal support systems were mainly institution-based and run by non-governmental organizations, whereas participants identified informal support coming from family, friends and community members. Participants overwhelmingly reported that they receive little to no support from the government. However, participants identified the government as the key stakeholder who can play vital role in meeting their unmet needs. Conclusions: In the next phase of this research, the plan is to understand how the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is working to meet the needs of families of CWD. There is also need for further study on needs of families of children with conditions other than CP and those who live in the community and do not have access to the CRP Services. There is clear need to investigate ways to enable children with CP have better access to education in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, children with cerebral palsy, family needs, support

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: Bisemiire Anthony,

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PESH Poultry is a business project proposed specifically to solve unemployment and income-related problems affecting the youths in the Busia district. The project is intended to transform the life of the youth in terms of economic, social and behavioral, as well as the domestic well-being of the community at large. PESH Poultry is a start-up poultry farm that will be engaged in the keeping of poultry birds, broilers and layers for the production of quality and affordable poultry meat and eggs respectively and other poultry derivatives targeting consumers in eastern Uganda, for example, hotels, restaurants, households and bakeries. We intend to use a semi-intensive system of farming, where water and some food are provided in a separate nighttime shelter for the birds; our location will be in Lumino, Busia district. The poultry project will be established and owned by Bisemiire Anthony, Nandera Patience, Naula Justine, Bwire Benjamin and other investors. The farm will be managed and directed by Nandera Patience, who has five years of work experience and business administration knowledge. We will sell poultry products, including poultry eggs, chicken meat, feathers and poultry manure. We also offer consultancy services for poultry farming. Our eggs and chicken meat are hygienic, rich in protein and high quality. We produce processes and packages to meet the standard organization of Uganda and international standards. The business project shall comprise five (5) workers on the key management team who will share various roles and responsibilities in the identified business functions such as marketing, finance and other related poultry farming activities. PESH Poultry seeks 30 million Ugandan shillings in long-term financing to cover start-up costs, equipment, building expenses and working capital. Funding for the launch of the business will be provided primarily by equity from the investors. The business will reach positive cash flow in its first year of operation, allowing for the expected repayment of its loan obligations. Revenue will top UGX 11,750,000, and net income will reach about UGX115 950,000 in the 1st year of operation. The payback period for our project is 2 years and 3 months. The farm plans on starting with 1000 layer birds and 1000 broiler birds, 20 workers in the first year of operation.

Keywords: chicken, pullets, turkey, ducks

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Thel Phyu Phyu Soe

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Myanmar started its new political movement in 2011, opening up to trade, encouraging foreign investment, deepening its financial sectors. The tourism is one of the key sectors to make reform process from the perspective of green economy and green growth. The Inle Lake, second largest lake, famous for broad diversity of cultural and natural assets, become one of the country’s main tourism destination. In the study area, local livelihoods are based on a combination of farming (mainly floating garden) wage labor, tourism, and small business. But the Inle lake water body or water surface area decreased by 96.44 km² within 20 years, from 67.98 km² in 1990 to 56.63 km² in 2010. Floating garden cultivation (hydro phonic farm) is a distinguished characteristic of Inle Lake. Two adjacent villages (A and B) were selected to compare the relationship between tourism access and agricultural production. Ground truthing, focus group discussion, and in-depth questionnaires with floating gardeners were carried out. In A village, 57% of the respondents relied tourism as their major income sources, while almost all the households in B village relied floating gardens as major livelihood. Both satellite image interpretation and community studies highlighted that around 80% of the floating garden become fallow after severe drought in 2010 and easy income access to tourism related activities. The villagers can get 20-30 US$ for round trip guiding to major tourist attraction places.Even though tourism is the major livelihood options for the A village, the poorest households (less than 1500 US$ per year) are those who didn’t own transportation property for tourism related activities. In B village, more than 70% of the households relied floating gardens as their major income sources and less participated in tourism related activities because they don’t have motorboat stand connected to the major tourist attraction areas. Access to tourism related activities (having boat stand where they can guide tourists by boat and sell local products and souvenirs) have much impacted on changes in local people livelihood options. However, tourism may have impacts that are beneficial for one group of a society, but which are negative for another. Income inequality and negative impacts can only be managed effectively if they have been identified, measured and evaluated. The severe drought in 2010, instability of lake water level, high expenses for agriculture assisted the local people to participate in easy access tourism related activities.

Keywords: diminishing, floating garden, livelihood, tourism-related income

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Jisun Mo, Paola Boarin

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The impact of common buildings on climate and environment has prompted people to get involved in the green building standards aimed at implementing rating tools or certifications. Thus, green building rating systems were introduced to the construction industry, and the demand for certified green buildings has increased gradually and succeeded considerably in enhancing people’s environmental awareness. However, the existing certification process has been unsatisfactory in attracting stakeholders and/or professionals who are actively engaged in adopting a rating system. It is because they have faced recurring barriers regarding limited information in understanding the rating process, time-consuming procedures and higher costs, which have a direct influence on pursuing green building rating systems. To promote the achievement of green building certifications within the building industry more successfully, this paper aims at designing a Pre-Assessment Tool (PAT) framework that can help stakeholders and/or professionals engaged in the construction industry to clarify their basic knowledge, timeframe and extra costs needed to activate a green building certification. First, taking the first steps towards the rating tool seems to be complicated because of upfront commitment to understanding the overall rating procedure is required. This conceptual PAT framework can increase basic knowledge of the rating tool and the certification process, mainly in terms of all resources or information of each credit requirements. Second, the assessment process of rating tools is generally known as a “lengthy and time-consuming system”, contributing to unenthusiastic reactions concerning green building projects. The proposed framework can predict the timeframe needed to identify how long it will take for a green project to process each credit requirement and the documentation required from the beginning of the certification process to final approval. Finally, most people often have the initial perception that pursuing green building certification costs more than constructing a non-green building, which makes it more difficult to execute rating tools. To overcome this issue, this PAT will help users to estimate the extra expenses such as certification fees and third-party contributions based on the track of the amount of time it takes to implement the rating tool throughout all the related stages. Also, it can prevent unexpected or hidden costs occurring in the process of assessment. Therefore, this proposed PAT framework can be recommended as an effective method to support the decision-making of inexperienced users and play an important role in promoting green building certification.

Keywords: green building rating tools, Pre-Occupancy Evaluation (PrOE), client’s decision-making, certification

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Uwizera Egide

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Introduction: Dermatological conditions are one of the most burdensome diseases in our health system. Global studies suggest that around 1 in 3 people gets a skin disease at a certain point in their life, though this does not necessarily guarantee the urge to consult. For a high-ranking disease, it is surprising how there is not enough data to support its effect on the economy and the general health system impact. It is for that reason that this study’s aim is to identify the burden of dermatological conditions in Rwanda so as to have a general picture of what our population is going through in regards to dermatological conditions. Methods: We used a cross sectional retrospective study. Data were obtained from patient’s information recorded in an open clinic at CHUB in a period of six months from July to December of the year 2021. Results: The study had a total of 4600 patients who attended dermatology service in a period of six months from July to December of the year 2021. We found a list of 102 dermatological diseases that presented at variable rates. The most prevalent disease was atopic dermatitis, at a rate of 23%. About 90% of presented conditions had only one choice of treatment from the hospital pharmacy. Most patients who presented were between 18-35 years old and with a predominance of the female gender; the level of education was either secondary or University Degree in our study, 65.4% of patients who presented were female; the majority, around 45% were between 18-35 years old, mostly being single 56%. The majority came from Southern province as it is the location of the hospital. The insurance mostly used was community-based health insurance with 63.8%, followed by RSSB with 18.5%, MS/UR, and other private insurances. The frequency of group drugs prescribed among all dermatological medications, steroids were the most commonly given medications at a rate of 39%, followed by emollients, antibiotics, and antifungal. The drugs prescribed were mostly available in the pharmacy of CHUB, with 60% and 40% being found in pharmacies outside the hospital. Conclusion: Dermatological conditions are prevalent in all age groups and distributed through all socioeconomic classes. About 9.2% of patient who consulted CHUB in 2021 presented one Dermatological condition of which 40 % of prescribed medications is never found in Hospital urging a need to buy medication in private pharmacies with more expenses and a risk of not complying on prescribed medication if in case they can’t afford paying them outside the CHUB. This finding urges a need to avail all essential dermatological drugs in hospital pharmacies to allow our patients to get them for the proper compliance of prescribed drugs in the management of skin diseases.

Keywords: atopic dermatitis, CHUB (centre hopitalier univerisitaire de butare), dermatological condition, fungal infections

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Rauan Sakenov, Peter Bukovics, Peter Gaszler, Veronika Tokacs-Kollar, Beata Bugyi

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FH2 (formin homology-2) domains of several proteins, collectively known as formins, including DAAM, DAAM1 and mDia1, promote G-actin nucleation and elongation. FH2 domains of these formins exist as oligomers. Chain dimerization by ring structure formation serves as a structural basis for actin polymerization function of FH2 domain. Proper single chain configuration and specific interactions between its various regions are necessary for individual chains to form a dimer functional in G-actin nucleation and elongation. FH1 and WH2 domain-containing formins were shown to behave as intrinsically disordered proteins. Thus, the aim of this research was to study structural dynamics of FH2 domain of DAAM. To investigate structural features of FH2 domain of DAAM, molecular dynamics simulation of chain A of FH2 domain of DAAM solvated in water box in 50 mM NaCl was conducted at temperatures from 293.15 to 353.15K, with VMD 1.9.2, NAMD 2.14 and Amber Tools 21 using 2z6e and 1v9d PDB structures of DAAM was obtained on I-TASSER webserver. Calcium and ATP bound G-actin 3hbt PDB structure was used as a reference protein with well-described structural dynamics of denaturation. Topology and parameter information of CHARMM 2012 additive all-atom force fields for proteins, carbohydrate derivatives, water and ions were used in NAMD 2.14 and ff19SB force field for proteins in Amber Tools 21. The systems were energy minimized for the first 1000 steps, equilibrated and produced in NPT ensemble for 1ns using stochastic Langevin dynamics and the particle mesh Ewald method. Our root-mean square deviation (RMSD) analysis of molecular dynamics of chain A of FH2 domains of DAAM revealed similar insignificant changes of total molecular average RMSD values of FH2 domain of these formins at temperatures from 293.15 to 353.15K. In contrast, total molecular average RMSD values of G-actin showed considerable increase at 328K, which corresponds to the denaturation of G-actin molecule at this temperature and its transition from native, ordered, to denatured, disordered, state which is well-described in the literature. RMSD values of lasso and tail regions of chain A of FH2 domain of DAAM exhibited higher than total molecular average RMSD at temperatures from 293.15 to 353.15K. These regions are functional in intra- and interchain interactions and contain highly conserved tryptophan residues of lasso region, highly conserved GNYMN sequence of post region and amino acids of the shell of hydrophobic pocket of the salt bridge between Arg171 and Asp321, which are important for structural stability and ordered state of FH2 domain of DAAM and its functions in FH2 domain dimerization. In conclusion, higher than total molecular average RMSD values of lasso and post regions of chain A of FH2 domain of DAAM may explain disordered state of FH2 domain of DAAM at temperatures from 293.15 to 353.15K. Finally, absence of marked transition, in terms of significant changes in average molecular RMSD values between native and denatured states of FH2 domain of DAAM at temperatures from 293.15 to 353.15K, can make it possible to attribute these formins to the group of intrinsically disordered proteins rather than to the group of intrinsically ordered proteins such as G-actin.

Keywords: FH2 domain, DAAM, formins, molecular modelling, computational biophysics

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Mikhail Zimin, Svetlana Zimina, Maxim Zimin

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Without question, the basic method of prevention of human and material losses is the provision for adequate strength of constructions. At the same time, seismic load has a stochastic character. So, at all times, there is little danger of earthquake forces exceeding the selected design load. This risk is very low, but the consequences of such events may be extremely serious. Very dangerous are also occasional mistakes in seismic zoning, soil conditions changing before temblors, and failure to take into account hazardous natural phenomena caused by earthquakes. Besides, it is known that temblors detrimentally affect the environmental situation in regions where they occur, resulting in panic and worsening various disease courses. It may lead to mistakes of personnel of hazardous production facilities like the production and distribution of gas and oil, which may provoke severe accidents. In addition, gas and oil pipelines often have long mileage and cross many perilous zones by contrast with buildings. This situation increases the risk of heavy accidents. In such cases, complex monitoring of potential earthquake localities would be relevant. Even though the number of successful real-time forecasts of earthquakes is not great, it is well in excess, such as may be under random guessing. Experimental performed time-lapse study and analysis consist of searching seismic, biological, meteorological, and light earthquake precursors, processing such data with the help of fuzzy sets, collecting weather information, utilizing a database of terrain, and computing risk of slope processes under the temblor in a given setting. Works were done in a real-time environment and broadly acceptable results took place. Observations from already in-place seismic recording systems are used. Furthermore, a look back study of precursors of known earthquakes is done. Situations before Ashkhabad, Tashkent, and Haicheng seismic events are analyzed. Fairish findings are obtained. Results of earthquake forecasts can be used for predicting dangerous natural phenomena caused by temblors such as avalanches and mudslides. They may also be utilized for prophylaxis of some diseases and their complications. Relevant software is worked out too. It should be emphasized that such control does not require serious financial expenses and can be performed by a small group of professionals. Thus, complex monitoring of potential earthquake localities, including short-term earthquake forecasts and analysis of possible hazardous consequences of temblors, may further the safety of pipeline facilities.

Keywords: risk, earthquake, monitoring, forecast, precursor

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Authors: E. V. Fakhrutdinova, Y. S. Kolesnikova, E. A. Karasik, V. M. Zagidullina

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Poverty as the social and economic phenomenon exists in any society and represents a many-sided problem. In this sense it is universal and for many centuries serves as a research objects for scientists. Special attention to a problem of poverty in Russia is caused, first of all, by the critical growth of inequality and by scales of expansion of poverty, considerable decrease in the level and quality of life of the population, decrease in availability of education during the period of reforming. The expansion of poverty on the working members of society, youth, which has to provide reproduction of the population is alarming. As poverty is the reason of weakening of national security of the country, degradation of the population, decline in the quality of the human capital, complication of a demographic situation, strengthening of social contradictions in society, so far as the reduction of poverty, so, the increase in production. Poverty: the characteristic of an economic situation of the individual or social group at which they can't satisfy certain minimum requirements necessary for life, preservations of working capacity and reproduction. Poverty became one of the critical factors expelling people from the system of the institutional interactions reducing social space in which their relations were building breaking their social identity. Complication of the problem of poverty in modern society happened due to penetration of the related relations into many spheres of life. It is known that negative consequences of poverty display not only at the personal level of the poor person, but also at the level of interpersonal social interactions, decline in the quality and level of development of the human capital, and also at social and economic system in general. We conducted a research on the influence of education on the change of poverty level of the population. We consider education as a resource for an increase of the income and social mobility. Dependence of the income of the population on the level of education, availability of education (level of education and quality of education) on the level of income of families is found. Differentiation of quality and number of educational services for children depending on the level of the income of families is revealed. Influence of a factor of poverty on the availability of education is also studied. We consider expenses on education as the limiter of access to education. We consider education as a factor of fixation and aggravation of a property inequality. In the solution of problems of poverty the defining condition is the state regulation of social and economic development by means of creation of the effective institutional environment. The state has to develop measures for an increase of availability of various services to all categories of citizens, in particular services of health care and education, especially for poor citizens enters. The special attention regarding an increase of availability of education services has to be paid to creation of system of social elevators.

Keywords: poverty, education, human capital, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: V. Jayanthi

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Urbanization and pace of urbanization have increased tremendously in last few decades. More towns are now getting converted into cities. Urbanization trend is seen all over the world but is becoming most dominant in Asia. Today, the scale of urbanization in India is so huge that Indian cities are among the fastest-growing in the world, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai. Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. With reference to Chennai as a case study, which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring key factors aside urbanization that is responsible for the destruction of green spaces. The paper relied on a research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as interviews, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. It was observed that apart from urbanization, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, poor maintenance, enforcement of development controls, wastage of underpass spaces, and uncooperative attitudes of the general public, play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. Therefore the paper narrows down to a point, that for a city to have a proper sustainable urban green space, broader city development plans are essential. Though rapid urbanization is an indicator of positive development, it is also accompanied by a host of challenges. Chennai lost a lot of greenery, as the city urbanized rapidly that led to a steep fall in vegetation cover. Environmental deterioration will be the big price we pay if Chennai continues to grow at the expense of greenery. Soaring skyscrapers, multistoried complexes, gated communities, and villas, frame the iconic skyline of today’s Chennai city which reveals that we overlook the importance of our green cover, which is important to balance our urban and lung spaces. Chennai, with a clumped landscape at the center of the city, is predicted to convert 36% of its total area into urban areas by 2026. One major issue is that a city designed and planned in isolation creates underused spaces all around the cities which are of negligence. These urban voids are dead, underused, unused spaces in the cities that are formed due to inefficient decision making, poor land management, and poor coordination. Urban voids have huge potential of creating a stronger urban fabric, exploited as public gathering spaces, pocket parks or plazas or just enhance public realm, rather than dumping of debris and encroachments. Flyovers need to justify their existence themselves by being more than just traffic and transport solutions. The vast, unused space below the Kathipara flyover is a case in point. This flyover connects three major routes: Tambaram, Koyambedu, and Adyar. This research will focus on the concept of urban voids, how these voids under the flyovers, can be used for place making process, how this space beneath flyovers which are neglected, can be a part of the urban realm through urban design and landscaping.

Keywords: landscape design, flyovers, public spaces, reclaiming lost spaces, urban voids

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Mariko Nishikawa, Masaaki Yamanaka, Ayami Kondo

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Background: International visitors to Japan are at a risk of travel-related illnesses or injury that could result in hospitalization in a country where the language and customs are unique. Over twelve million international visitors came to Japan in 2015, and more are expected leading up to the Tokyo Olympics. One aspect of this is the potentially greater demand on healthcare services by foreign visitors. Nurses who take care of them have anxieties and concerns of their knowledge of the Japanese health system. Objectives: An effective distribution of travel-health information is vital for facilitating care for international visitors. Our research investigates whether a four-minute digital animation (Mari Info Japan), designed and developed by the authors and applied to a survey of 513 nurses who take care of foreigners daily, could clarify travel health procedures, reduce anxieties, while making it enjoyable to learn. Methodology: Respondents to a survey were divided into two groups. The intervention group watched Mari Info Japan. The control group read a standard guidebook. The participants were requested to fill a two-page questionnaire called Mari Meter-X, STAI-Y in English and mark a face scale, before and after the interventions. The questions dealt with knowledge of health promotion, the Japanese healthcare system, cultural concerns, anxieties, and attitudes in Japan. Data were collected from an intervention group (n=83) and control group (n=83) of nurses in a hospital, Japan for foreigners from February to March, 2016. We analyzed the data using Text Mining Studio for open-ended questions and JMP for statistical significance. Results: We found that the intervention group displayed more confidence and less anxiety to take care of foreign patients compared to the control group. The intervention group indicated a greater comfort after watching the animation. However, both groups were most likely to be concerned about language, the cost of medical expenses, informed consent, and choice of hospital. Conclusions: From the viewpoint of nurses, the provision of travel-health information by digital animation to international visitors to Japan was more effective than traditional methods as it helped them be better prepared to treat travel-related diseases and injury among international visitors. This study was registered number UMIN000020867. Funding: Grant–in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research 2010-2012 & 2014-16, Japanese Government.

Keywords: digital animation, health promotion, international visitor, Japan, nurse

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Zoltan Sebestyen, Eszter Barta-Rajnai, Emma Jakab, Zsuzsanna Czegeny

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Extraction of the energy content of lignocellulosic biomass is one of the possible pathways to reduce the greenhouse gas emission derived from the burning of the fossil fuels. The application of the bioenergy can mitigate the energy dependency of a country from the foreign natural gas and the petroleum. The diversity of the plant materials makes difficult the utilization of the raw biomass in power plants. This problem can be overcome by the application of thermochemical techniques. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of the raw materials under inert atmosphere at high temperatures, which produces pyrolysis gas, biooil and charcoal. The energy content of these products can be exploited by further utilization. The differences in the chemical and physical properties of the raw biomass materials can be reduced by the use of torrefaction. Torrefaction is a promising mild thermal pretreatment method performed at temperatures between 200 and 300 °C in an inert atmosphere. The goal of the pretreatment from a chemical point of view is the removal of water and the acidic groups of hemicelluloses or the whole hemicellulose fraction with minor degradation of cellulose and lignin in the biomass. Thus, the stability of biomass against biodegradation increases, while its energy density increases. The volume of the raw materials decreases so the expenses of the transportation and the storage are reduced as well. Biooil is the major product during pyrolysis and an important by-product during torrefaction of biomass. The composition of biooil mostly depends on the quality of the raw materials and the applied temperature. In this work, thermoanalytical techniques have been used to study the qualitative and quantitative composition of the pyrolysis and torrefaction oils of a woody (black locust) and two herbaceous samples (rape straw and wheat straw). The biooil contains C5 and C6 anhydrosugar molecules, as well as aromatic compounds originating from hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin, respectively. In this study, special emphasis was placed on the formation of the lignin monomeric products. The structure of the lignin fraction is different in the wood and in the herbaceous plants. According to the thermoanalytical studies the decomposition of lignin starts above 200 °C and ends at about 500 °C. The lignin monomers are present among the components of the torrefaction oil even at relatively low temperatures. We established that the concentration and the composition of the lignin products vary significantly with the applied temperature indicating that different decomposition mechanisms dominate at low and high temperatures. The evolutions of decomposition products as well as the thermal stability of the samples were measured by thermogravimetry/mass spectrometry (TG/MS). The differences in the structure of the lignin products of woody and herbaceous samples were characterized by the method of pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). As a statistical method, principal component analysis (PCA) has been used to find correlation between the composition of lignin products of the biooil and the applied temperatures.

Keywords: pyrolysis, torrefaction, biooil, lignin

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: T. Kuchukhidze, N. Jalagonia, T. Archuadze, G. Bokuchava

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The growing scientific-technological progress in modern civilization causes actuality of producing construction materials which can successfully work in conditions of high temperature, radiation, pressure, speed, and chemically aggressive environment. Such extreme conditions can withstand very few types of materials and among them, ceramic materials are in the first place. Corundum ceramics is the most useful material for creation of constructive nodes and products of various purposes for its low cost, easy accessibility to raw materials and good combination of physical-chemical properties. However, ceramic composite materials have one disadvantage; they are less plastics and have lower toughness. In order to increase the plasticity, the ceramics are reinforced by various dopants, that reduces the growth of the cracks. It is shown, that adding of even small amount of carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes (CNT) as reinforcing material significantly improves mechanical properties of the products, keeping at the same time advantages of alundum ceramics. Graphene in composite material acts in the same way as inorganic dopants (MgO, ZrO2, SiC and others) and performs the role of aluminum oxide inhibitor, as it creates shell, that gives possibility to reduce sintering temperature and at the same time it acts as damper, because scattering of a shock wave takes place on carbon structures. Application of different structural modification of carbon (graphene, nanotube and others) as reinforced material, gives possibility to create multi-purpose highly requested composite materials based on alundum ceramics. In the present work offers simplified technology for obtaining of aluminum oxide ceramics, reinforced with carbon nanostructures, during which chemical modification with doping carbon nanostructures will be implemented in the process of synthesis of final powdery composite – Alumina. In charge doping carbon nanostructures connected to matrix substance with C-O-Al bonds, that provide their homogeneous spatial distribution. In ceramic obtained as a result of consolidation of such powders carbon fragments equally distributed in the entire matrix of aluminum oxide, that cause increase of bending strength and crack-resistance. The proposed way to prepare the charge simplifies the technological process, decreases energy consumption, synthesis duration and therefore requires less financial expenses. In the implementation of this work, modern instrumental methods were used: electronic and optical microscopy, X-ray structural and granulometric analysis, UV, IR, and Raman spectroscopy.

Keywords: ceramic materials, α-Al₂O₃, carbon nanostructures, composites, characterization, hot-pressing

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Kim Katherine Castillo, Nelson John Datubatang, Terrence Phillip Dy, Norelie Hampac, Reichen Crismark Martinez, Nina Faith Pantinople, Jose Dante Santos II, Marchel Ann Santos, Sophia Abigail Santiago, Zyrill Xsar San Juan, Aira Mae Tagao, Crystal Kylla Viagedor

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The Work Immersion Program was implemented to help students gain abundant work-related experiences while on-site; additionally, the program aims to help students improve their competencies and interpersonal skills as they are given the option to join the workforce if they ever choose to do so after senior high school. The work immersion experience posed diverse challenges for students, spanning personal, financial, engagement, environmental, and equipment-related domains. These included the need for assistance in time management, transportation expenses, and procurement of materials. Furthermore, students faced difficulties in independent task completion and encountered suboptimal work environments. Addressing these multifaceted obstacles is crucial to optimize the educational outcomes of work immersion programs. In addition to the challenges, several other issues have been identified, including the absence of standardized work immersion programs across schools and industries, the challenges in securing appropriate work immersion placements, the necessity for enhanced monitoring and evaluation of program effectiveness, and the limited availability of field programs aligned with students' chosen courses. Furthermore, there is a lack of comprehensive information regarding the attitudes of Senior High School students toward work immersion programs within their respective schools. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of senior high school students at Nazareth School of National University towards work immersion programs, with a focus on identifying factors that influence their perception and participation, including collegiality and expectations. By exploring the students' attitudes, the research endeavors to enhance the school's work immersion programs and contribute to the overall educational experience of the students. This study addresses challenges related to work immersion programs, focusing on six subtopics: Work Immersion, Work Immersion in the Philippines, Students' Attitudes, Factors Affecting Students' Attitudes, Effectiveness of Work Immersion for Senior High School Students, and Students' Perception and Willingness to Participate. Using a descriptive research design, the study examines the attitudes of senior high school students at Nazareth School of National University in Manila. Data was collected from 100 students, representing different academic strands, through a 35-item researcher-made survey. Descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and variability, will be used to analyze the data using JASP, providing valuable insights into the students' attitudes toward work immersion.

Keywords: attitudes, challenges, educational outcomes, work immersion programs

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Usha S. Adiga, Sachidanada Adiga

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Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most common non-communicable diseases which imposes a large economic burden on the global health-care system. Cost of illness studies in India have assessed the health care cost of DM, but have certain limitations due to lack of standardization of the methods used, improper documentation of data, lack of follow up, etc. The objective of the study was to estimate the cost of illness of uncomplicated versus complicated type 2 diabetes mellitus in Coastal Karnataka, India. The study also aimed to find out the trend of cost of illness of the disease over a decade. Methodology: A prevalence based bottom-up approach study was carried out in two tertiary care hospitals located in Coastal Karnataka after ethical approval. Direct Medical costs like annual laboratory costs, pharmacy cost, consultation charges, hospital bed charges, surgical /intervention costs of 238 diabetics and 340 diabetic patients respectively from two hospitals were obtained from the medical record sections. Patients were divided into six groups, uncomplicated diabetes, diabetic retinopathy(DR), nephropathy(DN), neuropathy(DNeu), diabetic foot(DF), and ischemic heart disease (IHD). Different costs incurred in 2008 and 2017 in these groups were compared, to study the trend of cost of illness. Kruskal Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test were used to compare median costs between the groups and Spearman's correlation test was used for correlation studies. Results: Uncomplicated patients had significantly lower costs (p <0.0001) compared to other groups. Patients with IHD had highest Medical expenses (p < 0.0001), followed by DN and DF (p < 0.0001 ). Annual medical costs incurred were 1.8, 2.76, 2.77, 1.76, and 4.34 times higher in retinopathy, nephropathy, diabetic foot, neuropathy and IHD patients as compared to the cost incurred in managing uncomplicated diabetics. Other costs also showed a similar pattern of rising. A positive correlation was observed between the costs incurred and duration of diabetes, a negative correlation between the glycemic status and cost incurred. The cost incurred in the management of DM in 2017 was found to be elevated 1.4 - 2.7 times when compared to that in 2008. Conclusion: It is evident from the study that the economic burden due to diabetes mellitus is substantial. It poses a significant financial burden on the healthcare system, individual and society as a whole. There is a need for the strategies to achieve optimal glycemic control and operationalize regular and early screening methods for complications so as to reduce the burden of the disease.

Keywords: COI, diabetes mellitus, a bottom up approach, economics

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Michelo Obrey

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Traditionally, mutual funds have long been esteemed as stand-alone entities in the U.S. However, the prevalence of the fund families’ affiliation to financial conglomerates is eroding this striking feature. Mutual fund families' affiliation with financial conglomerates can potentially be an important source of superior performance or cost to the affiliated mutual fund investors. On the one hand, financial conglomerates affiliation offers the mutual funds access to abundant resources, better research quality, private material information, and business connections within the financial group. On the other hand, conflict of interest is bound to arise between the financial conglomerate relationship and fund management. Using a sample of U.S. domestic equity mutual funds from 1994 to 2017, this paper examines whether fund family affiliation to an investment bank help the affiliated mutual funds deliver superior performance through private material information advantage possessed by the investment banks or it costs affiliated mutual fund shareholders due to the conflict of interest. Robust to alternative risk adjustments and cross-section regression methodologies, this paper finds that the investment bank-affiliated mutual funds significantly outperform those of the mutual funds that are not affiliated with an investment bank. Interestingly the paper finds that the outperformance is confined to holding return, a return measure that captures the investment talent that is uninfluenced by transaction costs, fees, and other expenses. Further analysis shows that the investment bank-affiliated mutual funds specialize in hard-to-value stocks, which are not more likely to be held by unaffiliated funds. Consistent with the information advantage hypothesis, the paper finds that affiliated funds holding covered stocks outperform affiliated funds without covered stocks lending no support to the hypothesis that affiliated mutual funds attract superior stock-picking talent. Overall, the paper findings are consistent with the idea that investment banks maximize fee income by monopolistically exploiting their private information, thus strategically transferring performance to their affiliated mutual funds. This paper contributes to the extant literature on the agency problem in mutual fund families. It adds to this stream of research by showing that the agency problem is not only prevalent in fund families but also in financial organizations such as investment banks that have affiliated mutual fund families. The results show evidence of exploitation of synergies such as private material information sharing that benefit mutual fund investors due to affiliation with a financial conglomerate. However, this research has a normative dimension, allowing such incestuous behavior of insider trading and exploitation of superior information not only negatively affect the unaffiliated fund investors but also led to an unfair and unleveled playing field in the financial market.

Keywords: mutual fund performance, conflicts of interest, informational advantage, investment bank

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Fabiola Xavier Leal, Lara Campanharo, Sueli Aparecida Rodrigues Lucas

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The phenomenon of judicialization in health policy brings with it a great deal of problematization, but in general, it means that some issues that were previously solved by traditional political bodies are being decided by the Judiciary bodies. It is, therefore, a controversial topic that has generated many reflections both in the academic and political fields, considering that not only a dispute of public funds is at stake, but also the debate on access to social rights provided for in the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 and in the various public policies, such as healthcare. With regard to the phenomenon in the Mental Health Policy focusing on people who use drugs, the disputes that permeate this scenario are evident: moral, cultural, sanitary, economic, psychological aspects. There are also the individual and collective dimensions of suffering. And in this process, we all question: What is the role of the Brazilian State in this matter? In this context, another question that needs to be answered is the amount spent on this procedure in the state of Espírito Santo (ES), Brazil (in the last 04 years, around R$121,978,591.44 were paid only for compulsory hospitalization of individuals) in the field in question, which is the financing of the services of the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS). Therefore, this article aims to problematize the phenomenon of judicialization in Mental Health Policy through the compulsory hospitalization of people who use drugs in Espírito Santo (ES). We proposed a study that sought to understand how this has been occurring and making an impact on the provision of RAPS services in the Espírito Santo scenario. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to analyze the expenses with compulsory hospitalizations for drug use carried out by the State Health Department (SESA) between 2014 and 2019, in which we will seek to identify its destination and the impact of these actions on public health policy. For the purposes of this article, we will present the preliminary data of this study, such as the amount spent by the state and the receiving institutions. For data collection, the following data sources were used: documents available publicly on the Transparency Portal (payments made per year, institutions that received, subjects hospitalized, period and the amount of the daily rates paid); as well as the processes generated by SESA through its own system - ONBASE. For qualitative analysis, content analysis was used; and for quantitative analysis, descriptive statistics was used. Thus, we seek to problematize the issue of judicialization for compulsory hospitalizations, considering the current situation in which this resource has been widely requested to legitimize the war on drugs. This scenario highlights the moral-legal discourse, pointing out strategies through the control of bodies and through faith as an alternative.

Keywords: compulsory hospitalization, drugs, judicialization, mental health

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: O. Adjoul, A. Feugier, K. Benfriha, A. Aoussat

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In general, issues related to design and maintenance are considered in an independent manner. However, the decisions made in these two sets influence each other. The design for maintenance is considered an opportunity to optimize the life cycle cost of a product, particularly in the nuclear or aeronautical field, where maintenance expenses represent more than 60% of life cycle costs. The design of large-scale systems starts with product architecture, a choice of components in terms of cost, reliability, weight and other attributes, corresponding to the specifications. On the other hand, the design must take into account maintenance by improving, in particular, real-time monitoring of equipment through the integration of new technologies such as connected sensors and intelligent actuators. We noticed that different approaches used in the Design For Maintenance (DFM) methods are limited to the simultaneous characterization of the reliability and maintainability of a multi-component system. This article proposes a method of DFM that assists designers to propose dynamic maintenance for multi-component industrial systems. The term "dynamic" refers to the ability to integrate available monitoring data to adapt the maintenance decision in real time. The goal is to maximize the availability of the system at a given life cycle cost. This paper presents an approach for simultaneous optimization of the design and maintenance of multi-component systems. Here the design is characterized by four decision variables for each component (reliability level, maintainability level, redundancy level, and level of monitoring data). The maintenance is characterized by two decision variables (the dates of the maintenance stops and the maintenance operations to be performed on the system during these stops). The DFM model helps the designers choose technical solutions for the large-scale industrial products. Large-scale refers to the complex multi-component industrial systems and long life-cycle, such as trains, aircraft, etc. The method is based on a two-level hybrid algorithm for simultaneous optimization of design and maintenance, using genetic algorithms. The first level is to select a design solution for a given system that considers the life cycle cost and the reliability. The second level consists of determining a dynamic and optimal maintenance plan to be deployed for a design solution. This level is based on the Maintenance Free Operating Period (MFOP) concept, which takes into account the decision criteria such as, total reliability, maintenance cost and maintenance time. Depending on the life cycle duration, the desired availability, and the desired business model (sales or rental), this tool provides visibility of overall costs and optimal product architecture.

Keywords: availability, design for maintenance (DFM), dynamic maintenance, life cycle cost (LCC), maintenance free operating period (MFOP), simultaneous optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Omar Romero-Hernandez, Federico Castillo, Armando Sanchez, Sergio Romero, Andrea Romero, Michael Mitchell

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Environmental policies for resource conservation in rural areas include subsidies on services and social programs to cover living expenses. Government's expectation is that rural communities who benefit from social programs, such as payment for ecosystem services, are provided with an incentive to conserve natural resources and preserve natural sinks for greenhouse gases. At the same time, global climate change has affected the lives of people worldwide. The capability to adapt to global warming depends on the available resources and the standard of living, putting rural communities at a disadvantage. This paper explores whether rural entrepreneurship can represent a solution to resource conservation and global warming adaptation in rural communities. The research focuses on a sample of two coffee communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. Researchers used geospatial information contained in aerial photographs of the geographical areas of interest. Households were identified in the photos via the roofs of households and georeferenced via coordinates. From the household population, a random selection of roofs was performed and received a visit. A total of 112 surveys were completed, including questions of socio-demographics, perception to climate change and adaptation activities. The population includes two groups of study: entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Data was sorted, filtered, and validated. Analysis includes descriptive statistics for exploratory purposes and a multi-regression analysis. Outcomes from the surveys indicate that coffee farmers, who demonstrate entrepreneurship skills and hire employees, are more eager to adapt to climate change despite the extreme adverse socioeconomic conditions of the region. We show that farmers with entrepreneurial tendencies are more creative in using innovative farm practices such as the planting of shade trees, the use of live fencing, instead of wires, and watershed protection techniques, among others. This result counters the notion that small farmers are at the mercy of climate change and have no possibility of being able to adapt to a changing climate. The study also points to roadblocks that farmers face when coping with climate change. Among those roadblocks are a lack of extension services, access to credit, and reliable internet, all of which reduces access to vital information needed in today’s constantly changing world. Results indicate that, under some circumstances, funding and supporting entrepreneurship programs may provide more benefit than traditional social programs.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, global warming, rural communities, climate change adaptation

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Mas Pertiwi I. G. AG Istri, Sri Kristinayanti Wayan, Oka Aryawan I. Gede Made

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Ability of government to meet the needs of infrastructure investment constrained by the size of the budget commitments for other sectors. Another barrier is the complexity of the process of land acquisition. Public Private Partnership can help bridge the investment gap by including the amount of funding from the private sector, shifted the responsibility of financing, construction of the asset, and the operation and post-project design and care to them. In principle, a construction project implementation always requires the investor as a party to provide resources in the form of funding which it must be contained in a successor agreement in the form of a contract. In general, construction contracts consist of contracts which passed in Indonesia and contract International. One source of funding used in the implementation of construction projects comes from funding that comes from the collaboration between the government and the private sector, for example with the system: BLT (Build Lease Transfer), BOT (Build Operate Transfer), BTO (Build Transfer Operate) and BOO (Build Operate Own). And form of payment under a construction contract can be distinguished several ways: monthly payment, payments based on progress and payment after completed projects (Turn Key). One of the tools used to analyze the feasibility of the investment is to use financial models. The financial model describes the relationship between different variables and assumptions used. From a financial model will be known how the cash flow structure of the project, which includes revenues, expenses, liabilities to creditors and the payment of taxes to the government. Net cash flow generated from the project will be used as a basis for analyzing the feasibility of investment source of project financing Public Private Partnership could come from equity or debt. The proportion of funding according to its source is a comparison of a number of investment funds originating from each source of financing for a total investment cost during the construction period by selected the contract system and several alternative financing percentage ratio determined according to sources will generate cash flow structure that is different. Of the various possibilities for the structure of the cash flow generated will be analyzed by software is to test T Paired to compared the contract system used by various alternatives comparison of financing to determine the effect of the contract system and the comparison of such financing for the feasibility of investment toll road construction project for the economic life of 20 (twenty) years. In this use case studies of toll road contruction project Bali Mandara. And in this analysis only covered two systems contracts, namely Build Operate Transfer and Turn Key. Based on the results obtained by analysis of the variable investment feasibility of the NPV, BCR and IRR between the contract system Build Operate Transfer and contract system Turn Key on the interest rate of 9%, 12% and 15%.

Keywords: contract system, financing, internal rate of return, net present value

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Weixing Tan

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Production of nutraceuticals from microalgae—a virtually untapped natural phyto-based source of which there are 200,000 to 1,000,000 species—offers a sustainable and healthy alternative to conventionally sourced nutraceuticals for the market. Microalgae can be grown organically using only natural sunlight, water and nutrients at an extremely fast rate, e.g. 10-100 times more efficiently than crops or trees. However, the commercial success of microalgae products at scale remains limited largely due to the lack of economically viable technologies. There are two major microalgae production systems or technologies currently available: 1) the open system as represented by open pond technology and 2) the closed system such as photobioreactors (PBR). Each carries its own unique features and challenges. Although an open system requires a lower initial capital investment relative to a PBR, it conveys many unavoidable drawbacks; for example, much lower productivity, difficulty in contamination control/cleaning, inconsistent product quality, inconvenience in automation, restriction in location selection, and unsuitability for cold areas – all directly linked to the system openness and flat underground design. On the other hand, a PBR system has characteristics almost entirely opposite to the open system, such as higher initial capital investment, better productivity, better contamination and environmental control, wider suitability in different climates, ease in automation, higher and consistent product quality, higher energy demand (particularly if using artificial lights), and variable operational expenses if not automated. Although closed systems like PBRs are not highly competitive yet in current nutraceutical supply market, technological advances can be made, in particular for the PBR technology, to narrow the gap significantly. One example is a readily scalable P2P Microalgae PBR Technology at Grande Prairie Regional College, Canada, developed over 11 years considering return on investment (ROI) for key production processes. The P2P PBR system is approaching economic viability at a pre-commercial stage due to five ROI-integrated major components. They include: (1) optimum use of free sunlight through attenuation (patented); (2) simple, economical, and chemical-free harvesting (patent ready to file); (3) optimum pH- and nutrient-balanced culture medium (published), (4) reliable water and nutrient recycling system (trade secret); and (5) low-cost automated system design (trade secret). These innovations have allowed P2P Microalgae Technology to increase daily yield to 106 g/m2/day of Chlorella vulgaris, which contains 50% proteins and 2-3% omega-3. Based on the current market prices and scale-up factors, this P2P PBR system presents as a promising microalgae technology for market competitive nutraceutical supply.

Keywords: microalgae technology, nutraceuticals, open pond, photobioreactor PBR, return on investment ROI, technological advances

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Authors: Kriti Jain, Sucha Singh Gill

Abstract:

Subsidies have been a major part of agricultural policies around the world, and more extensively since the green revolution in developing countries, for the sake of attaining higher agricultural productivity and achieving food security. But entrenched subsidies lead to distorted incentives and promote inefficiencies in the agricultural sector, threatening the viability of these very subsidies and sustainability of the agricultural production systems, posing a threat to the livelihood of farmers and laborers dependent on it. This paper analyzes the economic and ecological sustainability implications of prolonged input and output subsidies in agriculture by studying the case of Indian Punjab, an agriculturally developed state responsible for ensuring food security in the country when it was facing a major food crisis. The paper focuses specifically on the environmentally unsustainable cropping pattern changes as a result of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and assured procurement and on the resource use efficiency and cost implications of power subsidy for irrigation in Punjab. The study is based on an analysis of both secondary and primary data sources. Using secondary data, a time series analysis was done to capture the changes in Punjab’s cropping pattern, water table depth, fertilizer consumption, and electrification of agriculture. This has been done to examine the role of price and output support adopted to encourage the adoption of green revolution technology in changing the cropping structure of the state, resulting in increased input use intensities (especially groundwater and fertilizers), which harms the ecological balance and decreases factor productivity. Evaluation of electrification of Punjab agriculture helped evaluate the trend in electricity productivity of agriculture and how free power imposed further pressure on the extant agricultural ecosystem. Using data collected from a primary survey of 320 farmers in Punjab, the extent of wasteful application of groundwater irrigation, water productivity of output, electricity usage, and cost of irrigation driven electricity subsidy to the exchequer were estimated for the dominant cropping pattern amongst farmers. The main findings of the study revealed how because of a subsidy has driven agricultural framework, Punjab has lost area under agro climatically suitable and staple crops and moved towards a paddy-wheat cropping system, that is gnawing away the state’s natural resources like water table has been declining at a significant rate of 25 cms per year since 1975-76, and excessive and imbalanced fertilizer usage has led to declining soil fertility in the state. With electricity-driven tubewells as the major source of irrigation within a regime of free electricity and water-intensive crop cultivation, there is both wasteful application of irrigation water and electricity in the cultivation of paddy crops, burning an unproductive hole in the exchequer’s pocket. There is limited access to both agricultural extension services and water-conserving technology, along with policy imbalance, keeping farmers in an intensive and unsustainable production system. Punjab agriculture is witnessing diminishing returns to factor, which under the business-as-usual scenario, will soon enter the phase of negative returns to factor.

Keywords: cropping pattern, electrification, subsidy, sustainability

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Authors: A. M. Ferrari, L. Volpi, M. Pini, C. Siligardi, F. E. Garcia Muina, D. Settembre Blundo

Abstract:

A long tradition in the ceramic manufacturing since the 18th century, primarily due to the availability of raw materials and an efficient transport system, let to the birth and development of the Italian ceramic tiles district that nowadays represents a reference point for this sector even at global level. This economic growth has been coupled to attention towards environmental sustainability issues throughout various initiatives undertaken over the years at the level of the production sector, such as certification activities and sustainability policies. In this way, starting from an evaluation of the sustainability in all its aspects, the present work aims to develop a benchmarking helping both producers and consumers. In the present study, throughout the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework, the sustainability has been assessed in all its dimensions: environmental with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), economic with the Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and social with the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). The annual district production of stoneware tiles during the 2016 reference year has been taken as reference flow for all the three assessments, and the system boundaries cover the entire life cycle of the tiles, except for the LCC for which only the production costs have been considered at the moment. In addition, a preliminary method for the evaluation of local and indoor emissions has been introduced in order to assess the impact due to atmospheric emissions on both people living in the area surrounding the factories and workers. The Life Cycle Assessment results, obtained from IMPACT 2002+ modified assessment method, highlight that the manufacturing process is responsible for the main impact, especially because of atmospheric emissions at a local scale, followed by the distribution to end users, the installation and the ordinary maintenance of the tiles. With regard to the economic evaluation, both the internal and external costs have been considered. For the LCC, primary data from the analysis of the financial statements of Italian ceramic companies show that the higher cost items refer to expenses for goods and services and costs of human resources. The analysis of externalities with the EPS 2015dx method attributes the main damages to the distribution and installation of the tiles. The social dimension has been investigated with a preliminary approach by using the Social Hotspots Database, and the results indicate that the most affected damage categories are health and safety and labor rights and decent work. This study shows the potential of the LCSA framework applied to an industrial sector; in particular, it can be a useful tool for building a comprehensive benchmark for the sustainability of the ceramic industry, and it can help companies to actively integrate sustainability principles into their business models.

Keywords: benchmarking, Italian ceramic industry, life cycle sustainability assessment, porcelain stoneware tiles

Procedia PDF Downloads 127