Search results for: security service

Authors: Wighens Ngoie Ilunga, Pamela J. Welz, Olewaseun O. Oyekola, Daniel Ikhu-Omoregbe

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Currently, most sludge from the wastewater treatment plants of edible oil factories is disposed to landfills, but landfill sites are finite and potential sources of environmental pollution. Production of biodiesel from wastewater sludge can contribute to energy production and waste minimization. However, conventional biodiesel production is energy and waste intensive. Generally, biodiesel is produced from the transesterification reaction of oils with alcohol (i.e., Methanol, ethanol) in the presence of a catalyst. Homogeneously catalysed transesterification is the conventional approach for large-scale production of biodiesel as reaction times are relatively short. Nevertheless, homogenous catalysis presents several challenges such as high probability of soap. The current study aimed to reuse wastewater sludge from the edible oil industry as a novel feedstock for both monounsaturated fats and bioethanol for the production of biodiesel. Preliminary results have shown that the fatty acid profile of the oilseed wastewater sludge is favourable for biodiesel production with 48% (w/w) monounsaturated fats and that the residue left after the extraction of fats from the sludge contains sufficient fermentable sugars after steam explosion followed by an enzymatic hydrolysis for the successful production of bioethanol [29% (w/w)] using a commercial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A novel nano-magnetic catalyst was synthesised from mineral processing alkaline tailings, mainly containing dolomite originating from cupriferous ores using a modified sol-gel. The catalyst elemental chemical compositions and structural properties were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) and the BET for the surface area with 14.3 m²/g and 34.1 nm average pore diameter. The mass magnetization of the nano-magnetic catalyst was 170 emu/g. Both the catalytic properties and reusability of the catalyst were investigated. A maximum biodiesel yield of 78% was obtained, which dropped to 52% after the fourth transesterification reaction cycle. The proposed approach has the potential to reduce material costs, energy consumption and water usage associated with conventional biodiesel production technologies. It may also mitigate the impact of conventional biodiesel production on food and land security, while simultaneously reducing waste.

Keywords: biodiesel, bioethanol, edible oil wastewater sludge, nano-magnetism

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Authors: Zahra Jandaghian, Mehdi Ghobadi, Michal Bartko, Alex Hayes, Marianne Armstrong, Alexandra Thompson, Michael Lacasse

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stated the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the adverse impacts of climatic changes. The United Nations has forecasted that nearly 70 percent of people will live in urban areas by 2050 resulting in a doubling of the global building stock. Given that buildings are currently recognised as emitting 40 percent of global carbon emissions, there is thus an urgent incentive to decarbonize existing buildings and to build net-zero carbon buildings. To attain net zero carbon emissions in communities in the future requires action in two directions: I) reduction of emissions; and II) removal of on-going emissions from the atmosphere once de-carbonization measures have been implemented. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have a significant role to play in achieving net zero carbon communities, spanning both emission reductions and removal of on-going emissions. NBS for the decarbonisation of buildings can be achieved by using green roofs and green walls – increasing vertical and horizontal vegetation on the building envelopes – and using nature-based materials that either emit less heat to the atmosphere thus decreasing photochemical reaction rates, or store substantial amount of carbon during the whole building service life within their structure. The NBS approach can also mitigate urban flooding and overheating, improve urban climate and air quality, and provide better living conditions for the urban population. For existing buildings, de-carbonization mostly requires retrofitting existing envelopes efficiently to use NBS techniques whereas for future construction, de-carbonization involves designing new buildings with low carbon materials as well as having the integrity and system capacity to effectively employ NBS. This paper presents the opportunities and challenges in respect to the de-carbonization of buildings using NBS for both building retrofits and new construction. This review documents the effectiveness of NBS to de-carbonize Canadian buildings, identifies the missing links to implement these techniques in cold climatic conditions, and determine a road map and immediate approaches to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change such as urban heat islanding. Recommendations are drafted for possible inclusion in the Canadian building and energy codes.

Keywords: decarbonization, nature-based solutions, GHG emissions, greenery enhancement, buildings

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Authors: Sheillah Hlamalani Mboweni, Lufuno Makhado

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Background: The increasing number of people who tested HIV positive and who demand antiretroviral therapy (ART) prompted the National Department of Health to adopt WHO recommendations of task shifting where Professional Nurses(PNs) initiate ART rather than doctors in the hospital. This resulted in the decentralization of services to primary health care(PHC), generating a need to capacitate PNs on NIMART. After years of training, the impact of NIMART was assessed where it was established that even though there was an increased number who accessed ART, the quality of care is of serious concern. The study aims to answer the following question: What are the challenges influencing NIMART implementation in primary health care. Objectives: This study explores challenges influencing NIMART training and implementation and makes recommendations to improve patient and HIV program outcomes. Methods: A qualitative explorative program evaluation research design. The study was conducted in the rural districts of North West province. Purposive sampling was used to sample PNs trained on NIMART. FGDs were used to collect data with 6-9 participants and data was analysed using ATLAS ti. Results: Five FGDs, n=28 PNs and three program managers were interviewed. The study results revealed two themes: inadequacy in NIMART training and the health care system challenges. Conclusion: The deficiency in NIMART training and health care system challenges is a public health concern as it compromises the quality of HIV management resulting in poor patients’ outcomes and retard the goal of ending the HIV epidemic. These should be dealt with decisively by all stakeholders. Recommendations: The national department of health should improve NIMART training and HIV management: standardization of NIMART training curriculum through the involvement of all relevant stakeholders skilled facilitators, the introduction of pre-service NIMART training in institutions of higher learning, support of PNs by district and program managers, plan on how to deal with the shortage of staff, negative attitude to ensure compliance to guidelines. There is a need to develop a conceptual framework that provides guidance and strengthens NIMART implementation in PHC facilities.

Keywords: antiretroviral therapy, nurse initiated management of retroviral therapy, primary health care, professional nurses

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Authors: Bineet Kumar

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Many civil engineering infrastructures frequently encounter repetitive loading during their service life. Due to the inherent complexity observed in concrete, like quasi-brittle materials, understanding the fatigue behavior in concrete still posesa challenge. Moreover, the fracture process zone characteristics ahead of the crack tip have been observed to be different in fatigue loading than in the monotonic cases. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the energy dissipation associated with the fracture process zone (FPZ) due to repetitive loading. It is well known that stiffness degradation due to cyclic loadingprovides a better understanding of the fracture behavior of concrete. Under repetitive load cycles, concrete members exhibit a two-stage stiffness degradation process. Experimentally it has been observed that the stiffness decreases initially with an increase in crack length and subsequently increases. In this work, an attempt has been made to propose an analytical expression to predict energy dissipation and later the stiffness degradation as a function of crack length. Three-point bend specimens have been considered in the present work to derive the formulations. In this approach, the expression for the resultant stress distribution below the neutral axis has been derived by correlating the bending stress with the cohesive stresses developed ahead of the crack tip due to the existence of the fracture process zone. This resultant stress expression is utilized to estimate the dissipated energydue to crack propagation as a function of crack length. Further, the formulation for the stiffness degradation has been developed by relating the dissipated energy with the work done. It can be used to predict the critical crack length and fatigue life. An attempt has been made to understand the influence of stress amplitude on the damage pattern by using the information on the rate of stiffness degradation. It has been demonstrated that with the increase in the stress amplitude, the damage/FPZ proceeds more in the direction of crack propagation compared to the damage in the direction parallel to the span of the beam, which causes a lesser rate of stiffness degradation for the incremental crack length. Further, the effect of loading frequency has been investigated in terms of stiffness degradation. Under low-frequency loading cases, the damage/FPZ has been found to spread more in the direction parallel to the span, in turn reducing the critical crack length and fatigue life. In such a case, a higher rate of stiffness degradation has been observed in comparison to the high-frequency loading case.

Keywords: fatigue life, fatigue, fracture, concrete

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Authors: Arzu K. Harmanci Seren, Burcu Alacam, Serap Altuntas, Ulku Baykal

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Organizational justice has been evaluated as a concept related to rules developed with regards to distributing gains and making decisions of distribution such as duty, goods, service, reward, punishment, fee, organizational position, opportunity or role among those working in that organization, and to social norms on which these rules are based. Studies of organizational justice are crucial for analyzing the organizational life. It is considered that organization justice will be positively influential upon organizational behaviours such as employees’ level of work satisfaction, their performance, and behaviours of organization citizenship, management by values perception, tendency towards cooperation, and towards quitting their jobs. However, when the literature related to health and nurse management is examined, authors could not reach enough findings related to the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values. For that reason, this study has been carried out with the purpose of determining the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values. The study has been carried out with 176 nurses working in a university hospital in Istanbul and a private hospital who accepted to take part in the study, and it is definitive and relation-seeking. Before the data has been collected, ethics committee approval and institutional permissions have been taken, Organizational Justice Scale, Management by Values, Intention to Leave Scale with a questionnaire including 8 questions that aims at defining the personal and professional characteristics of the nurses have been used as a means of data collection. The data collected between 1 May and 20 June 2016 have been evaluated by the researchers in a computer via definitive, relation-seeking and psychometric statistic. As a result of the study, it has been determined that most of the nurses are working in a university hospital (70.5%), that they are 30 and over (49.4%), women (91.5%), single (52.8%) and have a Bachelor’s Degree (48.3%), working in a surgery unit (17.6), have 5 year or less institutional experience (44.9%), 11 year or more professional experience. Cronbach alpha values of the scales used in this study are .94, .95 and .56. Nurses’ average scores of Organizational Justice Scale is M= 3.35±.96, Management by Values Scale is M=3.30±.74, Intention to Leave Scale is M=8.36±3.14. As a result of the analysis carried out in order to determine the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values, it has been pointed out that the Perception of Organizational Justice influenced the perception of Management by Values positively, Intention to Leave negatively.

Keywords: intention to leave, management by values, nursing, organizational justice

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Authors: Andrew Freiburger, Sergi Molins

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Freshwater is a vital resource; yet, the supply of clean freshwater is diminishing as the consequence of melting snow and ice from global warming, pollution from industry, and an increasing demand from human population growth. The unsustainable trajectory of diminishing water resources is projected to jeopardize water security for billions of people in the 21st century. Membrane desalination technologies may resolve the growing discrepancy between supply and demand by filtering arbitrary feed water into a fraction of renewable, clean water and a fraction of highly concentrated brine. The leading hindrance of membrane desalination is fouling, whereby the highly concentrated brine solution encourages micro-organismal colonization and/or the precipitation of occlusive minerals (i.e. scale) upon the membrane surface. Thus, an understanding of brine formation is necessary to mitigate membrane fouling and to develop efficacious desalination technologies that can bolster the supply of available freshwater. This study presents a reactive transport simulation of brine formation and scale deposition during reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. The simulation conceptually represents the RO module as a one-dimensional domain, where feed water directionally enters the domain with a prescribed fluid velocity and is iteratively concentrated in the immobile layer of a dual porosity model. Geochemical PHREEQC code numerically evaluated the conceptual model with parameters for the BW30-400 RO module and for real water feed sources – e.g. the Red and Mediterranean seas, and produced waters from American oil-wells, based upon peer-review data. The presented simulation is computationally simpler, and hence less resource intensive, than the existent and more rigorous simulations of desalination phenomena, like TOUGHREACT. The end-user may readily prepare input files and execute simulations on a personal computer with open source software. The graphical results of fouling-potential and brine characteristics may therefore be particularly useful as the initial tool for screening candidate feed water sources and/or informing the selection of an RO module.

Keywords: desalination, PHREEQC, reactive transport, scaling

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Authors: Nathaniel Evans, Jessica Boersma, Kenneth Kass

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With technology and STEM fields growing every day, there is a significant projected shortfall in qualified cybersecurity workers. As such, it is essential to develop a cybersecurity curriculum that builds skills and cultivates interest in cybersecurity early on. With new jobs being created every day and an already significant gap in the job market, it is vital that educators are pro-active in introducing a cybersecurity curriculum where students are able to learn new skills and engage in an age-appropriate cyber curriculum. Within this growing world of cybersecurity, students should engage in age-appropriate technology and cybersecurity curriculum, starting with elementary school (k-5), extending through high school, and ultimately into college. Such practice will provide students with the confidence, skills, and, ultimately, the opportunity to work in the burgeoning information security field. This paper examines educational methods, pedagogical practices, current cybersecurity curricula, and other educational resources and conducts analysis for false assumptions and developmental appropriateness. It also examines and identifies common mistakes with current cyber curriculum and lessons and discuss strategies for improvement. Throughout the lessons that were reviewed, many common mistakes continued to pop up. These mistakes included age appropriateness, technology resources that were available, and consistency of student’s skill levels. Many of these lessons were written for the wrong grade levels. The ones written for the elementary level all had activities that assumed that every student in the class could read at grade level and also had background knowledge of the cyber activity at hand, which is not always the case. Another major mistake was that these lessons assumed that all schools had any kind of technology resource available to them. Some schools are 1:1, and others are only allotted three computers in their classroom where the students have to share. While coming up with a cyber-curriculum, it has to be kept in mind that not all schools are the same, not every classroom is the same. There are many students who are not reading at their grade level or have not had exposure to the digital world. We need to start slow and ease children into the cyber world. Once they have a better understanding, it will be easier to move forward with these lessons and get the students engaged. With a better understanding of common mistakes that are being made, a more robust curriculum and lessons can be created that no only spark a student’s interest in this much-needed career field but encourage learning while keeping our students safe from cyber-attacks.

Keywords: assumptions, cybersecurity, k-12, teacher

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Authors: Yenisleidy Martinez Martinez, Yannay Casas-Ledon, Jo Dewulf

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The ecosystem services (ES) concept has contributed to draw attention to the benefits ecosystems generate for people and how necessary natural resources are for human well-being. The identification and prioritization of the ES constitute the first steps to undertake conservation and valuation initiatives on behalf of people. Additionally, mapping the supply of ES is a powerful tool to support decision making regarding the sustainable management of landscape and natural resources. In this context, the present study aimed to identify, prioritize and map the primary ES in Biobio and Nuble regions using a methodology that combines expert judgment, multi-attribute evaluation methods, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Firstly, scores about the capacity of different land use/cover types to supply ES and the importance attributed to each service were obtained from experts and stakeholders via an online survey. Afterward, the ES assessment matrix was constructed, and the weighted linear combination (WLC) method was applied to mapping the overall capacity of supply of provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural services. Finally, prioritized ES for the study area were selected and mapped. The results suggest that native forests, wetlands, and water bodies have the highest supply capacities of ES, while urban and industrial areas and bare areas have a very low supply of services. On the other hand, fourteen out of twenty-nine services were selected by experts and stakeholders as the most relevant for the regions. The spatial distribution of ES has shown that the Andean Range and part of the Coastal Range have the highest ES supply capacity, mostly regulation and maintenance and cultural ES. This performance is related to the presence of native forests, water bodies, and wetlands in those zones. This study provides specific information about the most relevant ES in Biobio and Nuble according to the opinion of local stakeholders and the spatial identification of areas with a high capacity to provide services. These findings could be helpful as a reference by planners and policymakers to develop landscape management strategies oriented to preserve the supply of services in both regions.

Keywords: ecosystem services, expert judgment, mapping, multi-criteria decision making, prioritization

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Authors: Orathai Srithongtham, Ploypailin Mekathepakorn, Tossaphong Buraman, Pontida Moonpradap, Rungrueng Kitpati, Chulapon Kratet, Worayuth Nak-ai, Suwaree Charoenmukkayanan, Peeranuch Keawkanya

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The COVID-19 pandemic was effect to the health security of the Thai people. The PHEM principle was essential to the surveillance, prevention, and control of COVID-19. This study aimed to present the process of prevention and control of COVID-19 from February 29, 2021- April 30, 2022, and the factors and conditions influent the successful outcome. The study areas were three provinces. The target group was 37 people, composed of public health personnel. The data was collected in-depth, and group interviews followed the non-structure interview guide and were analyzed by content analysis. The components of COVID-19 prevention and control were found in the process of PHEM as follows; 1) Emergency Operation Center (EOC) with an incidence command system (ICS) from the district to provincial level and to propose the provincial measure, 2) Provincial Communicable Disease Committee (PCDC) to decide the provincial measure 3) The measure for surveillance, prevention, control, and treatment of COVID-19, and 4) outcomes and best practices for surveillance and control of COVID-19. The success factors of 4S and EC were as follows; Space: prepare the quarantine (HQ, LQ), Cohort Ward (CW), field hospital, and community isolation and home isolation to face with the patient and risky group, Staff network from various organization and group cover the community leader and Health Volunteer (HV), Stuff the management and sharing of the medical and non-medical equipment, System of Covid-19 respond were EOC, ICS, Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and Communicable Disease Control Unit (CDCU) for monitoring the real-time of surveillance and control of COVID-19 output, Environment management in hospital and the community with Infections Control (IC) principle, and Culture in term of social capital on “the relationship of Isan people” supported the patient provide the good care and support. The structure of PHEM, Isan’s Culture, and good preparation was a significant factor in the three provinces.

Keywords: public health, emergency management, covid-19, pandemic

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Authors: Aleksandr Kalinenko, Igor Vysotskiy, Sergey Malopheyev, Sergey Mironov, Rustam Kaibyshev

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From a thermo-mechanical standpoint, friction-stir welding (FSW) represents a unique combination of very large strains, high temperature and relatively high strain rate. The material behavior under such extreme deformation conditions is not studied well and thus, the microstructural examinations of the friction-stir welded materials represent an essential academic interest. Moreover, a clear understanding of the microstructural mechanisms operating during FSW should improve our understanding of the microstructure-properties relationship in the FSWed materials and thus enables us to optimize their service characteristics. Despite extensive research in this field, the microstructural behavior of some important structural materials remains not completely clear. In order to contribute to this important work, the present study was undertaken to examine the grain structure evolution during the FSW of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. To provide an in-depth insight into this process, the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique was employed for this purpose. Microstructural observations were conducted by using an FEI Quanta 450 Nova field-emission-gun scanning electron microscope equipped with TSL OIMTM software. A suitable surface finish for EBSD was obtained by electro-polishing in a solution of 25% nitric acid in methanol. A 15° criterion was employed to differentiate low-angle boundaries (LABs) from high-angle boundaries (HABs). In the entire range of the studied FSW regimes, the grain structure evolved in the stir zone was found to be dominated by nearly-equiaxed grains with a relatively high fraction of low-angle boundaries and the moderate-strength B/-B {112}<110> simple-shear texture. In all cases, the grain-structure development was found to be dictated by an extensive formation of deformation-induced boundaries, their gradual transformation to the high-angle grain boundaries. Accordingly, the grain subdivision was concluded to the key microstructural mechanism. Remarkably, a gradual suppression of this mechanism has been observed at relatively high welding temperatures. This surprising result has been attributed to the reduction of dislocation density due to the annihilation phenomena.

Keywords: electron backscatter diffraction, friction-stir welding, heat-treatable aluminum alloys, microstructure

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Authors: Mariia Khramova, Sergio Martinez, Duc Nguyen

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Modern electronic devices, particularly smartphones, are characterised by extremely high environmental footprint and short product lifecycle. Every year manufacturers release new models with even more superior performance, which pushes the customers towards new purchases. As a result, millions of devices are being accumulated in the urban mine. To tackle these challenges the concept of circular economy has been introduced to promote repair, reuse and recycle of electronics. In this case, electronic devices, that previously ended up in landfills or households, are getting the second life, therefore, reducing the demand for new raw materials. Smartphone reuse is gradually gaining wider adoption partly due to the price increase of flagship models, consequently, boosting circular economy implementation. However, along with reuse of communication device, circular economy approach needs to ensure the data of the previous user have not been 'reused' together with a device. This is especially important since modern smartphones are comparable with computers in terms of performance and amount of data stored. These data vary from pictures, videos, call logs to social security numbers, passport and credit card details, from personal information to corporate confidential data. To assess how well the data privacy requirements are followed on smartphones second-hand market, a sample of 100 Android smartphones has been purchased from IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) facilities responsible for data erasure and resell. Although devices should not have stored any user data by the time they leave ITAD, it has been possible to retrieve the data from 19% of the sample. Applied techniques varied from manual device inspection to sophisticated equipment and tools. These findings indicate significant barrier in implementation of circular economy and a limitation of smartphone reuse. Therefore, in order to motivate the users to donate or sell their old devices and make electronic use more sustainable, data privacy on second-hand smartphone market should be significantly improved. Presented research has been carried out in the framework of sustainablySMART project, which is part of Horizon 2020 EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Keywords: android, circular economy, data privacy, second-hand phones

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Authors: E. Nigris, F. Passalacqua

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Relating to the recent researches in the field of faculty development, this paper aims to present a pilot training programme realized at the University of Milano-Bicocca to improve teaching skills of faculty members. A total of 57 professors (both full professors and associate professors) were trained during the pilot programme in three editions of the workshop, focused on promoting skills for teaching large classes. The study takes into account: 1) the theoretical framework of the programme which combines the recent tradition about professional development and the research on in-service training of school teachers; 2) the structure and the content of the training programme, organized in a 12 hours-full immersion workshop and in individual consultations; 3) the educational specificity of the training programme which is based on the relation between 'general didactic' (active learning metholodies; didactic communication) and 'disciplinary didactics' (didactic transposition and reconstruction); 4) results about the impact of the training programme, both related to the workshop and the individual consultations. This study aims to provide insights mainly on two levels of the training program’s impact ('behaviour change' and 'transfer') and for this reason learning outcomes are evaluated by different instruments: a questionnaire filled out by all 57 participants; 12 in-depth interviews; 3 focus groups; conversation transcriptions of workshop activities. Data analysis is based on a descriptive qualitative approach and it is conducted through thematic analysis of the transcripts using analytical categories derived principally from the didactic transposition theory. The results show that the training programme developed effectively three major skills regarding different stages of the 'didactic transposition' process: a) the content selection; a more accurated selection and reduction of the 'scholarly knowledge', conforming to the first stage of the didactic transposition process; b) the consideration of students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions within the lesson design, in order to connect effectively the 'scholarly knowledge' to the 'knowledge to be taught' (second stage of the didactic transposition process); c) the way of asking questions and managing discussion in large classrooms, in line with the transformation of the 'knowledge to be taught' in 'taught knowledge' (third stage of the didactic transposition process).

Keywords: didactic communication, didactic transposition, instructional development, teaching large classroom

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Authors: Süleyman Hakan Yilmaz, Yasemin Gülsen Yilmaz

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The Gezi Park protests of 2013 have significantly changed the Turkish agenda and its effects have been felt historically. The protests, which rapidly spread throughout the country, were triggered by the proposal to recreate the Ottoman Army Barracks to function as a shopping mall on Gezi Park located in Istanbul’s Taksim neighbourhood despite the oppositions of several NGOs and when trees were cut in the park for this purpose. Once the news that construction vehicles entered the park on May 27 spread on social media, activists moved into the park to stop the demolition, against whom the police used disproportioned force. With this police intervention and the then prime-minister Tayyip Erdoğan's insistent statements about the construction plans, the protests turned into anti-government demonstrations, which then spread to the rest of the country, mainly in big cities like Ankara and Izmir. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ June 23rd reports, 2.5 million people joined the demonstrations in 79 provinces, that is all of them, except for the provinces of Bayburt and Bingöl, while even more people shared their opinions via social networks. As a result of these events, 8 civilians and 2 security personnel lost their lives, namely police chief Mustafa Sarı, police officer Ahmet Küçükdağ, citizens Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Abdullah Cömert, Ethem Sarısülük, Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Ahmet Atakan, Berkin Elvan, Burak Can Karamanoğlu, Mehmet İstif, and Elif Çermik, and 8163 more were injured. Besides being a turning point in Turkish history, the Gezi Park protests also had broad repercussions in both in Turkish and in global media, which focused on Turkey throughout the events. Our study conducts content analysis of three Turkish reporting newspapers with varying ideological standpoints, Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet ve Yeni Şafak, in order to reveal their basic approach to columns casting in context of the Gezi Park protests. Columns content relating to the Gezi protests were treated and analysed for this purpose. The aim of this study is to understand the social effects of the Gezi Park protests through media samples with varying political attitudes towards news casting.

Keywords: Gezi Park, media, news casting, columns

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Authors: Yenisleidy Martínez-Martínez, Yannay Casas-Ledón, Jo Dewulf

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Wind power constitutes a cleaner energy source with smaller unfavorable impacts on the environment than fossil fuels. Its development could be an alternative to fight climate change while meeting energy demands. However, wind energy development requires first determining the existing potential and areas with aptitude. Also, potential socio-economic and environmental impacts should be analyzed to prevent social rejection of this technology. In this context, this work performs a suitability assessment on a GIS environment to locate suitable areas for wind energy expansion in South-Central Chile. In addition, suitable areas were characterized in terms of potential goods and services to be produced as a proxy for analyzing potential impacts and trade-offs. First, layers of annual wind speed were generated as they represent the resource potential, and layer representing previously defined territorial constraints were created. Zones depicting territorial constraints were removed from resource measurement layers to identify suitable sites. Then, the appropriation of the primary production in suitable sites was determined to measure potential ecosystem services derived from human interventions in those areas. Results show that approximately 52% of the total surface of the study area has a good aptitude to install wind farms. In this area, provisioning services like food crops production, timber, and other forest resources like firewood play a key role in the regional economy and thus are the main cause of human interventions. This is reflected by human appropriation of the primary production values of 0.71 KgC/m².yr, 0.36 KgC/m².yr, and 0.14 KgC/m².yr, respectively. In this sense, wind energy development could be compatible with croplands, which is the predominant land use in suitable areas, and provide farmers with cheaper energy and extra income. Also, studies have reported changes in local temperature associated with wind turbines, which could be beneficial to crop growth. The results obtained in this study prove to be useful for identifying available areas for wind development, which could be very useful in decision-making processes related to energy planning.

Keywords: net primary productivity, provisioning services, suitability assessment, wind energy

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Authors: Marwa Abida, Florian Gehring, Jamel Mars, Alexandre Vivet, Fakhreddine Dammak, Mohamed Haddar

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The demand for bio-based materials in semi-structural and structural applications is constantly growing to conform to new environmental policies. Among them, Plant Fiber Reinforced Composites (PFRC) are attractive for the scientific community as well as the industrial world. Due to their relatively low densities and low environmental impact, vegetal fibers appear to be suitable as reinforcing materials for polymers. However, the major issue of plant fibers and PFRC in general is their hydrophilic behavior (high affinity to water molecules). Indeed, when absorbed, water causes fiber swelling and a loss of mechanical properties. Thus, the environmental loadings (moisture, temperature, UV) can strongly affect their mechanical properties and therefore play a critical role in the service life of PFRC. In order to analyze the influence of conditioning at relative humidity on the behavior of flax fiber reinforced composites, a preliminary study on flax fabrics has been conducted. The conditioning of the fabrics in different humid atmospheres made it possible to study the influence of the water content on the hygro-mechanical behavior of flax reinforcement through mechanical tensile tests. This work shows that increasing the relative humidity of the atmosphere induces an increase of the water content in the samples. It also brings up the significant influence of water content on the stiffness and elongation at break of the fabric, while no significant change of the breaking load is detected. Non-linear decrease of flax fabric rigidity and increase of its elongation at maximal force with the increase of water content are observed. It is concluded that water molecules act as a softening agent on flax fabrics. Two kinds of typical tensile curves are identified. Most of the tensile curves of samples show one unique linear region where the behavior appears to be linear prior to the first yarn failure. For some samples in which water content is between 2.7 % and 3.7 % (regardless the conditioning atmosphere), the emergence of a two-linear region behavior is pointed out. This phenomenon could be explained by local heterogeneities of water content which could induce premature local plasticity in some regions of the flax fabric sample behavior.

Keywords: hygro-mechanical behavior, hygroscopy, flax fabric, relative humidity, mechanical properties

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Authors: Laura Simmer, Maria Kalt, Oliver Schauer

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Freight transport is growing fast, but many vehicles are empty or just partially loaded. The vision and concepts of the Physical Internet (PI) proposes to eliminate these inefficiencies. Aiming for a radical sustainability improvement, the PI – inspired by the Digital Internet – is a hyperconnected global logistic system, enabling seamless asset sharing and flow consolidation. The implementation of a PI in its full expression will be a huge challenge: the industry needs innovation and implementation support including change management approaches, awareness creation and good practices diffusion, legislative actions to remove antitrust and international commerce barriers, standardization and public incentives policies. In order to take a step closer to this future the project ‘Atropine - Fast Track to the Physical Internet’ funded under the Strategic Economic and Research Program ‘Innovative Upper Austria 2020’ was set up. The two-year research project unites several research partners in this field, but also industrial partners and logistics service providers. With Atropine, the consortium wants to actively shape the mobility landscape in Upper Austria and make an innovative contribution to an energy-efficient, environmentally sound and sustainable development in the transport area. This paper should, on the one hand, clarify the questions what the project Atropine is about and, on the other hand, how a proof of concept will be reached. Awareness building plays an important role in the project as the PI requires a reorganization of the supply chain and the design of completely new forms of inter-company co-operation. New business models have to be developed and should be verified by simulation. After the simulation process one of these business models will be chosen and tested in real life with the partner companies. The developed results - simulation model and demonstrator - are used to determine how the concept of the PI can be applied in Upper Austria. Atropine shall pave the way for a full-scale development of the PI vision in the next few decades and provide the basis for pushing the industry toward a new level of co-operation with more shared resources and increased standardization.

Keywords: Atropine, inter-company co-operation, Physical Internet, shared resources, sustainable logistics

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Authors: Lucksini Raveendran

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Introduction: This mixed-methods study focuses on the experiences of ethnocultural youth and families in Canada, identifying key barriers and opportunities to inform service programming and policies that can better meet their mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Methods: Mental Health Commission of Canada's Headstrong initiative administered the youth survey (April – June 2020) and family survey (June – August 2020) with a total sample size of 137 and 481 respondents, respectively. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key challenges faced, coping strategies used, and help-seeking behaviours. A similar approach was also applied to the family survey data, but instead, a representative sample was collated to analyze geographically variable and ethnically diverse subgroups. Results and analysis: Multiple challenges have impacted families, including increased feelings of loneliness and distress from border travel restrictions, especially among those navigating pregnancy alone or managing children with developmental needs, which is often understudied. Also, marginalized groups were disproportionately affected by inequitable access to communication technologies, further deepening the digital divide. Some reported living in congregated homes with regular conflicts, thus leading to increased anxiety and exposure to violence. For many families, urbanicity and ethnicity played a key role in how families reported coping with feelings of uncertainty while managing work commitments, navigating community resources, fulfilling care responsibilities, and homeschooling children of all ages. Despite these challenges, there was evidence of post-traumatic growth and building community resiliency. Conclusions and implications for policy, practice, or additional research: There is a need to foster opportunities to promote and sustain mental health, wellness, and resilience for families through social connections. Also, intersectionality must be embedded in the collection, analysis, and application of data to improve equitable access to evidence-based and recovery-oriented mental health supports among diverse families in Canada. Lastly, address future research on the long-term COVID-19 impacts of travel border restrictions on family wellness.

Keywords: mental health, youth mental health, family wellness, health equity

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Authors: Leena Inamdar, David Allen, Sushma Acquilla, James Gore

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Health systems globally are facing increasingly complex challenges. Emerging health threats, changing population demographics and increasing health inequalities, globalisation, economic constraints on government spending are some of the most critical ones. These challenges demand not only innovative funding and cross-sectoral approaches, but also require a multidisciplinary public health workforce equipped with skills and expertise to meet the future challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aim to outline an approach to assessing the feasibility of establishing a competency-based public health training at a country level. Although the SDGs provide an enabling impetus for change and promote positive developments, public health training and education still lag behind. Large gaps are apparent in both the numbers of trained professionals and the options for high quality training. Public health training in most Low-Middle Income Countries is still largely characterized by a traditional and limited public health focus. There is a pressing need to review and develop core and emerging competences for a well-equipped workforce fit for the future. This includes the important role of national Health and Human Resource Ministries in determining these competences. Public health has long been recognised as a multidisciplinary field, with need for professionals from a wider range of disciplines such as management, health promotion, health economics, law. Leadership and communication skills are also critical to achieve the successes in meeting public health outcomes. Such skills and competences need to be translated into competency-based training and education, to prepare current public health professionals with the skills required in today’s competitive job market. Integration of academic and service based public-health training, flexible accredited programmes to support existing mid-career professionals, continuous professional development need to be explored. In the current global climate of austerity and increasing demands on health systems, the need for stepping up public health training and education is more important than ever. By using a case study, we demonstrate the process of assessing the in-county capacity to establish a competency based public health training programme that will help to develop a stronger, more versatile and much needed public health workforce to meet the SDGs.

Keywords: public health training, competency-based, assessment, SDGs

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Authors: Waraporn Boonchieng, Ekkarat Boonchieng, Wilawan Senaratana, Jaras Singkaew

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Geographical information system (GIS) is a designated system widely used for collecting and analyzing geographical data. Since the introduction of ultra-mobile, 'smart' devices, investigators, clinicians, and even the general public have had powerful new tools for collecting, uploading and accessing information in the field. Epidemiology paired with GIS will increase the efficacy of preventive health care services. The objective of this study is to apply GPS location services that are available on the common mobile device with district health systems, storing data on our private cloud system. The mobile application has been developed for use on iOS, Android, and web-based platforms. The system consists of two parts of district health information, including recorded resident data forms and individual health recorded data forms, which were developed and approved by opinion sharing and public hearing. The application's graphical user interface was developed using HTML5 and PHP with MySQL as a database management system (DBMS). The reporting module of the developed software displays data in a variety of views, from traditional tables to various types of high-resolution, layered graphics, incorporating map location information with street views from Google Maps. Multi-extension exporting is also supported, utilizing standard platforms such as PDF, PNG, JPG, and XLS. The data were collected in the database beginning in March 2013, by district health volunteers and district youth volunteers who had completed the application training program. District health information consisted of patients’ household coordinates, individual health data, social and economic information. This was combined with Google Street View data, collected in March 2014. Studied groups consisted of 16,085 (67.87%) and 47,811 (59.87%) of the total 23,701 households and 79,855 people were collected by the system respectively, in Saraphi district, Chiang Mai Province. The report generated from the system has had a major benefit directly to the Saraphi District Hospital. Healthcare providers are able to use the basic health data to provide a specific home health care service and also to create health promotion activities according to medical needs of the people in the community.

Keywords: health, public health, GIS, geographic information system

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Authors: Nashaat Mazrui, Oarabile Mogobe, Barbara Ngwenya, Ketlhatlogile Mosepele, Mangaliso Gondwe

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Over the last several decades, the world has seen a rapid increase in activities such as deforestation, agriculture, and energy use. Subsequently, trace elements are being deposited into our water bodies, where they can accumulate to toxic levels in aquatic organisms and can be transferred to humans through fish consumption. Thus, though fish is a good source of essential minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, it can also be a source of toxic elements. Monitoring trace elements in fish is important for the proper management of aquatic systems and the protection of human health. The aim of this study was to determine concentrations of trace elements in sediment and muscle tissues of Clarias gariepinus at Lake Ngami, in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, during low floods. The fish were bought from local fishermen, and samples of muscle tissue were acid-digested and analyzed for iron, zinc, copper, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, chromium, cadmium, lead, and arsenic using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Sediment samples were also collected and analyzed for the elements and for organic matter content. Results show that in all samples, iron was found in the greatest amount while cadmium was below the detection limit. Generally, the concentrations of elements in sediment were higher than in fish except for zinc and arsenic. While the concentration of zinc was similar in the two media, arsenic was almost 3 times higher in fish than sediment. To evaluate the risk to human health from fish consumption, the target hazard quotient (THQ) and cancer risk for an average adult in Botswana, sub-Saharan Africa, and riparian communities in the Okavango Delta was calculated for each element. All elements were found to be well below regulatory limits and do not pose a threat to human health except arsenic. The results suggest that other benthic feeding fish species could potentially have high arsenic levels too. This has serious implications for human health, especially riparian households to whom fish is a key component of food and nutrition security.

Keywords: Arsenic, African sharp tooth cat fish, Okavango delta, trace elements

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Authors: Mary Carmen Peloche Barrera

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Since its early years as an independent nation, the United States has been one of the main promoters regarding the recognition, legislation, and protection of human rights. In the matter of freedom, the founding father Thomas Jefferson envisioned the role of the U.S. as a defender of freedom and equality throughout the world. This founding ideal shaped America’s domestic and foreign policy in the 19th and the 20th century and became an aspiration of the ideals of the country to expand its values and institutions. The history of the emergence of human rights cannot be studied without making reference to leaders such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as Martin Luther King. Throughout its history, this country has proclaimed that the protection of the freedoms of men, both inside and outside its borders, is practically the reason for its existence. Although the United States was one of the first countries to recognize the existence of inalienable rights for individuals, as well as the main promoter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the country has gone through critical moments that had led to questioning its commitment to the issue. Racial segregation, international military interventions, national security strategy, as well as national legislation on immigration, are some of the most controversial issues related to decisions and actions driven by the United States, which at the same time mismatched with its role as an advocate of human rights, both in the Americas and in the rest of the world. The aim of this paper is to study the swinging of the efforts and commitments of the United States towards human rights. The paper will analyze the history and evolution of human rights in the United States, to study the greatest challenges for the country in this matter. The paper will focus on both the domestic policy (related to demographic issues) and foreign policy (about its role in a post-war world). Currently, more countries are joining the multilateral efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights. At the same time, the United States is one of the least committed countries in this respect, having ratified only 5 of the 18 treaties emanating from the United Nations. The last ratification was carried out in 2002 and, since then, the country has been losing ground, in an increasingly vertiginous way, in its credibility and, even worse, in its role as leader of 'the free world'. With or without the United States, the protection of human rights should remain the main goal of the international community.

Keywords: United States, human rights, foreign policy, domestic policy

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Authors: Varsha Pandurang Nagargoje, K. S. James

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Background: Social participation is considered as one of the central components of successful and healthy aging. This study aimed to examine the moderating role of marital status and living arrangement in the relationship between social participation and life satisfaction and other potential factors associated with life satisfaction of Indian older adults. Method: For analyses, the nationally representative study sample of 31,464 adults aged ≥60 years old was extracted from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave 1, 2017-18. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis have been performed to determine the proportion of life satisfaction. The first set of multivariable linear regression analyses examined Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale and its association with various predictor variables, including social participation, marital status, living arrangements, socio-demographic, economic, and health-related variables. Further, the second and third sets of regression investigated the moderating role of marital status and living arrangements respectively in the association of social participation and level of life satisfaction among Indian older adults. Results: Overall, the proportion of life satisfaction among older men was relatively higher than women counterparts in most background characteristics. Regression results stressed the importance of older adults’ involvement in social participation [β = 0.39, p < 0.05], being in marital union [β = 0.68, p < 0.001] and co-residential living arrangements either only with spouse [β = 1.73, p < 0.001] or with other family members [β = 2.18, p < 0.001] for the improvement of life satisfaction. Results also showed that some factors were significant for life satisfaction: in particular, increased age, having a higher level of educational status, MPCE quintile, and caste category. Higher risk of life dissatisfaction found among Indian older adults who were exposed to vulnerabilities like consuming tobacco, poor self-rated health, having difficulty in performing ADL and IADL were of major concern. The interaction effect of social participation with marital status or with living arrangements explained that currently married older individuals, and those older adults who were either co-residing with their spouse only or with other family members irrespective of their involvement in social participation remained an important modifiable factor for life satisfaction. Conclusion: It would be crucial for policymakers and practitioners to advocate social policy programs and service delivery oriented towards meaningful social connections, especially for those Indian older adults who were staying alone or currently not in the marital union to enhance their overall life satisfaction.

Keywords: Indian, older adults, social participation, life satisfaction, marital status, living arrangement

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Authors: Stella Laletas, Andrea Reupert, Melinda Goodyear, Bradley Morgan

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Background: Many people with a mental illness have young children. Research has shown that early childhood is a particularly vulnerable time for children whose parents have a mental illness. Moreover, repeated research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a multiagency approach to family focused practice for improving parental functioning and preventing adverse outcomes in children whose parents have a mental illness, particularly in the early years of a child’s life. However, there is a paucity of professional development resources for professionals who work with families where a parent has a mental illness and has young children. Significance of the study: This study will make a contribution to addressing knowledge gaps around resource development and workforce needs for early childhood and mental health professionals working with young children where a parent has a mental illness. Objective: This presentation describes a newly developed resource, 'Pathways of Care', specifically designed for early childhood educators and mental health workers, alongside pilot evaluation data regarding its effectiveness. ‘Pathways of Care’ aims to promote collaborative practice and present early identification and referral processes for workers in this sector. The resource was developed by the Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) National Initiative which is funded by the Australian Government. Method: Using a mixed method design, the effectiveness of the training resource is also presented. Fifteen workers completed the Family Focus Mental Health Practice Questionnaire pre and post using the resource, to measure confidence and practice change; semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eight of these same workers to further explore the utility of the resource. Findings: The findings indicated the resource was effective in increasing knowledge and confidence, particularly for new and/or inexperienced staff. Examples of how the resource was used in practice by various professions emerged from the interview data. Conclusions: Collaborative practice, early identification and intervention in early childhood can potentially play a key role in altering the life trajectory of children who are at risk. This information has important implications for workforce development and staff training in both the early childhood and mental health sectors. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Keywords: parents with mental ilnesses, early intervention, evaluation, preschool children

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Authors: Salamatu Shaibu, Jan Hernning Sommer

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Integrating biodiversity conservation practices in mining landscapes ensures the continual provision of various ecosystem services to the dependent communities whilst serving as ecological insurance for corporate mining when purchasing reclamation security bonds. Climate hazards such as long dry seasons, erratic rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events contribute to biodiversity loss in addition to the impact due to mining. Both corporate mining and mine-fringe communities perceive the effect of climate on biodiversity from the context of the benefits they accrue, which motivate their conservation practices. In this study, pragmatic approaches including semi-structured interviews, field visual observation, and review were used to collect data on corporate mining employees and households of fringing communities in the southwestern mining hub. The perceived changes in the local climatic conditions and the consequences on environmental management practices that promote biodiversity conservation were examined. Using a thematic content analysis tool, the result shows that best practices such as concurrent land rehabilitation, reclamation ponds, artificial wetlands, land clearance, and topsoil management are directly affected by prolonging long dry seasons and erratic rainfall patterns. Excessive dust and noise generation directly affect both floral and faunal diversity coupled with excessive fire outbreaks in rehabilitated lands and nearby forest reserves. Proposed adaptive measures include engaging national conservation authorities to promote reforestation projects around forest reserves. National government to desist from using permit for mining concessions in forest reserves, engaging local communities through educational campaigns to control forest encroachment and burning, promoting community-based resource management to promote community ownership, and provision of stricter environmental legislation to compel corporate, artisanal, and small scale mining companies to promote biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, climate hazards, corporate mining, mining landscapes

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Amanda J. Burridge, Keith J. Edwards, Paul A. Wilkinson, Tom Batstone, Erik H. Murchie, Lorna McAusland, Ana Elizabete Carmo-Silva, Ivan Jauregui, Tracy Lawson, Silvere R. M. Vialet-Chabrand

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The rate of genetic progress in wheat production must be improved to meet global food security targets. However, past selection for domestication traits has reduced the genetic variation in modern wheat cultivars, a fact that could severely limit the future rate of genetic gain. The genetic variation in agronomically important traits for the wild relatives and progenitors of wheat is far greater than that of the current domesticated cultivars, but transferring these traits into modern cultivars is not straightforward. Between the elite cultivars of wheat, photosynthetic capacity is a key trait for which there is limited variation. Early screening of wheat wild relative and progenitors has shown differences in photosynthetic capacity and efficiency not only between wild relative species but marked differences between the accessions of each species. By identifying wild relative accessions with improved photosynthetic traits and characterising the genetic variation responsible, it is possible to incorporate these traits into advanced breeding programmes by wide crossing and introgression programmes. To identify the potential variety of photosynthetic capacity and efficiency available in the secondary and tertiary genepool, a wide scale survey was carried out for over 600 accessions from 80 species including those from the genus Aegilops, Triticum, Thinopyrum, Elymus, and Secale. Genotype data were generated for each accession using a ‘Wheat Wild Relative’ Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array composed of 35,000 SNP markers polymorphic between wild relatives and elite hexaploid wheat. This genotype data was combined with phenotypic measurements such as gas exchange (CO₂, H₂O), chlorophyll fluorescence, growth, morphology, and RuBisCO activity to identify potential breeding material with enhanced photosynthetic capacity and efficiency. The data and associated analysis tools presented here will prove useful to anyone interested in increasing the genetic diversity in hexaploid wheat or the application of complex genotyping data to plant breeding.

Keywords: wheat, wild relatives, pre-breeding, genomics, photosynthesis

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Aldona Kluczek

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Energy efficient process have become a pressing research field in manufacturing. The arguments for having an effective industrial energy efficiency processes are interacted with factors: economic and environmental impact, and energy security. Improvements in energy efficiency are most often achieved by implementation of more efficient technology or manufacturing process. Current processes of electricity production represents the biggest consumption of energy and the greatest amount of emissions to the environment. The goal of this study is to improve the potential energy-savings and reduce greenhouse emissions related to improvement scenarios for the treatment of hardwood lumber produced by an industrial plant operating in the U.S. through the application of green balancing procedure, in order to find the preferable efficient technology. The green procedure for energy is based on analysis of energy efficiency data. Three alternative scenarios of the cogeneration systems plant (CHP) construction are considered: generation of fresh steam, the purchase of a new boiler with the operating pressure 300 pounds per square inch gauge (PSIG), an installation of a new boiler with a 600 PSIG pressure. In this paper, the application of a bottom-down modelling for energy flow to devise a streamlined Energy and Emission Flow Analyze method for the technology of producing electricity is illustrated. It will identify efficiency or technology of a given process to be reached, through the effective use of energy, or energy management. Results have shown that the third scenario seem to be the efficient alternative scenario considered from the environmental and economic concerns for treating hardwood lumber. The energy conservation evaluation options could save an estimated 6,215.78 MMBtu/yr in each year, which represents 9.5% of the total annual energy usage. The total annual potential cost savings from all recommendations is $143,523/yr, which represents 30.1% of the total annual energy costs. Estimation have presented that energy cost savings are possible up to 43% (US$ 143,337.85), representing 18.6% of the total annual energy costs.

Keywords: alternative scenario improvements, cogeneration system, energy and emission flow analyze, energy balancing, green procedure, hardwood lumber manufacturing process

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: N. H. D. P. Fonseka, I. H. Rajapakse, A. S. Dissanayake

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Background: Problem drinking, namely alcohol dependence (AD) and alcohol abuse (AA) are associated with major medical, social and economic adverse consequences. Problem drinking behavior is noted among those admitted to hospitals due to alcohol-related medical/surgical complaints as well as those with unrelated complaints. Literature shows an association between alcohol consumption and depression. Aims of this study were to determine the frequency of problem drinking and depression among males with a history of alcohol consumption tertiary care setting in Southern Sri Lanka. Method: Two-hundred male patients who consumed alcohol, receiving care in medical and surgical wards in Teaching Hospital Galle, were assessed. A validated J12 questionnaire of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was administered to determine frequency AA and AD. A validated PHQ 9 questionnaire to determine the prevalence and severity of depression. Results: Sixty-three participants (31%) had problem drinking. Of them, 61% had AD, and 39% had AA. Depression was noted in 39 (19%) subjects. In those who reported alcohol consumption not amounting to problem drinking, depression was noted in 23 (16%) participants. Mild depression was seen in 17, moderate in five and moderately severe in one. Among those who had problem drinking, 16 (25%) had depression. Mild depression was seen in four, moderate in seven, moderately severe in three and severe in two. Conclusions: A high proportion alcohol users had problem drinking. Adverse consequences associated with problem drinking places a major strain on the health system especially in a low resource setting where healthcare spending is limited and alcohol cessation support services are not well organised. Thus alcohol consumption and problem drinking behaviour need to be inquired into all medical consultations. Community prevalence of depression in Sri Lanka is approximately 10%. Depression among those consuming alcohol was two times higher compared to the general population. The rates of depression among those with problem drinking were especially high being 2.5 times more common than in the general population. A substantial proportion of these patients with depression had moderately severe or severe depression. When depression coexists with problem drinking, it may increase the tendency to consume alcohol as well as act as a barrier to the success of alcohol cessation interventions. Thus screening all patients who consume alcohol for depression, especially those who are problem drinkers becomes an important step in their clinical evaluation. In addition, in view of the high prevalence of problem drinking and coexistent depression, the need to organize a structured alcohol cessation support service in Sri Lanka as well as the need for increasing access to psychological evaluation and treatment of those with problem drinking are highlighted.

Keywords: alcohol abuse, alcohol, depression, problem drinking

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Tshilidzi C. Manyanya, Nthaduleni S. Nethengwe, Edmore Kori

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The UNFCCC, FAO, GCF, IPCC and other global structures advocate for agro-ecology do address food security and sovereignty. However, most of the expected outcomes concerning agro-ecological were not empirically tested for universal application. Agro-ecology is theorised to increase crop health over ago-ecological farms and decrease over conventional farms. Increased crop health means increased carbon sequestration and thus less CO2 in the atmosphere. This is in line with the view that global warming is anthropogenically enhanced through GHG emissions. Agro-ecology mainly affects crop health, soil carbon content and yield on the cultivated land. Economic sustainability is directly related to yield capacity, which is theorized to increase by 3-10% in a space of 3 - 10 years as a result of agro-ecological implementation. This study aimed to empirically assess the practicality and validity of these assumptions. The study utilized mainly GIS and RS techniques to assess the effectiveness of agro-ecology in crop health improvement from satellite images. The assessment involved a longitudinal study (2013 – 2015) assessing the changes that occur after a farm retrofits from conventional agriculture to agro-ecology. The assumptions guided the objectives of the study. For each objective, an agro-ecological farm was compared with a conventional farm in the same climatic conditional occupying the same general location. Crop health was assessed using satellite images analysed through ArcGIS and Erdas. This entailed the production of NDVI and Re-classified outputs of the farm area. The NDVI ranges of the entire period of study were thus compared in a stacked histogram for each farm to assess for trends. Yield capacity was calculated based on the production records acquired from the farmers and plotted in a stacked bar graph as percentages of a total for each farm. The results of the study showed decreasing crop health trends over 80% of the conventional farms and an increase over 80% of the organic farms. Yield capacity showed similar patterns to those of crop health. The study thus showed that agro-ecology is an effective strategy for crop-health improvement and yield increase.

Keywords: agro-ecosystem, conventional farm, dialectical, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Noah Wayne, Andrea Tuka, Adrian Norbash, Bryan Garber, Paul Ritvo

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Program/Intervention Description: The Canadian Armed Forces(CAF) Mental Health Clinicstreat a full spectrum of mental disorder, addictions, and psychosocial issues that include Major Depressive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and other diagnoses. We evaluated the feasibility of an online health coach interventiondelivering mindfulness based cognitive behavioral therapy (M-CBT) and behaviour changesupport for individuals receiving treatment at CAF Clinics. Participants were provided accounts on NexJ Connected Wellness, a digital health platform, and 16 weeks of phone-based health coaching,emphasizingmild to moderate aerobic exercise, a healthy diet, and M-CBT content. The primary objective was to assess the feasibility of the online deliverywith CAF members. Evaluation Methods: Feasibility was evaluated in terms of recruitment, engagement, and program satisfaction. Weadditionallyevaluatedhealth behavior change, program completion, and mental health symptoms (i.e. PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5) at three time points. Results: Service members were referred from Vancouver, Esquimalt, and Edmonton CAF bases between August 2020 and January 2021. N=106 CAF personnel were referred, and n=77 consented.N=66 participated, and n=44 completed 4-month and follow-up measures. The platform received a mean rating of76.5 on the System Usability Scale, and health coaching was judged the most helpful program feature (95.2% endorsement), while reminders (53.7%), secure messaging (51.2%), and notifications (51.2%) were also identified. Improvements in mental health status during active interventions were observed on the PHQ-9 (-5.4, p<0.001), GAD-7 (-4.0, p<0.001), and PCL-5 (-4.1, p<0.05). Conclusion: Online health coaching was well-received amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns. Uptake and engagement were positively reported. Participants valuedcontacts and reported strong therapeutic alliances with coaches. Healthy diet, regular exercise, and mindfulness practice are important for physical and mental health. Engagements in these behaviors are associated with reduced symptoms. An online health coach program appears feasible for assisting Canadian Armed Forces personnel.

Keywords: coaching, CBT, military, depression, mental health, digital

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Pelin Atav, Gözen Güner Aktaş, Nur Ayalp

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Today’s world has started to develop design process within an interdisciplinary working environment. There is an aim of creating the most permanent design for the future. While satisfying people’s needs, environment and people relationships should be considered. When this relationship was considered for the future, the sustainability term comes to mind. The term Sustainability has been adapted very well by designer and architects. It is also one of the main and significant parts of the design process. As the education process cultivates the future professionals, the awareness of those concepts in the education process has a vital importance. The question is stated as thus: Are the 3rd and 4th year design studio students, familiar and sensitive to the concept of sustainability in the TOBB ETU University Interior Design Studio. Design studios and the instructors should be taken into consideration while this sustainability term is taught. The term "Sustainability" can not be learned without making any application in the actual real world. While students make this study, They can have the chance to search the topic of sustainability step by step. Due to having various extent, sustainability term becomes quite a comprehensive issue. In order not to create negative consequences, designers and architects work by adapting this term. In terms of material, construction process, lighting, building service, furniture, systems that are used, energy consumption issues that are considered and creating positive drawbacks for the future are aimed. This research is aimed at how university education shapes designer’s works in terms of sustainability. By giving a project that is a main interest in the field of sustainability, students are expected to reach well-thought-of results and analysis. Project process were conducted with instructor and student studies together. According to critics from their instructors, students try to product well- designed results. TOBB University was choosen as a research area situated in Ankara in Turkey. Third and fourth class (interior designer/architect department) students who are from the Faculty of Fine Arts Design and Architecture are the subject group selected for this study. Aim of this study is demonstrating sustainability as a term having application in design studio. Thus, awareness of sustainability terms will be evaluated and its development process in the university education will be observed. Consequently, results that are expected is how sustainability term is conducted in project and for the sustainability term awareness in design studios and their projects have been sufficient or not.

Keywords: design education, design process, interior design studios, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 267