Search results for: long term investment

Authors: Kesya Terinda Natalie, Marcellina Natasha, Rosinta Ria Panggabean

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Purpose: Over the last few years, the company has been implementing sustainability practices to ensure business continuity. However, there are pros and cons regarding the impact of financial reports if companies provide non-financial reports. So this paper aims to prove what the effect of Sustainability Reporting (SR) has on company profitability, as well as things that can be considered as the decision-making of SR disclosure. Methodology: This paper uses the literature review method to describe the results of published articles concerning Sustainability Reporting and Profitability. This study links and analyzes the essence of 50 previous studies related to SR on company profitability, most of which were conducted in Asia. Therefore this research is limited to only 23 studies in Asia. Findings: Sustainability Reporting does not have a significant impact on company profitability because the SR quality of each company varies based on Agency & Legitimacy Theory considerations. Stakeholders are required to focus not only on profitability but also on the long-term of the company. Thus, it is found that SR is used by companies as a sustainable investment, which can improve overall company performance by reducing capital costs and generating positive company value in increasing reputation capital. Value: This paper focuses on how sustainability reporting affects company profitability, as well as things that can be considered as the decision-making of SR disclosure.

Keywords: sustainability reporting, profitability, agency theory, legitimacy theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Pradyumna R., Sridhar S., A. Satyanarayana, Alok S. Chauhan, Baig M. A. H.

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Modern turbine engines for aerospace applications need precision investment cast components such as integrally cast rotors and stators, for their hot end turbine stages. Traditionally, these turbines are used as starter engines. In recent times, such engines are also used for strategic missile applications. The rotor/stator castings consist of a central hub (shrouded in some designs) over which a number of aerofoil shaped blades are located. Since these components cannot be machined, investment casting is the only available route for manufacture and hence stringent dimensional aerospace quality has to be in-built in the casting process itself. In the process of investment casting, pattern generation by injection of wax into dedicated dies/moulds is the first critical step. Traditional approach deals in producing individual blades with hub/shroud features through wax injection and assembly of a set of such injected patterns onto a dedicated and precisely manufactured fixture to wax-weld and generate an integral wax pattern, a process known as the ‘segmental approach’. It is possible to design a single-injection die with retractable metallic inserts in the case of untwisted blades of stator patterns without the shroud. Such an approach is also possible for twisted blades of rotors with highly complex design of inter-blade inserts and retraction mechanisms. DMRL has for long established methods and procedures for the above to successfully supply precision castings for various defence related projects. In recent times, urea based soluble insert approach has also been successfully applied to overcome the need to design and manufacture a precision assembly fixture, leading to substantial reduction in component development times. Present paper deals in length various approaches tried and established at DMRL to generate precision wax patterns for aerospace quality turbine rotors and stators. In addition to this, the importance of simulation in solving issues related to wax injection is also touched upon.

Keywords: die/mold and fixtures, integral rotor/stator, investment casting, wax patterns, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Tarek Elnimr, Rabab El-kelany

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Heavy metals are environmental contaminants that may pose long-term health risks. Unfortunately, the consequent implementation of preventive measures was generally delayed, causing important negative effects to the exposed populations. The objective of this study was to determine whether co-consumption of nutritional supplements as selenium and vitamin E would treat the hazardous effects of exposure to mercury, lead and cadmium. 108 workers (60 males and 48 females) were the subject of this study, their ages ranged from 19-63 years, (M = 29.5±10.12). They were working in lamp factory for an average of 0.5-40 years (M= 5.3±8.8). Twenty control subjects matched for age and gender were used for comparison. All workers were subjected to neuropsychiatric evaluation. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) revealed that 44.4% were complaining of anxiety, 52.7% of depression, 41.6% of social dysfunction and 22.2% of somatic symptoms. Cognitive tests revealed that long-term memory was not affected significantly when compared with controls, while short term memory and perceptual ability were affected significantly. Blood metal levels were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma – optical emission spectrometry(ICP-OES), and revealed that the mean blood mercury, lead and cadmium concentrations before treatment were 1.6 mg/l, 0.39 mg/l and 1.7 µg/l, while they decreased significantly after treatment to 1.2 mg/l, 0.29 mg/l and 1.3 µg/l respectively. Anti-oxidative enzymes (paraoxonase and catalase) and lipid peroxidation product (malondialdehyde) were measured before and after treatment with selenium and vitamin E, and showed significant improvement. It could be concluded that co-consumption of selenium and vitamin E produces significant decrease in mercury, lead and cadmium levels in blood.

Keywords: mercury, lead, cadmium, neuropsychiatric impairment, selenium, vitamin E

Procedia PDF Downloads 348

Authors: Ana Paula Almeida Castaldelli Maciel, Gabriela Medeiros, Amanda de Souza Machado, Maria Clara Pilatti, Ralpho Rinaldo dos Reis, Silvio Cesar Sampaio

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Sustainable agricultural systems are crucial to ensuring global food security and the long-term production of nutritious food. Comprehensive soil and water management practices, including nutrient management, balanced fertilizer use, and appropriate waste management, are essential for sustainable agriculture. Swine wastewater (SWW) treatment has become a significant focus due to environmental concerns related to heavy metals, antibiotics, resistant pathogens, and nutrients. In South America, small farms use soil to dispose of animal waste, a practice that is expected to increase with global pork production. The potential of SWW as a nutrient source is promising, contributing to global food security, nutrient cycling, and mineral fertilizer reduction. Short- and long-term studies evaluated the effects of SWW on soil and plant parameters, such as nutrients, heavy metals, organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and pH. Although promising results have been observed in short- and medium-term applications, long-term applications require more attention due to heavy metal concentrations. Organic soil amendment strategies, due to their economic and ecological benefits, are commonly used to reduce the bioavailability of heavy metals. However, the rate of degradation and initial levels of OM must be monitored to avoid changes in soil pH and release of metals. The study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of SWW application on soil fertility parameters, focusing on calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K), in addition to CEC and OM. Experiments were conducted at the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Brazil, using 24 drainage lysimeters for nine years, with different application rates of SWW and mineral fertilization. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was then conducted to summarize the composite variables, known as principal components (PC), and limit the dimensionality to be evaluated. The retained PCs were then correlated with the original variables to identify the level of association between each variable and each PC. Data were interpreted using Analysis of Variance - ANOVA for general linear models (GLM). As OM was not measured in the 2007 soybean experiment, it was assessed separately from PCA to avoid loss of information. PCA and ANOVA indicated that crop type, SWW, and mineral fertilization significantly influenced soil nutrient levels. Soybeans presented higher concentrations of Ca, Mg, and CEC. The application of SWW influenced K levels, with higher concentrations observed in SWW from biodigesters and higher doses of swine manure. Variability in nutrient concentrations in SWW due to factors such as animal age and feed composition makes standard recommendations challenging. OM levels increased in SWW-treated soils, improving soil fertility and structure. In conclusion, the application of SWW can increase soil fertility and crop productivity, reducing environmental risks. However, careful management and long-term monitoring are essential to optimize benefits and minimize adverse effects.

Keywords: contamination, water research, biodigester, nutrients

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Authors: Marina Benito-Parejo, Raul Perez-Lopez, Miguel Herraiz, Carolina Guardiola-Albert, Cesar Martinez

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Persistency, long-term memory and randomness are intrinsic properties of time-series of earthquakes. The Rescaled Range Analysis (RS-Analysis) was introduced by Hurst in 1956 and modified by Mandelbrot and Wallis in 1964. This method represents a simple and elegant analysis which determines the range of variation of one natural property (the seismic energy released in this case) in a time interval. Despite the simplicity, there is complexity inherent in the property measured. The cumulative curve of the energy released in time is the well-known fractal geometry of a devil’s staircase. This geometry is used for determining the maximum and minimum value of the range, which is normalized by the standard deviation. The rescaled range obtained obeys a power-law with the time, and the exponent is the Hurst value. Depending on this value, time-series can be classified in long-term or short-term memory. Hence, an algorithm has been developed for compiling the RS-Analysis for time series of earthquakes by days. Completeness time distribution and locally stationarity of the time series are required. The interest of this analysis is their application for a complex seismic crisis where different earthquakes take place in clusters in a short period. Therefore, the Hurst exponent has been obtained for the seismic crisis of Alhoceima (Mediterranean Sea) of January-March, 2016, where at least five medium-sized earthquakes were triggered. According to the values obtained from the Hurst exponent for each cluster, a different mechanical origin can be detected, corroborated by the focal mechanisms calculated by the official institutions. Therefore, this type of analysis not only allows an approach to a greater understanding of a seismic series but also makes possible to discern different types of seismic origins.

Keywords: Alhoceima crisis, earthquake time series, Hurst exponent, rescaled range analysis

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Authors: Precious M. Tshabalala, Thula S. Dlamini, Frikkie Liebenberg, Johann Kirsten

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Numerous studies have been conducted, and the evidence has been unambiguous showing that investing in agricultural research and development increases productivity. Continued investments in agricultural research have led to the development of over 26 successful plum cultivars since 1980 at the Agricultural Research Council’s (ARC) Infruitec/Nietvoorbij in South Africa, and more continue to be developed to meet the specific needs of both producers and consumers. Yet very little is known about the returns on any of these research initiatives. The objective of the study was determine the economic impact of plum research investments at the ARC-the main plum breeding research organization in the country. The rate of return to plum research is estimated by estimating parameters in plum production and expressing research investment as an explanatory variable. The marginal rate of return is then determined to be 14.23 per cent. The rate of return to investment being this high is indicative of an under investment in plum research.

Keywords: Agricultural research investments, productivity and rate of return, plum

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Authors: Boopen Seetanah, R. V. Sannassee, Sheereen Fauzel, Robin Nunkoo

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The bulk of research on the impact of research and development (R&D) has been carried out in developed economies where the intensity of R&D expenditure has been relatively high and stable for many years. However, there is a paucity of similar studies in developing countries. In this paper, we provide empirical estimates of the impact of R&D investment on economic growth in a developing African economy (Mauritius) where R&D expenditure intensity has been low initially, but rising, albeit moderately in recent years. Using a dynamic time series analysis over the period 1980 to 2014 in a Vector Autoregressive framework, R & D is shown to have a positive and significant effect on the economic progress of the island, although the impact is considerably less when compared to both other ingredients of growth and also to reported elasticities fromdeveloped economies . Interestingly, there is evidence of bicausality between R & D and growth. furthermore, R & D positively impacts on both domestic and foreign investment, suggesting the possibilities of indirect effects.

Keywords: R & D, VECM, Africa, Mauritius

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Authors: John Akpesiri Olotewo

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One of the controversies in existing marketing literatures is on how to retain existing and new customers to have repurchase intention in the long-run; however, empirical answer to this question is scanty in existing studies. Thus, this study investigates the moderating effect of consumer loyalty on long-run repurchase intentions in telecommunication industry using Lagos State environs. The study adopted field survey research design using questionnaire to elicit responses from 250 respondents who were selected using random and stratified random sampling techniques from the telecommunication industry in Lagos State, Nigeria. The internal consistency of the research instrument was verified using the Cronbach’s alpha, the result of 0.89 implies the acceptability of the internal consistency of the survey instrument. The test of the research hypotheses were analyzed using Pearson Product Method of Correlation (PPMC), simple regression analysis and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0 (SPSS). The study confirmed that customer satisfaction has a significant relationship with customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry; also Service quality has a significant relationship with customer loyalty to a brand; loyalty programs have a significant relationship with customer loyalty to a network operator in Nigeria and Customer loyalty has a significant effect on the long run repurchase intentions of the customer. The study concluded that one of the determinants of long term profitability of a business entity is the long run repurchase intentions of its customers which hinges on the level of brand loyalty of the customer. Thus, it was recommended that service providers in Nigeria should improve on factors like customer satisfaction, service quality, and loyalty programs in order to increase the loyalty of their customer to their brands thereby increasing their repurchase intentions.

Keywords: customer loyalty, long run repurchase intentions, brands, service quality and customer satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Budsarin Padwang, Darunee Jongudomkarn, Thawan Nieamsup, Autchareeya Patumwan, Rutja Phuphaibul

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In Northern Thailand, a pilot study by the qualitative data, on caring for family members with chronic illness/bedridden based on in-depth interviews of the 12 elderly caregivers in family was carried out during November to December 2017. There are four families that living with three generations in the family. This report is part of a larger study of 'The intergenerational contract of the family in long-term care for older members' to understand the situation and context related to the research questions. Content analysis was obtained and the results revealed as followings. 1) No choice and no freedom: most caregivers were asked by their family members to do the care giving roles because of various appropriate reasons and they could not refuse and felt like having no freedom. 2) ‘Katanyu’ to the parents: The Thai ideology of making merit by taking care of parents was beliefs to do the best in their caregiver roles. 3) The family commitments: The issues of family caring and relationships were the key value of keeping family members to take care of older members with chronic illness/bedridden. The preliminary findings can be beneficial for other regions and will lead to in-depth explore to answer the research questions of the larger study in the future.

Keywords: intergenerational contract, long term care, older members, generational family

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Zhenyu Zhang, Hsi-Hsien Wei

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Highway networks play a vital role in post-disaster recovery for disaster-damaged areas. Damaged bridges in such networks can disrupt the recovery activities by impeding the transportation of people, cargo, and reconstruction resources. Therefore, rapid restoration of damaged bridges is of paramount importance to long-term disaster recovery. In the post-disaster recovery phase, the key to restoration scheduling for a highway network is prioritization of bridge-repair tasks. Resilience is widely used as a measure of the ability to recover with which a network can return to its pre-disaster level of functionality. In practice, highways will be temporarily blocked during the downtime of bridge restoration, leading to the decrease of highway-network functionality. The failure to take downtime effects into account can lead to overestimation of network resilience. Additionally, post-disaster recovery of highway networks is generally divided into emergency bridge repair (EBR) in the response phase and long-term bridge repair (LBR) in the recovery phase, and both of EBR and LBR are different in terms of restoration objectives, restoration duration, budget, etc. Distinguish these two phases are important to precisely quantify highway network resilience and generate suitable restoration schedules for highway networks in the recovery phase. To address the above issues, this study proposes a novel resilience quantification method for the optimization of long-term bridge repair schedules (LBRS) taking into account the impact of EBR activities and restoration downtime on a highway network’s functionality. A time-dependent integer program with recursive functions is formulated for optimally scheduling LBR activities. Moreover, since uncertainty always exists in the LBRS problem, this paper extends the optimization model from the deterministic case to the stochastic case. A hybrid genetic algorithm that integrates a heuristic approach into a traditional genetic algorithm to accelerate the evolution process is developed. The proposed methods are tested using data from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, based on a regional highway network in Sichuan, China, consisting of 168 highway bridges on 36 highways connecting 25 cities/towns. The results show that, in this case, neglecting the bridge restoration downtime can lead to approximately 15% overestimation of highway network resilience. Moreover, accounting for the impact of EBR on network functionality can help to generate a more specific and reasonable LBRS. The theoretical and practical values are as follows. First, the proposed network recovery curve contributes to comprehensive quantification of highway network resilience by accounting for the impact of both restoration downtime and EBR activities on the recovery curves. Moreover, this study can improve the highway network resilience from the organizational dimension by providing bridge managers with optimal LBR strategies.

Keywords: disaster management, highway network, long-term bridge repair schedule, resilience, restoration downtime

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: O. Behar, A. Khellaf, K. Mohammedi, S. Ait Kaci

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Up to now, most validation studies have been based on the MBE and RMSE, and therefore, focused only on long and short terms performance to test and classify solar radiation models. This traditional analysis does not take into account the quality of modeling and linearity. In our analysis we have tested 22 solar radiation models that are capable to provide instantaneous direct and global radiation at any given location Worldwide. We introduce a new indicator, which we named Global Accuracy Indicator (GAI) to examine the linear relationship between the measured and predicted values and the quality of modeling in addition to long and short terms performance. Note that the quality of model has been represented by the T-Statistical test, the model linearity has been given by the correlation coefficient and the long and short term performance have been respectively known by the MBE and RMSE. An important founding of this research is that the use GAI allows avoiding default validation when using traditional methodology that might results in erroneous prediction of solar power conversion systems performances.

Keywords: solar radiation model, parametric model, performance analysis, Global Accuracy Indicator (GAI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: E. O. George, P. Ojeaga, D. Odejimi, O. Mattehws

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Has macroeconomic management succeeded in making privatization promote growth in Africa? What are the probable strategies that should accompany the privatization reform process to promote growth in Africa? To what extent has the privatization process succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment to Africa? The study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic management and privatization. Many African countries have embarked on one form of privatization reform or the other since 1980 as one of the stringent conditions for accessing capital from the IMF and the World Bank. Secondly globalization and the gradually integration of the African economy into the global economy also means that Africa has to strategically develop its domestic market to cushion itself from fluctuations and probable contagion associated with global economic crisis that are always inevitable Stiglitz. The methods of estimation used are the OLS, linear mixed effects (LME), 2SLS and the GMM method of estimation. It was found that macroeconomic management has the capacity to affect the success of the privatization reform process. It was also found that privatization was not promoting growth in Africa; privatization could promote growth if long run growth strategies are implemented together with the privatization reform process. Privatization was also found not to have the capacity to attract foreign investment to many African countries.

Keywords: Africa, political economy, game theory, macroeconomic management and privatization

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Kiomars Sefidi

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Dead and habitat tree such as fallen logs, snags, stumps and cracks and loos bark etc. is regarded as an important ecological component of forests on which many forest dwelling species depend, yet its relation to management history in Caspian forest has gone unreported. The aim of research was to compare the amounts of dead tree and habitat in the forests with historically different intensities of management, including: forests with the long term implication of management (PS), the short-term implication of management (NS) which were compared with semi virgin forest (GS). The number of 405 individual dead and habitat trees were recorded and measured at 109 sampling locations. ANOVA revealed volume of the dead tree in the form and decay classes significantly differ within sites and dead volume in the semi virgin forest significantly higher than managed sites. Comparing the amount of dead and habitat tree in three sites showed that dead tree volume related with management history and significantly differ in three study sites. Also, the numbers of habitat trees including cavities, Cracks and loose bark and Fork split trees significantly vary among sites. Reaching their highest in virgin site and their lowest in the site with the long term implication of management, it was concluded that forest management cause reduction of the amount of dead and habitat tree. Forest management history affect the forest's ability to generate dead tree especially in a large size, thus managing this forest according to ecological sustainable principles require a commitment to maintaining stand structure that allow, continued generation of dead tree in a full range of size.

Keywords: forest biodiversity, cracks trees, fork split trees, sustainable management, Fagus orientalis, Iran

Procedia PDF Downloads 558

Authors: Zuhrotun Ulya, Muchammad Syamsulhadi, Debree Septiawan

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Patients with bipolar disorder are three times more likely to suffer cardiovascular disorders than the general population, which will influence their level of morbidity and rate of mortality. Bipolar disorder also affects the pulmonary system. The choice of long term-monotherapy and other combinative therapies have clinical impacts on patients. This study investigates the case of a woman who has been suffering from bipolar disorder for 16 years, and who has a history of Steven Johnson Syndrome. At present she is suffering also from cardiovascular and pulmonary disorder. An analysis of the results of this study suggests that there is a relationship between cardiovascular disorder, drug therapies, Steven Johnson Syndrome and mood stabilizer obtained from the PubMed, Cochrane, Medline, and ProQuest (publications between 2005 and 2015). Combination therapy with mood stabilizer is recommended for patients who do not have side effect histories from these drugs. The replacement drugs and combinations may be applied, especially for those with bipolar disorders, and the combination between atypical antipsychotic groups and mood stabilizers is often made. Clinicians, however, should be careful with the patients’ physical and metabolic changes, especially those who have experienced long-term therapy and who showed a history of Steven Johnson Syndrome (for which clinicians probably prescribed one type of medicine).

Keywords: cardiopulmonary disease, bipolar disorder, SJS, therapy

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Authors: Mustofa Mahmud Al Mamun

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Government spending, one of the major components of gross domestic product (GDP), is composed of government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. A change in government spending during recessionary periods can generate an increase in GDP greater than the increase in spending. This is called the "multiplier effect". Accurate estimation of government spending multiplier is important because fiscal policy has been used to stimulate a flagging economy. Many recent studies have focused on identifying parts of the economy that responds more to a stimulus under a variety of circumstances. This paper used the US dataset from 1966 to 2020 and local projection method assuming standard identification strategy to estimate the multipliers. The model includes important macroaggregates and controls for forecasted government spending, interest rate, consumer price index (CPI), export, import, and level of public debt. Investment multipliers are found to be positive and larger than the consumption multipliers. Consumption multipliers are either negative or not significantly different than zero. Results do not vary across the business cycle. However, the consumption multiplier estimated from pre-1980 data is positive.

Keywords: business cycle, consumption multipliers, forecasted government spending, investment multipliers, local projection method, zero lower bound

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Authors: Saeid Doaei

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The various studies have examined the relationship between FTO gene expression and macronutrients levels. In order to obtain better viewpoint from this interactions, all of the existing studies were reviewed systematically. All published papers have been obtained and reviewed using standard and sensitive keywords from databases such as CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane, from 1990 to 2016. The results indicated that all of 6 studies that met the inclusion criteria (from a total of 428 published article) found FTO gene expression changes at short-term follow-ups. Four of six studies found an increased FTO gene expression after calorie restriction, while two of them indicated decreased FTO gene expression. The effect of protein, carbohydrate and fat were separately assessed and suggested by all of six studies. In conclusion, the level of FTO gene expression in hypothalamus is related to macronutrients levels. Future research should evaluate the long-term impact of dietary interventions.

Keywords: obesity, gene expression, FTO, macronutrients

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Authors: Chiung-Yao Huang, Yu-Cheng Lin, Chiung-Hui Chen

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This study seeks to examine perceived environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) with a focus on negative environmental questions, related to intention of ethical investment intention after a environmental failure recovery. An empirical test was employed to test the hypotheses. We manipulated the information on negative ECSR activities of a hypothetical firm in a experimental design with a failure recovery treatment. The company’s negative ECSR recovery was depicted in a positive perspective (depicting a follow-up strong social action), whereas in the negative ECSR treatment it was described in a negative perspective (depicting a follow-up non social action). In both treatments, information about other key characteristics of the focal company were kept constant. Investors’ intentions to invest in the company’s stock were evaluated by multi-item scales. Results indicate that positive ECSR recovery information about a firm enhances investors’ intentions to invest in the company’s stock. In addition, perceived moral intensity has a significant impact on the intention of ethical investment and that perceived moral intensity also serves as a key moderating variable in the relationship between negative ECSR and the intention of ethical investment. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed. Practical implications: The results suggest that managers may need to be aware of perceived moral intensity as a key variable in restoring the intention of ethical investment. The results further suggest that perceived moral intensity has a direct, and it also has an moderating influence between ECSR and the intention of ethical investment. Originality/value: In an attempt to deepen the understanding of how investors perceptions of firm environmental CSR are connected with other investor‐related outcomes through ECSR recovery, the present research proposes a comprehensive model which encompasses ECSR and other key relationship constructs after a ECSR failure and recovery.

Keywords: ethical investment, Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility(ECSR), ECSR recovery, moral intensity

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Authors: Ningombam Linthoingambi Devi, Amrendra Kumar

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The long term sampling at one of the most populated city in Indo-Gangetic region shows higher mass concentration of atmospheric aerosol (PM₂.₅) during spring season (144.70µg/m³), summer season (91.96 µg/m³), the autumn season (266.48µg/m³) and winter season (367.09 µg/m³) respectively. The concentration of PM₂.₅ in Patna across the year shows much higher than the limit fixed by the national ambient air quality level fixed by central pollution control board India (CPCB, India) and World Health Organization (WHO). Different water-soluble cation (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺ , and Mg²⁺) and anion (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻ , and SO₄²⁻) species were detected in PM₂.₅. Results show the significantly higher loaded of water-soluble ions during winter and spring seasons. The acidity of the atmosphere was revealed and calculated using selected major cations (K⁺, Ca²⁺ , and NH₄⁺) and anions (SO₄²⁻, and NO₃⁻). A regression correlation was analyzed to check the significant linkage between the acidity and alkalinity ions. During the winter season (r² = 0.79) and spring season (r² = 0.64) shows good significant correlation between the cations and anions. The ratio of NO₃⁻/SO₄²⁻ indicates the sources of secondary pollutants were mainly influenced by industrial and vehicular emission however SO₄²⁻ mostly emitted from industries during the winter season.

Keywords: aerosols, inorganic species, source apportionment, Indo-Gangetic region

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Ezzati Givi M., Ezzatigivi N., Eimani H.

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Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) consists of painful attacks often triggered with general activities, which cause impairment and disability. The first line of treatment consists of pharmacotherapy. However, the occurrence of many side-effects limits its application. Acute pain relief is crucial for titrating oral drugs and making time for neurosurgical intervention. This study aimed to examine the long-term anesthetic effect of QX-314 and capsaicin in trigeminal neuralgia using an animal model. TN was stimulated by surgical constriction of the infraorbital nerve in rats. After seven days, anesthesia infiltration was done, and the duration of mechanical allodynia was compared. Thirty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups as follows: control (normal saline); lidocaine (2%); QX314 (30 mM); lidocaine (2%)+QX314 (15 mM); lidocaine (2%)+QX314 (22 mM); lidocaine (2%)+QX314 (30 mM); and lidocaine (2%)+QX314 (30 mM) +capsaicin (1μg). QX314 in combination with lidocaine significantly increased the duration of anesthesia, which was dose-dependent. The combination of lidocaine+QX314+capsaicin could significantly increase the duration of anesthesia in trigeminal neuralgia. In the present study, we demonstrated that the combination of QX-314 with lidocaine and capsaicin produced a long-lasting, reversible local anesthesia and was superior to lidocaine alone in the fields of the duration of trigeminal neuropathic pain blockage.

Keywords: trigeminal neuralgia, capsaicin, lidocaine, long-lasting

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Authors: Michael D. Vinod, Hadi Khabbaz

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Construction of infrastructure above or adjacent to landfills is becoming more common to capitalize on the limited space available within urban areas. However, development above landfills is a challenging task due to large voids, the presence of organic matter, heterogeneous nature of waste and ambiguity surrounding landfill settlement prediction. Prior to construction of infrastructure above landfills, ground improvement techniques are being employed to improve the geotechnical properties of landfill material. Although the ground improvement techniques have little impact on long term biodegradation and creep related landfill settlement, they have shown some notable short term success with a variety of techniques, including methods for verifying the level of effectiveness of ground improvement techniques. This paper provides geotechnical and landfill engineers a guideline for selection of landfill ground improvement techniques and their suitability to project-specific sites. Ground improvement methods assessed and compared in this paper include concrete injected columns (CIC), dynamic compaction, rapid impact compaction (RIC), preloading, high energy impact compaction (HEIC), vibro compaction, vibro replacement, chemical stabilization and the inclusion of geosynthetics such as geocells. For each ground improvement technique a summary of the existing theory, benefits, limitations, suitable modern ground improvement monitoring methods, the applicability of ground improvement techniques for landfills and supporting case studies are provided. The authors highlight the importance of implementing cost-effective monitoring techniques to allow observation and necessary remediation of the subsidence effects associated with long term landfill settlement. These ground improvement techniques are primarily for the purpose of construction above closed landfills to cater for transport infrastructure loading.

Keywords: closed landfills, ground improvement, monitoring, settlement, transport infrastructure

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Authors: Yu-Ju Hsieh, Lin-Hung Lin, Wen-Hui Chang

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This study was designed as an interventional research and intended to validate whether the introduction of drinking vinegar every day can reduce and even prevent urinary tract infection in Taiwan home stayed disabilities who using indwelling catheter. The data was collected from the subjects who have received home care case at northern Taiwan, according to the questionnaire and a medical records retroactive methodology, the subjects were informed and consent to drink 15ml of table vinegar in a daily diet, and through routine urine testing and culture study. Home care nurses would assist collecting urine at the point of before and after a meal from total 35 studied subjects per month, and total collected 4 times for testing. The results showed that when the average age of study subjects was 65.46 years and catheter indwelling time was 15 years, drinking table vinegar could inhibit the activity of E. coli O157: H7 and reduce its breeding. Before drinking table vinegar daily, the subjects’ urine pH value was 7.0-8.0, and the average was 7.5, and the urine PH value dropped to 6.5 after drinking table vinegar for a month. There were two purple urine cases whose urine were changed from purple to normal color after two weeks of drinking, and the protein and bacteria values of urine gradually improved. Urine smell unpleasant before attending to this study, and the symptom improved significantly only after 1 week, and the urine smell returned to normal ammonia and became clean after 1 month later. None of these subjects received treatment in a hospital due to urinary tract infection, and there were no signs of bleeding in all cases during this study. The subjects of this study are chronic patients with a long-term bedridden catheterization; drinking cranberry juice is an economic burden for them, and also highly prohibited for diabetes patients. By adapting to use cheaper table vinegar to acidified urine and improve its smell and ease Purple Urine Syndrome, to furthermore, proven urinary tract infection, it can also to reduce the financial burden on families, the cost of social resources and the rate of re-admission.

Keywords: table vinegar, urinary tract infection, disability patients, long-term indwelling catheter

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Authors: Musa D. Aliyu, Ouahid Harireche, Colin D. Hills

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The incapability of supercritical C02 to transport and dissolve mineral species from the geothermal reservoir to the fracture apertures and other important parameters in heat mining makes it an attractive substance for Heat extraction from hot dry rock. In other words, the thermodynamic efficiency of hot dry rock (HDR) reservoirs also increases if supercritical C02 is circulated at excess temperatures of 3740C without the drawbacks connected with silica dissolution. Studies have shown that circulation of supercritical C02 in homogenous geothermal reservoirs is quite encouraging; in comparison to that of the water. This paper aims at investigating the aforementioned processes in the case of the heterogeneous geothermal reservoir located at the Soultz site (France). The MultiPhysics finite element package COMSOL with an interface of coupling different processes encountered in the geothermal reservoir stimulation is used. A fully coupled numerical model is developed to study the thermal and hydraulic processes in order to predict the long-term operation of the basic reservoir parameters that give optimum energy production. The results reveal that the temperature of the SCC02 at the production outlet is higher than that of water in long-term stimulation; as the temperature is an essential ingredient in rating the energy production. It is also observed that the mass flow rate of the SCC02 is far more favourable compared to that of water.

Keywords: FEM, HDR, heterogeneous reservoir, stimulation, supercritical C02

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Authors: Piotr Prewysz-Kwinto

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The market of financial instruments with high risk is developing very dynamically in recent years and attracts more and more interest of investors. It consists essentially of two groups of instruments, i.e. derivatives and exchange traded product (ETP), and each year new types are introduced and offered to investors. The aim of this paper is to present the principles concerning financial instruments with high investment risk available on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), because they have quite complex constructions, and to evaluate the development of this market. In order to achieve this aim, statistical data from 2014-2016 was analyzed. The results confirm that the financial instruments with high investment risk available on the WSE constitute a diversified and the most numerous group of financial instruments and attract the most interest of investors. Responsible investing requires, however, a good knowledge of how they work and how they can generate profit to not expose oneself to unexpected losses.

Keywords: derivatives, exchange traded products (ETP), financial instruments, financial market, risk, stock exchange

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Authors: Mohammed Yagoub

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The new orientation to the market economy sponsored by the Algeria government in the early Nineties of the last century, and its desire to develop investment mechanisms and the promotion of development recently, the access into a partnership with the European Union, and the forthcoming accession to the World Trade Organization, foreign direct investment makes one of the most important means of opening up to foreign markets and bring technology and interact with globalization, this article we will discuss the impact of FDI on economic growth in the Algerian.

Keywords: economic, development, markets, FDI, displacement, globalization

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Authors: Ese Urhie, Bosede Olopade, Muyiwa Oladosun, Henry Okodua

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In the past three and half decades, aside from the fact that the contribution of the industrial sector to gross domestic product in Nigeria has nose-dived, its performance has also been highly unstable. Investment funds needed to develop the industrial sector usually come from both internal and external sources. The internal sources include surplus generated within the industrial sector and surplus diverted from other sectors of the economy. It has been observed that due to the small size of the industrial sector in developing countries, very limited funds could be raised for further investment. External sources of funds which many currently industrialized and some ‘newly industrializing countries’ have benefited from including direct and indirect investment by foreign capitalists; foreign aid and loans; and investments by nationals living abroad. Foreign direct investment inflow in Nigeria has been declining since 2009 in both absolute and relative terms. High level of human capital has been identified as one of the crucial factors that explain the miraculous growth of the ‘Asian Tigers’. Its low level has also been identified as the major cause for the low level of FDI flow to Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. There has been positive, but slow improvement in human capital indicators in Nigeria in the past three decades. In spite of this, foreign direct investment inflow has not only been low; it has declined drastically in recent years. i) Why has the improvement in human capital in Nigeria failed to attract more FDI inflow? ii) To what extent does the level of human capital influence FDI inflow in Nigeria? iii) Is there a threshold of human capital stock that guarantees sustained inflow of FDI? iv) Does the quality of human capital matter? v) Does the influence of other (negative) factors outweigh the benefits of human capital? Using time series secondary data, a system of equations is employed to evaluate the effect of human capital on FDI inflow in Nigeria on one hand and the effect of FDI on the level of industrialization on the other. A weak relationship between human capital and FDI is expected, while a strong relationship between FDI and industrial growth is expected from the result.

Keywords: human capital, foreign direct investment, industrialization, gross domestic product

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Authors: Zhihui Liu, Dongmei Hao, Qian Qiu, Yang An, Lin Yang, Song Zhang, Yimin Yang, Xuwen Li, Dingchang Zheng

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Premature birth, defined as birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality and has long-term adverse consequences for health. It has recently been reported that the worldwide preterm birth rate is around 10%. The existing measurement techniques for diagnosing preterm delivery include tocodynamometer, ultrasound and fetal fibronectin. However, they are subjective, or suffer from high measurement variability and inaccurate diagnosis and prediction of preterm labor. Electrohysterography (EHG) method based on recording of uterine electrical activity by electrodes attached to maternal abdomen, is a promising method to assess uterine activity and diagnose preterm labor. The purpose of this study is to analyze the difference of EHG signal features between term labor and preterm labor. Free access database was used with 300 signals acquired in two groups of pregnant women who delivered at term (262 cases) and preterm (38 cases). Among them, EHG signals from 38 term labor and 38 preterm labor were preprocessed with band-pass Butterworth filters of 0.08–4Hz. Then, EHG signal features were extracted, which comprised classical time domain description including root mean square and zero-crossing number, spectral parameters including peak frequency, mean frequency and median frequency, wavelet packet coefficients, autoregression (AR) model coefficients, and nonlinear measures including maximal Lyapunov exponent, sample entropy and correlation dimension. Their statistical significance for recognition of two groups of recordings was provided. The results showed that mean frequency of preterm labor was significantly smaller than term labor (p < 0.05). 5 coefficients of AR model showed significant difference between term labor and preterm labor. The maximal Lyapunov exponent of early preterm (time of recording < the 26th week of gestation) was significantly smaller than early term. The sample entropy of late preterm (time of recording > the 26th week of gestation) was significantly smaller than late term. There was no significant difference for other features between the term labor and preterm labor groups. Any future work regarding classification should therefore focus on using multiple techniques, with the mean frequency, AR coefficients, maximal Lyapunov exponent and the sample entropy being among the prime candidates. Even if these methods are not yet useful for clinical practice, they do bring the most promising indicators for the preterm labor.

Keywords: electrohysterogram, feature, preterm labor, term labor

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Authors: Nizar Ibnus

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The term 'pribumi' or indigenous people was originally coined in the colonisation era to differentiate between Dutch colonials and native Indonesian people. The term was also used to trigger nationalism among Indonesian people to liberate their country from any kind of colonialism which had seized their freedom for ages. However, after the war was over and the colonials had fled from the country, the usage began to be altered. It changed from nationalist propaganda term to somewhat racist term. Immigrants and half-blooded people were massively victimized. Then, in 1998 the government forbade the use of this term for public use. Apparently, this racial issue happens again. On 16th October 2017, Anies Baswedan as the new government of DKI Jakarta province mentioned this term in his inauguration speech. This indeed raises controversy among Indonesian people. Using critical discourse analysis, this paper examines how Indonesian media portray the figure of Anies Baswedan regarding the issue. The findings reveal that Indonesian media depict Anies Baswedan differently. Some view him guilty as he mentioned the controversial and forbidden term in public. While, the other media consider him as innocent as he used the term in different contexts. This various media point of view and framing is presumably emerged from their different ideologies.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, media framing, racism, pribumi

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Authors: Ncedo Cameron Xhala

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Several public sector institutions lack policy direction on how to successfully implement their large infrastructure investment projects. It is significant to improve strategic policy direction in public sector institutions in order to improve planning, management and implementation of large infrastructure investment projects. It is significant to improve an understanding of internal and external pressures that exerts pressure on large infrastructure projects. The significance is to fulfill the public sector’s mandate, align the sectors’ scarce resources, stakeholders and to improve project management processes. The study used a case study approach which was underpinned by a constructionist approach. The study used a theoretical sampling technique when selecting study participants, and was followed by a snowball sampling technique that was used to select an identified case study project purposefully. The study was qualitative in nature, collected and analyzed qualitative empirical data from the purposefully selected five subject matter experts and has analyzed the case study documents. The study used a semi-structured interview approach, analysed case study documents in a qualitative approach. The interviews were on a face-to-face basis and were guided by an interview guide with focused questions. The study used a three coding process step comprising of one to three steps when analysing the qualitative empirical data. Findings reveal that an improvement of strategic policy direction in public sector institutions improves the integration in planning, management and on implementation on large infrastructure investment projects. Findings show the importance of understanding the external and internal pressures when implementing public sector’s large infrastructure investment projects. The study concludes that strategic policy direction in public sector institutions results in improvement of planning, financing, delivery, monitoring and evaluation and successful implementation of the public sector’s large infrastructure investment projects.

Keywords: implementation, infrastructure, investment, management

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Authors: Xin Zhao

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3D printing is used in creating bone grafts of various architectures by printing materials in a layer-by-layer manner. Traditionally, to make materials printable, heating up or dissolving materials in organic solvents have been used, compromising their capability in loading biomolecules. Photocrosslinkable materials which are initially liquid and printable, and solidified upon light exposure are therefore developed. However, the existing photocrosslinkable materials are either too soft to bear load or non-degradable with potential long-term biocompatibility problems. Here, photocrosslinkable nanocomposite ink is developed composed of poly (lactide-co-propylene glycol-co-lactide) dimethacrylate (PmLnDMA) and hydroxyethyl methacrylate-functionalized hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHAMA) mimicking the hairy setae of gecko that can strongly interact with its surroundings to bear high load. Incorporation of nHAMA into PmLnDMA endows the nanocomposite ink with several advantages in (1) improved organic/inorganic interfacial compatibility to increase mechanical strength, (2) readily modulated rheological behaviors, wettability, and biodegradation, (3) enhanced osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity. Moreover, the ink can be rapidly crosslinked upon light exposure, load, and long-term release growth factors, and be printed into 3D bone scaffolds of various shapes and structures according to the patients’ needs. Altogether, this innovation will benefit patients all over the world who suffer from bone fractures, tumors, infections.

Keywords: photocrosslinkable nanocomposite, 3D printing, bone ink, personalized medicine

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Authors: Vishnu Pratap Singh Kirar

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Artificial Neural Network (ANN) can be trained using backpropagation (BP). It is the most widely used algorithm for supervised learning with multi-layered feed-forward networks. Efficient learning by the BP algorithm is required for many practical applications. The BP algorithm calculates the weight changes of artificial neural networks, and a common approach is to use a two-term algorithm consisting of a learning rate (LR) and a momentum factor (MF). The major drawbacks of the two-term BP learning algorithm are the problems of local minima and slow convergence speeds, which limit the scope for real-time applications. Recently the addition of an extra term, called a proportional factor (PF), to the two-term BP algorithm was proposed. The third increases the speed of the BP algorithm. However, the PF term also reduces the convergence of the BP algorithm, and criteria for evaluating convergence are required to facilitate the application of the three terms BP algorithm. Although these two seem to be closely related, as described later, we summarize various improvements to overcome the drawbacks. Here we compare the different methods of convergence of the new three-term BP algorithm.

Keywords: neural network, backpropagation, local minima, fast convergence rate

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